In public relations, we are told that we have to keep our eyes and ears open for what is being written or said about our client or corporation that we are representing. This way, we are more informed about how our primary and secondary stakeholders as well as the public perceives us and we can be proactive in addressing these issues. Also, by doing this – public relations professionals can diminish any potential risks that may occur, or handle a crisis situation proactively.
However, since we are living in an age where we have the news to be 24/7 and everyone appears to get their news and information online since newspapers are dying and not as many people as before are paying attention to what some of the traditional television media outlets are saying. The same rules apply for the most part, but instead of waiting to see what is being posted and then responding, public relations professionals can see what is being written in real time – what topics people are discussing on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. There are ways for them to also see what are the hot topics or ones that are most frequently tagged (such as in Twitter).
Some of the social media search engines that I look at from time to time in managing my online reputation is Samepoint and Social Mention. Another one that has just been created is called Collecta. As a rule of thumb, it is always good to have at least a couple of different search engines available so you can see what is being said about you. Some have more information you than others – so it is good to look at multiple sources.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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