The term ‘photo sharing’ has taken on a new definition over the last half century. From circulating a thick, dusty photo album to family and friends visiting your home, photo sharing has transformed into an online activity where personal and organizational photos are instantly uploaded, viewed and shared with just about anyone across the globe.
As PR practitioners, we need to understand that online photo sharing is more than just about circulating organizational pictures on the net. It can in fact be a strategic activity to build relationships with our stakeholders.
PR practitioners should seek to promote a participatory culture and encourage stakeholders to get involved in their organization. One way to do this is by encouraging them to take photos about the company and sharing it online on sites such as Flickr. This not only serves to highlight the organization’s achievements and special events, but also gives the photographers a sense of ownership towards the organization. Additionally, organizations can use the photos taken by the public in their newsletters, corporate brochures, websites and annual reports. This sends out the message that the organization values public involvement and support.
PR Practitioners should constantly monitor online sites to see what photos, if any, are being uploaded about the organization. Such data will provide insights about public perceptions about the organization and can prove valuable in crisis and issues management.
Photo sharing also allows PR Practitioners to disseminate images to key audiences, which they can in turn share with their family and friends. A newsworthy image is likely to be shared and the more it is shared, the greater the exposure the organization receives. It seems to me that strategic photo sharing is indeed advantageous for organizations and PR Practitioners. Thoughts anyone?
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Photosharing has the ability to give ownership to employees by letting them share their perspective of the world (organization).
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in my post it seems photosharing is among the less explored social media as of now, it can really do much more.
Yes, I totally agree Paromita that photosharing is still an undiscovered treasure for many organizations. Hopefully we'll see photosharing becoming a more popular social media tool in the near future.
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