By Leo Valiquette
There’s been no shortage of commentary about the threat and opportunity posed to traditional media, and the PR profession for that matter, by social media (reference too, my post of yesterday). But, while these new tools of mass communication and interaction are truly disruptive, have we developed the maturity to use them wisely?
Chris Brogan today offered some key etiquette points to keep in mind with social media, whether it be basic e-mail use or the more advanced features of Facebook. It’s by no means an exhaustive list.
There mere fact that Chris finds it necessary to start off his list with the email etiquette, of all things, demonstrates the utter thoughtlessness many of us demonstrate with the casual click of that Send button. Email is the original social media tool (no doubt, others will disagree about that). It’s been widely available to the masses for more than a decade, and yet we still have to be reminded about how to use it judiciously?
It’s the utter convenience of these things that I believe is the problem. These tools are so ubiquitous and available it’s easy to focus on employing them as the ready means to a goal without giving sufficient thought to the impact on those with whom we’re trying to communicate, or those around us we shouldn’t disturb.
Mobile phones are the ultimate example of this. Movie theatres still find it necessary to preface the feature presentation with that annoying “Please, don’t add your own soundtrack” PSA to ensure ringtones have been muted. And that’s a casual social setting. I’d estimate that 90 per cent of the time when I am attending some kind of business function that includes a presentation, at least one person in that audience will receive a call with their ringtone at full volume to interrupt the speaker. Rather than mute the volume, quite often they’ll leap up and sprint from the room with the phone still ringing.
The important thing to remember in this age of instant communication — all communication doesn’t have to happen instantly, people don’t have to respond to you within minutes and the world really doesn’t need to know what you had for breakfast or share in that snazzy new Facebook app you’ve found.
By Leo Valiquette
Yesterday I enjoyed a lively piece from PR executive and co-manager of The Bad Pitch Blog Richard Laermer about the gradual extinction of the newsprint dinosaur or, at least, the dinosaur mentality of those who run the old-school journals of record.
He asserted that traditional media suffer from a fatal self-importance (I’d say arrogance) that sees most media empires failing to appreciate the threat and opportunity that is social media. As evidence he cited the mass layoffs taking place at major dailies across North America as advertising revenues droop. For PR practitioners, It’s a problem exacerbated by clients who don’t see the value of online media coverage if there isn’t also some ink to stain their fingers.
Bottom line: Blogs, Twitter feeds and the like are giving consumers of information more nimble, responsive and interactive channels through which to get the news and comment most important to them. It’s a point not to be overlooked by PR types either.
As a former journalist, I wholeheartedly agree that print media outlets must go far beyond simply offering their content online, even offering exclusive online content. They must be ready to engage directly with their audiences and provide the news in a much more dynamic fashion than has been the norm.
A perfect example of the way in which a newspaper can take advantage of the tools offered by social media (and one that also demonstrates there is hope for change) cropped up today at A Shel of My Former Self. Shel Holtz talks about how two local newspapers are using Twitter to cover a sensational murder trial in Idaho. One is simply using Twitter to alert interested readers of when there is new content available to read, while the other is taking the truly pioneering step of providing real-time updates of the proceedings direct from the courtroom. Now that’s what you call dynamic news coverage.
There is hope after all.
By Leo Valiquette
Francis posted a good piece today over at Dangletech on the misperception that marketing and public relations activities are a wasted effort during the summer months when sandy beaches and boat docks beckon. Linda blogged quite handily herself on the issue a little while back.
There are, without doubt, fewer pairs of eyes available in July and August to pay attention to the news, but I contend that a greater number of the eyes that remain have more time to keep abreast of, even catch up with, the news and information that’s relevant to them.
In fact, I would even go so far as to suggest that more people will take note of your activities than at other times of the year, when the the volume of work makes it difficult to keep the inbox clear, never mind take the time to read papers and magazines.
Case in point. During my time as a reporter and editor with the Ottawa Business Journal, the paper migrated away from publishing specialty magazines and supplements between Canada Day (that’s July 1 for our international readers) and Labour Day, which is the first Monday in September. I’m not sure now how or why this came to be, but a perception had taken hold that no one’s around to read this stuff during July and August. Perhaps it was the advertisers themselves who believed, for whatever reason, that their budgets were poorly spent this time of year.
Frustrated by this summer blight, OBJ publisher Michael Curran and I reviewed the traffic numbers to the OBJ website, and the pickup rates for the print edition of the newspaper, through the summer months over the past few years. Rather than seeing declines, we saw increases. More people were coming to the website, more people were picking up the paper from the curbside box, than they were during other months of the year believed to be prime advertising periods, such as September to November.
How is this possible, when there are undeniably fewer people at work on any given day? I think the answer is a simple one. It’s summer time, it’s nice out. Who wants to stay cooped up in the office all day? Instead, people go for a walk, visit the newspaper boxes out on the street. Meanwhile, back in the office, with many staff away, fewer projects are underway and the workload eases off a bit, giving people more time to surf the web and catch up on their reading (which is no doubt all work-related ;).
My former colleagues at the OBJ confirmed this morning that this year is no different. Web traffic for July came in higher than it did for many of those “busy” months of the past year.
As Linda said in her post, why miss the opportunity to make some noise when your competitors are taking the summer off from getting their messages out?
By Leo Valiquette
In business circles, defining what is social media is immediately followed by the question of how can it can be turned into an effective marketing and communications tool. But who owns this function in an organization? Is that even a valid question? Over at A Shel of My Former Life, Shel Holtz gives a comprehensive rundown of who can, and can’t “own” social media and why.
Chris Brogan, meanwhile, provides a handy list of 50 online applications and sites to consider when developing a social media presence.
Lastly, Robert Geller at Flack’s Revenge discusses user-generated content options for organizations trying to build presence at a time when the number of traditional media channels is on the decline. Youtube anyone?
By Leo Valiquette
Over at Glass House, Frank Shaw takes a moment to talk about, taking a moment. The power of silence, the impact of that empty space between words, whether written or spoken.
Not that there’s much chance to enjoy the comfort of one’s own silence, or anyone else’s, for that matter, in this age of social media. As Frank points out, we’ve given up thoughtful introspection for constant distraction and torrents of inane chatter (OK, that’s my phrase, not his), but the point stands.
Meanwhile, the folks over at the Bad Pitch blog continue to showcase the worst of what the PR profession has to offer with another fine example of someone for whom “thoughtful introspection” is an alien concept. Cake, anyone?
Enjoy.
