It's a...Dissertation!!

My friend’s status on Facebook recently was “Dissertations ruin lives”. I’m not sure about ruining lives, but they certainly ruin blogs...

So after my brief blogging hiatus, I’m back to tell you what actually came out of 7 months of dissertation slog.

The PR industry seems to love love love social media at the moment (as do I), and with my passion to enter the industry, the topic of social media and PR seemed like a natural progression. What I wanted to know, is whether all the buzz and hype is justified, and whether social media is as powerful as so many seem to think it is. Some areas I focused on in particular were the impact of the increasingly influential and empowered consumer, and the implications of this for crisis management.

I conducted an online survey (and a big thank you if you participated!!) which measured peoples engagement with a number of social media outlets as well as information such as where they leave feedback about products and services, and their first port of call for news. I also focused in particular on the recent Paperchase crisis as a case study and used an online survey and content analysis of blogs to monitor reactions.

In (very brief) summary, not surprisingly 99% of (about 200)respondents are on Facebook, nearly all accessing the site at least once a day. Just under 50% also have accounts on Twitter, Youtube and Myspace. I thought it was also significant to look at blogs due to claims that “bloggers are gaining recognition as industry authorities, earning the same (and sometimes more) respect and reach that traditional media...”(Solis & Breakenridge, 2009, p.2). 73.6% of respondents had accessed a blog at some point, but interestingly only 29% read blogs at least once per week, with many answering less than once per month. I still don’t think this detracts from their importance in PR strategy however.

When it comes to leaving feedback or complaining about a product or service 56% head to company’s actual website, and 40% head to Facebook. Also, 40% disagreed that they would trust a company spokesperson/website over fellow customers.

When it comes to the Paperchase plagiarism scandal, whilst not many had heard about the incident (so perhaps Paperchase haven’t felt the effects too much?) after being shown a Twitter feed and blog post from around the time, respondents developed a much more negative view of the brand. The most popular descriptors including words such as ‘devious’, ‘exploitative’ and ‘greedy’, once again highlighting the dangers of ignoring social media altogether.

Clearly, it is a challenge to squeeze a 10,000 word research study into a blog post, but hopefully you get the picture! Whilst lots of the buzz around social media may be a tad O.T.T, now is the time to start utilising social media in strategic campaigns that, if done correctly, will generate results. Some might say we are in the midst of a technological revolution...exciting times!

(I hope to upload the dissertation onto Scribd soon if you fancy reading the whole thing!)