Power of the Majority

Social media has been the hot topic of communication professionals for a while, but now that the buzz about its potential has begun to die down companies are beginning to see its real effects. Social media not only contributes to the ease of communication, but it affects the dynamics of corporations and its audiences.

Matt Gobush, manager of corporate communications at ExxonMobil, talked to us about the changing influencing environment in corporate communications and the way new technology has changed the structure of audiences.

He presented the above pyramid of audience levels and explained how these numbers are beginning to change in dramatic ways. For companies who do not deal directly with general consumers, it made sense to target only the top 15% of the public with policy makers and opinion leaders. The attentive public made up about 25% while the general public made up about 50%.

Social media has now begun to collapse the pyramid because "technology is empowering the attentive public and influencing policy makers," said Gobush. With new technology and media, the general public is no longer kept in the dark and it allows everyone to voice opinions and ideas in large numbers that cannot be ignored by corporations and policy makers.

One of our previous speakers, Mike Lake, discussed target audiences as well but made it clear that the general public was divided with fairly solid lines from the upper opinion leaders and policy makers, at least in the world of online gaming politics.

Even if some industries will continue having strict differences between audience members, social media will somehow blur even the strongest lines into a more cohesive and interdependent audience. In the end it comes down to the strength of communications and the ability to accurately target your audience with correct messaging. "It's a universal skill and experience you can apply to a lot of areas," said Gobush.