Posts Tagged flickr
Playing catch up on social media
Posted by johnweet in Social media on March 30, 2009
I am playing catch up on social media. Having come into PR later in life than many (after a succesful career in engineering) I have spent the last seven years trying to get to grips with traditional PR tools and techniques let alone trying to get up to speed on social media.
I did begin to see the writing on the wall though several years ago and realised that if I am to survive in this industry I need to get engaged. I created an entry on Face book, much to the dismay of my kids. I signed up for a FlickR account and dabbled with a blog, although this was really just a means for me to rant and get things off my chest. I joined LinkedIn and also signed up for Plaxo. But that was it. I couldn’t find the time to make sense of them and to understand what they could do for me and what they could do for my clients.
I have found the time now and I understand them better, I am becoming an evangelist and spout about social media to anyone who will listen, but I do recognise that I am not an early adopter, I know I am behind the curve. As Heather Yaxley points out in her Greenbanana blog some PR people have been around this arena for years. I haven’t, I am a new boy and am certainly a long way from being an expert, but then again, who could be an expert in this field when it is constantly changing and when there is so much more out there to learn.
As an example, I came across YouAre the other day, I haven’t found the time to review it fully yet but it looks like another Micro Blogging site like Twitter, and more besides. From what I can see this started up last year and has yet to hit the mainstream (I stand to be corrected on this). As a PR professional I do owe it to myself to keep on top of sites like this, and all the others that get lumped together under the social media umbrella. If I don’t keep current then in these changing times I will get left behind.
Even though I am playing catch up I will still act as an evangelist. I am enthusiastic about the subject and I hope that my enthusiasm will rub off on my peers because what I do recognise is that, even though I am behind the curve there are many more PR professionals behind me. I will encourage them at every opportunity to get engaged and if in the process I can share what I am learning, and learn from them also, then this will in the end benefit us all.
Come on in – the water’s fine
Posted by johnweet in Social media on February 25, 2009
Social Media and User Generated Content (UGC) are big things. They are becoming more and more important to the marketing communications industry and I worried that if I didn’t get involved I would find myself left behind.
I hadn’t really thought about it before but I was already active in the social media scene. I have had an account on Facebook for several years but never really used it. I also registered with LinkedIn many years ago, but only ever got as far as setting up some basic profile information. I also have an account with FlickR and have a personal blog.
After enrolling on a short course on Social Media, presented by Luke Williams of socialtech I decided to get more involved and what better way than jumping in with both feet.
What I am going to do is briefly describe what I did, I’m not saying this is the only way to approach it, or that it’s the best way. It’s just the way that I did it.
I completed my profile and linked up with many of the people in my address book. I then searched for groups that i felt were relevant to me. I have dabbled a little bit in discussions and know that I need to get involved more. That’s my next step.
Twitter.
I signed up for an account then started searching for people that (a) I could learn more about social media from (b) Any of the employees in my clients organisation and (c) Celebs and other people who may provide some light entertainment along the way.
There are a number of tools that are helpful when searching for people, I used Twilerts and identified many people that I thought were worth following. I then looked at the people that were following the people that I found and then started following some of them too. I didn’t always get it right. some of the people I followed didn’t have anything to say that I wanted to listen to so I swiftly unfollowed.
When i started on Twitter I also felt pressured into posting continually so I posted anything. I’ve calmed down now and post when I think I’ve got something worthwhile to say, as well as sometimes just to get things off my chest.
My next step was to follow links from twitter posts taking me through to blogs.
Blogs and RSS feeds
I subscribed to many different blogs initially. blogs on social media as well as industry blogs. The amount of information that I had available to me now was huge and it has taken a long while to wade through it all.
I know that I am no expert yet, and when I say that, i am not saying it as a true expert who is dismissing the title as Lisa Hoffman may do. I am saying it because I do understand that I am still on a learning curve, but then I am not alone. everybody involved in Social media is constantly learning as the tools evolve, as new widgets, gadgets and sites are developed.
The same rules as for traditional PR still apply though. Understand your audience, understand the message you want to get across and then decide what media to use to get that message across. If social media is appropriate then you need to try it. If you don’t it is only a matter of time before your competitors do.