Joining the Persons of the Year

When I presented at the Wisconsin Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society meeting in October, I concluded with some recommendations on how to get started exploring social media. For people in communications-related fields, if you haven’t yet taken those steps, now is a good time.

With more than 65,000 videos being uploaded to YouTube each day, and more than 100 million videos served there daily, and with Technorati tracking more than 57 million blogs, communications professionals of all people should be participating and understanding the implications.

Some reports have indicated that the rapid growth of the blogosphere has slowed, and it’s clear the number of blogs can’t keep doubling every six months…but as Time has noted, critical mass already has been reached.

Traditional media will continue to be highly important for communication, and will be particularly cost-effective if you are participating as a newsmaker rather than as an advertiser. They are staking their claim in the on-line world too, but they have lots of company. And with lots of company means smaller communities gathered in their spaces, which has definite economic implications.

Unless you’re Coke or Pepsi and are trying to get someone to buy your product almost every day, the world of tags and links will be increasingly important. When people have a problem and want to check out their options, they will find their solution-providers on the web. And in a Long Tail world, it doesn’t matter how specialized your niche is; in some ways, narrower is better…as long as you are able to serve a geographically scattered population.

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Author: Lee Aase

Husband of one, father of six, grandfather of 15. Chancellor Emeritus, SMUG. Emeritus staff of Mayo Clinic. Founder of HELPcare and Administrator for HELPcare Clinic.

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