This post picks up on an idea raised during the final part of the Index my Business series. It’s a subject is very pertinent to social media, but it’s not getting much press despite being the one thing social media does exceptionally well: Information Distribution and Content Syndication.
This mini-series will seek to explain for Communications and Information Specialists the ways that the channels available for content distribution are developing, and how they can be leveraged. For the purposes of clarity the term “social media” will be used to cover all the different methods of information distribution that exist at this point in time in the online environment (currently social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, RSS feeds, and other Web 2.00 platforms)
A snapshot of where we are
At the moment many social media experts are attempting to provide magic formulas to business that will permit the monitoring of social media campaign spending against a return on investment (ROI). It’s the same product based ROI model which made Google Adwords so popular many years ago (”I make €10 for every euro I spend on advertising”) and brought some transparency to the cloudy world of search engine optimization. The ROI model isn’t wrong, but it’s drawing companies away from one of social media’s strengths into an area that, aside from a few success stories, hasn’t seen any significance.
What’s changing?
Fundamentally as the World becomes more connected online, the immediacy of information and the cost of its distribution is being drastically reduced. A company in the 1980s would see its information largely pushed to its audience. This might be in the form of a press release, an advertisement in a magazine, TV or radio spot. Once ’sent out’ a press office would wait patiently for the press cuttings and assess the success of the campaign along defined metrics. A difference with social media is that campaigns can evolve and change direction mid-flight, based on feedback from the audiences. Social media provides an elasticity in campaign management unheard of in previous campaign practice.
It’s been said, largely by groups that have a limited comprehension of social media, that because publishing information was slower pre-internet, it was more coordinated, and as a result free from errors. The case of the distinguished Sunday Times Journalist, Henry Porter, revealing in his weekly column in 1986, that he had placed five grammatical errors in his piece, saw readers identify a further 23. History doesn’t make the case in support of this idea.
However, before we embrace social media, its important to underline a risk, and why coordinated approaches are just as important for social media campaigning as they are for the more traditional channels of outbound communications.
Social Media Risk
From the time it takes to register a new user account on Facebook, to writing the first message, as little as 60 seconds can pass. It’s a testament to both the advances made in technology, and web architects ability to create easy to use globally accessible platforms. But this ease of use can also be its undoing.
All messages sent via social media platforms are transcribed and stored on a server. A server which, as a business or organization you can’t access or control. While you can delete messages, in some cases, you have no way of knowing if the information is going be kept ad-infinitum, or whether through company mergers, it might end up in a far away land with a nondescript policy on privacy protection. Friends, colleagues and competitors can all access your information and store it locally. For Professional Communicators the ‘eternity of information’ can be problematic because while policies, practice and conventions at a business or societal level evolve over time, the Twitter Tweet, Facebook ‘post to your wall’ or forum comment can remain fixed in time. Something posted on social media might actually provide a competitor with a great publicity piece in five years time.
While it’s true that a TV and video recorder could provide the same ‘eternity of information’, it’s social media’s ability to store, share and disseminate information that is worthy of a red flag for professional communicators.
Key Message: Communicators should not sideline the impact that social media could have on other areas of the dissemination process. It would be a mistake to classify social media as a passing fad and not assign to it the same rigour and control as the other established communications channels.
For the time being, reflect on the comments made in this post, and start to ask yourself the following questions about your organization/business.
- How is social media integrated into the information work-flow in your business/organization?
- What are the existing outward bound communication channels in your business/organization?
- List any online channels of communication currently used (company blog, Facebook, others)
- What checks are currently performed on the information published via these channels?
- Are files currently maintained to document this commentary?
- Is my company name currently secured via the primary Social Media platforms? (If not, we suggest you complete Part 2 of our special series)
The following questions will help in Part 2 as we look at Social Media’s strengths, its ability to disseminate and connect with people in an completely unprecedented way.
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