Comments on: Eavesdropping Across Spectrum: PR, Social Media and Strategy

By: Colin Alsheimer

Colin Alsheimer — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:27:04 +0000

I just wanted to say – I had the EXACT SAME assignment for my screenwriting class in college. It was supposed to help us improve our dialogue scenes.

I like your ideas here… as far as types of eavesdropping that are beneficial?

I think I have to agree with many of the other commenters – social media listening is a great way to eavesdrop, for a variety of reasons. But I also think that reading body language, and getting team buy-in is important too. As a marketing professional, you have to be able to understand the ebb and flow of group meetings and strategy sessions. It's often subtle, but it's there, and if you want to advance any of your ideas – you have to be able to read it.

By: Jessica Griffin

Jessica Griffin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:23:40 +0000

It's funny, a PR friend updated her Facebook status a few weeks ago that said: “I mean an important part of my job is to Facebook stalk” I nervously laughed at that. Partially because she admitted it and I know as PR professional I do it too. Maybe not so much on the Facebook level, but with Twitter and a lot of social media outlets today, they make it easy.

In my opinion, as PR professionals our #1 job is to build relationships. And we have to do it at an exceedingly faster pace than most professions. To do that and to be the best you almost need to know information before anyone else does. I think that is really where “eavesdropping” comes into play. So much of social media today has made this easier and even more effective. I dare to say its what makes this profession exciting.

Great post!

By: jenniesjursen

jenniesjursen — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:07:07 +0000

Eavesdropping Across Spectrum: PR, Social Media and Strategy http://bit.ly/aV1N3i

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By: StacyRichterDMD

StacyRichterDMD — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:47:25 +0000

Eavesdropping Across Spectrum: PR, Social Media and Strategy; http://bit.ly/aV1N3i (RT @NBryant, @tweetmeme)

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By: Catherine Patterson

Catherine Patterson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:45:28 +0000

I love this! I was just commenting to someone on Twitter the other day, “Sorry for butting in, but I noticed you guys were talking about…” etc and they all said, “No need to apologize, commenting/engaging is what Twitter's about!” I guess I forget things like that sometimes… in my mind I think it's not polite to interrupt and butt in to someone else's conversation, but in other settings, like Twitter, it can be OK.

Since I know you're in PR too and this blog post clearly has a PR focus, I think I'd add (although this could fall within the third one) research. I haven't read the comments yet, and there are plenty, so I'm not sure if someone else has already mentioned research, but it is so important in our industry. However, I think it's one of those things that gets overlooked. Whether it's firsthand or secondhand, I think both methods of research can be considered “eavesdropping.” So you conduct a survey and review the results– that's pretty much eavesdropping, right? Or you conduct online research– that can be considered eavesdropping, too, I think.