Goldman Looks to Hire Social Media Strategist

A Twitter account under the Goldman Sachs name hasn't yet posted a message. A message has yet to be posted on a Twitter account under the Goldman Sachs name.

Goldman Sachs may dominate financial markets, but there is one frontier it has not yet conquered: social media.

So the Wall Street firm that many on the Internet love to hate plans to hire a “social media community manager,” according to a posting on its Web site. The position involves overseeing the firm’s online communities and developing a “positive online presence.”

It is a presence that could use some rehabilitation. The firm’s Facebook page is littered with negative comments. A message has yet to be posted on a Twitter account under the Goldman Sachs name.

Perhaps the most prominent online voice emanating from the Wall Street firm is a parody Twitter account, @GSElevator, that claims to post snippets of dialogue overheard at work, tending toward the profane.

Like its rivals on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs has kept social media at arm’s length. The firm bars staff members from accessing major social media sites at work, and it has been known to crack down on employees who share too much online. Although Goldman is one of the investment banks leading the giant Facebook I.P.O., technically its workers are not allowed to browse the social networking site.

Even firms that have given employees partial access to social media, like Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, tightly control postings. This is partially because of regulations governing communication, which require firms to archive and monitor messages.

But now, Goldman wants to be part of the online conversation.

The new social media position, which was noticed earlier by The Financial Times Alphaville blog, involves “ensuring active and engaged communities” and “participating in those conversations to build brand visibility and thought leadership.”

This means writing Facebook status updates, posting Twitter messages and overseeing LinkedIn activity, according to Goldman. The social media manager will also use tools like Radian6 and Visible Technologies, which help companies track what people are saying about them online, in order to “generate insights.”

Of the listed qualifications, one stands out: “Ability to work well under pressure.”