A Note About Transparency in Blogging and Social Media

One of the words you'll regularly see in my blog posts is the word "client." My agency, Comunicano, represents many of the more cutting edge companies in voice, collaboration, video and mobile.

When I started this blog, I had four goals, which I've stated before:

1) Become a trusted source for the media to use to gain clarity and understanding about VoIP and emerging technology.

2) Speak at conferences

3) Make new friends

4) Attract new clients

Since I started VoIPWatch the agency has grown from just me to now 20 team members. Our client base is now global in scope and my personal visibility in the industry is certainly higher than I ever dreamed it would be.

With this kind of client base the concept of conflict of interest certainly always could apply. For that reason one of the primary promises I made to myself, and which is implied to you, the readers, is that I'll always be transparent in my posts by referring to our clients by using the word client when I post about them. Sure I may not do it every time, but if you read through the posts you'll see that I do it enough to be clear.

Because many of these hot VoIP, Mobile and Collaboration companies are clients I also have to honor NDA's and other confidentiality clauses, so in those situations I simply stand down and won't post until the news is public. From early on I also always preferred to have other bloggers or news media report first on our clients, and then as needed add the details that I feel are salient that need to be emphasized. Sure I could likely write first, but why when there are others who can and will.

By practicing transparency those bloggers with conflicts of interest can rise above the fray and establish a higher degree of credibility. But for those that don't, and choose to hide in the shadows, it becomes very hard not only for you, but for us, both bloggers and as communications outreach professionals to really understand why the story ran as it did, or didn't.

By being transparent, it sure makes it easier to judge, evaluate and provide 'link-love' about a story versus being hidden in darkness and wondering what's really going on.

Comments

[Carolyn Schuk]

Excellent post, Andy. The fact is that without corporate marketing and PR work, many bloggers and journalists would be living in a refrigerator box. This is a clear, honest rule for managing reality.