Earlier today I presented to the West Midlands PR and Marketing group of the Association of Colleges about social media. As regular readers of this blog know, I often present about this subject, but usually to university or business audiences. Presenting to colleges was particularly interesting. Typically I make the point that if an organisation chooses to do nothing else with social media, then they should at least listen to/watch what is being said about their brand online. That is just basic reputation monitoring and reputation management - the core business of the PR professional. However, I was appalled today to hear just how many PR and marketing professionals can't access social media sites on their work computers because the college network blocks them.
Now, I understand all the arguements for e-safety, time-wasting, etc etc, but I really would urge anyone out there responsible for what PR and marketing officers can and can't access at work to stop and think about the reputational impact of what others might be saying about your brand online. It is essential that college staff are able to monitor this, and reputational risks could be considerable if they can't manage this because they can't access those sites. So please, college principals and IT directors, let technology be the enabler that it is and break down these barriers that are preventing people from doing their job well!
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