Cool LinkedIn Feature

If you use LinkedIn -- and I recommend that you do -- there is a handly little feature that I just discovered. It's called Company Buzz, and you can get to it by clicking edit on the Your Profile section. By signing up for this, you can pick up the Tweets on any company or organization. For example, I picked up conversations for the company that I work for, Altus Agency, as well as posts for a number of clients.

One thing to keep in mind, choose your keywords carefully. For example, I am on the Board of the Public Relations Society of America, Philadelphia Chapter. If I put in PRSA, I get hundreds of tweets from every chapter across the country. By narrowing it down to PRSA, Philadelphia, I was able to cut it to more relevant postings. It's easy enough to create another keyword, say, PRSA, Washington, if I want information from that area.

Why should I care, you ask? Well, it's important to keep an eye on what people are saying about your company if you want to be an effective advocate. Read twice as much as you write, I always say.

Check it out.

Do You Censor Yourself?

I just read this from Marcompass. It asks some important questions about self-epression and self-censorship on social media. As I see it, the answers to this question seem to divide into two camps,1) those for caution, and 2) those for free expression. This may be a false choice. Read on.

Do You Censor Yourself on Social Media?
By Joyce Dierschke March 12, 2009
It came up just the other day - someone emailed me a video that had an obvious political slant. I thought it was interesting and entertaining, so of course, my first reaction was to post it on my Facebook Page (They make it quite easy to do this - YouTube offers several options to share on your social media pates with just one click…one simple click…too easy?). I was just about to click on the “post” button when I a thought entered my head: Maybe not.
My Facebook Friends include friends, family, acquaintances, a few people I don’t know all that well, colleagues and clients. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my political views, quite the opposite actually. And I would have loved to share this video with the majority of my “friends”, but I began to think about the clients that are in my “friends”.
Now don’t get the wrong idea - there was nothing obscene or truly bad about this video, but it definitely leans to one side. Its not that I don’t want or even care, frankly, if anyone knows my political views. But I do understand that many topics, politics especially, can be very emotionally -more so I think, lately. I wouldn’t want to offend anyone or have them think I am some sort of radical…do you see where I’m going with this? Its not that I would offend anyone, but the possibility - remote as it was - stopped me from posting the video.
So I began to think - do others censor themselves on social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, etc.? The whole idea of Web 2.0 and social media is transparency - but does that mean that you should say and post whatever you want? Or because of the neverending/everlasting network that is the Internet, do we need to be even more careful about what we say and post?
My decision was not to post the video. But I wonder if that was the right thing to do or not. After all, it wasn’t incendiary, at least I don’t believe it was. I didn’t want to take the chance - and it was mostly my clients that I was concerned with - of someone thinking, “oh Joyce has those political views does she? well, since I don’t agree, I think I’ll find a new copywriter.” Actually, sounds silly now that I’ve written it out!
Still, I think it brings up a valid point about how we portray ourselves on line. Do we build specific on line personas? Or should we just be ourselves completely? And if we are not truly ourselves on line, what does that mean for social media transparency?
Have you ever censored yourself when using social media? Or do you believe that it is an anything goes medium? Perhaps you fall somewhere in the middle? Let me know your thoughts!

Strategic Planning for Social Media

I recently attended a meeting on strategic planning for social media. Instead of a session on the intricacies of Facebook and Twitter, it turned out to be a back-to-basics on how to write a strategic plan.

Now, that might seem like an oxymoron. After all, aren’t social media supposed to be organic in nature? Don’t you destroy the conversation when you introduce an official point of view? Well, as in all things, the answer is yes and no.

So, how can you plan for social media when they are supposedly uncontrollable? How can you influence the conversation and still keep it real? I will take up these questions in a series of 10 articles over the next few months. I plan to look at questions including:

1. Why and when should a business engage in social media?
2. How do you plan your social media?
3. What should your role be as a public relations professional in your client’s social media efforts (or conversely, what should you expect of your public relations professional?
4. Which social media should you use and how should you use them?
5. What are some do’s and don’ts in using social media?
6. Are social media really grassroots communications, or should you take an active role in managing them?
7. Are social media a unique form of communication or just a communications channel?
8. How and why should you respond to positive or negative comments on your social media?
9. How do you measure success in your social media programs?
10. How long will it take for this stuff to help your business?

While I plan to write these articles from a communications point of view, my intention is that these articles will make perfect sense to the business owner who wants to incorporate social media into their marketing. I welcome your comments, so please comment early and often, so that your voice can be heard.

Philadelphia PRSA Elects 2009 Board

The Philadelphia Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, a professional association, elected its 2009 board.

Jack Horner, president of Jack Horner Communications Inc., Philadelphia, is president.
Michael Gross, president and co-owner of Anne Klein Communications Group, Marlton, is president-elect.

Anne Buchanan, president of Buchanan Public Relations, Ardmore, is vice president.

Sarah Casey, assistant account executive of Maven Communications, Philadelphia, is secretary.

Molly Wilson, account supervisor of Tierney Communications Inc., Philadelphia, is treasurer.
In addition, these directors-at-large were elected:

Barbara Link is a communications consultant at Link Ink, Penn Valley.

Jonathan Morein is director of public relations of the Altus Group, Philadelphia.

Lisa Packer is principal at Robinson Packer & Wannenburg, Wayne.

Jenny Shields is a consultant.

Candace Steele is senior director of product communications at Cephalon Inc., Frazer.