“The medium is the message”: the famous formula of Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan revolutionized advertising. A car, a cell phone or a trip are promoted via the channels through which they circulate. Just as information published in a newspaper does not have the same value as if it was relayed by a neighbor. In other words, the container is as important as the content. His other thesis is just as current: in a world that has become a “global village”, the media (radio and television) “play the role of tom-tom” (War and peace in the global villagewith Quentin Fiore, Robert Laffont, 1970). McLuhan had thus prophesied, 60 years before their advent, the rise of mass social networks and their corollary: “story”. What is said in company secrecy can then be spread to the other side of the world when a smartphone films live. In response, jamming becomes a means of campaigning for leaks. Have internal and external communications ended up merging thanks to these constantly growing information highways? The adage that we attribute to André Citroën – “speak well or badly of me, but talk about me” – is it still effective in the age of social networks?
To gain visibility, the company must first calculate where it wants to show itself: having an attractive and well-referenced site is one of the essential investments because its image is as important as the media through which it circulates, whether newspapers , screens, or even TikTok, Instagram and Facebook – if the communications director deems them relevant. We therefore wonder about the opportunity to leave X and join Bluesky in order to better reach its target and be in line with its values. The company must then determine in what terms it wishes to define itself. In this case, the multiplication of channels requires a simplification of the message: a company must present itself, for example, as “socially responsible”, “ecologically committed”, “inclusive”. Finally, why not plan a budget to afford the services of an influencer, a modern-day sandwich man, resurrected on the networks in order to give credence to these assertions.
But communication, essential to gain visibility, takes other paths in the age of social networks and problems arise the day the gap between words and reality is revealed. For example, during the Orpea scandal, exposed by Victor Castanet (The GravediggersFayard, 2022), France was shocked to discover institutionalized mistreatment in retirement homes. “We have entered a period of proof, which is more important than assertion,” analyzes Adrien de Tricornot, consulting director at Ulysse Communication. The charters of good conduct which allow one to exonerate themselves only bind those who designed them. “The day the truth appears, we can no longer recover,” he says. Thus, Orpea has chosen to rename itself Emeis in 2024, to “mark a new stage in its refoundation”.
For this expert, companies first have the duty to align their words with their actions. Second advice: those who have the means can equip themselves with independent and recognized labels such as SBTI (science based targets initiative), B Corp Or Eco Vadiswhich offer CSR (social and environmental responsibility) indicators.
Correct the situation by taking strong actions
Emma*, who has been responsible for a major communications company for twenty years, is more mixed. “Certain labels are unreliable and we can get around them,” she observes. In crisis communications, she insists on the need to react quickly: “take out the airbag” to avoid a crash, particularly “the day when testimonies flood into #BalanceTonAgency” (hashtag denouncing toxic working conditions in communications agencies , advertising and marketing). Even if, she notes, in certain sectors such as finance “omerta reigns”. However, in the age of social networks, no company is safe from bad buzz. Latest example: Body Minute, a beauty salon brand, at the heart of a controversy since the publication of a video on TikTok by an influencer in 2022, reactivated in early 2025 on social networks after the brand decided to sue the young woman. Streisand effect guaranteed. “The new generations are omnipresent on the networks, this paralyzes the bosses,” underlines Emma.
In the event of a crisis, the expert recommends that the companies concerned “apologize immediately, without getting bogged down, to avoid the oil stain effect”. Then after the mea culpa, “rectify the situation by taking strong actions”. Make it known and play on transparency, “without camouflage, without dressing up the figures or the facts”. Final recommendation: always warn employees in advance. “Nothing is worse for internal employees than learning about a crisis from external sources.” No offense to McLuhan, in a serious context, it is not the medium but the message that becomes essential again.
*The first name has been anonymized
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