Public Relations and Facebook
There’s been a lot of chatter lately about Facebook and its potential role and impact on PR.
Those same conversations have been occuring in the halls and conference rooms of SHIFT. I blogged about it recently, too.
In my earlier post I talked about the prospect of “Pitching in Public” and how that’s to be embraced. But in talking to die-hard Facebookers here at the agency, I sensed a wariness to the idea that surprised me.
It’s true that “kids today” are accustomed to living their lives online, and largely in-public, via MySpace and Facebook. But, they’re largely under the assumption that only a small circle of friends can (or would) access their profiles. When I suggested that the professional/personal aspects of social networking were beginning to collide, they became visibly uneasy.
- They wanted assurances that it would be okay with me if a reporter saw their Facebook profile, even if that profile contained some “dubious” material.
- And yes, within reason I am a-okay with that prospect. We can’t suggest that our Facebook users leverage their existing presence on the site for professional reasons, without bowing to the fact that their primary use for Facebook was – and will remain – personal.
- They wanted to know if it would be okay if their media contacts on Facebook only had “Limited Profile” access (i.e., would limiting access suggest that they were “dissing” the media)?
- I think it is appropriate that they only allow limited profile access to their media contacts.
- They wanted to know if they should set up a “professional” Facebook profile that was separate from their “personal” account.
- I frowned on this but acknowledged that this might be a way to circumvent any, umm, “weirdness.”
The net of these conversations? Once our Facebookers on staff understood that we’re not trying to exploit their passion or their existing networks, a lot of the wariness faded away, and they got pretty excited. So, we’re currently building-out a “SHIFT Communications Network” for employee use, and, a “SHIFTers” group that anyone can join.
We just set this up – in fact, readers of this blog may learn about it before all of our employees do! Eventually we’ll invite any media contacts who are on Facebook (and with whom we have a pre-existing relationship!) to join the SHIFTers group, if they care to use this channel to reach out to our agency all-at-once.
For example, a reporter who joined the SHIFTers Group could post, “I’m on deadline for a story about XYZ – you guys got any XYZ experts over there?” either via a post on the SHIFTers Group wall or via an email to the entire group.
It’s all about experimentation at this point, my fellow PR pros. Slow, steady, respectful experimentation.
More on these efforts will be posted in the not-too-distant future…
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Comments
Todd - Stop by the Journalists and Facebook group and you will see that journos are asking similar questions.
One small thing I think we'll continue to see is how social networks stop using the word friend to describe contacts.
Twitter was first and I think Facebook will also make this move as it migrates from a closed University system to what we know it to be today.
I posted a response to a topic there where journos are wondering if it is ok to friend sources. I told them I think it is and not to get hung up on the name.
Facebook helps journos find sources. It also helps better sources find them. Open profiles help make this happen.
And Facebook is just one node on that network.
Bigger picture? Our challenge of customizing media relations continues to rise as new channels like twitter and fbook are added to a long list. It's easier than ever to learn about an editor...there are no excuses.
But as our job grows in complexity, clients want to spend less time and money for us to pull it off (seemingly). It's requiring expectation management and a clear upfront understanding on the part of the client and the agency about how long it takes to make a real, sustained media relations impact (more than one big hit).
Thanks!
Posted by: Kevin M. Dugan, APR | July 26, 2007 09:42 AM
Todd, it's great to see you're innovating! I think Facebook's an interesting contact manager, and this fits into that kind of model.
At the same time, I'm concerned about its longevity in 2-3 years. Will it have staying power? It's certainly more robust than LinkedIn, but will another network blow it out of the water, like FB did to MySpace?
That being said I think as practitioners we need to be ready for more change. Think liquid (my new mantra!).
Posted by: Geoff Livingston | July 26, 2007 09:47 AM
Hi Todd,
I think your slow and steady approach is just the road most professionals need to take. My fear is and has been that the eagerness of new Facebook users will increase spam and decrease the utility of the network. I wish everyone would look at the impact they have on an existing or new network before they act. So thank you for being one of 'em.
I disagree with the notion of having two facebook accounts: one personal and one professional. Even if the person searching can't see your personal profile, they'll be able to see that you have one. With the general perception of PR people being not so good (to put it lightly), I'm not sure that's quite the route to take. Will Smith said in the movie Hitch that people may not want to see the real you all at once, but they do want to see it. That holds true for professional relationships as well.
Goeff, I'm glad you're one of the few people I've heard discussing the longevity of Facebook. (I'm sure other people have, and I just need to upgrade to Ears2.0.) I'm crossing my fingers that Facebook won't have a surge of spam in the next 3-6 months... I'm sorry, I mean "sponsored" links, posting, emails, etc.
Cheers,
Jany
Posted by: Jany | July 26, 2007 02:54 PM
Re: "They wanted to know if they should set up a “professional” Facebook profile that was separate from their “personal” account." Maybe you should let them know this is against Facebook's terms of use--if you open a second account, both accounts will be deleted by Facebook administration. So, they're just going to have to keep the personal account and forget the "business account" idea.
Posted by: Courtney | July 26, 2007 03:35 PM
All are great (and useful!) comments. Thanks, all!
Posted by: Todd Defren | July 26, 2007 07:24 PM
Regarding access to personal profiles - Facebook users also need to remember that the new apps platform on facebook grants developers some level of access in an automated way to the profile info. Not necessarily PII, but maybe more info than the user expected.
Posted by: AppRap | July 27, 2007 12:48 AM
Todd,
While Facebook and other SN sites present an easy way for people to connect, authenticity is an issue that keeps coming up. And though Facebook has a tougher policy than other sites, the site isn't built to be this kind of tool. ProfNet is. When a journalist needs a source, expert or quote asap, they need to cast a wide net towards a trusted audience. When an agency has a story they need to tell, they want to cast a wide net to a large group of vetted journalists. ProfNet has been performing this function incredibly well for over 15 years. It's a mainstay in the PR community and will continue to be a relied upon tool in your agency's, and every agency's, arsenal.
Though Facebook is a great place for all kinds of people to communicate, there are times when forcing a square peg into a round hole isn't necessary.
Sincerely,
David Weiner, PR Newswire
Posted by: David Weiner, PR Newswire | July 30, 2007 05:20 PM