Monitoring Social Media

Nowadays, the use of social media has been extremely increased. More and more people and organisations engage with it in order to stay connected with their friends or build lasted relationships with their customers. However, social media is not something new. Did you know that the first e-mail was sent in 1971? It seems that social media has a long (40 years or so) history! However, the question is can social media be monitored?


Let's begin by analysing what social media really means. Safko (2010) has stated that "social media is the media we use to be social" (p.3). Based on his analysis, the word "social" refers to the institutional needs that humans have in order to connect with each other. Also, the word "media" refers to the technologies we use in order to connect with other people. Hence, social media is all about how we can use these technologies effectively to connect with people, create relationships and build trust. 


So how is social media and public relations related to each other? Well, public relations professionals were some of the first people who believed in the power of social media. New communication channels have changed the way PR specialists function. For instance, the first press release was created in 1906 by Ivy Lee. It wasn't till '90s that online newswire services like PRNewswire's MultiVu multimedia release (MMR) was launched decreasing the use of fax machines and e-mails for the distribution of press releases. Afterwards, in 2006, social media release was introduced by Todd Defren. 

Social media can include, but is not limited to, e-mail, online groups, blogs, Internet social networks, instant messaging and cell phones. These new technologies provide public relations the chance to choose from a great variety of communication tools in order to create connections with others. These tools which are widely used allow for:

1. Greater frequency of communicative exchanges or interaction among people
2. Easy, non-expensive and immediate access to information
3. Promotion of public awareness 
4. Brand's loyalty building

Here is a list of some of the basic social media tools that a PR practitioner needs to use (Phillips and Young, 2009, p. 12):

Blog: A type of website where the owner can write posts and make them available in reverse chronological order. According to a survey in 2007, 1.4 blogs were created every second of every day.

Chat: Exchange of text messages in real time. Many companies have chat agents in their websites as an alternative to telephone support systems.

E-mail: A method of composing, sending, storing and receiving messages through electronic communication systems.

Social bookmark: Record of web pages of your interest through online lists that can be shared with small groups of colleagues or in public; e.g. Delicious.

Micro-blog: A form of blogging with limited space (140-200 characters); e.g. Twitter. 

Message boards: Discussion groups or web forums that refer to a community who discusses a specific topic; e.g. Google's Groups and Yahoo Groups. 

Mobile Internet: Mini-blog applications and location-based services (e.g. Foursquare) through mobile phone which provide an alternative way of communication. 

RSS: Collection of information and distribution to the users who have requested to follow any news from the sites of their choice.

Social media release: Electronic form of press release which is enhanced with RSS and provide photos, comments and video and voice content.

Social networking sites: Websites that allow people to exchange interactive information among a network of friends through personal profiles and comment discussion lists; e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin.

Video-sharing: Online video is an important channel of communication since you can create a video, edit it and share it to your publics; e.g. YouTube. 

Podcast: Audio file embedded into a web page where listeners can comment on the content.


However, social media need to be monitored in a way even if it seems difficult. Based on Maria Ogneva, the Director of Social Media at Attensity, monitoring is the "process of continuous and immediate discovery of conversations" in order to learn and collaborate. Monitoring is something more than measurement. It usually works on a keyword basis. The specific monitoring systems try to find specific words through social networks. Even if it cannot be so accurate sometimes, it is good for PR practitioners to monitor the social media influence of their brands through specific tools such as:

• Facebook Insight
• Facebook Google Analytics Tracker
• Advanced Twitter Search
• Bit.ly URL Shorter

Here is a video that analyses some of the tools for monitoring social media:

Monitoring social media can be effective since it allows as much as possible to track what is being said about your company and your brand. Having a strategy and knowing from the beginning how to monitor the social media that you use, it can make you undesrtand and analyse better the information about your company, your clients and correct any policies. 

Sources and photos are taken from:


Safko, L. (2010) The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success. 2nd edn. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. 
Phillips, D. and Young, P. (2009) Online Public Relations: A Practical Guide to Developing an Online Strategy in the World of Social Media. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page.
http://www/pr-squared.com/index.php/about
http://socialwants.com/5-step-free-social-media-monitoring-process/
http://www.zionglobalmarketing.com/social-media-marketing-service/
http://www.mopwaterpr.com/
http://search.twitter.com/advanced/
http://bit.ly/
http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=1030
http://mashable.com/2010/07/29/monitor-measure-brand-social-media/
http://www.webdigi.co.uk/blog/apps/fbgat-facebook-google-analytics-tracker/
http://www.bloggingjunction.com/leading-media-management-tool-social-media/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/
http://www.myspace.com/
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/welcomeback/
https://foursquare.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/
http://sfantis.com/?p=268
http://www.delicious.com/
http://groups.google.com/?pli=1
http://twitter.com/
http://searchenginewatch.com/3623806

The Role of Social Media to Fight Deportation Policy

We all know that social media have become a powerful tool for sharing and promoting communication with people. But have you ever thought that social networks can actually "rescue" people when they really need our help?

Walter Lara, Alosno Chehade and Rigoberto Padilla have one common characteristique: they all faced deportation but they were found to gain a great support through various social media campaigns. Social media platforms provide the means to these people, who call themselves Dreamers, to find each other without the need to travel, to get the attention of politicians, advocacy groups and lawyers and petition for an extension of deportation dates. 

Let's take a deeper look at the stories of the persons mentioned above. To begin with, Maria Lacayo, a friend of Walter Lara, had created a Facebook group called 'Keep Walter's Dream Alive' just two weeks before the deportation date. There she was explaining her friend's situation. However, she never thought that the next day she would receive tons of mails and messages from organisations desiring to support Lara and suggesting courses of actions. 

With the help of all these people and organisations and later through Twitter (2,000 followers in one day), this campaign succeeded to get the attention of not only media but also of the Department of Homeland Security on two days. In addition, Lara received a letter support from Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat. Just three days before his arranged deportation day, Lara received a deferment for one year that has been renewed once. 

After the case of Lara, Alonso Chehade launched hiw own campaign through Facebook where he succeeded to get 5,000 supporters to send letters to local Congressmen. This had as a result his deportation to be delayed indefinitely after the support of Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat in Washington. According to Chehade, "The most important role of social media is to demonstrate public sympathy for people in his position". 

The Facebook Campaign of Alonso Chehade

Based on Rigoberto Padilla who was also "rescued" by the Homeland Security through a social media campaign, the organisation that he is now working as a volunteer, has stopped six deportations since he started working there. We can notice that social networks play a pivotal role, indeed. 

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have been found to be the main social media platforms that enable young undocumented people to find each other anonymously and increase support between each other. On Facebook, it has been created a page called Dream Act 2010 with more than 88,000 likes and on Twitter you can find information @DreamAct which is run by the Dream Activist group. Also, videos of persons are uploaded in YouTube, where they explain their deportation story. The role of the use of these social networking sites is to provide information and begin online petitions which are directed at legislators whenever a person has received a notification that he will be deported. 

The Dream Act Campaign

In February, the Dream Act succeeded of bringing the media attention to the matter of deportation and the Dream Act query was presented as the number one question through YouTube's World View Program, which is a series of monthly interviews with the world's most important leaders where the top-rated questions are asked in exclusive interviews. 

Nowadays, social media is highly connected with public relations since it can reach billions of people, build relationships with them and add reachness to the information that is provided. As we can notice in all of the above cases, social networks are not only used for promoting a brand, but it seems to be a perfect tool to enhance public awareness campaigns.

Sources and photos are taken from:

http://mashable.com/2011/04/19/immigration-activism-social-media/

https://twitter.com/#!/WalterLaraUSA

http://www.alonsochehade.info/

http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/003215.html

http://www.dreamactivist.org/

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101711417560

http://www.seiu.org/2009/07/breaking-dhs-defers-deportation-of-walter-lara-for-one-year.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/worldview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlH4iXB2Pn4&feature=related

Geo-Location Social Networks and PR?

For the past few weeks I have noticed that a lot of my Facebook friends are "checking-in" various places all the time. Because of this great popularity and the fact that I have never used this application, I asked some of them to give me some tips about how it works. Well, if Twitter is about 'What are you doing?', then this new trend, which is called geo-location or location-based online service, is about "Where are you doing it?' and I think it is the next big thing for PR.


So, this is how it works: Geo-location gives the opportunity to people to share with their friends where they are and allows them to give tips about the places. Among others (Gowalla, myTown, Google Maps Local Business Center), the most popular location application is called Foursquare and it is said that it is a great social media tool for PR practitioners.


Foursquare allows people to share their location with a group of friends by "checking-in" to a business, restaurant, cafeteria or other venue when they arrive. But, the thing is that the whole process works like playing a game. For example, you can get badges for certain activities but also become the "mayor" of a place if you are the one who has visited the place most of the times. Hence, in this way both businesses and customers can benefit. Businesses reward "mayors" for their loyalty, like Starbucks which is offering special coupons and gift cards to them.

Discussion About Geo-Location in The Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco

Moreover, Foursquare can also help a business enhance its relationship with users by allowing them to monitor the free analytics application that it provides by examining the genders of people, the most popular time where they check-in and any comments that users have made about businesses in Facebook and Twitter.


These location-based online services and particularly Foursquare have been used by many businesses and organisations such as Wall Street Journal, History Channel, Diesel and Marc Jacobs in order to build a relationship with their customers and provide incentives in order to stay connected with them. I think this is the reason it is going to be such a useful tool for PR practitioners since PR is all about reputation, managing communication and creating a mutual beneficial understanding between an organisation and its customers (Gordon, 1997, cited in Tench and Yeomans, 2009, p.3).


In addition, it seems that geo-location applications are popular not only in the business sector but also in educational system since they are widely used by universities such as Harvard University and University of Oregon in order to promote events held on campus. 

So, why should PR practitioners start using location-based online services? Here are some benefits:


1. You can create a profile for the business on yourself:

You can facilitate people to check-in your place and you can add details for your company.

2. You can promote events and provide special coupons:

You can add events and promotions to your business profile, raise awareness and promote your business but also you can leave special gifts for the next customer who is going to "check-in" your place.

3. You can give your customers the chance to promote your business:

People by "checking-in" allow other people to notice the place and they can also post reviews and tips for that place.

4. It is both time and cost efficient:
In a very short time and without any cost you can start promoting your business or organisation and build a relationship with customers.


I think PR just got a new social media tool for communication and users just got another fun way to be engaged with their favourite businesses. I think I should start using this application and see how it works...Who doesn't want free coupons and gifts from their favourite coffee shop or discounts and invitations in fashion shows?

Sources and pictures are taken from:
Tench, R. and Yeomans, L. (2009). Exploring Public Relations. Harlow, England: FT Prentice Hall.
http://aboutfoursquare.com/university-of-oregon-uses-foursquare-to-introduce-students-to-campus/
http://www.starbucks.com/blog/tribute-badge-official-rules
http://www.ereleases.com/prfuel/what-does-geo-location-mean-for-pr/
http://www.mobilein.com/location_based_services.htm
https://foursquare.com/harvard
http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/2010/06/02/location-based-apps-where-are-you/
http://www.youtube.com/results?
search_query=pr+and+location+based+services&suggested_categories=28%2C24%2C27&page=2