The New Honesty...?

In a post on her small business blog, Rochell Paul admits to not yet using Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn, and that's fine -- though I have to admit that I'm surprised that a small business blogger would be entering into the SM game this late. But that's not what I want to talk about.

What I want to talk about is this quote from her post:

We all need to understand that a major part of Social Media is transparency. Honesty. The idea that we are open and honest about our role, and intentions.

Of course, I agree completely with that statement. Who wouldn't? But I guess I'm just a bit flummoxed that this honesty and transparency business is treated as such a strange new idea in Web marketing. The Cluetrain Manifesto raised this issue a decade ago. I don't mean to single out Rochell in this; the information she presents in her post is worthwhile, and she is very upfront in her admission of social media newbie-osity. And she's certainly not the only blogger to address the issue.

But the big, obvious question is: why do honesty and transparency attract so much attention in the currently relentless discussion about social media? Why are honesty and transparency treated as innovative marketing concepts? Why do some people and some organizations struggle with those ideas? What does this say about "conventional" marketing practice?

Of course, Twitter and Facebook and other social media tools aren't immune to the kind of dishonesty and opacity that can make conventional marketing so annoying. So maybe posts like Rochell's deserve more credit than I'm giving them. Human nature being what it is, maybe we need to be reminded again and again that honesty is good marketing practice, that it's good, period.

Read Rochell's post: Twittering with honesty: being who you are on Twitter and Facebook