So there's a problem with our posts... all the posts below have addressed how social NETWORKING has impacted PR and it's connection between publics, but haven't looked at the broader definition of social media.
Social networking refers to the connection of individuals via a common link. God knows I'm sick of hearing about social networking tools like twitter, facebook, and [to a lesser extent] Myspace! but unfortunately that's what most people associate with social media. However, in addition to the communication barriers that were reduced to rubble during web the rise 2.0, a profound shift occurred in media production that broadens the term of "Social Media".
The once heavily specialised professions that revolved around the production of Audio, Video, and Photos were reduced to the realms of hobby. Today anybody can be a producer because the tools and the audience are readily available and easily accesible. I have an SLR camera, a microphone and a keyboard hooked up to the computer in my bedroom. Using this equipment and the software loaded on my computer I can produce practically anything I want, and in a very short space of time. I also have free medium dedicated distribution channels for sharing my creations with an audience. My Videos go on youtube and vimeo, my photos go on flikr and photobucket, and my audio goes on garageband.com. The social aspect of exists on all of these sites with community based feedback, comments and rating schemes.
Piracy [a social medium in it's own right] has fuelled media production. The level of quality of any given media often has a direct correlation with the quality of the software used to create it. While there are many free pieces of software for basic editing, more advanced editing software is rather expensive [for example a single license for Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended will set you back AU$1,671]. It is easy to understand how a 10 year old amateur photographer, on $10 pocket money per week, that wants to further his photographic skills would choose to pirate a copy rather than saving his pennies for 3 and a half years. I should point out that it's not just 10 year olds that are responsible for piracy's popularity, it's pretty much everyone. Peer-to-Peer file sharing gives anyone access to any and all software/digital information that's stored within the collective peer-to-peer community. This also means that things are often available in the peer-to-peer community well before official release. That being said, not everybody pirates - I for one think producers deserve their money and make a point of not pirating anything.
So, I hear you ask - how does this relate to "social media putting the public back in PR"? The Short version is: loss of control & consumer created corporate identity. Stay tuned for the long version...
With readily accessible advanced production technology, the line between amateur and pro is blurred [if not invisible] - A fantastic example of this is the Volkswagon Golf, Terrorist commercial (Watch it HERE). This ad looks and feels completely legit but was actually original user generated content that went viral. The blurring of the line between pro and amateur makes it harder for companies and consumers to differentiate one another's content. Consumers can easily engage and become representative of a given brand through original consumer created content, and corporations can't control it. Consumers now help to create a corporations identity and reputation because consumer created content is ultimately consumed by other consumers and affects their overall perception of the brand. As a result, Traditional PR practices of CSR, CRM, now involve the consumer at a base level, offering both beneficial and detrimental contributions to corporate identity. Beneficial contributions include the wide applications of crowd sourcing. Detrimental contributions include negative campaigning and resulting issues/crisis management eg. the recent KitKat/Killer campaign by greenpeace.
The public is not just back in Public Relations, now it's in the corporation.
Original ideas & thoughts by Dave Goodfellow.
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