Comments on: When It’s Not So Transparent

By: Where Do You Fall? « Elaine Bussjaeger’s Blog

Where Do You Fall? « Elaine Bussjaeger’s Blog — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 17:14:13 +0000

[...] social media. As I have said before, some professionals have had the misfortune to be caught lying (Whole Foods). But for most professionals, who have no intention of being fraudulent, where does the line fall [...]

By: Kendall

Kendall — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:18:32 +0000

I also completely agree with your post on how companies need to pay special attention to being transparent online especially since virtually everything is saved and can be traced back to the original sender. I find it completely dishonest for a CEO of a corporation to personally use or either condones suck underhanded methods of attacking competitors. It seems like a corporation should realize how much more credible their organization would seem to be if they just were open and honest about their criticism for their competition.

By: Colleen McCarron

Colleen McCarron — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Wow, I had no idea that happened! What Whole Foods did was completely abuse the social media system for its own advantage. A CEO is someone the organization looks to for guidance and to be the face of the company; setting an example like that brings down the credibility and reputation of the company. I definitely agree that he should have identified himself before posting about a competitor. Ethics really should be emphasized in the bloggosphere. They are tricky to deal with online because you never know who someone claims to be, just like Mackey. For social media to be honest and reliable, people must be honest about who they are online.

By: Jessica Goodman

Jessica Goodman — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:42:52 +0000

Elaine, I completely agree with your point in this post about just how important it is for companies to be transparent in their new social media efforts. Without being honest with your constituents, you are basically throwing away any positive feelings that the public may have about your company and its reputation. In the case of the Whole Foods situation that you discussed, I also agree with you in that the CEO should have been honest about his identity from the beginning. No matter the company, I feel that it is important that the CEO realize his or her role as a face of the company, further understanding how important it is that he or she truly embody the company’s values in his or her actions both in person and on the Web.