Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project, will describe the new media ecology and how “networked individuals” get, share and create information. This new environment has disrupted the old models of public relations and requires a new understanding of how information is passed through social media and networks and how influence is reconfigured when everyone is a publisher and a broadcaster.

1. The Future is Yesterday:
Public Relations in the Networked Era
Public Relations Society
September 20, 2012
Lee Rainie: Director, Pew Internet Project
Email: Lrainie@pewinternet.org
Twitter: @Lrainie
PewInternet.org

2. we need a tshirt, "I survived the
keynote disaster of 09"
“Tweckle (twek’ul) vt. To
abuse a speakerdon'tTwitter
it's awesome in the "I to want to
turn away from the accident because I
followers ain the audience
might see severed head" way
while he/she is speaking.”
too bad they took my utensils away w/
my plate. I could have jammed the
butter knife into my temple.
2

3. Digital Revolution 1: Broadband
Internet (85%) and Broadband at home (66%)

4. Networked creators among internet users
• 69% are social networking site users
• 59% share photos and videos
• 37% contribute rankings and ratings
• 33% create content tags
• 30% share personal creations
• 26% post comments on sites and blogs
• 15% have personal website
• 15% are content remixers
• 16% use Twitter
• 14% are bloggers
• … of smartphone owners, 18% share their locations;
74% get location info and do location sharing

5. Revolution 2: Mobile – 89% of adults
331.6
Total U.S.
population:
315.5
million
2011

6. Revolution 3: Social networking
59% of adults

7. New Reality 1) The world is full of networked
individuals using networked information
Image attribution: Flickrverse, Expanding Ever with New Galaxies Forming Cobalt123
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobalt/34248855/sizes/z/in/photostream/

8. New Reality 2) The is no high-tech secret sauce
for effective message content

9. New Reality 2) Corollaries
• Credibility is assessed through multiple filters
– Trusted information sources (including search engines)
– Personal beliefs/experiences
– Social networks
– Aggressive fact checking
• Yes, bad information hangs around, but it can be
attacked in several ways
– Recanting
– Better information, especially from multiple sources

10. New Reality 3) Mass-media megaphones still matter to
getting a story out, but new messaging opportunities
have emerged and new influencers can be identified
apps
David Edelman: “Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places,” Harvard Business Review
http://hbr.org/2010/12/branding-in-the-digital-age-youre-spending-your-money-in-all-the-wrong-places/ar/1

11. New Reality 4) Real-time, just-in-time,
“my time” messages/data are powerful

12. New Reality 5) Be findable … and
always be ready for your closeup
Gloria Swanson as “Norma Desmond” in Sunset Boulevard
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043014/

13. New Reality 6) There are stages of engagement
with audiences and each has a different weight
http://www.idealware.org/articles/engagement-pyramid-six-levels-connecting-people-and-social-change

14. New reality 6) Corollaries
• The social media space is a “fifth estate” with
a different civic sensibility
• Facebook is different from Twitter
• Social media users are semi-elite, they do not
represent everybody
• Lurkers matter as an audience that is watching
and assessing

15. New Reality 7) Influence is migrating from
organizations to networks and new “experts”
Traditional experts with
new platforms, esp. blogs
Amateur experts who are
avid contributors –
sometimes with tribes
New algorithmic authorities

16. New Reality 7) Corollaries
Social networks are more influential and are
differently segmented and layered
Sentries

17. New Reality 7) Corollaries
Social networks are more influential and are
differently segmented and layered
Evaluators

18. New Reality 7) Corollaries
Social networks are more influential and are
differently segmented and layered
Audience

19. New Reality 8) The flow of information has
changed – and so have people’s attention zones
• Continuous partial
attention to media
streams
• Immersion in deep
dives
• Info-snacking in free
moments

20. New Reality 9) All organizations are under more
scrutiny … transparency is a new marker of trust
Surveillance – powerful
watch the ordinary
Sousveillance – ordinary
watch powerful
Coveillance – peers stalk
peers

21. New Reality 10) The age of big data is upon us –
and will give new power to analytics

22. New Reality 11) Critical uncertainties remain
The architecture itself
Information policies
Social norms and attitudes

23. Eat food
Not too much
Mostly plants.
Eat pie.
Very good pie.
Not often.
Call Mom.
Let her talk.
Don’t argue.
Make promises.
Don’t break them.
Find loopholes.

24. Public Relations Rules - 1
Be unforgettable.
Engage the crowd.
Adjust accordingly.

25. Public Relations Rules - 2
Share ideas
On many platforms.
Listen hard.

26. Public Relations Rules - 3
Recruit influencers.
Distribute your stuff.
Go mobile.

27. Be not
afraid

28. Thank you!