Speaking at the AIIM/info360 Conference in Washington, D.C., this week, John Mancini, the president of AIIM talked about the changing face of business. Mancini indicated that AIIM surveys found 45 percent of respondent companies still bar access to social systems from inside the firewall. In Mancini's view, "Simply saying no is not the answer."

Indeed, as social media grows, the reaction of many hardened IT Pros is to lock it down. As the idea is that putting up shields protects the company from the obvious governance and oversight issues you face when you let your employees loose on Facebook and Twitter (not to mention the perceived time wasting going on during work time on social sites). The trouble with that thinking however is that it can be counter-productive because it shuts down a very valuable direct channel to your customers.

For Mancini, this is looking at the problem from a "systems of record" perspective where you are thinking in terms of records and governance. He talked about AIIM's theories of moving from a systems of record mentality to one of systems of engagement. The engagement part comes from communicating directly with customers, partners and other interested parties in the social channel.

Today, the relationship between the customers and companies is changing. In the old model, you spoke to them with a carefully crafted message, but that dynamic has shifted with social media, which gives your customers a megaphone to talk about you and your products outside of your direct control.

That means instead of talking at customers, they are talking about you. What's more, people on social networks are looking more and more to their friends for product and service recommendations. When you lock down social media you are ignoring a valuable direct communications channel with your customers.

A good example of that advantage, on Twitter, is @comcastcares. Comcast made a conscious decision to monitor what their customers were saying about them on Twitter. When someone complains about Comcast service, a customer service representative monitoring Twitter for company mentions, immediately gets in touch and attempts to resolve the problem. If Comcast simply ignored Twitter because they saw it as a waste of time or a possible security or governance problem, they would be missing this valuable opportunity to interact directly with customers and resolve issues before they escalate.

In addition, when individuals have problems, people not associated with Comcast have suggested that their friends contact @comcastcares directly to resolve issues, providing a positive social connection between the customer and the company inside the social channel.

You certainly have the right to just say no to social media, but when you do so, you are essentially like the monkeys with your hands over your ears, eyes and mouths. You might not be talking, listening or seeing what's going on in social media, but that doesn't mean people aren't talking about you. By shutting down access, you are losing as much or more as you could be gaining when you talk directly to your customers.

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