“So what’s your Twitter name? We really need Twitter name tags! These Thai fish cakes are good”. Yep, this is what happens when fellow Twitterers amass and actually meet in person.
Last night the media and social networking enthusiasts gathered, listened and nodded at Network PR’s first ‘Tweet-Up’ party, held at the Gow Langsford Gallery in Auckland.
And the message: embrace, or be left behind.
First up, social media strategist Stephen Collins, expressed the power and significance of the internet and social media.
“This stuff is really important; half the planet is connected to the internet, so it’s an incredibly important and powerful space to understand, and an incredibly important place to be part of.”
But isn’t new media a threat to traditional media?
“Traditional media are facing some issues, and it looks like their ‘patch’ is being threatened. It’s not threatened. All media have to live and behave in a way that complements each other”.
So…what’s so special about new media?
“The way it offers an opportunity to see very immediately what’s going on, and when it’s going on from the person that’s experiencing the event.”
Collins says new media should not be treated as a threat to traditional journalism as they both need each other.
“We absolutely still need the traditional media for depth, analysis, to generate understanding, and to communicate this to people who aren’t online.”
Julie Starr was heavily involved in changing the face of the UK’s Daily Telegraph newsroom to integrate the internet with print operations. She says the writing was on the wall.
“We did some numbers and looked ten years into the future and thought ‘if we don’t do this now and figure this out – we’re gonna be dead”.
“The trouble is we don’t buy newspapers like we used to. Partly because of the internet and partly due to lifestyle” says Julie.
“Instead of worrying about the future of journalism, keep it simple, keep it to the information.”
And just how powerful is Twitter as a marketing tool? Well it depends how you use it.
“I was on Twitter after receiving my Vodafone bill, venting views in a public forum. This went on until Vodafone joined Twitter, responded to my vent and fixed my problem. Now instead of badmouthing Vodafone I say how they did a great thing on Twitter”
The event was clearly a success. Among the crowd, Mark Sainsbury, the deputy Editor of The Sunday Star Times and a good turn out from 3 News.
So what is the point of all this hyper-connectivity? Social networking is allowing us to receive more news and opinion, faster and more effectively than ever before.
3 News