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This week, Google announced the launch of the newest player in social networking: Google Plus. Described as “real-life sharing, rethought for the web,” Google Plus – still in trial stages – is being seen as Google’s answer to Facebook. Plus is made up of three key components – circles, hangouts and sparks. Mixing familiar elements of Twitter with differentiating features such as video conferencing and a real-time listing of web trends, Google hopes their version of bringing real-life social interaction to the web will be enough to persuade us to jump on board.

Has Google got it right or is this just another Google Wave?

Regardless of the eventual success or failure of Google Plus, we as public relations professionals need to take a step back before diving head-first into the next best thing and remind ourselves that social media is simply a tool. Since the infancy of social media, we have adjusted the way that we practice public relations. We have amended our strategies to incorporate Facebook groups, Twitter pages and blog activities. We have experimented with new platforms and tailored our communication tactics to fit in with the flavour of the week.

Is it really worth our time to adapt our practices to specific new media platforms that – in many cases – fade away when our basic principles as public relations professionals stay the same?

The introduction of new media is not a new occurrence for our profession – we have coped with the introduction of radio, television and the early days of the World Wide Web. We need to remember the core principles of our job: to influence behaviours and opinions for our clients. We cannot let the ever-changing, exciting landscape that is the internet change our underlying credo.

Myspace, having been sold this week by News Corp for a mere $35 million – a shadow of the $580 million it was worth six years ago, is a prime example of the transient nature of the internet and a reminder of why we need to approach new technological developments with a grain of salt. Though all media have their lifecycle and we inevitably have to adapt how we operate, the fact that the lifecycle of internet properties are so short should play into how we practice.

By developing an adaptable assessment tool to evaluate new technologies, we can better judge the role they will play in our PR toolkit. It’s easy to get caught up in the newness of things, but it’s essential to remember that technology is just that – a tool. By working together to create a framework for the medium, we can test out new platforms without losing sight of the ultimate goals for our clients.

Technological advancements are not going to slow down and the need for strategic advice as these new platforms arise will not fade away. We need to be prepared for our clients while developing a strategy that will allow us to use our time wisely.

Time will tell whether Google Plus will prove itself valuable, but ultimately it won’t change the way that we practice. If we remind ourselves of our core responsibilities to our clients, we will be able to get the most out of our ever-expanding PR toolkit.

What elements would you include in an adaptable platform assessment tool?

A wise Doctor of Philosophy once said: “You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.”

That was Dr Seuss writing in 1986.

I mention it because it links with what’s happening in consumer health and self diagnosis.

A 2010 study showed about a quarter of Australians regularly sought health information online.

Health information sites are all over the web like a rash, from credible Government sites like http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/ to those claiming online diagnosis by doctors, albeit with a disclaimer that will read something like:

“We take no responsibilities for anybody using the site, nor for any information obtained from it, or as a result of using it.”

But, credible or not, a whopping 80 per cent of Australians surveyed by international health insurance giant, Bupa – a Porter Novelli client – admitted to going online for health information, with 47 per cent of these people making a self diagnosis based on what they found online.

Let’s say you have pins and needles. It could be – according to readily available online resources – a vitamin deficiency, sciatica……or multiple sclerosis. Got an earache? Check common cold, an ear infection. Or possibly a brain abscess.

As a former healthcare professional, I have to ask what this might mean for primary healthcare, without even considering what the implications are for the many health sector organisations we work with.

The question for us, as communications specialists, is how to beat the clutter?

Simple, really. What if we turn the tables? Instead of consumers having to find “us”, we go looking for “them”?

Our Australian Dental Association (Victoria) client is stepping into social media through the Caring for your kids’ teeth page; Mercy Health is a relative early adopter and keen experimenter; and we like the work of Cabrini here in Melbourne (that we don’t work on).

The one we aspire our health sector clients to be like remains Mayo Clinic. Check it out.

And if you have a nasty, persistent cough, might be worth a visit to the doctor. It’s probably not tuberculosis.

Bloggers have redefined traditional editorial and are growing rapidly in readership. Their audiences are targeted, loyal, sometimes large, and blogger opinions are influential. There was a time when people turned to traditional news for opinion. A recent Kleenex study found that blogs, in particular Mummy blogs, are moving strongly into influence, providing a more authentic outlook, untainted by commerciality.

Blogs and reviews play a large part of the decision-making process with 63% of social-networkers reading an average of six online reviews before buying an item. It’s been found that 46% of mothers read blogs regularly, 23% comment on blogs, and 13% of the Australian mums with kids between 0 and 12 years wrote blogs themselves!

It’s becoming common talk in the US that consumers are more influenced by the opinion of a blogger than a celebrity when it comes to learning more about products or making a purchase. Kim Kardashian gets paid $25,000 to tweet 140 characters about a product. With more than seven million followers, her message gets seen – but is it heard? Do her followers trust her tweets are authentic, or a mere financial reward?

In Australia we have the (small) luxury of being an adaptive market, borrowing the bits that work from other markets. The same is true for blogging: but the bit that really works and makes this so exciting for us is that authenticity will prevail over the long-term.

What comes after the internet revolution? The portable one. So is this a game changer on how we communicate?

Short answer:

No. Mobile does not spell the end of newspapers, radio, cinema, television and the internet, it is the combination of all of them in one handy, time efficient device.  No form of mass media has ever died completely, and is not likely to now.

Long answer:

Yes. 70% of mobile phone traffic goes to social networks, and social by very definition is an ‘opt in’ network. It used to be that no matter what you had to say or at which point you started your campaign, if you had enough money you could saturate newspapers, radio and television, and your message would be heard. With social media, you need to build your network before you need it, and people have a choice if they want to follow you on Twitter, ‘like’ you on Facebook, and for influential bloggers, write about your product. You can’t buy in the way you used to. Any approach to this area with a ‘What’s in it for our brand’ mentality is not going to cut it.

What’s in it for everyone else? Particularly with mobile, if they choose to download your app, taking up real estate on their personal screen, it needs to provide value, and if it doesn’t maintain this value, it will be deleted. At this point you can shout about your brand as much as you like but they can’t hear you.

Be useful or entertaining. That is what people want, and have for a long time.

Social media and mobile make this possible, and brands that do this will be rewarded.

If you work in PR and live in NSW, chances are you have hosted a stunt at Martin Place. How about a survey? Ever crafted a set of questions that you know will provide predictable results…cue media release to news desk!

I know I’ve certainly been there, and following an event hosted by the PRIA called Creative Juices, I’m pretty certain I’m not alone. When speaker Ryan Peal, Director of Imagination at Momentum Worldwide, posed these same questions to a room full of PR practitioners, the response was an overwhelming and undeniable YES.

In the consumer PR environment, driven by an ongoing string of deadlines, constant innovation can be challenging. Therefore, a stunt set in an opportune location in the heart of the city, guaranteeing attention – hard to say no to. Likewise some quirky stats that will most likely get you a spot in the news pages – yes please!

I’m not saying that these sure-fire ways to garner media attention should be dismissed; however I do believe that PR people should reconsider their relevance.

Last week, Executive Planning Director Al Crawford from BBDO offered PNS an insightful summary of what it is he does on a day to day basis. One comment he made in particular about brands really resonated with me. He stated that despite what many people assume, creative thinking should not always be employed to reinvent, re-create and replace. Sometimes the more difficult yet effective challenge is to creatively reinforce the brand’s essence in a different and unique way. This provided a powerful reminder about the significance of the brand’s established value.

In addition to ensuring PR campaigns embrace the heart of the brand, PR tactics should also ensure that they are achieving the set task. Whether it is to encourage sales? Promote public engagement? Heighten brand awareness? Stunts and surveys are not always the most efficient means to an end when considered against a clear business objective. Dressing up a granny in a bright orange bikini and marching her through Town Hall station may certainly turn heads and generate discussion. However if establishing the brand as a credible player in the market is your goal, then is this really the right tactic?

Thus when planning your next PR strategy, always remember the essence of the brand and set a goal for your campaign strategy accordingly. Having these simple underlying guidelines before sparking off a brainstorm will assist substantially in maintaining a purpose to your creativity.

A stunt for the sake of a stunt is pointless.

There have been a number of social media stings recently that will have many wondering whether using social media is really worth it.

The GPY&R and Defence Force review is just one example of a trend that is only likely to grow as web publishers, citizen or mainstream, ‘re-align the context’ of an image or post in order to attract web traffic. There’s nothing new in the tactic. It has been employed for decades by tabloid media to sensationalise celebrity marriages, separations, divorces and re-marriages, sometimes in the same edition. This post won’t question the ethics of the matter, just the context, ma’am.

Many social media users (otherwise known as your kids or staff members) don’t realise when they are posting that tweet late at night or uploading a great party shot on Facebook that they are in fact feeding the tabloid beast with content.

The tabloid beast that feasts on their tweet or Facebook image a day or a year later, won’t concern itself about the original context. In fact, if it’s a court case or, say a review of the ADF’s use of social media, it’s highly likely that the use of that image will have little or no resemblance to the original  ‘best party ever’ context at all.

But before you switch the PC off and start burning the family photo albums, we recommend a less drastic application of the Three Laws of Context when posting anything on social media.

1. Stop and re-read/re-look before posting. Even if you have the highest privacy settings in place, realise that one day it will be publicly accessible.

2. Run the Grandma test.  Ask whether your CEO or grandmother (the risk-adverse one, not the bikie), would approve.

3. Finally test it with a parental hypothetical. Ask yourself how you will explain it to your own kids in five years time.

If you’ve managed to get an answer that doesn’t involve the words, “you had to be there”, “I was young” or “it was completely taken out of context” then hit the friendly enter key.

In the social media enabled world, whether or not you inhaled won’t be judged by those who were actually there, but by the top ten results on a search engine. And remember, don’t feed the beast.

Here at PN we are in the midst of discussing the terms for an appropriate social media policy for the team. As the line between work and social life blurs due to social media it is key for employees to understands the implications of anything they do online. We shared around this article published on the SMH with the team and would now like to share it with you: http://bit.ly/efiaLW

The article mentions a service in the US called Spokeo.com. It is currently only available in the US (but will be in Europe and Australia soon) so we asked a homebred Philly girl working at PN to try it out. It found her dad, home address in Philly, a Google street view photo of her house and how much it was worth. For a small additional fee ($2) you could get contact details, family members, employment details, income, friends, photos, videos, hobbies and lifestyle preferences.

So whether you are buying something online, live in a house that Streetview has mapped, using Facebook or other social media sites, using a dating site, registering for a competition, filling in any online form, or making an anonymous comment somewhere, keep in mind it’s all being tracked, compiled and filed. And for $2 anyone can access it.

But one doesn’t need Spokeo to dig up dirt. In our line of work we’re often hearing horror stories about PR reps being torn to shreds by the media for the wrong pitch or the wrong comment. Sometimes such public humiliation seems unnecessarily cruel, other times is stands to teach an important life lesson. A recent example is Mumbrella’s media feud with a meatsuit-hating PR. Necessary or not, you be the judge, but keep in mind that Social Media has made such scenarios inescapable.

Consider the implications…. and welcome to the digital era.