SocialYell.com provides consumers a new CSR forum

Even as more and more companies are displaying increased awareness and commitment to active and beneficial CSR (corporate social responsibility) programs, the public at large are also looking to have their say about the way companies perform and the experience they have with both their products and their services. From time to time on the blog I wish to feature some of these third-party websites that allow consumers and customers to weigh in with regards to corporate responsibility in their eyes.

One such independent website that seems to be growing in popularity and most importantly in activity is socialyell.com. SocialYell is founded upon the promising tag-line of ‘raise your voice for corporate responsibility’ which indeed is essentially what they look to achieve. Although the site launched in spring of 2009, like many new sites it took some time to gather momentum particularly as this site relies upon the participation of visitors to leave feedback and interact within the format provided. Currently however the site seems to have good participation levels although perhaps some of the brushstrokes (i.e. feedback about BP) are rather broad. What is encouraging is that the site initially and pointedly points out there is far more to corporate responsibility than just being green which is perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about what a company can and should achieve. I do think a site like this is beneficial by providing a little more information and background to CSR in addition to its main purpose.

The site really looks for participation from consumers reaffirming that the profile and reputation the companies achieve is at least partially due to what the public has to say and not just simply what they publish in an annual CSR report. Site users can evaluate products based on their source, safety and environmental impact. They can also explain which companies best reflect their values and ethics or even explain why they work somewhere or if they would like to work somewhere based on the CSR standards that the company holds.

The companies listed on the site range from the large such as Starbucks or General Motors but also include many smaller local companies. Each company can be assessed by users and a sentiment score will appear on the website based on evaluations by registered users. You can also search by company name and see every topic that has been discussed about that company. Topics can be tagged as they pertain to work conditions, sustainable practices, community relations, fuel efficiency, energy use and many more. The structure of the site is quite user-friendly although it would be great to see higher participation levels. It appears that non-profits can register a company profile for free although I believe there is a pay structure for public companies to have a profile built. The site isn’t unique but does offer another interactive forum for consumers to share personal experience, insight and valuable CSR information with one another. The site has great social media potential with the usual links to Yahoo Buzz and Facebook so that comments can easily be shared elsewhere.

Again on the informational side one of the best pieces of the site is the company info update page http://socialyell.com/active-companies/rss.xml which gives valuable information about new initiatives or products that companies are launching in a format that’s easy to read or subscribe to an RSS feed.

I’ll continue to look at some of these other websites and share my findings with you, but in the meantime please have a look at socialyell.com.