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Wherethereschaosistherecash?(TheAffectsofSocialMediaonJournalismandMarketing )

By:AdamAtwood

DeanWillNorton

Journalism599FullSummerSession2010

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OpeningAsoftheeditingofthispaperthePresidentoftheUnitedStatesofAmericahas4,615,578

followers on Twitter, CNN Breaking News has 3,201,053 followers, Lady Gaga has

5,051,745 followers and Coca-Cola has 60,560 followers. And there are now over 500

millionactiveusersonFacebookthataccumulateover500billion(yes,billion)minutesper

month. Let thesenumbers sink in for aminute and youwill understandwhy corporate

America,thenewsmediaandeverypoliticianinthecountryisclamoringtonotjustget

involvedwithsocialmediabuthowcantheyleverageitwithoutitbackfiring.Technology

createdsocialmediabutthepubliciscertainlydrivingthegrowthandconsumptionata

rateincomparabletoanyothermasscommunicationecosysteminhistory.Theadoption

rateandusagetypebetweenagegroupsisastoundingandmovesindifferentdirectionsalmostonamonthlybasis.Thequestionofthedayishowmanynewsocialmediaapps,

websites or widgets have you been exposed to by friends or family in just thepast 30

days?Theansweristhatyouprobablydontrememberbutitsbeenmorethanyoucanor

wanttokeepupwith.

Socialmediasgrowth isnot just changing theway the public consumesnews and how

marketers in return engage with them, it is changing the very fabric in which howwe

communicateasa society.Startwiththeyoungergeneration(16-34)ofFacebookerswho

careaboutthefunaspectofsocialmedia,thencomparethemtothenextgeneration(35-

49)ofTweeterswhousesocialmediaforbuildingbusinessandnetworkingandthelast

generation(50+)thatusetheblogospheretopromotetheirideasandcommunicatetothe

youngergenerationwhattheyhavelearnedinlife.Ifthedialogueischangingandtheusage

ofthatdialogueismixedbetweengenerations,thenthatmeanseverythingchangeswithit.

Fromhowthedialogueisstarted(Twitter,Facebook,YouTubeetc),howyouinteractwith

it(mobile,laptop,email,textetc)andwhatyoudowiththeinformation(Tweet,forward,

repostetc).Thebottomline,socialmediasgrowthisagoodthingandabadthing.

These audience numbers dont lie. They tell a story. From politics, entertainment,

journalismandcorporateAmerica,socialmediahasitsplace,followersandunspokenrules

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ofengagement.Thenumbersprovethatsocialmediasoriginalfoundationofescapingthe

noise, connecting with strangers, having a voice amongst thousands and finding

companionship inunfiltered communicationmight havebeen the heart and soul of the

phenomenon,butthegameischanging.Whowouldhavethoughtjusttenyearsagothat

you couldhave a one-on-one dialoguewith the President orslander one of the worlds

largestcorporatebrandsandhavemillionshearyouropinioninminutes?

Tofindsomethingcomparable,youhavetogoback500yearstotheprintingpress,thebirth

of mass mediaTechnology is shifting power away from the editors, the publishers, the

establishment,themediaelite.Nowitsthepeoplewhoaretakingcontrol.RupertMurdoch

Socialmediabeganassortofanovelty,oraplaygroundforthetechnologyadoptersand

the geeks of the Internet. But the game has changed forever and the sheer volume,

popularityandpowerofitisreshapingsocietyalltogether.Whydoestheaverageteenager

send5000textmessagespermonth?Remember,thenumbersdontlie.Consumersnow

have the luxury of mass communications. Its not just keeping in touch with grandma

anymore,itsaboutlookingoutyourwindowandseeingacarexplodeindowntownLos

Angelesandthentweetingaboutitwithalinktoyourblogwhichhasthevideoclipyou

shotwithyourcellphone.AllthisbeforeCNNgetsbackfromitscommercialTVbreak.

WhilethegrowthofsocialmediabeganwithsuchthingslikeAOL,Napster,Wikipediaand

themovieYouveGotMailtherealexplosiondevelopedwithfreeserviceslikeMySpace,

Facebook,WordpressandTwitter.Whereisthenextgrowthofsocialmedia?Andhowwill

newsoutletscontinuetoadapttothechallengesthatsocialmediapresentstojournalism.

Justasthenewsmediaworldisreelinginsocialmediaspower,soarethemarketersofthe

world.Whyisitthatsomeofthemostawardedadcampaignsinthelasttwoyearshavebeen consumer-generated campaigns? Marketers historically care about two things:

engagingtheiraudiences andretaining their attention. Those twofoundingprinciplesof

marketingarestillthebreadandbutterofmeasuringsuccess,butthemethodsofachieving

themarebecomingsoscatteredthatitshardtotellthedifferencebetweenmarketingand

evangelismthroughsocialmedia.

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From the marketing spend basis, Forrester Research is estimating that social media

spendingwillincreaseto$3.1billionby2014,withover$900millionbeingspentin2010.

This growth would be pacing at 34% per year faster than any other form of online

marketinganddoubletheaverageofanyotherformoftraditionalmarketing.

Therealityisthatmostbusinessesunderstandhowtolisten,whattomeasureandwhereto

engagebutarestrugglingtodefinethevalueofengagementandreputationinsocialspaces,

saidMichelleGoodall,EconsultancyssocialmediaandonlinePRconsultant.

HistoryofSocialMedia

Sowhat isthedefinitionofsocialmedia?WhilethetermisnotyetdefinedinWebsters

Dictionary,Wikipediadescribesitthisway:

Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable

publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and

broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues. They support the

democratizationof knowledgeand informationand transform people from content

consumers to content producers...that allow the creation and exchange of user-

generatedcontent.Socialmediautilizationisbelievedtobeadrivingforceindefining

thecurrentperiodastheAttentionAge.-Wikipedia

Sobasedonthisexplanationtheexamplesofsocialmediaarealmostendlessnowdays.

There is a theory that social media really began in the 1950s with phone phreaking.

Phreaking was when a group of people would hijack one or several phone lines and

communicatebackandforthforfree.Theprocessofcommunicatingbackandforthfreeof

chargeisalargeportionofwhatmakesupsocialmediatoday.Socialmediaatitsrootsis

aboutsocializingandinformationgathering.Thereisaninherentunderstandingthatwhen

youseekinformationthatisotherwisenotwidelypublishedthroughtraditionalchannels,

somerulesmayhavetobebroken inorder toobtain the informationyoudesire.Phone

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phreakingwasdefinitelybreakingtherules-itwasactuallyillegalbutitwasthefirstcase

wherepeoplewereexchanginginformationforfreewithnofilters.

Bythe1970sphreakinghaddevelopedintowhatiscalledBBSes(bulletinboardsystems).

BBSesweresmallserverspoweredbyhomecomputersattachedtoatelephonemodem.

These setups worked much like blogs and forums do today. You could engage in

community discussions,play onlinegames,upload/download files andtalkdirectlywith

the computer system. Im sureall ofusremember the 1983movie WarGameswhere

MatthewBrodericktalkedwiththeWOPRcomputersystemandnearlystartedWWIII.The

BBSes were definitely for the technology nerds that enjoyed hacking into computer

systemsandsettinguptheirownlittlecommunityofotherhackers.Duetothenatureof

howthesesystemswerecreated,theidentitiesoftheparticipantswerestrictlyconfidential

andpersonalinformationsharingwaskepttoaminimum.

Astheearly1990sarrivedandtheWorldWideWebbecameahouseholdphrase,websites

likeCompuserveandProdigywerelaunchedandsocialmediabecameamoremainstream.

As AOL entered themainstream market, so did the speed of the Internet, which truly

openedthedoorstoinformationsharing,connectingandthussocialmediawasborn.

TherealsocialmedianetworkingsitesbegantoappearwithsuchsiteslikeFriendsterand

MySpace. Thesewebsites really took social media to the next level, whichwere people

usingitineverydaylife.TheInternetwasnowbecomingthecommunicationvehiclethat

peopleusedinordertomakenewfriends,stayintouchwithfamilyandcollegebuddies,

and to research restaurants or vacation destinations. Consumers created thousands of

reasonstousesocialmedia,andcapitalismansweredtheirneedswithstart-upcompanies

popping up left and right. Individuals in college dorm rooms up to large softwarecompanieswere beginning to create socialmediawebsites thatanswered thequestions

whatifpeoplewantedtotalkaboutthis,orsharethat,orfillintheblank.Interestingly

enoughitwasthesmalloneortwomanshopsthatwereexplodingovernight.Thistellsyou

somethingaboutthephilosophyandperceptionthepublichadaboutusingsocialmedia.

Theydidntwant toput one stinkingpenny inthepocketofacorporation.Through the

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growth, people began to open up and not worry about sharing personal information,

matteroffact,themorepersonalinformationyousharedthemorefansandfriendsyou

wouldcollect.Itwasallaboutbeingrealandtransparent,sharingeverylittledetailabout

yourlife.Theshiftinconsumerbehaviorhadbegun,anditwouldneverreturntothedays

ofthetraditionalchannelsofcommunicating.

Consumersbehaviorshavealwaysshiftedwiththeadvancementsintechnologyandthe

loweringofgovernmentregulationsandcorporateinvolvement.Lookingathistory,people

havealways strived tohavea voice, and tobroaden the reachof that voice toasmany

peopleastheycan.Thisisalsothegoalofnewsmedia.Everythingfromthecreationofthe

printingpresstothetelephone,advancingthereachandfrequencyofcommunicationshas

alwaysbeenattheheartandsouloftheadvancements.TheInternetisinherentlyafree

space in which to communicate with very little oversight from the government and

corporate America. This free space has developed from small community forums to

internationalchatroomswithhundredsofnationalitiesbeingrepresented.Technological

advances enabledthemovementofsocialmedia,butconsumers themselvesarethe real

driversofthenextgenerationofsocialmediabreakthroughs.

JustlookathowFacebookwasstarted;itwascreatedin2004byacollegestudentoutof

hisdormroomatHarvardUniversity.Whowouldhavethoughtjustsixyearspriorthata

collegestudentwouldbe theCEOoftheworlds largestonline social networkwithover

500millionactiveusers?That is theentirepopulationof theUnitedStatesplusanother

150millionpeople.Iknowanyonecandothemathbutsayingit thatwaymakesmyeyes

pop.Howdoesacollegestudentseethefuture?Easy,hesawanopportunityforpeopleto

freely communicate in masses. By nature, humans want to connect, feel wanted and

respected.Socialmediahasgivenavoicetothosewhomightotherwisebeshyandtimidinreal life. Just likea goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg in1440who created the first

printingpresswhichenabledmassdistribution(whattheyconsideredmass)ofliterature,

MarkZuckerbergwhocreatedtheworldsfirstreal-timemessageboard.Theprintingpress

changed the world, and so did the telephone, but social media is more than just a

catalystit is a change that is affecting everything from politics, technology and

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communication skills. The last partof that sentenceraises the big questionof is social

mediamakingusdumber.Thatsawholeotherpaper.

Belowisadiagramtoexplainhowsocialmediaisembeddedinalmosteveryaspectofdaily

communications.Whetheryouarecheckingheadlines,playingmusic,watchingvideosor

networking,youcanengageateverystep:

SocialMediacontinuestochangeJournalism

Thetalkingheadsofthemediaindustryhaveliterallytalkedthesubjectofhowwillthe

dailynewspapers financially survive themainstreamWeb 2.0 digital age and the social

mediarevolution?Thatentiresubjectmatteriswideenoughanddeepenoughthatitcan

be awholeseparatepaper, ifnot abook.The focusof thispaper isabout how issocial

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media affecting news organizations and how are journalists using social media and

adaptingittotheirreporting,research,engagementanddistributionpractices.

Journalismandsocialmediaactuallyhavealotincommon.Atthecoretheybothsymbolize

free speech, transparency of information, honesty and giving a voice to the person that

doesnthaveone.Therearemorecommonalitiesthantherearedifferences.Justbecause

someonetweetsaboutanewsworthystoryonhisorhertwitteraccountdoesntmakehim

orheraprofessionaljournalistbyanystretch.Journalistshaveacodeofethicsthatmust

befollowedandarigidprocessofnewsdeskpoliciesthatmustsubstantiateinformation.In

fact, journalism schools across the country are now teaching their students on how to

embracesocialmediaanduseitforthepowerthatitdeliversspeedtoinformationand

interactionwiththeiraudiences.Inthepast,journalistswouldsimplyreportonthefacts

aboutbreakingnewsandpublish theirarticlesasquicklyaspossible inthe dailies.The

largestchangeinthisprocessisthatreadersnowwanttoreacttothecontentwiththeir

ownopinionsandconsumethecontenthowtheyseefit.Thepeoplewantavoice,notjust

thejournalists.

Forbetterorworsetheworldischangingandthelistofsocialmediawebsites,toolsand

widgetscouldrunonforpages.Soitsabouttimethatnewsorganizationsstartseeingthis

as an opportunity instead of a threat. The traditional news days of just pumping out

contentandmaking itavailableto thepublic aredead,thepublicwantstochoosewhat

theyread,andmostwanttotakeitthenextlevel,whichistheywanttoactuallycontribute

contentandprovide theirownopinionsinmasses.Thequestionof how issocialmedia

affecting journalism is rather complex and there really isnt a straightforward one-

dimensionanswer.

Inordertounderstandhowsocialmediaisaffectingjournalism,youfirsthavetoresearch

howpeopleconsumetheirnewsandthenseewhattheiropinionsareofthenewsindustry

ingeneral.ThePewResearchCenterforthePeopleandthePresshasfoundthatpeopleare

lessconfidentthatnewsorganizationsarereportingfactualandunbiasednewscompared

toafewdecadesago.Accordingtotheirsurvey,29percentsaythemediareportsthefacts

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correctly, while 63 percent say the news stories are often inaccurate. Compare these

percentages to 1985, where 55 percent of people say the media reported the news

accuratelyandonly35percentsaidthenewswasinaccurate.Andtonosurprise60percent

ofconsumersfeelthatthemediahasbecomepoliticallybiasedontheirreporting.Justlook

atthedifferentpositionsthatCNNandFoxNewswillhaveontheexactsamestory.CNNis

consideredleftwingandliberalandFoxNewsisseenasrightwingandconservative.The

reportalsodescribeshowconsumerswilldependondifferentmediumsfordifferenttypes

ofnews.LargeTVnetworksand the Internet are the leaderswhen itcomes nationalor

international news, but local weeklies, dailies and news websites still have a strong

positionforin-depthlocalnews.Thisallmakessenseonthesurface,butwhenyoulook

into the details of how audiences are consuming news it causes news organizations to

restructuretheirbusinessinacertainwaytomeetthosedemands.

Itsalsonosurprisethatthe18-34yearoldagegrouphasexperiencedthelargestdecline

intraditionalmediausage.TheyareconsumersofgivemewhatIwantnowandIllverify

the facts later.That sameage groupmakesupthe baseof socialmedia usage, but not

necessarilythegrowthofsocialmedia.Socialmediasimpactistwo-fold,notonlyarethe

traditionalmediaoutletslosinggroundwiththeyoungeraudiences,butthefastestgrowing

agegroupthatisstartingtousesocialmediaonadailybasisisthe50+audiences.Thatage

groupisgrowingattwicethepaceastheyoungeraudiences.Andbothsetsofagegroups

saynewspapersneedtochangetostayrelevant,yetbothgroupsreporttheyarenotwilling

topaytoreadthesamecontentontheweb.Thereistherub!Thissituationisatthecruxof

the problem for news organizations across the globe. How do they stay relevant and

profitablewhennooneseemstobewillingtopayforcontentanymore?

Inorderfornewspapers(andothermediaoutlets)tostayrelevantandhopefullyprofitable

theymuststartdoingabetterjobofembracingsocialmediaandlearnhowtouseitasan

advantageandnotstopviewingitasathreat.Anymediaoutletthatstillviewsthenewsas

a one-way communication, and not a two-way engagement is sorely mistaken. Yes,

consumersdontwanttopayforcontentanymore,andtheywanttheirnewsindifferent

formats and they want the information at lightening speed. But social media is about

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listeningandinteractingaswell,whichisironicallythehistoricaldefinitionofjournalism.

The savior ofthe newsmedia industrymaywellbethehiring ofthe nextgenerationof

journalists,kidsoutofschool.Theagegroupstuckinthemiddleissortoflostintranslation

at themoment, but a good mix of young and the old school journalistsmight be the

answer.Onegroupcanimplementsuccessfulsocialmediaengagementstrategies,whilethe

oldermore followthebooktype businessmen innewsmedia canhelpstay the course

withethics.Somewhereinthatmixisthenewworldnews-reportingmodel.

Journalismisaboutlistening,soifyouarentlisteningtopeoplewhoaretalkingthenyouare

notdoingyourjob.MonicaGuzman,seatlepi.com

Consumers are beginning to see this take place with media outlets integrating their

FacebookandTwitterpresenceintotheirdailybroadcastsandreporting.Theintegration

process seemsclumsy atbest inmost situationsbecause it ispainfullyobvious that the

majorityofthemediastillseessocialmediaasanecessaryevilatthispoint.So,insteadof

just turning theirheads and ignoringit, themedia istryingeverythingthatcantoshow

theiraudiencesthattheyareactivelyinvolvedwithsocialmediaandwanttoengagewith

theiraudiencesbeyondthetraditionalnewsvehicles.Atruesocialjournalistunderstands

thestrategyofthisengagementprocesswiththeaudiences,andthosearethejournalistsof

thefuture.Itcouldbesaidthatsocialnetworksareinawaythenewformoftheeditorial

pageofanewspaper,butunfiltered.Theoverwhelmingquestionfornewsorganizationsis

howdoweengagewithouraudienceswhenweknowtheydonttrustusandtheyknow

weneedthem?

The historical objective of the media is to create a dedicated audience that desires the

content that they publish, and socialmedias objective is to create a community wherepeople can connect and collaborate. Thosewho are using social media correctly dont

create and publish content but they generate conversations, which in turn creates

communities.Thisembracingofthecommunitystrategyhasbecomethestatusquoonline

andservesasoneofthemainreasonspeopleevenusetheInternetonadailybasis.Simply

put, consumers dont want to be fed information anymore, they want to share it and

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interactwithit.Theywantengagementwithcontent,peopleandoverallcommunity.They

dontwantone-waycommunications.

Peopleexpect tobe listenedtowhentheyhaveknowledgeandraisequestions.Theywant

newsthatconnectswiththeirlivesandinterests.Theywantcontrolovertheirinformation.

Andtheywantconnectiontheygivetheirtrusttothosetheyengagewithpeoplewho

talkwiththem,listenandmaintainarelationshipMichaelSkoler,NiemanReports

Journalism must become a partnership with consumers, and the sooner the media

embracesthisnewwayofjournalismthebetterthechancethatmostoutletswillsurvive.

MediaisnolongereasilydescribedasTV,magazinesandnewspapersanymore.Theactual

people have become the media in a way. Technology has empowered people to post

massive amounts ofcontent (text, video, podcast,photos etc) on the Internetwith very

little costs involved. But, consumers are not held to the same reporting standards as

journalist,sojournalistmustlearnhowtoengagewiththeiraudiencesinordertocontrol

the accuracy of their reporting and stay above the fray. Social media is the key to this

engagement.Forinstance,manyreportersareusingtheirpersonalFacebookpagestopost

updatesonarticlestheyarewriting.Thisgivestheirfansanopportunitytoengagewiththe

reporterastheyarewritingtheirarticlesandtoperhapsevenbecomeasource.Bydoing

thisjournalistsarenotjustgatheringinsightsfromothersbuttheyareabletofine-tune

theirwritingandinvolvetheiraudiences.Journalismisnolongeravoiceofone,butavoice

ofthepeople.

Otherareasofsocialmediathatarehavingimpactsonjournalismaresocialbookmarking

websites likeDigg.com, users can vote and comment ondifferent news stories, and the

storiesthatreceivethemostvotesarefeaturedonthehomepage.Digg.comisanexcellentexampleof howsocialmedia isactuallyhelpingjournalists.A journalistspopularitycan

literally explode overnight if their article is ranked on the homepage as one of the

audiences favorites. This website and other social bookmarking widgets/toolbars are

examplesofhowajournalistcanexpandtheiraudiencethroughsocialmedia.Increasing

thepopularityofajournalistcanbeadouble-edgedswordthough.Professionalbloggers

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makealotofmoneynowdays.Andwereseeinganincreaseinmoonlightingjournalists

whoworkbydayasareporterbutgohomeandmakealivingbyblogging.Itsafairlyeasy

concept.Allsomeonehastodoisstartcreatingcontentthatpeopleareinterestedin,grow

youraudiencebynetworkingandtheninvolvetheaudiencesbylettingtheminteractwith

thecontent.Andthiscanallbedoneforfreenowdayswiththefreebloggingplatforms.

AskajournalistormediaorganizationiftheythinkTwitterishelpingorhurtingthemandI

thinkthe answerwouldbeadefinitemaybe. After reading through two dozen industry

blogsandnewswebsitesontheTwittersubject,itseemsitisanevensplitinthethree

differentdirections.ThefirstsidesaysTwitteroffersthegreatestchallengeandthreatthat

journalism and the media has ever faced, the second side says Twitter has drastically

helpedtheminhowtheyengagewiththeiraudienceswithfactfindingandstoryresearch,

andthethirdsaysTwitterisafadandwillpass.Ithinkthefirstsideisright.Twitterisa

threat if news organizationsdont take it seriously and put real thought into how they

adapt,anditisthegreatestchallengebecauseithassomuchpotentialandpossibilities.For

ajournalist,Twitterisbestdescribedasaliving,breathingtipsheetforfindingstoryleads,

checkingfacts and findingsources.Twitterhas proven itself asa realnews sourcewith

examples like theFt.Hoodshooting,theIranianelectionprotestsandthe2008Mumbai

terroristattacks.Inallthreecases,peopleweretweetingaboutwhatwashappeningbefore

themediacouldgetthestoryonair.EventhoughTwitterwasfirsttobreakthenewsthe

realreportingonthestoriesdidnthappenuntilthelargenewsorganizationsgotinvolved.

Peoplewerejusttweetingincoherentdribble,rumorsandassumptions.Itwaslikeacrowd

runningoutofMovieTheaterandyellingaboutwhattheywitnessedinthedark.Therewas

panicintheairandnorealfactualnewswasbeingreported,justspeculationfueledbyfear

andbiasedopinions.

ItisapositiveforjournalistandthenewsmediathatpeoplejumponTwitterandstart

runningtheirmouthsbeforesubstantiatedanyofthefactsabouttheirsubjectmatter?This

allowstruejournalisttostep-inandtakeovertheshowbytweetingabouttherealfacts

and providing validated information that has been properly researched through the

appropriate channels of the news desk. That is real journalism; see a story, research a

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story,findtheresources,researchtheresources,getallanglesandthenverifyeverything

before publishing the story. After all, in the end, people do want the truth. But at the

beginning,theyjustwanttheheadlinesofwhatishappeningontheground.Thesituation

ofwidespreadtweetingonbreakingnewsisseenasanopportunityforjournalisttoshine

andshowtheirTwitterfollowershowarealstoryshouldbeconstructedandpublished.It

doesntmatterthemediumthatisusedtodisseminateanewsstory,whatdoesmatterare

thetiming,accuracyandengagementofthestorywiththeaudience.Journalistshouldnot

fearthespeedandexpansionofTweetsaboutbreakingnews;insteadtheyshoulduseitto

their advantage to widen the differences between consumer frenzy and professional

reporting.

Therearenumerousethicalconsiderationsthathavedevelopedoverthelastfewyearson

the shift toward journalists increased use of social media. The most widely discussed

ethicalissuesarearoundajournalistspersonalandprofessionalusageofsocialmediaand

social networking sites. Journalists know better than anyone that they must verify

commentsbeforepostingthem.Theethicalquestioncomesintoplaywhenyouhavetoask

whenisajournalistpostingacommentfromapersonalperspectiveandwhenasareporter

thatrepresentsanewsorganization?Manyprofessionalsagreewhilejournalistscanpost

theirownopinionsifdesired,theymustkeeptheirnewsorganizationsinmind,andthe

same values that apply to traditionalmedia also apply to social media. For journalists,

transparencyisoneofthemostimportantvalues.Thatmeansajournalistcantactasan

individual, which means any public comment can be turned around and potentially

embarrassthenewsroomscredibility.Becauseofthisethicsdilemmaalmosteverymajor

newsorganization(andcorporation)hasdevelopedsocialmediabylawsandethicpolicies

thatmustbefollowedbyallemployees.Traditionalmediaisdyingtoharnessthepowerof

socialmediaandthemassivenetworksthatexist,buttheymustalsoapproachthispowerwithgreatrespectandresponsibilityorelseitwillbackfireonthemwithafinalblow.

Overall,theAmericanpublicstillbelieveswatchdogjournalismisanimportantaspectof

theirnewsconsumption,butironicallymanyAmericansdontbelievethemainstreamnews

mediabecauseofthenatureinwhicheverythingis communicatedandre-communicated.

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TheyfeelcorporateAmerica,politiciansorTVratingshaveovertakenaccuratejournalism,

andinmanyinstances,especiallytheyoungerpopulation,areadoptingonlineandsocial

media,althoughnotcompletelydesertingthemainstreamnewsorganizations.Socialmedia

networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter offer skeptical audiences the

opportunity to consume news straight from the eyewitnesses. Instead of relying on a

reporterto speakwithsomeoneata news-breakingevent, audiences can reachout and

speaktoeyewitnessesthemselvesviasocialmedia.

Socialmediahasaffectedjournalismonamacroandmicrolevelinjustthelastthreeyears,

and itwill continue to affect it in the nearand long-term future.Whilemany business,

distributionandoperationalaspectsofthenewsmediaindustryhaschangedsince2008,

social mediahas madepopular three main topics of discussion around journalism:will

localnewsstayinprintformatandhowimportantisthatmovingforward;thetrustfactor

withthelargenationalmediaorganizationsandthefinalandmostdifficultisthemannerin

whichnewsiscreatedanddistributedusingsocialmedia.Thesmartjournalist,nomatterif

theyarerightoutofschoolorhavebeenintheindustry30years,arestartingtousesocial

mediainnewwaysandbeginningtoseethelightattheendofthetunnel.Socialmediacan

beapowerfultoolwhenusedproperly,andhasthepotentialtoreallypropeljournalismto

thenextlevel,whichisprobablymobilejournalism.

The major contributor to the publics negative opinion on journalismwas the speed at

whichsocialmediawaslaunchingandbecomingpopularovernight.But,socialmediahas

shownthevalueoflocalnewsorganizationsaswellastheadvantagesthenewtoolscan

bringsmallmediaorganizations. Finally,socialmediahasgiven journalistsnewways to

report, find sources, validate information and most importantly engage with a larger

audience.Thiscreatesaverytemptingoptionformorejournaliststobecomeindependent.

Therearehundredsofotherquestionstoraiseaboutthefutureofjournalism,butthebasic

premise of journalism will never go away: You witness an event and report a factual

representationof thatevent.Nomatterwhatnewformsofdistributingthatstorymight

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develop,thetruthofastorywillneverdie.Afterall,freedomofspeechisthemostpowerful

ofallrightswehave.

MarketingHasChangedForeverBasedonthehistoryofmass-communication,whenanewtechnologyisintroducedthat

changes the entire dynamics of what influences consumer buying decisions and how

companiesdelivertheirmarketingmessage,theysimplycannotaffordtherevenuetostay

unresponsiveandstaleincalculatingnewstrategiestomeetnewbusinessobjectives.The

factisconsumersareusingsocialmediatogatherinformationfromeachotherinsteadof

frommarketers. How can a company effectively deliver theirmarketingmessagewhen

their target audienceprefers to get their information from a friend orpeer? Instead of

focusingon the influence and control ofmessages, organizations should concentrateon

interacting and engaging these influential groups inorder to earn their trust and build

valuefortheirbrand.

Organizations have been forced to follow the masses into social networks, blogging

communities,forums,usergroups,andvideosharingportals.Theydothisforengagement

and hopefully retention. These initiatives can bechallengingacross the board: they are

timeconsuming,costly,andcouldpotentiallytarnishtheirbrandimageiftheydonthavea

solidstrategyinplacetoeffectivelycarryoutthemarketingbutnotdisturbtheconsumers

atthesametime.

National brands have realized that they need help humanizing their story and make it

meaningfulandrelevanttothisnewgenerationofconsumersthatdemandit.Inorderto

survive,theymust incorporatesocialmediaalongwithnewstrategies,newphilosophies,

andhireyoungcreativemindswhoknowthesocialmediaenvironmentinsideandoutnot

becausetheyreadaboutitbutbecausetheyarelivingit.Literally,theyliveonline.

Traditionalmarketingincludesathree-phasecustomercyclecalledacquisition,retention,

and growth.Web 2.0 (soon tobe3.0) alongwith varying aspects of social networking,

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social media, and branding have created a new standard for how organizations deliver

theirmarketingmessagetotheircustomers.Themarketingstrategiesthatweshouldfocus

on in todays dynamic landscape should attract, engage and extend. To acquire loyal

customers,youneedtoattracttheminawaythatmakesthemfeelapartoftheprocess.In

order to retain customers, you need to engage them through quality content and other

interactivetoolsandsocialmedia.Lastly,togrowcertainsegmentsofyouronlinebusiness

youneedtobeabletoextendyourreachandcontentacrossmultipleplatformsutilizing

socialmediatoolsandstrategies.Over1.2billionpeoplearenowcruisingtheinternetona

dailybasisinteractingwithoneanother,sharingideas,concerns,andutilizingsocialmedia

as theirpreferredmedium in which todoso.One question that confrontsmarketers is

whathappenswhenacustomerorprospectivecustomerleavestheirwebsite?Willthey

comebackandvisitlateronthatday?Howaboutnextmonth?Willtheytelltheirfriendsor

familyabouttheirwebsite?Isthereawaythatcompanycanhavemorecontroloverthese

outcomes? The answer is yes and no. Companies can control things, but control goes

againsttheverynatureofsocialmediaingeneral.

Thetruthaboutsocialmediaisthatitcandeeplyaffectacompanysbrandandreputation.

Brands that choose to use social media as another channel through which to force

advertisingmessagesthroughwillundoubtedlymissthemarkwithsocialmedia.Inorder

totrulybenefitfromsocialmedia,organizationscannotjustbespectators.Theonlyoption

istobecomeaparticipantandparticipate.Advertiserswanttobeinfrontoflargecrowds,

evenifthecrowdsseemunruly.

With the hugeexplosionofsocialmedia, anewdisciplinehas beencreatedcalled social

influencemarketing.SocialInfluenceMarketing(SIM)istheartofintegratingsocialmedia

throughout the entire lifecycle ofamarketing campaign. SIM isassociatedmore closelywithconsumerbehaviorthanit iswithsocialmedia.SomespeculatethatSIMmayhavea

strongerimpactonpurchasing behaviorthan brand anddirect responsemarketing.The

followingstatisticmakesaprettystrongstatementinregardstosocialinfluencemarketing

andwhereitisheaded.ArecentJupiterResearchreportshowedthathalfofalladvertisers

8/9/2019 Journ599 Paper_07.28.10

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allocatedlessthan15%oftheironlinebudgetonsocialmarketing.Incontrast,thesame

marketersplantoincreasetheirmarketingbudgetsby25%overthenextyear.

SIMisverybroadindefinitionbutembodiesmanysocialtacticssuchasintegratingarating

systemforproducts/services,brandmonitoringinitiatives,ensuringthatallofyourdigital

content isportable andconducting research tounderstandhowpeer influence livesand

developsalongeverystageofthemarketingfunnel.

It is apparent thatthe futureofonlinemarketing is conversation.MicrosoftsCEOSteve

Ballmersummeditupbestwhenhesaid,

Itsgoingtobeharderandhardertoteaseapartwhatscommunicationsandwhatsmedia

becauseifIsayImwatchingagolfmatchandatthesametimeIseeTigerWoodsgolfball,I

takemyclicker,itpointsatit,itfiguresoutthatitisaNikeElite,itsaysDoyouwanttoorder

a dozen of these balls for you and your friends? Advertising, commerce, community and

contentallkindofblend.Itsgoingtobeextremelyimportantfororganizationstohavethe

technologytoeffectivelyreachandengagetheirtargetaudiencethroughsocialmedia.Itwill

beevenmoreimportantfororganizationsthatdohaveasocialmediamarketingstrategyto

driveresultsandtestwhichsolutionsworkbest.Socialmediaisstillevolving;itstandstobe

the cornerstone for how organizations and consumers interact with each other moving

forward.Inthenearfuture,thenewsloganmaywellbe,Associalmediagoes,sogoes

yourbusiness.

Conclusion

Socialmediahaschangedtheveryfabricofourlives.Ithasbecomeinterwoveninsociety

tothepointthatit isdifficult toevennotice itanymore.Marketersand journalistsalike

havedoneabetter job in2010ofadoptingthe artofsocialmedia, but theystillhave

troubleapplyingitandnavigatingthrougharealstrategy.Atfirsteveryonewasjusttrying

to jump into social media because of pressure, but now that things are becoming

normalizeditseemseveryoneisstartingtoputtheirpantsononelegatatime.