Can Social Media Work Protect Your Job?

So I’ve been working with one of our clients on the development of a fairly complex social media monitoring and response program, and inevitably, as you dig into initiatives like this and begin enlisting the help of subject matter experts inside the organization, you get the question:

“So, what’s in it for me? Why should I do this?”

Over the last few years, this was one of those soft ball question, you know, the kind you hope someone floats across the meeting room table so you can talk about the “virtues and values” of one-to-one communication and all its promises and potential for companies on the web. There’s always been an easy emotional appeal here as well, one that gets to an employee’s desire to contribute to the health and fortune of their great company, and, well, let’s admit it, there’s an appeal to their personal ego here too — because after all, you know, they’re the experts.

Nowadays, however, with recent shifts in the economy, answering this question has taken a twist.

“What’s in it for you? Well, it could be your job.”

Here’s the thing: corporate social media initiatives, be they in the form of blogs, communities, edgework, or otherwise, almost unilaterally offer two unique advantages to those inside a company that choose to participate in them and, well, it bears blogging about:

It’s a simple point of differentiation. As an employee, by choosing to invest your time and energy to help the company with these types of projects, you’re demonstrating an incremental value-add, perhaps even enough to differentiate you from your peers. And yes, sometimes, it’s these small differences that impact big decisions.

It’s personal brand building. By using these initiatives to share and show what you know, you’re extending your knowledge of an industry and in that process, building your personal brand — and that’s something that stays with *you* inside the company, and follows with you when you leave it.

Now the caveat: None of this completely insulates anyone from the economy and the tough business decisions being made right now, but it’s something to consider if you’re in a position where you have to appeal to others inside an organization for help with certain initiatives, or you’re on the other side of this offer, trying to figure out what’s in it for you…