Lauren Gallo

Chapters 1-4 Summary – Social Media Communication by Jeremy Harris Lipschultz

Chapter 1 opens up the book going over an introduction to social media concepts. Phrases such

as crowd-sourcing, storytelling, and gatekeepers are key words as we gain a more in-depth

understanding on how social media affects us all in our daily lives.

Social media within journalism has a set of guidelines they must adhere to such as:

o Refraining from posts and tweets that show an opinion.

o Not slander a party.

o Try and show equality towards a subject or issue in networking.

Social media in public relations is so important to convey a sense of trust within the media in

order to sustain credibility.

“We want to be able to trust our leaders and the information they share.” (p.15)

Influence is another measure that is used to gain trust.

When an influential leader has so many followers, it is likely that the messages they express will

be re-expressed by all those who support them.

Engagement is so powerful because it allows a personal connection between social media users;

it brings about a personalized communication that can allow one to closely relate to the

information that is being relayed.

CMC stands for computer-mediated communication.

Mobile communication focuses on smartphone and tablet users.

Storytelling is used when bits and pieces of information are pieced together in order to form a

story.

Social media tactics are composed of different strategies that product and service campaigns

use.

Case study Box 1.1 – Air Berlin’s Failed Customer Online Engagement.

This case study explains the confrontation between an Air Berlin passenger whose airline lost

her luggage and the airline. The engagement was all posted on twitter between the passenger and

airline. The airline publically spoke to the passenger over Twitter explaining how they could not help

her, but to contact lost and found. When the passenger was not getting any help or results, she

went back to the Twitter feed and explained this. The airline continued to tell her they could not

help her and to contact another department. This engagement from the airline should not have

been posted publically, but should have been sent via email or better yet, a phone call from a

representative. The negative social media activity did not do the airline any justice in the eyes of the

public.

Case study Box 1.2 – Thought Leader James Spann

This case study examines the viewpoint of James Spann, Chief Meteorologist at ABC. He

explains that through one tweet or Facebook request, he can attain weather related pictures and videos

that are crucial to a weather report. Although the people may not have any experience regarding

weather reports, simply providing their pictures can allow the professionals to take over, with the

important information that they need. He also explains how important it is to be spur of the moment

decisive on what and what not to post. They really have to weed out the false and unnecessary content

and be on point when publicizing any information. He actually says he would prefer for people to get

their weather reports via weather apps instead of social media because only a small percentage actually

see the weather on their timeline.

Chapter 2 goes into CMC – the diffusion and social theories.

Computer mediated communication was designed to define the nature of online

communication.

Online communities are formed through CMC as well as connections being developed in order

to voice certain opinions or relationships.

This chapter goes into the history of the internet from where it first started in the Pentagon and

college campuses to studying how the interaction between individuals within these social

settings today can be researched.

User profiles contain personal information that goes beyond a name and email address.

Many parts of the world such as China and India have been adapting more and more to the

technology of computers with the last several years.

Awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption is the process in which social media users

tend to sway towards as far as communication technology goes.

Memes are mentioned as being a derived form of internet expression that can change from the

original meaning to a form of a joke or rumor as simply a way of spreading a specific message.

EFF stands for Electronic Frontier Foundation which fights government regulation and intrusion.

Case Study Box 2.3 – The Diffusion Model

This case study comes from the source of Milestones in Mass Communication Research. It is a

model that shows how innovators were the first people to experiment with change at 2.5%. Next

came the early adopters who were influenced by the innovators to start a new trend. They were at

13.5%. Next came the early majority. They were the first wave of mass appeal at 34%. Then the

late majority which was the last wave of mass appeal at again 34%. Last came the laggards who

were the remaining people who either resisted the change completely or were slow to come to the

change at 16%. This model is important because it shows where the popularity percentages stood

with the diffusion of new ideas.

Case Study Box 2.4 – Thought Leader Lili Bosse

This case study is from the perspective of Lili Bosse who was Beverly Hills mayor. She explains

how social media can be beneficial as reaching a tremendous amount of people with no costs

associated. She could also let residents know what was going on in the city and allow them to have

that personable connection with her. The downside was that nothing was private. Being a leader,

one has to be extremely careful of what is publicized. Going back to benefits, she could reach a

great amount of young people over the internet.

Chapter 3 is called Social Media in Journalism.

Journalism can be defined as a way to share information to a community in order to keep it

bonded together.

Journalism has affected social media because many people get their news and discussion from

social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Many people go on these sites not even looking for news but seem to run into it anyway.

Journalism was a one way street before social media existed – news was communicated in one

direction, from journalists to the public. Now we have UGC – user-generated content.

Crowdsourcing is another form of how the public can become directly involved in breaking news

events by simply having access to their smartphone – which can easily be used to capture

photos or videos.

Blog posts allow for users to give an opinion or their perception on a specific media event.

Keywords or tags are used in order to easily attract others interested in the same topic.

CMS stands for content management systems which is a system that makes it easier to share

news material.

Micro-blogging is used to add links to stories and interact with followers.

There are five democratic needs described by Craft and Davis when it comes to journalism.

o To inform, analyze, interpret, and explain.

o To investigate.

o To create public conversation.

o To generate social empathy.

o To encourage accountability.

Case Study Box 3.3 – Thought Leader Jason Collington

This case study examines the thoughts of Jason Collington who is the web editor at Tulsa World.

He explains how social media allows users to become interconnected with others in a way that could not

normally happen in person. From a journalist’s perspective, they need to be popular and also authentic

in order to be successful. They need to know their place and not overstep any boundaries. They have to

connect with the specific social media site that they are utilizing in order to remain relevant. This is

important because being able to connect with a social media website allows you to connect with it’s

followers, therefore creating a win-win for all.

Case Study Box 3.4 – Huffpost Blogger Terms and Guidelines

This case study describes how bloggers are treated within their organization. They have a set of

rules and guidelines which bloggers should adhere to. Some of them are as follows:

1. A blogger is treated as an independent contractor and not a paid employee.

2. A blogger is not “under the direction” of the site.

3. The Post can remove anything they feel necessary.

4. Bloggers must make revisions within 24 hours of a notice.

5. All site users, bloggers, and readers commenting are subject to the Terms and Conditions of

The Huffington Post.

It is important for companies to have a set of guidelines as such so that content and/or users do

not get out of hand.

Chapter 4 goes over social media in public relations.

Public relations affects the influence used in social media networks.

The content used is what engages users to identify or even react to a specific topic.

Credibility can either make or break your reputation. (So many times have public figures had to

apologize or take back what they said from something made public over social media.)

Corporate social responsibility is a way a company can be viewed as in developing best practices.

Non-profits have a lot to gain through the media because of their low budgets.

KPI stands for key performance indicator which monitors social media and sales activity.

Many brands purchase promoted posts on sites such as Facebook which will appear at the top of a

page.

Trending charts make for good promotion in keeping brand names popular.

Lessons to be learned:

o Focus on the ending desired result.

o Consider carefully in what form media is being shared.

o Share media within a specified consumer based community.

Case Study Box 4.2 – The Chicago Cubs And A Wrigley Field Pearl Jam Concert

This case study describes an event relationship between the Chicago Cubs and Pearl Jam. The

Cubs used social marketing strategy to promote a Pearl Jam concert in their venue. “We used a social

media leak strategy.” (p. 80) They would use different hashtag references in order to get the public

intrigued and curious. By the time the announcement came, the heightened excitement had already

erupted. The relationship that the Cubs had with Pearl Jam and the strategies they used is what helped

promote a successful event, beneficial for all parties.

Table 4.1 – Top Five Benefits of CEO Blogging and Social Media Use.

This table comes from PR News and shows the benefits of CEO participation within social media.

Benefits of showing innovation in social media use 76%; in CEO blogging 85%.

Benefits of building media relations in social media use 75%; in CEO blogging 84%.

Benefits in human face/personality in social media use 75%; in CEO blogging 80%.

Benefits in business results in social media use 70 %; in CEO blogging 76%.

Benefits in workplace perception in social media use 69%; in CEO blogging 76%.

This table shows that the five benefits have more success from CEO blogging rather than social

media use.