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Is there a Social Media Dress Code? Should there be? Is it situational? Does it matter? Should it?

I say no. If I’m heading down to a big law firm, a big company or walking into a half-century-old PR firm who buttons up, ya, I pull on the suit and rope on the tie. While I do dress according to my day, I can’t wait to stop. I understand that traditional business is suited up, dressed to the 9s and perhaps a bit more conservative and structured. However, Social Media is about channels of connection, it’s about brand championing, it’s about reaction-engagement-participation. Social Media is about common language communication and time and space shift*.

I contend that dressing Social Media in a suit actually inhibits it. Think about it like this – are you more apt to give a real answer in a focus group observation room with 1 way mirrors and a camera or in a cafe, at your home or somewhere you feel comfortable? Is your conversation and thought process more natural when you’ve ironed your shirt and lint-brushed your trousers or when you’ve pulled on the sweats and are sitting in a more ergonomic chair not worrying about wrinkles and dog hair? The point is, for Social Media to be effective [read: gain valuable insight, true connection, trust and reliance] it needs to be second nature, unobtrusive and comfortable.

To that end, were I heading a large company/department looking to at least explore and hopefully implement a Social Media campaign, I would actually feel more comfortable talking with someone “dressed down”. 1. Social Media is trendy – I expect domain experts and thought leaders to reflect this 2. Successful Social Media implementation is not a toe in the water, it is commitment. As described above, someone consulting on this and coaching my people toward a positive result and experience should fully embrace the realm and “personality”. I’m pretty sure clients/customers would rather be talking to someone “like them” horizontally than a suit from above. As Cone points out, 93% of Americans expect companies to have a Social Media presence. 93% of Americans (all of us consumers of something and clients of someone) do not wear suits.

Again to the time and space shift* – Social Media pieces aren’t used in a conference room or in a board meeting (well, some are getting tweeted out!) but on breaks, on the run, on the road, after hours. Social Media is used/produced around life. If that life happens to be a business professional meeting, then by all means rock the double-breasted. However, just because you’re used to seeing a suit doesn’t mean that your clients and customers want to talk to you in it = your SM campaign doesn’t need to wear one = the thought leaders, domain experts consultants and participants in the field probably won’t be wearing them… at least not all the time.

*(time and space shift is Dave Berkus language)

What do you think? Should big corporate get used to seeing backwards hats, jeans and sneaks when they’re learning about the world of Social Media and how it can and will connect them more intimately with their clients, industry and (the way things are heading) the world?

one.

nick @NickSeguin