19th September 2013
Think back to the days where Facebook and Twitter didn't exist, and the internet was a resource that only few people had access to 24/7. How did we find out information about businesses or events? How did businesses communicate with their stakeholders? Fast forward 10 years and we live in a world where people practically live their lives through the internet, Without it most people would describe themselves as feeling "lost". So how can an organisation position themselves keep up to date with the ever evolving world of the internet? This is what my organisation and I were finding out this week.
On Tuesday afternoon I sat in on a meeting with web designers from Vivid Communications, and the Director and Communications manager at WACOSS. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a software upgrade for the WACOSS webpage to a newer version, However the meeting seemed to cover much more than a software upgrade. They started with a presentation of how people use the internet today compared to 10 years ago, showing progression every 2-3 years. Whilst desktops were once the main source of use for the internet, this slowly progressed to laptops, and now Tablets and smartphones account for more than 75% of internet use. This definitely is something that i wouldn't have predicted 10 years ago.
I'm no computer/technology guru, and to me I didn't think that people using their phones over a laptop would really make much difference to the way an organisation runs their website. I was wrong! Running a website on software any more than 2 years old means that your website is not compatible for mobile phones. It still loads, but it becomes one of those websites that the whole screen is squeezed on to the tiny screen of a mobile, and as such users need to zoom in 10 times to read a few words of a paragraph. When I come across one of these websites on my phone it becomes so annoying to navigate that I give up and don't bother. With WACOSS's website currently running on software from 2009, their webpage is currently not compatible with mobiles. For a webpage that is used primarily for informational purposes, easy navigation is a feature that WACOSS definitely needs. If finding information becomes too difficult, potential members will leave the webpage and look no further. This is a situation no organisation wants to find themselves in. This also raises the idea of the value of a first impression. Is it worth investing money in becoming more mobile compatible so that members, potential members and other stakeholders have a positive first impression and experience of the WACOSS website? As a PR student I say definitely yes, An organisations web presence can largely affect the success of ones organisation. Particularly WACOSS must acknowledge that communication mediums are changing, and therefore keeping in line with these changes is of their best interest.
Whilst the meeting carried on and topics including content creation and the ease of design were discussed, the idea of mobiles being the main source of information was the main idea that stood out to me.The discussion of whether a software upgrade was suitable for the company came back to the idea of cost. As a not-for-profit organisation, WACOSS is extremely careful with their expenditure and use most money to fund member based initiatives and policy developments. The Communications officer believed the software added value to WACOSS as an organisation and kept them on track with trends.. The director needed more convincing as to why the software will help improve WACOSS's online presence and ability to communicate their ideas with their target audiences.
This ultimately lead me to think how the internet, technology and progression into smartphones has impacted businesses and organisations. With a significant amount of communication now being done online, what will happen with organisations that fail to keep up? With technology continuously improving, will it be the smaller organisations that simply cant afford to support such changes? Or will they find a way to keep their presence online regardless.
We now live in a era where Mobiles and the internet rule the world. As PR and communication professionals we must understand what this means for us and how we can tailor or communication to best suit these needs in the future.
It's all about moving forward!
2 comments:
You put that perfectly! I have just been interning at a City Council and helped to arrange an event. When I arrived they had only created a very very basic website with contact information and basic event date, time location.
There was so much more that needed to be done. I think as you mention the significance the internet now plays in communicating with stakeholders is essential to be a successful public relations practitioner!
I had to help implement a social media plan utilising, facebook, twitter and instagram to widen the communication channels with our intended stakeholders.
Hi Brianna,
You bring up a really great point about the technological advances society has faced and how this has impacted businesses and organisations -- this is something I always ask myself, too! How did organisations survive without the conveniences of the internet, and what can they do now to keep themselves up to date in the current technological climate?
It also got me thinking about how fast we are moving and the organisations that haven't yet recognised it. Although I intern for one person instead of an organisation, this is something we have to consider too. Luckily she (and most of her associates) are relatively young and are well in-the-know when it comes to things like social media as they are avid users of technology themselves, but sometimes we really have to sit and think about ALL the users out there and who are target audiences are. For example, during the Jaime Lee fashion show a while back, we relied greatly on social media to spread the word, which ended up working a treat because the fashion industry seems to be keeping up extremely well with these new communication developments. However, when dealing with sponsorship proposals afterward, we had to rely on coverage from mainstream media platforms because many corporate organisations weren't interested in consumer coverage on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – only what coverage the show got in the Sunday Times or Channel 10, for example. It was perhaps because they hadn't yet recognised the growing power of social media, but I do think this is all about to change soon.
Thanks for a very thought provoking post!
Nicole
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