Professional Communicators Should Be Using Social Networks
On the surface, social networking sites seem kind of cute. Facebook and MySpace, and even the more professional-focused LinkedIn are like yearbooks. Collect as many "friends" and signatures and photos as you can and see who’s the most popular.
But popularity isn't the impetus for many users. For instance, members of the media are jumping on board, too. They're realizing that these sites are quickly becoming amazing resources. These social networks are yet another path to tracking down story sources and contacts for research.
If you join a business networking site such as LinkedIn, for example, it's like suddenly getting access to all your colleagues' Rolodexes. Many young people new to reporting are inviting more experienced reporters to be part of their network – so they can take advantage of the resources at their disposal and hope for a connection.
Professional communicators proactively seeking the attention of target audiences either directly or through the media immediately glommed on to the value of those social networking sites as resources for spreading the word about executives, products and/or services. Called "guerilla marketing" or "social marketing," this method involves spreading the word surreptitiously through a network of friends or loosely linked business associates, often in a very informal way.
Sometimes the whole marketing thing even happens accidentally. One of last year's smash radio hits, "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat, started by word-of-mouth when she put the self-penned tune up on her MySpace page. It caught on and eventually a record label picked her up and the song shot up the chart.
Similar to the social networking sites, there’s the user-content generated You Tube. This immensely popular website, entirely filled with videos supplied by users, often is more than an entertainment outlet. Videos that have made their way onto the site have become news themselves, reported by mainstream and online outlets (Glenn Beck's recent hospital experience, Tom Cruise's scientology rant, etc.) Reporters have used the site for everything from background checks on future "American Idol" contestants to step-by-step instructions for origami sidebars.
Traditional television media, too, are finding that viewers extract their news and entertainment video, edit it, and upload it to YouTube, which raises a copyright issue. But, that's a different story for a different time.
The real lesson here for professional communicators on both sides of the table, those looking for stories and those looking to get stories reported, the opportunities are seemingly endless today. The real challenge is staying up on all the options and vetting them for the ones that best suit your needs.
