Il y a des moments, comme ça, sur Twitter, lorsqu’un gazouillis résonne plus fort que les autres. C’est le cas, pour moi, aujourd’hui, avec ce sentiment exprimé en 140 caractères par Nadia Seraiocco qui, comme moi, blogue généralement sur les médias sociaux.
Depuis un certain temps, comme vous l’avez peut-être constaté, ça ne me tente plus, moi non plus. Je néglige mon blogue. Comme Nadia, j’ai moi aussi un peu de difficulté à bloguer sur les médias sociaux et la communication avec tout ce qui se passe au Québec … et au Canada.
Comme le démantèlement de Droits et Démocratie par le gouvernement Harper … et les changements chez l’ACDI qui font en sorte que certaines compagnies pétrolières de l’Alberta reçoivent davantage pour leurs programmes de Responsabilité sociale des entreprises (CSR en anglais) que certains OSBL qui militent pour les droits humains depuis des décennies. Et on ne parle pas ici des coupures annoncées dans le budget Flaherty;
Je me dis que je devrais justement en profiter pour présenter une analyse des moyens de pression que les groupes exercent via les médias sociaux. Ce blogue est censé, après tout, prendre un virage plutôt Affaires publiques 2.0.
Mais je n’y arrive pas. Je passe mon temps à partager des liens via Facebook et Twitter dans l’espoir de sensibiliser et de mobiliser mon réseau … dans l’espoir qu’ils soient aussi outrés que moi. Je me réfugie sur mon blogue Images de femmes, qui semble avoir plus de mérite en ce moment.
Quand ta mère de 70 ans te dit : tu devrais lancer une campagne Facebook pour contrer telle ou telle décision gouvernementale ou injustice sociale, tu te dis que c’est vrai que les médias sociaux ne connaissent plus d’âge.
Quand ta passion pour les médias sociaux te semble soudainement vide de sens, tu te dis qu’il est temps de passer à l’acte. Vous me pardonnerez, alors, si je continue à négliger ce blogue. J’ai un Québec à changer.
La beauté de lancer un mot-clic (#rep2300) dans le cadre d’un cours d’introduction aux relations de presse: non seulement on peut communiquer avec nos élèves (tous obligatoirement sur Twitter) mais on apprend d’eux, 140 caractères à la fois.
Le bijou du jour, gracieuseté de @priseilliaL, qui se doute peut-être que son prof a un faible pour l’histoire. Combinaison gagnante, alors:
Les RELATIONS PUBLIQUES commencent dès l’Antiquité
49 Av. J.-C. : JULES CESAR envoie les rapports de ses exploits guerriers dans un journal quotidien intitulé : ACTA DIURNA
1066 La 1ère infographie au monde : la Tapisserie de Bayeux relate la conquête normande de l’Angleterre
17ème siècle : Église Catholique crée la “Congrégation de la propagande” pour la “propagation” de la Foi
19ème siècle : Naissance des Relations Publiques
1807 Thomas Jefferson : Premier à utiliser le terme « Relations Publiques » dans un discours devant le congrès américain
1889 Westinghouse crée le 1er département RP pour rivaliser avec General Electrics de Thomas Edison dans la « Guerre des Courants ». VICTOIRE du courant alternatif qui s’impose comme le standard
1897 L’Annuaire des chemins de fer américains. Pour la première fois, les RP sont utilisées pour gérer la communication entre une organisation et le public. Naissance des Corporate PR
1900 « The Publicity Bureau » : la première agence de Relations Publiques
Les années 1900 – 1920 voient l’arrivée des « Grands hommes » des RP
1906 Ivy L. Lee crée le premier COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE officiel pour aider le chemin de fer de Pensylvanie à COMMUNIQUER sur un accident ferroviaire
Son « public statement » est publié par The New York Times
Les années 20 marquent le passage d’une culture du BESOIN à une culture du DESIR
1924 Basil Clarke introduit le « British Code of Ethics » en Angleterre. Mène une campagne pour que soit inscrit « déconseillé aux nourrissons » sur le lait écrémé importé (pour le compte des producteurs de lait pasteurisé) S’oppose à l’utilisation des colorants nocifs dans les aliments en conserve pour le compte de HEINZ
1929 Krach de Wall Street Les Relations Publiques deviennent primordiales
Edward L. Bernays fait de la cigarette le symbole de la libération de la femme. il organise à NY un défilé de jolies femmes fumant « les torches de la liberté »
Il convainc l’opinion publique que la bière est une alternative saine aux alcools forts
1938 De Beers « Les diamants sont éternels » Campagne pour associer les diamants à la romance. Hausse des ventes de plus de 40%
1941 Après l’attaque sur Pearl Harbour Coca Cola persuade le Département américain de la Guerre que son soda est crucial à l’effort de guerre. Chaque homme en uniforme a une bouteille de Coca Cola pour 5 cents. Résultat : 5 milliards de bouteilles consommées pendant la guerre
1948 L’Institut des Relations Publiques est fondé
1949 « Public Relations and Publicity » de J. H. Brebner est publié. Premier livre britannique avec « Public Relations » dans son titre
Les années 50. La globalisation des RP. Les pionniers John Hill & Harold Burson
Burson crée son entreprise en 1953… En 2001 Burson-Marsteller pèse plus de 259 millions de dollars de chiffre d’affaires et compte plus de 2000 employés dans 34 pays
Les années 60 : Émergence d’organismes professionnels à travers l’Europe pour représenter les agences de RP
1969 : Le PRCA en Angleterre
1982 : ASSOREL en Italie
1988 : Le SYNTEC CONSEIL EN RELATIONS PUBLIQUES en France
1992 : ADECEC en Espagne
AUJOURD’HUI
l’ICCO : :Regroupe plus de 1 500 entreprises à travers le monde.
D’après l’ICCO, les médias sociaux et la communication digitale représentent la plus forte source de croissance pour les relations publiques.
Les années 1990 : Brian Solis, prédit qu’Internet transformera les relations publiques. Il invente le terme PR 2.0
2008 : Deirdre Breakenridge publie son livre PR 2.0. ce libre décrit comment les médias sociaux ont cimenté la nouvelle approche : la place du « public » dans les relations publics…
We’re recording the world around us. The cameras in our iPhones (et al.) make it easy.
Case in point, the protests which continue in Egypt following the events of this past year’s Arab Spring. Video of the « Girl in the Blue Bra » has ignited reactions from around the world, including comments by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, as quoted by The Daily Telegraph:
Recent events in Egypt have been particularly shocking. Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago (…) This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonours the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people.
Shot by an amateur videographer from a rooftop, this footage is only one of the thousands of videos which have emerged from what has been dubbed the Arab Spring. In a country like Egypt, where mobile phone penetration is at 91%, a camera phone is a powerful communications tool which becomes a weapon in the protester’s arsenal.
While, according to YouTube’s own year-end top 10 list, most Canadians were watching videos of cats, babies and Rebecca Black in 2011, hundreds of protesters were documenting events in their cities and sharing them online. While most are viewed only by a small number, lost in the sea of YouTube videos, some, like that of the Girl in the Blue Bra, touch a particular cord and spread, much as the video of the death of Neda Agha-Soltan had during the Iranian protests of 2009.The moving image remains a powerful thing. It’s even more powerful when coupled with a platform like Facebook and its network of « friends ». Simply by clicking on a share button, we can express our outrage on our Facebook profile. And our 130 Facebook friends can hear about it.
Arab spring. The Occupy Movement. Each now with their iconicvideos.
When Jack Layton passed away, I decided to postpone publication of this blog post to pay tribute to him. The positive reaction that my 500th blog post garnered reinforced the notion that social media in general and blogs in particular are a wonderful way for me, as an individual, to connect in meaningful ways with other members of my tribe. Thank you for everyone who took the time to write and speak to me about what I’d written.
In that 500th blog post, I alluded to the fact that I was going to change the direction this blog has been taking for the past 4 years. When I first launched this social-media-for-PR blog in January of 2007, there were only 2other PR bloggers in Quebec. I had been excited about the possibilities social media opened up for our industry and our clients for a few years by then, and was eager to share and discuss my discoveries with my PR tribe.
Mission accomplished. Far from single-handedly, mind you! Along with many other early adopters and social media zealots, I’ve managed to convince a colleague or two to take a look at social media for PR and I’m pleased with the inroads that have been made. We’ve been joined by the industry mainstream and social media is taking root in the Quebec PR landscape. There now are dozens of Quebec-based blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Google+ profiles and LinkedIn Groups – not to mention Third Tuesdays, Camps and other events – available to Quebec PR types hungry to stay abreast of the latest developments in social media.
I’ve written hundreds of blog posts presenting social media case studies, tools and best practices for PR professionals. Now, many more voices have joined and there’s a wealth of information out there. It’s fantastic.
And it’s why I’m now able to shift gears.
I’m going to start concentrating less on the tools and innovations, and more on the impact social media and the Internet in general is having on society, on tribes, on individuals. You’ll see less of this and more of this and of this. And you’ll probably hear more about tribes than you ever thought possible. I may just have to rename this blog …
I also intend to focus more on the public affairs side of PR, moving away from where social media seems to have found an easy and natural fit – marketing communications. So no more brand name case studies. There are other great blogs for that kind of thing. I want to take a look at how lobby groups – whether corporate or grassroots – are leveraging social media to effect political and social change.
Fifth gear: Lowest power, highest speed. Used for high speed cruising on dual carriageways, motorways and other such open roads.
Third gear: Used for driving uphill, through a hazard at speed and where a greater degree of power is needed than fourth will allow.
This blog is shifting into third gear. The hazards are greater in number, the stakes are higher. We’re talking about people’s lives and how they use social media to change the world around them.
It’s going to be a fascinating ride. And yes, I pick up hitchhikers.
This is my 500th blog post. I’d been saving it for something special : an article about the change in direction this blog will be taking, including the unveiling of my newest project. But that can wait. Right now, I’d rather dedicate this personal landmark to Jack Layton.
And so it is for me, with Jack. A time to reflect upon the contribution of a great Canadian. «Ce bon Jack» as we say in Quebec, when talking about Jack Layton. And he carried his name well.
In the hours following news of his passing, my mother compared Jack Layton to my father. That’s the highest of compliments .. to Mr. Layton. But she was right. Both were honest, compassionate men of integrity whose true « religion » was love for their fellow man. The outpouring of affection for Jack from Canadians and the urge felt from coast to coast to mourn collectively is deeply touching. When we mourned my father, we were comforted by words of kindness and shared memories from family, friends and acquaintances about the man we’d loved and had lost. Eleven years later, the passing of a much more public figure shows how far technology and the Internet have brought us in our ability to grieve collectively.
And all these online spaces and social networking sites allowed me and thousands of others to share our thoughts about Jack’s passing and legacy with one another in real time.
My father passed away in September of 2000 and friends and family from across Canada and as far away as Ireland gathered for the interment of his ashes a month later. Not being there to receive the condolences of our community in the days following his death was a difficult thing for those who were far away in those first weeks. It is a key stage in the grieving process. Eleven years later, it is clear that developments in technology in general, and of social networking in particular, make physical distance almost inconsequential. We can come together to comfort one another in our grief, and we can collectively share in those all important rituals that accompany death, as they happen.
The social media space is composed of tribes. Tribes with common interests, overcoming physical distances to come together in sharing. Since Jack Layton left us on Monday, Canadians have been gathering online as a tribe of millions, to pay tribute to one of their own, and to comfort one another in their collective grief.
Who said technology alienates us from one another?
Now if you’ll excuse me, now that Jack’s funeral is over I’m going to turn off my laptop and grab my bike for a ride through the Laurentian woods. Time to reflect and quietly pay tribute to this great Canadian.
RIP Jack. You will be sorely missed.
And give my love to my Dad for me. He’ll be the guy welcoming you to the eternal-club-of-good-guys with a golf bag on his shoulder and a warm smile, hand outstretched.
Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day I can hear her breathing. — Arundhati Roy as quoted by Stephen Lewis, during his eulogy for Jack Layton
MAJ: Footage from the various ceremonies, including musical tributes, have been circulating online since Jack Layton’s death. Below, I’ve updated the musical list presented above with footage from the funeral ceremony, hosted on YouTube.
