Last night, my college put on an event, notably dubbed an “un-conference,” called Talk is Cheap. I had volunteered to host one of the discussion rooms, and I was fortunate enough to have the segment “Digital Snippets” in that room.

Lead by Kevin DeKock, it was a discussion about social media press releases. Just a few weeks prior I was at CNW, and there I learned what a social media release was, so luckily I had a bit of background knowledge going in. Kevin, who works at Social Media Group (SMG), used Ford (one of their clients) as an example to demonstrate the capabilities of a social media release, and it was all very impressive.

What I found most impressive is how easy it is to maneuver through the different features and get the necessary information, that in turn effectively delivers the intended messages to their audience. Had I not asked the question sooner, at CNW, as to why press releases don’t just come in this form, I would have inquired. But the truth is, as Parker Mason, Web Content Specialist at CNW, pointed out, the traditional press release is still very much a necessity for some journalists.

What I also found interesting is that such applications, that I always considered to be for leisurely purposes only, like Flickr and YouTube, are commonly used in today’s business as forms of disseminating information to the media, their audiences, clients, etc.

My, how the world has evolved.  

By: Alana DaSilva