Created or Engaged Media? Continuing the Conversation
Oh, if only I could open up my trusty word processor, write a few witty and insightful lines and then publish them online for all to see, consume and take action.
If you build it, will they come? For blogs and other social media, it seems the answer isn’t that easy.
They may come if you have already build a loyal readership and have the traffic to make your message “stick.” You can also gain an audience from an already-proven leader in the blogging space. Which is why so many bloggers complain about being spammed or solicited in the comment section (or by old-fashioned e-mail) by those hoping to get a link.
Yesterday, Steve Rubel at Micropersuasion asked, When Will “Created” Media Outshine “Earned” Media?
And the blogosphere answered.
Paul Holmes, in his fairly new blog The Holmes Report answered that created media (Holmes renamed it engaged media) would overtake earned media when the creators let go of their creation and allow it to be shaped by the community.
Mike Bawden, in a comment at both Rubel’s and Holmes' site mentions that social media, particularly blogs, only really engage a handful of people at a time.
And that really is the point. There will only be a handful of market leaders and communicators that break into the social media space reliably and “earn” the respect of the readers. People only have so much time in a day.
A blog, and other social media phenomenon like pod and vodcasts, are only be fancy brochures and flashy ads without the feedback factor. This factor is the key to unlocking the power of this channel of communication. Links, relationships, consistent content quality and reliability are the elements that build influence.
Media relations, investor relations, and social media relations all require similar skills. Skills in which those trained in public relations excel.
Other bloggers on this and related subjects:
Richard Edelman with a post about how created media can bite you; John Wagner here and here; and a list of social media tools that can be used in PR by David Phillips.
