No "Undo" In Social Media

As quick, instant and easy as it is to send a positive message or promotion on the various social media platforms, it is as just as quick, instant and easy to send a bad one.

Whether intentional or accidental, tongue-in-cheek, politically incorrect, or otherwise, a bad statement can be broadcasted over the Internet via a social media platform. And just as a positive news item can go viral on the Internet because of social media platforms, a poor or mistimed statement can have the same fate, albeit a disaterious one.

Yes, there is a delete button, but that doesn’t erase the statement forever. If just one person sees it and responds to it, it can live forever in cyberspace and still spread. And even if no one sees it before it is delete, web search engines like Google continuously patrol social media platforms and record a history or “cache” of what is being submitted and broadcasted and there is no way of deleting it from there.

Every Tweet, Facebook or LinkedIn status update must be made carefully and when statements are made through social media platforms, public relations professionals must as certain they are appropriate just as if they were going in a press release.

An Introduction to Social Media

Not since the first pitch letter was e-mailed or the first press release posted on the Internet has the public relations industry encountered as big of a paradigm shift as it is currently seeing with social media. A web search on the Internet for the definition of the term social media will populate hundreds or thousands of answers varying in terminology, length and detail making it difficult to narrow down a singular meaning or concept into one or two sentences. The experts of social media will each have their own definition and that will be different then the Average Joe’s who is using one social media platform to discuss the topic on another social media application.

Since there is no one particular, widely accepted definition, I will define social media for the purpose of my exploration into the topic as a person or entity using a Internet platform, application or website to communicate, connect, discuss or network with an audience ranging from a single person or group of people which may or may not be an intended or have a specified target. Or more simply, social media is a vehicle in which people communicate with each other publicly over the Internet.

An important aspect of understanding social media is that it does not consist of any one specific medium to communicate over the Internet. At the same time, social media does not include every medium or method of communicating over the Internet. A social media medium is using a platform over the Internet to communicate with a group of people that can continuously grow and evolve along with the platform itself and has public characteristics.

As the Internet continues to evolve, methods of communication through that medium expand anywhere from simple to more complex and many of these methods fall under the social media category. Furthermore, anywhere that communication exists is an opportunity for information to be exchanged, and as such, public relations professionals must not only be aware of what social media is, but how it effects their profession, how to utilize it to their advantage to get their message across and be aware of its benefits and drawbacks.

LINK: Social Media - Hot New Career

While this Yahoo! article has elements that scream it's as much an advertisement as it is an actually article, it does profile six "breakout" careers. No. 1 on their list is "Social Media Strategist".

I do tend to agree that this field is becoming more popular, the author's description is pretty bad:

" Do you love Twitter? Why not get paid to tweet? Seriously! Social media strategists figure out optimal ways to get messages out to the masses using the latest community tools online. This involves blogging, tweeting, and using sites like Foursquare and Facebook to find and communicate with customers. "

What is the description missing? Just the small fact that "loving" Twitter, Facebook and FourSquare is simply not enough to qualify someone for this type of job. Being passionate about a career is very important, but experience is key. Whether it be in Public Relations or Marketing, the social media industry is becoming too complex to jump into without out experience in reaching out to customers/consumers/the public in more traditional terms.

If you want a career in social media, it's best to start from the bottom and work your way up. As in any career field, experience is often the best education. Without the knowledge and experience that education brings, jumping into a more advanced career is exceedingly difficult.

Link: Selling Social Media to the Boss

If you're like me and have immersed yourself in the social media revolution, you might not realize that some people are not buying into it. If you're in the public relations/marketing industry, that might be a problem if you believe social media can become a big advantage for your product.

SocialMediaExaminer.com takes a look at this potential problem and offers eight suggestions for overcoming this hurdle.

Aside from the suggestions, the biggest takeaway from this blog article is that it's easy to forget that not everyone has bought into social media and the positive effects it can have. It's OK for people not to necessarily jump into the social media universe, but as PR or marketing professionals who are, it's our responsibility to convince them.

New Communications Careers

The last decade has seen an increase in communications-related careers and many of them are off-shoots, a combination of and/or hybrids of other more traditional jobs.

Monster.com listed five new communications industry jobs that didn't exist 10 years ago:

1. Bloggers research and write blog content for news websites, public and private corporations, government offices, and many other organizations with blogs.


2. Content managers develop strategies for creating, updating, and organizing Web content, typically with the goal of attracting new visitors.


3. Online political campaign managers develop and manage strategies for using Internet and social technologies to help politicians get elected.


4. Video journalists design and produce online videos that document information, news, and events.

The bottom line, if you're going to college to major in PR, Journalism or Mass Media, make sure you take classes in the other areas. Better yet, aim for a duel major in PR and Journalism.

Why? New communications careers require education and experience in multiple fields. Saddle up and learn all that you can.

LINK: Difference Between Social Media & Social Networking

Earlier this week on Forbes.com, Adrienne Graham (CEO & Founder of Empower Me! Corporation) blogged about how she defines the differences in what Social Media is and how that is different from what Social Networking is.

There is a difference between the two and I think she does a pretty good job at laying out what both are. Some times the two are grouped into the same category (and I have probably been guilty of that at some point, probably in a rush to explain something else) and knowing the differences are extremely important for any public relations professional.