The Important Three

My good friend and 2011-12 PRSSA National Vice President of Public Relations, Lauren Gray, tweeted about this article the other day. Geoff Livingston does a great job of pointing out crucial social media sites for public relations practitioners, while forcing me to think about my personal usage of social media.

1.     YouTube – In the article, Livingston notes that 1.2 billion videos are watched by 89 million viewers. These numbers are simply astonishing. Since the video streaming site’s debut in 2006, YouTube continues to draw more traffic. In social media class, we’ve talked about the power of viral videos through the YouTube channel. We’ve also talked about how YouTube is one of the greatest tools for practitioners. Organizations like Connect Ohio use this channel to draw customers. Several campaigns are being launched through this strong channel, and I think that we’re going to see an increase in the usage of YouTube in the future.

2.     LinkedIn- This social media site is a goldmine for public relations practitioners. With more than 100 million users, LinkedIn is a networking hub for practitioners and provides us with a more professional avenue to network and develop. LinkenIn continues to expand on the capabilities that it provides users and is becoming known as one of the more dominant social media sites along with Facebook and Twitter. I have to admit my LinkedIn account needs some work. I think LinkedIn requires more attention to detail. I’ve put “update LinkedIn account” on my to-do list for months now, but haven’t got to it. Livingston makes it clear through his article that I need to hop on the LinkedIn train, especially with my rondez-vu with the job market in a year.

3.     StumbleUpon – I had NEVER heard about this site until I read this article, but for public relations practitioners, this site is a hidden gem. StumbleUpon is a social media site designed for bookmarking and referrals. Even though the site only has 15 million users, professionals are saying that this site is on its way to being a social media powerhouse. The first and arguably the most important step of the RACE model is the research phase. StumbleUpon provides users with a channel to make this step of the practice easier, while also adding the networking dimension. Despite the fairly recent arrival of the site, I think StumbleUpon has the potential to become a universally used site within the field.

Livingston’s article is interesting, because it draws attention to the reality that social media is taking over cyberspace. With sites like Four Square, Yelp and UStream becoming more prominent, social media is making its mark. Avoiding social media is only going to become harder.