Mobile phones as 7th media?

An evolving historic technological revolution is under way, which is creating new industries, new products, new services and, unmercifully redefining or even destroying others. It is more powerful, with greater reach and is growing faster than any other media-ecology.

Differing from the internet, mobile as the 7th mass media channel is similar to the five legacy mass media, economically viable with a stable business model from day one. Yet, differing from the legacy mass media, all of which are witnessing a decline in their audiences and revenues, mobile like the internet, is an interactive media enabling it to fully capitalize on social networking and digital communities.

So too, mobile is the newest mass media, it is a very different mass media but it will not be the hangman of the internet. For all of the major internet services, companies and media formats, their bright future is still ahead of them. Only that while the internet has started its path towards the second billion users, the youngest media, mobile, is already nearing its third billion users. This is opinion which you can find here.

I think that this theme and this 7th media is the case about which we should think in the future and with which we should account. Also the PR practitioners. We should think how to reach our target audience or new audience through this media. And this is powerful force. Future will be interesting.... Right? :)

Blog’s quality goes up

Some time ago I had a conversation with Hill&Knowlton Latvia public relations specialist Egita Jirgensone. We talked about all kinds of new, social media but mainly about blogs. Because blogs in Latvia are becoming more and more popular and they can reach great part of audience that they want and can influence many minds.

E.Jirgensone stressed that in this digitalization process PR practitioners have to find out and know all before journalist do that and before he make a mountain out of a molehill while this PR specialist can clarify it for smaller part of people and audience which is worried and want to talk about that.

Constantly there is discussions about quality of blog’s content, because everyone can discuss many themes, make their own discussions, forums and express themselves as they want and how they want. So there is subjective thoughts which sometimes is abusive. They can bring a slur on somebody etc. H&K specialist says that blogs content are becoming more and more qualitative, because they should earn, and earnings depends on sponsors, sponsors want quality and good reputation and image, therefore they won’t pay for unqualitative content, information, for uncompetent and stupid ideas published there. They publish their advertisement there, therefore they show that they are supporting concrete web page or blog.

E.Jirgensone also maintain that one of the problem in nowadays is identity and privacy protection. More and more we can hear for cases where some information and content from e-mails become known in all company, just because it’s not a huge problem to read anyones mails in intranet. Of course the personnel should be professional and competent, but always you should think about what you are writing and what you should better not send by e-mail.

Will the spam bespeak the audiences in the future?

Today when I was checking my e-mail, received one new Spam. It’s nothing special, because happening every day (spams about sexual power, Viagra, travel, of course some interesting too) , but this spam pay my attention and get me annoyed. The content was: Care amp email tech talk trouble webtech. Bcykxzp verison wireless, hotels? Did I have to understand smth from this? So I thought about the aim of this spam,it’s just a wish to attract my attention or what?

If we receive so much unmeaningful information and spams every day, than it turns down possibility that we will read any of them. That means such information forbid PR people or some other people from reaching audience with more meaningful and important information. Because spams may pay attention and reach target audience and large part of new audience. But they lose sense if they are sending without point and notion. And now if e-mail don’t have meaningful title than it’s automatically goes to my e-mail’s recycle bin. Sorry!

(So after this I am thinking about: Will the spam keep ability to bespeak audiences in the future?)

How can one person endanger client’s and own reputation

In the April of this year one of the former worker of well known supermarket net in Latvia Rimi, made a community in most popular social network in Latvia draugiem.lv, where he wanted to assemble people who was working or is working in Rimi now. He did it! And now there is 1771 member. They are not talking about good things in Rimi, but they are discussing about bad things, associations, they declare claims and other awful and weak things in this shops system. Creator of this website accept all people in this group that means – everyone can join it. This chance used one journalist which read this discussions and wrote unpleasant article about low salaries, old products that they are using to make salads that they are selling etc. (published in Lietišķā Diena, 02.04.2007.)

This situation is very unacceptable from public relations view. Rimi public relations specialist after this publications gave her answer. She react very unprofessionally and incompetently. She answered that they can’t follow all forums and other social networks and places where people can talk about their client. If they notice negative comments they react. But they should react 1st not after journalist do that. She also said that all people can’t be pleased and creator of this website just wanted to take revenge because Rimi fired him because of inadequate action.

Situations like this can influence reputation very negative and make backlash and so much the worse if public relations specialist isn’t competent and maybe without appropriate education and react as worse as they can. Because sometimes you can save the situation with very good reply and action.

New challenge for PR!

Very often in public space we can hear opinion that traditional media like newspapers, radio and TV start to decline, because they will be replaced by social media like blogs, forums etc.
TNS Latvia made a research at summer 2007 which shows that 47% of Latvians in half a year regularly used internet (published in LETA), which means that it is enough relevant source so we should think about it’s further influence.

More and more in Latvia is mushrooming blogs, forums and other new, social media. Information in this media usually are put into without control and checking so each person, user can express himself as he want. Each individual nowadays can create his own blog and put there information which can influence also the work and agenda of PR specialist. Therefore PR practitioners should become more and more active and essentially should be everywhere, they should know what happens with clients with clients in forums, various communities, social networks and blogs where people are discussing themes about your client and should be able to react to the published information and comments before journalist do it. In this digitalization time PR practitioner should actively act in virtual environment and in such way should make his client's image, reputation and attract new target audience.

It’s new challenge for PR practitioner to search for all channels and internet sources where people can put some information about that can affect your client or your workplace reputation. And you should think about how to detect all these internet places and channels.

About social media..

Almost every day we use internet and sometimes some of us choose it aso ne of the best relaxing method. Social media can take many different forms, including message boards, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures, and video. Technologies such as blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, e-mail, instant messaging, music-sharing, group creation, and voice over IP, to name a few. Examples of social media applications are Google, Wikipedia, MySpace (which is popular worlwide, buti n Latvia much more popular is draugiem.lv), ORB, YouTube, Second Life (virtual reality), and Flickr (photo sharing). Can guarantee that you use at least one of them.

Here are some one line descriptions to be going on with:

Blogs: this is what i am doing now and where you are now.

Social networks: these websites allow people to build personal websites and then connect with friends to share content and communication. The best known example of a social network is MySpace, which has over 107 million members, buti n Latvia you know it like draugiem.lv.

Content communities: communities which organise and share particular kinds of content. (Flickr), bookmarked links (del.icio.us) and videos (YouTube).

Wikis: these websites allow people to add content to or edit the information on them, acting as a communal document or database. The best-known wiki is the online encyclopaedia which has over 1.5 million articles published in English alone.

Podcasts: audio and video files that are available by subscription through services like Apple iTunes.

Forums: areas for online discussion, often around specific topics and interests. Forums predate the advent of the term ‘social media’ and are a powerful and popular element of online communities.

Social media uses the “wisdom of crowds” to connect information in a collaborative manner. It share most or all of the following characteristics: participation, openness, conversation, community, connectedness. Social media does not have a finite limit: there are no set number of pages or hours. (more you can read in www.spannerworks.com )

This was like introduction about social media. You could get new knowledges or you could just brush your existing knowledges about that with what PR practitioners increasingly have to work and legislate for.