Should social media be banned at work?

By Deepti

After big organisations like ESPN and US Marine Corps banned the use of social media at work place, the debate on whether Internet is distracting employees from ‘real’ work is catching fire. I’m an advocate for social media but I guess there is an increasingly thin line between what’s ‘official’ and what’s ‘personal’ once a staff member is online. It’s true some organisations may not even need to be so active online, and not all of them may need Twitter, Facebook or Blog accounts. So how do we differentiate what’s justified from what’s done to simply join the bandwagon? What do you think??

Here are two stories from PRNewsonline that got me thinking.

Should we be more social or stay traditional?

Social media: a company’s asset or liability?

WANTED: Social Media Case Studies and Opinion Pieces.

Doing something with social media or online communities? PRism journal wants your input. You can submit multi-media pieces, PowerPoint presentations, case studies including screen-shots, links, video, or photos. Anything that helps build our understanding of how social media are being used in public relations is welcome.

PRism is an online, free-access public relations research journal. It aims to cross the divide between academic theory and real-world application, but we need your help to keep up the ‘real world’ end of the conversation by submitting case studies to supplement the academic pieces.

You can read and download all of the public relations resources on PRism for free (see here). In particular PRinz members might be interested in the special issue on evaluation, (here) plus you might also find our ‘links’ section useful.

We are open to case studies on all public relations-related topics, at any time (see our general call for contributions here, or to contribute directly to the social media special issue, see the special call here. We also welcome multimedia items for all issues.

Feel free to email Elspeth Tilley at any time with any questions about anything on or to do with PRism journal.

Twitt@mentary takes off

People tend to either love or hate Twitter. They either get it – or they don’t. When I introduced Twitter to PRINZ delegates just after its launch a few years ago, most people in the room seemed to think I had completely lost the plot. I am happy to report that these days even delegates on the ’starter’ digital communications sessions are running their own accounts and no longer look at me as if I was the Mad Hatter when we work through applications and their uses.

Most people working in public relations and communications have caught up with the value of microblogging platforms and, even if not active users themselves, realise the vast application potential for  listening, monitoring, engaging, talking or crisis communication (to name but a few).

This week I stumbled over a ‘Twitt@mentary’ being produced by filmmaker Tan Siok Siok (@sioksiok) in Singapore which you might find interesting.  Her resulting film will follow the global ‘36′ hour day, presenting stories that answer the question ‘How has Twitter changed your life’.  As is the way with all things social media, participation is the key and anyone is invited to post their own story, or ideas for a story, on the site for consideration. When complete, the film will be available under creative commons licence.

Personally, I will be looking forward to the release as I think it will highlight some of the ways that platforms like Twitter move forward the business of building and sustaining relationships – our primary function – as well as providing some great examples of digital storytelling, a skills area that most practitioners need to develop if they are going to be fully equipped to do their jobs in the years ahead.

Is text-driving the new drink-driving?

By Romy

I found this video online, and personally I find it to be absloutely horrendous. I am going to warn you before you watch it, it is very shocking. We are used to having advertisements on our televisions warning us of the dangers of drink-driving, but with the new law coming in to ban texting while driving, effective from November 1, should there be more reminders to us of the danger we are putting ourselves in? The below is a British video, which displays vividly the dangers of text-driving. It also hits home to the younger generation (I think), who have not had to learn how to text as well as drive – texting comes more naturally to us than our parents generation, and we think we are not at risk of the dangers of text-driving.

Brands, in good taste and bad!

By Deepti
Cadbury is back with cocoa, and its back with a bang. After settling the palm oil controversy, it is now trying to make consumers go sweet on it again. The chocolate brand is looking at having its Dairy Milk chocolates sold under the Fairtrade logo by next Easter. This is following its international commitment with Fairtrade, which ensures fair minimum prices for farmers. The timing is impeccable. The brand goes on to show that it not only cares about its consumers but also the community at large. Can’t complain anymore or can you?

Next up is BNZ. It is closing down on November 4 (yes all 5000 of its staff!!!) but for good. BNZ is asking people to make suggestions about community projects that it can help them for. Online and phone banking will still be available but most of the staff will be out there helping people like you and me. BNZ has created a whole website to promote the day and is also on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It does sound like a great idea and at least I feel a little better about having a BNZ account. Thumbs up or down…what say?
Now for the ones that didn’t quite get it right. Microsoft had to bow its head in shame when it digitally altered a black man’s image on its Polish website. So far Microsoft has only said that it will ‘investigate’ the matter and has apologized for the ‘mistake’ (read ‘blunder’). It’s funny how US can have Obama as the president and a leading IT company promote racism at the same time. Not good…and surely not good for Microsoft’s so far international image. Your take?
And finally we come to Hell. Not literally. Hell pizza thought it was being really witty by putting up an ad that says, “at least our brownie won’t eat your pet dog”. An anti racist group, Socialist Aotearoa, obviously didn’t see any irony, pun or wit in this and launched its own anti Hell crusade. The outlet on Auckland’s Quay street will face a blockade and picket on Friday, 28 August and they have even marked the event of Facebook. Ouch! Let’s see where that one goes…but personally I did feel that this ad was in particularly bad taste and clearly bad PR for the brand otherwise known for its clever stuff. That’s it now for the good CSR and the bad PR…till some other brands don’t do anything superb or silly.

Are you a prosumer?

By Romy

After watching this video, the idea that was brought up in my mind was Jean Baudrillard’s theory on Simulacrum. What is the world turning to? It seems everything is moving online, which we can already see today with stories like this one – the news of Micheal Jackson’s death breaking on Twitter.

‘The power of the masses’ – I particularly like this quote. It seems the tightly held reins are being taken out of the hands of a select few, much more quickly than ever anticipated. The new generation boasts the ‘prosumer’; we who are both producers and consumers of media. It is both exciting and scary. Exciting that the control is in our hands, but the concepts brought up in this video, such as ‘memory-trading’, seem pretty out of this world and scary.

It seems the predictions of where we are headed are, literally, out of this world – as the video predicts in 2050 we will be searching for ‘a new world’.

The media has gone such rapid change, and the way we communicate seems to be following suit. What do you think of the new ‘prosumer’? I like the idea of getting knowledge from a more local or organic source, rather than it being filtered to what ‘the man’ wants me to know or believe. Of course, this definitely leaves space for error, but it seems in the new-media generation we are more willing to put ourselves out there and have to go back and change something we may get wrong – rather than being afraid to publish ourselves in the first place.

Consumers get cocoa back in their Cadbury

By Deepti
It was not very long ago that Cadbury melted our hearts with the Gorilla Ad. Cadbury could totally take the credit for bringing back Phil Collins’ ‘In the air tonight’ on the top of radio charts. Sure there’s always been a brand war between Cadbury and the locally loved Whittakers, but Cadbury somehow managed to hold on and retain it’s share of cocoa lovers. But what’s this? Chocolates without cocoa??? Now that’s where Cadbury totally lost it!
Replacing cocoa with palm oil as part of a cost cutting exercise was apalling, especially after being voted as New Zealand’s most trusted brand, as per a recent Reader’s Digest survey. This clearly didn’t go down well with the chocolate lovers and more so the Auckland Zoo, who boycotted the brand over environmental concerns. Auckland Zoo and other environmentalists made it loud and clear that palm oil production is hugely responsible for the destruction of the rainforests, eventually posing a threat to the endangered ‘orang-utans’.
Now the suprising thing is that Cadbury has always been in the good books of ’sustainability’ but was so close to being on the ‘greenwashing’ hit list, by claiming to be sustainable yet killing rainforests. The outcry that spread faster with Facebook did get Cadbury to quickly accept it’s mistake and make ammends. Now this raises two points. The numero Uno being that a company has to remember that any decisions it takes about the product effect its bigger brand value. You obviously don’t want your brand to be perceived in the wrong light, especially in today’s time when social media spreads one negative word against you like wildfire. These things not only hamper sales and the brand image but also give your competitors the chance to topple you over.
Point two is that communicating sustainability needs to be looked at more closely. One day Cadbury is winning accolades for the use of sustainable cocoa and the next they are using obviously ‘not so sustainable’ palm oil.
The goods thing here though is that Cadbury was quick in its response…it was none other than the MD who apologised. After all, it’s the consumers that breathe life into the brand, or in this case cocoa in the chocolate.

No privacy protection for anonymous bloggers

by Deepti
A recent decision by a British High Court has held that anonymous bloggers have no right to privacy in their identities as ‘blogging is essentially a public not a private activity.’ The privacy and the ethics issue around anonymity on the Intenret has always been debated.
Persoanlly I have two very different opinions on the same. Sure some (or maybe most) people prefer to vent their opinions under a pseudonym so they don’t get identified. But why? If I had a problem with someone or something, I’d post a blog or a comment in my own name simply because I’m not embarrassed about my opinions. If I had to be anonymous, I’d rather keep shut! Don’t know what you think, but most anonymous comments on blogs etc are either abusive, non-related or a silly attempt to be extra witty.
The interesting thing is that when you see such weird comments on a news website you read them out of a curiosity factor (or to kill time) more than deriving a sadistic pleasure. The journos who publish these comments know this well and some times allow to publish these to get a higher rating on a ‘most read story of the day’ etc. I think it’s OK to be anonymous as long as you don’t fly completely off the tangent for your 5 seconds of anonymous fame.
BUT…and this is a big but…the biggest USP of the Internet is it’s anonymity. We don avatars, chat under nicknames, disguise our profiles as there is a certain fun about being someone other than who we are or sometimes who we would like to be. This is the very reason why virtual worlds etc are so popular.
I think there are several identity issues on the Internet and we need some kind of an ethics code around it or else separate courts in separate countries will continue making isolated decisions around it, which will just fuel the debate rather than solve it. What say?

Is social media a fad?

Personally I don’t think social media is a fad. Yes, it’s new, but everything had to start somewhere right? These definitely seem to be the latest buzz words, but with stats like those in the video it surely seems social media is quickly taking over traditional ways of communicating, interacting and networking. What do you think?

The new PR blog

Welcome to PR Central – the new PR blog you will quickly save to your favourites. We aim to cater to everyone’s interests, be it Social Media, Internal Comms, or Investor Relations.  Visit us daily to get the freshest opinions on what’s buzzing in the world of PR. Feel free to comment, let us know your opinion on what we write – a little engagement is great.