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Don’t we all get excited when we see those envelopes marked ‘confidential’ with a big red stamp? Fact: We all love to get our hands on information, especially those that are marked ‘confidential’ or classified as ‘top secret’. Upon seeing those red markings, we (ie. those of us who watch too many action movies) tend to associate them with secret government agencies. However, thanks to the internet, the whole world is able to get their hands on top secret information - information that is not meant to be seen by the public- simply by a click of a mouse.
Today’s crucial secret information leakages such the specifications of the newest iPhone or BlackBerry (there are even websites that are dedicated to leaking these), unreleased clips of the most recent Harry Potter movies, and not too long ago, yet-to-be-released new songs from Lady Gaga and Kanye West are readily available in the cyber world. Right now, we can even get the leaked ‘holy grail’ recipe of Coca Cola. A few years ago, the possibility that we can actually make Coca Cola from the comforts of our own home was unimaginable! (Well, not that I do this now since buying it in the supermarket downstairs is so much more convenient)
Robin Morgan, an American activist, once said “The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility”. Once upon a time, this might be entirely true as only the rich and the high-ranking members of society get access to certain information, because having important information is power. But now, the ease of uploading of information on the net means that the value of certain ‘confidential’ information is greatly reduced.
Any types of leakage always come from an imperfectly sealed container. Since the creation of a phenomenon called the internet, the construction of this container is becoming harder and harder. Not only do companies have to worry about people obtaining their secret information, be it from the inside, or by extremely smart beings called hackers, nowadays this information can be shared as fast as Greased Lightning. And yes, Social Media plays a big role in the sharing of this type of information. Everyone is all about sharing secrets and hot gossips with their friends- all 873 of them on Facebook.
As more and more people live their lives through social media, the owner and the creator of information can no longer control the spread of it. It is a fact that companies can no longer ignore the phenomenon that social media is and have to really consider it into the equation of their marketing strategies because information leaks can be as harmful and corrosive a chemical leakages.
Information that is not released to plan can often greatly decrease the value of the marketing efforts put into it. On the other hand, Social Media is also extremely powerful for damage-control as we are all aware of the immense value of positive word-of-mouth. The way to look at it is that Social Media can be both be a friend or a foe, or in the context of this article, a drain or a plug.
Written on Tuesday, 24 May 2011 09:41 by Conny Wiryawan
