BUSINESSES will be able to monitor their reputation on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and react in "real time" using a service launched this month by Scottish company Reputation Plus.
Set up by Neil MacLean, a former journalist, and Claire Dean, a TV and radio reporter and presenter, Reputation Plus claims to offer the first "online, real time customer service for UK business".
MacLean and Dean both have experience in digital m
edia. They have gathered evidence showing that what is said about businesses by users of sites such as Twitter and Facebook has a major impact on the level of trust felt by the public.
MacLean gave the example of the backlash this year against furniture chain Habitat which has an official feed to promote its products on Twitter. It blamed an "overenthusiastic intern" for using online interest in the Iran protests to promote their spring sale on the site.
Reputation Plus offers three services to monitor "tweets" for clients. They are First Response, which identifies all mentions of the brand in social space; Active Content, which responds to mentions; and Total Engagement to set up digital media campaigns.
MacLean said: "We're offering this to all businesses but in the financial services sector, in particular, online reputation is all about trust. Companies are spending marketing money on old channels but reports say that they should spend about 25 per cent of their budget on new media."
Despite the threat that "tweeters", including employees, can pose to a firm's reputation, research by technology firm Bloxx warns businesses should not place an outright ban on social networking. Its report explains how businesses should manage social networking and why they should have a strategy in place which all employees are aware of.
Jim Black, marketing manager of Bloxx, said: "The problem is if social networking is seen as a free-for-all – the natural reaction of businesses is to ban it outright."
He said a better approach is to manage the issue, as "generation Y" have been brought up on digital media and expect to use it in a business environment.
The risks to business of not managing social networking are a reduction in productivity and reputational damage. Black said employees should know they could be at risk of losing their job if they damage the reputation of their employer, even if they are using a social networking site at home. "Businesses should develop an acceptable use policy. Rather than keeping it in their drawer until something goes wrong, employees should be constantly reminded of what is acceptable."
The survey found 42 per cent of companies have a policy that bans staff from social networking sites.
Polly Purvis, executive director of technology trade body ScotlandIS, said: "Businesses need to strike the right balance when they set out policies around staff accessing digital communications."
