Indestructible Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis Molly McPherson

Indestructible Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis Molly McPherson

CHAPTER 1
YOUR TRUSTED GUIDE
Working as a consultant, workshop facilitator, public speaker, and podcaster,

I get to speak with people who span all generations: college students, Baby

Boomers, Millennials, and even some seventy-four-year-old
directors serving on their organization’s board. I work with senior leaders
in the C-suite as well as directors in the boardroom. In these face-to-face
interactions and in my talks and workshops about public relations, media
training, communications, and crisis communications, the conversations
eventually turn to technology, social media, and online reputations.
Through my years of work, I have observed more and more people
jump into the digital and social game. Five years ago, when I would
stand in front of a room of Baby Boomers and ask how many were on
Facebook, only one quarter of the room would admit to using the social
platform. The remainder would tell me how silly it was to waste time on
social media. These same people were proud to whip out their flip phone
from their back pocket and tell me that “this thing” was all they needed.
(These were always men, by the way. My theory is because women are
typically responsible for more schedules, they were quicker to embrace
smartphones.)
I notice these disparate opinions every time I stand in a hotel conference

room and discuss the impact of social media on a business or organization.

I can smell the fear of the older generations as soon as they tell me
their excuses for why they would never waste their time on social media. 

The Gen Xers and the Millennials? Well, they just sit back and shake their
heads. They know better.
There is an absolute line of demarcation between the people who get
the need and benefits of social media and those who do not, and never
will. You either know how to use the medium in many of its forms to
make your life easier and a little more entertaining, or you don’t. The
people who do know usually understand the problems as well. Social
media is an imperfect medium.
For the people who fully embrace the technology, chances are they
are what we call Digital Natives. Many of these people grew up with an
iPad in their hands at school or at least had access to a computer in their
house. Their young minds were wired to grasp the concept of handheld or
desktop technology and quickly learned to navigate the features.
What this group doesn’t understand, however, is how the older generations

feel about using the technology. Although someone in the Baby
Boomer or Silent Generation may need a few additional beats to get

upand-running on an iPhone or Dell desktop computer, this group has the
ability to master technology the same way as their younger counterparts,
perhaps only at a different speed.
It’s not how they use technology, necessarily; it’s how they feel about
it. There is a hesitation due to the unknown of an iPhone’s power. It’s
fear, plain and simple. It’s knowing there is a distinct possibility that a
person can quickly embarrass themselves online from not understanding
the exact protocol of using social media or not knowing where to locate
the “kill switch” if the wrong words are used online.
Growing up, this group likely learned from a teacher standing at the
front of a room with chalk and a black chalkboard. Assignments were
completed on paper using a pencil. Erasing a mistake was as simple as
turning the pencil around—the mistake never to be seen again. But there
isn’t an eraser powerful enough to remove the wrong statement indelibly
posted to Twitter by a retweet.
On the one hand, going viral is aspirational for people who seek to
build authority online. The publicity! The retweets! Alternatively, viral
fame can cost a person dearly if it is damaging to their reputation.
I understand this fear. The internet has opened up wide vistas of possibilities

for people and the brands they promote, but navigating this new 

Indestructible Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis Molly McPherson