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Interview with Val Marmillion, president of Marmillion + Company Strategic Communications of Washington, D.C.
 You are designing the social media strategy for the National Conference of State Legislatures to promote its video series "American Democracy Television." From your vantage point, how are social media shaping the relationship and role between government and citizens in the U.S.?
VM: We work with many clients to retool one-way communications into a dialogue. In this case we worked to create broadcast opportunities on television by creating American Democracy and providing interesting content to air on public, education and access TV. 500 channels carry the programs reaching almost 13 million people annually. By using social media to promote the Trust for Representative Democracy messages through ADTV, we can grow interest from new and younger audiences around what is often viewed as stagnant storylines about democracy in America.
Adding a social media component to TV messaging responds to the changing the role between government and citizens in the U.S. by creating a virtual space that facilitates dialogue and discussion. From the government standpoint, a campaign “to educate the public” has graduated to the more complex idea of creating a forum for people to share ideas with elected officials and one another. We call one of the programs "Your Ideas Count." Social networking makes that promise true.
What are the positives and negatives that social media have had on our society ... particularly those that haven't manifested just yet (for example with generation Y and younger)? Have they dumbed it down or do they have unlimited possibilities?
VM: Social media’s popularity is based on the individual feeling the need to have a voice, which for too long was assumed by self-appointed spokespeople. In fact, you might call what is happening a declaration of independence by all classes in society. For the topic of representative democracy, this is profound.
Potentially, the most negative aspect of social media is that with a glut of information, it may be difficult to find accurate and factual information. People are asking, what is authentic information, who is the authentic voice, and what sources of information are verifiable? People will be looking to separate opinion from fact, gossip and gasbags from honest spokespeople. Older critics may say we are dumbing down America, but I would offer that we are we are setting into place a new paradigm, where opportunities to find the truth will surf alongside more popular consumer subject matter.
Which forms of social media do you think will endure, and why? Are there any you see as fads that will fade away?
VM: The forms of social media that will endure will be those that respond to a genuine need for easy, transparent, intuitive and user directed conversation. The social media sites that have lost popularity like MySpace are those that are harder to use or do not accurately reflect real social connections that build community. Be warned that the service offering best protection for user privacy will endure in a world anxious for connections and suspicious of intruders.
Do you foresee much impact from social media in major news operations such as newspapers and TV news, or in the future of journalism generally?
VM: I can't understand why so many sectors are going kicking and screaming from the industrial age. New organizations have been reporting the change for decades, so what's the surprise? There is no shock that newspapers and magazines are failing; the model of printed news is being transformed into a new relationship model of information. Consumer markets, political conversations and everyday decision-making are being driven more and more by content in social media. Did news not get the memo that everyone wants to be a reporter? But even as audiences grow in social media, I think there will always be a place for good investigative journalism, accurate reporting and a broad assortment of interest stories. The challenge for news organizations seems to be figuring out a way to pay for all of this when paper coupons won't cut it.
In running a major public relations agency, how do you and your staffers use social media?
VM: You have to be authentic, integrated, interactive and accessible. When Marmillion + Company conducts a social networking campaign for a client, we usually integrate everything into a new web site that serves as a central online “hub," with viral news and information delivery.
We develop and employ different types of media ... video, podcasts, blogs, etc. ... to reach different types of people and take part in a conversation rather than pushing an agenda. It is important to be accessible to people who are passionate on a subject, event or cause and make it easy for them to participate and share with their friends.
Is there anything else you'd like to say about social media?
VM: Social media are making it important for organizations to be less controlling and more flexible and agile. Our biggest challenge with clients is moving them from wanting to control everything to an understanding that virtual control is dead. Traditional PR worked clients into a frenzy about control. Instead of being critical of social media, move ahead of the pack and recognize it as the centerpost of our knowledge economy. Social media truly embody Claudian’s famous quote “change or die.”
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