Social media has its pitfalls, but the benefits for brands are worth the risk

One of the discussions I’ve been having ever since CENTCOM’s Twitter and YouTube accounts were hacked by ISIS supporters is whether or not agencies like U.S. Central Command should even be on social media

The short answer is, obviously, yes. At least it’s obvious to me.

Like any innovation, social media is not without risks. Depending on what you use, it’s a public or semi-public platform. Whatever you post will be seen by more people than you intended — this is a given. So you always post as if the world is your audience.

These are easy and evident truths.

What isn’t so obvious is if being on social media offers real benefit to organizations and companies. Recently, I went on CNBC to talk about this subject and the host asked me what were the actual benefits of social media. I was so surprised by the question that, initially, I asked him if he wanted to know about the risks or benefits. For the sake of argument, let’s start with the former. Read more...

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