23,569 times is a problem

The word problematic and its usage in today's parlance is, well, problematic. Google's fun tool, the Books NGram Viewer, shows that usage of the word has steadily risen since the 60s.?

In the last week, “problematic” was tweeted 23,569 times.??

Four of the five top tweets were all attempts to call out a public figure for their behavior. Interestingly, none of those four tweets mentioned what the “problematic” individual did. The tweets only sought to label the individual and knock them down a peg. The outlier tweet? It was a BTS fan tweet defending a member (Jungkook) when others were calling him problematic.?

Looking at social data every day, I can tell you it’s become the catch-all word for anything we don’t like, can’t figure out, or are just difficult. It’s a way of othering and marginalizing things, people, and ideas.

When we label something as “problematic,” we say it doesn’t fit into our neat little boxes. It challenges our view of social norms - which seem to change daily - and allows digital audiences to put down companies or individuals.

How does this relate to corporate reputation? Our team monitors social conversations about challenging and complex issues daily. Digital audiences will call corporate decisions “problematic,” “tone deaf,” or “out of touch.” But these same audiences will laud companies that make decisions they see as beneficial to society. It’s only problematic to the individuals saying as such. The naysayers have no idea about the company’s market research, sales demographics, growth goals, and, ultimately, what’s in the hearts of its leaders.

So how can you tell if your company is really facing a reputation problem and not just getting problematicked to death? Here are three questions to consider:

1. Do you have a clear understanding - using qualitative and quantitative data - of your stakeholders’ values and how they might view this decision?

2. Are you being transparent about your decision-making process?

3. Are you confident that your decision is right for the company?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate. I'm not saying the decision is wrong, but getting a firm "yes" to the above questions will probably avoid additional headache.

It’s critical to understand the landscape in which you’ll make that decision and, when made, capture how it was received and by whom. Only then can you improve your corporate decision-making and communications strategy.

If you’re still not sure, send me a note. I’m always happy to help.