On a strictly personal level I’m looking forward to being involved in the maturity of this space, especially since there are so many great opportunities to make connections that were never possible before. For instance, I’ve met every single person in this thread and that never would’ve happened if not for all of these new ways to socialize. And if meeting new people and sharing ideas doesn’t excite people about the possibilities of social media, I’m not exactly sure what will.

I’m lucky, though, working for a nonprofit that isn’t afraid of trying new and untraditional ways of doing things, and it’s an organization I believe in. But I have to laugh with Eric. It can be surprising what my/our followers love or are indifferent to. Keeps it real! Who likes predictable?!

Another thing about nonprofits, as Justin says in his comment, “the personality has to fit the culture.” Social media is a natural fit for nonprofits, which are all about relationships and transparency, so many people working at nonprofits are living their organization’s message.

Your post gets to the heart of creating a solid online presence. The rules resonate in face-to-face, print…all communication, really. It strikes me that success in social media is the ability to cut through the technology and go right to the relationship.

And your rule about maturity is cutting edge. I feel like the “I’ll tweet/write/say it just because I can” issue, (i.e. the Memphis/FedEx incident), is boiling under the surface of social media conversation right now. Gary makes a statement in his comment about Terrell Owens’ brand following him “for good or for bad.” In marketing, you can make the case that the only bad publicity is no publicity. The lines between what we can say and what we should say can be blurry right now in the early, “lawless” days of social media!

Overall, I think that social media is a gift for companies. It’s an easy and early-21st century embodiment of individualized service and putting the customer first. But with any power (particularly, the power of the “pen”) comes responsibility…and ramification : )

Also, the idea that people will be able to take that brand from place to place is already happening, so I think the evolution may have been slow, but it’s really starting to ramp up. Look at a guy like Robert Scoble who pioneered a lot of what we’re talking about right now just a few years ago at Microsoft. And he was able to take that brand and move it on to other ventures. Still, I think the personality has to fit the culture, otherwise it won’t work. And it’s up to both parties to recognize what is and isn’t a good fit.

One last thing Whitney, I think you have to add another rule to this and that is: You have to live it. For instance, why do we all know each other in KC and beyond? Because we’re on Twitter, make connections on Facebook/Myspace and are active and engaged bloggers. And I’d say it’s A LOT harder to fake the day in, day out participation in social media than it is an authentic voice. Of course, if you’re looking at that as part and parcel of being authentic I think you can keep the three rules.

Great post!

Someone like me who is in online marketing and social media might not maintain two accounts (it’s gotta be EXHAUSTING to do that), but I imagine that customer service and client engagement types may be required to do so by corporate policy. Ultimately, it’s a conversation that has to be had at a pretty high level at a company the size of Cerner or Embarq. You definitely need to get executive buy-in if you’re going to start representing your organization in a public forum like Twitter or Facebook.

Still, it has to be real. That’s the most important part.