The Use of Collective Intelligence in Public Relations

The idea of combining all the intelligence from people all over the planet is potentially both a blessing and a curse for public relations. Like all weapons of great power, it must be wielded with care and precision, otherwise practitioners could end up impaled on their own sword and left to clean up the mess. This blog will define the idea of collective intelligence, discuss the potential benefits and dangers of companies opening up their organisations to the world and the effects this can have on public relations practitioners and finally, the tools that collective intelligence has handed public relations to use for networking.

Collective Intelligence can be defined as a mass collaboration of many individuals. French media scholar Pierre Lévy, who introduced the concept in his 1994 book ‘L’intelligence Collective’, coined the term.  The idea simply states that by making information accessible to communities, which is added to by other users, greatly increases the collective intelligence of the group. A key example of collective intelligence is Wikipedia.org, a “free, web-based collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project” (Wikipedia, 2010). Wikipedia is entirely made up of collective intelligence, meaning all of its content is written collaboratively by volunteers around the world.

So what does collective intelligence mean for Public Relations?

The use of collective intelligence by organisations can mean the company needs to allow people exterior to the business into the decision making process.

The judgment of whether to allow outsiders into the process is a difficult one that must be considered by people from all facets of the organisation, particularly legal and public relations, before being made.

Eric Bonabeau states that the dangers associated with allowing these people into the organisation can lead to a public relations nightmare. “The choice to expand your decision-maker set beyond the walls of your organisation should not be made lightly. Not only will you be disclosing information about your organisation to the external world, you’ll also be providing a forum for outsiders who might not always have your best interests at heart.” (Bonabeau, 2009, p. 1). If the worst occurs, it can open a Pandora’s Box of problems, which can be difficult for the company to recover from. “If the collective veers in an unexpected and potentially harmful direction, the resulting damage could be difficult (and costly) to contain.” (Bonabeau, 2009, p. 1).

However, the use of collective intelligence can be very beneficial to companies, but used with caution. With the correct execution, the use of collective intelligence can lead to considerably enhanced knowledge which can assist the organisation with its decision making processes.  But consultation with internal public relations and legal representatives is a must; to ensure all private company information is kept concealed.

Collective intelligence does have a large benefit for public relations practitioners, who above all, pride themselves on being skilled communicators and networkers. The world of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Wikipedia and blogs – which are all based in collective intelligence – have changed the face of public relations by creating vast networks that, prior to the Internet, practitioners couldn’t have dreamed of.

Jason Falls, founder and editor of Social Media Explorer, states that social media is the public relations of the online world. “Divide the category up by component – blogs, social networks, microblogging, podcasts/Web TV, wikis/collaborative software – they each ladder in some way to a component of public relations – writing, corporate communications, community relations, media relations, event management.” (Falls, 2008, p.1).

Falls hypothesises that eventually social media will “evolve into components of sophisticated public relations effort” (2008, p.1). By ensuring public relations practitioners are ready to accept the responsibility of social media, they will effectively turn collective intelligence into what could be called the greatest networking tool of this generation. 

As previously stated, collective intelligence can be used for public relations with enormous benefits for the industry and their clients, but caution must be exercised. When inviting outsiders into an organisation, they may not always have the organisations best interests at heart, which can be to the detriment of the company (and usually the public relations practitioners job to clean up). However, when used correctly, the potential benefits promise to revolutionise the profession for both practitioners and clients.

References

Bonabeau, E. (2009). Decisions 2.0: The power of collective intelligence. Retrieved

10/26, 2010, from http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/articles/2009/winter/50211/decisions-20-the-power-of-collective-intelligence/

Falls, J. (2008). Social media is the responsibility of public relations. Retrieved 10/26, 2010, from http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/2008/07/18/social-media-is-the-responsibility-of-public-relations/

Wikipedia (2010) Retrieved 10/26, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

Combining Public Relations with Transmedia Storytelling

The combination of the profession of Public Relations with the concept of transmedia storytelling can be described as a match made in heaven. Blending a profession based in reiterating messages with a idea based in restating key points over a multitude of platforms so as to target certain demographics through their chosen channel with tailor made messages. This blog will define the concept of transmedia storytelling, consider the implications for Public Relations practitioners and finally discuss how it can be successfully used within the profession of Public Relations.

How does transmedia storytelling apply to the field of Public Relations? First, we must define the concept of transmedia storytelling. Henry Jenkins, a Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts, states that transmedia storytelling is similar to the concept of ‘synergy’. “Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified contribution to the unfolding of the story.” (Jenkins, 2007, p.1).

In layman terms, this means that transmedia storytelling is the process by which one story is told throughout many different channels, with each channel telling the same story with certain unique aspects. A key example of this is the Marvel Comics character, Spiderman, who has had his story told through multiple channels including comic books, comic strips, action movies, animated television programs, collectable merchandise (including figurines and cards), online platforms and video games. While the main story of Spiderman remains the same, each of the spin off mediums tells a different side of the story, giving exclusive pieces of information that add to the original story.

Transmedia storyteller and superhero!

The implications of transmedia storytelling for Public Relations have a lot of potential, however, its success lies with the skills possessed by practitioners. David Phillips, PR Practitioner and journal author, states that practitioners need to be thinking about niche markets, rather than the mass media. “Practitioners will continually need to adopt fresh communication skills and be prepared to discard others,” (Phillips, 2008, p. 84). 

While PR practitioners may pride themselves on their communication skills, the platforms and forums in which they have to conduct themselves are constantly changing, which means that the practitioners themselves also must change. Phillips states that this is currently a key issue for PR professionals. “The only thing that holds the public relations profession back is that it needs to understand these things, to see the opportunity and to adopt this different way of conducting PR.” (Phillips, 2008, p. 84).

The advantages possessed by students entering the workplace as Public Relations practitioners now is that they enjoy the benefits of having grown up surrounded by transmedia storytelling, from cartoons like Pokemon to movies like The Matrix, making it second nature to them. Savvy PR executives are therefore attempting to acquire these students in order to grow their own knowledge of the next obvious step – social media and mobile networking.

Public Relations is about emphasising key messages over a period of time, gaining publicity for the client within their target demographics and ensuring that the information the public is receiving about their client is the message they are trying to convey. By combining this with transmedia storytelling, Public Relations practitioners are given a plethora of platforms on which to portray their message, so as to provide new information via each gateway while maintaining the key idea.

So to successfully use transmedia storytelling with Public Relations, practitioners must adapt to the changes taking place in the world, and take note of the different platforms as they become available. By staying ahead of the curve, watching trends in technology and general media, practitioners can find innovative ways to send a message, without appearing to flood the public by repeating the same message.

While the idea of constantly searching for new ways to convey messages is hardly new for experienced Public Relations practitioners, the idea of adapting to new technologies that five years previous seemed inconceivable can seem frightening. However, these innovations open up the world of Public Relations to creative people, knowledge workers who think outside the box and who represent the beginning of Public Relations 2.0.

References

Jenkins, H. (22/03/2007). Confessions of an ACA-fan: Transmedia storytelling 101. Retrieved 19/10, 2010, from http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html#more

Phillips, D. (2008). The psychology of social media. Journal of New Communications Research, 3(1), 79-85.