I have been working and delivering content in the social media world for the last ten years. I have trained many company employees, non-profits, and individuals on the internal workings of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and the like. And I have even tried to get individuals involved in posting content on their company’s site.

Most of the time it has been a real struggle for the organization to understand the benefit of this training. But I am here today to share with you why this training is so important and the positive impact social channels will have on your business.

Here are the myths, misnomers, and truth as I see them. After you read this, I would love to hear from you.

Myth and Misnomer #1: People will be posting all their personal stuff on company time. 

Here’s the reality: people will abuse company time with personal things if they think they can get away with it. Personal phone calls, emails, and extended coffee breaks happened long before Mark Zuckerberg was even born. Social media and texting are just new kids on the block.

The truth of the matter is leadership sets the tone for how people behave in the workplace. If they are constantly posting things on Facebook, taking personal calls, or 2-hour lunches, then everyone else will think it is okay to do so, too. If management embraces social and its power, so will everyone else. And as long as policies are set in the work environment about personal postings, you should have no issues.

Myth and Misnomer #2: Sales and Marketing handle all customer interactions.

Not so fast, bub. Yes, sales and marketing have a role in your company but now everyone is expected to sell, know, and have an opinion about your organizational dynamics. Because it is a big, bad digital world out there and because smartphones are so…well shall I say…smart, everyone is expected to know something about everything. Or find it out and get back to the customer. And I am not talking about in 2 days, I am talking about in 20 minutes.

The truth is that everyone in your organization is responsible for customer experiences. From the janitor to the CEO. And how do they find out and contribute to the customer experience? By paying attention and participating in social. Googling their organization. Answering complaints over the phone or over the web. And just plain caring that the customer is taken care of.

Myth and Misnomer #3: Only one person needs to contribute to social. 

One voice is not social. Social is a cocktail party with many voices and many listeners tuning into and out of several conversations. One voice is like listening to a lecture.

The truth is hiring out your social strategy and implementation is a good thing, but what makes your social pages strong and come to life are many voices with diverse points of view. Let’s say you have 10 employees in your company. Wouldn't it be awesome if all 10 participated in some way on the social programming schedule each month? Think of how rich your content would be and how much reach your message would have. And what about if each of those 10 people invited 150 people to like your page? Within a month, you could possibly have 1,500 likes or people in your circle. How awesome would that be?

Just like a train, social takes a while to start up and build steam. It slowly chugs along for a while and then it builds up momentum and takes off! That is what we want for your social positioning. But let me ask: Is everyone in your organization on the train?

Dede Mulligan is President of  Mulligan Management Group, LLC. You can reach her at dede@mulliganmanagementgroup.com or call her at  (330) 472.-7673.