Comments on: Social Media Changes PR and Journalism http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2009/04/social-media-changes-pr-and-journalism/ PR 2.0 Strategies Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:46:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: penplusbytes (penplusbytes) http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2009/04/social-media-changes-pr-and-journalism/comment-page-1/#comment-2706 penplusbytes (penplusbytes) Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:33:41 +0000 http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/?p=298#comment-2706 Social Media Changes PR and Journalism http://tinyurl.com/c3klvw Social Media Changes PR and Journalism http://tinyurl.com/c3klvw

]]> By: William G Covington Jr http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2009/04/social-media-changes-pr-and-journalism/comment-page-1/#comment-1973 William G Covington Jr Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:22:14 +0000 http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/?p=298#comment-1973 This post is helpful in bringing out another aspect of the ongoing and growing influence of bloggers as well as other forms of social networking media. As you point out this will add to the complexity of being a PR practitioner. This post is helpful in bringing out another aspect of the ongoing and growing influence of bloggers as well as other forms of social networking media. As you point out this will add to the complexity of being a PR practitioner.

]]> By: Deirdre http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2009/04/social-media-changes-pr-and-journalism/comment-page-1/#comment-1321 Deirdre Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:35:06 +0000 http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/?p=298#comment-1321 Daniel, I couldn't agree with you more! We all need to keep our eyes open and we should focus on key communication to start. The conversations grid will grow in time. I think with such a large ecosystem, it's critical to prioritize outreach and keep it manageable. It's better to start slow and build the communication in a few networks than to overload in too many and not be able to keep up with the flow of dialog and information. Thanks for sharing your insight! Daniel, I couldn’t agree with you more! We all need to keep our eyes open and we should focus on key communication to start. The conversations grid will grow in time. I think with such a large ecosystem, it’s critical to prioritize outreach and keep it manageable. It’s better to start slow and build the communication in a few networks than to overload in too many and not be able to keep up with the flow of dialog and information.

Thanks for sharing your insight!

]]> By: Daniel Seet http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2009/04/social-media-changes-pr-and-journalism/comment-page-1/#comment-1320 Daniel Seet Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:15:40 +0000 http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/?p=298#comment-1320 I think one of the answers to this question must lie in the philosophy about modern-day customer relations and the fact that, because of citizen journalism empowered through social media platforms, anybody can talk about anybody else and their comments may gain incredible traction and go viral online. With this in mind, organizational PR or public affairs practitioners can no longer just single out journalists as their main target audiences because even the 'ordinary' member of public calling in through the phone may well turn out to be the biggest fan, or critic, depending on how he/she was treated during the transaction. So, yes, PR/PA's relationship with journalists have fundamentally shifted and communication practitioners have a larger piece of the pie to look after. They need to be prepared for the fact that, unlike the generally greater immediacy of transactions with journalists, having a plan to foster good relationships with key bloggers and influencers may not seem as key a task given that returns are often not seen until a real relationship is forged (and God knows how long that will take). However, not spending time and effort on blogger relations will almost certainly have negative consequences when crises hit. Social media means that everyone is a journalist, and for better or worse, organizations need to come to terms with this phenomenon. But unlike the utopian situation where they can juggle perfectly with everything and drop nothing, the reality is that limitations in manpower and resources will mean that community engagement initiatives must be surgical and targeted. The need to identify one's communication ecosystem and who the most influential communicators are, vis-a-vis how much the PR unit can competently do, will be inevitable. My view is that as much as communication practitioners need to keep their eyes opened and not discriminate anyone in the communication ecosystem, they have no choice but to plan carefully how they prioritize their outreach efforts. To do so will give them a fighting chance of managing a flow and dialogue with the hope that additional layers of conversations can be added over time as their communication management system matures and stabilizes. Not to do so will be utterly suicidal! I think one of the answers to this question must lie in the philosophy about modern-day customer relations and the fact that, because of citizen journalism empowered through social media platforms, anybody can talk about anybody else and their comments may gain incredible traction and go viral online. With this in mind, organizational PR or public affairs practitioners can no longer just single out journalists as their main target audiences because even the ‘ordinary’ member of public calling in through the phone may well turn out to be the biggest fan, or critic, depending on how he/she was treated during the transaction. So, yes, PR/PA’s relationship with journalists have fundamentally shifted and communication practitioners have a larger piece of the pie to look after. They need to be prepared for the fact that, unlike the generally greater immediacy of transactions with journalists, having a plan to foster good relationships with key bloggers and influencers may not seem as key a task given that returns are often not seen until a real relationship is forged (and God knows how long that will take). However, not spending time and effort on blogger relations will almost certainly have negative consequences when crises hit. Social media means that everyone is a journalist, and for better or worse, organizations need to come to terms with this phenomenon. But unlike the utopian situation where they can juggle perfectly with everything and drop nothing, the reality is that limitations in manpower and resources will mean that community engagement initiatives must be surgical and targeted. The need to identify one’s communication ecosystem and who the most influential communicators are, vis-a-vis how much the PR unit can competently do, will be inevitable. My view is that as much as communication practitioners need to keep their eyes opened and not discriminate anyone in the communication ecosystem, they have no choice but to plan carefully how they prioritize their outreach efforts. To do so will give them a fighting chance of managing a flow and dialogue with the hope that additional layers of conversations can be added over time as their communication management system matures and stabilizes. Not to do so will be utterly suicidal!

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