Social Media Detrimental?

According to the Buyer Group, an interactive public relations and branding agency in Florida, the following social media statistics are true:

- Twenty-five percent of journalists report regularly reading five or more blogs to research desired topics, and nearly 70 percent follow at least one blog regularly.

- More than a quarter (28 percent) of journalists visit a social media or networking sites at least once a week, while more than 44 percent visit at least once a month.

After finding these facts from Buyer Group, who specializes in social media as well, I found an interesting article through Burson-Marsteller's Twitter page entitled "Is Social Networking an Asset or Liability for Your Company?"

The article reinforces how important timing is in the public relations field. Author Louis Columbus states, "whether social networking works in your favor or to your detriment is all in how you approach it." Columbus proceeds to define many social media terms, including blogs, RSS feeds and wikis, along with tips on how to make social media work for your company. However, he does not address how using social media at the wrong time will hurt your reputation along with hypothetical situations. I think if Columbus would have added these aspects to his article, his point would have made a greater impact.

Nevertheless, I never realized that if social media was done at the wrong time, the effects could be detrimental. I always figured negative outcomes came from the company doing something stupid, like Edelman and the Wal-Mart blog incident. So, according to the facts above, if a blog is done at the wrong time, your company's reputation could be ruined with 25 percent of journalists initially. For this reason, people must understand social media, PR 2.0 and Web 2.0.