Tornado’s Winds Whip Up Volcanic Search Results

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Tornado in Springfield, June 1 2011By John J. Garvey

Who would have thought that my digital “15 minutes of fame” would come because of a tornado passing right by my 24th floor window?  Tornadoes just don’t happen in western Massachusetts.  In fact, it took my co-worker Mary Fallon and I a few seconds to realize what it was despite its obvious destructive power. Once I did, and came to the conclusion that it was moving away from us, I snapped a picture and did what any other digital native would do. I posted it to Twitter.

Twitter is the same social media platform that I am always a bit squeamish about explaining to clients and prospects. It’s hard to say tweet or tweeted with a straight face in a business meeting. Every time I do, eyebrows raise and thought bubbles are suddenly very visible: “And this from man who calls himself a PR pro?” This is the same Twitter that only about 13% of online adults using it? It’s no earthling-eating Facebook after all.

Tweet I did and that is when the action started. This recent story in the Sunday Republican captures most of it – how national news organizations one by one lined up to ask permission to use my tweeted photo minutes after I clicked send. That’s just part of the story however. Sure CNN, ABC News, and in particular AP helped yield the seven pages of results now available through a Google Image search (“john garvey, tornado”). But it was the story itself and the resultant commentary on social media that quickly buried the needle on our search and social media intelligence software. In fact, the initial 10,000 results that came in on the keyword phrase “Springfield, MA” basically shut down our system.

One other metric, Google Trends, had the search term “Springfield MA” as the number one hot search in the entire US on the day of the tornado – a status described as volcanic. Now, to put that into context, “Springfield MA” finished ahead of Shaq, who had just announced his retirement: Ocotomom, whose doctor had his license revoked; and Anthony Weiner, who – well, you know that one. That is truly volcanic hotness. The peak for that hotness happened at 6 p.m. EST, about an hour or so after the tornado had passed.

Google Hot Search June 1, 2011 (Volcanic)In just 24 hours, we picked up over 6,400 individual mentions on social media alone and the search for “Springfield MA tornado” yielded close to 1.2 million results, including one funny video, in the weeks following the event. The volume of social media commentary remained incredibly high after the tornado as well: close to 5,000 mentions.

What’s a mention you might ask? Here are a few random samples:

RT @nytimes: A Tornado Is Reported in Springfield, Mass. http://nyti.ms/lC8BRu

@feliciaday Hi Felicia, would you like to send your love to community in and around Springfield, MA?…

Well damn. As if my old home didn’t have enough problems. RT @science: Tornadoes strike Springfi…

(We have about 4,997 more.)

Even more amazing is our analysis of where these mentions came from. While you would expect the top states to be in the New England area – and, in fact, MA, CT, and NY are the top three. Wrong! Our analysis shows that after our fellow neighbors in MA, CA was commenting the most about the tornado, followed by NY and CT. It appears that that Whitey Bulger was not the only MA expat hanging out in the Los Angeles area at that time. We have no evidence of him tweeting, however.Tornado Map Overlay

Conclusions?

1) I am no longer squeamish about saying Twitter, tweet, or tweeted around adults. In fact, I have let it be known that I actually am a Twitterer.

2) As proven through this experience, Twitter is a great way to get information and share information.

3) For those of us in the digital communications business, Twitter and social media are very important channels to use to connect with media quickly.

4) Social media essentially makes the response time for crisis communications zero. Media are monitoring these channels and as soon as a negative post goes up, it is in their hands.

I don’t care what the other 87% of Americans think – they are missing out and I have proof. Also, compelling news travels and gets shared. Creating compelling, share-worthy content is the goal. Sure, a tornado on a rampage in New England is pretty compelling, but then again, most of us do not need 1.2 million search results either.

Final note: There was nothing funny about this tornado. Mary and I had front-row seats to the destruction and have seen up close the damage, devastation, and despair.

Thank you to Laura Chechette otherwise known as @GarveyComm for helping me pull together these statistics.

Media Links:
Pew Internet Research Twitter statistic
Sunday Republican Article, Springfield tornado photo storms around the world
Google Image results for “John Garvey, Tornado”
Google Hot Search results June 1, 2011
Flickr photoset of GCAI tornado images

How Twitter is Becoming Part of TV on #TheVoice

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Although I’m not normally a fan of reality TV or singing competitions, The Voice on NBC has gotten my attention because of its use of social media, and Twitter in particular. When I watch the show, instead of a bowl of popcorn in my lap, I have my Macbook open to Twitter so I can interact with the show’s contestants, coaches, and viewer’s all over the country. By following the hashtag #TheVoice I can see what other people are saying about a singer’s performance or the ridiculous outfit that a coach is wearing and add in my two cents.  The show goes a step further by incorporating viewer’s tweets into the show live with the “V correspondent” Alison Haislip. Alison reads tweets on air as well as asks coaches and contestants questions posed on Twitter. If a tweet isn’t read it still has the opportunity to appear on the bottom of the screen.

In this video interview, Alison Haislip, talks about her strategy and how she tries to get fans to interact with the show.

The article, The Voice: How a TV Show Became a 24/7 Social Media Conversation, from Mashable explains why this show is different than anything else on television right now. Here are a few highlights from the article as to why this kind of integration with social media could be the future of TV.

  • “70% of the tweets about the The Voice include the hashtag #TheVoice, a “phenomenal” rate that a Twitter spokesperson says is an “industry high,” said Nicolle Yaron, the show’s supervising producer.
  • “During the show’s first live performances, every contestant, coach and team trended,” said Andrew Adashek, the show’s social media consultant.
  • “When Team Christina performed ‘Lady Marmalade,’ the Facebook Page gained nearly 10,000 likes within a few minutes.
  • The Coaches tweet live throughout the show as well as the contestants. The coaches twitter handles are below if you would like to follow them and get in on the action next week!

If you have suggestions for future Social Media News posts, want to be a guest blogger, ask questions or share thoughts, please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura

P.S. In case you were wondering I’m voting for Javier Calon, @Javstwtr, to win it all! Who will you be voting for?

Share Buttons: Are They Worth it? Find Out In This Week’s Social Media News

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AddThis

Sharing information online is now easier than ever before because of share buttons. These buttons aren’t just there so you can “like” the picture of your newest baby cousin, but they can also help increase traffic to your website and result in a profit for your company.

This article By The Numbers: How Facebook Says Likes & Social Plugins Help Websites explains why having the ability to share your content through social media is imperative. In case you still need convincing, check out this stat from the article; “The average media site integrated with Facebook has seen a 300% increase in referral traffic.”

Although Facebook and Twitter share buttons dominate online the Google +1 button that debuted in March is starting to make some noise. Last week it started to appear on various websites such as Mashable and the code is now freely accessible to anyone who wants to use it. The article Google’s +1 Button Challenges Facebook’s Like Across the Web explains the impact this new button could have on sharing online.

If after reading about the benefits of share buttons you want to add them to your own website, we recommend AddThis. After registering (for free) you can add just about any social media share button to a website, blog, email newsletter, and more. AddThis is constantly updating and adding new services. For example they’ve already added the Google +1 button to their service. What makes AddThis our share button of choice? It gives analytics for shares, clicks, top services, the ability to track trends, and more.

If you have suggestions for future Social Media News posts, want to be a guest blogger, ask questions or share thoughts, please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura

Local Media Teams Up to Help Tornado Relief Effort

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Mary Fallon drops off a donation from GCAI at the WHYN NewsTalk 560 Collection at Monarch Place in Springfield

TODAY- Tuesday June 7, from 6:00 am-7:00 pm WHYN NewsTalk 560 is working with CBS3 Springfield to collect cash and check donations at multiple locations in the area. All donations will benefit the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

  1. WHYN NewsTalk 560 – Monarch Place in Springfield (corner of Boland and Main)
  2. KIX 97.9 –  Big Y in Wilbraham – 2035 Boston Road
  3. Mix 93.1 – Big Y in West Springfield – 503 Memorial Avenue
  4. 100.9 WRNX – Big Y in Northampton – 136 North King Street

Mary Fallon, Media Director at GCAI, lives in East Forest Park. Her neighborhood and the surrounding area was severely damaged by the tornado, but that hasn’t stopped her from doing her part to help out.

“On Saturday, my neighbor Melissa and I loaded up the station wagon with clothes, food, and toiletries.” said Fallon. “We dropped everything off in the Mardi Gras parking lot where it was being separated and loaded into different pickup trucks for delivery.” Fallon said that she and her neighbor heard about the collection on Saturday through word of mouth and social media.

The United Way is also coordinating volunteer efforts. Call 2-1-1 for information on how you can help.

This article from The Republican “Monday tornado resource roundup” has more information about resources and tornado relief efforts.

If you know of any other relief efforts that we should include in this post please email info@gciaonline.com.

http://businesswest.com/2011/06/briefcase-23

Key Points From The PRSA 2011 Digital Impact Conference

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Recently John and Mary attended the PRSA 2011 Digital Impact Conference, “Building Knowledge, Skills and Value for the New Decade”. A couple presentations in particular resonated with us and we wanted to share a few key points from each.

“Read it! Grab it! Share it!: Optimize Content for Curators”

Presenter: Rachelle Spero, director, Brunswick Group

1.       AddThis.com – allows users to add social media sharing features to content. Also, allows for tracking/measurement.
2.       Google your industry plus 100 – to get the top influencers in your industry.
3.       Alltop.com – provides the top blogs which can be searched by industry.
4.       EmpireAvenue.com – a virtual stock market for social media.

SNCR Award-Winning Case Study: Measurements 201: How to Move Beyond Awareness

Presenter: Joe Chernov, director of content, Eloqua

Great video created by Joe that we recommend watching. Also, check out the Eloqua Social Media Playbook.

1.       Be relevant and helpful
2.       Create “share-worthy content”.
3.       Form real relationships
4.       People trust people more than brands
5.       Influence influencers by becoming one

If you have suggestions for future Social Media News posts, want to ask questions or share thoughts, please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura

Make Your Resume Stand Out With A QR Code

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Kaitlyn Bigica

Kaitlyn Bigica, Social Media Assistant at GCAI

This week’s Social Media News comes to us from our newest employee, Kaitlyn Bigica. Kaitlyn is a junior journalism major/IT minor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  She is a staff writer for her college daily newspaper and a member of the University Programming Council.  Kaitlyn received her job as Social Media Assistant at Garvey Communication Associates Inc. after including a QR code on her resume. Below is her blog post on how using QR codes on a resume can make it stand out in the crowd from other applicants.

I have recently learned about QR codes and the growing impact they have on social media and communication with consumers. I thought it would be a great idea to put one on my resume to impress prospective employers.

What are QR codes?

QR codes or quick response codes are specific matrix bar codes that can be read by smart phones.  They are similar to bar codes used in retail but hold more data. The code links to a URL, text or other data.

Qr codes are mainly being used by business’s to advertise their products in an interactive way.  They can be found in magazines, newspapers and on the back of business cards. Take a look at Macy’s use of QR codes on the tags of their merchandise.  The code scans to videos of the brand allowing consumers to get fashion tips and advice from the designer.  Read the rest on Kaitlyn’s blog…

If you have suggestions for future Social Media News posts, want to ask questions or share thoughts, please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura

Where To Find Information About New Social Media Trends

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Kevin Curley, Social Media Specialist Christian Science Monitor

Kevin Curley, Social Media Specialist Christian Science Monitor

This week’s social media news comes to us from Kevin Curley, Social Media Specialist at The Christian Science Monitor. He directs the social online engagement strategy for CSMonitor.com, the web version of The Christian Science Monitor. Kevin’s main focus at the Monitor has been to build a loyal audience utilizing email newsletter campaigns and traditional social media platforms.  We asked Kevin where he looks to find the latest social media news.

Q: What sites, books, twitter handles, etc do you read and follow to stay current on the most recent social media trends?

It’s funny to hear people talk about social media trends when I go to conferences or meetings that focus on online marketing. The speakers seem to focus on talking about the cool social campaigns they ran for some big name company with a $500K budget. Then I say I’m from a newspaper and that I was wondering what they can recommend to help me drive more fans. I hear, “buy Facebook ads for a targeted audience,” reach out to “digital influencers,” “have a contest and raffle off something big.” I sit back and get a good chuckle. They never ask, “What type of community do you have?” or “tell me more about what you’re trying to achieve.” It’s always these cookie-cutter approaches. If you’re outside the retail/consumer-based world, social media gets tricky – mainly because we’re not selling a specific product.

But there are a few people who get it. Here in Boston, I like to keep up on what the Hacks/Hackers Meetup group is talking about. A lot of the thinking is big picture, but the best part is the networking – it can always lead to collaborative thinking opportunities. Doug Haslem (@DougH) seems to have a good grip on what’s happening in the social media marketing world. As everyone knows Mashable.com is a great resource for any business trying to do social media without a dedicated staff or budget. I subscribe to a ton of newsletters, but I really like the content sent out by MediaPost. With anything, you have to be aware of your surroundings. At the Monitor, I try to think less like a marketer and more like a reader- go figure. I try to think about the tools I would like to see when visiting CSMonitor.com, and then come up with strategies to meet those needs.

Staying up on trends is great, but what’s trending doesn’t always work for our audience. The web readers that flock to Mashable.com are not the same readers that visit CSMonitor.com every day. I would say the most important thing to remember is always keep your audience in mind. Often, simply by showing the personal side of your organization can go a long way with your fan base, and that doesn’t take a big budget or creative messaging – just a genuine interest in their needs.

If you have suggestions for future Social Media News posts, want to ask questions or share thoughts, please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura

Want To Stand Out In The Social Media Crowd? Build A Community Of Loyal Readers

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Kevin Curley, Social Media Specialist Christian Science Monitor

Kevin Curley Social Media Specialist Christian Science Monitor

This week’s social media news comes to us from Kevin Curley, Social Media Specialist at The Christian Science Monitor. He directs the social online engagement strategy for CSMonitor.com, the web version of The Christian Science Monitor. Kevin’s main focus at the Monitor has been to build a loyal audience utilizing email newsletter campaigns and traditional social media platforms.  We asked Kevin a few questions about online newspapers and the social media platforms he manages.

Q: How do you think online newspapers will function and fit in, in the future?

I wish I had the answers. From our standpoint, readers’ access to mobile technology has dramatically revolutionized the way we think about news consumption. No longer can we brag about the number of foreign bureaus or correspondents we have on-the-ground. These days, anyone with a smart phone can break news when and where it is happening. But covering newsworthy events goes way beyond just snapping a photo, uploading it to Twitter, and writing what you saw. That is where newspapers fit in the mix. Both have a role in media, but different roles nonetheless.

Journalists offer depth, context and hopefully, an unbiased perspective – at least that’s what we strive for at the Monitor. I don’t see this changing much in the future. What will change is how we consume news; print vs. online, tablet vs. phone, audio vs. video, etc. I think everyone is trying to figure out what works best, but I would put my money (like so many others) on a multimedia mobile approach; way beyond the iPad.

How will online newspapers function in the future? Anyone can follow trends, write a blog post and ride the wave. But, in my opinion, you have to build a community of  loyal readers to stand out in the crowd. Take Slate.com for example. There you have a site with a relatively small number of unique visitors/month (7.5 million) compared to the enormous number of page views/month (80 million). They follow trends, create great content that readers want, and according to Quantcast, average more than 10 pages per unique visit; i.e. extreme reader loyalty.

I would bet that in every board room of every major news organization, whether television, radio or online, big people with big titles are coming up with big ideas that will  transform their traditional old-school news site into some attractive multimedia landing page for a younger, hipper audience.

My role, is to help this new audience connect deeper to the Monitor community through our social media activity.  By creating a community of engaged readers, we’re hoping they will become CSMonitor.com brand advocates; distributing our content to a larger audience – specifically their friends and family.

Q: How do you manage a Facebook page with over 25K fans and a Twitter account with 9,500+ followers?

Christian Science Monitor Facebook PageManaging Facebook is easy if you set the agenda or tone right away. Fan pages that let the fans dictate the tone can get out of control; its like having your pets sleep on the bed with you. At first, it may be cute, but after awhile, they run the show and you end up not getting any sleep.

When I started the Monitor’s FB page in 2008, I set community rules that stated “no ranting, no name calling” and that the page reflected the mission of the newspaper, “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” Even as the number of fans increased, and with only one full-time staff member monitoring the fan page, the community has continued to be free of ranting – most of the time.

We engage with our readers, uphold the community rules, and most of all – try to create an environment where people feel comfortable offering their opinion. We feel its necessary to show a personal connection with the fans. We’re not perfect, some people get upset when their comment disappears, but overall I’m happy with the community we’ve built. The last time I looked at our Insights, out of the 25K, 85% were active, and we’re averaging about 4,000 interactions a month.

On Twitter, I would say I only invest about 5% of my time managing the account. With an organization trying to do more with less, we realized we can’t invest the time needed to make Twitter a big player for us. We do highlight our ‘Top RT’ers’ and ‘Top Influencers,’ but we don’t seek out influencers – it’s just not our style. In fact, we know that by being a trusted news source on Twitter, we’re the influencer.

Like most news organizations, the bulk of our referring traffic from Twitter comes from readers utilizing the share tools on our website. Looking ahead, we’ll try to expand those opportunities and really try to improve the user experience on CSMonitor.com. There’s probably more we can do with Twitter; Huffington Post, CNN, Mashable.com, and the Daily Beast are always leading the charge – but they’ve got the resources to pull that fancy stuff off with ease. I need to get a couple 100K more page views from Twitter before we start considering it a big player for traffic.

Next week Kevin will tell us where to look online to find the most recent social media news so stay tuned!

If you have suggestions for future Social Media News posts, want to ask questions or share thoughts, please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura

FieldEddy and GCAI Bring QR Codes To Local Print Advertisement

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QR Code From FieldEddy AdQR Codes have landed in Springfield thanks to a new ad campaign launched by Garvey Communication Associates Inc. (GCAI) for longtime client, the FieldEddy Insurance Network. While some are still trying to decide whether QR Codes, otherwise known as Quick Response Codes, are the latest fad or in fact a game changer, GCAI has begun to adopt the new technology for virtually all the projects it undertakes. With close to half of the US population using smart phones, QR Code use is expected to expand rapidly.  Essentially, anyone with a smart phone can download a simple to use, free app that will allow them to scan a QR Code and be immediately linked to Internet based content.  Already, most major retailers are using them to link to videos, special offers, and additional product information that would not fit in conventional printed space.  FieldEddy Print Advertisement Featuring QR Code

According to John Garvey, president of GCAI, “The FieldEddy Insurance Network ‘Shopping’ ad was the perfect way to leverage other Internet-based media that was available. Last year, the boys at viz-bang! produced a terrific commercial for us. It built upon the popular ‘Shopping with Wendy’ campaign we launched in 2009. By employing QR Code technology, we were able to leverage that popular video and essentially add Internet capacity to a print ad.”  GCAI already has several other QR Code projects on the design table and will launch several additional ads employing the technology this spring.

Social Media In Ireland: Twitter, Smart Phones, The Next “Big Thing”

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Eoin Kennedy

This week’s social media news has a special St. Patrick’s Day twist because it comes to us from across the pond written by Eoin Kennedy of Dublin, Ireland.  Eoin is the Associate Director at Slattery Communications, where he heads up their digital offering Engage Online. Eoin has 15 years of experience in corporation communication with multiple degrees in public relations and marketing. He was an associate lecturer in Marketing with NCIR, a lecturer on Irish Times Digital Diploma in Digital Marketing, and the list goes on. To learn more about Eion’s experience read his LinkedIn Profile. Eion is also active on Twitter and writes his own blog, Thoughts on Communications in Ireland. He has a deep interest in social media and how it impacts public relations which is why we’re so excited to ask Eion a few questions.

1.       What is the most brilliant use of Twitter and/or Facebook that you have seen employed by a SMB recently?

Finding truly brilliant examples is difficult within Twitter and Facebook but there are lots of examples of Irish companies using the platforms in very effective ways and leveraging real business opportunities.  It is also a highly subjective exercise so instead of trusting my own judgement I crowdsourced some opinions of fellow Irish Twitter users.  The results were interesting and although they included some self promotional responses they uncovered some interesting examples. The short list included:

GoHop
Coffee Shop 3FE
Lake Hotel Killarney on Facebook
Car Spare Parts Mick’s Garage
Jameson Whiskey
Various Diageo Brand Guinness
Smirnoff
Captain Morgan
Renvyle House Hotel
Italian Restaurant – La Cucina
Burrito Restaurant – Burrito Blues
Business Support organization – Business Start-Up
Ethical Online Shop – Coze De Roze
Entrepreneurship Support – Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
Media Buyer – Media Works

Childrens Waterproof Online Clothing Store who have won numerous awards – Puddleducks Twitter and Puddleducks Facebook.

The hospitality industry generally scores well in use of twitter and social media but the one that was references most was Irish Weather Online with their use of Twitter.

The service earned its stripes during particularly bad weather in December in Ireland with timely and accurate weather reports.  It was not the only weather service during that period and they was plenty of collaboration of fellow twitter users sharing stories and warnings but the consistency won them great praise.  To me this reflects the characteristic of good Twitter and social media use in that they are highly focused, very time sensitive, engage/converse a lot and reach great heights in a short period.  Within social media great heights can be reaches but maintaining attitude can be very difficult.

The list above is not exhaustive but Plenty more great examples at Brendan Hughes Blog and Your Social Monitor Ireland.

One voluntary project we are involved with at the moment is an attempt to harness Irishness and affinity to Ireland through a Shamrock Urself .  Driven by social media enthusiasts its objective is to give a sense of unity in troubled economic times.  Many of the best social media projects take this form of using collective goodwill rather than straight forward commercial exploitation of the platforms.

2.        How will the rise in adoption of smart phones impact PR in the near future?

Smart phone adoption in Ireland is reasonably solid but not near global penetration levels.  One piece of research by Return2sender show that one-fifth of Irish adult population owns smartphones with the expected smartphone ownership to grow to 1.5 million by spring 2011.

  • 256,000 people own an iPhone in Nov 2010 – expected to reach 630,000 by end of 2011
  • Some 8.4 million apps have been downloaded by almost a quarter of Irish consumers, with half a million people downloading them on a regular basis.
  • One-third of these apps were paid and two-thirds of them were free. Music and games were seen as the most popular apps.
  • Men were the most dominant in the Irish market – 64pc of smartphone owners were male and 59pc of people who download apps were also male.
  • Broader Smartphone adoption breaks 50% in November 2010

There a number of ways that the smart phone will impact PR including:

–          Content filtering based on user preferences online means that news is delivered to user tastes – our choice of media will change and we cannot guarantee outreach to audiences
–          Need to ensure platforms, sites, apps are optimized for mobile use
–          Need to generate timely and consistent information and news on the move rather than traditional media peak times.
–          Need to have capability to build and create mobile video content
–          Skimming of storing by users and rapid sharing
–          Social TV (see below)
–          Need to build location based offerings and promotions
–          Additional social media activity
–          Increased posting and photo uploading sharing by consumers – positive and negative.  Organisations with physical premises could benefit greatly by user generated content but it bring adherent risks.
–          Increased need for continual monitoring as comments, posting from smart phone can arise at any time.
–          New tech that will change mobile behaviours – RFID and NFC.  This could impact from registering to events and ability to seamlessly purchase using smart phones.

In general peoples relationship with their smart phones is extremely personal.  This allowed better one to one relationship but access is guarded more carefully by users so there is a need to exercise caution in this approach.

3.       From a PR and small business PR and marketing perspective – what is the next “big thing” on the horizon in IE/UK/EU?

PR as a discipline had always sought opportunities in new communication modes and in theory as owners of messaging should always be deeply engaged in all communications.

PR practitioners will continue to look at ways of harnessing social media and there will be increased use of SEO PR especially as the number of traditional media outlets drop.  Search will continue to be important and an increased importance will be put on areas like article links with large traditional media website than the traditional press cutting.

There are many developments on the horizon or currently par boiled but developments will be rapid due to the speed of innovation but also the degree of competition between SEO companies, ad agencies, hybrid consultancies and web development companies, all looking to own this space.

Some of the immediate ones are

  • Increased use of multimedia content and its generation
  • Building of large social media databases and communities that can be utilized to evangalise on brand behalf
  • PR companies grabbing increased SEO and online advertising budget
  • Online response timing will continue to be cut shorter
  • PR companies themselves investing in life streaming and greater transparency
  • Blogger relations and online planning will become a normal part of PR life
  • Increase focus on creative online solutions and pure social media/digital campaigns
  • Organisations will invest further in online reputation management and online crisis management
  • This will be the year of Facebook places and geo locations services

One of the big development I think the industry is relatively unprepared for is the rapid emergence of 24/7 PR.  The evolution of social TV, whereby people discuss, comment and share what is happening on TV is a growing phenomenon.  On a personal side it is a superb addition to TV viewing and equivalent to sharing the couch with a huge variety of people.  It makes life as a channel hopper even more distracting and results in even better dialogue as people are discussing live issues rather than from memory at the water cooler the next day.

As usual technology evolutions will be key to moving this from niche to mainstream.  Using a PC for social TV is clunky, lap top less so, iPhone or smart phone even less and iPad a much more enjoyable experience.  Even with all these devices the level of social TV is pretty small and confined to short comments , conversations and observations on talkshows and current affairs programmes but it  also extends to soaps.  However the advent of internet enabled TV along with enhanced cloud services and the inclusion of movement sensor technology such as Microsoft Kinect will change all of this.   These technologies changes will change a trickle to a flow and a flow that the PR industry looks unprepared for.

Consider the difference between a few avid twitters commenting on a news piece versus the unstoppable gush of the total TV viewership in pure numbers terms.

In the not too distant future instead of a multitude of devices we will have one extremely large screen with a ultra fast internet connection.  All photos, games, documents will be accessed in the cloud rather than the current collection of PC, DVDs, Games Consoles etc.  People will become familiar and comfortable with using the TV for things other than watching programmes.  Similar with current gaming with the Xbox Kinect manipulation will be through the person themselves.  A simple wave will bring up a menu, a hand pointing in mid air will reveal a key board.  The senor will interpret these movements so the person needs not move from the seat.

Now consider a company you represent is in the middle of a crisis that is airing on a current affairs programme.  Imagine ,if at the wave of a hand, that the thousands of viewers were able to pull up all their social media properties, blogs and websites.  Imagine the level of live tweeting, retweeting, @comments, Facebook tagging, Linked In searching and flash mob organizing that could be done from ones couch.

Imagine the levels of comments on a company’s Facebook page, the searches on executives and the posting of video comments (which the Kinect would easily allow), the parodies of performances, the volume of emails to company contact, texts and calls to spokespersons mobiles and rapid Infographics generation.

This potential flood cannot be dismissed or ignored until the next day so the ability of PR companies to monitor, interpret, engage and respond in a 24/7 basis could be something very real in the short term.  There are lots of implications of this from rapid messaging development, large scale online planning , monitoring and online activation.

What is certain is that technology advancements will happen and bring smaller scale online activity to almost mass medium level.  The PR industry needs to be ready for these changes and able to help guide organisations through the maze – otherwise there are plenty of organisations on the sideline waiting to eat its lunch.

Hope you enjoyed this special post, if you have suggestions for future Social Media News posts, want to ask questions or share thoughts, please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura