-
Give me your keys- I’ll drive you home
Posted on February 1, 2010 by Diane in social media, twitter
So sue me
As usual, I am coming in on the tail end of a controversy. This post has to do with thoughts that started off, anyway, in an Agent Genius post.
No, I take that back. It did not start there- it started maybe 2 months or more earlier in the planning stages of REBarCamp Indiana, had an apparent climax in the post by Greg Cooper, which was answered by another post by Bill Lublin, scads of comments and the controversy is still going strong. I don’t think we have seen the fallout yet, is the thing.
On the surface it would seem that the fallout is whether Greg unloaded his angst in the proper forum- was it blame or flame? Could there have been a better way to do this? What would Cisco do?
But that’s the surface. What is under all of this is something more important.
This is Todd’s twitter profile: “Social Media Manager for the National Association of REALTORS®, and these are my personal opinions. Oh, and I’m a crummy speller. Deal with it.” He says in a comment/response to Greg Cooper’s video, “My bio is written the way it is for transparency sake. I believe in telling people where I sit before I tell them where I stand. I think it’s important for people to know who I work for. I also think it’s important to tell them that while I do work for them, this is where I intend to share my personal opinions.”
That is actually elegant- “telling people where I sit before telling them where I stand.” I love that.
As an aside- or maybe by way of meandering to the next point I had a broker once who suggested that I not be involved on Facebook because things could be taken the wrong way. At the time if he had more than suggested that, I would have told him to put a sock in it and taken my license elsewhere. How are you going to be able to reach the younger demographic without an online presence?
But even in the time that I have been involved on twitter, it has gone from being a dark smoke-and-conversation-filled room to being an outdoor cafe next to a busy street. Conversations that I wouldn’t have thought twice about putting into the stream a year ago are now reserved for Direct Message. I don’t think I have changed; the medium is more populated.
And maybe even that isn’t the point. Say I am at work and sneak onto twitter and say something that could get me in legal trouble- is my employer liable now too? If Todd answers a question about a NAR-related thing while on twitter on his personal time, who is responsible for the content of his answer? If an agent goes home after having listed the home of the client from hell and says something like, “Great. Another overpriced listing” – on his own time in his own living room into his personal twitter stream- could his broker be sued? If someone misunderstands an issue and posts publicly about it in an agent’s forum, possibly damaging someone’s reputation- who is responsible for the lawsuit that may ensue? The broker?
If you make a video on a camera that you wrote off as a business expense on last year’s tax returns is it a business video? Where is the line drawn between personal and professional opinion?
Sherry Chris asked on our radio show today whether Maya, Lesley or I had ever gone back and erased tweets. I have had some DM fails that I probably gave me third degree burns from the friction of erasing, so yes. I know that I have had moments I would have liked to erase, without a doubt.
Frankly, real estate agents are always at work. Does this mean that their brokers are always liable if their agents mess up online? How about franchise owners?
I think this is a bigger issue than just a he said- he said problem, and I do not think we will be seeing easy answers to any of these questions, given the fluid nature of new media. One thing I am fairly sure of: if you watch the stream carefully, a good portion of those tweeting after midnight in their time zones are at least somewhat tipsy, and the distance makes it harder to bring them home and tuck them safely into bed.
Real estate or social media questions? Find me ...On Facebook where you can access a home search ...All of my online links ...On LinkedIn ...Email me at diane@realtyman.com ...or call 978-840-4014
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments
27 Responsesso far.
Leave a Reply
blogs
- Another Blog of Mine
- Diane Haley Brooks
- Gerry's Blog
- Sherri's blog
- The PORT OF DANGER BAY, MINNESOTA
- Tuesdays In Templeton
Other Stuff
Subscribe by email
#pcwm 3 inspiration 4 real estate 5 life advertising Agent Reboot attitude Blog blogging business buyers agent children christmas facebook first time home buyer friendship fun Gary Vaynerchuk hashtags heyamaretto holiday holidays home home buying home for sale home sale hope house how to blog Inman Inman Connect NYC Internet Leominster MA real estate MA real estate marketing open house Open Houses real estate agent short sales social media technology twitter twitterqueens video vlog
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck requires Flash Player 9 or better.
Wonderful thoughts.
I’m with you. Quite often late night I’ve might have a few “Carbohydrated” beverages in me and we’re all having fun.
That late night fun has started the conversation with many new people. Those conversations were then revisited and reinforced in the “sober” dawn the following day. It’s how I roll and I am ok with it.
Looking at the other side of the coin – might I have also alienated a potential client without knowing it?
The conversation continues…
@HeyAmaretto – Well written post with lots of good things to ponder. I don’t know what to make of what I’ve been reading. It seems to have twisted and turned so many times, I’m not sure which way is up anymore. I think the key to where my thoughts are in lies in one sentence in your post, “Frankly, real estate agents are always at work.” How to we compensate for that? I think the only way is to be yourself in all matters. Yes, there is a certain amount of “agent” that you have to be, even in your “everyday” life, but I don’t think the two have to be all that different from each other.
I have had to to move the RE.net cool kids group the the 6th Tweetdeck column (the first on that doesn’t show) – just too much partying, foursquare and drama to keep up with that stream anymore.
IMHO, it’s not who could be held liable for what you do on social media, it’s the persona you present to the folks who are putting money in your pocket, be it home buyers and sellers (which is the case for most of us) or from realtors (which is the case for many of the vendors that are an integral part of the RE.net), or NAR, which has an indirect impact on all of us, but very much control over it’s own employees. I am sorry, but I am in the camp that believes one can’t serve 2 masters.
That being said, I think Hilary and Todd have done an absolutely magnificent job in a short period of time (by NAR standards) in re-directing NAR’s communications and improving its transparency.
Probably the people that you alienate because of that would be those that you wouldn’t want to work with anyway. Deeper than that is Todd and NAR being seen as one entity, and probably Greg and C21 being seen the same way. Agents are told over and over again that they are independent contractors: there is no health care, no unemployment insurance, no vacation pay, no taxes taken out and matched by an employer. But are they really?
Well, it says right in my twitter profile that I like dark beer, so I toast you, Mike- until @RealtyMan tells me to change the wording!
There is too much to ponder! Coming back from 12 hours of CE where they drilled into us “lawsuit, lawsuit, lawsuit” it is easy to see how social media could be exploited for fun and profit.
I don’t think some people can be fully trusted in front of a keyboard CONNECTED to the interwebs.
That’s not a good thing if you are PAID to promote a brand…and continue to make enemies and public guffaws.
Leaving the Greg-Todd thing aside- because I believe higher powers are going to help that issue resolve, and because hyperbole is the entree of choice in many online forums anyway- I wanted to tackle the second part of your comment.
I will preface what I say with what Sherry Chris said today on the radio show. She felt that all too often brokers and agents were at odds with each other- and this is true from my observations as well. Neither trusts the other, and the consumer suffers from this.
The consumer should come first. Social media is here to stay, and is the consumer’s arena. Brokers and agents have to venture into the social media space to meet the consumer- and do it together. “How” is the question.
And social media for me- Todd has opened up NAR and it is great that he is so available. He called me a few weeks ago to answer a question I had- would I ever have expected a call from someone whose name was prominent on the NAR website before social media? And today we spoke with Sherry Chris- the president and CEO of BHGRE, and I meet people in these leadership positions all of the time. I feel that is the real beauty of social media- it decimates walls and levels mountains, and we can see each other face to face.
True. I know a LOT of people like that. Any of us in the business are paid to promote a brand and the example should be set from the top down. I would rather see an example be set than legislated. Sherry Chris mentioned that when they started the BHGRE blog, it was vetted by attorneys initially. I would hate to see that policy become standard practice.
Diane-
We keep talking about this because there IS so much to the story. First, on the human level, this story is as old as time: one human getting frustrated/offended by another and railing against that person in some public forum. The interesting difference today is that rant was recorded and remains accessible worldwide. The potential damage (to the reputation of both flamer and flamed) is far greater than would have been the case if the same things had been said in a bar 50 years ago. [I say "in a bar" and you reference people tweeting under the influence but, to be clear, I do not believe Greg was drunk on anything but anger.]
I still have questions about the accusations: 1) is there some grain of truth in Greg’s general complaints, 2) was there some other tweet, aside from the reciprocal linking tweet, that was deleted?
Another interesting piece: Todd’s response was extremely measured, very diplomatic, and nicely timed. In my view, he limited damage significantly by having an effective response. I found Hahn’s response to Swann equally effective in favor of the flamed.
To answer your hypothetical question from my broker perspective: if I ever saw one of my agent’s tweeting, “Great, another overpriced listing” or complaining about our clients in ANY fashion whether they are tweeting from the desk I pay for at the office or in their bed at night, I’d go ballistic.
Another question that doesn’t get discussed much is the public perspective of how much time agents actually spend on social networking sites. Is this the most effective use of my time if I have 5 homeowners who are anxiously awaiting offers so they can move on with their lives? Am I really working if I’m on twitter and facebook 4 hours/day? If I have so much free time to tweet and facebook, how busy am I actually working on my real estate transactions, or am I one of those agents who just puts the property on MLS and then waits for closing day so I can cash in.
No real order here, just musings, I’d done now *mwa*
Agreed- it is like 3 stories in one. I doubt that we have heard the whole story yet.
I’m curious. Do you have a social media/Internet policy in place at your office? Confidentiality is such a hard thing for human beings to wrap heir heads around. People assume that if they speak vaguely or change the names to protect the innocent that they can cause no harm and that is just not the case. As usual, a common-sense summary from you.
My two cents is coming late and probably won’t hold too much sense, but here it is anyways:
You need to watch what you say no matter where you are. I wouldn’t bad mouth a real estate transaction in a crowded coffee house lest I be overheard. That is how I treat Twitter.
Granted, I am bit more irreverant than many, but I try to focus on the positive, upbeat types of posts. When snarky I am never specific or personal.
My policy is this: if I would say it at a party, I will say it on Twitter. For me that leaves a lot of wiggle room, but I think it deliniates the ground.
What happened this weekend seems to be a tempest in a teapot with a lot of name calling, finger pointing, misunderstanding and egos involved. I didn’t respond to ANY of those posts because I don’t want to stir the bee’s nest on an issue that already has too many spoons in the pot.
Now that I have mixed every metaphor I have thought of, I think I will end my comment ;)
Being away for the weekend I was late to the play by play drama of this brouhaha. I don’t especially like snarkness and flame throwing at any time but when it involves my chosen profession — among people who are supposed to be colleagues — and when it takes place in public media outlets for all to see I find myself especially incensed and greatly embarrassed.
Lesley, I didn’t want to respond on any strings there either for fear of pouring gasoline onto an already raging fire (are we counting? How many metaphors does that make?) I did want to say what was on my mind about the larger implications of this, then I saw that my links pinged into the comment trail anyway. Unintended…
Good one to miss, IMO. :)
Just one point on Broker vs. Agent. We are going to see more and more one-person companies. We don’t really need to be under the “protective” wing of a Brokerage.
Get your Broker’s license and start your own company. That is NAR’s biggest fear.
Hey Diane,
First time at your blog. Being that I’m new to the real estate community, I don’t know too much about Gregg or Todd, nor am I choosing sides.
I do have an advertising degree and am active in the advertising and social media community. I’d just like to point out that yes, to some degree, agents are always at work.
Over on agentgenius, I used the example of @scottmonty. Scott is the Ford social media manager and a huge figure for Ford Motor Company. You better believe what he says from his own twitter account is reflective of Ford. Does that mean if he said something offensive that Ford would get sued? Probably not, but Scott would have to answer to Ford. Scott hasn’t done anything like this, he’s a great social media manager and I only use him as an example.
I feel like Todd should handle his account the same way. Disclaimer or not, he is the social media manager of a large organization and his social media networks need to keep PR concepts in mind.
Again, no opinion of who is right or wrong in the whole debacle, just that it’s silly to think your “personal” twitter account has no reflection on the brand you represent.
Nice post – Great title
Thanks Bill. I didn’t know when I linked your post that the pingback would be approved- didn’t mean to be a hijacker :(
I agree with what you say- particularly the last sentence. And I have seen agents, coming home after a frustrating event at work, slip and let loose in the stream something that could be construed to AT THE LEAST violate the COE.
It FEELS so private sometimes, this online world we live in. But confiding with friends in your living room and kvetching online are two different things. I know that I am always on guard about reining it in, although if you know me online, you can feel comfortable that I am nearly the same face to face- intentionally. My broker know who I am and trusts me, for the most part.
Do I make mistakes? All the time. Maybe we should operate on the buddy system.
Very clever play on words for your title. My commenting wit tends to flow a little easier after a glass of wine. But my late night looseness of the tongue is often due to the half of a sleeping pill I take! I probably would take back about 5% of my comments if I could.
That being said, on Twitter I keep a filter on how I respond to anyone.
One more thing, the reason that Twitter is so intriguing is that people do respond quickly, off the cuff, letting bits of their personality (let us not forget music by blip preferences) be revealed. Isn’t that why we tend to feel like we “know” someone after following each other after a while?
Without that approach it would be boring and I wouldn’t waste my time reading guarded, politically correct at all times responses. I can go to all of our “company” websites and newsletters for that kind of dialogue.
On a very personal level, this controversy has been very therapeutic for me.
Several times during the reading of the posts and comments I have wanted to jump out of my suit with self-righteous indignation and join in the rumble. I have been able to close Google Reader, count to 10, and go do something else.
That is great progress for me.
I agree, Your Honor! I think I am trying- on a personal level- to suss out what is appropriate. For example, back when I used to screen followers more carefully I was careful not to follow if someone said in their profile that they were ultraconservative and their tweets said that they were offended by my approach to twitter. Why offend someone and end up with a microflame? There were some people that I could not figure out why in the world they would follow me to start out with. There were red flags all over the place.
Then there are people who will read what I say on twitter and not respond to me in the stream. They either DM me or maybe post me on #FF. So I am definitely not speaking about being politically correct, because I probably don’t know how, and there is not an awful lot of humor in it from the inside.
LOL! You probably don’t want to get me going on the politically correct issue!!
I have seen real COE violations float by me. This is on a different level than ribaldry, I think.
I have not been following comment for comment. There is a self-correcting aspect to the comments that I see, to some degree- but this little video is tearing the scabs off of some wounds all the way around.
In a real sense- and saying this isn’t stirring the pot- this is about NAR, not Todd. People are angry with the entity itself. No judgement- just an observation.
When all is said and done, and I believer you’re right, there’s plenty of road left, when all is said and done, this will be a Hall Of Fame case study.
The lessons are A-Z. For example, your thoughtful post here has provided a felt safe-harbour forum/voice, for some who want to share, but don’t want to swim around in the choppy comment waters of the original post. Interesting stuff.
Thanks.
Glad you are swimming here. As I said, I and several of my friends did not comment over at the original posts not due to a lack of solidarity for any party or other people involved, but because what solutions are going to show up there? I think you are right- opinion is not going to matter. This is going to end up as a case study between god-knows-who when it is all over.
The rest of us need to figure out what we are going to do moving forward, I think. Thank you for your great comment, Ken.
[...] Post #2 Give me your keys- I’ll drive you home [...]