We are in the world of web 2.0, which is a world with more interactions, and a world that everyone can easily be seen or heard on the internet. In this new era, instead of being passive receivers; publics can actively participate in interactive-websites to share their opinions and exchange ideas. For the organizations and stakeholders, web 2.0 provides a convenient mean of two-way communication.
Under this powerful environment, PR practitioners started to disseminate information through web 2.0 websites, such as YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. By directly communicate between organizations and publics, the massages are more transparent and customers' satisfactions are easier to be evaluated.
Even the most popular coffee chain company notices that the social media has a huge influence on consumers' behaviors. With more than five million fans on Facebook, Starbucks try to focus on where their potential buyers are already on. By offering users to send Starbucks Red Cups to their friends on Facebook, and letting consumers upload photos of themselves with the holiday paraphernalia on Flickr, the company had successfully spread its Love and "holiday wishes" to every corners of the world.
This is a good example for explaining why social media is important for PR. The ultimate goal of PR is to arouse publics' interests, enhance or alter attitudes, and then encourage them to take actions. Based on the well-established internet and World Wide Web, social media is relatively cheaper to use to achieve this goal. Its interactive characteristic makes people feel more agreeable with the companies, and most of all, it has an enormous power to drive people into actions.
Under this powerful environment, PR practitioners started to disseminate information through web 2.0 websites, such as YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. By directly communicate between organizations and publics, the massages are more transparent and customers' satisfactions are easier to be evaluated.
Even the most popular coffee chain company notices that the social media has a huge influence on consumers' behaviors. With more than five million fans on Facebook, Starbucks try to focus on where their potential buyers are already on. By offering users to send Starbucks Red Cups to their friends on Facebook, and letting consumers upload photos of themselves with the holiday paraphernalia on Flickr, the company had successfully spread its Love and "holiday wishes" to every corners of the world.
This is a good example for explaining why social media is important for PR. The ultimate goal of PR is to arouse publics' interests, enhance or alter attitudes, and then encourage them to take actions. Based on the well-established internet and World Wide Web, social media is relatively cheaper to use to achieve this goal. Its interactive characteristic makes people feel more agreeable with the companies, and most of all, it has an enormous power to drive people into actions.
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ReplyDeleteI really liked your Starbucks example! I really feel that social media is so important for PR, it helps get campaigns off the ground and encourages two-way communication between the organisation and their stakeholders.
ReplyDeleteI can’t agree you more with the idea of the potential of social media. It seems the number of social media users is still growing, meanwhile more and more organisations acknowledge the potential of social media. There are some obvious advantages can be seen easily. The cost is comparatively low, and all need is to spend time regularly to manage it. In addition, information can be released immediately, then people will know it when they log onto social media. However, I want to point out there is a serious problem of using social media which I read recently. In order to create a social network online, users are required to use their real personal information to register, but it is most likely that the information can be stolen. Thus it seems that social media in the trend and may be used by many organisations in following years, but users should still consider there are some risks before using it.
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