The Social Media “Audience” (and Other PR Blog Jots)
Who is the True Audience of Social Media?
/Message
Following a Third Thursday panel of several prominent PR bloggers in San Francisco, Stowe Boyd whether a social media press release is truly necessary when a company could just as easily write its own blog. Igniting quite a blogosphere debate, Boyd further challenges many PR bloggers and practitioners on their knowledge of what social media truly is, and offers his own explanation of the medium, arguing that its audience is made up of participants in the blogosphere and that much more than simply a new form of the standard press release is necessary to keep up with the times. “For example, seeing the bloggers acknowledge on one hand that CEOs don't actually provide those quotes that are stuck into press releases while on the other hand promoting transparency and openness in corporate communications was more than painful. We should simply state, unequivocally, that such things are not social media: they are old style, push marketing crap. They are exactly the things that lead us to question the motives, influence, and truthfulness of stupid, old line companies who just don't get it.”
PR 2.0
Brian Solis follows up his post from last week and responds to Boyd’s posting (read responses from Tom Murphy, Mike Manuel, Stuart Bruce, and Shel Holtz as well) calling for more improvements to PR than just a re-vamp of the traditional press release. Solis agrees with Boyd to a point, but defends PR bloggers as doing more than just repackaging old PR techniques. He argues that PR will continue to need to evolve as the audience grows more sophisticated, and that the goals of communications are not going to be to spread information, but to generate a conversation with the public. “Look, it all starts with the need to tell a better story in a way that means something to someone. One release no longer serves everyone. With wire services and savvy web marketers placing them in search engines as well as news desks, it's now more important than ever, to improve the foundation. Garbage generates garbage. Benefits and relevance specific to individual needs produces interest and ignites dialogue.”
Traditional News Release Still Effective
Common Sense PR
Eric Eggertson reacts to the debate following Boyd’s post by arguing the merits of traditional public relations tools, mainly the news release. Acknowledging that it could use an update in light of Web 2.0, Eggertson points out that the press release still has juice as a communications technique and should not be, as some are calling for, discarded entirely. “As happy as it would make many communications people to permanently eliminate news releases and staged photo opportunities, the fact that these PR tools have survived is a testament to their effectiveness at getting information into the hands of people who need it - journalists, analysts, and others who read and write the news either through news wires, or through the media.”
Online Public Relations Thoughts
In a brief but interesting post, Jim Horton notes there is often, especially in communications, a lack of rational thought. Irrationality, he claims, often trumps common sense in public relations. Horton argues that instead of being swept up in PR trends that may prove to be merely bubbles, practitioners should attempt to stand back and take a rational, objective approach—something he acknowledges is often truly difficult when clients are making demands. “PR practitioners should cultivate the art of standing to the side and observing human action without getting swept up in it. Our credibility is fact that we bring to persuasive argument and not hype. When something like ethanol is generating hundreds of stories, and one is sure it is a bubble, stay away from the bubble. Preserve client reputation.”
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