Major distraction: Politics | Segal Benz

Perspctv site gives overwhelming look at social media

I was doing a pretty good job not paying attention to the presidential election until the conventions. Since then, I’m admittedly completely addicted to the news and campaign emails and internet rumors. Perspctv is not helping. This site gives a visual look at polls, internet traffic and online predictions. The lower half of the page has a feed from Twitter, Technorati (all blog posts) and online news. During the day, the tweets update almost by the second, the blog posts and news stories at least several times a minute. When I posted this to Facebook, a friend commented that it is “deliciously overwhelming.” I can’t think of a better way to describe it.

This site also captures a lot of what’s happening in media, all in one quick glance. Much of the content people read (and trust) is written by people they know—not traditional news outlets. You can see that a huge portion of the political dialog online, if not the majority, is happening person-to-person or on niche blogs with limited readership. Often, the tweets are “reporting” before the news outlets can get a story up.

Also, TV and online (and print) are more or less one. CNN clips are traded on YouTube, opinion articles are posted online before the newspaper hits the stands, and the “traditional” news media is reporting on Twitter feeds and putting bloggers in the spotlight.

So, why is this relevant to employee communication? For one, you’re competing for your employees’ attention with more media than ever before. Also, the rules of trust are evolving. Ask many people, and they’ll tell you they have the same level of confidence in the reporting of their favorite blogger as they do the New York Times. And, people’s expectations of when and where they get information are changing. So, the bar for corporate communications is higher than ever. For important events like annual benefits enrollment this fall, you must be authentic and relevant and engaging to capture just a moment of your employees’ attention.