The main reading material for our class Social Media in Public Relations is ‘Social Media ROI’ by Olivier Blanchard. After reading the first two chapters, Blanchard has positioned Social Media in a manner that I believe is the best description I have heard yet. He states “Social Media is the new Campfire, the new water cooler.. It is how business was done hundreds of years ago, face to face, one handshake at a time.” These statements I have taken from his book, are an excellent way to describe Social Media to my colleagues or counterparts that do not completely understand how and why this new medium should be a part of every companies business plan. He goes on to describe that the social media web is about things that matter and not branding or corporate messaging. That we should not consider this method of communicating as impersonal or distracting, but rather a new form of reaching out and getting to know each other, our clients, our colleagues and even family and friends. This is our new method for sharing stories and inspiration about our daily lives that was a large part of human interaction. I think Blanchard is going to be a great read, and I’m looking forward to quoting him more on upcoming posts!
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