On the Burson Marsteller and Facebook Debacle

Claire Thompson, Freelance PR Consultant, Waves PR

I can see it now: the conversation between client and PR consultancy. Facebook has been getting a good public kicking over privacy. And others are getting away with it. And they want some help turning the tide of public opinion. (From the queues at its stand at Internet World, it’s not affecting even savvy users’ clamour to know more about this Internet success.)

So the first, and most simple. rule of good PR is: if you don’t like what people are saying, put your house in order. And in fairness, Facebook has been trying to do just that. It’s just not getting heard terribly well. (Possibly because as a company it doesn’t seem terribly ‘social’, at least with my UK eyes? Whilst Google’s teams are out and advocating, getting hold of someone to speak on Facebook is a lot harder and a lot less friendly. I digress.)

Now Facebook is a GIFT of a client. It’s a name everyone’s heard of. It’s even had a film made about it. As a PR person, people *want* to talk to you rather than get you off the phone. Having put your remedy package together, it’s easy enough to brief the changes out. Imagine the headlines if Faceboook said sorry, for example! Overnight heroes.

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How Are Media & Journalism Evolving

Posted by Claire Thompson, freelance PR consultant, Waves PR

Some interesting takeaways from a recent survey on journalists and social media.

The figures are Stateside, so perhaps to be viewed in that light, but what amazes me (operationally) is how few are using listening tools. and how few don’t mine LinkedIn for contacts.
 

Nice piece of research guys – great sharing!

World Press Freedom Day

Today is World Press Freedom Day

Thought it should be marked.

Whilst I’m sure that in the UK, the word ‘superinjunction’ will be on everyone’s lips, I’m giving a shout to Article 19, because there *are* some slightly more pressing issues to be addressed.

Post script: no sooner said than mentioned. Here’s their release: World Press Freedom Day

Related articles

• Global Press Freedom at Lowest Level in More Than Decade – Voice of America (news.google.com)

Who Says what to Whom on Twitter

Claire Thompson, Waves PR

Hoffman, Wu, Mason and Watts have shared a great piece of academic research via Yahoo! Research: Who Says What to Whom on Twitter is interesting because it rises head and shoulders above the normal fare of people claiming to be Twitter experts. The bit that resonates for me, and deserves some further examination, is the bit that challenges our perceptions of ‘mass communication’ and ‘interpersonal communication’.

by Claire Thompson., Waves PR

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