There is a double standard that has evolved in social media.
It is one where we have no problem using the space to call brands out on their shortcomings, yet it is taboo to question the people calling out the brands in a similar manner.
One group is looked at as protectors of the average consumer and the other is quickly labeled as trolls.
But is this fair or true?
While this is clearly a sensitive subject, aren’t these individuals subject to the same examination as the brands they critique?
The Person and The Personal Brand
When building a personal brand, someone is essentially splitting themselves in two. There is an individual that you may have met and even like, but who you probably don’t really know, then there is a brand that you are likely very familiar with and learned a lot from over the years.
While the two are deeply entwined, they are still separate entities and this often complicates things. It becomes difficult to tell if you are questioning one or the other. Even when you are honestly questioning the practices of a personal brand, you are intrinsically implicating the character of the person behind it. It is often not what is intended, but it is nearly impossible to avoid.
This Isn’t Anything New
The funny thing about this “personal branding” phenomena, it isn’t new.
Fashion brands, artists, craftsmen, retailers and jewelry designers (this is the world from which I hail) have been blending their name and their business for years. Yet they have reached a certain scale where we wouldn’t hesitate to criticize them. We manage to see companies like Donna Karin, David Yurman and Calvin Klein as entities and manage to marginalize the person at the center.
It seems fair to assume that we will soon arrive at a point where the same holds true for social media leaders. That we will inevitably get to a point where you can question the brand without questioning the character of the person.
Let’s Be Honest For A Second
If our company screwed up, you would not hesitate to rake us over the coals. Entire blogs and many a blog post are dedicated to the many missteps of brands. These days, there doesn’t even need to be a mistake.
Oftentimes, logical but poorly communicated changes are prone to kinds of emotional reactions we see all too often on the web. When this happens, we feel entitled to dissect these instances, regardless of how many people might work there.
Yet when it comes to a personal brand, especially the one-person businesses that have emerged out of social media, we just don’t seem to know the ground rules for disagreement.
So Where Do We Go From Here?
We need to figure out what it means when a name stands for both a person and a brand. The space is reaching a point where it becomes more and more challenging to separate the person from their ideas. This is especially difficult when you think about just how involved we’ve all become in watching these personal brands emerge and how emotional (regardless if we agree or disagree) we tend to get when things change.
So let me know what you think and try to avoid words like A-lister, hater or anything of the like. Let’s put the emotion to the side for a change and really try and talk about the realities of the criticism of a personal brand.
image: End Of The Line
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Michael Schechter is the Digital Marketing Director for Honora Pearls, a company specializing in freshwater pearl jewelry. He also writes about all things digital over at his blog, and knows his way around a fine single malt scotch.
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