With the waning influence of traditional media, social media is stepping up to take it's place. Traditional media has stopped trying to beat off the barbarians at the gate and joined in the fun, albeit halfheartedly.
What social media has done is taken the power away from the editors and producers to determine what is and what is not news, effectively democratising news gathering, production and distribution. In effect everyone can build their own media platforms.
Enter the influencers, those powerful nodes at the intersection of social media networks who appeal more deeply and intimately to niches that the mass media only gave a passing interest to.
This book was published in 2009 and tried to capture a trend at the time that was riding on the growing influence of social media in Western countries.
It describes how companies and personalities were joining the blogosphere to control their own narratives and launch what was known as conversational marketing. The books observations, prescriptions and predictions remian relevant today.
The realisation was crystallising then, that there was an information overload and the only way to break through the noise was to be a content provider who finds the audience where it is, with content that they want.
Gillin could have been writing about where we are today a decade later.
It explores topics like the changing face of PR, how social media has made small beautiful again and unlocks the puzzle of how to send your message viral.
It is an absolute must read for anyone in the communications business trying to make sense of the rapid changes in the sector.
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