Tag Archives: social media

Don’t Die on the Vine

I’m far from being a technology early-adopter, but I think that Twitter’s Vine might catch on.  The service allows users to shoot only six-second audio/video clips, which are looped and can be shared through social media.  Its ease and forced brevity makes sense, since I believe people prefer a six-second update on some things, versus a longer YouTube clip.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, well then a Vine must be worth 6,000.  Marketers, media  and celebrities are already swinging on the Vine.  Agencies like Ketchum are providing guidance.  And clever members of the public are already showing how artistic the medium can be.

Will the service spread and menace like kuzdu, or become an irritant like poison oak?  Time will tell.  Either way, the service may already have implications in accelerating crisis management situations and helping manage these situations.

In the spirit of the service, here are only six quick examples: Continue reading Don’t Die on the Vine

Online Crises: Only Six Social Solutions?

There is a lot involved in the decision-making process to determine how to manage a social media threat.   But for all of the required complexity, there’s typically only six solutions to choose from:  delete it, ignore it, monitor it, redirect it, respond to it or engage deeply on it.  

For a deeper perspective on this, check out my article placed in the Fall edition of The Public Relations Strategist, the quarterly publication of PRSA. Continue reading Online Crises: Only Six Social Solutions?

3 Categories of Social Media Risk

Are there particular industries or companies that attract a larger portion of “social media risk” than others?

A colleague of mine recently asked that question and I thought I would share a version of my response.

Rather than focus on vertical industries or specific brands/companies, it might be more instructive to look at three different categories of the types of anger or scrutiny that can snowball when pushed downhill by digitally networked communities. Here are three that I see regularly:

Continue reading 3 Categories of Social Media Risk

Prize-rigging can undermine online promotions

There is a growing industry of “prize-riggers” (my term) who band together to manipulate the results of online contests, giveaways and sweepstakes.

In this blog post on PRSAY, the official blog of The Public Relations Society of America, I categorize different types of prize-riggers and offer tips for PR pros to consider.

Go to the link and check it out.  And if you have comments, you can share them there or below.

 

Unions, employers and social media

There was an interesting post in The New York Times today about labor unions’ use of social media to better inform members on negotiations, solicit ideas and also to rebut rumors.  To be sure, unions are also using Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other digital connections to build momentum for organizing attempts as well.

As unions embrace technology, so must employers.  Here are several initial thoughts to consider:

 

Better monitoring.  As unions conduct more digitial dialogue , the ability for companies to monitor those discussions becomes easier.  Comprehensive online monitoring systems will probably be a better indicator of a union’s demands than the “watercooler talk” checks of the past.  This should eliminate some surprises if there is a rift with the union.

  Continue reading Unions, employers and social media