Introducing social media
Leeds City Council training workshop, 2 October 2007
Youtube
First thoughts: social media and you
"My belief is that ... the axis of communication has swung through 90 degrees - it is not what we say about ourselves that matters but how good we are at influencing the conversation that swirls around us, our products and our services."
Source: Philip Young, University of Sunderland
"Online PR is about engaging people in conversations so they become advocates for your organization."
Source: Tom Watson and Paul Noble, Evaluating Public Relations (2nd edition 2007)
"The use of communication technology is ubiquitous in contemporary public relations practice, and often there's no choice but to adopt the newest communication technology."
Source: The Professional Bond - Public Relations Education and Practice, November 2006
Second thought: avoid technology determinism
"Computing is not about computers any more. It is about living."
Nicholas Negroponte, Being Digital, 1995
How did we get here?
Towards a definition
> Social media uses the power of social (and computer) networks
> Social media involves some degree of interactivity (eg user comments)
> Social media is frequently created by amateurs (eg citizen journalism)
But note:
> 'Mainstream media' is borrowing all these techniques - see any news report from the BBC
Evolution of the media
| Mass media |
Masses of media |
Me media |
| Newspapers, broadcast |
Digital channels, web |
Blogs, personal publishing |
| 1870s-1980s |
1990s- |
2000s- |
Source: Richard Bailey
Three phases of the web
1. The age of Surf (eg Yahoo web directory)
2. The age of Search (eg Google)
3. The age of Syndication (eg RSS, Internet Explorer 7)
Source: Scoble and Israel
Two models of web publishing
Source: O'Reilly What is Web 2.0?
Two models of public relations
| PR 1.0 |
PR 2.0 |
| Media relations |
Stakeholder communications |
| Press coverage |
Google search ranking |
| Awareness |
Acceptance |
| Tomorrow's headlines |
Sustainable success |
| Product promotion |
Discussion of issues, trends |
| Mass targeting |
Micro targeting |
| Press clippings analysis |
Attitudinal research |
| Persuasion |
Conversation |
Source: Richard Bailey
Concepts and context
Digital natives v digital immigrants
Article by Marc Prensky (part one; part two)
An 18-year old new student / new elector was born in 1989. They were four when the WWW was new and ten when Google was launched. This is their world.
| Digital natives |
Digital immigrants |
| Grew up with Google |
Older than the web |
| Multitasking, hypertext |
Linear processes |
| Parallel |
Sequential |
| Crave interactivity |
Prefer to concentrate |
| Learn through computer games |
Learn through reading |
| Twitch-speed |
Discussion of issues, trends |
| Graphics before text |
Text before graphics |
Source: Marc Prensky
Push v pull
| Push |
Pull |
| Newsletter |
Website content |
| Website content |
RSS syndication |
| News release |
Word of mouth |
| Broadcast |
Narrowcast |
| Speech |
Conversation |
Open source movement
> Open source software is an alternative to private, proprietary code (eg Firefox v Internet Explorer)
> Wikipedia is an 'open source' encyclopedia
> Open source concepts are now being applied to marketing and democracy
Private v public
> Where is the boundary between work and play (eg Facebook)?
> How can we control what appears in the public domain?
> How can we manage our personal and corporate reputation?
Channels v audiences
> Mass media is a channel rather than an audience
> But what about blogs - individual or media entity?
Social media examples
Engaging with social media
> Do you treat social media sites as conventional media?
> Do you use social media for specific campaigns?
> How do you measure results?
> What guidelines do you follow? And who writes them?
Developing a social media strategy
Levels of involvement (90% lurkers, 9% contributors, 1% active users - source: Jakob Nielsen)
Legal issues
People and management
List of actions
Issues for corporate communications
What's the role of PR in the Web 2.0 world?
Can we control information?
- Could we ever prevent leaks or factory-gate gossip?
- Is the scale of challenge greater given the porosity of online information?
- Is PR about 'command and control' or should it encourage conversations on issues?
What does Web 2.0 mean for newspapers?
Does blogger relations replace media relations?
- Yes, if blogs have reach and credibility with target audience
- Otherwise, new media complements - but doesn't replace - old media (think radio, TV, internet)
- Blogger relations complements media relations (as does eg analyst relations)
- See Tom Murphy's PR hype cycle
- State of the live web / blogosphere (April 2007)
Should the chief executive blog?
Should we prevent employees from blogging and using social media?
Should our blogging be transparent?
Should we police our Wikipedia entry?
What tools are needed for PR 2.0?
Sources
Bailey, R New media sources on PR Books
Pavlik, J (2007) Mapping the Consequences of Technology on Public Relations Institute for Public Relations, USA
Phillips, D ePR lectures
Social Media Resource - by The Friendly Ghost
Inferno blogging survey
Social Media white paper pdf format
What is social media? e-book from Spannerworks
Thank you for listening (and participating)
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