No, I wasn’t being lazy…

THAT's NOT ME

Hey Everyone,

Hope you had a good week. I did not have any posts last week since it was Spring Break! But I wasn’t lazing around but taking my comprehensive exam, which I must pass to get my M.S. in Communication degree. Yesss, it was exam time folks.

This week am back with two new posts.

Thanks

Everyone is Social Networking

Source: Dr. Richard Waters

Some statistics to begin with: Facebook enjoys 300 million users with 70% located outside United States, MySpace 265 million users, LinkedIn 43 million users, and in 2008 one out of every 11 minutes spent online was on a social networking site (Waters, 2009). And these are not static numbers but only heading north, and social networking is one of the social media tools that has appealed to a wider age group and not a fancy of the youth. As I mentioned in my post on blogging that my friends and family (especially those in the age group of 30-65)  in India have been rather reticent at starting their blogs or podcasts or twitter accounts though social networking mostly on Facebook or Orkut has come more naturally to them.

Here is a list of the top 25 social networking sites from Compete.com. And yes, micro-blogging (Twitter) is number 3 on the list but Twitter does have a different appeal due to its 140 character limit and really limited networking tools that it offers as compared to other social networks.

Organizations have definitely tapped into the social networking phenomenon and created their profiles to connect with different stakeholders on a one-on-one level. So far Facebook seems to be the favorite for organizations to create their official profiles. Orkut does have organizational profiles/communities from different industries ranging from auto, technology, construction/real estate, finance, entertainment and non-profit. Quite evidently these have not been created by the organizations but regular users on Orkut exchanging both positive and negative views about the organization which makes it more authentic.  Vorvoreanu (2008) with her research on college students found that students actually resent larger corporations invading what was earlier a more private networking environment on sites like facebook.

Below are a few suggestions for organizations when joining social networking sites:

1. Create an account for the organization and add sufficient details in terms of logo, images, facts to present the organizational identity. Link the profile to the official website of the organization.

2. Start with inviting friends who are already associated with the organization such as employees, vendor contacts etc.

3. Reach out to other stakeholders but abstain from being too persuasive.

4. Respond quick to all who are reaching out and communicating with you, whether making positive or negative comments.

5. Update your account from time to time whenever you have something meaningful to share. Do not update because its ‘cool’ to do so!

6. Use the account as a platform to introduce organizational initiatives and draw participants from the different stakeholder groups.

7. Upload photographs that build the organizational identity and also provide a human face to it.

9. Encourage employees to contribute to the profile only after well thought out social media guidelines have been conveyed to the employees.

What suggestions would you add for organizations who create their accounts on social networking sites? I did not want to create a perfect 10 list and left it one short of that number as this is not a comprehensive list and definitely needs your suggestions.

Thanks

Building Relations through Texting(India)

Image Credit: Google Images

Cell phones and text messaging have been popular even prior to the Web 2.o tools, in the U.S. cellphone users were around 34 million which grew to touch 203 million within a decade (post-gazette.com). Businesses have used text messaging, so have universities, non-profit organizations and politicians for their campaigns. U.S. President Obama’s text messaging campaign was extremely successful and much talked about. Recent earthquake in Haiti has witnessed  fund raising efforts through text-messaging.

Text-messaging has been even more popular in Asia, according to NASDAQ cell phone users in India at the end of 2009 were at 492 million and the number is expected to reach a whopping 900 million by 2012. Text-messaging has therefore been highly explored in India. A public diplomacy blog informs how text-messaging has been employed for activism in the country.  Bharti Airtel the largest mobile service provider in India with its aggressive text messaging campaigns has often been in the news for customer complaints over unsolicited text messages to customers.

Still text-messaging has been very popular and profitable in India. People have been extremely innovative with their cell phones devising ways to communicate even with a missed call(“Will give you a missed call when I reach home” is a familiar example)!

My first encounter with text messaging in public relations happened when I started working in a small PR agency in Delhi in 2004. My boss would hand me her mobile phone and a long list of journalists’ phone numbers to whom I would mechanically forward drafted messages promoting story ideas or a new fashion line by a designer(client) on show at a gallery! I started personalizing those messages mostly to help me feel a little less of the technician!

Extremely low on creativity as it may seem, the SMSs did work, it required very little time, money and effort yet journalists did respond. However, in the months and years to come as I moved to Sampark PR and then to Hanmer MS&L (two of the top PR agencies in India) I realised that people (journalists) respond to your efforts well when you already have built a rapport with them. Text-messaging for public relations can be explored in a number of other ways with different stakeholders.

Journalists in India often choose to send quick texts to check if the PR professional can provide them suitable material for a story that they are working on. Another simple and practical use of text messages with media can be during company events and press conferences. On a busy day when several companies have media events lined up journalists (if the oganizations are relevant to their beats) have to run from one event to the other, in such cases text messaging often comes handy in reminding the journalists about the conference and ensure their attendance.

What are some of your experiences with text messaging in building relations with stake holders?

Web 2.0 links Customer Relations to PR

Source: Power Point by Dr. Richard Waters

Social Media has prompted inclusion of customer relations into the roles performed by public relations experts. Whether its responding to Home Depot or JetBlue customers on Twitter or dealing with disgruntled consumers on the company blog page the onus has been put on the shoulders of the communication or public relations department.

Source Credit: glasbergen.com

While this connection is not a completely new concept but the link has been growing considerably via social media tools. Customer Service department can now more often find help from the public relations people.

Social media tools make possible the interaction with customers in a one-on-one approach. Naturally when communication experts responsible for the social media applications find the organization’s customers reaching out over the Facebook page, Twitter page or the company blog page they are expected to respond without losing time as otherwise they run the risk of impacting the company and brand reputation.

Steve Rubel, Director for Insights at Edelman Digital, predicts on his blog that “customer service is the new PR”. Rubel who commands 38,297 Twitter followers expressed on his  vlog that younger customers are more likely to take the social media route to get their complaints heard and issues solved by organizations. The trend may just be moving to include other age groups as well in that list.

Without providing a lot of my personal impression about this trend to prevent influencing your views I ask you to tell me what you think. How would the profession of public relations be impacted by merging customer relations in its wheel of roles?

Thanks

Read at U’r own Risk: Wikipedia

Onetime I read in the media that there are experts around the globe who monitor and approve the edits at Wikipedia before they are available for everyone to consume. Apparently that is not the case, quite unambiguously on its ‘Contact Us’ page the user developed online encyclopedia states the following:

• Wikipedia has no editorial board.

  Revisions are not reviewed before they appear on the site. Content is not the result of an editorial decision by the Wikimedia Foundation or its staff.

• Although you can contact Jimmy Wales via one of these links, he is not responsible for individual articles or the daily operations.
• Wikipedia is written, edited, maintained, and almost completely operated by volunteers from around the world.
• Though Wikipedia is a free service without advertisement, it is a private, non-profit enterprise and is privately funded.

The obvious question then would be where is the credibility in it? Well, the credibility factor perhaps being, almost too simplistically, trusted in the hands of the contributors. But what happens when organizations edit their Wikipedia pages to suit their goals and create positive images? Obviously you get convoluted information which should be accepted with a pinch (actually mound) of salt!

But what about ethics? Well, going over a few cases where unscrupulous Wikipedia edits became source for scandals, such as the Dow Chemical Company (involved in the historical Bhopal gas tragedy), Exxon (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill case)  or the Australian PMO editing . These examples exhibit that organizations which are already under the media scanner should steer clear from botching their Wikipedia page as public opinion is already strong. While organizations may be rationalizing their behaviors in terms of leaving a positive image for their stakeholders, they should consider that a little research will reveal the real picture.

But, on the other hand,  how many people make that effort when going over an organization’s Wikipedia page? A lot of the information is taken in by people at its face value…or not? If yes, then Wikipedia can only provide an initial-small packet of information which needs to be clarified and tested.

An effort at creating a more credible online encyclopedia experience an offshoot from Wikipedia, named Citizendium. A fledgling as compared to the robust Wikipedia at present but with the role of ‘editors’ and ‘sensible governance’ added it would hopefully provide people with more credible information and prevent undesirable manipulations.

What would you prefer: a completely free, unmonitored information base which is susceptible to manipulations or an information source which is open but is equipped with tools that prevent unfair editing?

Thanks

Promoting Government Documents – Can Podcasts help?

government document. source: Google Images

Government documents provide a lot of valuable information and solid data with a high credibility value. Yet, they have lower appeal for several reasons to  particular groups. One intrinsic limitation of government documents is that they take much longer to be compiled and made available to the public when compared with other resources such as news media, blogs, magazines, and even peer-reviewed journal articles.

My students in the public speaking classroom have been quite enthusiastic over the last week in researching their speech topics for their informative speech assignment. Students generally relied on the NC State D.H. Hill Library for their research endeavor, a few reluctant ones stuck to their course materials. Though the library provides ample scope for tapping into government documents, I noticed that very few among them used government documents as a source of information.

Government databases have something about them which makes them less appealing and less user friendly especially to a younger audience. Navigating through a complex population census document can be not as easy as collecting similar information from a news website or magazine.

Mississippi State University Libraries (Barnes, 2007) made an effort to promote its resources on government documents with its stakeholders through podcasting. The library saw the following motivations behind the project:

1. Podcasting is fresh and innovative.

2. Faculty and staff would demonstrate willingness to try new technologies.

3. Students at MSU, especially undergraduates, were interested in podcasts because of portability.

4. Podcasting a cost-efficient method of disseminating information about the libraries’ collections and resources.

If people can listen to or view podcasts on government databases at their convenience instead of having to read through lengthy documents it would increase usability. It can be difficult, time-consuming and at times virtually impossible to transfer all the data into podcasts but by having short preview type podcasts available that would guide students regarding what they can expect in it would be good too.

Here is an example of a podcast from the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival 2009 which shares pre-recorded interviews with a few of the authors attending the event.

What are your ideas about podcasting to promote the use of government documents. Can podcasts make them more appealing?

Thanks

What is viral? Videos Ofcourse!

For some time I could not appreciate the values of ‘viral videos’ simply because of the word ‘viral’ reminded me of viral fever which is not a very pleasant experience!

But, over with that association(or misconception) in my mind, I want to share some fun videos that have gone quite viral and feature on YouTube\’s most viewed list. Here is the first one which prides of 164,347,513 views till now:

The video is fun featuring two children playing with each other, I feel the simplicity of the content is one of its greatest appeals.

The video has been even remixed, which is snazzier, effects have been added to the visuals and the audio is catchy too.  Yet, the ‘Charlie bit me – Remix has far less views than the original one – 13,449,854 on YouTube.

This remix has lower popularity but the interesting thing is that the original video went viral to such extent that it called for a remix! Interestingly, these videos are not commercial, a parent by sheer serendipity captured the little boys playing and creating a memorable moment. But to cash in on the huge popularity of these videos Google has added some ticker advertisements to these videos and strategically so of American Apparel KIDS.

What do you think appealed or did not appeal to you in these viral videos, what made them so popular? Also, what is your opinion about advertisements now being added to these videos, do the original creators in such cases get a share of the pie? Let me know what you think.

Thanks