COM0015 Post 4 – Out of the box

Oh, this is a tough one: what unexpected applications have I found in online marketing and social media… Not that I know everything but when something is so much part of one’s life, new stuff become second nature and I don’t always realized that is was not expected!

One that amazes me over and over is how social media have “democratized” access to traditional media. Everyone can now share information that can be of value to the general public. This will inevitably force decision makers and even PR specialist to change their approach.  This makes not telling the truth more difficult and risky. Or event choosing to hide some stuff to protect someone or something becomes more and more dangerous.

So maybe this will force a more honest and responsible approach to politics.  Not that I see every politicians as dishonest. I just feel that those who choose to follow a more ethical path seems to get a harder time within their own parties and therefore, are not the one we end up having on voting bulletin!

For example: last Friday, everybody in the Greater Moncton area was getting ready for Christmas Parade and the municipalities involved were sending out press release saying that every year, the parade attracts over 100 000 people! As soon as the radio station I’m listening to in the morning relayed that information, a University of Moncton professor put a note on his FB saying that he has studied the event with his students 3 years in a row (Recreation professor) and it never got over 36 000.  Well, within minutes, the anchorman was interviewing the professor live and we were all made aware that not only did the municipalities were not right in their estimate, the professor has contacted them to inform them of his findings and nobody reacted.

This is a tiny example, but social media is a powerful tool for anyone who has information they want to be out! And I love it!

If you understand French, you can here the interview here at 7h49:13

http://www.radio-canada.ca/emissions/Le_reveil_Nouveau-Brunswick/2013-2014/archives.asp?date=2013-11

COM0015 Blog 1 – What I use and why!

I’m not an organized person… really not! So when it comes to trying to keep up with everything that I HAVE to know for professional and personal purposes (ok, I’m a very curious person, I admit it!), it was (and still is sometime) a serious nightmare! 

FaceBook is not much of a problem.  I use it mostly for personal stuff.  Twitter, on the other hand, was giving me a serious headache! But one day, alleluia, TweetDeck was almost miraculously brought to my attention! That was the beginning of what will probably be a long relationship.  Especially that now, one can program Twitters!  Even better!

This is the only one I use for now. SproutSocial tents me; mainly because it has been highly recommended during a conference I attended. I’ve tried Hootsuit… disaster! I just can wrap my head around that one!  See, anybody who is developing that kind of tool should contact me so I can test-drive the product.  If I can make sense of it, anyone can. Hey, no one said you have to be good with the software to enjoy social media… or have they?

Since I work mainly with the New Brunswick Acadian Community, Twitter let me follow everybody who has some kind of power or influence in the community.  Easy to stay connected! I just have to get my Deck organized by area of interest or by influential people and everything is there!  Plus, I can be the one relaying information from one group to the other.  Almost evil…  Mayors to not-for-profit; businesses to leaders, name it, I can bring them closer! And guess who ripe most of the rewards?