TwitterChat

This past Wednesday, I decided to participate in my first Twitterchat, #PRStudChat. I logged into my Twitter account from the web, and noticed a few of my followers were using the hashtag, so I decided to join in. I quickly switched over from my normal Twitter page to the Twitterchat page that would allow me to view the conversation a little easier. At this site, I didn't have to remember to put in the hashtag, it already calculated it into the 140 characters for me, how handy!I noticed tweeters were introducing themselves, I introduced myself and mentioned I was a St. Edward's student. Tweeters were very receptive because I received a few responses that welcomed me into the chat, especially since I had mentioned it was my first chat. I was debating whether or not I should just "lurk," and feel my way through the conversation or get in and ask some questions. In the beginning, I just watched the updated feed and then I decided I wanted to add in some input. I noticed Tweeters would first ask a question a

nd label it Q1 and many people would respond or retweet the same post for professionals to answer. This process would continue with each question asked (we got up to about 5).

It was sometimes very overwhelming to participate because your feed would move so quickly. I was afraid to press "pause" in the upper right hand corner because I was afraid to miss out on something important! You gotta have some fast fingers to respond...! Also, you might see a post you want to retweet and comment on, but all you really have room to write is a short and sweet note like "great advice" or "interesting point."

Probably the most helpful advice from the PR pros was the conversation about Linkedin. I know we discussed its importance during class, but I still wasn't convinced that I needed to use it. I already had a profile set up (you know, just to have one) but my information was sparse. After seeing a few posts how useful it is for interviewers, I decided I better update mine ASAP.

Here are a few samples of my tweets during the chat:

Shoud there be a Dewey Decimal System for Twitter?

It's official, EVERY Tweet since Twitter's launch in 2006 has been recorded in the Library of Congress. Twitter decided to share its archive and as you can imagine, the number of tweets recorded is in the billions! The Library will record the tweets about every six months and with about 55 million Tweets coming into Twitter everyday, that's enough recording to make anyone's head spin.

Let's think about this, why would the Library of Congress want to store a pop culture icon of social media in the midst of thousands of historic pieces of literature? If you think about it like this, Twitter has been revolutionary in the way we share information. Twitter has been able to let us communicate live about some of the most historic events since its launch in 2006. Twitter has been able to capture moments like Obama winning the presidency or the Haiti earthquake, which have effected all of our lives in one way or another. Not only is Twitter just a social networking site, but buried beneath the tweets about your disgusting ex-boyfriend, there are tweets that are of value in our history.

However not ALL tweets are housed in the Library, if your tweets are protected, then they will stay that way. Also, if your tweet is going to be stored forever in such a renowned location, maybe people will think twice about their tweets sharing TMI..probably not, but wouldn't that be nice?

#youknowyoureaprstudentwhen

This is probably my favorite hashtag on Twitter and I recently saw a post..."#youknowyoureaprstudentwhen you ditch your friends for a Twitter chat!" I have never participated in a Twitter chat, but one day I could see friends in my network would be participating in some sort of chat because they were all using the same hashtag and posting frequently. In class, we discussed a little about the benefits of Twitter chat and some of the popular chats to participate in or at least very least, "lurk." If you're trying to find a job, most of the time these chats include professionals who can give you great tips (140 characters or less!) about what kinds of things recruiters are looking for.

I am not a senior yet, but I am about to turn that corner soon when I am going to be scouting out for an entry level job. Of course it's never to early to start looking around and building up a network, that's how you get ahead of the game! Some popular social networks are PROpenMic, LinkedIn Groups like PRIntern |EntryLevel, and Twitter initiatives such as #HAPPO. So I figure now that have the resources, it can only benefit me to join these networks and do what any PR pro does best, NETWORK!

Also, a Twitter chat, #PRStudChat, will be held tomorrow Wednesday, April 14th at 1:00 pm CT. This is a great opportunity because experienced recruiters will be giving us some insight on how to land a job. Some of the experts will include:

• Jessica Porterfield, a recruiter with Fleishman Hilliard. Jessica has eight years of experience in the Biotech/Pharma industry and now recruiting in PR.
• Jessica Bayer, a Public Relations recruiter at Qorvis Communications. Jessica specializes in Public Affairs, Government, Crisis, Interactive, Creative, Consumer and International relations.
• Laurie Bartolo, a recruiter at Ogilvy. Laurie’s career spans almost 20 years and covers a wide geography, from Florida to Washington DC to New Mexico and now Michigan.
• Lindsay Olson, a recruiter, founder and partner with Paradigm Staffing who spends her days helping companies build public relations and communications teams nationwide.
• Rachel Kay , President and found of RKPR. Rachel, whose firm is currently hiring, is an award-winning public relations expert with experience spanning a multitude of industries including consumer technology, food, beauty and fashion, the Web and more.

Google Juice

If you type your name into a search engine or "Google yourself," what are the results? For me, I have my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn profile at the top of the list, my work's website next, my blog, St. Edward's PRSSA blog, and of course a blast from the past with a Dallas Morning News Article on my highs chool drill team (sighhhh...). We have learned in class that is VERY likely for a future employer to just type in your name into Google and see what skeletons you have hiding in the closet.

Reading a little into Edelman's "Search Engine Visibility," gives a little insight in how Google might "select" the hits that come up when you put a search in and also the direction search engines are moving. First, Google is said to have a democratic way of selecting what things will rank accordingly when you search for something. For example, Edelman discussed how the New York Times was particularly frustrated when sites like outdated BBC sites, wikipedia, and YouTube showed up before their new story when "Gaza" was typed into Google. So it makes you wonder, what does it take to get a high ranking on Google? Bribes? Turns out, Google is just like a friend and all "it" wants is a little bit of TRUST.

Not only does content have to be reliable, it must also be LINKED. I discussed earlier, Foremski's rants about linking in a press releases, but as it turns out, linking is also very helpful in SEO. This is not really new information, but the methods in which we are linking and changing from "static linking" to a new form that allows a company to build relationships as well. Today, many companies are taking advantage of social media to link and drive traffic to their websites. That is to say if you see a Twitter discussion about a particular topic and then see a news story about the same topic, that link is more likely to rank higher because of the popularity of Twitter. So the more social networking sites you link to, the more "Google Juice" you will get!

The secret to Social Search is to employ an "embassy strategy." Companies that set up meaningful, engaging and permanent outposts inside all of the relevant social networks will be more discoverable than those who don't. Today the benefits of visibility are measured via Google results. Tomorrow it will be within search engines that are embedded into the social networks.

TweetTweet

Since the PRSSA National Assembly a few weeks ago, my Twitter network has grown tremendously, and I love it. Before I was only following a few celebrities and "30 PR pros" that you SHOULD follow on Twitter. Even though I "should" be following these people, I realized that I wasn't really responsive to the tweets they were producing. Yeah, I mean some tweets I looked at but most of them I just blew off.

It was a little difficult working with my Twitter frustrations for my "Personal Learning Project" in my Social Media for PR class. I was looking at the pros' posts and even asking questions, but I was getting very little response. Luckily, this PRSSA Assembly changed it all. I feel that now when I go on Twitter, that my network is a little more personal (probably because I actually met these people) and I enjoy reading their tweets. I am also glad that many of my followers and followees have really relevant links that have helped me with my project.

To be honest, I am not sure what the problem was before when I only had a few PR people I followed. Perhaps it could be that I am more motivated to interact and respond to people I have met before? I wonder if anyone else experiences this issue? Maybe for some people it is just the opposite and they are more inclined to interact with people they don't know. It could also be that I am interacting with my future generation of PR pros that could make it a little more interesting for me. Either way I am glad I have build up a network that I like. No offense PR pros... I am still following you too!

Twitter to the Rescue!

About a week before spring break, several students from the St. Edward's chapter attended the Public Relations Student Society of America's National Assembly. Luckily this year the event was held at downtown Austin's Hyatt Regency, so we had a very small commute compared to others!

A little sidenote-- This event was occuring during SXSW so I was a little concerned about parking (but then again, when in Austin are you not?) I had looked on the website at hotel parking prices and they were running at about ohh.. $18.00 per day. Panicking that I would spend close to about $60.00 dollars just on parking that weekend, I decided to call the Hyatt Regency. I was a little frustrated to be put on hold a few times, but that was really the least of my worries. I asked the concierge if there were any special parking permits that were available to students attending the PRSSA event this weekend.. and the answer was unfortunately a big fat "No."

I was pretty determined not to pay $60.00 so I turned to an alternate method of communication (drum roll please...) SOCIAL MEDIA! I logged on my Twitter account and found the account for the Austin Regency Downtown. I was already live tweeting with the National Assembly hashtag, #prssana, so I decided to tweet the Hyatt about their parking. I asked them, once again, about special parking prices for our event and was instantly retweeted by a few other students who also were concerned. A little less than 20 minutes later, I spotted the Hyatt's reply to my question and it was good news, FINALLY! They made parking only $5.00 for the weekend for us! YES.



I was pretty please that social media saved the day.

Who Says Facebook and Twitter are Distractions?

Recently, I was informed in Comm class at school that social media, like Facebook and Twitter can be affecting the way we right..i mean, write. I decided to look into this further because I think it is a valid statement, but is it for better or for worse? I remember a similar dilemma when I was much younger, with the new SpellCheck option for Word. Teachers and parents were frustrated that their student would not be learning an important skill, because a computer program would just automatically fix it instantly.
For a college student, social media is almost as required as a classroom textbook. We are constantly updating our Facebook status, uploading pictures, "Facebook stalking" our friends, tweeting, retweeting- the possibilities are endless. But some people seem to think this is cutting into our schoolwork and consequently making our academic papers less fluid and a series of broken paragraphs, rather than one smooth flowing essay.



At first glance, it appears to be reasonable that we are becoming too distracted with technology. If we are constantly interrupted with distractions, how can our thoughts be constructed coherently and logically into one essay? Well, there have been some conflicting reports with this issue. While some believe these distractions are hurting our writing skills, other believe these social media websites are actually helping us perform better. How? “People are more successful if we force them to move away from a problem or distract them temporarily,” observe the authors of Creativity and the Mind, a landmark text in the psychology and neuroscience of creativity.
Ok, i guess I can relate to this to some extent. It is sometimes difficult to sit at your computer continuously writing a research paper, little breaks do come handy in between. If anything, it makes me set certain goals to finish certain sections of my paper so I can reward myself with chatting and catching up with a few friends on Facebook. However, I can understand the statstic from Nucleus Research that states that an average of all company workers are on Facebook and lose approximately an hour and half of productivity throughout the workday. If you are using Facebook to avoid doing work at your job, I can see why this can be a problem. However, I think using it as an online breakroom for your 15 minutes does little to no harm.

One last thing. Many of the information we receive is relying less and less on news sources and more and more on social media. Many companies rely on getting their information for industry news, product launches, and information about competitors in one fashion or another, on the Internet. Social media, like Twitter, is exploding for providing this kind of information- you just have to follow the right people.

So is social media ruining our school papers and productivity? Yes and no. It all depends on how you use it.

@dominos

Some of you might remember that awful YouTube video of two Domino's employees tampering with a customers food..Yes, I will spare you the details for those of you who do remember. At first, it seemed to take Domino's awhile to get onboard with their damage control tactics, but they eventually managed to install faith back within the customers. (with a LOT of help from Twitter)

After the pitfall with the two employees, Domino's built up customer relations through a Twitter account "dominos." Today, I am scrolling their twitter home page and I can see they are not only promoting their newest promotion "The Pizza Turnaround," but are working to respond to individual customer needs, which goes a step beyond a marketing tool, but sustainable PR relationship. I search at the official Domino's Twitter account and saw that their page was filled with replies to individuals, meaning their goals go far beyond selling a few pies...they care about their customer's satisfaction.

Not only did Domino's improve their customer relations with some social media, but their pizza too! The company's new campaign, "Pizza Turnaround," required Domino's to listen to some of its harshest critics and make a change to their needs. Domino's would browse through their tweets and print out negative feedback in order to address the needs of their customers. WOW. So I guess you could say this is not just Domino's Pizza, its the "People's Pizza." Still, Domino's has not pumped the breaks on its social media. The official "Pizza Turnaround" website includes a feed where tweets can be seen about the new pizza flavor using the hashtag #newpizza.

As for me, I'm pretty partial to a local pizza place, Conan's, here in Austin. Although, I'm definitely willing to give Domino's a shot, for social media's sake

Here is the YouTube video of "Pizza Turnaround.

Wave Goodbye?

This week, the reading for my Social Media for PR class tackled the mysterious Google Wave. After reading about all of its useful features, like email, IM, WebChat, message boards, and wiki, I decided to take a stab at it.

I didn't slice very deep, barely did I even make it to correctly uploading a photo.. Wave is confusing to a new user. Well, that's to be expected, I remember feeling completely lost with the new concept of Twitter. Part of the problem is the "lonely experience" I felt because I had only two contacts. Once I dived into reading more about Google Wave, the more I realized it is not so different from the technologies I have already been exposed to, it just surprising to see it all wrapped up in one.

I decided the wiki-feature of Wave is something very different. If I make a "wave" (the equivalent to an email), my document can be edited by the people I send it to. Weird? In my opinion, I would see that as a huge problem because how could the document be trusted if it was sent to a large quantity of people. For instance, say Wave took part as an internal email system for a corporation and was used to communicate about business meetings, events, and other corporate business, one individual could alter a date or time- which could be annoying.

On the other hand, I look at this for class projects and assignments as a great tool. If you are in a group with Snobby Sally or Cranky Chris, you might have zero initiative or ambition to ever actually meet with them, but the project has to get done somehow. With Wave, you can upload a document and send it to the unfortunate group members and work collaboratively on it (you can even use the IM to chat about your ideas/suggestions while editing the document).

Is Google Wave a hit or miss? I'm not sure it's effect yet because not everyone has access to it. From reading a few articles from class, I see it MIGHT have some potential in the future.

SocialBowl Sunday

Whether or not our favorite team made it to play in the legendary Superbowl, we are more than likely to tune into the action for the quest for the ring or tune into to some of the best commercials of the year. As a Dallas Cowboy fan, I am not so much interested with either the Saints or Colts, but I will admit I am excited about the new buzz circling around that advertisers are taking a new approach to their commercials.

Think about it.. You and at least 10 of your close friends piled on the couch around the T.V., passing the chips and dip, and popping a few beers. It's an advertiser's dream to have this many pairs of eyes tuning into the network, so a boring commercial won't make the cut. And with commercial spots soaring well over into the few million dollar range for just 30 seconds, no pennies can be wasted with mediocrity. Advertisers again are now having to think outside of the box (literally) to get audiences interacting with their brand from the T.V. to your computer or cell phone.

Audi is taking a stab with social media advertising with it's new campaign to promote an earth friendly diesel fuel. For better or worse, the people are talking, well tweeting, about the series of videos posted on YouTube known as the "Green Police." Even though this seemingly controversial name may be making quite a stir, there is still no such thing as bad publicity..people are still talking.

Well, one of the biggest companies that will be MIA for the Superbowl is Pepsi. Pepsi is completely opting out this Sunday and taking its new campaign, "Pepsi Refresh," which is leaving competitors like Coca-Cola chuckling about their decision. Coca-Cola will be using BOTH Superbowl ads to promote their Facebook page to support Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Why not take advantage of T.V.'s most popular Sunday and connecting it to technology's latest buzz? Denny's, Doritos, Unilever, and VW seem to agree with the approach as well. Unilever will be connecting with Twitter to engage audiences having them tweet about their Dove ads.

Whatever team you will be rooting for this Sunday, the winning team will be in the limelight for maybe a day or so. I don't know about you, but the next day I'm not talking about the game, I'm talking about the commercials. We will just have to wait and see which social media snap will launch the "Hail Mary" hype and ultimately lead to a W.