Do we hire for 'FREE' media?

Do new media really free?

New media is not free but cheaper than other media. We need to pay for advertising in radio, television and so on, which cost higher than just create a website. However, why new media is not really free? According to Socha and Eber-Schmid(n.d.), new media is a 21st Century term that define those things that are related to the internet and using various technologies, images and sound, which means that we need electronic device such as laptops, mobile phones in order to use new media. Therefore, we need to buy ourselves a laptop or mobile phone, which are not free. Besides that, we need to pay to subscribe internet. For example, we need to pay an amount of money to Unifi so that we can continue to use the internet. Some of the apps are not really free. They are freemium( free+premium), which means that they download for free trial. After some period of time, the apps may need to pay in order to continue.

Qualities of an Effective Social Media Executive

According to nptechforgood (2011), there are some qualities that an effective social media executive should have:

1.       Qualification

Social media executive must be good in design, communication and technology. They need to design their web pages so that it can attract people to read through and understand to information. They must also good in communication. They need to know how to communicate with the customers, how to reply the comments from customers and so on. Besides that, they also need to be good in technology. Some of their works require some knowledge in technology such as creating their own web pages.

2.      Friendly, patient and responsibility

Social media executive must be always friendly because they need to respond to the comments on websites. They need to be patient to listen what their customers need. Besides that, they need to be responsible if they did anything wrong. They must know how to react and reply correctly. They also need to have the experience in online communication. Face to face communication is totally different from online communication. So, when replying those comments from the customers, they need to be careful to the words they use.

3.       Creative and detail-oriented

Social media executive must have some knowledge in design. They need to know how to design their web pages so that people can be attracted and look into their websites. If the designs are too dull, people may feel boring and not interested to look at the web pages. They also need to know how to arrange the information. These can easy the readers to find the information they want and read the information comfortably.

4.       Is an early adopter

They must always follow the trends, keep their information up to date. Social media executive must always do research on what the society needs and wants. They need to always observe the trends, keep on following and monitoring the trends. Whenever the new things come, they must be the first to know in order to become early adopters.

New Media Executive vs PR Executive

New Media Executive	PR Executive
Think of the content of a campaign	Think of the concept of a campaign
Use only one channel to communicate (new media)	Use many channels to communicate (traditional media, broadcast media…)
Will always update their information in new media, put up at least one information once a day.	Not always update their information in media, put up their information in few days a week.

New Media Executive vs Web Master

New Media Executive	Web Master
Communicate with society	Design web pages
Provide information to public	Responsible to technical part (hardware and software)
Look after the content of webpage, update the information according to the latest trends.	Troubleshoot the site(including content, links, order flows, registration flows and transaction logs)

Is it necessary to hire new media executive?

In my opinion, it is better to hire a new media executive in a company. Although the job of a new media executive is similar to PR executive, a company is still need a specialist to look after their web pages. PR executive has many jobs. They need to deal with the customers, deal with their high executive in the company, provide idea to promote their company, crisis management, organize events or press conference, write news release or media kits and so on. Sometimes they do not have enough time to update their information in their web pages. So, if a company hires a new media executive, they will have more time to look after their web pages. Their job will be more focus and specialized. They will work more efficient and consistent.