By Amy Kean, head of the IAB social media council, .
You may remember back in September, the ASA announced the formal extension of its remit to the non paid-for space… This, inevitably, will include many areas of social media activity – most notably pages on social networking and microblogging sites where many brands now have a presence.
In the IAB’s view this is a welcome development, further reinforcing the integrity of social media and promoting the ideology that all branded communications should be ‘legal, decent, honest and truthful’, as laid out within the CAP Code. After all, shouldn’t we all strive to achieve these things, and interact with consumers without intentionally misleading them? Our friends at We Are Social articulated this perfectly over here.
The commentary surrounding the initial announcement sparked a certain amount of debate about what exactly constitutes ’social media’ and the implications for the PR industry. We spoke to the ASA’s CEO, Guy Parker, to ask some questions on behalf of the IAB membership and obtain further clarification on the perceived ‘grey area’ between social media and public relations. Enjoy!
