How should Nestle use social media?

I am (finally!) nearing the end of my replies to Nestle’s responses to my questions. I want to see it through and finish off the answers, but to be honest I’m getting a bit sick of writing about it. I know that my research on a lot of the issues is valuable and I’ve also been very appreciative of the investigative help I’ve gotten from others. But there is one question where I think the community can add a lot of value. Where more voices will make for a more interesting and more powerful answer. So, I would like to invite you to help me craft my answer.

Background

If you are completely new to all of this, read my:

Open letter to the attendees of the Nestle Family blogger event

My letter to the attendees helped fuel a twitter storm that was already brewing around the #nestlefamily hash tag. It opened avenues of conversation, it incited mudslinging, joking about things that are not funny, and all sorts of accusations in both directions. For more on the issues and the storm, read:

Did we learn anything from the Nestle Family twitter storm? Crunchy Domestic Goddess

Did Nestle step on a hornet’s nest or open a door? Moms Who Blog

Nestle Family Twitter Storm: Anthology of Activist Blogs and Twitter Names. Best for Babes

Question and Answer

As a follow-up to the Nestle Family event and a lot of the misinformation and doublespeak that Nestle passed along to the bloggers, I decided to send them some follow-up questions.

The last question on the list was:

Moving forward, what steps do you plan to take to use social media and engagement with bloggers to get input into corporate policies and practices? Or are you looking to social media simply as a cost effective marketing tool?

Nestle’s answer to this question was:

We are always looking for ways to engage in meaningful dialogue with consumers and others interested in Nestlé. Certainly, engaging in social media will continue to be one of many ways we try to do that. We welcome ideas from you and your readers. We hope you’ll visit us at http://creatingsharedvalue.org to share your comments, opinions and questions.

I should also add, for context, that Nestle deleted its @NestleFamily twitter account and has directed people to send their questions to @nestlecsv instead.

What do you think?

What do you think of Nestle’s answer? What do you think of its track record surrounding the Nestle Family event? How do you think Nestle should be using social media?

If you have an opinion and would like to be included in my post about this question, send me an e-mail at phdinparenting at gmail dot com with:

1) Your thoughts and ideas on the issue (either send them by e-mail or blog them and send me a link)

2) How you would like to be identified in the post. Can be: