An annual gathering of geoscientists and engineers is always a sociable affair. What’s not to like about rocks, reservoirs, and stuff, even if it’s not all offshore?

But sitting through several sessions at the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers 2013 conference in London, with heavy hitters from the E&P and geology and geophysics sectors debating the issues of greatest import to the onshore and offshore sectors, I noticed that the word “social” kept on being uttered. Not in connection with what evening function to attend but rather in two particular phrases: “social license” and “social network.”

We have all seen the impact that modern technology, in particular the Internet, has had on society. Recent times have seen unwanted governments overthrown by uprisings organized on Facebook and myriad other social networking sites. The power and immediacy – often admittedly fed by a web of myths and inaccuracies – of social networking will never be underestimated again.

In the oil business we have increasingly come across it, with BP very publicly experiencing the full force of this destructive impact upon its painstakingly built corporate reputation during the aftermath of Macondo.

Lord Oxburgh, a former nonexecutive chairman of Shell, chose the opening session of the event to highlight the role of social media and its ability to have an instant impact. “This has had major implications for governments and companies,” he said. “Reputations are built up very slowly, but they can be destroyed almost instantly.” The social media genie, he commented, is “out of the bottle.”

In agreement with him was Andrew Gould, former CEO of Schlumberger and now chairman of the board at BG Group. He stressed in the same session the importance of social media and the sheer speed of change. “There is now the need for companies to be extremely quick to act,” he said.

As an aside, Gould also came up with a sobering number during his talk: The industry spent US $29.6 billion on oil and gas security in 2012, representing a 7% increase over 2011. This is because of its employees’ increasing exposure to serious risk in the volatile areas where they often must work.

Mike Daly, BP’s executive vice president of exploration, also raised the issue of the power of social media in an entirely separate session. “The political world is changing,” Daly said. “The power of the individual voice has changed. It is now much more of a threat to a company’s reputation.” He added later when discussing new areas for exploration, “Public opinion is going to be massive in this. It’s a major factor.”

What he was referring to is an oil company’s social license to operate – or “public approval of what is being done,” as Daly described it.

Another fellow panelist, Alison Goligher, executive vice president of unconventionals at Shell, put it very simply. When asked, “Is there anywhere we should not go?” she responded, “I think you should not go where you are not wanted. We need a social license to operate. We take a lot for granted in this industry as to how much people understand about what we do.”

Goligher and her peers are absolutely right. Information-sharing is the key to putting a lot of the myths that exist about this industry to bed. The Internet has enabled a social revolution, and the sooner the upstream industry appreciates the fact that it must codevelop natural resources with the blessing of the people that live there, the more sociable it will be for us all.