Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Enough of Social Media!

I for one am sick and tired of reading article after article about social media and Web 2.0. Isn't there anything else to write about? I know! I know! Here I go with my article about the very same things I gripe about.



I see comments, articles, features and blogs about social media twice a day or even more. OK, I get it. This topic is timely and interesting (to some), obviously. However, as a long time user of the tools of social media myself I am tired of reading about how this "new revolution" is "the best thing to happen to PR" or "the worst tool for those silly young professionals who will never have the wisdom and knowledge of someone my own age" or even how hard it was to get signed up on Linked In for the first time user.



The only thing that keeps my eyes on those articles these days is to see who wrote the article, how old they are and what their opinions are. I bet you can guess which ends of the age spectrum are more for or against social media. So, because of this snooze fest I challenge people out there to write about something else for goodness sakes but if you must write about "the social media phenomenon" write about the possibilities and what social media can do for the PR profession, the Internet or bridging the gap between generations.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I bet people were sick of hearing about the Internet (you know, Web 1.0) when that started getting interesting, too.

Maybe it's just me, but I see "writing about social media" and "writing about PR" as nearly inseparable. And even if you're writing about "other stuff" like the ethics of (mis)representing yourself or your client, better client service, measurement, or whatever, it all applies equally to "regular PR" and PR that includes (or is focused on) social media.

Or did I miss your point? Is your beef with the "old folks" who are just starting to understand the obvious power of social media for PR? If that's the case, don't get fed up -- feel good that you're ahead of the curve and can be so smart at such a young age. :)

Doug Haslam said...

One point of contention. I'll bet you are wrong about the age thing -- unless you are guessing that a lot of veterans are writing in favor of social media. A lot of the marcomms/PR etc. people I see on the social networks are my age (39 for the record), older, or not much younger.

Are we seeing a lot of the same things being written? You bet. It's a hot topic because a lot of people are trying to figure this stuff out-- how to do PR campaigns, how to employ the tools for clients, how to do it ourselves. That's not going to change soon.

I think if you look around you will find plenty of article about what social media can do for the PR profession. Try Brian Solis' PR 2.0., Todd Defren's PR Squared, or even my agency's blog, Tech PR Gems

Hey, you're just trying to rouse some rabbles aren't you?

So, what topics do you want to see written about? Maybe I'll do a blog post on it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Erin:

I think it is easy to get carried away by all the PR 2.0 hype. A lot of bloggers and firms talk about it as a way to woo clients, but who is actually utilizing these tools?

The answer is: quite a few, but not enough.

Call me an alarmist, but PR is going to need to change with the times. As the technology changes, it becomes easier for companies to either 1. hire one person in-house or 2. have the marketing team absorb those responsibilities.

Tom Foremski, the reporter from Silicon Valley Watcher who issued the call "Die Press Release! Die! Die!" 2 years ago, posted his current analysis of the state of PR yesterday. His post echoes the description of the PR ecosystem in a video interview he did with me last week . It's getting a lot of coverage in the PR blogosphere .

I feel the discussion has only just begun, and it's shifting from idea to theory to practice. We've only just started talking about case studies and measuring campaigns . Let's not be so quick to stifle ideas before they've had a chance to grow.

Anonymous said...

Hi Erin:

I think it is easy to get carried away by all the PR 2.0 hype. A lot of bloggers and firms talk about it as a way to woo clients, but who is actually utilizing these tools?

The answer is: quite a few, but not enough.

Call me an alarmist, but PR is going to need to change with the times. As the technology changes, it becomes easier for companies to either 1. hire one person in-house or 2. have the marketing team absorb those responsibilities.

Tom Foremski, the reporter from Silicon Valley Watcher who issued the call "Die Press Release! Die! Die!" 2 years ago, posted his current analysis of the state of PR yesterday. His post echoes the description of the PR ecosystem in a video interview he did with me last week . It's getting a lot of coverage in the PR blogosphere .

I feel the discussion has only just begun, and it's shifting from idea to theory to practice. We've only just started talking about case studies and measuring campaigns . Let's not be so quick to stifle ideas before they've had a chance to grow.

From one young PR pro to another: Instead of silencing the discussion, why not join it constructively. Tell us what you like about social media, what you don't like. Have you used it in a campaign? How? Give us a case study of how it worked/failed you. These would be significant benefits to the community at large and could generate significant meaningful discussion.

Best,

Chris

Anonymous said...

Hi Erin:

I think it is easy to get carried away by all the PR 2.0 hype. A lot of bloggers and firms talk about it as a way to woo clients, but who is actually utilizing these tools?

The answer is: quite a few, but not enough.

Call me an alarmist, but PR is going to need to change with the times. As the technology changes, it becomes easier for companies to either 1. hire one person in-house or 2. have the marketing team absorb those responsibilities.

Tom Foremski, the reporter from Silicon Valley Watcher who issued the call "Die Press Release! Die! Die!" 2 years ago, posted his current analysis of the state of PR yesterday. His post echoes the description of the PR ecosystem in a video interview he did with me last week . It's getting a lot of coverage in the PR blogosphere .

I feel the discussion has only just begun, and it's shifting from idea to theory to practice. We've only just started talking about case studies and measuring campaigns . Let's not be so quick to stifle ideas before they've had a chance to grow.

From one young PR pro to another: Instead of silencing the discussion, why not join it constructively. Tell us what you like about social media, what you don't like. Have you used it in a campaign? How? Give us a case study of how it worked/failed you. These would be significant benefits to the community at large and could generate significant meaningful discussion.

Best,

Chris Lynn
SHIFT Communications

Sarah Baker said...

I have to agree. The past two conferences I've attended have been chock full of "Web 2.0" presentations. The first one was interestig; the rest were rather redundant. I'd like to see some agencies or PR professionals actually using Web 2.0 instead of just talking about the possibilites of it, and showing us those examples of effective campaigns.