Keyboards in the hands of many are mightier than swords

Rumors and word of mouth are a part of every culture, but I have always believed that in China, rumors have even stronger currency than other countries. In China, traditional media, for various reasons, is trusted less than other countries. This means that to get the "real" story, you have to go through unofficial channels. I remember my Chinese colleagues in November 2002 talking about a strange virus they read about on BBS which was causing a flood of patients in hospitals in Guangzhou. It was until April of 2003 that that rumor was officially reported in Chinese media and called SARS.

Rumors of course can have a huge impact on your business. Just in the last couple of weeks, I have come across several interesting cases of rumors on BBS and blogs:

HIV Watermelons: China Law Blog points to a Shanghai Daily story of rumor surrounding the Liquan 'brand' of watermelons being injected with HIV blood. "The police said it was possible that someone spread the rumor to reap commercial benefit." This story is now being spread on BBS sites like this.

Clark Kent and the Crazy Commentator: Danwei discusses text being zhuanzai'ed (copy/pasted) on BBS and blogs, supposedly from AP, that 30 Australians surrounded the Australian Embassy in Beijing, demanding that the ambassador make a formal complaint to the Chinese government regarding the overtly Italy biased commentary by sports broadcaster Huang Jianxiang (黄健翔) during the controversial Italy vs. Australia football match. Interestingly, Danwei could never find the original AP story, which was suspiciously written by Clark Kent. Clearly, someone, disguised as Superman, is out to get Mr. Huang?

Don't get mad, just spread rumors: Two weeks ago, a company in Beijing requested we submit a proposal to monitor their brand on BBS and blogs. The reason? Negotiations for a new contract with an existing partner had turned ugly, and the partner was threatening to spread nasty rumors on the niche (and influential) BBS and blogs forums covering their industry.

Certainly, false, misleading and/or planted articles in mainstream media are nothing new to China and other countries.

What's different now with social media such as BBS and blogs is that ANYONE is a publisher. Anyone can write about your brands, products or services. And thanks to things like RSS and copy and paste, rumors are now created, amplified, and perpetuated with an incredible efficiency and extent and companies absolutely no control. To add even more salt to the wounds, thanks to search engines, these rumors are archived and can be found for years to come with Google, Baidu, Qihoo and the like.

So what can companies do? First, be prepared. What forums or blogs discuss your brands, products and services the most? These are the place where rumors are most likely to appear first or at least early. Learn what these and monitor them on a regular basis coupled with searches on Qihoo or Teein.

If a crisis is brewing or becomes full blown, it is essential to work with a PR firm or an agency like CIC data (cough... shameless plug) with a deep understanding of Chinese social media to determine how (or if) to react and to really measure and understand the true impact. (For more than you ever wanted to know about Big Agency vs. Specialized Agency for social media servives, see here).

One word of caution: Responding directly to negative posts on BBS and blogs can be a very dangerous approach if not carefully managed. You don't want to get into a shouting match with a consumer in a public space.

Each situation is different, and the strategy can vary according to how well known the brand is, if the rumors are being orchestrated by a competitor, or if it is a single, unhappy customer....There are many factors to consider (a discussion for another time)


Related article: Mob rule on China's Internet: The keyboard as weapon