Trust, but Verify

The Internet is a remarkable invention. Not only is it the backbone of all things social media, it has forever changed the way business is conducted, how human beings interact, how problems are identified and solved and so on.

In the early days of corporate blogging, even the companies that led the pack in recognizing the vast potential of social media quietly worried about pitfalls and risks, like "What if one of our bloggers says something wrong?" or "What if readers say something bad?"

Today, it's widely understood that the benefits of blogs and other social media systems far outweigh such risks. Even the worry that somebody might say something bad about our company has matured into a realization that companies do not control public conversations (we never actually did). Moreover, the multidirectional nature of social media-based communication provides a powerful means of surfacing issues… and solving them.

Having said that, let's be clear that the same cyberspace that manifests so many wonderful benefits also has the potential to do great harm.

From spam to phishing to mischievous hacking to criminal fraud, it's a dangerous world out there.

Somewhere between laughing in the face of danger versus sitting meekly on the sidelines, there is a middle ground that calls for basic vigilance.

Everybody knows not to share passwords with strangers or to run executable applications from unknown sources. Here is one more precaution to add to that list:

If you are a blogger, always read user Comments before approving them to "go live."

One of our Synopsys blogs was attacked earlier this month by spammers trying to post comments with X-rated links. Although our spam detection software caught and filtered out hundreds of such attempts, about a dozen dastardly comments arrived in the "Comment Approval" queue right alongside perfectly legitimate entries. At that point, human vigilance and engagement is the last line of defence against bad content going live.

In this case, I noticed and promptly removed the offending content. But let's always remember to work together as a team on this. If you ever see malicious content on our website, escalate it immediately – either to me or through the management chain – for prompt resolution.

By the way, the guidance to read comments before approving them should not be confused with the idea of censoring or filtering legitimate comments, however negative.

Social media depends upon transparency and authenticity to perpetuate trust and credibility.

There's plenty of room in the blogosphere for all manner of views and opinions, positive, negative or in between. It's the bad stuff from the dark shadows that has no place on forthright websites.