Talk Abouts

An Interview with EMG’s Jayson Oertel

By Amanda Vande Brake

Your grandmother is on Facebook, your landlord is following you on Twitter and your top news source is Digg. If you haven’t come to terms with the reality that social media is here to stay, let EMG’s Senior Social Media Consultant and Vice President of Entertainment Marketing Jayson Oertel coax you off the fence. 

EMG: What are the key standout differences between social media and traditional media?

Oertel: Social Media was really founded on four basic principles or rules which are key to building a brand’s value: 1) seek and encourage user participation, 2) build value of the community at hand, 3) encourage user-generated content (UGC) and 4) listen to members of the community, including general users as well as brand enthusiasts. This is different from traditional media in that social media essentially opens the lines of communication with an audience rather than passively delivers a message that has been carefully positioned by a brand or advertiser.

The interesting thing here is that traditional media has actually been reinventing itself by adopting some of these social media practices, which are in turn gaining ground and proving the importance of share of voice specifically for their brands. All of this is paving the way for traditional media to be used by brands and advertisers to leverage their reach and power to drive returns as well as to equip their respective audience with the autonomy to openly talk about and eventually become an advocate for the brand.

EMG: How has social media transformed the way people communicate and perceive information?

Oertel: Social Media has not only impacted the way people think in general, it’s impacted how they act online as well.  Social Media is highly interactive by generating ongoing conversations and encouraging people to have a voice and speak freely about their interests and passions.  On the flip side, it opens the door for people to actually listen to and be receptive to information such as branded content. People are definitely more willing to share information online and to allow brands to enter their space to advertise to them.

EMG: To what extent does social media – blogs, as an example – serve as a trustworthy, relevant and credible news source?

Oertel: It’s tough to say whether or not any media outlet provides trustworthy and credible information these days which is why this seems to be the never-ending debate involving broadcast as well as online media. If we’re specifically speaking about blogs on this topic, though, my opinion is that there are a few key factors that contribute to blogs being trustworthy, including credibility, expertise and objectivity.  

Today it seems as if everyone is a blogger and has his or her own blogging style. Generally speaking, the content and credibility is only relevant to what the reader is searching or seeking.  Blogger credibility is surely on the top of my mind when I’m scouring blogs.  Many people (including myself) don’t trust most blogs because they’re neither attached to a professional entity controlling content quality and relevance nor are they produced by a trained or well-respected media professional.

Blogger expertise on the other hand generally offers some valid insight into a specific topic or field where that blogger is most likely a subject matter expert.  Trained journalists cover diverse topics; however, they are not experts.  How many times have you turned on traditional media (broadcast news) and the reporter is attempting to report a story that he/she knows nothing about?  Once you get through the botched up names and pronunciations, you try to seek alternative information.  Personally, if I’m going to read up on news on technology, music or some other area of expertise, I’ll stick to the blogs of respected individuals I have learned to trust.

Then there’s objectivity. Objectivity and blogs typically don’t go together since bloggers are writing from a very personal perspective rather than individuals writing on behalf of news organizations. So, bloggers by nature bring their political opinions to the table and speak their minds.

I like to think of it this way: Blogging and social media provides extended reach for news content and won’t soon replace the traditional news media. Social media is really an additional platform for news content, providing an opportunity for individuals to interact with the news of the day online rather than simply lend a passive ear.

EMG: What kind of an impact did social media have on the 2008 United States Presidential election? And with President Obama’s continued use of social media outlets during his administration, how effective will using this type of communication strategy be in terms of communicating with the American public?

Oertel: The great thing about social media is its vast reach and power as demonstrated in this past election.  Not only was the targeted media effective, but also the runoff to the peripheral audience played a key role as well.  In this election, there was a record number of people voting, and more importantly, a record number of young voters, which, I feel was influenced by social media. So, social media definitely played an integral part in the overall outcome of the elections this time around.

President Obama was quick to jump on the social media bandwagon, to his credit; however, I have noticed a decline in his community management the past few months, which is crucial in sustaining user interest.  For example, Mr. Obama’s Twitter account (http://twitter.com/BarackObama) hasn’t had a single update since January 19th, 2009. In terms of social media best practices, this doesn’t fly.  When it comes to community building, you just can’t sit on the sidelines; you must be involved . . . and stay involved. If Mr. Obama’s office were to really focus on implementing all the social media best practices in his campaigns, I believe it would change many things; the perception of the government with young people, getting more people involved with important issues, building a positive community and allowing people to openly voice their opinions on issues.