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PR is right for social media, but is it ready?

The very best PR and organizational communications is, at its core, about building relationships. That should make it the ideal function to coordinate a company’s social media presence. But is the PR business at large ready to assume that kind of role?

Certainly there are people and agencies among the ranks of communicators who have paid attention to the shifts in the communication landscape, who have engaged and learned the requirements for engagement. You can probably rattle of the names of many of them because you read their blogs, listen to their podcasts, follow them in Facebook or on Twitter.

For every practitioner who has come to grips with the new ground rules for communication, there are hundreds, maybe thousands who aren’t there yet. Some of them are even leading agencies. You can find one of those examples on Mark Story’s blog. Mark teaches PR at Georgetown, works as a communicator for a federal government agency, and has a solid resume that includes a stint at Fleishman Hillard.

In his post, Mark registered his amazement at some remarks Lou Capozzi made on Eric Schwartzman’s excellent interview podcast, On the Record Online (OTRO). PRSA—the Public Relations Society of America—named OTRO the official podcast of its annual conference; Capozzi was one of 16 interviews Eric conducted. Capozzi, Chairman Emeritus of Publicis Public Relations and Corporate Communications Group, was at the conference in Detroit to deliver a talk.

Read Mark’s post if you’re interested in his objections to Mr. Capozzi’s remarks. It’s what followed that pertains to this discussion.

The post didn’t attract a huge number of comments—nothing Broganesque—but Jason Falls and Geoff Livingston were among those who responded. Then, 11 days later, Mr. Capozzi himself left a comment. Evidently drawing a conclusion from the limited number of comments, he suggested that nobody ad read Mark’s post, then suggested that the report was on par with a right-wing talk radio host talking about a book he had never read.

It’s pretty clear you weren’t there to hear my talk, because if you had you would never have written this. And it sorrows me to see a fellow public relations professional so willing to shoot his mouth off without bothering to do the research first.

Mr. Capozzi concludes that next time, Mark should attend a talk before criticizing it, although he does so in somewhat less elegant language.

In a follow-up, Mark noted that the post had registered more page views than any other he had written; comments are no measure of readership. More to the point, Mark had stated in his original post that he had not heard the speech. Whether he had or not, though, is not a legitimate point. Mr. Capozzi agreed to the podcast interview and had to know that it would be heard by people—possibly thousands of people, who listen to OTRO but did not attend PRSA’s annual conference. That particular episode of OTRO is a separate entity and the words spoken on the podcast stand on their own. If Mr. Capozzi didn’t feel he could articulate his thoughts within the constraints of the podcast interview, he should have declined or selected a different topic.

Mr. Capozzi compounds his mistakes with an insulting comment that addresses none of the questions Mark raised.

Until the leaders of the communications world come to terms with the realities of social media—its potential impact and the means of engaging it—it won’t be surprising to hear that responsibility for guiding organizations’ social media presence is falling to others.

I was delighted, then, to see the latest step IABC—the International Association of Business Communicators—has taken.

IABC launched its leader blog—IABC Cafe—several years ago. The Cafe has had ups and downs, but was officially retired last week as IABC became the first professional association I’m aware of to introduce a portal to staff and leader blogs.

In fact, there aren’t a lot of companies with such gateways to employee-produced content. Sun Microsystems has one. Microsoft and IBM have them, as does Thomas Nelson Publishers. These pages generally list the most recent posts to the family of blogs, along with the most popular posts. That’s pretty much the approach the new IABC Cafe has taken. With a featured post on the opening tab, the last featured post on the second tab, and recent staff and board posts on the third. There’s also a list of blogs that have been updated most recently; 11 staff and board blogs were listed the last time I looked, including 2008-09 Chair Barbara Gibson’s excellent Connecting the I’s and the new blog from President Julie Freeman, Julie’s Corner.

image

I do wish there was a complete list of staff and board blogs, but this aggregation of leadership content is just the kind of effort professional associations should be making. It allows the voices of the board and staff to be heard, for members and others to connect directly with them, for members of IABC and members of the communications profession to conduct a conversation with the association’s leadership.

While the bulk of the communications world plays social media catch-up, it’s heartening to see one of the associations representing the interests of the profession leading by example.

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

Another call for a blogger code of ethics

A blogger code of ethics is another meme that seems to make the rounds every six months or so. This time, the call comes from Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, Malaysia’s home minister, who said,

Blogging is touching the lives of more and more Malaysians. With such a powerful tool, bloggers are able to influence their readers and shape their perspectives. They can unite communities and they can divide them. The dangers of distortions and inaccuracies in blogging are very real and it is capable of destroying lives. Thanks in part to the blogosphere, dangerous assumptions often travel faster than truths...The comment and talkback sections had unfortunately provided a channel for people to espouse hatred and racial sentiments, using it as a conduit for constantly validating their negative opinion. There is no excuse for this, which is something all parties need to seriously look into.

Albar was speaking at the Blogger’s Bluff 2008 conference, which somehow escaped my notice. According to a report in The Star Online, Albar said the code would not rise to the level of legislation, but it would hold bloggers accountable for what they wrote.

Well, it’s not like Malaysia has served as a beacon of free speech.

The problem with Albar’s call for a code of ethics is the same for any such efforts: Those inclined to abide by a code of ethics are already behaving themselves while those who are not will reject it and continue merrily cranking out whatever they want.

Codes of ethics work only when they are backed by an organization that has the power to sanction members who violate them. My professional association, IABC, has a code of ethics that, without specifically referencing blogs, covers most of the unethical behaviors in which a blogger could engage. Other associations representing the communications profession tout their own codes. But few organizations have shown themselves willing to smack down members who violate their codes.

And even if Malaysia puts the power of the government behind its code, bloggers who reject it could simply blog anonymously, using Blogger.com and Wordpress.com. While nearly all the evil done on the Net has been enabled by anonymity, it’s also the reason bloggers representing political opposition are able to function within repressive regimes.

What’s more, if countries begin implementing their own codes of ethics—different standards for each nation—things get even muddier. If I visit Malaysia, can they hold me accountable for something I wrote that violated their code but not the U.S. code?

It’s not that I don’t agree with the goals articulated by those who support a blogger code of ethics. It’ll just never work.

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #400: November 24, 2008

Content summary: This is the 400th episode: thanks to sponsors Ragan Communications and CustomScoop, and correspondents Lee Hopkins, Dan York, David Phillips, Eric Schwartzman, Sallie Goetsch, Michael Netzley, plus all members of the FIR community; about this Thursday’s show; Michael Netzley interviews Microsoft’s Ross Smith; the Media Monitoring Minute with CustomScoop; News That Fits - AIG-DailyKos dialogue, what’s the ROI from the Pat The Baker ad campaign on Bebo in Ireland; listeners’ comments discussion and FIR Friendfeed Room round-up; music from Antiqcool; and more.

Listen to FIR now:

Get FIR:

Messages from our sponsors: FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com; Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir.

For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, for November 24, 2008: A 62-minute podcast recorded live from Wokingham, Berkshire, England, and Concord, California, USA.

FIR Show Notes links

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the show notes home page for info.

FIR on Friendfeed

Share your comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for future shows, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR, or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Join the FIR Discussion Forum and extend your conversations with the FIR community. You can also join the FIR Facebook Community and become an FIR friend.

So, until Thursday November 27…

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

FIR Cuts from Episode #400

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Download the file here (MP3, 2.08Mb; length 4:26), or sign up for the RSS feed to get this cut segment and all future ones automatically.

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Download the file here (MP3, 1.32MB; length 2:47), or sign up for the RSS feed to get this cut segment and all future ones automatically.

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

From Ford, a clinic on individual employee advocacy on behalf of his company

imageIn a single blog post, Scott Monty has put on a clinic on how a company can bring social media to bear in the face of difficult times.

Scott, who manages Ford Motor Company’s social media efforts, has assembled his own manifesto, ”How You Can Use Social Media to Help the U.S. Auto Industry.” The post is much more than an appeal for aid, though; it’s a review of the issues, a rebuttal of commonly-held beliefs, a case for federal assistance for Ford, and background that can help people draw better-informed conclusions.

And it’s all presented in Scott’s personal style, a voice that, if you’ve been reading Scott’s blog for any length of time, you recognize as his. Which brings up the most critical aspect of Scott’s manifesto: It’s on his own blog, not any of Ford’s official properties. That makes the conversation even more social. Scott doesn’t hide his affiliation with Ford, but these are his personal observations, not anything he has produced as part of his on-the-job duties.

“I don’t usually talk directly about my work unless it’s something truly worth sharing. As such, I’d like you to indulge me a little here, because there’s some important information that I would like to share,” Scott writes, adding, “I’m resorting to my blog to share what I know and what my own perspective is, and hopefully, with your cooperation, to help the ailing U.S. auto industry in the process. While I’m supportive of the whole industry, my views will naturally be skewed to Ford, because it’s the topic I’m most familiar with and loyal to.”

It’s not the first time Scott has taken to his personal blog to address a company issue; he also posted a job notice.

Among the myths Scott seeks to dispel is that long-standing leadership has no vision for the industry. Ford’s CEO, Alan Mulally, has been with the company for only two years, coming from Boeing where he was widely respected. Scott also challenges the notion that Ford has taken no actions to restructure itself or address the many problems facing the U.S. auto industry. He spends time talking about innovation at Ford, and includes a YouTube video clip of a Michigan congressman making an impassioned appeal for to the House of Representatives on behalf of his constituents—real workers who will be affected if the auto industry collapses.

Scott has also been active in the comments to the post, almost all of which are supportive. Naturally, most readers are those who already pay attention to Scott’s blog, not people looking for information on the auto industry. But where better to begin building support? Undoubtedly, some of Scott’s readers will direct friends to the post, not to mention people talking about the proposed bailout of the auto industry in places like Twitter. Plus, it doesn’t hurt for people to read comments like the one left by Bev Baldwin:

Scott, you may be a one man show in a sea of social media experts but this is the most spectacular, informative, convincing piece of edit I have read in quite some time. In short, you really are amazing. I have no doubt that Ford will persevere, and having employeed such an amazing individual like yourself, who is so passionate and diligent, you will commandeer the troops and make change! I applaud you my friend!

Now, imagine if other employees—well-informed by their employers on the challenges the companies face—could do the same in the social media channels where they participate. The authentic apeals of real employees whose jobs are imperiled will resonate far more deeply than the traditional press releases and other corporate statements typically issued by companies in Ford’s situation.

Scott also participated in a podcast interview, along with his GM counterpart, Christopher Barger. I’m about halfway through the interview and both Scott and Christopher represent their organizations well.

I can only echo Bev’s assertion in her comment: With people like Scott and Christopher—and other employees engaging in conversation on behalf of their companies—it may just be possible to change minds and galvanize support.

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

FIR Interview: Chuck Hester, iContact, on tapping into the power of LinkedIn

LinkedIn, the business social network, has surged to 30 million profiles, most of them for business people with titles of director or higher. Still, a lot of people get their LinkedIn accounts, expand their networks, then wonder what to do with it. Chuck Hester, communications director for email company iContact, is a LinkedIn power user and author of an upcoming book on the social network. In this interview, Chuck explores the various ways LinkedIn can serve a communicator in his or her work.

Listen to this podcast now:

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About our Conversation Partner

imageChuck Hester is Communications Director at iContact, the industry-leading web-based emarketing communications software.  Chuck has over 25 years experience in public relations, marketing and branding. Some of the clients Chuck has worked with include TEAC, Western Digital and the Department of Defense Technology Transfer Program.

A LinkedIn power connector, Chuck has more than 7700 direct connections.  He is a sought-after expert on the subject of using LinkedIn for personal and professional branding, and how to use social media to build business contacts.  His is the author of the forthcoming book, “Linking In to Pay it Forward: Changing the Value Proposition of Social Media.”

FIR on Friendfeed
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.

This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

Death Watch Case File #1: Tangible Media

In a post on November 17, I created the Death Watch list, a rundown of various media whose death has been widely predicted. This is the first in a series of posts that takes a deeper dive into these.

imageA utopian vision has emerged in which every expression of human endeavor once conveyed via physical media is transformed into digital media. Micro Persuasion blogger Steve Rubel, a vice president at Edelman, has bet that “by January 2014...in the US almost all forms of tangible media will either be in sharp decline or completely extinct.” Steve lists print—books, magazines and newspapers—but also DVDs, boxed software, and video games.

The examples Steve lists to support his argument are mostly good ones. But they are not signs of a tangible media apocalypse. Rather, they are examples of what happens when new technologies produce more advantages than the existing technologies. In almost every instance, the old media adapt, abdicating much of what they used to do to the new kid on the block, but carving out a niche based on their remaining strengths.

I’m dismissing the DVD/CD/software category from the mix, as these are solely about distribution methods. When you buy software in the box, it’s so you can install it on your computer. The fact that you downloaded it instead of buying the box doesn’t mean you wind up with a different approach to the application on your hard drive, it’s exactly the same. That’s not the same as an ebook, which on a Kindle doesn’t look or function anything like a paper book with its 80-pound book stock.

Books

Let’s start with books. Steve notes that Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of the Amazon Kindle as the next big thing sparked a surge in demand for the electronic book hardware. (Of course, if Oprah waxed enthusiastic about a new brand of paper towels, they’d fly off the shelves.) I have a Kindle, and I do like it a lot, some usability issues aside. But I use it primarily when I’m traveling so I don’t need to figure out how to carry a 900-page book without exceeding the airlines’ carry-on limit. At home, I still prefer to hold a real book in my hand. It’s easier on the eyes, it never loses its charge, and I never accidentally turn a page.

But there’s more to printed books. I can make notes in the margin. I can put it on a shelf and refer to it (and my margin notes) later. If the book has graphics, they are sharp and clear. Artwork—such as Gilbert Stuart’s oil painting of John Adams appearing in a biography of America’s second president—are reproduced with brilliant four-color process printing that simply cannot be duplicated with the limited palette of colors built into web browser technology.

In fact, coffee table books featuring photography and artwork still display the images with far better fidelity than you can get on the Web.

So at least these forms of books will survive because they are better at what they do than their digital counterparts. But print is also finding new life as a channel for creative expression through print-on-demand (POD) services like Blurb and Lulu. Blurb continues to grow despite current economic conditions that are hastening the demise of some other print-based enterprises. According to a friend who works there, POD’s popularity is largely attributable to the ease with which people can channel their creativity into print without incurring the costs that once kept it off limits.

“Look through the Blurb bookstore for 10 minutes,” he told me. “You’ll see what I mean.” In addition to the expected collections of photos from weddings and Bar Mitzvahs and the like, there’s a book of photos of people in their underwear in their bedrooms titled “The Underwear Experiment,” Piers Fawke‘s book of nine good ideas and various implementations of them, and a book of paintings by an artist who says, “My books are currently a way of publishing to my friends the stuff they have never seen and paintings they can’t afford.”

While some print companies suffer, my friend told me tens of thousands of books were published by Blurb last week alone, and the number continues to grow. This is a classic case of an old medium adapting by transforming into something people want that cannot be duplicated using the newer technology.

Magazines

In his post, Steve doesn’t offer any particular evidence to support the demise of magazines. I suspect he figures they’re just caught up in the general collapse of tangible media; he also notes that he hasn’t bought one in a couple years. (I share Steve’s passion for digital content, but still like to pick up a magazine at airport newsstand to read on the flight—I’m allowed to have it open during takeoff and landing, which isn’t true of my digital devices.) Magazine publishing has always been a dicey business, but the circulations of popular magazines continue to grow. Despite the move to all things digital, titles like Vanity Fair, Esquire, In Style, and Ladies’ Home Journal continue to gain subscriptions. The secret here is knowing your audience, producing compelling content, and creating a total package between the front and back covers that offers a self-contained experience you just can’t get on the Web.

Other tangible media

Steve doesn’t list a lot of other tangible media on his post, but he is explicit in his view that all tangible media will be gone or on their way out by 2014. I wonder if this would include…

  • Artwork for your walls—Digital picture frames are nice, but I’d rather have a Peter Max on my wall than a digital image of one
  • Billboards—Some are going digital, but these are wildly expensive and outdoor advertising is still mainly a print business
  • Direct mail—Maybe we wish it would go away, but I don’t see any signs that it is. In fact, people I know in the DM industry suggest it thrives because it works. And, to be honest, I would never remember to order my company holiday cards if the packages from four or five different suppliers didn’t show up in my mail every August or so.
  • Table tent cards and other collateral—Based on what I’m looking at in my hotel room, and what I see in other hotel rooms, restaurants, and other venues—this is another form of tangible media that doesn’t seem to be suffering.
  • Brochures—Here in Las Vegas, where I’m visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday, they’re stuffed into pockets of cabs and available in hotels by the thousands. After riding one of the thrill rides atop the Stratosphere Hotel, I grabbed a brochure that detailed the tower’s height and other characteristics. Do you see these going away any time soon?

This is a short list; I’m sure you could add to it.

But the point should be clear. The notion that tangible media will be gone by 2014—or even 2054—is ridiculous.

(I don’t mean to take aim at Steve Rubel, by the way—he’s hardly alone in this digital fanboy perspective that can’t imagine how anything that isn’t digital could possibly have a place in the world. Besides, if Steve were the only one promoting this nonsense, I wouldn’t include it on my DeathWatch list, which is made up of items popularly believed to be on their way out. Steve’s post is just the most recent item I could find that articulates this point of view.)

As I noted early in this post, old media adapt, embracing the uses at which they are better than the new media and leaving everything else to the newer technologies. 

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #401: November 27, 2008

Content summary: An extra-hefty holiday episode; Happy Thanksgiving to our listeners in the U.S. Neville is at the “New Media in Marketing and Communications Strategy” conference in Barcelona (which he is chairing) while Shel is with family in Las Vegas for the holiday; the Chuck Hester interview about LinkedIn is available; Dan York reports; more congratulatory messages on episode 400, including one from our former weekly correspondent, Lee Hopkins; Media Monitoring Minute from CustomScoop; Neville talks with Keith Childs from GM Europe at the Barcelona conference; Sallie Goetsch shares sound bytes from a panel on “Social Media for the Non-Geek;” special Thanksgiving Day listener contributions; what communicators are thankful for; music from Steve Stellavato; and more.

Listen to FIR now:

Get FIR:

Messages from our sponsors: FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com; Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir.

For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, for November 24, 2008: A 79-minute podcast recorded live from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and as live as it can be from Barcelona, Spain.

FIR Show Notes links

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the show notes home page for info.

FIR on Friendfeed

Share your comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for future shows, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR, or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Join the FIR Discussion Forum and extend your conversations with the FIR community. You can also join the FIR Facebook Community and become an FIR friend.

So, until Monday, December 1…

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

Twitter surges: Coming soon to an organization near you

During last week’s horrific events in Mumbai, the Indian government issued pleas for people witnessing events to stop using Twitter to provide instant news updates. Reports even suggested that the government had reached out to Twitter to block any updates that might provide the terrorists with information about the movements of counter-terrorist forces.

While scores of blogs have remarked on Twitter’s real-time role in the Indian crisis, few have examined the problems users of the service caused security forces attempting to end the siege.

Over the past couple years, the downside of “real time” has been displayed over and over again. When a problem with a JetBlue landing gear forced an emergency landing after several hours circling Los Angeles International Airport, passengers on the plane watched news coverage of their predicament on the televisions mounted on the back of each headrest. By providing real-time TV, the airline lost the ability to manage the message the flight crew might have preferred to deliver to passengers.

But the Indian government’s appeal to curtail Twittering—along with the later revelation that the terrorists carried Blackberries to monitor world reaction—highlights the fact that evil people will find uses for good tools. Twitter and its peers will have to grapple with questions about whether to comply with such requests in the future.

Perhaps the world has grown so accustomed to envisioning terrorists living in Pakistani caves that it’s hard to imagine they might be sophisticated in their use of technology. After the events in Mumbai, though, any police or military strategy for responding to a terrorist act must now factor into their planning the assumption that the bad guys are watching their every move.

The tweets of the person on the street, behind the barricades, probably would provide more than enough intelligence to inform the terrorists’ next moves. But it’s just as likely that a conspirator is mingling with the crowd, tweeting under an account the terrorists are following on their mobile phones. And Twitter isn’t the only tool available. Qik, for example, would allow those holding hostages to watch real-time videos of police activity.

These thoughts occurred to me only over the last several days of following news reports on the situation in India. Terror organizations that distribute Blackberries to their operatives have clearly been thinking about it for some time.

I haven’t heard a proposal for how to deal with this potentially fatal disclosure of information. It’s a case of technology advancing faster than society’s ability to assimilate it into planning for all potential situations. It’s the dark side of the transparency technology has imposed on everybody.

Some may react like the movie industry has to BitTorrent: As long as some people are using it to commit the crime of copyright violation, the MPAA has reasoned in legal proceedings, the entire system should be shut down. Shutting down microsharing sites like Twitter and Qik, though, is not just impractical, it would be futile, since countless such services could replace them (like Jaiku and Plurk for texting, and Livecastfor videocasting), and new ones could be set up in hours. Terrorists could even build a secure Twitter-like environment using Laconica—and may already have.

Fortunately, I haven’t seen any calls to terminate Twitter or other microsharing services.

While security agencies rethink their strategies in a world where their enemies have instant access to information about their movements, the far less dire consequences of of real-time communication should be on the minds of business leaders. If terrorists can use Twitter, so can your company’s critics and adversaries.

The tweeting of breaking news, from tsunamis to terrorist attacks, has become common, but the recent flare-up over a Motrin video to which hundreds of mommy bloggers took offense is the first significant Twitter surge focused on business of which I’m aware—and that was kicked off by a single individual’s tweet weeks after the video first appeared. Before this, Twitter had been used to shine an unwanted light on business, like the time former Yahoo employee Ryan Kuder used Twitter to chronicle his last day on the job after being laid off. We can expect more Twitter surges focused on company behavior.

And it will get worse. Labor union campaigns using Twitter are inevitable. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union wasted no time capitalizing on tragedy by using traditional media channels to condemn Wal-Mart for inadequate preparations for the 5 a.m. Black Friday opening its suburban New York store, resulting in the trampling death of an employee. Wal-Mart had already issued a statement listing the precautions it had taken, but those facts would have been obscured had the union launched its campaign on Twitter, mobilizing its members to flood the service with a hashtag like #walmartdeath.

Like so many others, I love Twitter and other microsharing services like Qik and Utterli. But it would be just plain foolhardy of organizations—from anti-terror security agencies to corporations to nonprofits—to fail to incorporate into their communication strategies the likelihood of a critical Twitter surge targeting their activities. 

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #402: December 1, 2008

Content summary: Happy birthday Lee Hopkins!; FIR #401 and feeds; Neville reviews the Barcelona conference; the Media Monitoring Minute with CustomScoop; Michael Netzley reports from Singapore; discussion: vision statements; News That Fits - social fundraising, why banks won’t do social media; listeners’ comments discussion; music from The Free Press; and more.

Listen to FIR now:

Get FIR:

Messages from our sponsors: FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com; Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir.

For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, for December 1, 2008: A 62-minute podcast recorded live from Wokingham, Berkshire, England, and Concord, California, USA.

FIR Show Notes links
Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the show notes home page for info.

FIR on Friendfeed
Share your comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for future shows, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR, or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Join the FIR Discussion Forum and extend your conversations with the FIR community. You can also join the FIR Facebook Community and become an FIR friend.

So, until Thursday December 4…

- Shel (shel@holtz.com)

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