Guest Blog Post by Hareesh Tibrewala, Joint CEO, Social Wavelength.

The word “Global Village” has been on top of the charts for many years now. You can’t be at an IT conference and not hear this word at least a few times in the day. But we are truly becoming a global village only now…with the advent of Social Networking Sites.

One huge shift that I see on account of social networking sites, will be an overall shift towards more honesty in general human behavior. That is a very bold statement to make and I rest my case on the following:

• In the good old times, when we lived in villages, it was difficult for someone to cheat another person…. simply because everyone “knew” or was “connected” everyone. In a megapolis like Mumbai, where neighbors are strangers, it is very easy to get away with fraud and deceit. But Social Networks are again making us a village …where a lot of people are connected to a lot of people…and that is going to force more discipline and honesty.

• In any society there will be honest people and there will be dishonest people. If we do a plot of honesty levels on the x-axis and number of people on the y-axis. We will see a bell curve emerge. Extreme ends of the bell curve will represent very honest people and very dishonest people. It is my contention that the middle portion of the bell curve will move more towards honesty…thanks to SNS.

Let me share some examples to substantiate my argument:

• Fudging of resumes is known to be routine practice. Besides fudging names of places where one has worked and the duration of work, candidates also routinely keep 3-4 “versions” of their resume ready. Depending on the job opening, a particular version is put out. Hence a person will have one version of the resume which brings him out as a branding expert (to be used for Brand Manager openings) while there is another version which talks about his expertise in setting up sales and distribution networks (to be used for VP-sales kind of openings). Now both of these are actually 2 different job profiles which require 2 different sets of experiences and skills. Now with something like LinkedIn, the “flexibility” of having multiple versions of “myself” is lost…there has to be one and only one me! I need to be on LinkedIn (that is where people will find me) and I need to be myself (else I will get caught).
• Avinash, who works in the office as sales-in-charge, applies for an emergency leave since “his mother has taken ill and needs to be hospitalized”. Actually Avinash wants to take the opportunity to meet up with his college buddy Rohan who has dropped in from out-of-town announced. While Rohan and Avinash are making merry at a restaurant at lunch time, Rohan goes ahead and posts of picture of him and Avinash at the restaurant on his Facebook page. Little does Rohan realise that Avinash’s boss is actually connected to Rohan (through some earlier interaction) and will also have access to this posting. Imagine Avinash’s condition when he shows up at office next day morning!

With GPS tracking built into SNS platforms or emergence of sites like foursquare.com, even more transparency is going to get imposed on us. Can’t tell my wife “I am at office”, if I am actually out a nearby pub hanging out with friends anymore!

Do you think social networks will enhance the honesty quotient?

Hareesh Tibrewala is a social media evangelist and a thought-leader in the social media space. His company, Social Wavelength based out of India, manages and monitors social media communication for numerous international brands. Hareesh received his master of science from University of Southern California and is a serial entrepreneur. Having created a management consultancy business and a e-commerce venture, Social Wavelength is now is his 3^rd entrepreneurial venture.

About Elyse DeVries

Elyse DeVries has written 12 post in this blog.

• View all posts by Elyse DeVries →
• Blog

Share