My post last week
about the diffusion of innovations offers a great gateway to my post today
about social media networks.
Social media – defined
as “media for social interaction, using highly accessible
and scalable publishing techniques [and] web-based technologies to transform
and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues” by Wikipedia and these
networks are changing the communication landscape for communicators in all
areas.
Who has not heard
of Facebook? Twitter? YouTube? In one of my readings this week, dated 2013,
Facebook was credited with having more than 1 billion active users – there are
only 319 million people
in the United States! While I do not have a specific number for Facebook in
terms of United States users, I think it is probably safe to say we are past “Innovators,”
“Early Adopters,” and possibly through “Early Majority” to the “Late Majority” in
the Diffusion of Innovations classifications in terms of how Facebook alone has
permeated the United States daily life. Even my 71 year-old mother recently
asked my wife to help her “set up the Facebook” on her computer. And this
social media phenomenon is not going away any time soon.
But what does that
mean for strategic communicators? It means that these communicators have to
realize there are great opportunities as well as great risks through the use of
social media networks. The opportunity is to make personal, direct, real-time
connections – relationships – with a wide array of stakeholders: customers, stockholders,
employees, regulators, general public, detractors, and even competitors.
But opening those
gates of access can be akin to opening Pandora’s Box – though the use of social
media networks, there is the potential for tremendous harm. If a company is not
using social media networks – or at least monitoring them – there may be
complaints, negative information, videos, photos, etc. circulating on the
internet damaging the organization’s credibility and image without the company even
being aware of it. Granted, they may not be able to remove the information, but
if it circulates without even being addressed by the company, the silence could
be perceived as an admission the information is accurate.
In an article
by Soumitra Dutta that appeared in the Harvard
Business Review (2010), the author provides a great discussion of how
individuals can develop their own personal media strategy. Careful
consideration should be given to what the goals are of being on social media
networks, which networks are most appropriately suited for achieving the goals,
etc.
Veteran internet
marketer Adam DeGraide also wrote an insightful article
that appeared in the marketing trade journal Rough Notes (2013) about choosing what social media network(s) to
focus on, where spending time will result in the most ‘bang for the buck.”
A word or two of
caution, though. As with any component of an overall strategic communication plan,
careful consideration and investigation should be employed to determine not only
which social media networks to use, but what the goal of that use is. Some
social media networks may not be ones your particular stakeholders (customers,
shareholders, employees, regulators, etc.) utilize, so occasional monitoring
may be sufficient. Some networks like Facebook and Twitter may require active, daily
participation – both monitoring as well as posting/responding.
While it may seem
logical that this type of activity falls under the purview of the Senior
Communications Manager, there may be more benefit by having members of the
senior management team (President, Chairman, CEO, COO, CFO, etc.) maintain a
presence on the various social media networks.
A particular area
of concern for any company is photos and videos going viral on the internet.
Social media networks like YouTube, Tumblr, Flickr and Instragram are closely
linked with static images or photos and videos. For a time “planking” was all the
rage on YouTube, but when it started showing up on employees’ personal Facebook
accounts, demonstrating safety standards were being ignored, companies like The
Home Depot issued communiqués reminding employees purposely ignoring safety
standards and standard operating procedures was a major work rule violation and
could result in discipline up to and including termination of employment.
Kevin Allocca,
Trends Manager for YouTube said during a TEDYouth Talk video
that what makes a video go viral is usually a result of three things:
Tastemakers, Communities of Participation and Unexpectedness. Essentially, a
video can be posted today and receive no notice or views for months, but all it
takes is someone mentioning it, like a Jimmy Fallon, Jay Leno, etc. to bring
attention to the video. That attention can turn into communities of participation
(people “sharing” the video) among all their friends, etc.
Again, what does
that mean for strategic communicators? That means that today’s harmless,
meant-to-be-funny video posted by an employee could turn into tomorrow’s crisis
media relations event because the video showcased workers ignoring safety
practices, or putting customers in harm’s way, or conveying an attitude, bias
or stereotype that is not consistent with the corporate public image.
The bottom line is
this: The traditional mediums of print (newspapers, magazines, brochures,
flyers) and broadcast (television, radio) are now competing with digital media
channels like websites, blogs, social media networks and podcasts. And it is
the savvy strategic communicator who incorporates all the various mediums to
work in concert to successfully achieve the communication goals for an
organization or client.
About the Author: David is a dedicated husband and proud father of a strapping fourteen year-old son and twin five year-old daughters. He has twenty years of professional communication experience, working in the public relations field. He has worked for public relations firms in Metro Detroit, hospitals and a state-wide faith-based social service organization helping at-risk children and their families. He grew up on a mid-sized Michigan blueberry farm, spent two years in Texas and now resides with his family outside Tampa, Florida. An avid reader and photographer, David also enjoys building furniture using recycled/upcycled wooden pallets.
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