REASONS PEOPLE LIKE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE

In general, I have observed & found following reasons for people to be spending so much time on social networking sites:

• Socialize - Social networks are great way to meet new people and make new friends. I have made a bunch of good friends through social networking sites.

 

• Finding & being in touch with old friends & family - Social networking sites are really helpful in finding old friends. I personally use facebook to find childhood friends, old classmates and old friends whom I have lost contact with. I also use it to keep in touch with the old as well as current friends.

 

• To follow the trend - Many people join these sites because their friends or some famous people are doing it and they just want to follow the trend. The biggest examples I can give are celebrities. Okay, there are many fakes, but there are actual celebrities too who are tweeting or using facebook and stuff. You can read about it every day in the newspaper.

 

• For time pass - When a person is bored and has nothing to do, he/she can pass the time by chatting or meeting new people on social networking sites.

 

• Promotion/Advertising - From singers to bloggers, you can find all kind of professionals and business owners advertising their music, bands, brands, products, blogs, websites, or whatever they do or sell. Most of these people are spending so much time on social networks for promoting of whatever they do or sell only. They don’t have any interest in communicating. They send friend requests to unknown people and try to get some free publicity, that’s it.

 

• Getting visitors to blogs/sites - Many webmasters and bloggers spend time on social networking sites to get some visitors to their blogs/sites.

 

• Get referrals/customers - Affiliate marketers spend time on social networks to get some potential referrals/customers by place their affiliate links in their profiles or tweets.

 

• For fun - Whether it be teenagers looking to have some fun or perverts looking to have some fun, social networks are great places to have some fun.

INTERNET - A MEDIA OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

The internet web is the most commonly used form of media for public relations.  For example, if you want to travel to a particular city by flight, the easiest way to obtain information on the flight schedule is through its website whereby you can even book tickets through this website.  Compare this with a situation in which you have to go all the way to the airport counter for the same purpose.  This is an example of a PR exercise for the benefit of the public.

 

From the above example, you can see that the internet web has enabled quick and easiest access to information as well as services.  The internet is rapidly changing the way in which organisations provide services to their public.  The information in a website is presented in an easy and understandable format as well as with catchy illustrations to make them attractive and thereby grab the attention of the public.  Now, can we say that the internet web is an amazing tool for public relations communications?

BLOGGERS

Hai friends....

Last Sunday, I have a date with my friends at the mamak stall near Bayan Baru.  We talked a lot of things and one of the topic that we talked is about BLOGS.   

FYI, weblogs or ‘blogs’ are now part of Internet.  Normally, these sites are regularly updated online personal journals (written by bloggers) with links to items of interest on the Web.

Most of the bloggers are amateurs and professional journalists who like to express their observations, opinions and criticisms about almost everything.  A number of public relations writers are also becoming bloggers on behalf of their clients or employers whereby they act as mouthpieces by sending their messages right to the public.

Do blogs really matter?  The answer is ‘yes’.  If you care about what your audience are saying, thinking or doing, you should be paying attention to social media even though your audience is limited in size.  Although, sometimes blogs can cause headaches especially for PR as the blog writers have a freedom to say anything about a company or its products but when problems occur, you want your audience to hear it from you, not have private conversations behind your back.

That is my opinion…. How about you???

TRADITIONAL MEDIA vs. NEW MEDIA

Hai....

Let me share something which I have read recently.  The book title The World Wide Web whereby it is today's new medium.  Many of its characteristics can be better understood by comparing it with traditional mass media.   According to Kevin Kawamoto, at the University of Washington, compiled this chart for a Freedom Forum seminar on technology.

Traditional Mass Media

• Hierarchical: News and information pass through a vertical hierarchy of gatekeeping and successive editing.
• Unidirectional: Dissemination of news and information is generally one-way, with restricted feedback mechanisms.
• Space/time constrain: Newspapers are limited by space; radio and TV by time.
• Professional communicators: Trained journalists, reports and experts tend to qualify as traditional media personal.
• High access costs: Cost of starting a newspaper, radio or TV station is prohibitive for most people.
• General Interest: Many mainstream mass media target large audiences and thus offer broad coverage.
• News, values, journalistic standards: Content produced and evaluated by conventional norms and ethics.

New Media

• Interactive: Feedback is immediate and often uncensored or modified; discussion and debate rather than editorials and opinions.
• Less space/time constraints: Information is stored digitally; hypertext allows large volumes of info to be layered one a top another.
• Amateurs/nonprofessionals: Anyone with requisite resources can publish on the Web, even amateur and nontrained communication.
• Low access costs: Cost of electronic publishing/broadcasting on the Internet is much more affordable.
• Customized: With fewer space/time restraints and market concerns, new media can narrowcast in depth to personal interest.
• Feedback: Electronic mail, posting to online discussion groups; comparatively simple and effortless; often unedited, unmoderated.

I think, that's all for now...  See you next time...