Public Opinion: "Are you an Asset or a Liability?" - Community Guidelines Re-Visited

A Harris Interactive poll revealed that out of 11 of the most popular consumer-oriented service professions, real estate agents were one whose advice was least trusted, 2nd to last place, just above Stock Brokers.

Obviously, as an industry, we have a credibility issue. Or a perception problem. Or both.

In some recent blog articles here in the Rain, there's been an excellent dialogue concerning our collective value proposition and how we can best articulate/justify our worth to those we serve. You might want to hop over and catch the Bolen Brothers in action. It's really great stuff!

In our continuing series on gaining a better handle on the ActiveRain Community Guidelines, we're going to discover one rather obvious way that our actions/behavior can either be an 'asset' or a 'liability' towards the public's perception of real estate professionals.

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Our next guideline reads:

I remember taking an elective class in high school entitled "Science Fiction Literature." One of the required books was George Orwell's "1984" where the entire society was under the watchful eye of 'Big Brother.'

Even though this is a Network for Real Estate Professionals, the majority of what we contribute here becomes part of the public record, and as such, is under the watchful eyes/scrutiny of consumers.

I wonder,..What kind of impact do our conversations here on ActiveRain have on their perception of our industry?

One of my favorite writers here on ActiveRain is Maureen Francis. Her kind mentoring during my early days on this Network were incredibly helpful. She wrote a popular article entitled "Hey, We Are Being Watched, And Not Everyone Likes What They See. Another great post comes from Mariana Wagner, a Keller-Williams agent down in Colorado Springs. She wrote a rather introspective article, "Perception = Reality: Real Estate Agents Suck!"

To me, the most meaningful way we can communicate and demonstrate our RESPECT for the general public is by the manner in which we treat our fellow professionals.

Now granted, this medium called blogging has a history of being somewhat adversarial in nature. And many people seem committed to continuing that tradition. But does it really help to improve or elevate the public's perception of our industry when we constantly argue and attack one another in our blog posts and ensuing comments? Transparency is one thing, but personal character assassination is quite another. Do you really think that someone is going to want to work with us when they observe our petty bickering? Not likely.

So, what are YOU doing today, both on this platform and in your business, to turn the tide of negative public opinion and perception?

Are you an 'ASSET' or are you a 'LIABILITY?'

For your added reading enjoyment:

"Monsters in the Blogosphere"

"Playing Fair in the Blogbox: The Core Rules of Netiquette"