Public Relations: A Social Network Using Social Networks

I remember when AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) first came out. I was constantly logging on to talk to my friends, but after a while, I started to feel bogged down. I had things to do, and when I was available to talk, my friends were not online. It didn’t take long for me to turn back to the telephone as my primary means of communication.

Then social networking Web sites started to emerge. Social networking sites are Web services that allow you create a profile to contact your friends and network with other subscribers. The social networking Web site any particular person subscribes to depends on what they are looking for. For example, those who want to find a date might go to Match.com, but someone who wants to keep up with all of their friends might choose Facebook. Some other social networking Web sites are MySpace, a media-related social network, and LinkedIn, a networking website for professionals.
Okay, so you can create a profile. Big deal! What can you really do on social networking sites?

After you create a profile, these Web sites allow you to search for people or companies, join groups, post comments on others’ profiles, and upload picture albums.

Those are fairly common features on every social networking site, but different Web services have their own unique features. YouTube allows people to upload and view videos, but Facebook allows users to create and add applications through their platform. These applications range from sending virtual gifts to one another to inviting your closest friends to an event.

Why do I care, as a PR Professional?

Different social networking Web sites attract different crowds of people, or different publics. If my public communicates via social networks, then my job is to find out which one they are using and communicate to them through it.

Some public relations professionals communicate to their publics by uploading viral videos on YouTube. Others create a group within Facebook for their product or service. Whatever the case, social networks are becoming increasingly more important for the public relations profession.

What to Expect in the Future.

Okay, I can’t predict the future, but I know what I would like to see. I recently read a scholarly article about product placement in PR. The results of the study showed that public relations practitioners are more enthusiastic about the future of product placement than are advertisers, and I am definitely one of the enthusiastic ones! I cannot believe I have not seen more product placement within social networks already.

Companies can use Flickr, a picture-sharing network, to place their product in pictures they upload to the Web site or Facebook applications to send out virtual products. They can also use YouTube to place their product within videos, much like Hershey’s did with LonelyGirl15. Whatever the case, public relations practitioners are only beginning to tap into the technology surrounding us.


By: Erin Burry