If You’d Rather Twist Than Tweet …

PR Pros must embrace social media.

This blog is a supplement to my June 2009 Update newsletter, which is devoted to social media. (To subscribe to my newsletter, enter your E-mail address.) Since "old fashioned" E-mail newsletters don't allow the space for much storytelling, I'm telling a few here to make the point that even old dogs like me can learn new tricks and to share some insights into how I learned them. For example, I have been doing some very intensive research on Web site structures and optimization recently. In the process, I acquired an analytic tool that allowed me to study several of my own Web sites to learn how I could improve their Google search rankings. I was, frankly, surprised to see how highly the Google search algorithm favors incoming links from social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn and to links with sites like YouTube and Google Video. So I made some very minor changes to the sites including improving my links to and from social networks. In the past month,
I've increased traffic to my corporate Web site by 15.18% and to one of my other sites by 34.89%.

Another: On Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, we hosted our best friends for a small gathering, which included the 17 year-old son of one couple. He dutifully appeared and had his burgers but was eager to be with his friends. So mom soon took him home and returned. As we were all engaged in rousing games of Croquet and Dominos, mom silently kept in touch as her son asked permission to change locations through text messages. (Why didn't he just pick up the phone and call? Because kids don't want their peers to know that they're talking to "the 'rents.")

And yet another: last week, I had marked my calendar for 1:00 on May 26, 2009, when the California Supreme Court was to announce its ruling on Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that amended the state constitution to take away the right of same-sex couples to marry. It was a much anticipated ruling that, sadly, allowed the constitutional amendment to stand while, happily but incomprehensively, also allowed to stand the marriages of the 18,000 same-sex couples who had married after the Supreme Court initially ruled that the majority does not have the right to deny the rights of a minority. I was hovering over Google News and, shortly after 1:00, read the first reports in national and international press. But then I went to Twitter I was mesmerized by the feed from one guy who was reporting, minute by minute, how street protests in San Jose were forming, how the police were massing in response, how the crowd was reacting and feeling, what they were chanting, what their signs said and what happened when arrests began. The carefully edited and crafted news reports I read conveyed nothing compared with the raw emotion of a guy protesting in the streets for his civil right. Imagine if, twenty years ago, the students massed in Tiananmen Square had the same technology available to them. We'd be remembering a very different set of events.

In my June newsletter, I promised bonus links to more great items about social media. Here they are:

Like Lambs to the Slaughter: Why the FaceBook "Whopper Sacrifice" Was So Murderously Successful

Social Media Can Boost Trust

Social media optimization (SMO) is gaining momentum in SEO Consulting

Most Web Video Is Unwatchable: Follow These PR Best Practices to Make Sure Yours Gets Seen. Seven questions to ask.

Companies are scrambling to silence errant messages while exploiting social networks.

Attention, Kmart (& Sears) shoppers: Your sites are ready.

Octomom and my friend, Joann

Octomom's PR firm's resignation points out the need to reform public discourse:

I was not surprised to read that the PR firm representing the California mother of octuplets had resigned because of numerous death threats the principals had received.  I've had similar, though not life-threatening, experiences in my own career and walking away has been a tempting option. On several occasions, opponents of clients I have represented have drawn my firm into the battle as "evidence" that my clients were guilty as they charge because they had engaged a PR firm aka "a spin doctor."  (Using the word "spin" to describe the work of a legitimate public relations professional is akin to calling an accountant a "lying bean counter.") So when I read that my friend of some 20 years, Joann Killeen, was the target of these threats, my interest in learning more about the new mother of 14 children grew. 

Joanne is a past president of the Public Relations Society of America; ethics is her middle name.  She and her partner, Michael Furtney, took the mother's account on a pro bono basis.  Both are accredited in public relations and members of the PRSA College of Fellows.  So it was immediately apparent to me that I was not getting the whole story through the media accounts I'd seen and heard. I admit that until I had a personal interest in the story, I was leaning toward the prevailing wisdom that the mother is a selfish, irresponsible leach on society's precious resources and that the physician who "did this to her" ought to be drawn and quartered in a public square. But it didn't take much investigation to see another side to the story.

Joanne, a grandmom and former professional photographer, took some photos of mom and kids, for which she was offered "lots of money." She signed over copyright to a photo agency so that if they were ever sold, the mother would get the proceeds. Joann and Michael turned away, among other enticements to stray from their standards, an offer from a news medium to pay-off their mortgages in exchange for identifying the sperm donor.  (Read this transcript of their interview with a local paper.)  Yet, for their good counsel and generous support, they received so many death threats among 88,000 E-mails that they had to hire personal security guards. When they were threatened with lawsuits and boycotts of their clients' products, they ultimately chose to resign.

There's a lesson here for all of us and, I say with all due pessimism, I doubt that we'll take it to heart. Our public debate has become course and cruel. We have forgotten that there are living, breathing human beings on the other end of our facile and fluid opinions about everyone and everything. The anonymity of blog posts and comments, forums and all other manner of "modern" public discourse has unleashed the basest and meanest of our humanity. We all have an opinion — a very, very strong opinion — about everything, about most of which we have precious few facts and even less expertise from which to form an opinion. But darned if won't express that opinion, no matter how ill-informed.

I'm reminded of the wisdom of the founding principle of Wikipedia, which points out the need to change the nature of our public dialogue: assume good faith. "Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it. If criticism is needed, discuss (the) actions but avoid accusing others of harmful motives without particularly strong evidence."

As Wikipedia asks, I will remind myself to "assume the presence of a belly-button" each time my lips are poised to opine. Join me, won't you?

Chinese Cyber-Thieves

If you use the same user ID and password at multiple Web sites, you're could be in a heap o'trouble: Recently, Chinese cyber-thieves cracked a poorly secured Web site and lifted my user name and password.  In what I've learned is a common practice, they then hit major financial sites to see if I had been foolish enough to use the same user name and password with any of them.  Of course, probably like you, I have used the same password at scores of sites.  I learned of the scam when PayPal called me about a string of suspicious purchases in Germany made from my account.  So I spent one frantic afternoon getting ahead of the thieves by changing my password at all sites linked to my finances.  The passwords I generated from a random password generator are inscrutable and a terrible pain to type. But that's a small price to pay to protect the 60% of my assets that weren't lost to the market crash.  Please, take heed.

The Elephant in the Room is Wearing Lipstick

Mr. Man-on-Dog misses the real beast in the room: Rick Santorum's 12/18/2008 piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Elephant in the Room: Republicans need a new leader, neatly summarizes the bankruptcy of the Republican Party's ideology. In more than 600 words of technical analysis of the Republican's communication process and tactics during the recent Presidential campaign, Santorum devotes exactly 88 words to the substance of the Republican message. Santorum's diagnosis of the party's failure "to shape a governing vision and communicate it to the American electorate" includes a breakdown in strategic planning, egos, institutional interests, policy disagreements, indifference, incompetence and failure to use technology as well as the Democrats. He concludes that "our governing philosophy was not rejected in the last two elections; rather we could not plausibly explain how our ideas and actions matched" a philosophy grounded in capitalism, world domination and "the values of our forefathers." No wonder! Nowhere does he suggest that the party's abuse of our constitutional rights; its massive failure to regulate its cronies in the financial markets; its use of torture; its attempts to create an American theocracy; its invasion of other nations; and its cynical base-building campaign to deny gays and lesbians their equal rights may be sources of the fact that the Republican Party was "taken … to the woodshed for a beating in the past two election cycles." The Republic Party of late has some experience with lipstick and should know by now that it can't put it on a pig. Communication that move hearts and minds, garners support and changes behavior must stand on a foundation of actions that are aligned with public expectations and then — and only then — effective communication about those actions. Santorum believes that the Party can return to the time when it "ran circles around the Democrats." Technology is not enough, he says; the Party needs a new chairman to "winsomely" communicate about its "vision." My dictionary defines winsome as "charming, especially because of a naive, innocent quality." Mr. Santorum, if you think winsome will do it for you, then you're going to lose-some more.

Every Cloud Must Have A Silver Lining

Effective communication in the recession is building relationships: My aunt Ruth is an 87 year-old Roman Catholic nun who entered the convent at the age of 17.  She now lives in a retirement community for nuns, helping "the older girls," and keeping up her routine, which includes the morning paper and the evening news.  We took her and my 89 year-old mother on a shopping trip to the King of Prussia Mall recently.  This led us to a conversation about the current tough economic times.  Despite my aunt's routine, she hadn't known (!) that the nation and the world are hard in the grip of "the worst economic recession since The Great Depression."  (Both of them were aghast that a shirt they saw cost ... gasp ... $30.) Ahh, to be blissfully unaware of all that is happening around us.  For my part, I can't get seem to get away from the bad news, even though I've long since stopped opening my 401(k) statements.   But this dark cloud has a silver lining: effective communication is building relationships.  I see relationships opening up and strengthening all around me.  Neighbors have started to share tips for saving money. More dinner parties have turned pot luck. There's talk of starting a vegetable-purchasing co-op.  We hear couples pledging to "get through this together" and friends promising to lend a helping hand if it's needed.  People are taking their dogs for long walks around the community instead of, I can guess, something pricier.  Frugal is in fashion and conspicuous consumption is as socially incorrect as wearing fur or a white hood. I was born after WWII but I imagine this is how the culture must have felt in the days of Victory Gardens, black-painted windows and saving chewing gum wrappers.  The sense of shared adversity seems to be drawing many of us closer together rather than driving us apart.  Sure, all of us, except the crazy rich and the plain crazy, are tightening our belts.  But we're noticing some wonderful consequences of doing so.  I don't know what's ahead.  But for now, I'm taking that Perry Como offered in his classic Melancholy Baby: cuddle up and don't be blue.  Happy holidays.

Read my December 2008 newsletter.

Communication Wins.

Obama campaign shows effective communication at its best. No matter how you feel about the fact that Barack Obama is now President-elect of the U.S., only "the most un-gracious" (as one CNN commentator put it) would not marvel at the paradigm-changing communication that put the Democrats virtually in charge of three branches of government. (In addition to dominating both houses of Congress, observers predict that Obama will appoint two or three Supreme Court Justices.) For years, we will be studying the paradigm-changing sophistication with which the Obama team harnessed the power of the Internet. The brilliant use of social networks to raise funds and an army of volunteers was, however, merely tactical. All of the whiz bang technology was strategically deployed to accomplish a very old-fashioned purpose: to get people talking to one another and to become involved in what they saw as a mission, a crusade. (It didn't hurt that Obama is a brilliant orator and as Colin Powell said, a "transformative figure.") Communication professionals, however, often lapse into the "write it down and pass it out" mode of communication, avoiding dirty fingernails — and meaningful results. Person-to-person communication is still the most effective way to move people, figuratively and literally. You can take that to the White House. Read my November 2008 newsletter!

Answer the question.

A veterinarian's precision communication softens the blow of euthanasia. A few days ago, Randy and I made the painful decision to euthanize our beloved 12 year-old Boxer, Silk. She was diagnosed in the Spring with lymphatic cancer and, after five months of chemotherapy, she lost the battle. Making the decision to euthanize her was agonizing for us because, other than a growing tumor that was beginning to restrict her airway, she was in every way "herself." But when the vet told us that she was 24 hours away from great suffering, we decided to end her life that day. We were (and still are) heartbroken. As we came to our decision, we were full of questions: Could she have just one more good day or week? Would the last chemo drug suddenly start to reduce the tumor? Will she feel betrayed? Will we be able to forgive ourselves? At the core of all our questions was just one, though: are we doing the right thing? And it was exactly that question that our vet heard and answered through our tears, in the moments before she injected the fatal drugs. "Don't you ever feel that you have made a bad decision," she said, "this is the right and selfless thing for you to do." In media trainings, I tell clients that if you don't answer a question, it will be repeated until you do. (You've seen this every time a politician slips around a question and bridges to a pre-fab message point that has nothing to do with the question.) Excellent communicators, like our vet, not only answer questions, they recognize them.