How to manage uncontrolled social media

The rise of uncontrolled social media gives a major challenge for public relations practitioners. Perhaps this is a situation that calls for the use of the chaos theory as a model for managing issues and crises. Murphy, 2002 uses chaos theory to model public relations situations whose salient feature is the volatility of public perceptions. The volatility of social media makes it necessary to apply the chaos theory to issues management, the evolution of interest groups, crises and rumours. I believe chaos theory is the most useful for the public relations practitioner struggling to structure persistent image problems and to raise questions about organizational control of public perceptions. Because this theory emphasizes uncertainty, open-endedness, plurality and change, chaos theory sets limits on the purposeful management of volatile issues.

Technology creates a new user generation

Online media has become the biggest technology explosion of the century. Facebook, youtube, myspace, name it, all generate user generated content communities, creating a user generation who have grown up online, faceless, anonymous and unreachable by press releases. Their opinion makers are fellow bloggers, peers and not your traditional newspaper editors or school teachers. A generation that has no idea what life was like before the mobile phone and before the email; a generation that dismisses ''official'' opinions and anything that smells like advertising. Welcome to Generation Web 2:0.
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Is the rise of social media a technological or sociological change?

Social media has been touted as the most important and influential media to hit the 21st century. Some people say this change is a sociological one and not necessarily a technological one. I believe this change is a sociological one because there is a general rise of communities that value honesty, engagement and transparency over anything else. For one to get a company message to such an online community, you must join the community, not as a spectator but as a passionate participant, a real fan. This indeed is redefining how public relations practitioners engage with the public and how they carry out their corporate responsibility activities. Gaining the trust of communities and having a sense of belonging, has become very critical for practitioners who want to tap into this sociological change.

Technology has democratized public relations

Technology is having a huge impact on how public relations practitioners communicate and what media they use to deliver the message. The way the message is delivered is profoundly altered by technology, which in turn is affecting the final message. This forces the public relations practitioner to adapt his or her message for rapid, multi-channel consumption and anticipate direct feedback, a huge departure from traditional public relations where newspapers were perceived to have the reach and access to the public.

Now technology has destroyed these barriers and the situation forces the public relations practitioner to be more of a facilitator helping businesses manage their own message and dialogue with their customers and stakeholders than merely passing on information to the mass media. In a way technology has "democratized" the profession and anyone can do public relations through social media. Read more...

Dangerous Media?

Amateur journalists armed with camera phones can break an embarassing story and have it on national news by 6 o'clock. Combating these well armed masses of opinion makers is a nightmare. Situations could get worse, as information is passed on, often distorted or even exaggerated. The ability of a story to spin out of control and establish its own life, is real. In a matter of hours, rather than days, information can be amplified to the world, in a manner never thought possible before. Here comes everyone. Here comes technology. And here comes the cameras of dangerous media. How does the public relations practitioner deal with it? Read: Clay Shirky's book, Here Comes Everybody, How change Happens when People Come Together, Penguin Books, 2008

Using Technology for Public Relations

Technology has made public relations far much easier than it used to be. If I want to send a press release, all I need is the click of a mouse and voila, hundreds and thousands of press releases will go to a targeted group of journalists, as opposed to having to fax or send hard copies to several media houses. Unfortunately, this same technology has brought about a negative side. It is now very easy for a journalist to press the delete key and send your stuff to a ''spam'' folder which is routinely emptied without a thought. This situation has given rise to new businessmen and women for hire, who promise to by-pass the spamming and get the editors attention. Read more...

Technology has re-invented job titles in the PR field

The use of the internet for business communications has created new job titles and positions in many organisations.

Most companies especially air lines, banks, insurance, advertising agencies , tour operators, health care and the hotel industry now have new job titles and positions like, eMarketing Manager, Web Experience Manager , Web Content Executive , Internet Sales Manager, e-Commerce Manager, e-Commerce Coordinator, e-Business Executive, Digital Manager, e-Communications Co-ordinator and recently, online Public Relations Executive!

This trend has spread to non-governmental and international organizations. Read more... Info...

The Impact of Social Media on Public Relations

Forget about the nuclear bomb and space antics, social media is the bomb of the 21st century.Several studies have shown that it has overtaken pornography as the number one user of the internet!

According to a study that was done by Donald K. Wright and Michelle D. Hinson which analysed the increasing impact of social and other new media on public relations practice, over 92% of the respondents believed that social blogs and social media influenced coverage in traditional news media. Social media has become such a powerful force that it is driving the media agenda!

Over 93% of the respondents spent time on social media, showing the continuing impact that social media continues to have on public relations. If you aren't there, you're nowhere! Read more...

Technology spells death of print media

Technology is affecting how we receive news and nowhere is this seen better than in the print media, where newspapers are increasingly being offered online. Why pay for a hard copy when you can get exactly the same information online? Here in Kenya, the Nation Group of newspapers is leading the onslaught. Read...

Public Relations and Technology

I think technology has influenced public relations a great deal, especially the internet. Online visibility is often measured by how many "hits" we get, not by how many people we get to influence. I see a big shift in the way we communicate, where the formal becomes informal and the non-traditional becomes the norm. I have known companies where hiring is done through an ''sms'' (short message service) and I have read about firings which have been done via ''sms''. Language is changing. What used to be impolite to write, is now polite and ''cool". Suddenly what used to be less credible, less accurate and less ethical, becomes the most credible, accurate and ethical standard of measuring ''popularity". I guess it has to do with going with the flow!

Welcome to Dream World

Welcome to Dream World, the blog about the ideal world of public relations.

Technology and PR Theory and Practice

Technology affects every facet of public relations practice. I find myself using technology to communicate. From the laptop I am using as I type this, to the mobile phone and internet, I cannot escape the influence of technology. I cannot envisage public relations practice without these tools, nor a world without these tools. The tools enable me to have mailing lists and the ability to communicate in real time.