Understanding Social Media Change
“Today [social media] is digital and global, far more expansive and it operates in real-time,” said Edelman’s President and Chief Creative Officer Richard Edelman at the 2012 Academic Summit at Stanford University on April 18.[1]
Since Edelman’s speech, Facebook underwent an IPO, Instagram surpassed Twitter as having more daily active users, LinkedIn completed a comprehensive interface redesign and studies surfaced that exposed Pinterest’s inability to successfully monetize itself.[4]
These rapid changes occurred in less than five months following Edelman’s speech and demonstrate the intensity at which social media is evolving and in flux. Eight years ago, none of these platforms even existed. Now, it is now up to PR practitioners to stay tuned in to the rapidly changing climate of these platforms by keeping up-to-date on social media news if they want to effectively deliver an optimized PR strategy.
“Today [social media] is digital and global, far more expansive and it operates in real-time,” said Edelman’s President and Chief Creative Officer Richard Edelman at the 2012 Academic Summit at Stanford University on April 18.[1]
Since Edelman’s speech, Facebook underwent an IPO, Instagram surpassed Twitter as having more daily active users, LinkedIn completed a comprehensive interface redesign and studies surfaced that exposed Pinterest’s inability to successfully monetize itself.[4]
These rapid changes occurred in less than five months following Edelman’s speech and demonstrate the intensity at which social media is evolving and in flux. Eight years ago, none of these platforms even existed. Now, it is now up to PR practitioners to stay tuned in to the rapidly changing climate of these platforms by keeping up-to-date on social media news if they want to effectively deliver an optimized PR strategy.
Evaluating Social Media Change
As the PR industry continues to emphasize the power and importance of social media, it is vital to fully understand how social media changes. To analyze a platform’s qualitative change over time, PR practitioners should ask themselves three questions before devising a plan of action:
1) In what ways has this social platform evolved since its creation?
2) What is the rate at which this social platform evolving?
3) How do we see this social evolving in the future?
After answering these questions, practitioners begin to understand the respective platform’s evolution over time. Practitioners can then identify if the platform presents an opportunity for return on investment.
As the PR industry continues to emphasize the power and importance of social media, it is vital to fully understand how social media changes. To analyze a platform’s qualitative change over time, PR practitioners should ask themselves three questions before devising a plan of action:
1) In what ways has this social platform evolved since its creation?
2) What is the rate at which this social platform evolving?
3) How do we see this social evolving in the future?
After answering these questions, practitioners begin to understand the respective platform’s evolution over time. Practitioners can then identify if the platform presents an opportunity for return on investment.
Example: L'Oréal's Pinterest Skepticism
On Oct. 7, 2012, L’Oréal’s Vice President of Digital Strategy Rachel Weiss gave an exclusive interview to Business Insider where she talked about why she’s “bored,” of Pinterest.
“We are waiting to see what Pinterest comes out as a platform for brands. We’re experimenting. Pinterest for me is very, very new and I’m waiting to see what it looks like. I was making so many boards on Pinterest and then I just stopped and went back to Facebook,”[5] said Weiss.
Although many would think that leveraging Pinterest - which has almost 120 million users[6] - would be a good idea, there is still a great deal of uncertainty associated with the brand. To resolve this issue, it would be in Pinterest’s best interest to outline to its stakeholders and prospects a clear trajectory of the platform’s future growth and value. However, since Pinterest has not yet done this, it is up to a brand’s PR team to decide whether or not to leverage the platform.
Therefore, a firm understanding of how to evaluate a social media platform is an imperative skill set all PR practitioners must possess.
On Oct. 7, 2012, L’Oréal’s Vice President of Digital Strategy Rachel Weiss gave an exclusive interview to Business Insider where she talked about why she’s “bored,” of Pinterest.
“We are waiting to see what Pinterest comes out as a platform for brands. We’re experimenting. Pinterest for me is very, very new and I’m waiting to see what it looks like. I was making so many boards on Pinterest and then I just stopped and went back to Facebook,”[5] said Weiss.
Although many would think that leveraging Pinterest - which has almost 120 million users[6] - would be a good idea, there is still a great deal of uncertainty associated with the brand. To resolve this issue, it would be in Pinterest’s best interest to outline to its stakeholders and prospects a clear trajectory of the platform’s future growth and value. However, since Pinterest has not yet done this, it is up to a brand’s PR team to decide whether or not to leverage the platform.
Therefore, a firm understanding of how to evaluate a social media platform is an imperative skill set all PR practitioners must possess.
Tracking Social Media Change
To stay up-to-date on social media change, practitioners can read a variety of online news outlets and utilize the new information market research companies continue to output.
Nielsen is an example of an excellent resource for information on the social media industry. According to Nielsen’s Q2011 report entitled, “State of the Media: The Social Media Report,” Facebook was listed as the number one website used per minute by U.S. Internet users with a total of 53.5 billion minutes a year, coming in before Yahoo! and Google.[7] This research finding is an example of an important statistic for a PR practitioner to take into account when deciding whether to focus attention on search engine optimization or invest in the brand’s social media strategy.
Nielsen is not the only news outlet to take note of; there is also market research company Pew and blogs such as Tech Crunch, Mashable, Social Media Examiner and Convince and Convert. If PR practitioners stay up to date with these news sources, they will be able to stay on top of social media news and in turn gage a greater understand how social media changes over time.
To stay up-to-date on social media change, practitioners can read a variety of online news outlets and utilize the new information market research companies continue to output.
Nielsen is an example of an excellent resource for information on the social media industry. According to Nielsen’s Q2011 report entitled, “State of the Media: The Social Media Report,” Facebook was listed as the number one website used per minute by U.S. Internet users with a total of 53.5 billion minutes a year, coming in before Yahoo! and Google.[7] This research finding is an example of an important statistic for a PR practitioner to take into account when deciding whether to focus attention on search engine optimization or invest in the brand’s social media strategy.
Nielsen is not the only news outlet to take note of; there is also market research company Pew and blogs such as Tech Crunch, Mashable, Social Media Examiner and Convince and Convert. If PR practitioners stay up to date with these news sources, they will be able to stay on top of social media news and in turn gage a greater understand how social media changes over time.
One Must Understand, Evaluate and Track Social Media Change
To be an effective public relations practitioner, it is vital to have a firm understanding of social media’s constantly changing state. With access to resources such as market research data and news sources, opportunities are endless for continuing to learn about social media. If the recommendations listed above are utilized, PR practitioners will be to best utilize their newfound knowledge to make the best business decisions possible.
[1] http://purpose.edelman.com/when-all-media-is-social/
[2] http://www.quora.com/Instagram/How-many-users-does-Instagram-have
[3] http://mashable.com/2012/09/27/instagram-passes-twitter-users/
[4] http://www.businessinsider.com/zappos-labs-pinterest-monetize-2012-8
[5] http://www.businessinsider.com/loreals-rachel-weiss-on-social-media-2012-10
[6] http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/14/this-is-everything-you-need-to-know-about-pinterest-infographic/
[7] http://cn.nielsen.com/documents/Nielsen-Social-Media-Report_FINAL_090911.pdf
To be an effective public relations practitioner, it is vital to have a firm understanding of social media’s constantly changing state. With access to resources such as market research data and news sources, opportunities are endless for continuing to learn about social media. If the recommendations listed above are utilized, PR practitioners will be to best utilize their newfound knowledge to make the best business decisions possible.
[1] http://purpose.edelman.com/when-all-media-is-social/
[2] http://www.quora.com/Instagram/How-many-users-does-Instagram-have
[3] http://mashable.com/2012/09/27/instagram-passes-twitter-users/
[4] http://www.businessinsider.com/zappos-labs-pinterest-monetize-2012-8
[5] http://www.businessinsider.com/loreals-rachel-weiss-on-social-media-2012-10
[6] http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/14/this-is-everything-you-need-to-know-about-pinterest-infographic/
[7] http://cn.nielsen.com/documents/Nielsen-Social-Media-Report_FINAL_090911.pdf
RSS Feed