SOCIAL MEDIA MIDTERM--

Question 1.

In Deirdre Breakenridge's article PR 2.0, Brian Cross discusses how changes in technology will change the function of PR practitioners. In what ways do you think public relations will change and what role will PR professional's play in these changes?

Constantly adapting. Keeping up with the latest trends. Writing. Speaking. Communicating. Connecting. Relating…publically. Each of these things contribute to the field of Public Relations professionals, and always will. As the media continues to develop and we are forced to adapt concurrently, we can rely on the fundamentals being the same. However, with the advent of PR 2.0 as described in Breakenridge’s article, which includes the integration of social media, is revolutionizing the very way in which we communicate.

“PR 2.0 puts the “public” back in public relations with the ability to speak to more people. The concept is driven by technology [the Web 2.0 platform and social media applications] and 21st century consumer behavior.” -- Breakenridge

 A primary as a result of PR 2.0 is that brands are able to have conversations directly with their consumers. Dialogue is direct, immediate and informal. Brian Cross, head Director of Fleishman-Hillard’s Digital Group in Saint Louis points out a key trend:

“I think the consumer is going to gain more and more control, but not control in a bad way, control in a way that they’re going to ask for exactly what they want. This will definitely help the brand.”

As PR professionals, though scary at first, we are only being given more tools to do an even better job. The essence of PR will not change, simply the way in which it’s practiced. The dialogue is evolving into two-way communication rather than one (i.e. print journalism, television, etc.) PR 2.0 shrinks the gap between us and our audience. We are given authority and a platform to share our message with the world. When used effectively, the world is truly our oyster. As the technology changes, we must change with it. Cross is reassuring in saying that companies will always need help communicating effectively albeit to the consumer directly or to the entire consumer base via mediums such as twitter or blogging.

Stick with it guys. We can do this.

And in case you need a little bit more of an explanation, this clip offers great insight into how social media works... (and involves ice cream!)

And here is an explanation of PR 2.0 from another corner of the earth [an example of how the 2.0 world can aid us!]


Question 2.

In Wikipedia: The Truth in Numbers the message seems to be: no longer do the victors write the history books, we do: you, me, and everyone else. How is social media (twitter, blogs) forwarding this idea? What gives someone authority to "write history"?

I walked into grade 9 history class excited about the ancient centuries staring me in the face. It was my first high school class and at the ripe age of 13, I was still under the impression that history was “grown-up”, fascinating, and mysterious. My [very handsome] teacher began the class by writing the following statement on the board: 

“There is no such thing as a fact.” 

I was shocked and appalled. How could that be?
He explained that any history book or event is written through the writers interpretations and in our studies, we must always remember that. As humans, we cannot escape bias or inaccuracy—even the most educated historian has his own opinion. Instead of writing books, we now write online.
In applying this ground-breaking lesson to the message perpetrated through “In Wikipedia: The Truth in Numbers”, I would argue that social media does not increase the already endangered accuracy of history, only expands the breadth of our reach. Our tweets, facebook status, ning profile or blog, gives the average Joe the ability to write his own history but it will always lack legitimacy. Universities and academic institutions will never accept “wikipedia” as an acceptable resource. As PR practioners, we must be careful not to make this mistake too. Leave history to the professionals, let us spread the word.
We must now sort through fiction from reality but what the documentary fails to understand is this challenge always existed. We do not have the authority to “write history” but a greater audience to share our [often unaccredited] opinions with. Beware researchers.

Editors Note:

A wise adviser recently told me that blogging is slowly disintegrating... Instead of using blogging as the social media application of choice, online mavens are now relying on twitter and facebook. In such an instance, this alleged “rewriting of history” will slowly be reduced to 140 characters. That’s absurd. Facts are distorted, the separation between opinion and reality only blurred further. Or is it clarified? Twitter is best utilized when we share links to legitimate sources. This enhances the knowledge of the general public. It poses an interesting question however, and in my opinion, an even greater threat to the validity of this new form of “history”. On one hand, we can receive news instantaneously. On the other, no true message can be accurately relayed in such a condensed space. There is no room for context, detailed description or even basic facts. Are we only diluting history further? Maybe. But maybe not...

Question 3.

McLuhan used a model with four elements surrounding the term MEDIUM. Touching on the four elements, describe how this model can help us in interpreting social media...

ENHANCE.REVERSE.RETRIEVE. OBSOLESCE.

Marshall McLuhan is known as one of the founding fathers of media theory. Though social media did not exist in his time, his theories remain relevant and help us determine the lasting effect social media will have. McLuhan said that “a medium” afcts society by the content delivered via the medium itself but also by the characteristics of the medium. This makes each medium of media unique.

In an attempt to quantify his media theory, McLuhan and his son developed the Laws of Media. McLuhan concluded that four things happen to all media; the phenomenon was both inevitable and applied universally. Though they take years to manifest, McLuhan insisted that hey occurred simultaneously nonetheless.

The principles are as follows [with their corresponding questions] :

ENHANCE--  what does the new media improve or enhance, make possible or accelerate?

REVERSE-- when pushed to its limits, the new form will reverse what was its original. what is the potential reversal for the new form?

RETRIEVE -- what earlier action or service is brought back into play by the new form? What older, previously obsolesced ground is brought back and becomes an essential part of the new form?

OBSOLESCE-- what is obsolesced or pushed back by the new media?

In this particular situation, social media will be substituted for “new media.”

Social media enhances communication. It expedites the dissemination of a message and expands that audience to which one can reach.

If used improperly, social media will reverse its effectiveness and become defective—messages will not be shared, their validity will be lost, and it will no longer be an effective means of communication.

With the new form of social media, the previously obsolesced practice of direct communication will be retrieved. With television, broadcasting and radio, global audiences were restricted to one-way communication. Global two-way communication is retrieved as it was used when only the telephone existed.

With the inception of social media, print journalism is obsolesced. The mass audience no longer relies on the newspaper or magazine to retrieve information. Social media delivers instantaneously and effectively.

Question 4.

Who is Jamie Zawinski? How are the roles he played and the design principals he helped spread important to you?

First and foremost, Jamie Zawinski has a wicked head of hair. I find this design principle most inspiring and am contemplating doing it myself…

I suppose the traditional answer to this question revolves around the creation of the browsing powerhouse, Netscape Navigator 1.0. After Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark founded the Netscape Communications Corporation in the mid 90s, Zawinski was brought on board to further develop the product. Internet became instantly accessible in the common household and as a "google addict", this is certainly important to me. Zawinski had a crucial role in focusing the Mozilla community, organization and technology on a single goal: making the Internet better for everyone .  I respect that and heap benefits from his work. However, as a student of social media and a future PR practioner, Zawinski has inspired me in a completely different way.

I came across this:

“Jamie Zawinski is a duct-tape programmer. And I say that with a great deal of respect. He is the kind of programmer who is hard at work building the future, and making useful things so that people can do stuff. Duct tape programmers have to have a lot of talent to pull off this shtick. They have to be good enough programmers to ship code, and we’ll forgive them if they never write a unit test because they’re pretty enough, and smart enough, to pull it off.”

I learned that the key quality of a “duct tape programmers” is being pragmatic. Zawinski understands the benefit of getting the product to the client for immediate use is of more value than perfecting the minute technicalities of it.

He is a doer. He’s creative, brilliant, and confident in his work. He uses his abilities to drastically improve the world of technology and does not get caught up in formalities. These are his “design principles” that I admire most. In the field of Public Relations, the value is in what you produce.  Your abilities are measured in result, not attempt. Your number of tweets does not indicate the success of your work. Their effect does.

Whether or not Zawinski has the proper education or form does not matter as long as his product works and according to the millions around the world that use it, that isn't an issue. He is a living example of "worse is better". Though it is a unique design principle, it is abundantly effective.

“Duct tape programmers don’t care what you think about them. They stick to simple basic and easy to use tools and use the extra brainpower that these tools leave them to write more useful features for their customers and look damn good along the way.”

Question 5.
What kind of conversational patterns can you expect to encounter using social media as a PR professional? What will consumers of your content expect? How can you level these expectations?

Social media certainly affects the way in which we communicate and converse. It is becoming a staple in Public Relations and will only integrate itself further as it continues to develop and catch on. As up-and-coming professionals in this field, bar is being raised at an astounding pace, to an astounding audience.  How do we keep up?

An in depth evaluation of this can be found in Clay Shirky’s “Here Comes Everybody: the power of organizing without organizations.” He examines the wildfire-like spread of social media and the ever-evolving results of the communication revolution. Such long-term effects are precisely the patterns we must face as PR professionals.

 Consumers now expect information to constantly be available at their fingers. The exchange of information has become instantaneous and thus the conversation is exasperated. We must be constantly available, constantly informed, constantly updating. Shirky points out that those conversations had in passing, are now archived and can be infinitely revisited. A conversation can no longer be considered casual as it is accessible online and in writing.  In the world of Public Relations, we must also consider that the difference between conversational tools and broadcasting tools has become arbitrary. Social media forces what may have been a private conversation onto the global stage. We are no longer conversing with one person, or even a focused audience. Conversations are consistently held between one and the world. Consumers expect and immediate dissemination of their message.

The only way to level the rising expectations of consumers is to understand the changing trends. It is our job to be in the know and keep up. Attempting to level the evolution will only leave us in the dust. If you cannot converse, you cannot communicate. 

Therefore, we must engage, comprehend, and overcome. Here comes everybody...

Question 6.

Who is the most successful Canadian public relations professional? What makes you say this?

The Michael Bryant Scandal plagued headlines for months and will certainly get stirred back up again once the trial commences. Essentially, the news has been citing this case as a battle won by public relations. The team at Navigator Ltd. Led by Jamie Watts came in and saved the day. Whether or not Bryant is guilty has been pushed to the back burner because of the effective use of a multitude of public relations tools, specifically social media.

 In an article entitled “Bryant’s Spin Class”, the Globe and Mail says:

“Navigator Ltd., suddenly Toronto's highest-profile crisis-communications team, is at the sharp end of reputation management. They have a 24-hour hotline; their rates of roughly $600 an hour approach those at the top Bay Street law firms; and with the dramatic shift in the public perception of Mr. Bryant's case they are seen, for good or ill, as geniuses of media messaging.Several leading PR experts said they assumed that the story's changing tone was due at least in part to tips and sources provided to reporters by Navigator. They thought Navigator had encouraged reporters to ask about the movements of victim Darcy Allan Sheppard on the night he died. Navigator handed out press releases and generally let it be known that they were now in charge of Mr. Bryant's communications.
“I think the rest of the PR fraternity respects them. They're very gutsy,” he said. “It's very difficult to judge how important they are in turning public opinion around. I think they've done a pretty  workmanlike job.”
They will have begun by establishing a chain of command with a single person in charge. People will have been assigned to write Mr. Bryant's statement, to arrange a soothing backdrop to deliver his statement, and come up with a strategy for avoiding the unpleasant visual of a moving scrum of television cameras. They will have decided what he should wear – the soft hues of his blue and green tie – and what emotional tone he should aim for. They will have pondered short-term and long-term goals, gathered all the facts they could from monitoring every word written and spoken in the media, as well as their inside knowledge from their client. A rapid response mechanism was set up on a website and on Twitter. And then the hard part: getting the facts and context favourable to their side into the public realm.When Mr. Bryant emerged from a night in police custody to face the media, everyone noted that he had changed into a clean, pressed suit brought by his handlers.  Navigator will prepare detailed communication strategies – anticipating what may come up, and deciding how to best frame the news for their client.  “What Bryant recognized in hiring [Navigator] is that there's a difference between a court of law and the court of public opinion,” said Mr. Tisch. “Is it good for Bryant that he got them on board? I'd say yes.”

This is an example of a PR team that is up-to-date, committed and undeniably effective. Between the use of social media and strong media skills, Navigator Ltd emerges as Canada’s most successful PR team today.

Congratulations on a job well done.