My Peers Are Into Social Media For PR Too

Over the past few weeks I have been discussing the benefits of using social media for public relations purposes. Whether it be for observational, experimental, or crisis communication purposes, social media is most definitely a tool that could be used at the advantage of public relations practitioners. Apparently my classmates agree with me on the usefulness of social media as a PR tool. Two of my classmates blogged about social media, and they're outlooks were very on point with my same ideas.

Kevin recently blogged about crisis communication and how to use social media in such case. A point Kevin stressed and is very true is that with the growing technology information can travel a rapid speeds. This makes it that much more easier for negative news to get out to the public, and what better way then a social media website to post something negative and allow it to feed through and reach tons of people. This is where we would think social media hurts us PR people, however we could use social media to our own benefit because of its rapid spread of information as well. Kevin explains in his blog that as soon as an incident occurs that could shed a negative light on a company, you could immediately correct it by spreading word directly from the company itself in regards to the incident and allow that information to also spread through the social media outlet.

Laura also blogged on social media, and one of her recent blogs posts focused on experimental research. She gave an example that allowed for us to see how social media could be used to experimental research.  She makes a very valid point that publicists could often use experimental research and social media together to figure out which outlets work best for which celebrity. Experimental research is used often in PR therefore it is important that it can be used with the social media tool as well. Take a look at her blog and see how to do your own little experimental research!

Is Social Media Good For A Company? Experimental Research Could Tell You Why

Experimental research is a great quantitative method because you are able to gain some valuable information that pertains to the population, as opposed to specific publics as you often learn about through qualitative methods. Social media has become more prominent in the professional world, and companies are relying on social media to get word out to the public about all different aspects of the company. Social media is a great outlet because it allows a live connection between the company and the public, making this a great tool for public relations practitioners. Because the involvement of social media as a part of public relations practices is still so new, there is little research to prove if social media is in fact a positive tool for a company's public relations. Here is where experimental research comes in.

I found some interesting research whose purpose was to find out if using social media had some sort of value for "service-based businesses." The goal of their particular experiment was to see how many followers they could gain on social media sites based on a service-based business. The one piece of information this experiment lacks is telling whether the use of social media would help create stronger relationships. This is a good question to pose for an experiment regarding any kinds of businesses, not just service-based businesses. In order to prove whether or not social media is positive for a businesses public relations, an experiment could and should be done in order to test not only increase in followers on the social media outlets, but also the actual relationships that are built as a result of the social media being put into practice.

How Surveys Rank Social Media!

The social media world is a great place to go to when conducting survey research because you are able to post the survey of which you want answers from to a large population, and this large population has the option of whether they'd like to respond to the survey or not, making it voluntary for the participants.

However, it is best to understand the importance of surveys through an actual example. In the example I found I was able to combine the ever-so-present social media into looking at how surveys are a good form of performing quantitative research. In research done by the Pew Research Center on the use of specific social media networks by certain age groups, we are able to see which social media network attracts which demographic, in terms of age specifically. The research done by surveys allowed for the researchers to notice certain trends regarding age and use of specific social media networks. Based on their survey research they were able to determine that social media sites such as Facebook have contributed to the decline in blogging.

Surveys are significant in conducting research because the results could often be grouped into categories making it easier to analyze the results of the research and find answers to the research questions. The downside of using surveys is that you are not receiving the kind of information you would receive when performing qualitative research, where you would gain more knowledge on the opinions behind the answers. This makes surveys good when you are looking for more clear answers and less perceptions and opinions. However, triangulation, the use of both quantitative and qualitative research, is the most beneficial way to perform research because you can gain not only clear-cut answers from research methods such as surveys, but also gain knowledge as to why people feel that way in regards to their answers.

Two Blogs With Great Insight Regarding Social Media

Kevin's blog brought to light some interesting information. Recently I have noticed something that Kevin mentions in his blog, the use of Twitter and Facebook tags in ads. It is interesting when companies use their advertising not only to advertise a specific product or service, but to gain following in the social media realm. It is extremely successful of companies to do so because while an advertisement may result in a consumer purchasing what the company has to offer, this is a short-term connection with the company. If they are able to get people to take a look at their social media sites, they can create more loyal, long-term relationships with their consumers. Using social media is a great way to get the public involved and make them feel like they have a voice in the company as well.

Francesca's blog offered a very valuable point regarding the success of using social media as a qualitative form of research. The greatest aspect of the internet is that it is always there. The internet never sleeps, therefore it is a great place to continuously gain insights. Francesca made this point in her example of a new movie being released, and using social media to keep getting comments. I agree that social media is an excellent resource for qualitative research because you are able to reach such a vast amount of people and this allows you to get more comments and opinions then an ordinary focus group would offer.

Qualitative Research Can Be Done Through Social Media!

Qualitative research offers answers that are based more on individual opinions and experiences, as oppose to in quantitative research which offers more concrete data. Qualitative research can range from observations to interviews to focus groups and more. Although you may think that qualitative research is research that requires a more one on one in-person situation with participants, this kind of research could be done using social networking as well.

On Facebook pages, for example, there is a section designated for "discussions." This is a great place to go if you want to find out peoples' opinions or stories relating to a specific topic. Glee is a television show that has gained a huge following over the past year, it also happens to be one of my favorite shows. One of the lead characters has had to take some steam from the media recently for apparently not having the friendliest personality. However, I wanted to know what her fans think of her, so when I looked up Glee on Facebook and found a page dedicated specifically to her character, I clicked the link, went to discussions, and there I saw an outpour of love for her. This is where her publicists could go to figure out what she is doing right that has kept her fans still standing by her side, and what she could be doing better. They could also gain more knowledge on who her fan base is and other details that would help in maintaining a positive image for the recent star. Not only are discussions a good form of qualitative research, but also reading wall posts and "likes," you can see common trends among people, relating to a certain topic.

Social media is also a great place to do some qualitative research because people often feel more free to be honest when it comes to "the world wide web." This is the same as unobtrusive research because you are able to study your participants without them knowing that you are doing so, and this allows them to make their normal everyday decisions without being influenced by a recognized observer.

We Do Unobtrusive Research All The Time

Unobtrusive research is a kind of research method we all use on an everyday basis. We probably do not even realize when we are performing unobtrusive research, but the following blogs are two simple yet common ways we execute unobtrusive research in our everyday lives. Social media is a tool that we most commonly use to perform our everyday unobtrusive research.

In Jessica's blog she discusses how she performed unobtrusive research in sports. By simply coming across an article on Yahoo! she was intrigued by the article and decided she wanted to know more about a specific player mentioned in the article, therefore she went on to do more research and find some blogs about the player. The blogs helped provide more insight on the questions Jessica had after seeing the initial article on Yahoo!. This is a great example of using social media to do unobtrusive research. Everyone is always interested in finding out the latest about their favorite sports teams and athletes and social media is one way of retrieving more information.

Francesca's blog is great at pointing out how there is basically a social media outlet that one can use to answer just about any questions you are looking to research. For example, if you are trying to find out what your friends or even celebrities are up to, you know that Twitter would be the perfect outlet to go to for such information. This is a form of unobtrusive research because you are not directly asking a person what they are doing, but instead you are using social media to find out on your own. Each social media outlet provides different kind of information, which makes it helpful when performing everyday unobtrusive research because you know which outlet to go to for which kind of information.

Social media is probably one of the most used sources for unobtrusive research these days.

Social Media= A Great Outlet For Unobtrusive Research?

Our opinions often tend to be influenced by society. Because of the influence society has on us, sometimes unobtrusive research could be the best way to retrieve real raw information without it being biased by an outside influence. Social media can be both a good and bad outlet to use for unobtrusive research purposes.

The positive? Social media is composed of websites such as Facebook and Twitter. These two sites in particular are outlets that people use to express themselves freely, in a more open way then they sometimes express themselves in person. In some cases, people's true personalities and opinions come out through their posts and comments on such sites. Because people feel so free to express their true thoughts and feelings without certain pressures one might face in person, this is a good place to observe people and conduct unobtrusive research. Facebook has broadened its use to incorporate supporting all different kinds of everyday activities or organizations that individuals might be a part of. Since Facebook is used by so many different organizations, it could be easier to do measurements of your research results involving a social media campaign where subjects do not even realize there action to "like" something is part of someone's research.

Over the course of my internship at GlobalGrind.com, I became really involved with developing a consistent social media department for the company. This huge project I took over began with one simple cause. At the beginning of my internship a tragedy happened in Detroit, and this resulted in the death of a little girl after police raided the house where she lived. The GlobalGrind.com website consistently brought to light issues of youth violence and unjust deaths. My boss asked me to make a Facebook page in honor of the little girl who was killed, and this page was to become a page dedicated not only to her death, but the deaths of other young people who's stories needed to be heard. The purpose of the page was to create greater awareness of these injustices. The Facebook page is titled She Has A Name: Aiyana Jones. After inviting people to join the cause, the page's fan numbers continued to grow and grow. Not only was I able to measure the success of my use of social media, but people who go to this page know that all a little over 13,000 people that "like" the page have in common the desire to bring justice to these types of cases. By taking a look a pages such as this one, you are able to uncover a little more background, or unobtrusive research, over the individuals, companies, or organizations which you are researching. In my internship, I went on to create multiple Facebook pages, which were each aimed at different audiences, however, each separate audience had in common certain things because of their common "like" of the fanpage.

The negative? Although social media sites allow one to feel more free to express themselves, these sites are not absent of pressure. One simple but great example of the pressures in the social media world are people's default picture. People often only like themselves being represented on social media sites at their very best. Take a look through a few of your friends Facebooks and notice that the majority of the time you are not finding too many very embarrassing pictures of them. This is in part due to the pressure to maintain some sort of standard as an individual on the social media scene. Pressures such as these can sometimes hinder the honesty of an individual when carrying out actions such as posting pictures, comments, or even the types of things they choose to "Like."

Social Media Benefits All: Comments on Classmates Blogs

Whether we use social media for research or not, it still remains a prominent part of most peoples' everyday lives. Though its original purpose was meant for connecting people to one another, its functions have diversified and multiplied over the years.

One excellent function of social media for public relations use is damage control. Sam's Blog shows a great example of how a clothing company was able to use their social media  outlets to fix a problem they had not intended to cause. Often in the world of fashion, designers and advertisers both get attacked usually for the tiny sizes of the models, but as Sam uncovered in the case of Ann Taylor LOFT, they were able to do a quick turnaround to the complaints of customers. Back in the day it may have taken days or maybe even weeks to fix the negative feel that customers got from an advertisement, however with technologies' help and the advent of social media within hours a company can explain themselves and reach a large amount of their audience when trying to do so. It was a brilliant idea of whoever at Ann Taylor LOFT corporate offices that thought to use Facebook to show that the pants they were advertising can be worn by women of any size. It was even more clever of them to use women who worked in the offices themselves. Here, Ann Taylor LOFT was able to bring their clothing lines' image back to a positive light by utilizing the speediness of social media to get their message out.

Another great function of social media for public relations is its use for advertising and especially endorsements. If you've played around on Twitter for even five minutes, I guarantee you have probably been exposed to some sort of advertising or promotion through tweets. Celebrities use social media outlets such as Twitter to build their image and brand. In her blog, Laura discusses how celebrities are able to use social media as a public forum to build themselves as well as their careers. Many advertisement and endorsement checks to celebrities are now made to them for simply tweeting about a specific product.

Social media has added a new platform to communication, and best of all it's completely free to use. The idea of free makes social media an even more useful tool for public relations research because it limits the some of the high costs there exists when conducting research. Social media not only serves functions for public relations research, but it also serves several other functions within the field, including those discussed above of damage control and advertising, celebrity endorsements, and celebrity branding.

The Research Report: Social Media Style

Of course research is important, but if we do not provide the results to anyone, than what purpose did the research serve? So how does one go about writing a research report? When discussing research in social media in particular, it is important to remember the principle rules of research report writing.

The first biggest concern I have when using social media in research and as a professional tool is the difference in the written language. Social media is a casual world, where proper spelling and grammar are not considered priority when posting something. However, when using social media for professional purposes, such as in public relations, it should become priority even if it is not the norm. When transferring research from the social media outlet to a research report, one must keep in mind that in order for your research to be taken seriously, you need to write in a serious manner. Although you may get caught up in the casualness of social media, it's important to realize that the way you present your research results will impact how the results are received. If you are hired to be a Social Media Manager for a company or organization, and you are asked to provide the results of certain new programs you've put into place in a social media outlet and you present your work with terms such as "u" instead of "you" your work will not be taken seriously. Although it is acceptable in social media outlets to write like such, when using it for professional matters, it should become a habit to treat your writing there like you want your writing of your research report to look. This will help ease the transition from social media results to research report writing.

Another thing to take into consideration is the language of social media itself. With outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, we have terms such as "like or dislike," "write on wall," "tweets," "@ people," and "tweeple." There is obviously no way to replace these terms with more formal terms when presenting your research results, however not everyone is keen on social media. Not everyone is familiar with the terms used on social media sites, therefore when presenting research you should not assume your audience understands what you mean. This is also true of research lingo as well, but here I am focusing on the social media lingo. Make sure when using such terms, you explain their significance and meaning to make sure you are understood.

Social media can be very fun, but when using it for a public relations purpose, you should always remain professional!

Research Ethics in Social Media Measurement: The good and the bad

Now that social media is being used for marketing and public relations purposes, well we have to know how to measure our successes and our failures. However, one question pops into my mind after reading up on research ethics for my Public Relations Research course: How do we accurately evaluate our research on social media without running into ethics conflicts?

One major problem with evaluating social media results is what our book called “respondent study risks.” In simpler terms this means, what if our respondents are not giving us true answers? What if respondents’ answers are lies, and what if they identify themselves as a demographic? That right there is one problem in the realm of ethics with social media. Some more interesting problems with measuring social media are discussed here.

However, not all is bad when questioning ethics within social media evaluation. One great advantage of working social media into your research is what our textbook refers to as “respondent recruitment.” Respondent recruitment is being able to get people to take part in whatever study you are doing. If you are conducting a study by using social media as a tool to do so, getting respondents is easier because you are reaching so many more people, and you are also allowing people the option to participate or ignore it. This works in favor of positive research ethics.

Because social media is so new, and even more new as a tool for marketing, research, public relations, and advertising, it has not been tweeked perfectly to provide accurate research information. As its use continues to grow these issues could possibly be fixed, allowing social media to become a more dependable research tool.

Research For Social Media Use in PR

For my blog I am focusing on the use of social media as a tool for public relations practicioners. In its original plan of use, social media was meant to connect people to each other through the use of the internet. It was simply a new means to communication. Over the years, more and more social media outlets have been created, and with these evolving outlets new uses for social media have come to exist. Advertising, for example, has been affected by the social media outburst. Websites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter have boosted the space and outreach of advertising. Being that social media attracts such vast audiences, I’ve even heard of grandparents using Facebook, it allows companies to reach larger, more diverse  audiences. It has become a part of our everyday lives that brings a sense of unity because we are for the most part interested in using our social media outlets. In the public relations world, social media is a fairly new tool.

I am personally interested in the use of social media for public relations purposes because of my history with social media. In an internship completed during this past summer (Summer 2010), I became a Social Media Manager for an entertainment news website. The website of course already had existing social media accounts, but there was no one person to focus on establishing the company’s brand in the social media world. While working on establishing a social media department for the website, I had to figure out how to connect what the website stands for to what the people in the social media world want to be exposed to and indulge in. The initial purpose of using social media was to increase the number of visits to the site. Over time our goals changed and grew regarding what the expectations were of social media use. I can securely say I left the website at the end of my internship with an established social media department, however, I did not have the full capacity knowledge of research to leave them with more proof and numbers as to the success of the uses I implemented for them.

Therefore, given my recent experience with social media, I am interested in exploring how to do adequate research regarding its use in public relations, while I gain valuable knowledge in research throughout the duration of this course. I would like to be able to know that if I went back to the website I interned for, I would know exactly how to research and evaluate the program I created to how things are done now and the results of it all.