Can A Client Be Your Friend On-Line?

As we all become increasingly social on-line, where will the line between friend and client be drawn?

I ask this question, based on a tweet my friend Jason Falls posted on Twitter last Friday. In the tweet, Jason gives me a shout out with a caveat that I work for a client of his…

What’s The Big Deal?

This really isn’t a big deal, yet. It may never be a problem that scales. I do, however, find it to be really interesting on a variety of levels. Ideally we work on projects we believe in, with people we like… So, if you’re working with friends on a project you believe in, do you still need to caveat that you’re getting paid when you communicate via social channels?

You probably do… or do you? I’m interested in exploring this topic, as an extension of what it means to be friends on-line and off-line.

Human beings are complicated creatures and the relationships we create with one another further complicate things. Now we have built tools that add yet another level of complexity to our relationships.

The Jason / Chris Back Story

I met Jason shortly after I started working on social media projects within Humana’s Innovation Center. He’s a great dude. He’s also the President and Co-Founder of Social Media Club Louisville, and when I met him we did not have a business relationship.

I started going to the monthly meetings and occasionally hanging out with Jason, to the point where we would lunch together every few months. Jason recently became his own boss, and with Humana being one of his clients I am able to talk with him a lot about all things social. I totally consider him a friend and have benefited greatly from his knowledge, of which he is always open to share.

Both Jason and I were up in Cincinnati, talking to people at the Digital Hub Conference last Friday about our respective topics. I was talking about the social journey Humana’s Innovation Center has taken over the past year, and coincidentally warmed the stage for Jason… who ended up killing it, as usual, this time talking about how to identify when your agency doesn’t “get” social media, and what to do about it.

The Crux Of The Question

We can all decide to mail it in at work, if we wanted… we could collect paychecks while we lament over the daily grind of the American nine to five. Or we can align ourselves, and our livelihoods, with people who are passionate about the things we’re passionate about; people who are good at what they do; and people who are cool to hang out with outside of work to boot.

Isn’t the point of being social on-line to find these people?

So when this happens, do we always need to label communications in the interest of full disclosure? In this case, could Jason have tweeted a shout out to me, Chris Hall, to his following? If so, could he have done it and still mentioned Humana?

Will the “client” caveat need to be there in either or both cases?

I Don’t Think So

I think we’re all moving to a place where it is implied that your personal brand endorses the people you’re working with and the projects you’re working on. We all have bills, so is it really all that terrible to promote things you believe in without disclosing whether or not you’re getting paid? I infer that celebrities and athletes are getting paid to talk about the products they promote. Michael Jordan never threw down an overt caveat that Nike was paying him to talk about the shoes on his feet.

Should the social internets be any different?

What Do You Think?

Can clients be friends with the people they’re paying? If so, then can these friends promote their clients on-line without disclosure of the business relationship? If so, is disclosure required in every communication? If not, is that transparent enough? Please let me know what you think in the comments below.