Gun Maker Glock Needs to Edit Its Social Presence

Here are two truisms that until today were in no way connected:

1) Corporate social media engagement is more credible and carries greater impact when the organization adheres to the highest levels of transparency; and

2) The right to bear arms is guaranteed to Americans in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.

After reading this article on Brand Channel I took a stroll over to gun maker Glock's Facebook fan page.  I found many of the user submitted photos to be disturbing and, in light of the shootings this month in Tucson, in poor taste.

I don't own a gun, yet certainly respect those who elect to do so responsibly.  I also agree that companies should refrain from censoring the comments and contributions of their customers.

Yet, in this case I think Glock needs to take action and remove certain photos from its fan page.  They create a harmful impression of the company and its more mature customers.

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Update:  I shared my post with Strategic Communications Group's (Strategic) senior team and my colleague and partner Shany Seawright provided a well articulated and insightful response.  Wanted to share it.

Yesterday, Marc pointed to the Glock Facebook fan page and his post on the appropriateness of the photos that were uploaded by users. He asked our opinion on if Glock should remove photos that are inappropriate. 

 

Yet, what I think is inappropriate, a Glock fan would not. The fact is this is a fan page of guns. 

 

Personally, I felt that the photos that Glock uploaded were just as bad as the ones that users uploaded. But my personal opinion on guns aside, I would say that Glock is staying true to its industry and is not doing anything that another corporate fan page wouldn’t do.

They’ve provided guidelines for how users can engage http://www.facebook.com/GLOCKInc?v=photos#!/note.php?note_id=448975327606 and have protected themselves legally from what users may say or do. They also reserve the right to remove and delete any content that doesn’t follow the guidelines that they have set forth.