Business Week used this headline for a great article in the July 31 issue. The story gave examples of how employers are getting beat up on MySpace's companies and co-workers section. According to the article, there are more than 25,000 such groups on MySpace, taking shots at a myriad of employers.
What amazed us was how some companies continue to ignore the impact these sites can have. AMC Theaters led the pack when -- after being shredded in a group called "AMC Worked Me" -- offered this response:
Social networking sites are not official communication vehicles for AMC [Theaters], but we recognize that they exist.
Seems a bit like the head of security at a bank noting that "guns are not an official way to withdraw money from our institution, but we recognize it happens." People -- in this case, your employees -- are talking about you in a very public forum. Official or not, you may want to work on the problem.
Sites like MySpace are far from a 100 percent accurate source, but any company -- especially one that wants to sell to or employ young people -- would be wise to do more with such postings than simply "recognize they exist."