.next: The Bold New World of Media

In this edition of .next: The Bold New World of Media, Nancy Martira, global knowledge coordinator, Global Media Network, examines recent examples of social media and its ability to empower communicators. Get insights on the lessons these stories offer to PR practitioners below.

In 2005, 22-year-old Amanda fled New Orleans in advance of Hurricane Katrina. When she returned, she realized she lost everything, including a lifetime's worth of photos. And although most people categorize photographs and sentimental artifacts as "irreplaceable," Amanda's sister Lexi thought otherwise.

Lexi knew that hundreds of photos of her younger sister still existed, spread out among Amanda's network of friends. Lexi, a web editor in Brooklyn, NY, decided to tap into that network and collect enough photos to create a replacement album to surprise her sister. Her challenge, however, was reaching all of the people who could contribute.

To kick off the process, Lexi turned to her sister's MySpace network. She created a Web site where people could send the photos. The first 25 people she e-mailed ended up passing along that URL. When all was said and done, Lexi received photos from more than 60 people across the world, including childhood friends, family, prom dates, college roommates and her sister's friends from her study-abroad program in Italy. On Christmas Day, Lexi presented her sister with more than 250 reproduced photographs.

Stories where consumers use digital media to lambaste shoddy products and poor customer service resonate with PR professionals because they create shock waves with a brand's perception or reputation. But every day, citizens also are using social media to recover stolen property, fight street harassment and influence the political agenda. Like the Web site that Lexi created to collect photos for her sister, the "StolenSidekick" site chronicled in Clay Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody" isn't much to look at, but it got the job done. The site, which is actually Evan Guttman's personal blog, was converted into a discussion board where strangers obsessed with news about his friend's lost cell phone could receive updates. Despite the lack of flashy graphics, gimmicks and design, Evan's site and Lexi's were successful because they were able to inspire followers with a simple, sympathetic message. In Lexi's case, people felt empowered that in the face of great tragedy they could provide meaningful comfort; Evan tapped into a sense of moral outrage and faith in a shared value system. In short, increased connectivity through social media is shifting the balance of power from "Goliath" to "David and friends."

Although social media provides the opportunity for anyone to become empowered with the ability to communicate with the masses, there's also a dark side to it. Michael Bauer, a restaurant reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, recently wrote about the trend of restaurant patrons demanding free or discounted meals, and threatening to write a negative review for online user-reviewed sites like Yelp if they are not accomodated. When anyone can be an agent of change, sometimes everyone feels like a Diva. Marketers need to provide access to clients to spark conversation and inspire coverage; by identifying credible, key players are in the planning stage of your program, you won't be held hostage by "gimme gimme" online tyrants.

And finally, here's something to think about with regard to social media: If the crowd makes you, the crowd can break you. Just ask Barack Obama, the presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential candidate who has been credited with revolutionizing campaigning in the digital age. With the widespread success of Web-based micro-fundraising, it goes to show that with a great Web strategy in place, you can be influential and successful. But what happens when a candidate takes a position that is unpopular with his supporters? The same social networks that proved to be effective fundraising tools make the perfect infrastructure to mount a protest. When Obama issued a statement reversing his position on a White House surveillance bill, his supporters used the official Barack Obama social networking portal to mount a protest - 19,000 members strong. When Obama responded with an 852-word statement, the advocates - now double the size of any other user-created Obama group - collaborated on an official response to the Senator through a wiki.

For the time being, it looks like the Obama campaign has truly figured out how to engage the public by using social media as a tool for dialogue, not just a funnel for dollars, which is the same goal all PR professionals have whether they're promoting public policy or applesauce. And if the Obama campaign oversteps this mandate? Well, I'm sure you'll read about it on the Internet.

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