Perceptions of Social Media and Social Media Uses

I am a firm believer in the concept “perception is reality.”  After all, it is the business that I am in, managing public perceptions.  This concept has even been adopted as PRMR Inc.'s slogan"Managing Perception. Promoting Reality."  

While browsing the Internet some years ago I found the attached image, which is a great example of how one's point of view determines reality. I looked at the screen at all angles and could see depending on my point of view, three or four columns (Image source unknown).

When PRMR Inc. started its Pinterest account (http://pinterest.com/prmrinc ) this slogan took new meaning as one of our picture boards was named “Perception Is Realty”. It depicts all the items in pictures that we created or borrowed from others that fall within this theme.  Our perception at the time was that Pinterest was about to be as big as Facebook. Do you know what is Pinterest? Before Instagram came along it was the best thing since slice bread for posting pictures to communicate a message. Now my perception is that it has lost ground and is losing its relevance.

Do you see your granny on Facebook?  Yes, the age demographic of Facebook has changed dramatically over the years.  The perception, that it was just for teenagers and young adults, has changed, and it is now the social media platform for more experienced adults.   Companies now see Facebook as an integral part of their communications strategy, a far cry from the days when it was scoffed upon as not being "corporate".

You can find a job on LinkedIn, and it is for business people.  That is the perception.  I have been on LinkedIn for a few years now and have not had any job offers. While some job opportunities are posted on LinkedIn, I am not sold on it value in this area. My perception is that it is a glorified “Facebook Business”.

Twitter is good for getting news out fast.  Without a website though to give you the full story Twitter leaves more questions than answers.  Twitter can also be a nightmare when creating stand-alone messages.  Who speak in 140 characters or less?  

There is a widely held perception where social media is concerned that if you are not on social media you will be left behind.  This is the perception that matters most.  You have to be on social media if you want your stakeholders to perceive you as a contemporary, responsive, community oriented company.  So get cracking!

Social Media Penetrating Popular Culture

I was listening to listening to Mix 96.9 yesterday and what I heard was the preachers of social media and their impact on advertising prophesy come true. The country generally being a little behind on the Internet I was pleasantly surprised to hear a popular night spot, Jumbies, on the even more popular St. Lawrence Gap advertising a Facebook Friday evening bash. The ad was calling on the SUV group and all ‘facebookers’ to bring their Facebook home page with them for a special entry fee. They advertised Vampire shots and Slayer Martinis. My heart sang a song. I have been singing this song to my clients and everyone who would listen for a while now. There is a new information revolution going on around the world.

Traditional modes of information dissemination are under threat. And this may seem a little blasé because we have been hearing this for some years, however there is clear and present danger on the horizon. Around the world a number of traditional media conglomerates have embraced the new dissemination modes but in the Caribbean, I would love to say we are playing catch up but really we have not fully woken up yet so no serious catch up has started. Everyone has the token website but the use of the social media techniques and other web based services does not even appear to be on the horizon. With our open door policy to the rest of the world our media houses are clearly making themselves vulnerable. The recent bid for Microsoft and Yahoo to join forces against Google is a sign of the impeding storm of mergers and acquisition for the all important advertising dollar. It will be interesting to see the survivors and their corporate strategies.