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The creation of online newspapers and blogs – HuffingtonPost, AmericaBlog, and TalkingPoints Memo – have provided instant reporting of breaking political and policy news.  Online news outlets have turned the 24-hour news cycle on its head by creating a vehicle for citizen journalists who can report in not just innovative ways, but instantly. Politico Ben Smith’s “running conversation about politics” breaks news all day delivering a summary to your in-box at day’s end. Social media has truly revolutionized the way the news is reported. An MSNBC producer recently told me that he reads his Twitter feed prior to his morning assignment meeting.

Traditional newspapers must constantly adapt to keep pace with this changing medium. Washington Post columnists like Chris Cillizza and Jonathan Capehart can turn directly to their blogs to influence the debate. Long-time Hill publications like National Journal have to cut back on journalistic mainstays looking to social media to keep-up. Mike Allen’s Politico Playbook has changed the way we get the news – many bypass the newspaper and coffee opting to read Allen’s digest “on the go.”

Everyone wants to be on television to advance their issue or cause, and the general rule was, first, get it in print. Then the tv producers start calling. To a certain degree, the rule still holds – but it’s not the only rule these days. I advise my clients that investing in social media gives you that competitive edge. Whether it’s hosting a Facebook chat, tweeting the news first, or blogging regularly – having a profile in the digital space provides just another vehicle for your message.  And people are listening on the other end – a whole online community of bloggers, followers, and fans.

Once fearing social media, I now embrace it. Its flexibility and ease is an important communications strategy. When I asked the same MSNBC producer about the next “it” thing? He didn’t know, but if he did, we all would be doing it, he said laughing.

Follow me on Twitter: @kristofere

This blog is cross posted on HuffingtonPost.

We had strong interest from colleges and universities across the country, and at the end of the presetation fielded more questions than we had time to answer.  I provided written responses to the two outstanding questions and thought the information might be of interest.

Feel free to post a comment or email me at teresa.parrot@widmeyer.com if you have further thoughts.

Can anyone provide benchmarks on resources to start this up and maintain it? e.g., staff, hours for initial setup and then maintenance?

The start-up times vary based on the scope of the social media presence you want to maintain.  You need to consider what sites you want to be a part of, the conversations you wish to conduct, and the preferred level of participation you want to conduct.  Specifically for College of the Holy Cross there is a team of three who maintain the website and social media presence, but there is a campus committee tasked with supplying content to the team that span the campus, including offices of the College’s leadership.  Often, creating the sites and pages is the easy part. Maintaining the conversations and finding content that keeps people engaged takes time and creativity.

Can you recommend some colleges that are successfully using social media? Could you send some URLs in the follow up email?

So that we aren’t seen as showing preference for certain institutions or their social media vendors, we are going to defer to third parties for our examples.  This article outlines the “Top Four Colleges on Social Media.”  The comments section at the end of the entry also lists additional sites to consider.  In addition, this is a widely circulated list of the “Top 100 Colleges on Twitter.”

During the question and answer session during the presentation we also said we would forward additional policy resources.  Before drafting a social media policy, consider this article on Mashable.com that discusses the 10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy. Once you’ve thought through the author’s considerations, then peruse the following sample policies.  The list includes a mix of public and private institutions of varying sizes.  We aren’t advocating for using any of these policies.  Instead we are recommending you take the elements from each that best fit your institution and social media needs.

Sample higher ed social media policies:

• Adrian College
• Aquinas College
• Ball State University
• Colorado State University
• Columbia College Chicago
• Highland Community College
• Seattle University
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• University of Missouri System

And you never know when you will find inspiration from the corporate world.  Take a look at these corporate policies and this comprehensive list to see if they have any insight you can apply at your institution.

Misconception #1: Social media is only right for certain brands

Noff correctly states that “Social media is right for every brand as long as the brand is able to find its target audience within a certain platform and converse/interact with it in an effective manner.”  Social Media is social.  That means you have to actively engage your audience in a conversation.  You need to talk with them, not at them.  That doesn’t mean you need to use all of the latest, hippest tools to do it, but if you have a business, it’s extremely likely that in 2009, your audience is online somewhere.  Join in the conversation where it’s already happening.

Misconception #2: Social media is all about getting traffic — and quickly

Noff says, “Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a community on Facebook.”  I think this misconception is probably the most important one of the whole article.  I can’t tell you how many clients think that by making a Facebook page, their website will crash from all the resulting traffic from their new ‘friends.’  To be fair, it’s not entirely their fault.  The mainstream media will have you believe that everyone on YouTube becomes famous overnight.  And yes, there have been lots of sensations and fantastical things that seem to appear out of nowhere.  Because information is so easy to share on social media sites, the tendency is to believe that everything will just magically get a million views just like that.

The reality is less sexy, but no less important.  You need to engage with your audience and have that conversation in order to build trust.  As their trust in you builds, they’ll turn to you first to find the solutions to their problems.  And they’ll tell their friends about it.  But these things take time.  Think about your own relationships in real life: how many of you completely trusted and felt like they knew someone the moment they met them?  Likely, not many of you.  And if you do think you did, it’s probably due to the positive feelings you attribute to that person in retrospect.

Social media is a tool.  And it’s a tool for you to use for the long haul.  Is your brand just in it for tomorrow or are you in it for the long haul too?

Misconception #3: “By using social media we will lose control of our brand’s image”

NEWS FLASH: You already don’t have control of your brand.  What?!  Before you fall out of your chair, let me tell you that this is not necessarily a bad thing and you are not losing ALL control either.  This is the quote that hits the nail on the head: “People will talk about your brand whether you like it or not. Opening a Facebook page is not going to change it and not opening a Facebook page is not going to make it go away.”  People are going to talk about your brand no matter what.  If someone has a good experience they’re going to tell people about it.  How did you find out about your doctor?  I’m willing to bet it was a referral either from a friend or family member or another doctor.  But I bet you didn’t hear about your doctor from an advertisement.

The same applies if they have a bad experience- people will talk.  Social media just makes it easier to talk, but rest assured, people are still talking about you regardless.  Injecting yourself into the conversation shows your customers and audience that you care and are willing to talk with them.  If you’re not willing to have an open conversation then the problem lies more with you than with your customers.  If they have your trust, you’ll find that they often will do the good kind of talking for you.

You can’t completely control the conversation but you can be a part of it and help to steer it rather than just sit on the sidelines and watch it pass you by.

Misconception #4: Social media is just a fad

“Social media is an inevitable digital evolution of our desire as humans to communicate with one another. It is a desire that we always had and will always continue to have as long as we are human.”  Like Misconception #3, people are going to talk.  Social media has just given us the tools to make it easier to do.

I was fortunate to be at one of the first colleges to have Facebook when it first came out- that was 6 years ago. Think Facebook is going away?  It continues to grow.

Misconception #5: “I don’t need a professional to do social media for me”

This is the only point where I think there’s a little leeway to be given.  Noff says that companies shouldn’t just get a college student to do their work when it comes to social media.  While I agree that this person needs to understand exactly what they are doing and needs to have prior experience, that doesn’t mean there aren’t college students or college-age young adults who do know how to do so effectively.  In fact, social media has become one of the great democratizers of the communications world.  Knowledge is readily being passed on at speeds unheard of just a few short years ago.  Do I think you should hire any kid who says they know Facebook? No.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t kids out there who have experience already working with brands.

That being said, and a point that Noff also makes, the end goal should be to get the client to be able to handle the work for themselves after a training period.  But for an organization that’s only familiar with the old media way of doing things, I wouldn’t recommend taking it on itself until at least talking with a social media practitioner.

Conclusion:

Overall, the most important thing a brand can do is educate itself.  Would you launch into a new realm of product before learning more about what’s out there? No, of course not.  That feeling should also apply towards social media.

What do you see as the biggest misconceptions out there?

It is estimated that an impressive 60 to 80 percent of Americans have used the Internet to find details on their health, rivaling physicians as the most common source of information (Fox, Pew 2006; iCrossing 2008). Additionally, approximately 80 million Americans used social media directly for health purposes in 2009 alone (Cybercitizen, 2009), 42 percent of whom report finding information that helped them or someone they know (Pew, 2009).

The emergence of Web 2.0, as this movement has come to be coined, has transformed the Internet experience, making it more interactive and inviting users to share experiences, to lead discussions, and to adapt the Internet to make it a public forum rather than a static informational grid. The potential for technology to continue to influence health decisions is impressive; more specifically, its potential in transforming well-being could be enormous.

Patients, insurers, physicians, and hospitals are all finding that this evolving revolution has remodeled traditional language and approaches in discussing health matters. Typical consumers have about 50 people in their social network and incorporate a variety of sites into their searches, from Wikipedia to chat rooms to videos (Sarasohn-Kahn 2008). As broadband becomes ubiquitous the ability to manage data soars and reaches more consumers, continually expanding the capabilities of the Internet in this space. With this shift comes tremendous opportunity for social media outlets, so much in fact that the National Institutes of Health recently identified health misinformation on the Web a national crisis. Sites like Wikipedia surface as primary references in searches for AIDS, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Since most physicians and patients start their health inquiries through search engines now, the level of scrutiny will continue to increase. It is therefore imperative that current and future designs understand this changing landscape.

One area in which technology remains nascent involves wellness programs. Employers are just starting to realize the connection, for instance, of providing employees and their families with a dedicated support structure for quitting smoking or losing weight. In what might seem to be an intuitive connection, the happiness of employees directly relates to their perception of work and health, among other factors. By providing them with the network to improve those facets of their lives via integrated seamless programs, employers can close this gap and create sustainability to these endeavors. The “likeme” movement for example on the Web, in which patients share stories and advice to others with similar illnesses can easily be translated to the workplace to foment a foundation for employees. This approach may dramatically improve employee recognition of these programs and coax them into understanding their function and consequently use them more often and effectively. When these programs work, one result is an increase in employee productivity (Burton 2001); however, it may more importantly promote a sense of camaraderie and loyalty to the organization. Linking into real-time stories and advice on how to lose weight from other employees or even your boss may just be the impetus for many to do the same. Some common examples of how this exchange might work include: wikis, really simple syndication, online forums, blogs, social network services, and podcasts.

Of course in health care, these connections are arguably more robust, as providers are starting to delve into patient activity in social media venues and uncover potential benefits. Through various channels, such as telehealth and online consultations, there is enhanced communication among patients and between patients and providers. The result is that patient satisfaction is positively affected and program retention improved. Identifying with patients and understanding their motivations and concerns will continue to be vital for providers in the future.

A hidden gem in this area, and in medical information technology in general, resides in smartphones. According to Pew, 85 percent of Americans have cell phones and this number is continually growing. At this point, most individuals do not utilize the full capabilities of these devices. Meanwhile, the connection between technology and patient care is increasingly becoming more entrenched. For example, one recent study established a direct correlation between chronic care improvement and electronic health information measures (Keyser 2009). Another study, a metanalysis, suggests that physicians view smartphones as an excellent way to improve patient care (Lindquist 2008). Other reviews relate similar findings (Lu 2005; Ranson 2007; Garritty 2006).

Smartphone capabilities dwarf those of PDAs and open an entirely new world. These devices, such as the Blackberry, Apple iPhone, and the iPod Touch, offer unparalleled access to navigate the internet, play back both audio and video, store massive amounts of information, and run thousands of applications in a user friendly interface. Applications themselves offer a particular advantage since the focus is on simplifying accessibility while maximizing relevance and practicality. The result is a more streamlined compendium of resources in a format much different than traditional websites or PDAs.

It should be of little surprise that smartphone sales are skyrocketing, with usage jumping nearly 90 percent from 2003 to 2004 alone. These numbers have ballooned since, reaching an estimated 125 million units worldwide. As of the end of April 2009, and in less than two years, combined iPhone and iTouch sales total 37 million units (Apple, 2009). In medicine, use is becoming standard and in some cases, required. Over the next two years for instance, each Ohio State University (OSU) medical student will receive a standard iPod Touch, equipped with specific medical software programs planned by the OSU College of Medicine (The Lantern, 2009). OSU Medical Center is on the cutting edge of a trend that will undoubtedly expand to medical schools and centers across the country. The business world should follow suit with this goal of aligning content with specific goals to ensure costs are controlled and program utilization is maximized.

These facts present an amazing opportunity for companies adept enough to take advantage of them. Through the use of these phones, companies could connect with employees at an unprecedented level, taking the emphasis on wellness to an entirely new realm and reinvigorating an already thriving area. The question of course, is how?

Here at Widmeyer, we’re working on the answer to this question and many others like it, always attempting to connect the trends of today with the success stories of tomorrow. If you are interested in finding out more about our specific ideas and experience in this area, please contact me at henry.engleka@widmeyer.com. We look forward to helping you build your presence and capitalize on the capabilities that exist.

“You absolutely have to be aware of power users who put things up on Facebook, Flickr, Yelp,” Ms. Burke says. “P.R. is important because it’s pretty intensive to figure out who they are.”

via Spinning the Web – P.R. in Silicon Valley – NYTimes.com.

An interesting look at how Silicon Valley-based PR firms have adapted to use Social Media in their day-to-day activities.