"At least one of my children was doing something creative," (Mum) complained. "I had some hopes for you, Juliet, when you did that Media Studies degree. I thought you might go into television. Of course, I have no hopes for you now," she added cuttingly. "I gave them up when you started in public relations."

– My Lurid Past, by Lauren Henderson

Dr. Greg Smith

COMM 5701 Overview

Good morning. I’m Greg Smith. Just briefly, my background. 30 years in communications (17 on daily newspapers and the rest in PR). That also includes two years teaching PR at Edith Cowan and Notre Dame. I was a latecomer to academia, only completing my Masters and PhD from 2002 to 2007. !Thank you for attending today. !While I never make assumptions, for the purposes of this presentation, you’re all here to see if the Master of Strategic Communication is for you: specifically the unit Strategic Communication in a Digital Age. !I’ve chosen this unit because essentially, digital communication is now at the forefront of professional communication. !Within the realm of PR, there are a myriad of specialities. These include media relations, reputation management, lobbying, community consultation, and now ... social media. Most of the jobs advertised today require practitioners to understand social media. Many of those jobs are for social media specialists. !Importantly, in the context of the Masters degree, this unit also embraces everything about communication in the international sense.. That’s because, in essence, the world is now communication’s stage. Of course, with that comes a wide range of cultural and language issues. !If it seems there is a lot to get through in this presentation, it’s because there’s a lot of social media out there. !

No room for mistakes

• Fast!• Powerful!• Undiluted

First, my analogy of what it’s like to practice communication today. It’s fast and it’s powerful. Sometimes it’s downright scary. “News no longer breaks, it tweets” (Brian Solis). !There’s no more waiting a day or two to have your message received by the media and appear in print or on TV. These days it goes straight to the receiver. In most instances, there’s no filtration ... and no room for mistakes. Your messages also go everywhere ... to the world. Publish a Tweet, a You Tube video or an Instagram picture and it’s there for all to see. !

Despite the technology and the speed, how we communicate has changed little since the days of the ancient Greeks. !The methods we use and the speed at which PR professionals have to respond is increasing exponentially. !AS I said, social media now drives a large sector of the public relations profession. In my estimation is is up to 60 per cent of professional practice ... and rising. !Not only does it operate as a stand-alone service (it can be used for direct contact with journalists) it supports almost everything PR does. !Many large companies and PR consultancies now have added social media as a dedicated arm of their PR functions. PPR Perth is an example of this. They have three dedicated social media staff. !

Changing media

Mobile = alerts me!

Internet = tells me!

TV = shows me!

Print = explains

We’re living in exponential times. The communications challenges are many (and varied). The pace will only get quicker.!!When you get the recently-retied CEO of News Limited Australia (now chief of PRIME Media) talking and thinking about new media, then you know something’s happening.!John Hartigan once was a knockabout journalist carving his name in the wooden press gallery at Balmain courthouse. He’s witnessed a rapid transformation of the media landscape in his 40 years in newspapers.!He recognises, as we all should, that the news cycle is changing. He summarised it thus:!!• my mobile alerts me;• the internet tells me; • TV shows me; and • print explains it, give it context and tell me what it really means

What is PR?This brings me back to looking at what PR is.

So what is PR? (US academic Rex Harlow produced a list of 500 definitions). Here’s mine for this unit:

My iPhone. This is PR.

Never before have we been able to hold up one object and say "This is PR”, at least when it comes to social media.

I can find out all I want to know about the world, I can tell other people what I know and think. I can see and hear what they – you - think, individually or in groups. That’s what PR does: it’s tells an organisation’s story.

I can use it to manage my relationships with the people and the organisations that matter to me.... and other people (you!)... can use it to find out about me – my reputation – and shape our relationship. That’s what PR does: manages relationships.

Another question: How many people here have used the internet? How many have mobile phones that can do so?

Of course, I could have framed the question the other way round? How many of you haven’t If I had asked in UK the answer would have been 9 million (notice there are twice as many non-users in the UK as there people living in Croatia pop 4.5m). The latest stats I could find suggest about half the population of Croatia uses the internet...

.... so at least half don't....

Which is an odd way of arguing that Today all PR should incorporate online.

You could interpret the intention behind my question as being to, in effect, cut this audience in two – I’ll talk to you on the left and ignore you on the right.

I am not saying online is the ONLY way to reach stakeholders ... it isn’t

But I am saying that online is integral to all PR. It is no longer a subdiscipline of PR - it is part of the very fabric of all PR activity.

PR is about reputation management – oganisations have to be aware of their online reputation because in many cases that will be the most visible.

The argument operates on two levels: Search and Visibility - what people find out about you and how easy it is to find that information. Crucially, visibility may have very little to do with intentional communicative activity on behalf of the organisation.

But there is a more fundamental argument, too. PR is about Relationship Management, the interaction between organisation and stakeholders/audience. Increasingly that relationship is shaped in an environment where the relationships between stakeholders have become heightened to an unprecedented degree. At micro and macro level time and geography have disappeared.

“e-PR”

“The application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the practice of PR”

– Phillips (2001)

Online PR (or ePR) has become a new addition to our constantly expanding vocabulary, which also includes buzz words such as e-commerce, e-mail, e-business, and e-HR. The “e” simply means “electronic”. It includes the internet and its associated tools, but also other forms of electronic PR, such as video and audio.

The first definition of e-PR was made in 2001 by David Phillips, Author of Online Public Relations . A bit like Smith’s chips (the original and best). • E-PR is the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the practice of PR.” !In an internet-mediated world, where every activity is directly or indirectly mediated by the web, every form of PR requires an element of ICT. Through time, more PR activities will depend on ICT.

This means that practitioners need the to have ICT tools available and know how to use them. In this they will be no better equipped to be effective than many others. The tools and skills do not need great learning or expertise. The skill is still in understanding people, doing your research and being able to pitch your ideas coherently.

!

Unit overview Changing technology!

Targeting publics!

Strategic work!

Multiple channels!

Guests!

‘Traditional’ elements (history, ethics, comms. theory)

In this unit, the rapidly-changing technology of communication and how it is applied in PR is addressed. Students will apply their knowledge of communication (and the effective targeting of specific publics) to produce strategic work, underpinned by pieces of written and digital communication for targeted publics, using various forms of modern media, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, podcasting and vidcasting. The latest online channels will be used, including G+, Twitter and You Tube. !A communications audit approach will be used to determine the communications to be developed, tools to be used and how PR programs are evaluated. Appropriate skills and strategies will be applied in an online environment. Outcomes will include the development of a PR campaign with an emphasis on social media and the use of on-line tools. !Three industry leaders will present to class. !While the bulk of the unit is unashamedly “hands-on”, more traditional subjects (history, ethics and communication theory) will be incorporated).

Theoretical clusters

Communication CulturalMedia theory Dimensions

Agenda-Setting Hall’s Cultural Factors

Social • Exchange • Penetration • Network

While the bulk of the unit is unashamedly “hands-on”, more traditional subjects (history, ethics and communication theory) will be incorporated). There are two subsets of theories: communication (as part of the broader approach to understand social media) and Cultural (as part of the international dimension) !• Marshall McLuhan’s Media Theory: The media is the message’. That it’s the media that will transform society, not the message. • Agenda-setting theory: Perhaps a link to ties in with week ?? (the media). Just who sets the agenda (Seems little research on this). • Social exchange theory: We communicate because we exchange rewards and costs (not financial). Analyses the cost-benefit of contributing to a social exchange (ie., a SM platform). • Social penetration theory: That humans form close relationships through self-disclosure. Relationships become more intimate over a period of time when more personal information is revealed. Applied to SM, that may explain the appeal of Facebook and Twitter. • Social Network theory. How the social structure of relationships around a person, group, or organisation affects beliefs or behaviours !Within the international sphere, cultural implications of PR are covered with a lecture on international PR, and a comparison of PR campaigns. Theories • Within Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, we examine the the notion and dimensions of culture and identity (“a concept of self”) • We also study Hall’s high and low-context

1.Unit overview.- PR today. - What is e-PR, social media?- Research and environmental scanning

2.Using e-tools in PR. - History of the internet - Impact of SM in society

3.Ethics in SM - NFPs and SM

4.Websites, blogs, writing

5.Google - International PR & SM

6.Twitter

7.Facebook and campaigns

8.Podcasts, vidcasts

9.Monitoring, evaluation

10.Media relations online - Agenda-Setting

11.Crises

12.Revision, the future

13.Exam

Students should already know much of the theory of PR. Examples: Domino Theory; Persuasion, rhetoric and Grunig’s two-way symmetrical and asymmetrical, and so on. !In many ways, this is more a ‘how-to’ course. You will apply your knowledge of the practice and principles of PR to modern methods of communication. !There would be core tasks in this unit, including: •Research and monitor trends and or news •Using various electronic tools, both online and in-hand (video and sound recording) •Writing well, regularly and to deadline. •Presenting professionally: verbally, visually and in person. !In all the presentations, students should treat the class as a client. In your writing, treat me as the client.

MarkingAssignment Weeks Marks

Participation!• Blogs!• Tweets

!4-8!

6-12!!

30%!15%!15%!

Group Weeks 10-12 40%

Exam Week 13 30%

Breakdown of the marking. Haven’t delved into topics but they would be current.

Social Media ?

First, we need to understand what social media is. !My definition is that it’s a collection of online platforms for an exchange of information. On those platforms we share, we “chat” … we are social. However, while it may appear informal, for PR people it is a highly-skilled way of reaching publics and achieving communications goals.

Socialisation of media!

Monologue > dialogue!

Puts ‘Public” back into PR!

Not yet developed

• The current thinking is that media is being “socialised”. By media, we are now referring to “new” media (the Internet). The Internet is now THE media. People now have control of what gets published and broadcast. One term for it is citizen journalism. Whatever the pros and cons, it is here to stay. !As you would all be aware, the traditional media (print, radio, TV) are under threat. Established media companies the world over have finally launched into Cyberspace. The Olympics are now telecast on traditional and social media. !So the socialisation of media is simply people are populating the Internet with information. We form social groups according to our interests. We facilitate social interaction, whether it’s by words, or pictures, both live and recorded. !•The way communication has developed is that monologue has given way to dialog. And that’s a good thing. People are communicating both ways. Social media has created a new layer of influencers. It is the understanding of the role people play in the process of not only reading and disseminating information, but also how they in turn, share and also create content for others to participate. This, and only this, allows us to truly grasp the future of communications. !•Social media is about putting the “public” (or the people in society) back in Public Relations and realising that focusing on important markets and influencers will have a far greater impact than trying to reach the masses with any one message or tool. !•The exciting thing is that this trend is only just developing, and you will be part of it. However, many people around the world (M.East, Latin America) have yet to embrace it and participate. Please keep in mind that when we talk about the proliferation of all these techniques, we are talking about only those countries that have developed IT infrastructure.

“Understanding how to leverage this audience successfully is both a challenge and significant opportunity.”

– Will Hodgman, Exec. VP, Aisia-Pacific, Neilsen Ratings

Think about ‘IT’ ...

Hugh Mackay

Noted Australian social researcher and commentator Hugh Mackay, who is also a qualified psychologist, has questioned just exactly where we’re heading with communication, or more particularly with the way we communicate.!!Mackay asks whether we are in fact missing out on something, despite all the methods at our disposal to impart information. Is the “humaness” being taken out of communication? !!Just how we are communicating is something that has concerned me for some time. Hopefully it will concern you, as communicators.!!If nothing else, over the course, I would ask that you consider just what we can achieve by using the latest communication techniques. Are we simply confusing data transfer with human communication, or are we using tools that help foster understanding and assist in the way we practice sound PR?!

World Internet usage (2012)

1%4%Africa

7%

Latin America 11%

N.America 11%

Europe 22%

Asia 45%

http://www.internetworldstats.com

M.EastAust/Oceania

In looking at the Intercultural dimensions of social media and how they relate to communication, students will look at the growth of the Internet and the forms of social media that are most used. I have presented these few slides just to give you an idea of the rapid growth of social media.

World Internet usage (million)

http://www.internetworldstats.com

0

300

600

900

1200

2000 2007 2009 2012

Asia

Europe

N.AmericaLatin America

Africa M.EastAust/Oceania

Region Usage, millions/billions % pop. penetration

2000 2007 2009 2012 2009 2012

Africa 4.5 33.5 54 167 5.6 15.6

Asia 114.3 436.7 657 1076b 17.4 27.5

Europe 105 321.8 393 518 48.9 63.2

Middle East 3.2 19.5 45.8 90 23.3 40.2

Nth America 108 232.6 251 273 74.4 78.6

Latin America/Caribbean 18 110 173.6 254 29.9 42.9

*Oceania/Australia 7.6 18.8 20.7 24 60.4 67.6

TOTAL 360m 1.17b 1.5b 2405b 23.8 34.3

http://www.internetworldstats.com

*For Australia, the estimate is there are just over 19.5 million internet users, from a population of 21 million, with 88% population penetration.!!!!!

Source: Search Engine Journal Nov 2013

Major SM growth

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest Instagram

1.5b

1b

554m

70m

150m

400m

FACEBOOK

GOOGLE+

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

Current usage

554m users 135,000 new/ day

$4.5b

2006

1.5b users $6.1b

2004

1 billion users $52b

Sergey Bin

Larry Page

1998

Source: Statistic Brain

It took the radio 38 years, the television 13 years, and the World Wide Web 4 years to reach 50 million users.

Source: Search Engine Journal Nov 2013

Monthly active users

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

Reddit

0 300 600 900 1200

1.1 billion

359 Million

20m

2m

215m

20m

While these figures largely relate to the US, Australia, Great Britain and Canada, there are cultural implications. In Brazil, Facebook is not the mode of choice. It’s something called Orkut (more of that later).

Changing face of PR

• Talk the lingo!

• Send release all the time!

• Appeal to target groups!

• Link to web site!

• Optimise for searching, browsing

While many marketing and PR people understand that media releases sent over the wires appear in near real-time on services like Google News, few understand how they must dramatically alter their media release strategy in order to maximise the effectiveness of the media release as a direct consumer-communication channel. !• The Web has changed the rules. Many “publics” read your media releases directly and you need to be talking their language. !!This is not to suggest that media relations are no longer important. Mainstream media and the trade press must be part of an overall communications strategy. In some businesses, mainstream media and the trade press remain critically important and, of course, the media still derives some of its content from releases. !But your primary audience is no longer just a handful of journalists. Your audience is millions of people with Internet connections and access to search engines and RSS readers. There are some simple rules to ensure your news gets out, via multiple channels.!!• Don’t just send media releases when “big news” is happening; find good reasons to send them all the time. !• Instead of just targeting a handful of journalists, create media releases that appeal directly to your target audiences. !• Create links in releases to deliver potential customers to landing pages on your Web site. !• Optimise media release delivery for searching and browsing. !

History of Social Media

Packet networking

Commercial ISPs

1960-1970

1978

1994 1995

1997

2000

2002

2003

2004

2006

1980s

1960-70 US Defence Dept. using ‘packet networking’. ARPANET first to use current protocols. 1978 - First email. The computers were sitting next to each other 1978 - Bulletin Board Service with data exchanged over phone lines. First copies of web browsers (Usenet). Still used today. Big in Taiwan. 1994/95 - Geocities, The Globe. Forerunner of today’s web sites 1997 - AOL- instant msg (forerunner of SMS) & Six Degrees (Profile creations, friends listed) 2000 - The term “Social media” enters the dictionary 2002 - Friendster , the first two-way social networking site 2003 - MySpace, the first popular networking site that refuses to die. Murdoch bought it for $580m in 2005. 2004 - Facebook 2006 - Twitter !!

Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Google (YouTube)

We will be looking at, and using, the most common forms of social media, all with implications for PR.!!!

The reason Brian wilson is here because it shows us something about how BIG names in music are using social media. Ok, maybe not big to you. !Here students would have to find a favourite artist or personality (businessman/politician) that uses a range of social media tools, and give a two-minute presentation. They will need to bring the web address of the main page that demonstrates this (as on this slide).

Blogs

Blog = weblog!

Moblogs!

Blogosphere

Blog: a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. !"Blogs" were (up to about 3 years ago) the fastest-growing online phenomenon.  There’s said to be from between 12 to 35 million blogs on the web. The thing is, nobody knows.!• “Blog” is short for “web log”. It describes a website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.!• FYI. There are “Moblogs” (mobile phone blogs) are blogs that are regularly updated using of the text and camera facilities of mobile phones.!• The “blogosphere” refers to the universe of blogs, bloggers and blogging and is essentially an online community where information, opinions, and influence are spread by online word of mouth.!

Blog content/features

Thought and commentary!

Content:!

Diary, rant, notices, pictures, archives!

Personal style = “citizen journalism”!

Like-minded people

• As Blogs are essentially online journals of thought and commentary, they may combine aspects of diary, rant, noticeboards, and photo galleries, and most blogs include archives of past entries, lists of other blogs favoured by the author, and a facility for reader input.!• Blogs are characterised by a personal and conversational writing style, subjective points of view and a sense of egalitarianism and empowering the voice of the individual.!• Although on the surface blogging is about one individual putting their thoughts on the web for all to see, another fundamental aspect of blogging is its facilitation of communication and connections between like-minded people.!!

Who uses them?

Companies (Microsoft)!

Amateurs & professionals!

Bloggers can carve reputations

Originally blogs were written by individuals, but there are now a growing number of blogs being set up by companies, organisations and the mainstream media. Microsoft, for example, encourage its employees to blog. !• As such, bloggers (the people who write blogs) are a mix of amateur and professional writers.!• As the internet is now often the first stop for people looking for the ‘real’ story, successful bloggers (as measured by pageviews of their blogs) can become well-known commentators on a particular topic to the network of people interested in that area and can therefore become very influential. Matt Drudge is a prime example, as is Anita Huffington of the Huffington Post.!We will use blogs extensively in this unit.

Are they practical?

Will the organisation benefit?!

Exchange information!

Blogs offer:!

‘new voice’, depth (?), analysis, alternative!

Attract attention and cause action (Apple batteries)

•  For entrepreneurs, the question boils down to: Will my organisation benefit from it? So far, the social media release has been used primarily by those in the tech industry, which makes sense, since reporters, bloggers and customers in the tech space are familiar with all the release’s bells and whistles. If you have a cutting-edge company, using the new release could even be viewed as a benefit in itself--showcasing your business as a trendsetter in your field. Other sectors that may benefit include the entertainment industry, companies that appeal to youth culture or businesses that market highly visual products. • The objective, as always, is to facilitate the exchange of information and do so in a manner that’ll attract attention to your products, services or messages. • These days Blogs provide a platform to introduce new voices into national or international debates on particular issues and to transmit content that doesn’t get a run in commercial channels. The blogging community adds depth, analysis, alternative perspectives, foreign views, and occasionally first-person accounts that can contravene reports in the mainstream press. • Issues that start online in blogs and resonate with audiences can eventually cross over and gain coverage in the mainstream media. For example, Apple was forced to change the battery in its iPods after two consumers started a blog to expose the fact that the batteries only lasted 18 months and could not be replaced.   !

Are they credible?

Legimitate form of media!

Limitations:!

Lack of formal training!

Not subject to rules and ethics!

No editing!

Usually biased

Yes. They can do all that - to varying degrees. But are they credible?!• Blogs have emerged as a powerful alternative to the mainstream media; as mentioned - a new form of journalism, open to anyone who can establish and create a website. So they ARE a form of media.!They represent a fundamental shift in power as compared to other media, because blogs enable individuals to play an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, sorting, analysing, and disseminating news and information - a task once reserved exclusively for the media.!Blogs have been known to publish news before the traditional media reports on it and media are increasingly scanning blogs for tips, sources, story ideas, and perspectives on current issues.!• However, the concept of bloggers as the new media raises some interesting questions. On one hand, bloggers are like editorial writers or columnists since they apply the filter of opinion.  On the other hand however, bloggers may not have any formally-learnt writing skills, are not bound by a journalistic code of conduct, are not subject to an editing process, and may be pushing a personal agenda. !

PR implications

Awareness essential!

Warns of issues and/or crises!

Gather information!

Understand target groups and media (SMH)!

Reach target groups

• It is essential that communications professionals are aware of the blogs relevant to their organisations so they can monitor what is being said about their organisation and its products and services. Blogs can:!• provide early warnings of impending issues or potential crises), !• provide competitor information (through competitor blogs), !• contribute to a better understanding of the concerns, challenges and interests of different stakeholder groups.!• Communications professionals should also note the media outlets and journalists on their target lists who have their own blogs. These can be monitored for the journalist’s personal areas of interest, and new stories that the journalist may be thinking of or working on. Journalists’ blogs can be a helpful source of background information when pitching article ideas. The Sydney Morning Herald, for example, lists a number of journalists with blogs.!• Another implication of blogs on PR and marketing communications is the potential to be utilised as a tool by the organisation to communicate with stakeholder groups. !

Practical usesGenerate interest!

Build product “buzz”!

Use as informal focus group!

Release non-essential news!

Alternative to e-mail!

Target specific, hard-to-reach groups!

Monitor trends, opinion, sentiment

Blogs can be used as part of an integrated communication strategy to enhance and complement the rest of an organisation’s communications activities. Blogs provides a bottom-up, grassroots method of sharing information about organisations through the web. They can be used for all of the following: 1. Generate interest about the company and/or its products and services among current and potential customers, partners, resellers, media, and industry influencers 2. Build buzz and positive word of mouth promotion for the company and/or its products and services 3. Spark informal conversations about the organisation and/or its products and services 4. Position executives or R&D teams as thought leaders 5. Offer an outlet for news and information not important enough, or even suitable for a press release, but still worthy of being communicated 6. Differentiate an organisation from its competition 7. Provide an alternative to one-to-many email broadcasts 8. Enhance internal communication 9. Target very specific groups - people with specific demographics, opinions, perspectives, worldviews, and interests 10. Reach audiences that may be difficult to reach through conventional communication channels - e.g. tech-savvy audiences 11. Monitor public opinion and sentiment

Social networks

Construct profile!

Build a list!

View and respond to concerns

In fact, what we now have is not social media, it’s social networks. This is the environment PR people have to move about in.!!• Boyd and Ellison (2007) define social networks as!

“…web-based services that allow individuals to….!1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system!2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection!3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.”!!PR people have to be able to identify social networks - those highly-specialised groups (publics) that make up the online social universe

Social Networking

• Examples of social networks are Facebook, MySpace, G+. There are many others, including those for people who have pugs as pets (DogBook), and so on. We’ll look briefly at Facebook and Twitter.

• 70% of the global online population now visit a social network site, and this sector accounts for 20% of all Internet time. (Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, and Italy are the fastest-growing segments.)

• Social networks and blogs are now the 4th

most popular online category – ahead of personal Email

• Member sites now account for 1 in every 11 minutes online

• Twitter is and it isn’t a social networking site. Current research shows it is used more by professionals.

• Like all things on the internet, you have to be wary of your sources. Fake accounts abound, and this is also the case in corporate life, where these types of site have resulted in an increase in what’s known as campaign astroturfing. The goal of such a campaign is to disguise the agenda of a client as an independent public reaction to some political entity. It’s called astroturfing because AstroTurf (artificial grass) is a metaphor to indicate fake grassroots support. !

Facebook is a social networking website that was originally designed for college students, but is now open to anyone 13 years of age or older. Facebook users can create and customize their own profiles with photos, videos, and information about themselves. Friends can browse the profiles of other friends and write messages on their pages. (TechTerms.com) !

Orkut.com in Brazil (operated by Google) has the largest domestic online reach (70%) of any social network anywhere in the world, whereas Facebook has the highest average time per visitor among the 75 most popular brands online worldwide. The amount of time spent on Facebook.com increased by more than 566% in only one year. (Nielsen, 2009) !!

Use academia.edu – A facebook-like application •Use Facebook Groups – Create a class-centric group

Continuous connection

Twitter is a microblogging application that is more or less a combination of instant messaging and blogging.!Cadel Evans uses it daily in the Tour De France, as does Pink (but in a different kind of tour).!!Twitter is the flavour of the moment, with regard to spreading on-line (and beyond) messages. I say beyond, because like so much of social media now, it is now mobile. Facebook, You Tube, G+ and Twitter are run from mobile phones, whereas only recently they were restricted to web-based applications. when I say recently, I mean four years ago.!!Following brands on Twitter has its rewards, as Jetstar demonstrated in 2009. The brand – held a Twitter-only giveaway of 3000 seats on its new Melbourne Tullamarine – Sydney service. Considering that was how many followers it had at the time, those odds were pretty good for those who moved fast before the retweeting kicked in.!

And when a mainstream offer of $19 went live later in the day, the Twitter account also proved useful for the brand to apologise to punters (and blame Telstra) after the server crashed..!

Summary: We now live in an age where we’re continually connected.

Mail!YouTube!Blogger!Calendar!Picasa!Reader!Documents!Search!G-Plus!

Why am I mentioning Google? Hopefully, many of you have discovered what Google actually does - apart from searching.!!For PR professionals Google is a one-stop communications centre, allowing you to run your office from anywhere, without a laptop (if need be).!!What began as a search engine now encompasses all of these components:!•e-mail!•video (You Tube)!•e-blogger!•calendar!•Photos (Picasa)!•Reader (RSS)!•Documents (conduct surveys)!•Search (images, scholar)!•G+!!•Everything is interlinked!!

The future ... Sociology!

A mixed model!

Engage!

Become a listener !

Be conversational!

Participation

• While Blogs and Social Media Releases are integral components of PR. However, first understand that social media is more about sociology (how people connect) and less about technology. It’s the new public mall.!!• The combination of all SM tools present us with a mixed model; in that they’re a collection of new and traditional media that spans across advertising, PR, customer service, marketing communications, community relations and even sales.!!• In order to succeed now and in the future, is to bridge the gap between early adopters and everyone else – to engage in the use of new techniques!!• Now it’s not so much about telling … it’s about talking, about conversations. And the best communicators start as the best listeners. This is about doing PR in a way that both works in a conversational medium, though it might be in words. !!It’s about encouraging participation. It’s a two-way process out there.!!!!

Conclusions

Traditional approaches still important!

Be aware!

Try different techniques!

Quality still the key!

Just another tool

The existing news release format has been in use for more than 50 years and is unlikely to disappear completely. However, the past several years have witnessed an increased use of multimedia and interactive content in news releases. The top newswires, for their part, anticipated

this trend and are fully equipped to distribute such material. The best PR tactic for you is to be aware of what’s available and not be too cautious to try different techniques and formats. After all, these are just more tools.!

I recently conducted a national PR campaign using predominantly Twitter to connect with journalist across four States.!• The key -- and this will always remain the most important factor in getting visibility for your news - - is the quality of the content in your communications, regardless of the format. Writing a strong release with newsworthy information should always be foremost in your mind. Finding the best format for your content should follow. Unless the story is really newsworthy, journalists and bloggers won’t pay any attention to it. No matter what channel you use, you should focus on what is really important; answer the basic journalist questions, and supplement the story with statements from the CEOs and other business representatives, relevant documents and other data. All this enables the journalist to get to the heart of the story, fast.!!In conclusion, the way we do public relations is changing. If we don’t continually adapt to (and adpot) these changes and new technology we are going to be out of the game.!!

Pre-course

Gmail!

Twitter!

Video camera/voice recorder!

The course on Google

There are some pre-course technical requirements. !1. Set up a gMail account, if you don't have one. You'll need this to access the unit through google Groups and other google tools. It would be best, however, to set up a new one in this format (uwasurnameinitial@gmail.com). So I would be uwasmithg@gmail. !2. Set up a Twitter account. (Same as above. i.e., @uwasurnameinitial). So I would be @uwasmithg 3. Organise a DVD camera and voice recorder (most mobile phones have them, so that will suffice). You won't need those for a while, though. !Part os the course will be accessed through Google.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrJjfDUzD7M

I recommend this to anyone who hasn’t seen it. Shift Happens started as a Powerpoint for a faculty meeting in August 2006 at a US high School. The presentation "went viral" on the Web in February 2007 and, as of June 2007, had been seen by at least 5 million online viewers. Today the old and new versions of the online presentation have been seen by at least 20 million people.

Control that genie. Thank you.