Social media is definitely become a powerful medium for corporations, individuals, and high profile government officials to address their key audiences regarding a situation, crisis, or address an issue. In just the past couple of weeks, we have seen numerous examples of this happening and being presented in the media. From the Whole Foods case to Michael Vick being able to play football for the Eagles – it appears that more people and corporations are using social media as one of their key outlets to get their strategies and tactics implemented.
I came across a very interesting interview that was exclusively covered on Mashable with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and how he has set up a Twitter to address the budget crisis that is happening right now in California. It all began in July when he set up a tweet asking people to participate in an open discussion about the budget crisis on Twitter. The result was amazing – people were definitely responding to his tweet and coming on the site with their questions and concerns about what is happening in California.
What I find interesting is that most of the updates that are happening on his Twitter site are coming from his Blackberry instead from his computer (Governor Schwarzenegger is using the application TwitterBerry). Also, the number of people that are following the Governor right now is over 900,000 followers – that is amazing! Another thing that I found interesting from the article on Mashable was how the Governor said that one of the benefits of being on Twitter was that he didn’t have to go through the traditional media outlets to reach his stakeholders. Governor Schwarzenegger was quoted as saying:
“What I’ve learned is that the people of California really appreciate having a dialog where a question is asked and an answer is given, and we don’t have to rely on the media to interpret for us.”
Wow, this is a powerful statement on the current media environment that we are living in presently. Another thing that I thought was interesting that the article presented was where the Governor was going next. It seems that the Governor is definitely recognizing the power of social media and is going to be conducting an environmental scan to see what will be the next big social media platform. This is very strategic and innovative on the part of the Governor and his team – it is important to be aware of the current trends and technologies that people are using to communicate and discuss issues that are salient to them.
So, in conclusion – it appears that social media once again has made a definite impact on how businesses, public relations, government, and other professionals are communicating to their audiences while bypassing the gatekeepers in the traditional media. These are just a few of my thoughts on the subject.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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