What’s the influence of social media on PR and journalist relationships?

A recent survey analysing the rise of social media within journalism caught my eye. Over 900 journalists were surveyed by Darly Willcox Publishing and the results have been analysed in a white paper by FT journalist Martin Stabe.

According to the survey, 75% of journalists claim social media is important for their work with 90% using it more than they did a year ago.

But what got me most interested was what the survey has to say about the effect of social media on how PR professionals and journalists interact.

A finding of the report is that ‘communicating with PR professionals currently has a relatively insignificant role in journalists’ use of social media. What’s more 44% of journalists believe  PR professionals aren’t making the most of the medium.

Reasons cited included some PR professionals failing to understand the need to build genuine relationships using social media, and lack of resources to respond quickly to journalists.

Working in PR, the value social media is immeasurable. We take pride in developing and maintaining relationships with journalists but traditional methods of contact remain essential. That’s what PRs said in the same survey with use of email and phone significantly exceeding contact by social media. Of the social media PRs use most to communicate with the media.

Social media is paramount in keeping engaged with journalists yet unless combined with traditional communications, from picking up the phone, to face to face drinks, no amount of Tweeting someone would be effective. It is all about maintaining the right balance of new and traditional ways of engaging the press.

Social Media – A British Love Affair

Hold the press everyone – it’s finally official. Social networking is now top of the list when it comes to our favourite British online pastimes. It’s even overtaken portals such as the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and Sky Sports.com in popularity.

The stats are massive – last month Facebook accounted for over 12.46 per cent of all internet activity and there were 2.4 billion visits to social networking sites just in January 2011 alone.

Similarly Linkedin has more than 90 million registered users around the world and there are over 1 billion tweets a month on Twitter.

It seems the tipping point has finally come, with social media leaping ahead when it comes to influencing our online lives. And there’s apparently no end to this British love affair.

But despite all the numbers and stats, one fact remains clear – this revelation surprises no-one.

Social media is so much part of our daily lives, most of us don’t even think about using it. So it’s hardly a shock it’s dominating our internet usage.

In such a short time social media is now firmly in camp ‘Status quo’ – now that’s surprising!

Multitasking UK: What will advertisers do next?

The UK has been named a nation of ‘multitaskers’ thanks to social networks and increasingly sophisticated mobile phones, according to new research from Ofcom.

The research reveals that a fifth of all media is consumed at the same time as another form of communication with people spending almost half of their waking hours glued to a screen, on the phone to friends or listening to the radio.

Although TV is as popular as ever, almost one-fifth of the time spent watching TV is now accompanied by laptop or mobile activity. A finding supported by YouGov this week which found that that more than half of UK respondents (58%) are regularly consuming at least one other type of media while watching television.

With television being seen as one of the staples of the advertising industry it will be interesting to see how they react and engage with their target markets moving forward. Brands could sponsor online elements of shows that incorporate your social network, for example real-time quizzes and voting amongst friends. Alternatively, e-commerce professionals as it could offer the unique opportunity to directly link products shown on TV to internet retailers.

Whatever the next generation of advertising will look like we know that the picture below will no longer represent the typical television viewers today.

UK Newspaper opens up for Web 2.0 Revolution

As the newspaper industry goes  through turmoil, there’s  one newspaper which seems to be getting it right. The Guardian has absolutely embraced the web and is using it to build its brand globally. 

Its  “Open Platform”  will allow partners to reuse content and data for free.  In contrast with many newspapers, the Guardian is letting go of control in exchange for removing obstacles that’ll extend its reach and brand globally.  Isn’ t it amazing to see this given how The Guardian used to be pigeon holed as a trendy, lefty UK paper that less than 50 years ago was only printed in the North of England.  Just a perfect example of embracing change and moving with the times. Well done The Guardian.