Big blog kerfuffle over the social media press release.
Short story: Panel to discuss in San Francisco last week, including Shel Holtz and Chris Heuer. Stowe Boyd attends, writes critical post. Robert Scoble chimes in against press release. Lots of people comment.
As readers here know, I don’t have any problem with press releases, old or new format, as long as the PR people do the real job of crafting well written and newsworthy announcements without BS. The press release and other materials created for announcements are just the documentation of the story. They aren’t the story.
However, I do want to comment on one aspect of the linguistic nit-picking that has crept into this disagreement, and that is the word "audience." Just exactly what is so wrong about talking about the audience?
When we tell a story, whether to a friend, a colleague, a journalist or a neighbor, in person or on a blog, to one person or many, we should always think about them. What are they interested in, how will this story be more compelling to them, how can I make this a better story for the person/people who are listening, what parts of the story will make them want to participate, pass it on, and so on.
And guess what! Not all people are interested in all stories. Everyone doesn’t participate in every conversation, online or off. It helps us tell a better story when we think about the people who are most interested in it, and tell it for them. Telling it for them is what makes them want to chime in.
So, I suppose we could advise people to frame their stories, their blogs, their outreach to best reach "the people who are most interested in it." Or we could just get over ourselves and understand that "the people who are most interested in a story" are the audience for the story. Doesn’t mean they are passive. Doesn’t mean they don’t participate. Doesn’t mean we are simply talking to or at them, not with them. Doesn’t mean we aren’t part of our own audience — we are.
Just means they are the ones who care.
Well said…
Nice post, Susan. At Third Thursday, Stowe and I had an impassioned, yet friendly, discussion about the term “audience”, with him arguing (I’m paraphrasing here) that it’s an outdated term representing one-sided communication, and me arguing that the term has evolved to include two-way communication that recognizes the importance, value, and contribution of all parties. Something like that. I don’t think we’re on opposite sides here, just getting hung up on terminology.
Thanks for the comments. I wasn’t there of course, so can only go by what folks have written.
Stowe’s post seems to indict PR folks as much due to terminology as actions. The word audience is used as a prime example for all that PR and marketing types get wrong.
I agree with you – I think the word has evolved and is just as good as any other to describe ”the people who care about what we are talking about and want to talk about it with us.” In far fewer syllables.
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If anything, this conversation demonstrates why the blogosphere (and most importantly, people) will chew-up and spit-out traditional PR and corporate marketing types
The reason they don’t like the word “audience” is because blog evangelism runs off of deceiving people that what they say matters, of fooling them that they have influence. This is a careful constructed fantasy, and “audience”, like “working class” or “proletariat”, is a bad word for fantasy.
Hi Susan,
I’ve been catching up on all the reading on this little flap and find it a bit weird–considering the whole phrase of “the people formerly known as the audience” as it was used by Jay Rosen, had to do with the “audience” of newspapers and media talking back via blogs and other means of self-publishing.
It had, originally, I believe, little to do with how to reach “the audience” but more along the like of how to deal with the audience finally talking back…
Two different concepts, I think.
The whole thing is just a West Coast tech-guy flare-up with no bearing whatsoever on the real world.
Seriously, some of these blog evangelists need to quit going to over-hyped conferences and just spend some time in Kansas with regular folk.
Thanks for all the comments folks.
Tish, I’m not sure how Jay Rosen meant it, as I have not read the “source post” however, the feeling I got from Stowe’s initial post was that the word was something of a blunt object with which to bash PR folk.
John, I agree with you that all this has little bearing on the real world, except it does of course take the focus away from what I consider the real problems in PR, among them crappy writing and poorly targeted outreach. The press release is the LEAST of our worries and really, not that important. Or at least it shouldn’t be.
But there’s no harm in making it more “webby” for those that want releases, and in that form. Which is why I applaud from the sidelines at the social media press release efforts and instead focus on getting on with business.
I was thinking that once upon a time before the web, oh say 20 years ago. Public speakers used to talk to to an audience, and the audience participated. Audiences have been around a long time, and it used to be they participated in a discussion. Maybe the issue was that during the 20th century it was difficult to participate in mass media.
Audience was around before the mass media. Somehow I think audiences will survive social media.
Another audience now within social media releases: search engines. Adding tags, anchor text and titles, keywords, etc. It becomes a part of larger strategy integrating PR within search engine marketing initiatives. In a way, this is one audience that can be influenced by what you write.
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PR is all about engaging target audiences. Those who don’t get this fundamental fact shouldn’t be in the biz. Full Stop.
I didn’t get the memo. Seriously, I’m a senior majoring in PR and I have never heard that using the word “audience” was an issue. I believe that we are directing information towards an “audience.” There is usually a certain group of people, for example consumers, that we are trying to reach whether it be through a press release given to journalists or a campaign. One of the very first steps we’ve learned to take when creating a campaign is “defining your target audience.” If the people we’re reaching in PR aren’t an audience, what are they?