Gibson Quoted in Columbus C.E.O. Story titled “Publicity Pitfalls”

Whitney Gibson, an attorney in the firm’s Cincinnati office, was quoted in a Columbus C.E.O. story regarding the online business risks that executives should be prepared for.  According to the story, company managed social media accounts and external reviews can cause harm to a company’s online reputation, if they are not monitored properly.  

The story states:

“A company may invest millions of dollars in an online advertising campaign, for example, only to have it undermined by hostile bloggers or social media posters who may not even identify themselves. ‘There is this big risk when some anonymous person gets on and starts making claims,’ says Whitney Gibson, an attorney with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease. ‘That can hurt all the investment that they’ve made.’

Compounding the problem is the fact that consumers put a tremendous amount of faith in online recommendations. According to social media research firm Socialnomics, 70 percent of online consumers trust recommendations from unknown users, while only 14 percent trust advertising.

If consumers take an anonymous poster seriously, the post may be repeated endlessly on blogs, Facebook, Twitter or other social media channels. ‘The further it spreads, the harder it is to shut down,’ Gibson says.”

To read the entire story, visit the Columbus C.E.O. website.