Social Media Releases (SMR) can be incorporated into a new field known as New Media in academic defined terms. Dyer (2007) informs that “An SMR does not exist in a vacuum; rather, it is used as a staging area for a broader effort to convey your message in multiple formats and locations, and includes the opportunity for discussion with your audiences” (p. 17). Like many areas of social media, a SMR encourages two way communications between the sender and the receiver instead of what use to be a traditional push for what might insinuate “Flameville” as Dyer puts it (p. 17). In other words, someone’s mouth whether written or verbally speaking through audio online can serve as a powerful weapon that may or may not have the potential to spread a social epidemic implementing word of mouth characteristics. Social media just happens to offer a faster and more effective method in doing so than just calling people or talking to them person to person. Social media adds a new dimension in the form of SMRs because a verbal epidemic can spread within seconds of news becoming news. Malcolm Gladwell (2002) in his book, The Tipping Point, analyzes this idea of a social epidemic in the fact that some people clearly affect and shift public opinion whereas others just happen to gently nudge the idea and its obvious existence among us in society. I think this idea is interesting in its relevance to Social Media and more specifically the abstract construction in the phenomenon of an SMR. Some of us have those natural personalities that effectively communicate pertinent information while others just cannot get the job done in this particular facet no matter how hard one tries.
People with active computer access can instantly access information for better or for worse in concerns to spreading the joy of good news or possibly in the moment of anger starting a fire that spreads more quickly than a brush fire on a dry day could even begin to compete with in a metaphorical sense. The same idea could maybe be applied to gossip. For instance, Gossip Junkie is a readily available application available through Apple in the App Store. When the latest gossip on any celebrity comes forth, you are the first to be informed on the latest and greatest E-True Hollywood story in the form of what some might argue as a miniature SMR. Maybe the Auburn Athletic Department should look into this….we could call it Gossip Aubie.
Anyway, Pitchengine is a very popular SMR service that several of the country’s most successful companies use to communicate with the general public. They specialize in implementing and strategically designing specific SMR layouts, formats, and iconic images to send forth specific intended messages to target audiences. PR practitioners such as this one are being hired for big bucks to produce the best delivery systems in information delivery…quite impressive for those who take advantage of such services!
While many will not deny the effectiveness of an SMR, Steyn et al. (2010) suggests that the medium is still too new to utilize or measure its true effectiveness in the field of Public Relations. The tool in relevance to spreading information especially on the level of a social online epidemic is still too early in its infancy in the fact that several bloggers still ask, “What is a SMR?” when the subject is mentioned in a questionnaire. An SMR has the potential to become an active weapon in the arsenal of PR tools, but it is far from a device that balances or imbalances the tipping points of social epidemics and word of mouth initiatives on the web. No one will deny the usefulness that this medium offers journalists and media in general. You automatically attain the ability to unify every Social Media device together onto one page in order to send a message but development wise awareness still has yet to form. Once awareness of this tool becomes more prevalent than it already is, information will not only become even more accessible. It may even perhaps become more influential in the new dynamics of interactive representation.
Dyer, P. (2007). Addressing Common concerns: The social media release defined. Public Relations Tactics, 14, 22. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from MasterFILE Premier database.
Gladwell, M. (2002). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
Steyn, P., Salehi-Sangari, E., Pitt, L., Parent, M., & Berthon, P. (2010). The Social Media Release as a public relations tool: Intentions to use among B2B bloggers. Public Relations Review, 36, 87-89. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from Academic Search Premier database.
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