Archive for the 'International Communications Strategy' Category

My 6 author copies of International Communications Strategy that I’ve been working on since November 2007 with my co-author Silvia Cambie arrived in the post today. After 18 months of hard work - involving research, writing, re-writing, editing and more - it’s very satisfying to finally hold the end product(s) in my hand. Even more so now that the book has also been nominated for the FT Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2009!

Posted via email from Yang-May’s posterous

I think the writers and book readers amongst you could find this behind-the-scenes process interesting in terms of seeing how the publishing world works and also, understanding the importance of a book title, whether in the fiction or non-fiction sector.

When I was writing my first novel, The Flame Tree, that was the working title I used and when I submitted it to Hodder & Stoughton, that was the title they went with. The flame tree is the central symbol of that novel and it also evokes the Asian setting of the book.

With my second novel, my working title was Mindgame but Hodder were not initially keen on it. I remember sitting down for days coming up with a list of over 30 different alternative titles in response to their feedback. In the end, they looked at my list of 30 something titles and came back to say that Mindgame was the best of the lot!

For the last year, my co-author Silvia Cambie and I have been using the working title New Trends in International Communications/ PR for the business book on cross-cultural communications that we’ve been writing. The title seemed to us to sum up what the book was about and whenever we talked about it to friends and people we met, they would nod in recognition and understanding so we wouldn’t have to go into a long-winded explanation.

Originally, our publisher Kogan Page were keen to ensure that the title included the words “Public Relations” but Silvia, an experienced business communicator, always preferred the word “Communications”. She explains that in the world of business communications, marketing and PR, “communications” is the wider expertise, of which marketing and PR are subsets and that a title that encompasses that wider context would have a wider audience. From my point of view, coming from the world of social media, I also prefer “communications” as, unfortunately, “PR” has a bad name in the online landscape, being associated with spin and hype without authenticity in the minds of bloggers.

So when we submitted the manuscript to our publisher Kogan Page, it was time to discuss the final title of the book in some detail. After some discussion about the issues around “communications” and “PR” with her marketing and editorial team, our editor came back agreeing with the choice of “communications.”

There was another issue, however, she told us. The problem was with “new trends.” The book is going to be published in July this year and the aim is to keep it in print with good sales over the foreseeable future. What is “new” now is not going to be new in a few years time. Similarly, what are “trends” now are likely to have become mainstream in time. But what we are writing about - the case studies, the concepts etc - which are the meat of the book will remain relevant for businesses and communicators because they have practical and useful applications beyond newness and trendiness. So the publishing team felt that the phrase “new trends” did not fully or accurately capture the thrust of the book.

So what to do? We batted some ideas back and forth in a series of emails and finally, we all agreed on the final title: International Communications Strategy: Developments in cross-cultural communications, PR and social media. We introduced the word “strategy” to capture the aspects of the book where we discuss how businesses can take advantage of developments in technology and cultural sensitivities. From the publishers point of view, the word also emphasise that the book is aimed at high-level executives within businesses and communications professionals who will need to be thinking strategically in today’s globalised world.

We have a publication date for the book!

I met with my co-author Silvia Cambie and our editor, Annie Knight, from Kogan Page earlier this week to discuss the next phase for the book now that we were nearing the end of the writing process. I’ve got one more substantive chapter and then I need to go through my manuscript and prepare a smooth second draft. Silvia has a couple more case studies and a chunk of final writing to do and we then both need to get together to write a concluding final chapter. We are due to submit the finished manuscript at the end of November. Based on that timescale, the publication date for the book is set for 3rd July 2009.

It was exciting to sit down together for the first time in several months with Annie and Silvia and really talk through the detail of the book. The last time we did so was back in the autumn of last year when the project first came together and our book proposal was accepted. At that stage, we had an outline of our ideas and argument for the book. Now, 9 months later, we’ve done a lot of research and interviewed many business people and communicators internationally as well as putting it all together into a coherent narrative and I think we have something that’s going to be really fresh and thought-provoking.

So what’s the book about? Well, the working title has so far been New Trends in International Public Relations. Silvia puts the case for the rise of the till now non-dominant cultures in global business and the need for cross-cultural engagement to be at the forefront of any enterprise that wants to make waves internationally. Her experience as a business communicator means that she has drawn together a range of case studies on leadership communication, corporate social responsibility and cross-cultural communications from all over the world. My sections on the rise of social media as a recognised communications tool complement her part of the book, taking the reader on an in-depth guided tour of the virtual cultural landscape of the interactive web. The web is another country - to misquote H. E. Bates - with a culture and etiquette of its own and to engage succesfully in that landscape, communicators need to do so understanding those “rules” of engagement.

We may be tweaking the title of the book to New Trends in International Communications, which reflects more accurately the breadth of the content. If we do, it’ll play havoc with all my links and the URL for my research wiki - rats! But it’s important to get the title right so it’s a small price to pay to have to go back and reset my links etc… Stay tuned and I’ll let you know.

In the couple of months leading up to publication, we’ll be getting review and advance copies to send out to reviewers and also to take with us on speaking engagements at conferences etc. We’ll also be talking to the Marketing Executive in more detail about opportunities for promoting the book in the traditional real world way. We also hope to be able to offer additional online resources to our readers, perhaps via this blog and/ or the Kogan Page website eg links to the source material for my social media chapters, verbatim text from interviews, background research materials etc.

So, starting next week, my “honeymoon” is over and it’s back to hard work on the book to write the last chapter….

Do you have any ideas or suggestions for us about promoting the book? If you’re a writer or publisher, has there been a particular strategy that has worked well - or not so well? If you’re a reader, what kinds of activities would invite you take notice of our book - and even buy a copy…

Ever since the start of this year, I’ve been working like mad on my third book, the business book on New Trends in International Public Relations. It’s been fascinating exploring the web in search of great examples of how businesses and individuals are using blogs and other social media and also making contact with bloggers and others to interview them for their views and experiences of using social media tools for communications. But it’s been very “full on” and exhausting as I’ve been working on the book at weekends and on my days off as well as following up contacts in the evenings after work or during my lunch hour. I’ve now got one more chapter - the rounding up and final views chapter - before I finish the first draft.

So I’m taking a break from the book for the next couple of months.

I’m really enjoying having the time to do a bit more of my own blogging, which I’ve neglected somewhat due to all my time being taken up with the book. I’ve also got into reading books again - having spent almost a year, maybe more, reading blogs, newspapers and magazines to keep my finger on the pulse of what’s going on in fast-moving world of social media. What books I have read related almost entirely to blogging, marketing and social media so I’m really enjoying indulging my eclectic and varied taste again. I’ve recently finished the e-book version of 1968: The Year That Rocked the World, a social history of that tumultous year and an audiobook of 1776: America and Britain at War, a history of the critical year of the American Revolution and I am currently reading Steven Pinker’s The Stuff of Thought:: Language as a Window into Human Nature (Penguin Press Science), about how our use of language reveals the way we view or construct the world. And my poor garden that has been unloved for so long is finally getting some love and attention - it’s been great getting out there, pruning and chopping and mucking around in the dirt, getting it looking tidy and lovely again.

Hopefully, the break will give me perspective on what I’ve written so far and help me with forming my conclusion for the upcoming final chapter. It’ll also mean that I can go back to the book refreshed and rested and ready for the next stage, which is reviewing and editing the first draft into a more publishable form. After that is stage three, which is to review with my co-author Silvia Cambie both my parts of the book and hers and work with her to sew the patchwork of the two manuscripts into one cohesive whole, ready to be delivered to our publisher, Kogan Page, in November.

Photo: thanks to Gianluca Neri from flickr.com (CCL)

The following forms part of the book I am co-authoring with Silvia Cambie on New Trends in International Public Relations. This follows on from the sections on the Commercialization of the Web and Computers Get Personal, which I have also posted on this blog.

The text is a verbatim section from the book and the links are set out at the bottom of this post as footnotes rather than embedded links. The text is copyrighted and all rights are reserved.

Connection speed is the other significant factor in the online revolution. Connecting to the internet from the mid-1990s to around 2003 was generally via a dial-up modem and a telephone line. Connection speed was slow and the cost meant that most people used it for email primarily and only surfed during off-peak periods. For the average user, sustained video and audio interaction was practically impossible.

And then along came broadband.

The broadband story is similar across the globe, with the amount of take-up by consumers being directly linked to availability and cost. In 2002, broadband connection in the UK promising 40 times the connection speed of regular dial-up cost £55 a month, plus an additional set up fee and the cost of a broadband modem. By 2007, it was down to around £18 a month and became available nationally. By 2005, broadband connections outstripped dial-up and by 2007, 60% of UK households had broadband[i].

Across the European Union. 25% of all households were connected to the internet via broadband by 2006[ii]. In Asia (excluding Japan), a survey of internet usage in 2006 revealed that “broadband access continues to have a major impact on consumers lives” with the highest broadband usage being in Korea, closely followed by Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Th iland and China[iii].

In 2007, Hong Kong came top in a survey of the best cities in Asia for getting a broadband connection due to robust competition and web-enabled mobile phones[iv]. In India, the home broadband market is growing while internet café access is slowing, with 23 million home users accessing the internet via broadband during 2007[v]. In South Africa, business leaders and communicators there have indicated to us that the lack of cheap, universal broadband is a factor in the slow growth of online engagement.

When considering your web strategy across borders, it is crucial to assess the range and cost of internet connectivity not just for businesses but for personal users. But there are also other factors which are likely to be relevant, such as language and literacy. Take India, for example. We think of it as a country where English is universally spoken. It is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of the East, especially with tech-savvy, internationally well-known entrepreneurs like Sabeer Bhatia[vi] returning home to develop internet-based businesses over there. As we mentioned, growing personal affluence is enabling 23 million Indians to purchase computers for the home. But dig a little deeper and there are other factors in play that will be relevant for your communications strategy there. There are still just over 18 million internet café users, indicating that cost remains an issue. Also, for every Sabeer Bhatia, out of India’s of over 1 billion people, only 52 % are literate. And for those who can read, there is little online content available in India’s many local languages[vii].

It may be that you are only aiming to reach the population who can read and write English in their own homes, as they will be the most affluent and attractive target demographic. If so, then your web strategy may not look all that different from one for any other affluent, literate, English speaking market. But if you are aiming to reach those beyond that group, you may need to think beyond English or even text-based content – and perhaps beyond online communications to mobile outreach or you may have to stick to good old-fashioned travelling roadshows[viii].

In general across the globe, however, cheap, universal broadband has been a significant factor in evolving our relationship with the internet from the specialised domain of geeks to an always open window in our households that lets us reach out to the world out there. As we will see, in particular, there is a close correlation between the growth of broadband in the Asia-Pacific and the rise of social media engagement in that region, with a number of countries such as South Korea, China, Singapore and Malaysia topping the charts of worldwide blog readers and blog creators[ix].

Photo: thanks to Edward B. from flickr.com (CCL)

Following my post about the Commercialization of the Web, which forms part of the book I am co-authoring with Silvia Cambie on New Trends in International Public Relations, here is the section from the book that outlines the rise of the personal computer.

The text is a verbatim section from the book and the links are set out at the bottom of this post as footnotes rather than embedded links. The text is copyrighted and all rights are reserved.

Computers Get Personal

The evolution of technology is a mega-trend today that no business can ignore. A brief tour of the evolution of computers illustrates the importance of keeping your eye on technological developments.

In 1948, IBM´s Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator, which was to calculate the position of the moon for the 1969 Apollo mission to the moon, took up floor space of 25 feet by 40 feet. In 1951, the computer for the US Census Bureau was one of the early commercial computers and it took up 943 cubic feet, selling at US $1million each plus US $185,000 for a high speed printer. By 1968, the cost of a computer was down to US $8,000 with Data General Corp’s Nova which was the size of small writing bureau.[i]

In 1975, the MITS Altair 8800 could be bought by computer hobbyists from Popular Electronics magazine for US $395 as a kit or US $495 pre-assembled[ii]. The next year, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs created Apple 1, which sold at just over US $600[iii]. In 1981, Radio Shack’s TRS-82 Model III retailed for US $699. By now, computers were housed in boxes that could be used on a normal office desk and had the shape and set up that we are familiar with today. There is a screen and keyboard and a joystick for navigation. Software came via cassette tape, which was beginning to be replaced by the floppy drive. The data appeared as text or figures and there were no graphics. While available for consumer purchase, it was still the math and science geeks who were the main market demographic for these personal computers.

In 1984, the first Apple Macintosh appeared, with a graphical interface – ie the data could be accessed by activating icons on the screen and navigation was by way of a device called a “mouse”[iv]. At around the same time, Microsoft released the first version of Windows, its own graphical interface sitting on top of MS-DOS, the text-based version of Microsoft software used by most computer manufacturing companies at that time, including IBM and Compaq[v].

By the mid-1990s, you were also getting more bang for your buck when it came to computer processing chips with Intel unveiling its Pentium chip at under US $1,000[vi]. While business and industry had been using computers for decades, plummeting costs, greater processing power and increased ease of use meant that for the first time, it made sense for the public to buy a computer for personal use. People were becoming used to computers from their work environment. It was a natural transition to getting a computer for home use. PCs, as personal computers soon came to be called, were also fun – computer games loaded by CD-ROM became a serious contender to TV-based consoles in 1994[vii]. With PCs arriving in many homes bundled with Internet Explorer for access to the internet, Outlook Express for email and a host of other useful (eg Calendar, Paint and CD-ROMs packed with dictionaries and encyclopedias) and not-so-useful applications (eg Minesweeper and Solitaire games), our personal relationship with our home computers as a source of productivity, fun, information and communication truly began.

In 1995, there were 50 million personal computers sold globally.[viii] By 2000, computer sales in China alone were growing faster than any market in the world, with 4.1 million PCs bought in that one country during the second quarter[ix]. Now in the first decade of the 21^st century, there are over 257 million personal computers sold worldwide[x] and sales are likely to increase over the next few years, in particular of laptops and other mobile computing equipment as affordability, performance and wireless access improve. Gartner, the IT consultants, calculate that emerging markets made up 70% of the growth in overall computer sales and projected that laptop sales during 2008 would grow by 11%. They are confident that a looming global recession would not slow sales[xi]. Experts elsewhere in the industry also seem to agree that mobile computing will bring the next wave of growth for the sector. Loren Loverde, the Director of data firm IDC’s PC Tracker, says, “It will be increasingly important for PC vendors to have a strong portable offering to stay competitive as the market continues its rapid shift to mobile computing.”[xii]

It took 30 years for computers to evolve from military and government use via business and industry to become affordable for a limited geek market, with prices dropping from US $1,000,000 to stabilise around US $700. But from the 1970s onwards, major developments in processing power, size and ease of use surged ahead in leaps and bounds. And with each technological leap and bound, we adapted the way we communicate, relate and work. Even as some businesses are only now thinking about getting their first website (and there are quite a few of those still around), the market is already surging ahead towards online social media and mobile communications. For anyone engaged in business nowadays, it is critical to keep one eye on the latest technological and communications advances if you don’t want to be left behind.

I blogged awhile back about my research into the history of the web for the book I am co-authoring with Silvia Cambie on New Trends in International Public Relations. During the Christmas break, I’ve been working on the introductory chapter, developing my research into a coherent story. It starts with Tim Berners-Lee developing the first website in 1991, building on my blog post on that subject. But to get from the first website, a visually unexciting collection of text pages to the social media space of Web 2.0 that we have today is a huge leap.

So I’ve been trying to identify the milestones on the journey from 1991 through to the present day. How did an academic research tool come to change the world?

The key events for this story came together during the mid- to late 1990s.

It was all very well having websites but the processes and technology needed access them in the early days were still complex and time consuming and you needed to understand computer programming language to boot - not the best formula for viral take-up by the public. What was needed was a web browser that was cheap and easy to use. There were a number of attempts within academic and research institutes but the one that really took off was Mosaic developed in 1993 at the University of Illinois by Eric Bina and Marc Andreessen. Andreessen then went on to partner up with Jim Clark, former chairman of Silicon Graphics Inc and together they created the Netscape browser, which they gave away to consumers for free via download from the internet. This was the breakthrough browser that brought the World Wide Web to the world outside of academia and research and for a brief moment in history, it looked like Netscape would dominate the way we accesses the internet.

But they had not reckoned on Microsoft. Late in the day - 1995 - Bill Gates realised that his company was missing a trick by chasing interactive television as the next big thing and wrote his now famous “Internet Tidal Wave” memo. It was a clarion call to Microsoft that they could no longer ignore this internet thingy. Within a few months, they were able to bundle the first Internet Explorer browser with their latest Windows software, Windows 95. In just over a year after that, Microsoft overtakes Netscape as the winner of the browser wars with a third of the the market share.

Once Microsoft, with its existing dominance of the overall computer software market, had got in on the game, it was just a matter of time before the web would become mainstream, with access to the internet bundled into every PC that was bought for business or home use and developing products like FrontPage and Publisher, alongside Word that could easily create and upload webpages onto the net. Another bundled product, Outlook Express gave us the means for fast, electronic messaging while Microsoft Messenger offered us instant messaging.

It became so easy to publish a website, send an email, IM someone. It was at this point that the computer started to become an integral part of our daily lives - beyond word-processing, beyond spreadsheets, beyond CD-ROM games: beyond our individual selves. When it became a tool that gave us the ability to reach out beyond our individual studies and households to others out there in the world, that, to me, is when the age of the internet truly began.

Coming up in future posts: how computers got personal and the need for speed.

Photo: thanks to CommandShift3 and Zapfino from flickr.com (CCL)

Following on from my posts about the use of online video during the Australian elections and how blogs and Facebook are being used in Africa for political debate, I’ve also explored how blogs in particular have impacted on Singapore’s political scene recently.

Political blogs banned in Singapore during elections

During the elections in Singapore, the People’s Action Party (PAP) - Singapore’s ruling party since 1958 - banned online discussions during the campaign period, according to The Internet in Asia blog writing in May 2006. The article also includes a very useful link to other online articles about the ban of political blogs, podcasts and discussions online in Singapore.

The blog reports in June 2006 that bloggers and journalists tried to engage with the government to allow responsible political blogging:

“Singaporean bloggers and journalists have suggested that the government should engage with new media , instead of regulating it- as the blogosphere can regulate itself - for example, websites that feature wild, baseless accusations or irresponsible content will soon lose their readership and credibility, as readers move to other websites and that unfair criticisms will likely draw counter-arguments, sparing the original writer the need to respond to every comment. However, they also acknowledged the importance of bloggers being mindful of existing laws, and not breaking them. Popular bloggers Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi provided an example - the use of their slogan “prison got no broadband ” as an effort to educate bloggers on the importance of following existing rules.”

There was also some breast-beating over an audio parody sketch that may or may not have had a political agenda. The anxiety over this issue is quite a contrast to the Australian approach to their recent elections - most of the videos about the elections were satirical, irreverent and outspoken.

Unfortunately, this excellent blog from the Singapore Internet Research Centre seems to have given up the ghost around February this year so I will have to look elsewhere for the latest trends in Singapore’s uneasy relationship with political blogging.

If you’re based in Singapore, it would be great to hear your views about this issue. Since July 2006, has the government been more open to political debate online via blogs and podcasts? Do you think online debate of political or civic issues helpful to Singapore or unhelpful? Let me know by adding a comment or emailing me using the Contact form above.

Picture: thanks to news.bbc.co.uk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post and others in the category New Trends in International Public Relations is part of my research project for the book of the same name that I am co-authoring with business communications expert, Silvia Cambie. I am focusing on the social media aspects while she is working on the wider public relations issues.

To find out more about my research for this book, see my book wiki.

To see who has contributed to my research for the book, take a look at my Contributors List.

If you can help with my research for the book, please contact me via the book wiki contact link or email me via this blog.

Having researched the way that Australians were using social media (mainly videos) in the lead-up to the recent Australian elections (won by Kevin Rudd) and how the American presidential candidates are handling online engagement, I’m also looking into how social media is being used in the Africa political arena.

Political blogs in Africa

Africa is a huge continent and I cannot hope to cover all of it in the short book that we are working on. However, I am aiming to llook at a selection of countries to see how social media is being used there for political debate.

This is what I’ve found so far:

In Burkina Faso, journalist Ramata Sore writes (on Global Voices) in her article “Blogs Help Burkinabe Skirt Censorship”:

“In a country where there is still so much secrecy, blogs free minds. In a country where censorship reigns and traditional media live in the shadow of power, bloggers are often the only real journalists. They are the only ones who can publish information offensive to the government.”

However, on a politically sensitive anniversay, the government cut internet connections to silence bloggers. Sore gives the details: “…from October 11th to the 17th, during the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso’s internet connection was cut in order to prevent those commemorating the assassination from making their voices heard.”

In South Africa, the current political hot issue is the ANC succession with the current ANC president (and President of the country) Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Jacob Zuma as the main contenders. It has been reported that there are 59 Facebook groups where the succession debate is being argued out.

The Facebook group “Help us stop Jacob Zuma becoming South Africa’s next president” has 31,529 members at the time of writing. Its wall has over 5,000 postings. To promote the group, they even have an official Zuma Group ring tone….

The Thabo Mbeki Facebook groups seem less popular with the highest membership at 227 members (”Buy Mbeki a Brain“).

Since businessman Cyril Ramaphosa emerged as an alternative, there have been two Facebook groups supporting him with 71 members and 19 members respectively.

I am curious to know how effective these groups are likely to be in impacting on the succession. Is this a new form of mobilization that is going to be the equivalent of the old-fashioned door-stepping of voters to sway them in the final voting? Or is it just a lot of hot air (hot postings?) with no real impact on the real world? Are you a South African or a Facebook aficionado - what do you think?

Are there other ways that Africans are using social media eg video, blogs, podcasts etc for political debate or protest? Please share any links or thoughts you have by adding a comment or emailing me using the Contact form above.

Pictures: thanks to news.bbc.co.uk, anc.org.za

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post and others in the category New Trends in International Public Relations is part of my research project for the book of the same name that I am co-authoring with business communications expert, Silvia Cambie. I am focusing on the social media aspects while she is working on the wider public relations issues.

To find out more about my research for this book, see my book wiki.

To see who has contributed to my research for the book, take a look at my Contributors List.

If you can help with my research for the book, please contact me via the book wiki contact link or email me via this blog.

The Australians are not known for their reticence or their polite turns of phrases. With the Australian General Elections coming up, the Ozzies have taken their outspoken and vigorous style of public debate online. Videos on YouTube and other platforms have been the media of choice with shows by established satirical magazines like The Daily Grind and The Ministry of Truth alongside clips by outspoken individuals. The political parties have also taken to the e-waves with their own channels on YouTube.

Here is a quick romp through the Ozzie political videoscape:

Government supported satire

The satirical The Ministry of Truth has uploaded an episode on their Ning-based online platform. The video features sketches laughing at the obsession with Australianness. The sketch about the Australian barbie made me laugh out loud (possible because I’d make a good Ozzie carnivore if I weren’t already British).

It’s striking that the show is sponsored by the Queensland Government Arts Board. I can’t imagine an Asian government sponsoring this kind of satirical show on their national channels.

Party Political Broadcasts

The Australian Labor Party has its own YouTube channel. The only problem with their very slick videos is that - well, they are very slick. They feature actors playing “ordinary” Australians talking about their “lives” and negative “responses” to John Howard’s statement that “Australians have never been better off”. The series of videos are all typical party political broadcast style ads that don’t sit very well on YouTube where the millions of other user-generated videos are have more quirky, spontaneous content. Take a look at this one featuring a “housewife”:

I reckon they would be more credible interviewing a few real people with all the “ums” and “ers” and a less slick presentation.

Amateurs join the fray

This one is a satirical song featuring Elvis and animated collages of the main electoral candidates John Howard and Kevin Rudd by someone(s?) called Captain Rant and the Knee Jerk Reactions. I couldn’t find out much more about them on the net - so if you know who they are and what else they’ve done, let me know by adding a comment.

There are plenty more satirical videos of this nature on YouTube - try typing in the candidates names in the search box and then follow links and related videos to explore them for yourself.

What is impressive is the standard of the animation and satire - although many are made by amateur film-makers they are pretty watchable and also clever and funny. They seem to be made by people who are older than the usual teenagers who populate user-generated spaces like these and who have a message they want to get across. The tone is also particularly Australian, I think - there’s no earnestness in these videos though clearly many of the creators feel strongly about their nation and the issues being debated and their irreverent humour and wit is what really comes across. In contrast, the American presidential debate currently taking place online is much more serious and earnest with bloggers - rather than film-makers - taking the lead.

The year of social media

2007 seems to be the year for social media to be taken seriously in the political arena, from what we’ve seen in America and now in Australia. This will be increasingly common around the world and will no longer be “news” in itself. I think that social media has the potential to engage populations in political debate in a fresh way and hopefully, this will mean less apathy and more involvement in the electoral process. In particular, peer-to-peer discussion and debate may prove to be a very powerful way for drawing otherwise uninterested citizens into the issues.

I am also currently exploring the use of social media for political debate in Asia and Africa and will be blogging about that in the future.

What do you think? If you’re an Australian, have these videos made you more interested in the elections and/ or politics?

Share your thoughts and add a comment.

Other resources

For a great review of other satiricial videos about the Australian elections, you can check out Australia’s ABC Radio National’s Street Stories podcast. Their show notes page also gives a list of links to various film-makers featured in their programme such as Shan Jayaweera who uses John Howard and Kevin Rudd puppets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post and others in the category New Trends in International Public Relations is part of my research project for the book of the same name that I am co-authoring with business communications expert, Silvia Cambie. I am focusing on the social media aspects while she is working on the wider public relations issues.

To find out more about my research for this book, see my book wiki.

To see who has contributed to my research for the book, take a look at my Contributors List.

If you can help with my research for the book, please contact me via the book wiki contact link or email me via this blog.