These days everyone has a blog, Twitter account or Facebook Profile. Whether you use them in a personal or professional capacity chances are you’ll have come across some form of social media. In the last few weeks there have been several examples in the press of how to and how not to use social media for the power of good or to your own advantage. So we thought rather than focus on the faux pas of celebs ranting on Twitter (not mentioning any names Tulisa) we would show you how social media can be used for positive purposes.
Take schoolgirl Martha Payne, from Argyll for example. She hit the headlines after publishing a blog that documented her school dinners. It included pictures of her food, a rating out of ten and how healthy she felt they were: “I’m a growing kid and I need to concentrate all afternoon and I can’t do it on one croquette. Do any of you think you could?” The nine year old was then banned from continuing after newspapers got wind of the blog and published headlines calling the dinner ladies to be sacked. Martha won support from celebs with Jamie Oliver asking his followers on Twitter to join the protest to get her blog back online. The ban was lifted, and in addition to winning celebratory fans, Martha managed to raise a staggering £100,000 for Mary’s Meals charity which she had previously been trying to raise money for via the blog.
Ok so our Bluewood blog albeit enlightening isn’t going to really change the world, but clever use of the technology available to you can. Failing that it can get you world wide publicity and even fame. Hate to say it but just look at Justin Beiber and his use of YouTube to rise to stardom.
Jimmy Carr has also been making headlines after questions were raised about his tax and he was criticised by David Cameron who called him “morally wrong”. Carr took to Twitter to issue simple apology for making “a terrible error of judgement” which seemed to do for all his fans rather than make a big deal out of a public apology and risk making matters worse for himself. Outside Organisation CEO Alan Edwards said: ‘From what I can see his response was quick, straight to the point and appropriate – about all he could have done under the circumstances from a PR point of view.” Ian Johnson Publicity MD Ian Johnson said: “Jimmy Carr has handled this brilliantly. Caught red handed, he ‘fesses up, makes a joke and moves on. His career won’t be damaged in the slightest, even if his bank balance is.”
So whether you want to become the next Martha and raise thousands for charity or simply apologise for messing up it is important to get your voice heard. Social media can help your message to reach millions of people in an instant. It is worth investing the time to get acquainted with the latest technology on offer. If you need a hand to get your head around it give us a call or take one of our social media training courses.
Written by Megan – www.bluewoodtraining.co.uk – June 2012