ESPN the latest big media corp to struggle with social engagement

August 5, 2009 · Posted in Media Criticism 
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Twitter and other social media sites have broken down a lot of barriers between the personal and professional.

This has led major media organizations (not to mention professional sports organizations) to clamp down on the social media craze by developing policies about these forms of expression. ESPN is the latest media entity to find itself navigating the waters of social media note about 'social media'» . And the results are mixed.

Jennifer Van Grove first reported yesterday that ESPN was putting the clamp down on employee twittering. Then, there was ESPN’s response, which was pure spin. You can read the entire ESPN social media policy at Van Grove’s update blog post.

There are some solid points in the ESPN guidelines, points that I’ve mentioned elsewhere (like not sharing internal deliberations – something that could kill morale in a newsroom). Overall, however, the policy is just as heavy-handed as some previous policies that I’ve seen, and really shows how much corporate hand-wringing can stifle individual creativity and things that would – in my opinion – benefit the company.

Of course, ESPN’s policy pales in comparison to the crackdown that’s been happening in the National Football League on players tweeting from training camp.

Ultimately, these policies which attempt to bureaucratize social media interaction will end up harming the company’s standing in the eyes of viewers who participate in social media. I don’t follow any twitter denizens whose sole purpose is to promote the corporate line (whatever that may be). If I want that, I’ll read PR Newswire or the web site. Give me someone real or I can do without. I suspect many Twitterers would agree.

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By “social media,” I am of course assuming that blogs and other earlier forms of “web 2.0″ publishing were actually “social media” as well, but did not have the same levels of connectivity as the current crop of social media web sites do.

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