If you are an "oldie" like me, you probably find yourself using the term "young people" more often every day, but you also probably remember crisis communications being an exception rather than an everyday occurrence.
The advent of the Interweb, along with e-mail, blogs and now social networks, has meant that new previously unseen crises (or maybe we should call them issues) emerge on a more regular basis than ever before. A mis-sent e-mail or a rumour on a blog create a growing number of issues or crises every day.
But this isn’t just a corporate issue. Oh no. This is a personal issue also.
Valleywag has an interesting story [via Peter Shankman] on how a bank worker told his boss that he wouldn’t be able to come to work because "something came up at home". The only problem was that the "something" was a party and he posted photos on his social network page, which of course was accessible to everyone…. including his boss.
It’s an interesting development.
A University lecturer told me earlier this year that students often look for deadline extensions on work because they’ve been "sick" only for their social network pages to tell a different story.
There’s no doubt organisations are facing more "issues" thanks to the Interweb, but the issue of "personal branding" should also be a concern for everyone. What you publish, others can read, whether that’s a blog, a comment or a social network. What do the search engines say about you?
I think we can expect more of this in the future.
Murphy's Law 