With all the discussion on what social media is, what it’s future will be like, who will control it, I often feel we fail to see the forest for the trees.

I see it as too diverse of a phenomenon to pin down with one easy definition. Its applications go far beyond the neat capsules that can be used to pick a particular department or function that should “own” it. Social media is creating, empowering, and accompanying a paradigm shift in the way we use all media.

Are we fully there yet? Of course not. These are only the early stages, part of an evolutionary process that often comes step by step. But those steps are happening and happening and soon we’ll look back and be amazed how far we’ve traveled. Then before we know it again, we’ll be stepping again and look back again and we’ll be amazed how much we’ve come from that first time we looked back.

Yes, organizations are going to have to harness social media in ways that they can benefit from, to reach ROI. This means trying to create some sort of structure for it without “siloizing” it. Very difficult indeed.

I’ve tried to lay out what I see social media as. Not from a specific definitional standpoint, but from a several miles up point of view.

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Although sometimes people may think that Canadians are just downright crazy, this podcast proved that some of our northern neighbors truly have a good grasp of the blogsphere. Go have a listen to this panel’s discussion, Reaching Out to Bloggers: Do’s and Don’ts.

Personally, I liked the whole discussion about pitching to certain demographics. You can’t just assume that if you are pitching to a blogger in one city in Canada for instance, that another blogger in another city is going to perceive the pitch in the same light.

Also they brought up a great point that bloggers hate when they find a pitch in their comments section of their blog. They were very animate about pitching directly to email or asking a blogger if they would be interested in contacting you first (great for long-term relationships within the blogsphere).

I also liked how the one guy addressed the question about legal issues with blogs and companies. His crisis management plan (well thought out engagement that includes reaching out to bloggers and having a blog that is endorsed under the company banner/name) is something that I strongly agree with.

I really do believe that a lot of companies are overlooking the importance of their public image and don’t realize how powerful (and cheap) managing a company blog (alongside their other media plans) can truly lower their liabilities firm wide.

Overall, a great podcast and worth a listen for anyone interested in entering the blogsphere or even just tweaking their blogging/striking/pitching abilities…

Check out the show notes from the Inside PR podcast:

In this special edition of Inside PR, David moderates a panel for CPRS Toronto called Reaching Out to Bloggers: Do’s and Don’ts, featuring Mathew Ingram, Business and Technology writer at the Globe and Mail and globeandmail.com; Mark Evans, VP of Operations of b5 Media; Stuart MacDonald, an e-business and marketing consultant, formerly CMO of Expedia.com and founder of Expedia.ca; and Jasmine from Confessions of a Cardamom Addict blog.

Hope you enjoy this episode. Be forewarned: it’s almost two full hours of unedited honesty about pitching stories to the blogosphere. Enjoy!

Inside PR Podcast screen capture

Firstly, if you’re in new media, social media, new marketing, publicity, or public relations, you need to subscribe to the Inside PR podcast. Secondly, before you continue embarrassing yourself professionally by using all the words you have been using incorrectly, you need to read through the Inside PRoper English archives. Seriously. You’re embarrassing yourself. The rest of this post is non-essential.

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