Is 12 seconds enough?

During my “blogcation,” I read a blurb in PRWeek about this new social media tool called 12seconds.tv. It’s a Twitter-like platform that allows users to upload and share 12-second video snippets. I was intrigued by the tool and went to check it out. I thought to myself that this is probably another one of those fly-by-night social media tools that fizzles in a few months after the novelty has wears off. But the more I research this tool and how it’s being used, the more I think it may be of value.

Starbucks… social media junkies
It never ceases to amaze me how Starbucks continues to be on the forefront of nearly every social media tool out there. 12seconds.tv is a brand new tool, still in Beta, yet Starbucks has mastered it.

Starbucks Channel on 12seconds.tv

With a meek 62 followers, the behemoth coffee, latte and troubadour of tasty treats company is somehow evoking sweet 12-second messages from its fan base. They’re talking about everything from possible new brew ideas to how Satrbucks can make its menu healthier – and everything in between.

The one issue I have is that I could not find a link to the Starbucks Channel on its Web site. They have a link to their corporate site on the channel, but from what I can see, not one back to the social media platform.

Overall, I think the fact that they’re trying to utilize new and innovative platforms to communicate with their audiences is critically important. Starbucks should definitely be a model for how other corporations should approach creating conversations and interactions among their customers and stakeholders.

And they’ve also received three badges! What are badges? Well, they’re rights of 12seconds.tv passage. You can receive up to 24 different badges as you develop your channel. Although I haven’t completely figured them out, the site states that each badge, once received, unlocks cool features of the platform.

iPhone integration… no surprise
Even in Beta, the company has integrated with the iPhone by creating a 12Mail Video Messenger application. The app let’s users take video and upload it to the site on the fly, with the ability to add text and comments much like Facebook or Flickr. It even allows for you to draw from your contact base on Twitter and Facebook to show status updates, as well as push notifications to them, and yourself, by linking the accounts.

Future of 12seconds.tv… we’ll see
This new platform meshes Twitter and Facebook together quite well, but it’s future may be up in the air. It has all of the aspects of a great social media tool. It allows for interaction via streaming video, commenting, easy-to-find topical threads and its integration with Facebook and Twitter. It also has already created a nifty iPhone app that allows the user to easily become part of the conversation.

I’m sure we’ll see the typical useless, and sometimes unsavory posts, we’re all used to seeing on so many other social media platforms – but that’s expected. The question is, will 12seconds.tv be comprised of lame, boring posts? Or will it rise to the occasion, offering businesses, organizations and personal brands a place to communicate and flourish?

Only time will tell…

ad:tech ruffles PR’s ethical feathers

Last month was PR Ethics Month, when we remind ourselves about the host of ethical dilemmas we, as PR practitioners, face. It’s also a time to reflect on our commitment to a stringent code of ethics placed at the highest point of our personal and professional standards. Each year, the world’s largest professional association for public relations practitioners, PRSA, makes it a point to highlight new changes to its ethical code, as well as promote various issues facing PR ethics and how to approach them.

Industry publications like PRSA Tactics, PRWeek and others regard ethics to reside at the core of public relations practice. Recently, leadership at ad:tech, an annual gathering of online marketers, offered free or discounted access to the conference for endorsed tweets, Facebook and blog posts from prominent bloggers. We in PR call this Pay-for-Play or Pay-to-Play. The definition was recently updated by the Board of Ethics and Professional Standards (BEPS) with PSA-9.

The request for coverage from ad:tech was exposed by bloggers and PR people within the industry. In a blog post by Jason Chupick from PRNewser on Oct. 17 detailed the news of what ad:tech had done, including the full letter of apology. Chupick said:

My co-editor confirmed by phone yesterday that the person who sent the emails neither works internally at ad:tech, or at their PR firm Edelman.

What the organization did
With the negative responses and comments swirling and growing stronger, Event Director, Mike Flynn, from ad:tech immediately posted a full apology for its inappropriate actions. This was the right move, and helped mitigate any further negative brand perception, but may have done some damage.

Regardless of who sent the emails to the bloggers and journalists, ad:tech management should have made sure they knew what was going on. Their PR firm – the world’s largest independently owned agency, Edelman – should have been a part of this since they were the agency of record and PR counsel to the organization. My question is, who sent out the emails then? And how are they being dealt with? This person/s should be held accountable in some way and exposed for what they did.

How ethical are PR people?
We keep saying we follow an ethical guiding light that points us in the right direction, but we hear too many stories similar to this one. That prompts me to wonder if we just think we’re ethical or if we truly understand ethical standards but turn a blind eye when we feel we can personally gain. Interestingly enough, a survey was done by Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., and Judith Rogala, for their book “Trust Inc,” revealing that less than 10 percent of PR practitioners ever received any training on how to make ethical decisions.

Ann Subervi, president and CEO of Utopia Communications, Inc. in Red Bank, N.J., made some comments that are a fitting end to this post and ones that we should try to employ.

Most of us struggle with what action to take when faced with an ethical dilemma. While awareness of ethics is great, the ability to act ethically is even better. Ethics cannot be a once-a-year focus. Rather, it needs to be an ongoing focus.