Scott Monty sent shockwaves through the social media marketing community when he announced on his blog that he had resigned as Ford Motor Company’s top corporate social media director.

His gracious post credited others rather than focusing on his own accomplishments, but there is no doubt that Scott’s profile rose as he innovated attention-grabbing approaches to employing social media on behalf of one of the biggest and oldest big-iron companies in the world.

The commentary that followed Scott’s announcement painted his decision as a kind of turning point, a symbol of a significant shift in marketing’s adoption of social media – and not necessarily a very positive one.

Writing for Forbes, Shel Israel said Scott’s decision was a great loss for Ford, then added, “It also heightens my growing fears about how big brands will handle social media in the coming years.”

Others speculating on the deeper meaning of Scott’s decision included Social Media Today founder Robin Fray Carey, former Dell social media director Richard Binhammer, Coca-Cola social media marketing chief Ashley Brown, and Citibank social media director Frank Eliason. Among publications reporting the move were AdAge, Adweek, and PRWeek.

In this FIR interview, co-hosts Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson talk with Scott about his reaction to the conversation about his resignation (hint: he doesn’t think it’s all that big a deal), his accomplishments at Ford, the future of social media, and his own imminent plans (but without a revelation about his next career move).

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About our Conversation Partner

Scott Monty is a communications and marketing executive who focuses on the nexus of creative and strategy within the digital industry.

Scott speaks and writes about business, technology, communications, marketing and the vast changes in the industry that impact leadership and can be found at scottmonty.com.

• Connect with Scott on Twitter: @ScottMonty.

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This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe music – On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel’s and my podcast blog.)