I have always felt that it is best to have quality items rather than quantity.  Growing up, my parents would ask my sisters and I to write down a list of things that we would like for our birthday or at Christmas.  Of course, the gifts that were listed on top were the ones that we really wanted, and that if we got one or two of these items, we would be extremely happy.  Another example related to  this is food (what can I say – I am a foodie!)  Being on Jenny Craig now for three years, I have realized that if I am going to be off my diet – I am going to have something that is absolutely worth it – like Dad’s baklava or my Mom’s cinnamon rolls – but I am not going to waste all it on a regular candy bar.

Social media follows the same guidelines in my book.  It appears with the increase use and presence of social media – people seem to feel like that they have to be on EVERY social networking site (the image above is Brian Solis’s Conversation Prism which outlines all of the different social media sites out there presently).  It is amazing to see how many different sites and platforms are out there – there seems to be a new one every day! 🙂

I have told my students that they have to know and understand the main ones that are being discussed in the media and in the public relations profession, and how they are being used (ex. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc).  It is important to focus on the quality of the social media site, and be aware that there are some that you need to be on, and others that you may not need to be.  Public relations professionals definitely need to be active online – from having a web site to a blog to being on the main social media sites – but they also have to recognize that the number of sites you are on is not key in this situation.

However, it all depends on the stakeholder group that they are working with in their public relations campaign.  For example, if you were working on the Redbull account, and wanted to individuals that were active online – would you go just to Facebook or Twitter?  These are of course good options, but another outlet to consider would be virtual online gaming sites.  Most likely, these same individuals that Redbull would want to target would be on these sites – but it is important to do the research ahead of the actual campaign to make sure. 🙂

Another trend to keep an eye on is the emergence of more specialized and focused social networking communities.  Besides being on Facebook and Twitter, people are using Ning to create their own communities.  They are usually smaller, but more specialized.  If public relations professionals realize this trend and know where to look for these individuals, they will be able to reach out to more specialized and quality stakeholders that fit their specific characteristics for their campaign.

So.. the question is – when it comes to social media – is it important to have 1000s of friends and followers that you may know, or would you rather have a smaller and selected audience of those individuals that you want to network with and really know?  Personally, I believe that quality is definitely important – establishing these long term relationships and managing your online reputation with these key influencers will be more beneficial for you.  This is just my opinion. 🙂

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen