Discussing our “Infodemic” as part of a PRSA Webinar Series

On Tuesday, November 16th, I joined Vivian Schiller and moderator Jim O’Leary to discuss our current “infodemic” for a PRSA webinar titled “A Communicator’s Strategic and Tactical Guide to Disinformation and Digital Protection”.?

Vivian has extensive media experience, whether it as President/CEO of NPR or head of news for Twitter or her current role as Executive Director at The Aspen Institute. And as you know, I teach, counsel, and innovate with the private and public sector on how we improve our ability to combat disinformation worldwide.

Here are seven key learning’s from our webinar.

#1 – We are Experiencing a Long-term Infodemic – whether we think of Russia disinforming us about covid-19 or how white supremacists try to recruit or how adversaries distort the truth in any venue, disinformation is here to stay. We should assume that bad actors will increase their capabilities. We are in a race to understand what to do and how to diminish their impact.

#2 – Avoid the “Data Void” – when an organization has a small digital footprint, your risk is far higher if you are attacked with disinformation. Think of a simple google search. If your company or brand is showing up with 20,000 or 200,000 results when you do a search query, you are at high risk. The best defense is a great offense. Tell your story widely, use the right keywords and create density for your top search queries, so you have 2,000,000 results, not 20,000. Think of it as a digital insurance policy.

#3 – Expertise in Understanding Bad Actors is a Fundamental Skill Required of Leaders Today – every chief communications officer and their teams should understand three important areas of intelligence – a) who is disparaging your company/brand/leaders b) which antagonists are going against your company and how do they plan/act online and c) which criminals are likely to attack your company and how do you track them, e.g., ransomware, counterfeits, IP theft.

#4 – “Countering” Disinformation is Not the Answer – when you counter a person or group, you are telling them they are incorrect. This irritates the person/group, makes them more determined and usually exacerbates the situation. Think of what happens when you tell a teenager not to do something. We’re all wired that way. The answer is to not counter, but to build a powerful narrative, tell our story in the right places, use the right keywords, and outmaneuver bad actors. Strategic communication is the answer. Be smarter than our adversaries, not combative.

#5 – We Will Shift from Listening to Intelligence Platforms – social media listening platforms continue to serve a purpose. Just imagine their insights as one-half of what you need. The other half is understanding who is against you, who is dissatisfied and what you can learn about them. This can help with a range of organizational needs, including improving customer experience, preparing for an activist attack, or slowing down the counterfeiting of your most important goods and services. We are really redefining how we look at crisis/issues management and how we prepare for the future via an intelligence platform that educates us, helps us prepare and more.

#6 – Study the Future to Understand How to Prepare – we know now that we can build content into blocks, enabling one person to create hundreds or thousands of posts, videos, and audio clips in any language. This 1:30 model is new but will be mainstream before we know it. I’m an advisor to a company that can do this today, as an example. As communicators, how many of us are exploring this technology now or other breakthroughs? And this is the point. Focus on the next 3-5 key technologies that will evolve our function and be ready to utilize it for good uses. If you don’t know what they are, ask and learn how to keep up with what’s next.

#7 – Check Out Aspen Institute for More Info – The Aspen Institute is providing excellent information related to our infodemic. See more on Vivian and team here. There is a continual flow of education and insights from leaders that are worth your time.

Overall, let’s view this moment as one where we can take a fresh look at how we protect our organization’s reputation. It is time for us to redefine how we prepare and conduct for issues, crises and more. The old way might keep us out of the headlines, but it doesn’t solve the problem. It’s the start, not the finish.

Our companies, communities, citizens and even our country are counting on us.

Best, Bob?