Social media is helping me to grieve

This is one of the hardest blog posts that I have composed. Writing this is part of my grieving process. But there is a serious message here of the value that social media really can bring to our lives, particularly in times of personal need or sorrow.

Yesterday one of my house rabbits very suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. He was only five years old and full of life until less than a day before he died. To many people who read this blog, and particularly those who know me personally, you'll understand how heartbreaking this is for me. My house rabbits are my family. They live and run freely in my house. They keep me company in the office when I am working (the photo below is of Herbie helping me to decorate the Pickle Jar office back in 2007 when I set up the business). I feed them, care for them and play with them every day. I love them like children.

Herbie was a rescue rabbit. He had been dumped in a cardboard box at a rabbit rescue centre with no note to even tell what his name was. He was a lively chap, clearly still a baby, and we're convinced that when we called in to visit the rescue centre four and a half years ago that he chose us. I think he knew he was on to a good thing - space to run around, fresh vegetables to eat every day, lots of hay, an abundance of toys, and two big sisters to keep him company.

On Wednesday evening we noticed he wasn't his usual self. He didn't come bounding over to the treat bowl, and just sat hunched up looking sad. So, on Thursday morning I booked him in to see the vet. I took him in that afternoon and she couldn't see anything obviously wrong with him. The only problem was that his back teeth were looking a little long and could have been causing him discomfort. So, I left him there for the afternoon so they could put him under a general anaesthetic and file down his teeth. The vet called at 3.30 to say he was absolutely fine, had woken up, and that we could pick him up at 6.30. We arrived on time and sat waiting to be called through looking forward to seeing our boy and hoping that he'd just be looking forward to having his treats that night.

The vet called us in. No Herbie. She had some bad news. As they were getting him ready for us to bring him home he collapsed. I didn't realise at first that she was saying he had died, but the news soon dawned on me. His teeth weren't the problem afterall, but we think some form of organ failure. He died very suddenly. We spent 20 minutes saying our farewells to the little fella, and headed home with an empty carry case in floods of tears. I haven't really stopped crying since.

The point of writing this post though is two-fold. Firstly, being able to publicly express my grief in this way is helpful to me. It gives me a place to record my thoughts and pour out my heart as I sit in an otherwise silent office. Secondly, though, is to make a point about social media. Despite our constant tears, both Nathan and I almost immediately tweeted about what had happened. We felt moved to update our facebook status, and we were able to chat to some understanding friends via instant messenger. Talking on the phone has been too hard, but at least typing is manageable. Losing a pet is not like losing a family member. There isn't really a system of people phoning each other people to share the news. That just isn't how it's done. But social media has given us a platform from which to share our grief and to receive back an enormous 'virtual' hug (we've had some real ones too of course, including with Scotch and Macy - our other two rabbits).

Social media comes under so much criticism for revealing so much about our lives in a public forum, and for voyeurism. Yet lately I have seen several friends share sad news through social media platforms and receive an overwhelming response. There are times when that sense of community, albeit a virtual community in some cases, is really needed. Right now, I'm no good for going outside and seeing lots of people, but through the power of social media, text messaging and instant messaging, lots of people have been able to come to me and offer their support. Nathan even had a tweet from the Times Higher Education - from someone he's never even met - offering their sympathies.

This is one of those times when, through all the concerns and negative press, social media has really come into its own.

Birmingham Twestival, sponsored by Pickle Jar Communications

I wouldn't ordinarily post a press release here as it isn't the most appropriate format for a blog. However, as we are sponsoring the Birmingham Twestival, I thought I'd indulge myself a little and include the press release here:

BIRMINGHAM TO JOIN 100 CITIES ACROSS THE WORLD IN FUNDRAISING ‘TWESTIVAL‘

On February 12th 2009 Birmingham is joining with over 175 cities around the world to host the Midland’s biggest ‘Twestival’, a volunteer-run fundraising event for people who use the micro-blogging service Twitter. BrumTwestival will be held at Poppyred in the Arcadian Centre from 7.30pm, and will see Birmingham join over 175 confirmed cities world-wide in a night of fundraising. The global event, described as “a ‘tweet up’ with a social conscience” will be raising money to support charity:water a not-for-profit bringing clean water to people in developing nations.

With members including Barak Obama, Stephen Fry and Jonathon Ross, Twitter is quickly growing to become a world-wide online phenomenon. The network allows users to update other members who are ‘following’ them online with details of what they are doing in 140 characters or less. As Twitter’s user network has grown, the community has also been the first to publish breaking news online, with members ‘twittering’ updates on unfolding events before journalists have reported on them.

Birmingham’s Twestival will give twitterers across the West Midlands the opportunity to come together in the spirit of fun, change, charity and global communication. Over 100 guests have confirmed their attendance at the event, and more tickets are to be released shortly to meet demand. Birmingham has a very active social media community and this has grown through Twitter to include users from a variety of backgrounds including politicians, University staff, artists and bloggers.

Birmingham Twestival has been organised by volunteer Twitter members who work for a wide range of local businesses. John Newbold, creative director of 383 Project and one of the Twestival organisers commented: “Twitter has grown across the West Midlands to become a really exciting community. It has enabled me to connect with a network of other users from with a variety of backgrounds and occupations within the city and get to know people I may not have met otherwise. Twestival is not only a great opportunity to bring the online community together offline, but unites Birmingham with other participating cities across the world in a common aim. Twitter will allow us to join other cities throughout the day with live updates and coverage of the events.

“As social and business networks grow, online communities are becoming increasingly popular ways to stay in touch and up-to-date. It is rare for people who engage online to have the opportunity to meet face-to-face, and I’m delighted that Twestival will make this possible for so many local users.”

Birmingham Twestival is sponsored by Pickle Jar Communications, the Coventry-based communications consultancy specialising in new and broadcast media, and Bostin, original t-shirt producers and promoters of pride in Birmingham, the Black Country and beyond. Tracy Playle, Director of Pickle Jar Communications commented: “I’ve been using Twitter for personal and business use now for several months. The power to build communities through social media, such as Twitter, is significant and important for small and large businesses alike. We spend a lot of time advising others on how to use tools like Twitter to build communities of interest, and possible business opportunities, so it only seems fitting that we would want to support the biggest Twestival in the Midlands.”

Managing director of Bostin, Donato Esposito added: “Twestival is a fantastic development to Twitter, and I welcomed the opportunity to support such an important charity.”

As well as raising money through ticket sales and donations, a range of raffle prizes donated by local businesses and Twitter members will be auctioned at the event. All guests will also be automatically entered into a main prize draw to win a Nintendo Wii.

The event will begin at 7.30pm. A limited number of remaining tickets are available at www.birmingham.twestival.com

Online PR is a marriage, not an affair

I occassionally browse online sites where people post projects that they require freelance support for. This morning one caught my eye because it's right up my street - a small company wanting support to boost their online PR. Great! A small company thinking along the right lines. Many don't even yet understand the benefits of online PR, so fantastic to see one that not only understands the benefits, but realises that support is potentially needed.

Then, this line in the description of their requirements:

'We estimate approx 4 days, 2 days for each website should suffice.'

Not so great. 2 days work, then nada, for online PR for a website? Online PR isn't a 'project' that can be done and dusted in 2 days. It has to be a sustained effort, ongoing, nurtured and loved. Otherwise it is doomed to failure! Sure, in two days you can do enough to improve your SEO in the short-term, but for real online PR, companies should be dedicating much more time and resource to supporting an ongoing campaign. Think of online PR as a relationship - it interests you, yet you begin with caution at first, then you get carried away in the rush of excitement and can't tear yourself away, then you settle down into a nice comfortable routine - at ease, dedicated, devoted even - with the odd pleasant surprise but otherwise a nice routine of committment and sustained effort. Online PR is a marriage, not an affair!

How are journalists using new media?

My approach to using new and social media as a PR tool is to forget about everything that traditional PR approaches might have taught us (well, perhaps not everything, but many things) and view it as something altogether very very different from media relations. Never sending a press release designed for a journalist to a blogger is a good example of this.

I thrive on the fact that new and social media generates opportunities to communicate direct to key stakeholders without having to hope that a journalist will pick up your story and run with it. However, I often get asked how PR folks can use new media to enhance their traditional media relations aproaches, particularly how new media can help them engage more effectively with journalists. This morning an interesting insight popped up on my Twitter feed.

I follow (follow - not stalk!) a few journalists on Twitter. A particularly prolific 'tweeter' is Joanna Geary from the Birmingham Post. This morning she tweeted about the order in which she checks on everything when she gets into work every day. I thought it provided a particularly interesting insight into a technically-savvy journalist's communication preferences. Here's the order in which she says she checks things, check-out the high prority she gives to online communities:

1. Personal email


2. RSS Reader


3. Twitter


4. Facebook


5. LinkedIn


6. Work Email

I suspect that many journalists aren't as 'into' new media as Joanna is, but this is an interesting insight nevertheless. Many thanks for sharing this with us Joanna!

Very useful visual guide for how Broadcast PR people need to rethink PR

I know I am always banging on about how PR people need to rethink this and rethink that, but today David Cushman has posted a really useful presentation on slideshare that really helps PR people to visualise the differences and challenges them to find ways to engage with what he calls 'P2PR' (I like this expression, might adopt it myself!). Seeing as the embed tag is available on his presentation, here it is:

From broadcast PR to P2PR

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: new networks)

A great example of the power of new media

I'm working late tonight. Because I'm working late, I'm missing out on a trip to the Coventry Pizza Express with my fiance and a group of our friends. Sounds like a fairly run-of-the-mill Tuesday night, doesn't it? However, there is a story behind this trip to Pizza Express - one which - combined with tonight's activities (and bearing in mind that they are still probably sat in the restaurant as I write this blog post) really demonstrates the power and speed of new media communications.

The background, in a nutshell, is that between us we've all experienced some examples of pretty poor customer service from this restaurant lately, despite the food being great and it being one of only a few places in Coventry city centre that we like going to and that suits all of our tastes. So, my friend Ben wrote this blog post a few days ago as a bit of a whinge about their customer service.

The blog post did the rounds thanks to the power of google and twitter and ultimately resulted in Ben receiving a call from the manager of the restaurant yesterday assuring him of their committment to customer service. So, true to form, the gang have headed over there tonight while I sit here working away.

As I'm working, one of said-gang and an avid Twitterati has posted a message linking through to a video recorded on his phone as they arrived at the restaurant this evening. In less than an hour the video had already been viewed 22 times. In case you can't quite follow, the gist of this is that the operations manager said that we could request to sit upstairs anytime we wanted, but when they've tested this out tonight, they've yet again been denied using the space upstairs (a space which they rarely seem to use even when the restaurant is full, hence the earlier complaints about customer service).

And I've also just received another Tweet from my fiance this time telling me that they've been refused another drink (just to be clear - they won't be drunk or anything at this time - they're just a bunch a nice young professionals with money to spend wanting to have a quiet drink).

What a great example of the power of mobile, video, and social networking, hey? They haven't even left the restaurant and already probably upwards of 30 or 40 people (by time I have also tweeted about this blog post) will be aware of this.

Twitter update: 10 mins after posting this blog
Jake (our talented videographer) says that customer service from the girl that served them tonight has been good - I just thought I ought to add this update to keep it fair to the staff that do deliver good service!

Universities need to internationalise their approach to social networking

The news that Facebook has finally launched a Chinese-language version of the site will undoubtedly excite many British universities. China is an important market for recruiting students and developing research partnerships. It is clear that British universities have over the past few years started to get to grips with the opportunities for communications (and dare I say, marketing) through social networking sites. The familiarity in the UK with Facebook and other popular sites such as Bebo and MySpace has encouraged universities and HE colleges to establish a presence in these virtual networks, or at least to monitor them for looming crises. Surely adopting a presence on Facebook's Chinese-language site is just another extension of this approach? Or is it?

I've been wondering over the past few months just how much consideration universities actually give to the international scene in social networking as opposed to thinking purely in terms of social networks that dominate in the UK or western world. For example in Asia Friendster is one of the most popular social networking sites, overshadowing both Facebook and MySpace quite considerably. QQ, Xianonei and 51.com are also dominant in the Asian market but barely heard of in the West. The language barriers make some of these sites inaccessible to the marketeers and communicators working in British universities, but if they are serious about continuing to engage with potential students in Asia, particularly China, then perhaps efforts should also be made to educate ourselves more in social networking spaces dominating other markets. Time is an issue, with many communications departments in British universities already stretched and undoubtedly struggling to keep up with the pace of technological change and online communications. I'd be delighted to lead some research into the potential for marcomms with non-English language social networks if there were a few universities out there that might be interested to get involved and back this.

This recent blog post on Venture Beat gives an insight into Friendster's dominance in the Asia-Pacific region. This post from Read Write Web written in January 2008 might also provide useful background information to anyone looking to explore the social networking phenomenon in China and Asia.

Just how many questions should you answer on LinkedIn?

I use LinkedIn fairly regularly as a means of maintaining and extending my professional network. I've also more recently stepped up my activity on there by answering questions that other members of the community post. I've already had one person tell me that they would like to include my answer in their blog along with a link to my blog and my website, so it clearly does have some merit from a marketing point of view, although I'm as much as interested in just sharing best practice where I can.

However, I thought I was pushing it a bit when I answered three questions on there yesterday afternoon. I thought I ought to calm it otherwise I would be viewed as a serial question-answerer!! Then I checked out the rankings for the number of answers other members of the community had given and one guy had answered 144 questions this week alone (it was only Monday!). So, this begs the question as to whether one can overdo it on this. Surely answering that volume of questions (even though many of his answers were short) means you can be spending more time perusing questions on LinkedIn that actually doing any work or following up new, real leads. Is it possible to become addicted?

Facebook Chat

Facebook have announced the launch of Facebook Chat, the instant messaging service for facebook users to communicate with their friends logged on to their profiles. I have to express a few reservations, however, about this new service.

First and foremost, I'm already a fairly avid user of Windows Live Messenger. I have a handful of contacts set up and that's about manageable. These tend to be fairly close friends or colleagues. For me facebook serves a completely other purpose - keeping in touch with people that I'm not necessarily likely to have (or want) daily or even weekly conversations with. As such, I'm not entirely seeing the point of Facebook Chat. I can understand why they have done it, and admit that I may well change my mind in a few months time once I have a go, but for now I remain a little unsure.

Digital Media for Business

As part of the work we've been doing for Ideas for Life TV, we were recently involved in a conference on digital media for business hosted at Alton Towers (18 March). Working with Ember Regis, we interviewed the key speakers from the event. Two of them were specifically speaking about how digital media can be used to communicate science and can be used by business. Both videos are available below. The first features Magic Lantern Chief Executive, Anthony Lilley, while the second is an interview with Adam Rutherford, online editor for Nature.

Another brick in the wall

It's all about the kids today. What are they doing online? How can we make the web and video games safer? The launch of the report of the Byron Review is of course welcomed by most people - parents in particular, I suspect. The report itself acknowledges that "headlines have contributed to the climate of anxiety that surrounds new technology and created a fiercely polarised debate in which panic and fear often drown out evidence" (Byron Review, Foreword) but I fear that the press reports surrounding the publication of the review will simply serve to heighten those anxieties even further. The fact that the report calls for a strategy for e-safety for children, which is of course what the press will report on, in itself seems to me to say that the world wide web is an unsafe place. The emphasis is on the negative. Why isn't there, for example, a strategy being launched on the educational value of the web for children? Why should parents be educated to protect their children in an online environment, but not at the same time also be educated on how to support their children productively use the web to influence their education and development. Don't get me wrong, I don't for one second see the web through rose-tinted spectacles, and the dangers to children do need to be addressed. However, they need to be addressed in a balanced context that also embraces the positives and I sincerely hope that the new strategy will achieve this.

But it isn't just what our kids are reading or doing online today that has hit the headlines. What they are reading offline is also of interest as The Guardian reports on the Read Up, Fed Up: Exploring Teenage Reading Habits in the UK Today study also published today which looks at the reading preferences for 11-14 year olds. As someone with two degrees in literature but not exactly what you would call a bookworm as a child (I think I finally managed to read The Bell Jar and The Catcher in the Rye at around aged 15 or 16 - my introductions to really great literature!), the reading patterns of young people fascinates me. I'm disgusted to learn, for example, that Heat magazine is the most loved read for this age group. However, at number four is blogs, showing an excellent example in my opinion of why the web is an excellent educational space for young people - encouraging them to write, debate and digest other people's opinions. I'm slightly suprised that facebook ranks so low in this age groups' opinions (it is number nine on their most loathed reads), but maybe that's just a clear sign of how us 'oldies' just don't understand the content that makes young people tick - although I know plenty of well-educated 'oldies' too that would probably rate Heat magazine as one of their favorite reads. But I do have to applaud the youngsters that participated in this poll for putting BBC Online in their top 10 most loved reads. Isn't it great to see young people engaging with news, current affairs, world affairs and fantastic educational resources? Perhaps this needs to be taken on board when the government come to writing their e-safety strategy.

Is it right for journalists to use social networking sites for source material?

So, here is a dilemma that has been rife in the press recently. Supposedly journalists are dipping into individual’s profiles on social networking sites like facebook, MySpace and Bebo to find out more about them for stories they are developing. I’m ever so slightly surprised that this has caused such an outcry, in truth. I think the biggest question to be asked here is where do we draw the line?

Let’s make a comparison. If the paparazzi climbed a tree outside a celebrity’s house and took a photo of them in their bedroom wearing their PJs, or lounging around with no make-up on their sofa watching TV, then there would be outcry and we would consider that wrong. However, if said celebrity pulled on that same jogging suit and ventured out of their house to buy some milk at the corner shop, we would react differently to a photograph taken then.

So, the dilemma is really one of space – personal and public space. In this case, the only difference is that it’s virtual space that we are talking about. As such, if an individual chooses to reveal aspects of their character or personal life online, then they have made a conscious choice to move something that might be private to them into the public domain. How can they then complain if the media uses that information? All the media is doing is exposing such information to a wider audience, any member of which audience could have found out this by searching online themselves.

Using photographs or videos or the like is a different issue, and we have copyright laws to protect against that. Just because I publish a photograph of me at standing on the Statue of Liberty Plinth against the Manhattan skyline on facebook does not mean that I am freely allowing anyone to use that. I still own the copyright. I’m not suggesting for one moment that any journalist would want to use that photo, but I’m sure you get my point. And in the interests of my own self-publicity, here is said photo.

Changing the face of Coventry

Now, Coventry doesn't have the best of reputations. Being said to be "sent to Coventry" is no good thing, and Hitler clearly didn't think much of the city either when he chose to drop a considerable amount of explosive on in over 50 years ago. Some visitors consider the ring-road to be an impenetrable barrier, while others (including Coventry residents) don't even bother to get close the ring-road, let alone on the inside of it - the area currently deemed to be Coventry City Centre. So, I was intrigued by the recent invitation to a presentation for local business leaders on the regenration plans for Coventry. This is all very exciting to me, and the plans are great. But I approached the meeting, as one would in such circumstances, with my 'communications professional' hat on. The presentations were good, the talks inspiring, and the comments and questions well thought out and, mostly, encouraging. But I can't help thinking that the City is missing out a key audience group in their plans for the City centre. They're right to keep on about establishing Coventry's brand and USP, but I can't help thinking that they just might be missing an essential audience group out of their consultation...

Occassionally at weekends I might venture into the city centre. Generally speaking it is heaving with young people - mostly teenagers. Although the Council's research shows that residents don't want to go into the city centre, here is one set of people that clearly do! And yet the approach to communicating and consulting with residents doesn't really tap into communications tools that would reach this essential audience group. Instead of (or at least in addition to) relying on the local print media and radio stations, coupled with a fairly well-hidden web presence, why aren't the Council and partners using blogs and social media to reach residents of the City - and those that are essential to the future of the City? It strikes me as a no-brainer to have a facebook group geared at showing support for the regeneration plans. But I can't find it. Perhaps I may well just have to create it myself, being the big fan that I am of everything they are currently talking about doing.

Useful Presentation on Virtual Worlds and Social Networking

A friend of mine working at Warwick University recently attended a session at the University on virtual worlds. He was going on about how good it was, and by coincidence I stumbled over the presentation available on slidecast.net.

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Facebook Musings

I read Shane Watson's thoughts on Facebook in yesterday's Sunday Times Style magazine with interest, and perhaps just a little twinge of offence. I have already checked my facebook profile 4 or 5 times this morning, I've had a giggle to myself about "friends" who have piled on the pounds, I've felt a sense of pride towards others that have been doing well for themselves, and I feel as though I haven't stopped reading about Facebook just recently - from their search for a new PR representative in the UK in PR Week, to thoughts on the applications of Facebook for Higher Education marketing in the THES.

I'm a fan. It has to be said. I think it's good that there is a place where I can still have some kind of contact with people that I don't have the time or inclination (let's be honest) to see on a regular basis. I've also been on the receiving end of Facebook being used as an internal communications tool by my previous employer - I thought it was quite a fitting way to be invited to the staff summer party!

It's unlikely that I'll be setting up a Pickle Jar Communications Group on Facebook any time soon, but my "Tracy's Great North Run" Group (I'm running it this coming Sunday on behalf of The Stroke Association) has certainly helped me to drum up sponsorship from "friends" that I otherwise wouldn't have sucked any money from! And this is where my point really rests - at the moment, for me, Facebook is pure social networking. I don't see it as a business tool, and it isn't a substitution for having "real" friendships either. It serves a whole different purpose to me, and a different purpose again to the next person. Understanding of its usefulness as a marketing tool is still embryonic, and it's for us marketing-communications professionals to work through this and offer creative solutions for its use - or not. Time will tell. For now I'm quite happy to continue using it to check-up on my acquaintances and the odd one or two "real" friends.