The Culture of Efficiency: Technology in Everyday Life. Sharon Kleinman, ed. (2009). New York: Peter Lang Publishing. pp. 390.
Putting the Public Back in Public Relations. Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge (2009). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. pp. 314.
From old technologies to new social media tools, scholars and practitioners alike are looking for answers of how best to incorporate both old and new technology tools into both businesses and everyday life. These books explore the ever-changing world of technology through the lens of communication.
Building off of her previous 2007 book, Displacing Place: Mobile Communication in the Twenty-first Century, Sharon Kleinman, professor of communications at Quinnipiac University, has brought together a broader array of efficiency-oriented technologies and practices while highlighting their implications in her newest edited text, The Culture of Efficiency: Technology in Everyday Life. Kleinman mastered the gathering of twenty-eight authors from a variety of backgrounds. Each chapter attempts to demonstrate how everyday people are innovatively using technologies from a particular point of view in the human life cycle.
As such, the book is divided into four parts that follow a life cycle structure; however, I find this to be a bit of a stretch. While the first chapter does start with birth, grouped in that same particular life cycle part, part one, is eating and connecting. Trying to find the connection of birth with eating to make a particular section is not needed. While these divisions make for structure of the volume, they are not helpful. Each chapter is a stand-alone article that can be read or studied individually, which could be of particular interest to those wanting to study only certain areas of interest. The book would have been better suited not to be divided into parts because they do not aid in subject matter comprehension.
If readers are looking for a text to describe the newest technologies on the market, this is not the book to do so. As Kleinman points out in the introduction, each chapter in the edited volume is concentrated on efficiency-oriented technologies and practices. The forte of this edited volume is connecting numerous technologies to the current cultural expectancies that are placed upon each of us. Authors of each chapter offer realistic insights on the how and/or why their studied technology should be integrated or separated from activities that we as humans do every day, many that we conduct without thinking. The focus of the book is not to advocate one technology over another, but instead offer the reader a deeper understanding of each technology in order to make decisions in what technologies to engage—decisions made separate from cultural expectancies.
As an edited volume with a diverse selection of contributions from a multitude of authors, The Culture of Efficiency is equipped with something for everyone who is interested in how and/or why technology, both old and new, is becoming increasingly prevalent in both renovating and organizing how we maneuver through typical daily experiences. As Kleinman so eloquently states in her conclusion, “We must continue to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges of living in the twenty-first century, appreciating individual experience and taking a global perspective” (p. 356).
Most chapters could easily be used and assigned to upper-level undergraduate students. Professors who wish to implement this collection of works as part of graduate work should be advised that the book only offers a very broad perspective of technology, and additional material is needed to focus on particular technological tools.
Most scholars can value research and textbooks conducted by fellow scholars. However, in the public relations field most can also appreciate thought leaders in the industry who conduct research and write texts as they practice the current trade. Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge, two practitioners, have teamed up to write Putting the Public Back in Public Relations. Their book is organized in a practical way for everyone from the novelist to the advanced practitioner to grasp the concepts of how the balance between old school or traditional public relations is experiencing a shift into this new age dominated by social media that are reinventing how public relations is practiced.
Part one provides detail on how public relations is changing. These chapters are dubbed the educational section. The authors emphasize the importance of not completely abandoning traditional practices and tools; however, they also claim that there is a need to embrace social media as the future of public relations. Professors teaching introductory courses can breathe a sigh of relief as the authors stress the importance of continuing to understand foundational roots of PR. Solis and Breakenridge discuss public relations flaws that may lead to failed results. This is especially helpful for current practitioners and also can be of vital importance to students.
Part two focuses on explaining social media and why public relations practitioners should invest in learning and using new tools. A major emphasis is placed on participating by listening, reading, and learning first—becoming the customer. The authors state, “There is no one tool, one release, or one story that will motivate your customers to take action. It all starts with becoming the person (and different people) you’re trying to reach and then reverse-engineering the process” (p. 92).
The third part of the book speaks of participating in social media. I find this section to be the heart of the book. So many main premises of the book can be found in this section. Many main points are repeated throughout the book, yet explained in more detail here. These points include: tools will change, people and behaviors remain constant; focus of public relations is still relationships; listening and observing should always proceed practicing; and need to answer the “so what” question for your customer. The authors also argue that, “Social media is changing the PR outreach paradigm from pitching to personalize and genuine engagement” (p. 153). Connecting and building relationships have always been an important part of public relations, and even more so with the introduction of social media.
Part four moves the reader forward by looking into the future of public relations with social media. Solis and Breakenridge contend that the question of whether or not PR practitioners should engage is no longer relevant, as the answer is a resounding yes! The more important question now is how to best strategically plan for participation with the new social media tools. A promising outlook for students studying social media is offered, as the authors highlight new roles being established within the field. The focus is on the incorporation of social media within PR practice. Although many practitioners or professors may look for the cookie cutter approach to implementing social media tools, the authors clearly note that this is not feasible. In chapter 16, the call to the book—putting the public back in public relations—is answered: “Putting the public back into public relations is humanizing the entire process of communication and service—not just keeping customers happy, but also cultivating loyalty and engendering enthusiasts along the way” (p. 213).
The final part of the book encourages readers to embrace the current changes. Possibly one of the most important takeaway points is made in the concluding chapter. “The shift from passive, top-down, and reactive PR to proactive, hands-on, participatory engagement absolutely requires us to embody everything we represent” (p. 276). This assertion underlines the principle that in order to move forward, we must engage with social media that allows public relations to build meaningful relationships with target individuals.
Throughout the book the authors offer readers humorous and enjoyable insights from others. The reader also will appreciate the outside examples and links and most likely will find him- or herself doing the extra work to look up those links. The one downfall noted is the dated examples of Facebook and Twitter, which both have grown significantly since the book was written, but this is of no fault of the authors. It is virtually impossible to write a text with examples of current social media given the rapidly changing technology and the time necessary to publish a text. Overall, this book is an outstanding text written in an easy-to-digest way. It will allow undergraduate students, as well as advanced social media practitioners, to glean a better understanding of the forward moving public relations field with the incorporation of social media.
ALISA AGOZZINO
Ohio Northern University