This week’s reading, Better Monitoring for PR 2.0, is about how professionals keep in touch with the public and monitor their image online. I was particularly interested to find that “As a group, PR practitioners have not historically been the most advanced at embracing new media tools (Breakenridge 75).” The reason to point this out is not to criticize, but make the readers, who are potential future PR professionals, realize the importance of monitoring new technologies in order to be the first to find out what people are saying about their company’s brand. It can only benefit them because Breakenridge also points out that “The worst thing for you, as a communications professional, is to have your executives find out about communication in the market before you do (75).” The chapter continues to talk about blog monitoring and how more and more companies are screening their presence online.
I’m interning at an organization right now where one of my tasks is to monitor where the organization is mentioned online in blogs. The organization actually compiles all the mentions of themselves in a binder for the board members to look at, so mastering those online tools is something necessary for the digital age. We have to know the second our organization is mentioned and we need to log the information. This task is not only for the board members, but it is also for the organization to know how they’re being perceived. It’s like a digital focus group, and the organization needs to know if their methods for getting their name out in the world is working or not. If not, they need to know so that they can find a different way.
1 comment:
I would would have to say that it is a good thing that organizations are monitering the web becuase the blogoshper has the capsity to easily ruin the reputation of an organiztion. With this said, it is up to the organiziton to provide a positive idetity to the public so they won't have to worry about getting their reputation ruined in the first place.
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