Remember the good ole days…?
The good ole days where you could say something knowingly false because, quite frankly, “who can prove I really said that?”
Those good ole days where politicians and public figures could just say whatever they want to whichever crowd they were speaking to, never once worrying that they would be discovered for playing it both ways.
Those good ole carefree days where the customer that got lied to had no outlet for their frustration except telling those within earshot?
Those days are gone
Video and audio recording in the palm of our hands means we have a record of you saying that. Email means we have a record of that conversation.
Twitter, Facebook, Google+ mean that we can tell others, hundreds upon thousands of others, about your lie in a matter of seconds and it can spread in a matter of minutes.
Lying is effectively dead.
Don’t get me wrong, lying still has a huge user-base; all humans lie about something. We lie that “we’ve got our shit together” or that “I’m gonna go to the gym tomorrow.” We tell our boss that something is done when it is anything but started, and we tell someone “this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” when secretly we detest jelly-bean casserole.
What is gone are the days of the BIG lie. We are (thankfully) in an era where people are going to call you out. People are still going to tell big lies, companies are still going to try and “pull a fast one,” but the 21st century is an environment that is particularly dangerous for those that feign honesty.
Lying may not be dead in practice, but it’s no longer a strategy to fall back on.
Let’s go to the videotape
Oyster.com
Take oyster.com for example, a site I found out about this morning on Google+ via Jeremiah Owyang. Oyster.com has REAL pictures of resorts to compare against the exceptionally flattering photos that the resort has in their brochures. Some of the pictures are astounding.
What is the potential fallout of someone’s special day being ruined by these false brochure pictures? Is the net gain of a few extra guests worth the shot to the credibility and reputation of the property?
The Daily Show
The Daily Show is well known for highlighting a politician’s changing story or outright lie. Regardless of your political leanings,it’s worth seeing how the wealth of video footage and steady flow of content makes a liars job that much more difficult.
In the case of politics, some people will simply ignore the lies of their own party. This is true in religion, politics, and several other deeply personal belief-based sets of topics. But over time lies are simply lies and those less devout followers of an ideology are likely to stray.
The wisdom of the people
Beyond the shows and sites dedicated to showcasing lies and dishonesty we have the entire internet of people ready, willing and able to call out the liars and tell their network of friends, acquaintances and colleagues.
Citizen journalism, online activism, real world activism, reviews and communities are all methods by which information, misinformation and awareness can spread. This can be an asset or a liability. In the case of lying, it is a liability.
What does this mean for you?
This means that you may need to reexamine your strategy. Look at your marketing, look at your customer service, think about your business and determine if you have an honesty liability anywhere in your system. Is your “policy” something that REALLY can’t be changed in light of particular circumstances? Did you really not know about that product defect before starting to sell it in stores?
You may be upfront and honest in virtually every way, but understanding the way that the world functions and how people create, find and share content will help you take a closer look and plan for any missteps.
If you are the type that wants to hide something or fool your customers, I suggest you assume that those lies will come out, and immediately begin planning to shine some light on your previous missteps. In the 21st century, liars are going to have a rough time. People tend to be much more forgiving of the companies that admit error proactively, rather than reactively.
Trust
EVERYTHING is about trust. If you are lying, you are endangering or damaging the most precious asset you have nowadays: Trust.