PR and new media
MSc Corporate Communications module
October 2009-January 2010
Agenda
Class blogs
Add yours here:
Two from last year (that are still going):
Deborah PR blog
Sole Trader PR
Guidelines
We recommend WordPress (free, open source, increasingly industry standard):
WordPress.com
Blogger is free and widespread (and owned by Google), but seems less professional
Read this: Potential blog topics (Liz Bridgen, de Montfort University)
Assignment:
- Have your blog up and running by the end of October
- Keep it running for three months (November to end of January 2010)
- You should aim for at least one on-topic post per week during this time (200 words x 15 posts = 3000 words)
- Your content should primarily be focused on the module contents (the implications for corporate communications on changing media and technology, see below)
Assessment:
- 'Hard' measures: number of posts, number of comments, Technorati authority, Google PageRank (50%)
- 'Soft' measures: Quality of content and reflection on learning; engagement with issues and tools; participation in online communities and relevant social networks (50%)
Suggested topics:
- What's new in PR and social media (links to and comments on new tools, new ideas, new research)
First thoughts: about technology and communications
"Truth and technology will triumph over bullshit and bureaucracy."
Rene Anselmo
"Online PR is about engaging people in conversations so they become advocates for your organization."
Tom Watson and Paul Noble, Evaluating Public Relations (2nd edition 2007)
Jakob Nielsen: Streams,walls and feeds
Second thought: avoid technology determinism
"Computing is not about computers any more. It is about living."
Nicholas Negroponte, Being Digital, 1995
How did we get here?
Towards a definition
> Social media uses the power of social (and computer) networks
> Social media involves some degree of interactivity (eg user comments)
> Social media is frequently created by amateurs (eg citizen journalism)
But note:
> 'Mainstream media' is borrowing all these techniques - see any news report from the BBC
Evolution of the media
Mass media |
Masses of media |
Me media |
Newspapers, broadcast |
Digital channels, web |
Blogs, personal publishing |
1870s-1980s |
1990s- |
2000s- |
Source: Richard Bailey
The broadcast era is giving way to the conversational era (Israel 2009)
Three phases of the web
1. The age of Surf (eg Yahoo web directory)
2. The age of Search (eg Google)
3. The age of Syndication (eg RSS, Internet Explorer 7)
Source: Scoble and Israel 2006
Two models of web publishing
Source: O'Reilly What is Web 2.0?
Two models of public relations
PR 1.0 |
PR 2.0 |
Media relations |
Stakeholder communications |
Press coverage |
Google search ranking |
Awareness |
Acceptance |
Tomorrow's headlines |
Sustainable success |
Product promotion |
Discussion of issues, trends |
Mass targeting |
Micro targeting |
Press clippings analysis |
Attitudinal research |
Persuasion |
Conversation |
Source: Richard Bailey
Concepts and context
Digital natives v digital immigrants
Article by Marc Prensky (part one; part two)
An 18-year old new student / new elector was born in 1990s. They were children when the WWW was new and when Google was launched. This is their world.
Digital natives |
Digital immigrants |
Grew up with Google |
Older than the web |
Multitasking, hypertext |
Linear processes |
Parallel |
Sequential |
Crave interactivity |
Prefer to concentrate |
Learn through computer games |
Learn through reading |
Twitch-speed |
Discussion of issues, trends |
Graphics before text |
Text before graphics |
Source: Marc Prensky
Push v pull
Push |
Pull |
Newsletter |
Website content |
Website content |
RSS syndication |
News release |
Word of mouth |
Broadcast |
Narrowcast |
Speech |
Conversation |
Publish, then filter
"The media landacape is transformed, because personal communication and publishing, previously separate functions, now shade into one another. One result is to break the older pattern of professional filtering of the good from the mediocre before publication; now such filtering is increasingly social, and happens after the fact."
Shirky 2008, Chapter 4
Open source movement
> Open source software is an alternative to private, proprietary code (eg Firefox v Internet Explorer)
> Wikipedia is an 'open source' encyclopedia
> Open source concepts are now being applied to marketing and democracy
> Why do people do things for free? 'Psychic Capital' (Groundswell); Tribes (Godin)
Private v public
> Where is the boundary between work and play (eg Facebook, YouTube)?
> How can we control what appears in the public domain?
> How can we manage our personal and corporate reputation?
Channels v audiences
> Mass media is a channel rather than an audience
> But what about blogs - individual or media entity?
> Audience or community (Chris Brogan)
Social media examples
Engaging with social media
Developing a social media strategy
Issues for corporate communications
What's the role of PR in the Web 2.0 world?
Can we control information?
- Could we ever prevent leaks or factory-gate gossip?
- Is the scale of challenge greater given the porosity of online information?
- Is PR about 'command and control' or should it encourage conversations on issues?
What does Web 2.0 mean for newspapers?
Does blogger relations replace media relations?
- Yes, if blogs have reach and credibility with target audience
- Otherwise, new media complements - but doesn't replace - old media (think radio, TV, internet)
- Blogger relations complements media relations (as does eg analyst relations)
- See Tom Murphy's PR hype cycle
- State of the live web / blogosphere (April 2007)
Should the chief executive blog?
Should we prevent employees from blogging and using social media?
Should our blogging be transparent?
Should we police our Wikipedia entry?
- How clean is an 'open source' encyclopedia?
- Self-penned entry (eg Tim Mackintosh-Smith)
- What about protecting your reputation?
- Wikipedia's five pillars (including 'neutral point of view')
What tools are needed for PR 2.0?
Sources
Bailey, R New media sources on PR Books
Pavlik, J (2007) Mapping the Consequences of Technology on Public Relations Institute for Public Relations, USA
Phillips, D ePR lectures
Social Media Resource - by The Friendly Ghost
Inferno blogging survey
Social Media white paper pdf format
What is social media? e-book from Spannerworks
Recommended reading
Gillmor, D (2004) We the Media, O’Reilly
Levine, R et al (2nd ed 2009) The Cluetrain Manifesto, Basic Books
Phillips, D and Young, P (2nd ed 2009) Online Public Relations, Kogan Page
Scoble, R & Israel, S (2006) Naked Conversations, Wiley
Shirky, C (2008) Here Comes Everybody, Penguin
Solis, B & Breakenridge, D (2009) Putting the Public Back into Public Relations, Pearson Education
Zittrain, J (2008) The Future of the Internet, Allan Lane
Additional reading
Anderson, C (2006) The Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand, Random House
Brown, R (2009) PR and the Social Web, Kogan Page
Hargreaves, I (2003) 'Matt's Modem: Tomorrow's Journalism' in Hargreaves: Journalism: Truth or Dare?, Oxford University Press
Israel, S (2009) Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the new Global Neighborhoods, Portfolio
Kent, M (2008) Critical analysis of blogging in public relations in Public Relations Review Vol 31 Issue 1 pp 32-40 full article
Li, C and Bernoff, J (2008) Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies, Harvard Business Press
Thomas, M and Brain, D (2008) Crowd Surfing: Suriving and thriving in the age of consumer empowerment, A & C Black
Wright, D and Hinson, M (2008) How Blogs and Social Media are Changing Public Relations and the Way it is Practiced in Public Relations Journal Vol 2 No 2, Spring 2008, PRSA pdf file
Thank you for listening (and participating)
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