It’s a very easy admission - I am by no means an IT early adopter. If it were a foot race, I would clearly be back of the pack. But that said, I am a proud and regular Facebook user, collecting friends like blisters at the 10-kilometre mark.

And I must admit, some of my Facebook friends sometimes hurt a bit. The whole experience makes me wonder at what point does the collecting of contacts become simply numbing?

I recently was re-united with a dear, dear friend from university – too many years ago to mention - and I was grateful to Google, Facebook and the many other Internet applications that made it possible for us to re-establish our genuine friendship despite being oceans apart.

But this was an exception. More often than not, I cringe when I get a friend request from someone whose name I don’t recognise or whose image does not jog my high school memories of drinking Jack Daniels in the pitch of night on the local golf course.

Are we supposed to have the time or the inclination for this kind of online intrigue? Without guilt, I click ‘delete’.

I guess my fundamental beef is not at all against social media, but its easy access seems to invite the transmission of vacant, meaningless messages.

This frequent experience reinforces for me the basic tenet of communication – particularly when it comes to PR, pitches and press releases. What is my message? Is it consequential? Would the recipient be interested?

It may be far simpler now to reach out and communicate, but shouldn’t it be something of substance for anyone to take notice?

And as for all those old friends who are resurfacing online, I don’t mind collecting them like old runners kept in the back of the closet that I simply can’t throw away because of the memories – no matter how many new pairs I get.

- Christine Gotz

October 8th, 2008  |  by Christine Gotz Published in Online, Public Relations

I have a few favourite blogs that I check from time to time, one of these being social network strategist Laurel Papworth’s. I checked Laurel’s blog just yesterday, and was immediately drawn to a recent post showing images of Uluru, plastered with advertising boards. An hour later I opened the Sydney Morning Herald to page three, and there in front of me was a news article … based on Laurel’s post.

This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed ‘news’ being drawn from online content. The interactive nature of the online medium means reader interest and opinion can be more easily gauged, resulting in the increasing frequency of ‘news’ being sourced online.

Anyone who’s viewed the ‘Christian the Lion’ footage (which to date has received around 40,000,000 views world-wide on youtube alone) would have also watched the 30-year old story become a news hit. Following uncontrollable sharing of the footage and undeniable public interest, it suddenly became ‘news’ and has been picked up by talk shows, news programs and newspapers around the world. Most recently, Sony Pictures have started negotiations to turn the story into a movie.

Then there’s ‘Trent from Punchbowl’ – an interview with a foul-mouthed, drug addicted ‘low-life’ found at Punchbowl train station. Various versions of ‘Trent from Punchy’ received more than 1,400,000 views on youtube – that’s 82 times more people than the population of Punchbowl. Various forums, an official website, youtube posts, responses and online discussions led Trent to appear in the Daily Telegraph online. The news angle - is Trent real, bloggers are divided.

In today’s changing media landscape, there is no doubt online information sharing is impacting on what we see and hear in more traditional news mediums – not to mention how long it lasts. Online news stories on the Hungry Jacks Stacker generated hundreds of online responses over two days, and meant a story that should have lasted a day, stuck around for a week. And by the way, the story first appeared in blogs several days earlier.

The value of online cannot be discounted as it continues to grow as a source of entertainment, interest, and news – even for journalists.

- Kara Jecks

September 10th, 2008  |  by Kara Jecks Published in In the News, Online, Public Relations

A tiny blurb in the Daily Telegraph a few weeks ago confirmed that the urban myth ‘six degrees of separation’ is almost statistically spot on. Microsoft analysts determined that 6.6 relationships linked every person on this planet.

I am actually linked to more than 30 million people, but not through an individual, but an animal. His name is Christian. Have you met my lion friend?

I have watched the YouTube video about a dozen times and told at least twice that many people. Everyone I know has done the same. Everyone one I know has reacted the same. The collective experience of the YouTube community seems to heighten our emotional response.

I wonder if this is what Marshall McLuhan imagined when he proclaimed ‘the medium is the message’ way back in 1964?

Is our reaction so visceral because we are participating in a global groundswell? Would I have taken such possession of Christian if I could not have shared him with everyone in my office in an instant? Probably not.

If I had seen him on TV, I would have almost certainly forgotten about it by the next day. And a photo in a newspaper, may only rate a mention if I was sitting beside a friend at the time.

In any case, it has taken an animal set wild in our vast Internet neighbourhood to remind me that most of us enjoy sharing a bit of happy human emotion – at least with 6.6 people.

- Christine Gotz

September 3rd, 2008  |  by Christine Gotz Published in In the News, Online, Public Relations