The other day I read this blog from Social Media Today about timing and media relations. It took me back to my days in radio and as a journalist. Timing was everything. Politicians and organizations would schedule press conferences in hopes of getting the story on the evening news. In radio, big payoff contests always culminated on Thursdays because that’s when Arbitron diary keepers usually filled out their weekly diaries.
There is a whole psychology to timing and deadlines, but, as the aforementioned blog mentions…are we bound by the same conventional wisdom regarding timing that we were 10 years ago?
My gut tells me no. One of our mantra’s in radio news was: We’re always on deadline. With a new newscast every hour or half hour, we were always reporting, writing, and rewriting. Print journalists, and even TV journalists have certain times when the news MUST be completed. In radio, it was deadline after deadline after deadline.
The beauty of Social Media is that perhaps timing is less than important. There may be days and times that are better than others for publishing a blog, but Social Media allows for retweets and sharing across platforms at any time.
Don’t think of Social Media as time sensitive. If you have an event to promote, an announcement to make….just do it. If it doesn’t catch initially…you can send it out again…as long as it isn’t too frequent and too soon (to avoid the “spammy” feeling).
Social Media is a 24/7 conversation. Every second is a deadline. In real life, if you have something important to say, you usually can’t wait to tell others. Go for it. Don’t worry so much about “when” as about “how.”
How do you manage your Social Media deadlines?
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by Inkling_Media: New blog post: Social Media, Timing, and Deadlines http://goo.gl/fb/8×76...