Economy of Social - Social Media Tips, Marketing and Business

Social Media has been termed as an effective way to build relationships. Brands are trying to harness this capability by building social presence on this new media. Celebrities today account for the maximum amount of followers on the web with twitter being a fine example for this. But is this new media effective in creating relationships with this vast list of followers, which celebrities often tend to have? In an interesting research by Lee and Jang , they explore the effectiveness of celebrities in building social presence on new media. They compare twitter and a news website to check the relative effectiveness of enhancing social presence. While the traditional PR machinery used by celebrities might give them news coverage, they contend that their tweets can reduce the barrier of relational development as compared to a news website. Their findings are counter-intuitive and very interesting.

  Benetton has captured (rather created) a series of intimate moments for e.g. the US President Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. They want the leaders and citizens of the world to combat the 'culture of hatred'. According to them these images are symbols of reconciliation - with a touch of ironic hope and constructive provocation - to stimulate reflection on how politics, faith and ideas, even when they are divergent and mutually opposed, must still lead to dialogue and mediation." It is a very bold attempt. Admittedly they are playing with fire and have taken on the entire world leadership in one campaign. I certainly love the idea but I don't really understand any tangible cause behind it. The idea is certainly novel but I have my reservations about its acceptance by citizens of the world. I can also see this as an attempt to get attention in the guise of a novel idea. Will people react to it positively ? Is the world open enough to understand ? Are th...