How do you Define New Media? (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Defining New Media
Conversation Agent
Considering how much time we all spend touting its virtues, I’m not sure I’ve ever actually heard a clear definition for what qualifies as new media. Valeria Maltoni tackles the issue, citing a Vin Crosbie article that defined the term as communicating in a “many-to-many” format. In other words, using the new technologies available such as XML and RSS, consumers are able to take in news and information from multiple sources. She builds further on this definition, noting the necessity of audience participation, something the mainstream media is still struggling to grasp in this new era. “I really like the idea of collaboration because it builds on individual resources and expertise and makes the networks aggregated in this fashion much stronger and more committed. When participation is the price of entry, loyalty goes way up. This is the place where conversations come in, an open-ended format in which many-to-many co-create and contribute to evolved content.”

"I call BS!"
Hyku
In a well thought out rant responding to some of the poor social media and PR advice coming out of conferences lately, Josh Hallett wonders why we have such a hard time calling BS on speakers claiming to be “social media experts.” This is the latest in a bunch of posts I’ve seen on blogs and Twitter lately wondering if anyone can even claim to be an expert in something that is still so new to the PR landscape. I agree with Josh; the best way to approach someone espousing ideas that aren’t quite right (such as editing your clients’ Wikipedia entries, which…no), is to simply politely challenge them. He points out that many social media “experts” out there haven’t even run a social media campaign, and wonders if you have to before you can be in a position to speak on the subject. “Yes, you can still provide clients with a baseline of education without having much of a project base to draw from, but until you've actually run a social media campaign/project you just don't know it all. I'm not saying I know it all, it's a relative scale. If I say something you think is BS in a speech, call me on it, question it. Let's talk about it.”

Your Social Media Holiday Season
Pulver Blog
This idea is so delightfully nerdy, I just might have to do it—although I imagine most of my non-social media friends would simply shake their heads at just how far over to the Geek Side their formerly normal friend has gone. Jeff Pulver recommends turning your holiday party into a “real-time social networking event,” giving guests the opportunity to create nametags with their personal tag line, and “tag” each other with Post-its as though writing on a Facebook wall. “To keep things interesting, ask some of your friends to bring their cameras to help capture the moment. Make sure you come up with and share the social tag your guests should use when blogging about the event and/or sharing images from it. You might want to encourage your friends to actively use twitter and Facebook during the party. Maybe record a video or two and uploaded it to YouTube and/or seesmic before the end of the party.”

Second Life Marketing = Yawwwn
Marketing Conversations
Second Life has a wide user base, and has enjoyed plenty of promotion in the popular culture lately (most notably when Dwight Schrute showed off his avatar on the popular comedy “The Office”), so it’s a natural that marketers want to advertise within the virtual community. The only problem is how to get your ad in front of any of the users. Chessia Kelley points out that since avatars can teleport anywhere, billboards or other location-based ads are pretty useless, and while many marketers have created intricate virtual islands, they have a hard time attracting visitors without compelling content. Even more notable is the lack of creativity, as advertisers are outdone by SL users themselves. “Another huge problem is that Second Life is a fantasy where users can create flashy designs of their own that are free of production costs and mass production.  In this world advertisers products are boring, unimaginative, and banal.  Car companies are trying to compete with college kids who lovingly create muscle cars that fly.”

Are You Going to the SNCR Symposium?
A Shel of my Former Self
Shel Holtz noted recently that registration seems down for the upcoming Research Symposium and Awards Gala, an SNCR event held in Boston this December 5 and 6. Perhaps it’s the busy nature of the holiday season, but you should consider trying to fit this event into your schedule. They’ve got some great speakers lined up, and as Shel points out, supporting research in this industry will benefit everyone. So don’t delay, sign up now! “Speakers include John Cass, Paul Gillin, Richard Nacht and Shel Israel, among others. A slew of case studies will be presented and the registration fee supports the Society, whose work benefits all of us.”

Comments

[Sue]

How do you Define New Media? .............great work thanks.