So what?!
While breaking my back (read eyes and brain) to get through emails, newsletters, advertising proposals and draft articles the other day, it suddenly struck me. Am I doing just the same? Contributing to others’ communication overload?
Is the information that I’m generating for clients crashing the attention and focus of others the same way that all these corporate press releases and “news”letters in my inbox are bombarding my interest?
It all comes down to the very core of media and communications – news. We are familiar with principles like 5 W’s and H and news values like timing, proximity and prominence but we still tend to forget the most essential question when deciding whether an angle will be newsworthy enough for tackling…WHY SHOULD ANYONE CARE?
Why should they set time aside to read this? How will this impact their lives?
If there is such a thing as news overload, I haven’t experienced it. It’s the overload of sensation, product pushes, minor company happenings and insignificant pieces of information that competes for attention, adds up and boils over.
News(use)less information doesn’t last. If you’re lucky enough to get it published in the first place or just decide to use your own hand via the online wires, it will be available in the internet backup somewhere for future bothersome purposes (as people who’ll stumble across it will most probably be searching for something else), but it won’t last in the aimed for destination - the reader’s mind.
The reader who will so much as scan it, asking him/herself: “So freaken what?” and then forget all about it.
Is it worth it?
PR-Net meeting: Social Media success stories
I attended the PR-Net function at the Rosebank Hotel last night on Social Media. One of the speakers was Jarred Cinman from Cambrient and he spoke about using social media to exploit human nature.
He used Susan Doyle’s video (contestant on Britain’s Got Talent) as an example to prove that people love the ‘rags to riches’ type stories. She did not look the part of a talented singer, but blew everybody away by her powerful and unique voice. This started out with broadcasting as the medium and then went onto uTube and Facebook as social media.
Why is social media linked to our take on business and private life? Jarred says it can be attributed to the fact that people want to belong.
It’s the same with joining groups on social media like Facebook. We might be on a group to “save the whales” or “stop abuse to woman and children”. There’s no point in being part of the group, as no real action is taken to save the whales or stop abuse. Apart from it giving us a sense of belonging, it does make us feel good.
We all know the infamous emails about a poor girl that got burned badly and for every person who sends it to 10 friends, 3c will be donated to the family… we tend to forward it - even though we’re pretty certain that it is a hoax - just in case this story is different. By forwarding the mail, we feel that we’ve contributed something positive to society.
When using social media for business and networking, Twitter (or more locally, Zoopy) can be a great tool – especially if you can be distinctive or controversial. It also assists in increasing your digital footprint.
Whether you use social media for the social part or networking, decide on the type of attention you want and define your goals and intentions accordingly.
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by Bonita Da Serra
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