Transparency is a Must for Social Media

For those who are tempted to post under online pseudonyms to push their product or service, the latest in a long line of corporate faux pas provides a valuable lesson. Raymond Ridder, the Golden State Warrior’s media relations director, decided to post a comment on the team’s blog  stating he had already renewed his season tickets and defending the team’s general manager. The problem?  Ridder failed to identity himself as being part of the organization and instead posted under the name “Flunkster Dude.”  It’s hard to fool true bloggers and his identity was quickly revealed — at which point it got ugly.

Posting under a pseudonym to promote your company is akin to putting on Groucho Marx glasses for a television interview — it seldom works and you end up looking both desperate and slippery.

Brandon always preaches complete transparency in social media and, with this latest high profile example, we can see just how important this message is.