Content Marketing - It's My Facebook And I'll Do What I Want To

Not sure if everyone's been following the latest with the Manhattan Borough President's press secretary Lee Lander. Apparently Lee went off on a bit of a rant about Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. It wasn't the nicest of rants either, with the racist epithet coming up on a number of occassions.

I'm not going to delve into what this aide said in his rant, but rather how absurd his idea that his facebook account shouldn't have been used against him, and that some things are "private." The idea that "hey, it's my facebook and I'll do what I want to," "free speech protects me no matter what I say," and "but, I did it on my own time," are played out. The idea that in this day of blogs, tweets, podcasts and mobile media, that anything you say is private is borderline absurd. No longer is it just Lindsay Lohan and Barack Obama who are being picked up. It is you, me, and eveyone else. Your work, your play, your life is all out there. For anyone and everyone to see and use as they wish. Whether that is fair or not is a whole other discussion. The fact is, we are all now public beings - public brands.

If you think about it, it's really not all that bad. It just means we're all being held accountable for being true to ourselves and our personal brands. No longer can we have secret lives. No longer can we lead double standards. If we deviate, in time we'll most assuridly get caught. Especailly if it is a big enough blunder - i.e., a rant that attaches your personal view of racism to a national event.

So how does this all come into the content marketing arena? Think about it. It's all content. A 140 character tweet, a uTube video, a blog entry. It's all content, which can be used to positively position a product or a person. Or negatively position them.

So next time, watch it. Take a step back before you publish your post. Think about what you're writing, speaking, videotaping, and ask yourself, is this something I can agree with, even if it's taken out of context? Is this true to your brand - personal or professional?