Archive for March 19, 2010

Could SM Become the New Product Placement?

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Eat sign in desertFrom AOL’s prominence in You’ve Got Mail to T-Mobile’s stronghold on MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge franchise, product placements are hard to miss.  They’ve run the gamut from subtly integrated to awkwardly implanted, generated buzz, and, prompted viewers to reevaluate their perceptions of endorsement.  But what’s next?

Could SM come to occupy a similar role in movies and television programs?  Is it reasonable to think we could see a day where reality show contestants are live tweeting?  Could Facebook updates replace some of the face-to-face interaction?  Not to mention how the speed at which messages move in the SM sphere seems ideal for helping the contestants on reality dating shows to spread their trash talk and drama effectively. Read the rest of this entry »

We Know Nothing

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Boy Raising Hand in ClassroomWe all like to go after the “Social Media Experts” claiming there’s no way anyone can a) be an expert in such a new field or b) such a quickly changing field.  Beyond the semantics (“expert” vs. “experience” (as much as one can get), “guru,” “knowledgeable in,” “has an instinctive grasp of,” or my favorite undefinable (but likely true in some cases) “just gets”) there’s certainly something to be said for being able to use labels professionally which make us appear to have some higher level of comprehension in our field (and in many cases this is true).

Here’s the kick in the pants — PR pros, and other professionals in the related communications fields, don’t really “know” anything either when it comes to this stuff that a first or second year wouldn’t. Read the rest of this entry »