ErgonomixPR

Facebook as a social media tactic has expired it’s window of opportunity. In the rapid pace of creating a Live Feed v. a News Feed, killing groups for Fan Pages, pokes to superpokes, the function got lost in the shuffle. Updates in general become a kerfuffle of information that I, personally, have opted to remove from the stream of information. If you were taking quizzes ad nauseam, I am not subscribing to your feed, in fact I’ve taken it off the table completely.

This is the curious conundrum of ingenuity and obscurity. Zuckerman + Co. clearly made the FB empire expand it’s breadth and width too quickly. People do not adjust well to change and once they have mastered on new application it was time to learn another. What irks me is how today, which is a step-up from yesterday, those in the public relations industry are defending FB as a tactic.

I have been told that, “FB is an important marketing tool for PR reps.” To that, I am standing on my soap box, “You’re right. That is the best way to describe it, FB is a marketing tactic and not for public relations!” I value the support marketing can lend to PR and what PR brings to the marketing table. That, however, is not my schtick. It’s great if your niche can benefit from the exposure, but where do you draw the line between direct mailers, e-blasts, e-vites, fan page updates? To me, as close to a PR purist as I can be, they are one-in-the-same. People are inundated with their friend feed to take notice of your fan page.

Although, in this particular discussion, this person has garnered attention around their client into the thousands, which is a tremendous milestone. I applaud their work and call it marketing. They have created nested a little corner of FB and provided a glorifed discussion board for their public. Here I am thinking, discussion boards have become extinct, but I am reminded by my good friends about the Sound Tribe Sector 9 “Lowdown” that is somewhere near religion for that circle. At a much closer glance, you see that the agency managing that particular fan page has liked many of their own posts.

A wonderful following is fantastic, but when does the focus become your client above your own self-promotion? I am reduced to the integrity of the content and the relationship with the public. If it takes 4,000 fans to get a, “Yooo, braaahhh! See you on Tuesday, man I was hungry last night”, then I’ll take building a following with some intellectual integrity over time. FB has diminished it’s value for me and I maintain a few fan pages for the crowd that believes they are so 2.0, when it’s so 2.n0. These stakeholders will not bend for what’s to come, but that’s what makes trailblazers early adopters. We set trends for most and help those that follow find their way. FB is not a terrible tool, but it’s not the wisest decision to make when you are targeting a public of influencers.

In keeping with my brief, and short-lived trend, I’ve provided another episode from Supernews to exaggerate my point.

On a more personal note, I had an acquaintance that beamed into this marketing ploy for $1,000. You join the FB fan page, add something to it’s wall and get as many people to “like” it. As of yesterday, she asked me to join and click on somebody or other to vote—on FB chat, mind you for the second time. Usually, people have the courtesy to send it in a group or a thread to your inbox. This person had the gall to just word vomit without periods and end with HOPE YOU’RE DOING WELL. Well, I hope they take their medicine because I didn’t have the opportunity to “ignore the request” and opt out of the group, instead I opted out of her Facebook friendship.

As a PR professional, I value the importance of creating a platform or channel to your public, but do not become your public. Gaining your public’s trust is an investment of time and having a game plan for better or worse. It’s not the no-comment, but how can I address your concern ESPECIALLY if it’s negative. It is thanking your public for recommending you to others and not just spamming to get, only, your message across. Above all, your organization should cultivate accessibility, not just visibility.

Does this sound familiar? Multi-tasking in the board room, at the office, at lunch, while you’re already multi-tasking. We are all pretty familiar with this deficit in human interaction which can arguably be attributed or relieved, depending on your view, by technology.

I have been working on developing my thoughts on what this says about the hegemony of co-dependence in the workplace, and ultimately in our lives. Let’s just break down communication. We are conditioned to reinforce positive and negative actions through feedback. Recently I had a chat with, Thomas Beckett, Esq., about the client relationship.  We agreed that contracts can condition expectations, thus providing feedback. Should any of us have a superior over our project, we would naturally run new ideas by them. However, the need for instantaneous feedback has become an epidemic that crushes realistic expectations and time.

For me, being connected on Twitter, Facebook, Google Voice, Google Chat, Skype, and now Orkut makes me even more accessible to my clients. Nothing can take place of physical face time, but if you need something it will be expedited quickly. People tend to say that I answer emails fast because I try to keep my inbox as close to zero as possible, click for more on this principle of inbox zero. I can confidently provide this feedback, but I struggle when I have expectations for the same in return. I think that being in an office environment conditions the rate at which you manifest a reply. You can tell the leadership dictates the rate of reply and as a sole proprietor that works from home + coffee shops my rate of reply is determined by my activity online. When I’m offline, I’m connected, the direct messages from my über-personal Twitter gets sent as a text message to my phone. My Google Voice acts as a screen for me to hand out my direct mobile number, but it still goes to my phone.

The way most Americans work is at a fever pace. One thing I will try to muster is patience, particularly with myself. I need to disconnect often and realize there is a life to live, and plenty more Supernews to watch! Is it wrong to be diligent or right to become work-centric? The answer is balance for health, wellness, and piece of mind. You can be overly committed, so eliminate stress, I see many of my friends booked solid through the week. This year I will be taking a little more selfish me time to recharge those batteries and struggle to avoid the online feedback while I’m offline.

In the meantime, I will be synermonigizing tonight with my CHStwestival committee over some brews + basketball.

I must say how thankful I am to have had a fabulous 4th quarter, which was technically my 1st quarter ever. I have met so many wonderful people with marvelous talents and contributions to the Holy City. Charleston has changed so much in the time that I have spent away in Clemson and Asheville. It’s nice to come back to something familiar, and a little challenging, while stretching my toes in the sand. Clearly it’s the dichotomy of a laid-back challenge that I am drawn to and perhaps, the dense salt air. I’m definitely reeducating myself on the city and grooving to a newer beat in town. However, I must say some parts of this place seems like it’s stuck in time.

Thank you for all the support, camaraderie, and advice! Who would have ever thought I would finally launch this site? It’s been a long time coming!