Posted March 29th, 2012
by Eva Rohrmann
Last week, just as we were accelerating our preparations for PRSA’s Digital Impact conference, I received a few media alerts celebrating Twitter’s birthday. Six years! Depending on which project I’m working on it seems like Twitter popped up yesterday – or so long ago that I’m surprised Twitter isn’t flopping onto the couch and sighing, “I’m so bored.”
But six years is plenty of time for Twitter, and its social media relatives, to have had a major affect on every aspect of our lives, from sharing sixth birthday videos to getting news about a stock market decline. At next week’s conference, my colleague Martin Murtland will be looking at the impact of social media on a company’s share price, and how a company can develop its “Social IQ” to be ready to engage in conversations that may affect reputation – or valuation. It should be an interesting session, so we look forward to seeing you this coming Monday.
Did you miss Twitter’s birthday? Check out these pieces from The Wall Street Journal:
Video: Happy Birthday Twitter!
Speakeasy Blog: Happy Birthday Twitter! A Look Back at Some Noteworthy Tweets
Tags: PRSA, Public Relations, Social Media, social networks, Twitter
Posted in Public Relations, Social Media
Posted March 5th, 2012
by Eva Rohrmann
New data from research firm comScore Inc. shows that Google+ users are signing up – but then not doing much there. The Wall Street Journal examines how Google+ is playing catchup to Facebook, but Google’s social network is a virtual ghost town by comparison.
Tags: Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, media measurement, MySpace, Social Media, social networks, Twitter
Posted in Social Media
Posted April 21st, 2011
by Elena Sokolova
When the massive natural disaster occurred in Japanon 11 March the value of mobile devices and social media were once again brought to the forefront for capturing and disseminating the latest news quickly. Users were not only able to get the latest news through social networks but also send and receive updates, prompt help for those in need and share an unprecedented amount of eyewitness video footage.
Social networks sites were not only helpful for retrieving news, but also served as a form of community bulletin board to find loved ones after the earthquake. As telephone lines were jammed or no longer in service, those affected were able to use sites such as Skype, Twitter, Facebook and Mixi to inform others of their whereabouts and status. Within an hour of the earthquake, 1,200 tweets per minute were coming from Tokyo alone. By day’s end over 246,000 messages were published under the topic “Earthquake in Japan”. And in one day, 4.5 million people changed their status to include “earthquake”, “Japan”, or “tsunami”.
Social networks also supported the efforts of Kameda Medical Center in Chiba. The medical center agreed to treat victims of the earthquake, but soon found itself running out of food and medical supplies, and no truck or ambulance would come close from fear of radiation at the nearby Fukushima reactors. Hospital director Nobuo Hiwatashi issued an appeal through the Mainichi Japan newspaper with little response. Finally, the hospital posted two urgent pleas for help on the Twitter stream of US Ambassador John Roos, instantly contacting Roos through his mobile. An hour or so later, evacuation of the patients were organized byJapan’s Ground Self-Defense Forces.
Local governments and agencies started using social media as a tool, including the local government in Mitaka city in western Tokyo, which put information on Twitter to inform local citizens about electricity blackouts in real-time. The US Government also posted advisories and updates to its citizens residing in Japan through Twitter and Facebook.
Blogger “konnichiwa-japan” explained in a nutshell why Twitter became so popular: “as the days progressed, I found the Tweet feed from people actually on the ground in affected areas to be the best source of news. Links from Twitter showed me NHK News’ English Upstream live feed, real-time reporting of radiation levels, Upstream of Geiger counters, and a variety of other useful sites that I never would have gotten from traditional TV or newspaper media.”
The natural disaster in Japan demonstrated how social networks have significantly impacted the ways in which we communicate and connect with each other. It was a life saver to many that had no ways of reaching other channels for help. As an instrument for change, individuals were able to not only trigger action and connect with friends but have their stories shared with millions across the globe.
Tags: issues management, Social Media, social networks
Posted in Elena Sokolova, Social Media
Posted February 26th, 2010
by Damien Dupont
The Resolution
So let’s note that individuals are seeking to fuse themselves to tribes that express parts of their identity, and can do so in incredibly quick, fine-grained and extensive ways. From the perspective of tethering your brand’s value, we can see that broadcasting out from a Facebook page or Twitter feed is far from ideal. Nor should you spend your time seeking to unduly influence credible sources.
Instead, the counter-intuitive “concrete-fluidity” of tribes and clusters of tribes recommends you work hard to understand and identify what an “abstract,” temporary, recurring influencer in a tribe or cluster looks like; the template of what a person with credibility, or a credible presentation, would be like. And then reach out to that sort of person.
It’s not that difficult to do; Using media monitoring software, you can identify A-list, B-list and even long-tail blogs talking about specific issues and products, and monitor them closely to identify the correct targets.
The best way to reach out is to pitch things such a person really might be interested in. (Popular freelance blogger Lindsay Robertson offers some tips on how to do this here.)
High value content for blogs, message boards, Twitter feeds and even Facebook groups and streams filters out of individuals and core groupsinto larger networks as much or more than it filters the other way. It has to, because messages that tether to the mind come from sources who, though ‘small’ in reach, are trusted as excellent filters.
In contrast, broadcasting your message to high traffic sources who lack credibility, such as a tweet stream, or to those who don’t view you credibly, can only rarely do more than create fleeting true opinions, in one ear, and soon enough, out the other. And as we’re constantly reminded, credibility is and will always be a major issue for social media.
One last thought; the fluidity in tribes allows for the possibility of multiple concurrent or consecutive efforts at tethering to the members of a tribe via credible people. And if a brand becomes established, it not only maintains its position in the tribe, but it increases the chances of being carried over into other tribes and clusters as people move on. Some of these people will not occupy credible-source positions in their new tribes, but others will.
Damien DuPont is a report writer and quality assurance specialist in the Dow Jones Media Lab and is based in New York.
Tags: brand reputation, media relations, Public Relations, social networks
Posted in Damien Dupont, Social Media
Posted February 25th, 2010
by Damien Dupont
The Contradiction
Outside of “all-in-one” sites like Facebook, there are myriad sites dedicated to pop culture, multimedia, and social and political causes, which allow people to extend their identity in ways and at speeds that would have been impossible to members of ancient tribes. These web sites are the home of credibility, and they must be treated as such. Unfortunately, as Ann Taylor Loft is finding out, it’s inevitable that many of them will be corrupted.
The contradiction underlying these types of sites – that they are the potential customer’s source of credible information on your product, but also highly susceptible to the appearance of corruption, – has an interesting effect on tribes: tribes are much more fluid in membership, yet remain concrete and credible. This is clear from the Ann Taylor case. That brand was likely a member of many tribes, and so many web sites would have been a good fit for its attempts at “tethering.” Instead, the situation has probably led to the discrediting of many sources where these tribes would have gone for information on the brand, and so traffic will move to other sites, some potential customers will be put off and some existing customers may shun the brand. But it’s a safe bet that new sites will step up and service these tribes, and that other brands will fill in the void. And new voices will become credible and so shape how this happens.
Something like this dynamic happens on sites like Netflix, which shows users what is popular where they live, as well as “similarity scores” between their friends and even with complete strangers. It’s interesting to see novelty and disagreement among people in your core group, but it’s also sometimes exciting to find that a complete stranger so closely matches one’s tastes. Both cases allow for enjoyable discoveries of actors, directors and genres, which can contribute to the growth and to the fracture of a tribe. This exemplifies how credibility, tethering, and the fluidity of tribes work together.
Come back Friday for the final installment: The Resolution.
Damien DuPont is a report writer and quality assurance specialist in the Dow Jones Media Lab and is based in New York.
Tags: brand reputation, social networks, tribes
Posted in Damien Dupont, Social Media
