Self-Policing Social Media Networks — An Unscientific Poll

Nice Car — What’s the Full Story?

This weekend I had some first-hand experience with policing conduct online. I’m active in some BMW online forums, and I saw the car above offered for sale. But, it looked awfully familiar.

In a forum focused on the E39 M5, this nice looking, low mileage 2002 was offered for private sale locally in McLean, VA. It’s appearance, description and mileage seemed identical to a car I had seen advertised just a few weeks before at a local Lexus dealership. In the photos, the car even had the Lindsay Lexus license plate holder. This guy had bought the car and was now turning around and selling it again after just a few weeks of ownership — and trying to make a nice profit to boot.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. But he didn’t disclose any of this in the online listing — in fact, he used terms like “it’s time to sell my E39 M5” and “it’s sad to see it go.” Hmm… a little deceptive IMHO. Here’s the thread.

I might have been interested in this car, and I asked him how long he’d owned it. No reply. Then some other local guys chimed in and gave lots of detail on the car, removing all doubt. The seller still has yet to respond in any way.

This got me thinking about how social media communities regulate behavior. My wife Gabriele opined that this was none of my business — caveat emptor being the law of the land with used cars. She felt it’s the buyer’s problem to research and get to the bottom of the car. No doubt all buyers need to do their homework. But as a long-time member of the boards, I felt I had a responsibility to ask the question. Not to jump to conclusions, but to share what I knew.

I asked the E39 Forum what they thought, and in a very unscientific survey so far it’s 92% Yes say something, 8% No let buyer worry about it. That post is here.

It’s the same dynamic when I counsel clients using social media channels — transparency is the coin of the realm. In fact, I’ve pushed back with clients who want Strategic to handle everything online. Yes we can advise, yes we can draft thoughts, yes we can scout out and highlight online opportunities. But if the client isn’t directly involved and sharing his or her expertise, then culturally they are not getting what social media is about.

I hope this guy sells his car. But the lesson here is engage in online communities when you know the rules, and you’re ready to keep it real.