Social Media

semester has ended

2008-01-27T10:35:00.000-05:00

Our class is over, but for many of the students in fall 2007 Social Media class the journey in understanding social media has just begun!

In this class, we spent most of the semester creating student-selected social media projects then worked to make those projects a success. From marketing via Facebook to making good ole fashioned business cards & hitting the pavement, each student worked to increase viewership of his or her project.

Another major project involved students coming up with a proposal for an organization to integrate social media. The best of the best were covered on the blog so if you're ever looking for inspiration then check them out.

We provided extensive live coverage of the social media conference UGA Connect. Live blogging, twitter'ing, flickr'ing, podcasts & interviews. We did the same for the college's PRSSA chapter event, Professional Connection. Was there anything the students didn't do in sharing the on-site experience with the out-of-town observers?

And then there was the 48 hours of Twitter assignment that everyone loved! What fun!

Thanks to everyone who followed & interacted with this class - especially the professionals who did a "digital drop-in" for our "social media spotlite" series.

---
For more information about UGA's Grady College, please visit http://www.grady.uga.edu .

To contact Dr. Kaye Sweetser, please visit her blog or faculty page.

YouTube: An Effective Political Medium?

2007-11-29T12:57:00.000-05:00

Last night the 8 potential Republican presidential candidates squared off in their first ever YouTube debate. As we had previously talked about the Democratic YouTube debate, I was excited to finally have the chance to watch it live.

Listen to whether or not I think the YouTube format is going to be successful in the political arena.

Bringing Social Media to Sports

2007-11-29T12:50:00.000-05:00

There was a recent post on how we haven't really discussed social media in relation to sports. There is a company called XOS Technologies that is using social media to promote professional sports and I thought that this would be a great listen for everyone.

Listen here.

XOS Technologies is one of the leading technology partners for maximizing the value of content and commerce for sports organizations and fans.

Facebook is Ruining Christmas

2007-11-29T12:34:00.000-05:00

So maybe you avoided the black friday mall rush and opted to buy your Christmas presents online this year, but did you know that the website you bought it from may have let the cat out of the bag. The beloved social media website of college students everywhere is to blame for spoiling Christmas. Facebook has added a new feature that broadcasts users information. In an article on SociaMediaToday.com, it discusses the problem the feature poses. This podcast gives a more detailed description of the problem and the larger implications.

Ben Leathers....How He is Putting His New Skills to Work!

2007-11-29T10:28:00.000-05:00

Taking Dr. Scott Shamp's new media class is highly recommended by student Ben Leathers. In my interview with Ben, he shares his views on the average college student's knowledge of social media methods and where he sees social media headed in the future.

Ben is not only enrolled in the coolest class ever, but he is also one of the founders of the organization Tumornators, which creates fundraising efforts to raise money for NF and Schwannomatosis research. He also tells us the social media methods they used recently for their "Rock 4 Research" campaign.

Click here to listen to this exclusive interview.

Second Life Concerts...Were They Successful?

2007-11-29T09:57:00.001-05:00

In a previous posting, we learned that UGA's Music Business Certificate Program partnered up with the New Media Institute to put on live concerts in Second Life.

I interviewed Steve Dancz, academic director of the MBUS program, to see how the concerts turned out. Steve speaks highly of Second Life and believes it greatly benefits young artists. Click here to listen and learn about the impact Second Life has on the music industry.

Social Media and Politics

2007-11-29T01:18:00.000-05:00

Social media and politics must be one of my favorite combinations ever, but I'm not sure it's being used to its full potential at this point. It could be a great tool to open up discussion (two-way communication, hello!), but as my friend Shannon - a former blogger and politics aficionada like myself - points out, in most cases it's only being used as a recruitment tool.

Click here to listen to our discussion of politicians joining the social media realm through the YouTube debates, Second Life, blogs and more.

Get graded on your Second Life skills!

2007-11-29T00:31:00.000-05:00

Throughout the semester we have dabbled in discussion about Second Life, but some University students have taken an entire course about this virtual world.

I interviewed Rosie Simon, a senior public relations major, about her experiences in this class taught by Scott Shamp.

Listen here!

semester projects

2007-11-28T23:17:00.000-05:00

The big project this semester was to create a social media product & make it a success. Here are the class projects (in no particular order!):

Kelly Jones covers public relations at Speaking Phonetically, Pee Arh
Katherine Strate's Dawg Food blog
Alicin Hendricks traveled around the state for her Georgia 2.0 blog
Alicia Stafford kept us stlyin' in her Chic Athens blog
Jeff Putnam brought hockey to Georgia in his Global NHL blog
Katie Vandegrift was pet-tastic on her Georgia is for Dog Lovers blog
Tolu sold art on SecondLife
Abby Simonds chartered her Tails of an Unpaid Intern on her blog
Asha Hill looked back on her time at UGA in her Class of 2008 tribute video on YouTube
Lauren G. worked on a little self-improvement on her Challenge My Character blog
Tim Anderson showed us UGA Study Abroad with his video
Nina Eyrich gave us daily doses in her 365 (Picture) Project
Lindsey Loughman said you can dance if you want to at her Two Left Feet blog
Carmel Joseph gave us the tips & tricks of "making it" in the recording industry on her YouTube Channel
Christina Graff cracked the code for us in her Greek Speak blog
Lizzie Azzolino asked 5 Questions to Everyday People in her blog
Ashley Beebe told us all about herself and the fact that There's A Mouse In My House
Erin Gentry went hip-hop and re-made an old fave in her YouTube video
Savannah Harp found out that the Real Full House equals real drama
Geoffrey Tanner relived the Florida-Georgia game in his YouTube video
Lindsay Lamphere showed us her inner shutter bug on Flickr

Check out their work if you haven't already!

UPDATE: Added Kelly's blog because I inadvertently left her off the original list

Beware of "Viral" Videos!

2007-11-28T23:16:00.000-05:00

The debate over ethics in public relations will probably never end because traditions are always changing and new tactics are constantly emerging. Listen to this podcast about ethics and the example of a viral video marketer who is causing quite a stir.

Here are a few links to things I mention:
Dr. Vorvoreanu PR Connections
Shel Holtz
TechCrunch.com

YouTube Debates Round 2

2007-11-28T22:57:00.000-05:00

Hopefully, everyone caught a little glimpse of the debate that happened tonight. I think the candidates did an excellent job taking this form of communication seriously. While some questions were still funny, the candidates answered the questions like they would in any other debate. Of course, by "answered the question" I mean they put together a string of words that sounded good, but never addressed the real question.

I want to make a comparison to the last debate. In particular the democratic debate featured a question by a comedy duo who post YouTube videos regularly called "The Red State Update." In this podcast I discuss these men and how they have influenced social media's presence in the political world both positively and negatively.

Building relationships with bloggers 101

2007-11-28T22:14:00.000-05:00

One of our wonderful social media spotlites, Mr. Brian Solis, wrote a blog post about 10 ways to help PR practitioners build relationships with bloggers. Mr. Solis put it best by saying, "bloggers relations and participation are crucial to the future of your business." As future PR practitioners, we all should listen to the helpful advice!

I am proud to be an American!

2007-11-28T21:49:00.000-05:00

I came across an interesting article today on CNN.com about a lawsuit that Yahoo just settled with two Chinese journalists. Yahoo turned in the journalists' e-mails that contained "pro-democracy literature" to Chinese authorities which resulted in jail time and alleged torture. Listen to see why I am proud to be a citizen of the United States of America.

What the public thinks about social media

2007-11-28T21:31:00.000-05:00

This class has led us on an exciting journey into the world of social media. However, I feel that we have gotten so enthralled with it that we sometimes forget what everyone else thinks. As future PR practitioners, we need to remain connected to our publics and know what they think of the tools we use.

With this in mind I interviewed two friends of mine. Listen to how they use and think about social media.

Republican YouTube Debate

2007-11-28T20:52:00.000-05:00

Wow. I'm watching the Republican YouTube debate right now, and I really don't know what to think.

Stabbing, jabbing, cutting, throwin' bows...you'd think it was West Side Story.

Anderson Cooper, the moderator, announced each candidate has produced a YouTube-ish video. They are playing them throughout the debate.

I think this goes back to our class period on politics. Each video I've seen has been well produced, almost too much, and they are taking that opportunity to attack their opponents.

Most of the people who are interested in this debate are probably young people. To me, attacking your opponent isn't cool, and I think young people think that, too.

I will probably update some more.

Here are the Web sites for the candidates if you want to check them out. I noticed some of them look a lot alike.

Mitt Romney
John McCain
Mike Huckabee
Fred Thompson
Rudy Giuliani
Duncan Hunter
Ron Paul
Tom Tancredo

P.S. Tancredo and McCain need to work on their google status. They were the only candidates who's campaign pages weren't the first ones on the google search. Hmmmmmm...

Since we are all podcasting now...

2007-11-28T20:51:00.000-05:00

I was catching up on my Google reader and I ran across this post. We might all be pros at podcasting but it is never too late to learn new things.

Here is Donna Papacosta's post about podcasts.

The students agree, they'll take a long lunch break.

2007-11-28T18:46:00.000-05:00

Cyber Monday is not targeted toward college-aged kids, but I wanted to see if the students here participated. Check out the interviews here.

Long lunch breaks

2007-11-28T18:38:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. Christmas shopping season is in full swing, but frantic shoppers often forget an important resource ... the Internet.

Cyber Monday is dedicated to those smart, tech-savvy shoppers, so when Christmas break comes, they can relax. Listen here to find out more!

Either you are in or you are out

2007-11-28T18:31:00.000-05:00

Even though social networks like Facebook are opening up their door to the general public, there are a hand full of social networks that are doing the opposite and are closing the doors to the general public. In an article found on businessweek.com, three “gated” sites are discussed that are going against the open social networking trend and have strict membership requirements to join. As stated in the article, “the scene [the “gated” sites] is more velvet-roped club, not open-mic night.”

Reuters Space is a private site that allows fund managers, traders, and analysts to network. Every member has their own feed and profile page (a personal blog) which allows them to receive news from Reuters about their field and to network with colleagues and other industry workers. Reuters has their own data in place that verifies the employment status of the applicants and then determines who can join.

INmobile.org is a network specifically for executives that are in the wireless industry. You must be a director at a large company, a vice-president at a mid-size company, or in the C-suite of a start-up company in order to join the network. There are currently more than 900 executive members on INmobile. Members include Verizon Wireless executives, handset makers of Nokia, co-founders of the New York mobile-games Cellfun and content providers from Walt Disney.

Diamond Lounge is an invite-only social/business network that just launched this month. The selection committee of the network has already invited 100 people to join, but they have received more than 7,000 applications. Members actually have to pay a monthly fee of $60 to be a part of this elite social network. Members are able to keep a social profile in “the Lounge” and a business profile in “the boardroom.” Members can even set their privacy settings based on physical traits of other members. Instead of exchanging trivial Facebook gifts like a cute teddy bear or a fiesta hat, members of the Diamond Lounge exchange real gifts like designer purses and tickets to a big event.

When I first read this article I disagreed with the idea of closed social networks, but then it began to grow on me. Similar to GodTube, sites are taking the basic principles of open social networks such as Myspace and YouTube and are catering it to a targeted audience. Large social networks can be overwhelming and the purpose of the network can be lost in the mist of the chaos. These elite “gated” sites might seem trivial and over zealous at first, but they carry the same basic principals as other organizations such as PRSA. You have to fill out an application and pay yearly dues in order to be a member. Although, the Diamond Lounge seems to be mixture of both a Myspace and a business networking group, but for the rich that have a lot of stinking money.

Making the Time Capsule

2007-11-28T18:22:00.001-05:00

Since I'm sure all of you listened to my podcast about how social media is documenting who we are and how it has time capsule capabilities. You should listen to the second podcast in the series where I put this time capsule talk into action. I interview college students and ask them what they are thinking about these days. Now it is linked here in the black hole of the Internet for years to come.

Social Media as a Time Capsule

2007-11-28T18:15:00.000-05:00

When we talk about social media and public relations we constantly talk about engaging our audience and having a human voice. We are documenting our human voices everyday when we digitize "who we are." We are creating a time capsule. Have you ever thought about social media this way? Listen more about this here.

youTube: org integration proposal

2007-11-28T16:45:00.000-05:00

For the social media organizational integration proposal, student Lizzie Azzolino suggested that the State of Georgia sponsor a YouTube contest for videos on water conservation. Given the drought, this proposal is really timely & the details Lizze spends the time to outline are among the things that made this YouTube proposal stand out.

The proposal she turned in follows.
++++

“How do you Conserve?” YouTube Competition

This document outlines the process for integrating YouTube as a resource into the Office of the Governor of Georgia as a means of aiding in the state of Georgia’s current water crisis.

For a variety of reasons, Georgia finds itself in a multiple-year drought beyond what it has seen in the recorded past. Within the last few months, the state has seen climatologists predict that the next several months will bring little rainfall. The water reservoirs are dangerously low. It has become clear to the state that our conservation efforts need improvement.

Governor Sonny Perdue has asked businesses and citizens in the effected counties to cut their water usage by 10 percent. The Department of Natural Resources has suggested the following as methods of water conservation: wash only full loads of dishes and laundry, take a shower instead of a bath and fix leaking faucets and toilets.

To encourage further participation in water conservation by Georgia citizens, the Governor could announce a competition to conserve by asking citizens to create and post YouTube videos that demonstrate how they are effectively conserving this precious resource. The competition, and use of YouTube, would not only aid in water conservation, but it would spread the message that efforts are necessary. Encouraging citizens to post on YouTube would present a more “human” side to the water conservation effort, helping to make the point that every individual effort counts.

Perhaps the most substantial motivator for making use of YouTube is the Web site’s association with producing “viral video.” The term refers to video content that gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing. With the recent proliferation of mobile Internet devices, these videos can be viewed at anytime and almost anywhere. In addition, the site promotes the option of spreading videos by encouraging users to “embed” them in other sites, such as traditional Web sites, blogs and social network pages, and e-mailing them to others. The viral nature creates incredible potential for, not only positive publicity, but also making substantial progress in the effort to conserve water.

Background.

YouTube was founded in February 2005, and since then it has become a leader in online video. In November 2005, YouTube received funding from Sequoia Capital and was officially launched in December. Chad Hurley and Steve Chen became the first members of the management team. Hurley and Chen currently serve as chief executive officer and chief technology officer. In November 2006, YouTube was purchased by Google, Inc. YouTube has partnered with providers such as CBS, Sony Music Group, NBA and Warner Music Group. In June 2007, the entire interface of the Web site became available with localized versions in numerous countries.

YouTube is the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide. On www.YouTube.com, anyone can easily upload video clips through Web sites, mobile devices, blogs and e-mail.

Unregistered users can upload and watch a majority of the videos on the site, but registered users may upload an unlimited number of videos. There is no cost associated. Videos are placed into categories including: autos, comedy, entertainment, film, how-to, music, news and politics, people and blogs, pets and animals, sports, and travel and events. In 2006, special functions were added that allow users to post “responses” to videos and subscribe to content feeds.

Since its inception, a number of corporations and nonprofits have made use of YouTube as a means of marketing a product, service or cause. Dove, Coca-Cola, Delta, Cingular and American Red Cross, to name a few, have taken advantage of YouTube.

Furthermore, Samsung is currently hosting the UpStage lip-sync video contest, Nestle’s Nesquick created the Shake It video contest and Puma Fragrances is looking for creative videos to express what “gets you going.”

For the 2008 election, a number of political candidates used YouTube as an outlet for advertising their messages to the public. This year, CNN aired a debate in which candidates responded to questions from a pool of videos submitted to YouTube.

According to the YouTube site, the user base is 18 to 55 years of ago, spanning all geographies. The most recent figures claim that YouTube has “nearly 20 million unique users per month” who are watching “more than 100 million videos per day.”

Implementation Process.

A. Secure a co-sponsor for the competition to provide a prize for the video contest winner. The most enviable sponsor is one based in Georgia, willing to create a video on how they are conserving and is able to provide legitimate evidence that they are making an effort in conservation. Consider Chick-fil-A or Home Depot.

B. Create a “contest” on YouTube, similar to those on http://youtube.com/contests_main. To do so, contact YouTube directly: http://youtube.com/t/contact_us. They will assist you in creating the contest page. It should: link to http://www.gov.state.ga.us/, as well as provide the contest guidelines and information specified below. It is important to note that the governor’s office reserves the right to remove any video from the contest if it is inappropriate in nature (containing nudity, profanity or violence) or unrelated to the competition. Work with YouTube to monitor the videos.

C. Create a new link that reads “How do you Conserve? Contest” on the left-hand side of http://www.gov.state.ga.us/. This should link to a new page on Governor Sonny Perdue’s Web site. On this page:

1. provide general information about the water crisis and ways to conserve. Link to www.conservewatergeorgia.net and other associated Web resources.

2. provide guidelines for the video competition.

a. Instruct contestants, anyone currently living in Georgia, to create an original and relevant video, lasting between one and five minutes, that demonstrates how they are conserving water.

b. Instruct contestants to upload their original video to the contest page that

was previously set-up with YouTube. Provide a link to this page.

c. Provide the competition start-date, immediately, and the deadline, Dec. 20, 2007.

d. Specify that the video will be judged on success in demonstrating water

conservation, quality of expression, originality and creativity.

e. Mention that it is understood that citizens have varying degrees of access to video production equipment. Encourage all to apply.

3. specify that the winner will be announced on http://www.gov.state.ga.us/ and on the YouTube site on Dec. 23, 2007. Provide details about the prize, as discussed with the corporate sponsor.

4. provide information about the sponsor, their conservation video and appropriate links.

5. regularly embed video-submissions.

6. post a video of Governor Perdue conserving water and a video of the corporate sponsor conserving.

7. mention that the governor’s office reserves the right to use the video submissions in adverting and conservation efforts.

D. To announce the competition, begin by making the Web site live. Post Governor Perdue’s conservation video, as well as the corporate sponsor’s video on both sites. Rely on the viral nature of YouTube in a large way. It is likely that media will follow-up, but it is necessary to notify local news channels, as well as the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Consider contacting national morning news shows, such as The Today Show and Good Morning America. For the necessary media outlets, consider a social media press release that may include: links to the governor’s and corporate sponsor’s YouTube videos, a link to the YouTube contest page, a link to the governor’s Web site, a link to the corporate sponsor’s site, information about the water crisis and contest guidelines. For the social media press release format, visit http://www.shiftcomm.com/.

E. On Dec. 23, 2007, announce the winner. Post a video of Governor Perdue congratulating the winner on both sites. Provide the winner with the prize supplied by the corporate sponsor. Use a format similar to the one specified above, to announce the winner to media.

F. An optional follow-up includes using the winner’s video in advertisements and public service announcements to raise awareness of the water crisis and conservation efforts. This should be followed with current information on the state of the crisis in Georgia.

Tracking the Success.

Do not measure the success of the YouTube contest only with regards to Georgia residents, as nationwide coverage is equally important. Raising awareness of water being a resource that we should not take advantage of is a critical message for everyone. With this contest, the nation will hopefully become more knowledgeable of the current crisis in Georgia, take measures to help our state and take the necessary steps to ensure this does not happen in other areas. It is important to mention that increased water conservation cannot be an assumed result of the contest. The more important factor is that we increase awareness. Awareness comes with participation, whether it’s submitting a video, watching a video or reading a related article. Social media is about having conversations, and it’s not always obvious how to measure the use of these tools. To examine the success of the YouTube contest, consider:

A. the number of contest submissions. Contests currently taking place on YouTube, including those sponsored by Samsung and Nestle, have anywhere from zero to 84 video submissions. If we use those numbers as a basis for comparison, 200 submissions would be extremely successful. Take into consideration the fact that, in order to create a video, on average, it takes at least two people. Family and friends of those involved will likely watch the video. Taking part in this process, whether making the video or watching the video, will increase awareness and possibly generate water conservation.

B. the number of views per video. Currently on YouTube, of all the videos related to “Georgia’s water crisis,” the one with the most views is at 620 views (“Lake Lanier: Running Dry,” http://youtube.com/watch?v=iNO88SfKia4). If that number is used as a comparison, then Governor Perdue’s video, the corporate sponsor’s video and the winning submission should have at least that number. With each view, we can assume that the viewer’s awareness of the water crisis increases in a small way. Further, we can hope they make more of an effort to conserve.

C. the number and nature of comments. If a comment is left, you can assume the viewer has been engaged in the video submission. Positive comments (“great video,” “thank you for doing this,” etc.) are a measure of success. To be considered successful, Governor Perdue’s video, the corporate sponsor’s video and the winner’s video should have at least 10 comments.

D. amount of traditional media coverage. The most likely way for people in states other than Georgia to become interested in the YouTube videos is through traditional media. Whether the contest is mentioned on Good Morning America or picked up by Newsweek magazine. In order to view this contest as a success, coverage by these national outlets is necessary. This coverage does not have to occur during the contest. In fact, the most obvious time for it to occur is after the winning video is announced. Consider having the winner appear on morning news and do print interviews.

E. the number of page views for the contest page on Governor Perdue’s Web site, which can be tracked using Google Analytics. As it was previously stated, this Web site will not only have contest details, but it will also have information about the water crisis and how to conserve. With each page view, people will become more aware. In turn, they may choose to conserve water more efficiently. Also track the bounce rate (look for a percentage less than 50), as well as the average time spent on the site (2 minutes is good). Related to this is the number of other Web sites that link to the contest page.

+++
Note: this proposal was created for as a part of a student project in class (ADPR 5990) & is no way an indication of what the organization is planning on doing regarding social media. Students selected clients & social media tools on their own based on their personal interests.

twitter: org integration proposal

2007-11-28T16:37:00.000-05:00

For the social media organizational integration proposal, student Erin Gentry suggested that National Geographic magazine integrate Twitter. Reading tweets from their journalists dispatched all around the world in itself is enough to get me excited about this proposal. A single account, rather than unique accounts for each article, might be easier to manage, though. The specific examples of what type of tweets the reporters should do & the explanations of how to reply (both in task & approach for stimulating conversation) are among the things that made this Twitter proposal stand out.

The proposal she turned in follows.
++++

National Geographic Use of Twitter

Over the past years, National Geographic magazine has been facing a decline in readership in the U.S. Readers are becoming older and using the internet to gather information once found only in the magazine. To combat this, National Geographic has made its web site interactive including podcasts, videos and photos.

However, there is still a need to generate interest in the magazine. Terry Adamson, executive vice president of National Geographic Society said, “One of our challenges…is to continually find new, younger readers.” Younger people are using the internet. National Geographic needs to generate interest about its magazine where its publics are participating, on the internet.

Twitter is a social networking site. It allows users to create updates, or tweets, up to 140 characters long. Updates are delivered to users who have signed up to “follow” the updater. Updates can be sent and received via email, instant messaging, text messaging or the Twitter web site. Twitter is a service allowing users to keep track of what people are doing, thinking, looking at and feeling.

On July 18, 2007, it was estimated that there was 340,000 public Twitter accounts with an average of 2,000 new Twitter accounts a day.

National Geographic can use Twitter to generate interest in its magazine. Authors and photographers on site for an article could Twitter. Telling Twitter users what they are doing, eating, seeing and experiencing, the authors and photographers could generate interest based on what they did to produce the story.

National Geographic should set up a primary account that would be updated with interesting facts, news about articles coming up and special offers for Twitter users only. They should then set up accounts for each different article it wants to feature on Twitter. When choosing what articles to feature online, National Geographic should consider whether the location will allow for multiple updates and whether the journalist or photographer will be able to make the updates interesting.

Getting Started With Twitter

To set up the Twitter account:

Go to www.twitter.com
Click on Get Started-Join
Choose a user name (e.g. Nat’lGeographic)
Choose a password
Enter an email address
Click I accept. Create an account.

Repeat these steps to create the accounts for each different article National Geographic wants to feature on Twitter.

To send a tweet on the web site, log on to the Twitter account. Type in the message you want to send in the entry window at the top of the page. Hit update to send the message.

It is also possible to register a phone and instant messenger to Twitter from. To do this, log on to the Twitter account. Under settings, click on phone and IM. Then, enter the mobile phone number and instant messenger name that updates will be sent from. To send a Twitter message from a mobile phone, send an SMS message to 40404. From instant messenger, message TwitterIM if using AOL or twitter@twitter.com if using Jabber/Gtalk.

Using Twitter

A picture can be uploaded to each account. A standard logo should be used for the main account. However, for accounts following a specific story, a picture of the person or persons Twittering should be used. It would be more interesting if the picture was taken on location. This would provide followers with a personal connection to the people Twittering and the story they are covering. To upload a picture, log on to the Twitter account. Click on settings then picture. Hit the browse button and select the picture that will become the profile picture. Click save.

A twitter tweet must be short and interesting telling followers what is happening, how the Twitterer is feeling or pointing to an interesting link. Here are some examples:

Just arrived in South America…Buen Airez to be exact

The local cuisine here is interesting…fried crickets taste like potatos

It is raining…AGAIN

Just got back from a 40 mile hike, beautiful scenes but my feet hurt

Check out the local children (add a link to photos)

To make the Twitter account interesting updates should be made frequently, at least one new tweet a day. However, do not overburden followers with too much information. Do not update more than 10 times a day unless in extreme circumstances (e.g. a volcano erupting).

The account should also contain a lot of links and references. Link to pictures that have been uploaded to the internet, online recipes that describe local cuisine, weather forecasts and descriptions, examples of local artwork, etc.

References on Twitter consist of the @ symbol and the name of a fellow Twitterer (e.g. @eGentry). This occurs quite frequently and should be used as a tool to answer followers’ questions, promote other National Geographic Twitter accounts and participate in the Twitter community. Twitter is about connecting and having mini conversations. Do not be afraid to reference what someone else is saying. For example, if the follower MJcool writes “polar bears are awesome www.tinyurl.com/plrbrs” do not be afraid to follow the link. Then, the main account could reference MJcool and say “@MJcool, polar bears are cool. Did you know their skin was black?”

Each Twitter account has a profile. A profile tells a little about the account user. A profile includes url information, one line bio and location. The profile can be changed by logging in to the account and clicking settings. The url for all Twitter accounts should be the National Geographic’s web site. The one line bio can tell about the company (e.g. Inspiring people to care about the planet) or the project being worked on (e.g. This is a article researching how people in the Amazon eat). The location should tell where the account is being updated from.

The background can be changed in Twitter. Anyone clicking on an accounts name will be taken to their home page which includes their individual background. While many users do not visit other home pages, this tool could be used to individualize National Geographic’s accounts. To change the background, log on to the Twitter account and click on settings. Click on design. Change the colors or click browse and add a picture.

The main account should link to all pictures, videos and podcasts National Geographic adds to its web site.

Employees should follow these guidelines when Twittering:

Tell the Truth – never lie about who you are, where you are or what you are doing
Use a human voice – do not use business talk or PR talk
Have a thick skin – know that people will not always like what you say
Respond to the people who reply to you – answer their questions responding back to them, be nice to the people who follow you and they will spread the word
Never change the main twitter account’s name – you will lose followers if you do
If you do not have the answers say so – not having the answers is human, but find them if you can
Never lie
Never hide information – even if National Geographic is not doing a good job, do not hide the fact. Say what is going wrong and what is happening to fix the issue
Know who is talking about you

Making Twitter Effective

Followers need to have some reason to follow National Geographic’s twitter accounts other than the fact that it is interesting. National Geographic needs to reward its followers. Here are some suggested ways to do this:

Give away special offers and codes only released through Twitter
Create a special edition of National Geographic just for Twitters – this special edition could expand on the experiences of the photographers and journalists who Twitter
Have a contest for the best story idea on Twitter. The winner would not only see his or her story produced and published, but would meet with the journalist and photographer who produced the story

Marks of Success

The marker of success for Twitter is the number of followers an account has. Followers receive the updates accounts send. All National Geographic twitter accounts should have more followers than accounts it is following. Following accounts can be useful. Most twitter users look at who is following them and will start following the accounts following them. If National Geographic has 300 followers in the first month, the Twitter account has been extremely successful.

Replies are also a mark of success. If twitter users are positively responding to what is said, then the account is a success. To view responses, log on to the account. Click on the sub-folder Replies under the update button.

National Geographic could also track success by following how many hits on its web site come from Twitter recommendations.

flickr: org integration proposal

2007-11-28T16:23:00.000-05:00

For the social media organizational integration proposal, student Ashley Beebe suggested that the Food Network adopt Flickr. This would be a great way to get Food TV viewers involved in a community of cooks as they share pictures of their interpretations of a recipe & maybe their own concoctions. I really liked how Ashley suggested that people at Food TV actually go out in search of pictures then invite people to share the pic with the special Food group (no pun intended). This focus on community - the heart of what social media is to me - & the ability to showcase one's contribution to the community are among the things that made this Flickr proposal stand out.

The proposal she turned in follows.
++++

Food Network Flickr account proposal

Ref: [1] http://flickr.com/
[2] http://www.foodnetwork.com/
[3] http://info.yahoo.com/
[4] http://blog.flickr.com/en/2007/05/29/were-going-down/
[5] http://flickr.com/tools/
[6] http://flickr.com/groups/flickrdiamondclassphotographer/

1. Purpose: This document outlines the addition of a Flickr [1] account to the Food Network online community to increase feeling of community and interactivity within the Food Network online community. Food Network already has a fairly well-established online presence within its Web site [2]; the addition of a Flickr account would allow the Food Network to reach outside of its own online neighborhood and participate in other communities. Participation in other communities would increase traffic to the Web site as well as brand loyalty; use of a photo pool, standardized tags and discussion postings would also give Food Network the ability to better track and gauge discussion about the Food Network through blog, recipe and photo posts.

2. Background: Flickr is a photo-hosting network under the Yahoo [3] umbrella, meant to encourage storing and sharing photos online. As of May 2007 Flickr had more than 8.5 million members and members upload as many as 2 million new pictures per day [4]. Flickr is a social medium; there are multiple devices built into the Flickr framework to make it easier to find and share photographs and thus experiences. Each member has his or her own “photostream” and can organize the photos into sets, add descriptions and titles, tag each photo with key phrases, mark other Flickr members as contacts, mark other Flickr members’ photos as their favorites, add photos to group photo pools, add notes on top of photos and comment on each other's photos. Flickr members are given information on how many times their photos and the photos of others have been viewed, they’re shown their most popular photos by number of comments, number of times a photo has been added as a favorite as well as number of views.
Flickr members can also explore other photos by searching tags, search groups, or using the explore page to find interesting photos.

Tags help organize photos and make them easier to find – tags can be searched and added to photos by friends and family who view the photos. Groups pool photos of similar origin and nature – members join a group and can add their photos to the pool; those photos’ pages then show that they are a part of the designated group. Group members are often asked to tag their photos with a common tag in order to make the photos easier to find, members can also
discuss topics relating to their group in the discussion section of the group page. Groups serve to bring together people who have similar interests and photographs and to share those photographs with each other.

3. Implementation Process: Adding a Food Network account and Food Network group would increase Food Network outreach and promotion as well as allow Food Network to follow online discussion of relevant Food Network references, with little increased work by Food Network staffers.

a. Create a Flickr account for Food Network: The process is simple and costs $24.95 for a Pro account, allowing unlimited space for uploading.

b. Upload, title, describe and tag photos from the Food Network studios: Uploading pictures can be done using the Flickr site or by downloading one of the free Flickr uploading tools [5]. Tags can be added by clicking “add a tag” on the photo’s page once the photo has been uploaded or before it has been uploaded via the Flickr Uploadr tool. Uploading pictures from the Food Network studios allows Flickr users to have an insider’s perspective into the behind- the-scenes life of Food Network. Adding pictures of some of the dishes created, along with a description featuring the recipe and a link to similar recipes on the Food Network site will increase traffic to the Food Network site.

c. Create a Food Network group on Flickr: Groups can be created quickly and easily by clicking the “groups” tab at the top of the Flickr account page followed by the “create your own group” link on the groups page. Food Network should create a public group over a invitation-only or private group.

d. List the purpose and guidelines of the Food Network group on the main group page: When creating the group, a description listing the group’s purpose and guidelines should be posted in the “what’s the group about?” box. Members of the groups should be encouraged to add the pictures they’ve taken of the recipes they’ve made, especially those recipes taken from the Food Network site. Members should also be encouraged to link to the recipe itself on the Food Network site and a link to any blog postings where they’ve written about the dish itself.

e. Create pre-set discussion topics: Food Network should create some discussion topics ahead of time such as: all-time favorite recipes, favorite quick-and-easy recipes, favorite dessert recipes, tips for food photography, etc. Pre-set discussion topics will encourage discussion and increase feelings of community among the members, making it a more active and thus a more successful community.

4. Marketing: Marketing for the Food Network Flickr photo group should include reaching out to Flickr members who have uploaded photos of dishes they’ve made, awards for best of the week and adding as contacts the Flickr members who Food Network invite to the group as well as daily update of the Food Network’s photostream with photos from behind-the-scenes of Food Network.

a. Search for and issue and group invitation to Flickr members: Food Network should search for photos of food using the search field to search for common tags such as: food, dessert, recipe, FoodNetwork, etcetera. Flickr members found in these searches should be sent a message with an invitation to join the Food Network group. The message should explain that Food Network has a group to spotlight food photographers and their favorite recipes and that Food Network would love for this member to join the Food Network community.

b. Award and feature on the main group site a weekly “Best Food Photo of the Week,” and “Best Food Network Recipe of the Week” : One person should be in charge of picking the best photo of food that has been added that week as well as the best photo based on a Food Network recipe. These Flickr members should be notified of their win through the comments on the page of the photo they’ve won for and the photos should be displayed on the main group page, similar to the Flickr Diamond group’s main page [6].

c. Add Flickr members invited to the Flickr group as contacts: Adding the Flickr members as contacts by clicking the “add ‘Flickr name’ as a contact” under their profile page will allow them to be updated when Food Network adds new photos to its stream, thereby increasing traffic to the site and to the Food Network Web site via links in the description sections of the photos linking back to the Food Network Web site.

d. Update Food Network’s photostream with photos from behind the scenes, with links back to the Food Network site: Adding photos every week will keep Flickr members returning to the Food Network account to see new photos. Links should be added to the description section of the photo, those links should take users to a relevant page on the Food Network site.

5. Measuring: The success of the Flickr group can be measured by the amount of the contacts added to Food Network’s Flickr account, the number of members added to the group, the number of photos added to the group, the number of times Food Network’s photo stream has been viewed, the number of comments on Food Network’s pictures, the number of times one of Food Network’s pictures has been added as a favorite, the number of discussion postings and finally, the increase in traffic to Food Network’s main Web site that can be traced back to
links from Flickr.

Food Network should expect to see a precipitous rise in the number of contacts and group members added to the Food Network Flickr group. Based on preliminary research, some numerical goals for the first month should include:

a. 300 new contacts added
b. 250 new members of the Food Network Flickr group
c. 500 photos added to the group
d. 1,000 views of the Food Network photostream
e. 100 comments on the Food Network photostream
f. 50 times Food Network’s photos should be added as a favorite
g. 150 discussion postings
h. 5% increase in traffic that can be traced back to the Flickr site

LinkedIn: org integration proposal

2007-11-28T16:13:00.000-05:00

For the social media organizational integration proposal, student Nina Eyrich suggested that the UGA Career Center begin using LinkedIn. The idea that students on the hunt for a job or internship could better showcase their skills & portfolio, plug in to the job databases that are a part of site & benefit from social networking was great. I really liked the idea that the Career Services staff should put up their own LinkedIn resumes, then "friend" UGA students -- that way someone looking for a UGA grad could just go to the Career Center person's profile & browse his or her contacts to find a good candidate. This was the only LinkedIn proposal, but the way it streamlined a process for the organization is among the things that made this LinkedIn proposal stand out.

The proposal she turned in follows.
++++

Organizational Integration Proposal: LinkedIn

Employers want an idea of the people they are considering for a position. Harnessing the power of Google, it is now almost expected that an employer will search for the online profiles of applicants. With the increasing use of social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace, anyone with an online profile must be aware of how it may affect their chances of being hired.

The University Of Georgia Career Center offers a variety of different services to help current students as well as alumni with their careers. One-on-one meetings with career advisors, resume critiques, career series and mock interviews are only a few of the programs offered. The Career Center particularly emphasizes the importance of how students present themselves during an interview; however, currently there are no programs that advise students about the creation of online profiles. If the Career Center wants to continue in their successful preparation of University of Georgia students into their careers, it should consider the adoption of social networking site, LinkedIn.

Founded in 2004, LinkedIn is a social networking site where professionals from all industries, including educational institutions can enhance their business connections. Creating an online profile is free and as of November 2007, LinkedIn had more than 16 million registered users. The site allows people to create online profiles similar to resumes that highlight their professional experiences, while connecting with other professionals. Profiles can be constantly updated, and the more details you provide, the more complete your network becomes as your compatibility with other LinkedIn users increases. LinkedIn also allows profiles to link to other online tools, such as a person’s professional and personal blog or photo sharing site; a simple Google name search will return any existing LinkedIn profiles.

Once a profile has been created a user can than:

Search jobs, people, and additional career opportunities with career search engines such as CareerBuilder
Employers can list available positions as well as search for possible applicants
Prospective employees can review the profiles of companies and current employees
Participate in Q&A Forums about jobs and career moves
Determine the success of an industry by looking at past and current employees of the fields top firms

The University’s current system, DAWGTrak is similar to LinkedIn in connecting students and employers. Comparatively, DAWGTrak is much more restrictive. Companies must be familiar with and then seek out the Career Center to post their openings on DAWGTrak, which is only open to current students and some alumni. LinkedIn would allow students to expand their career options outside of the university, by taking an active role in seeking out future employment opportunities. Instead of uploading a written resume that companies than must download, a LinkedIn profile serves as a person’s resume.

Implementation of LinkedIn would not be instantaneous and would require time to learn about the different applications available. The first step is educating all employees at the career center, specifically career advisors about LinkedIn. A profile for the Career Center, as well as the career advisors should be created so that they can start creating a network with students and associated employers. The final step in implementing LinkedIn as a career center resource is educating students through:

Pamphlets on how to create a LinkedIn profile
LinkedIn information sessions with PowerPoint presentations and panels
Walk-In hours with advisors for questions specifically regarding LinkedIn
Online flash tutorials on the Career Center Web site

Ultimately success will be measured in the extent and growth of the Career Center’s LinkedIn network. LinkedIn provides an update percentage rating on the extent of a profile’s network with a goal of 100%, as well as tips to reach that goal. One method of increasing a profile’s network connections as well as a separate success measurement is recommendations. Students and employers can leave comments on a profile as a recommendation of the persons skills and qualities. The more recommendations a profile receives the higher its network percentage, and more appealing a profile is to prospective connections. LinkedIn also tracks a profile’s success by region and industry. Having the Career Center’s primary location (Athens, Ga.) as a profile’s top region would be an added marker of success. The markers of success mentioned in this proposal are not extensive as LinkedIn continually adds new features that can be measured in the future.

Social networking sites will be continually changing, and LinkedIn is no exception. As long as the use and success of the site is continually monitored, adding LinkedIn to the University of Georgia’s Career Center extensive resources can only aid students in furthering their future careers.

podcast: org integration proposal

2007-11-28T16:03:00.000-05:00

For the social media organizational integration proposal, student Katherine Strate suggested that her hometown newspaper integrate podcasting. Her background research from the Rome, Ga. case study and examples of the type of content the podcast should include were among the things that made this podcast proposal stand out.

The proposal she turned in follows.
++++

Client: The Citizen Tribune, Morristown, Tenn.

Purpose: To increase readership and community involvement by implementing the use of podcasts on their Web site.

Overall Proposal:

Why The Citizen Tribune has a need for podcasts:

The Citizen Tribune, a local afternoon paper is undergoing major personnel and readership changes. As of late, The Citizen Tribune has been lacking in community coverage that affects the younger crowd moving to the area. Local stories concerning the older Morristown population are not appealing to the new demographic in town. In addition, The Citizen Tribune is an afternoon newspaper, so their coverage is slightly delayed.

I believe the implementation of podcasts on their Web site would be a useful and effective tool to gain newer, younger readership. The older population of Morristown is dying, and reading an actual piece of paper for the news is dying, too. More and more people are referring to the Internet for daily, local and world news. Putting podcasts or v-casts on the Web site, if advertised correctly could increase readership on the Internet, and it could increase younger readership.

Case Study- The Rome News-Tribune, Rome, Ga.:

The daily newspaper in Rome, Ga. has increased its readership tremendously because of its use of podcasts. Its staff of writers and editors at the paper realized the need for deeper, more personal coverage of the community. They became aware that Rome citizens were more interested in community news, and they read the paper to receive it. Other mediums, like television, were used for world news coverage.

After making a game plan, the paper decided to disperse the podcast coverage; from football games, to school plays to town hall meetings, someone was there recording. According to the editor, the most successful podcast they posted concerned a play at one of the local elementary schools. They advertised the posting of the podcast before the show, and they received hundreds of hits. Once people realized they were podcasting, they started to call the paper making suggestions for possible locations. A firefighter, the father of a girl in the school play, invited the editor to ride in a fire truck with he and his squad.

That kind of community involvement, participation and energy is what The Rome News-Tribune wanted, and podcasting took them there.

Opportunities in Morristown for podcasts:

So many community events happen in Morristown that no one knows about. School board meetings, festivals, church gatherings, PTA meetings, business openings, Chamber of Commerce breakfasts and other functions are important for the life of the town.

Since Morristown is an average-sized town, community is extremely important. High school rivalries and craft fairs are two of the most important topics about which the community cares. If the podcasts covered most events at the high schools, hundreds of people would go to the Web site to listen and watch what went on.

What is also important is out-of-state readership. Grandparents, friends and other family members will go to the Web site to watch or listen to their relative or friend in Morristown. People are increasingly going to the Internet for their first search for information. This is a medium that should not be missed.

The main audience:

As mentioned before, the old are dying out and the young are moving in. Podcasts would mainly target younger families and teenagers who are interested in the community events. If they know to come to the Web site to listen or see that coverage, they are more than likely going to look elsewhere at the other articles.

While covering local government is important, covering local education should be a top priority with the podcasts. Students at school or working parents in front of a computer know how to navigate a Web site and look for information. Consistently updated podcast coverage would result in a consistent podcast “listenership.”

Main Steps:

Set a certain agenda for definite podcasts- either weekly, monthly or by another time. The agenda should be based on the audience- the younger the better.
Cover each event fully and loudly. Let people know you are there.
Make business cards or fliers with the Web site and general information about how to find the podcast.
Consistently cover the basic agenda to gain regular followers. Once new opportunities arise, increase coverage in other areas.
Make a section on the Web site about the podcasts to inform readers they are available.

Benchmarks of success:

The first and easiest benchmark would be increased readership on The Citizen Tribune Web site. If the podcasts are properly advertised and talked about, I believe readership could go up at least 10%.

A second benchmark would be receiving suggestions and community involvement about the kinds of podcasts they do. A newspaper tries to cater to what its audience wants, and I believe it would be a huge compliment to their efforts to receive coverage suggestions.

In addition, if the option is available, readers could post their own pictures or videos (with approval) about each event. Using tools like flickr and YouTube would be immensely valuable.

The program Google analytics could be used to track most of the traffic that goes to each part of the Web site.

Possible Obstacles:

Since The Citizen Tribune’s Web site has not been a main source for news, a possible obstacle could be getting people to go to the Web site to hear the podcasts.

People also may not know what podcasts are. New media terms are foreign to most of the population, especially Morristown’s, and citizens may not be able to see the advantages of using podcasts.

Another obstacle could be the experience of the staff at The Citizen Tribune. If the person assigned to do the podcasts has not been properly trained or is not covering the right events, the plan could fail. Appropriate training and appreciation of the tool are necessary to implement it effectively.

best of ... org integration proposals

2007-11-28T15:50:00.000-05:00

One of the major projects in this class was to come up with a social media solution to integrate into an organization's communication plan. Each student got to pick the client & the tool.

I just graded these over the holiday weekend & was really struck about how innovative some of these proposals were.

I'm going to post the best Twitter (National Geographic by Erin Gentry), YouTube (State of Georgia by Lizzie Azzolino), podcast (small town local newspaper by Katherine Strate), LinkedIn (UGA Career Center by Nina Eyrich) & Flickr (FoodTV by Ashley Beebe) proposals here on the blog. Even if I don't agree with all the details in the proposals, these stuck out as being the most creative.

There were more great proposals but I don't want to flood the blog!

The new Black Friday

2007-11-28T15:42:00.000-05:00

Black Friday is one of the most profitable and competitive days of the year for traditional retailers.

However, have you heard of Cyber Monday? As it turns out, online retailers have a competition of their own, and it's getting fierce.

Listen to more.

CNN/YouTube Debate Tonight!

2007-11-28T14:22:00.000-05:00

Don't forget to tune in tonight to the CNN/YouTube debate between Republican presidential candidates! The debate will air on CNN/TV at 8 p.m. ET from St. Petersburg, Fla. The eight Republican presidential candidates will answer questions sent in through YouTube. This will be the second debate of its kind as the Democratic party participated in July. Read this article to learn more about the Republican race to the White House. The deadline to submit questions was Nov. 25. Take a look at some of the questions that have been sent in!

Social Media and Shifting View Points

2007-11-28T13:12:00.000-05:00

Has it ever bothered you that media is shifting towards political polar opposites? For instance, some feel as if Fox News is slightly more conservative where CNN skews toward a liberal point of view.

The danger in this is that people hear only what they want. This hold true to blogs. People will usually read a blog if the author shares the same view point. In a quick five minutes, I discuss the danger of reading just the side you want to hear.

A Battle to the Death!

2007-11-28T12:59:00.000-05:00

My last podcast was about the dangers of overusing your thumbs. This one is about the perks of too much text messaging!

How many text messages do you get a month? I only get about 30 and you may get a couple hundred, but the people in this competition send and receive thousands.

In April, 2007, LG hosted the first ever National Texting Championship. Yes, this is for real! The winner got $25,000!

Listen to what I had to say about the competition.

Here's a video too!

Widgets Shmidgets.

2007-11-28T11:21:00.000-05:00

My Dad told me about this great article in USA today about widgets on social networks. I was impressed he knew what it was!

Listen to my thoughts about the article (and then you can go write on my FunWall!).

I love Oprah...and Tom Hanks.

2007-11-28T11:17:00.000-05:00

I was watching Oprah last week, and Tom Hanks was on with Julia Roberts!

We found out he has a MySpace page, and I went to it on my computer. Hear my analysis of his fun page on my podcast.

Student journalism and student bloggers

2007-11-28T10:51:00.000-05:00

My friend Mandi is a staff writer for the Red&Black and I asked her to talk about how social media has affected her job and future profession. Listen to her response here.

Environmental Issues and blogging.

2007-11-28T10:47:00.000-05:00

I spoke to my friend Mo, an avid environmentalist, about the current environmental issues and how social media, specifically blogging is affecting it. Listen to her views here.

Social Media and Advertising...

2007-11-27T23:43:00.000-05:00

Everytime I listen to 'experts' discuss the various uses of social media, advertising is usually left out. I think social media is merely a tool for advertising.

My podcast briefly discusses how they social media is concertainly a form of advertising.

Enjoy!

the trouble with too much technology?

2007-11-27T18:53:00.000-05:00

Back in the elementary school, recess was the highlight of my day. Though I was a little bit partial to kickball, I was a pretty big fan of anything related to a playground or jungle gym.
Cheryl Wilkerson, the author of an opinion column I read in an issue of TIME, is also an advocate of recess. Listen to some analysis of her controversial article here

Social Media at The R & B

2007-11-27T18:10:00.000-05:00

At work tonight I spoke with Juanita Cousins, editor-in-chief of The Red & Black, about how the newspaper has revamped its use of social media tools this semester. With the addition of blogs, video slides and an alumni social networking site, the newspaper is well on its way to being social media savvy.

Hear the full interview in my podcast here.

And Another One...

2007-11-27T18:07:00.000-05:00

Stuck in a musical rut? Been listening to the same stuff for too long? Can't find any good, new artists out there, no matter how hard you've been searching? Too many questions? Well, allow me to stop asking, and instead offer you a chance to listen to this podcast about Pandora Radio. Maybe you've heard of it already. If so, you know how awesome it and the Music Genome Project are already. If not, you should first make sure to check out that podcast, and then visit their Web site. It's a great way to hear music that you might not be totally familiar with, but you're sure to like. Do it now!

Closed is the New Open

2007-11-27T17:54:00.000-05:00

Or is it? According to this blog post from Techland, it could be. Many of us believe that the only way for companies to logically move forward is to open themselves up to the online world and embrace the "big conversation," so to speak. But how would you explain Apple's great success which comes despite gestapo-like tactics (OK, maybe they aren't that bad) with their consuming public? Will historically open, progressive companies like Google and Amazon follow the examples set by Steve Jobs? Read all about it; or if you're not the reading type, perhaps you'd prefer to listen here. =)

The Price We Pay to Stay Connected

2007-11-27T16:42:00.000-05:00

Could this small device be the cause of your next doctor's visit or even surgery?

We don't really think about white-collar workers suffering from workplace related injuries or illnesses. I didn't at least until I was watching MSNBC the other day and an interesting segment came on about how Blackberry users are being put out of commission by overusing the tiny device. For more, listen here.

Beware the curse of the Blackberry Thumb!

Blogging While Brown

2007-11-27T16:32:00.000-05:00

As an African-American newbie in the blogosphere, I was delighted to read about blogger, Gina McCauley. Essence Magazine chose her as one of the most influential African-Americans in the year 2007. Listen here to learn more about this inspiring blogger and how she contributes to Black America.

Her blog: What About Our Daughters (WAOD)

Learn more about the Blogging While Brown Conference, an international conference for bloggers of color.

What Does the Internet Have to Do With Watching So Many Re-Runs?

2007-11-27T16:21:00.000-05:00

Upset that your favorite TV show isn't airing new episodes? Want to know why?

Listen to what I have to say regarding the Writers Strike, and how the writers are harnessing the power of social media to garner support from people like you and me!

Be sure to check out some of the links I mention:

Why We Strike

Deadline Hollywood Daily

Speechless

Research in Public Relations

2007-11-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

I am also in Sweetser's PR Research class, and I am doing a group research project on the adoption of social media tools by PR practitioners. One of the references that we used was really interesting and I thought that I would share it with you.

The title of the research paper is Web power: a survey of practitioners' World Wide Web use and their perceptions of its effects on their decision-making power. By: Lance V. Porter and Lynne M. Sallot

You can read the full text on the UGA Library's website through E-journals.

You can also listen to my overview of the research here.

Traveling Social Media Style

2007-11-27T08:02:00.000-05:00

When the end of the semester creeps up I am tempted to run away to some exotic location and forget school ever existed. It is not realistic I'm almost done with college and although I LOVE Athens, I want to experience the world.

I have the travel bug, but never really gotten the chance to act on it because I'm a poor college student with lack of persuasion skills to convince my parents to finance international trips.

After a night of watching Samantha Brown travel around South America on the Travel Channel. I went to their website. If they can seem the poorest nation in South America (Nicaragua) sound like fun, I need to see her itinerary. However, I never got to the actual trips because I found a website called couchsurfing.com. BINGO.

Couchsurfing.com is a social website where people post profiles, link to friends, join groups, participate is discussions, however it offers a special feature: it connects people who might be traveling to people who might have an open couch. It's myspace/facebook for the authentic travelers. Instead of forking over $200+ a night for a hotel or even the $30 a night for hostels you stay with a local who can expose you to a the REAL city you are visiting.

It does sound too good to be true, there are after all plenty of crazies on the internet. The website has built in safety checks to help alleviate any apprehensions someone might have about staying with a stranger.

I love this idea. From my experience I have so much more fun with locals of the city I'm in than I do just staying with fellow tourists. You can learn more about a place if you know the people who live there. Here is one more social networking site for us to follow.

It's a holly jolly christmas...

2007-11-26T23:53:00.000-05:00

Over Thanksgiving, I was overwhelmed with the fact that I have not purchased a single Christmas present for family or friends. We are at the age that a Bath and Body Works gift set just becomes junk and anything we really want for Christmas is too expensive for anyone to actually buy us.

I came across the a Web site called Etsy.com.

It's a marketplace for homemade goods. Want to know more? Listen here.

Virtual MTV

2007-11-26T21:23:00.000-05:00

Have you ever dreamt of what life would be like if you were a star on one of MTV’s hit reality television shows? I will honestly admit that I have and MTV is making it a reality for every one; a virtual reality that is. Virtual MTV is a free virtual world where you can interact, party, and shop with MTV celebrities. All you have to do is sign up and create your own avatar and you can virtually be a part of your favorite television shows like The Hills and Pimp My Ride. The Virtual Hills is even going to give one of their users a once in a lifetime virtual opportunity!

The Virtual Hills is teaming up with Ford Models, Elizabeth Arden and M fragrance by Mariah Carey to find the first Ford avatar supermodel. According to an article on hollywoodreporter.com, avatars will compete in a virtual runway and dance contest and will be judged by MTV, Arden, and Ford Model representatives in early January. Three finalists will then be chosen and viewers will vote for the winner. The virtual Ford supermodel winner will be announced on January 31, 2008. The winner will be featured in a campaign for Virtual MTV and a thirty second spot for MTV/Elizabeth Arden. Every avatar contestant will receive a free virtual bottle of M by Mariah Carey and fashion advice from Ford Model experts.

Make sure to sign-up today for your chance of becoming the first virtual Ford supermodel! =)

Update: Do we even need to be on one of MTV's hit reality television shows in order to be famous anymore, or will our virtual avatars be the key to our future fame that we have always dreamt of?

Microsoft Invests $240 million in Facebook

2007-11-26T21:21:00.000-05:00

I came across an article on CNN.com that discussed a recent investment made by Microsoft in Facebook, the social networking Web site that we all know and love. Being a business major, I found it to be pretty interesting. I've posted the link to my podcast discussing it here.

Check it out and see what you think!

It's an itsy bitsy teeny weenie...URL

2007-11-26T20:48:00.000-05:00

In class, we have talked about the use of tiny URLs for purposes such as Twitter or to simply make an unbearably long URL manageable. The conversion takes place at http://www.tinyurl.com/.

In his blog, Make Marketing History, John Dodds makes note of "facilitating short-cuts as a route to better usability and improved customer experience."

His point is that the use of tiny URLs can be very handy, but it disrupts comprehension. The reader doesn't know what he is getting himself into because the tiny URL never gives a clue to its destination. One may argue that it is up to the writer to preface the link for the reader, but an online reader's habit is to scan not to deeply read. John Dodds believes that "having one's scanning eyes drawn to indecipherable urls does nothing positive."

I would have to agree. If an article was heavily peppered with cryptic URLs I would be inclined to leave the page.

http://www.tinyurl.com/ 's attempt at a remedy is that they do offer a "preview TinyURL" such as this one: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2b2tl4

However, the remedy once again circumvents the the TinyURL's function as a short-cut. With the preview, it takes two clicks to get to the linked Web page.

This all may seem a little too over analyzed, but the point is that usability and simplicity typically prevail. After all, it's the "little" things in life that matter.

2007-11-26T14:09:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday on the For Immediate Release podcast by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson they looked in to how the Writers Guild is using social media tools in their strike.

Information Tactics
Writers Guild of America, West WGAW Web Site: lists official updates from the guild, new coverage of the strike and background information about the Guild and the contracts they are striking.
WGAW Strike blog: United Hollywood. The blog serves as central point for all the projects the WGAW is working on as well as providing viewpoints and debate on the issues of the strike.

On a side note, one of the more interesting posts to PR people is this anti-troll post railing supposed paid commenters who integrate the community and only try to discount the blogs' message on behalf on their clients. This brings up the constant ethical issues of advocacy in the blogosphere and the importance of self-disclosure.

Speechless video site. Launched Novemeber 22, featurea video of actors who are speechless because they do not have writers and scripts. One of the more humorous videos features Holly Hunter who is dealing with a Hollywood that as outsourced its writing to India. The videos do a great job of hammering in the idea that actors need writers to work to and shows the presumed support of the acting community.

These videos can be watched either on Brightcove or You Tube. Since the speechless channel on You Tube a mere 20 hours ago each of the 12 videos has been viewed around 150 times and channel has 27 subscribers.

Wgaamerica You Tube channel This channel was started November 1 and currently has 105, 000 views and 2,000 subscribers. The channel has news posts and interviews. One of the best videos is the Why We fight:

Action Tactics

In order to get people involved WGAW has offered several ways to show your support.
Sending pencils - an idea taken from the fans of the show Jerico, who sent the production company peanuts in order stop the show from being cancelled. For a dollar you can send the Media Moguls a box of Pencils. So far 300,000 pencils have been sent. In addition you can get a widget for your blog so that everyone can see how many pencils have been sent.
Sign an online petition, I was signature 59,685.
Facebook groups - although there are many unofficial groups in support of the guild, the official group Holtz mentions is Fans 4 Writers. After looking on Facebook, myself, I couldn't find it. If anyone does find it please comment about it.
Get a support badge for your Web site or Blog.

This case has so many facets of information and good uses of social media. It will be interesting to watch what impact these tactics have the media corporations and the success of WGAW. But for now we will have to satisfied with getting into the debate and enjoying the forums that are available to us.

Who's the boss?

2007-11-26T11:12:00.000-05:00

It seems social media has integrated into big-name corporations so quickly that someone forgot to name the boss ... or did they really forget?

It is hard to clearly state who should be in charge of social media due to numerous opinions around what social media actually is, for example, a marketing and public relations tool for an organization, an actual branch of the organization, or should it belong to the I.T. department. The series of question surrounding social media has spawned a plethora of heated debates in the blogosphere on the issue.

Mitch Joel of "Six Pixels of Separation" feels that social media efforts lie in the hands of digital marketing agencies as opposed to the actual corporations themselves.

"I think it’s Digital Marketing agencies who need to step up and own the Social Media marketing landscape. Agencies who are primed in the interactive marketing space start off with a core understanding of how people connect online, and how different users interact within online communities ... Interactive is still an after-thought to many agencies. Public Relations firms have the communications and conversations component down, but (usually) lack in the Web development department in terms of producing and marketing the initiative."

Joel does not refer to how social media should be used, rather he talks about who should set goals, platforms, and other strategic aspects of social media. However, many social media experts do not think social media is something to be owned, it is simply a tool to enhance the ever-present public relations and marketing program.

Shel Holtz comments on his blog, a shel of my former self, in disagreement with Joel.

"Even with this explanation, I’m troubled by the “ownership” issue. Few of the clients with whom I’ve worked engage a digital marketing agency. They wouldn’t be inclined to start working with one just so they can abdicate ownership of their social media activities to an outside organization ... Nobody can develop an organization’s approach to social media better than the people inside the organization. Vendors can provide tremendous, invaluable advice, but ultimately, it’s the company that must be accountable for its own participation in the conversation."

The debate on the subject of social media ownership extends into complicated and deep territories; however, it is interesting to see how the experts in social media debate the issue with no conclusion in sight, leaving the topic to be open-ended for each organization to decide.

Stop! Hammertime!

2007-11-25T22:31:00.000-05:00

Just about everyone is familiar with MC Hammer's hit singles "Too Legit to Quit," "Super Freak" and my all time favorite, "U Can't Touch This." And we can't forget about his signature dance moves, genie looking pants nor catch phrase that pretty much captured the attention of all youth in the 1990s!

Well...MC Hammer aims to bring the social experience of dance online. DanceJam.com, co-founded by MC Hammer and Geoffrey Arone, will allow its users to upload and share their latest dance moves. Now all the people "crankin' dat soulja boy" can compete with others doing their own rendition of the popular dance.

"There are already plenty of dance videos on YouTube and MySpace, but there isn't one community for these people to express themselves...DanceJam will provide that."

Hammer is also partnering up with hip-hop guru Russell Simmons and AOL founder Steve Case to back up Web-based companies such as Qloud. Qloud is the second most popular music application on Facebook after iLike, which has a similar concept. It is an endless free music library that allows friends to share music clips and includes links to iTunes to purchase songs and links to other music video applications used on Facebook. As we all know, social networking sites are what's happening nowadays. There is nothing better than having a little music to spice up our personal pages!

If you are trying to find an alternative to the usual social networking sites and you are interested in the hip-hop culture, you may want to join GlobalGrind, a customizable Web page that is also backed by Simmons. It is a one stop shop for music, entertainment, news, comedy, spirituality, etc.

Not only are these smart entrepreneurial moves, but they are great efforts in bringing social media into the music world. Check them out!

Social Media in Sports

2007-11-25T12:02:00.000-05:00

Last week David Utter cited two websites that have integrated sports with social media.

We have seen plenty of discussions of social media, and its impact on the
mainstream news. Sports hasn't received the same attention as topics like the
various Presidential campaigns. But the performance of sites like Ballhype and Yardbarker may change this.

My question is why haven't more people taken an interest to this section of social media?

On sites like Yardbarker, you can read Greg Oden's, Carmelo Anthony's and Diana Taurasi's blogs. Making the athletes more available will give the fans more insight into the players' lives.

These sites also host forums where a marketplace of ideas can be exchanged from debating sports topics to the hottest rumor. If sports fanatics weren't able to partake in these, how much fun would watching sports be? ESPN's two highest rated TV shows see sports reporters arguing over sports. The viewers aren't even allowed in these conversations so imagine how volatile the conversation gets when someone laughs at Alabama for losing to Louisiana-Monroe?

This topic is one we haven't discussed in class nor has any professional we talked to brought this category up. Maybe it's time we should.

We're All In This Together!

2007-11-25T07:04:00.000-05:00

Tamar Weinberg, blogger on techipedia, makes a genius comparison between social media and Charles Darwin's survival of the fittest concept. You may have heard this before, but I thought it made perfect sense. Those who will adapt to social media will survive; those who do not jump on the wagon will fall behind. However, there is one difference: no man has to survive alone; we are all in this together.

Weinberg further explains that survival without the help of others in social networks is almost impossible. Social media communities flourish from neighbors of similiar interests sharing ideas and skills amongst each other. As you journey through the blogosphere, you must adapt to your surroundings and the people in them. Success gets minimized when you only submit your stories and vote for your friends' blogs. Weinberg suggests being a community participant that not only submits on a regular basis, but comments and studies the culture of social media.

She comments:

"Go out and help those within the comminity who you feel add value to it. Don't use the social network as grounds to complain...we're a great group of people, albeit with strong opinions and a desire to create a useful community, but at the end of the day, we'd like you to be part of it too."

Jeremy Pepper, director of communications at The Point, would probably agree to Weinberg's analogy. We all know from our Skype conference call with him that he is an advocate for online communities and believes engaging in them is of the utmost importance.

Understand. Engage. Expand your affiliations. Become a rockstar!

Social media in business?

2007-11-24T23:27:00.000-05:00

I talked to a friend who's a business student about his education through the business school and whether the business school is integrating social media into their curriculum. We also discussed a few more social media topics, including his feelings on politicians entering into the realm of social media.

You can listen to our discussion here. Be forewarned - there's some sweet island music in this podcast that might get stuck in your head. Oh and tons of social media content too. But the island music is pretty cool.

Tracking music with the Hype Machine

2007-11-24T20:18:00.001-05:00

Update: The link, "Here" now goes to My podcast instead of our Channel

I found this really cool site that tracks songs and blogs that are posted in music blogoshpere. You can listen all about it in my podcast Here.

Check out the Hype Machine in person

Using You Tube to break into the music industry

2007-11-24T19:52:00.000-05:00

Update: The "Listen to it here" link now go to my podcsat and not our podcast channel

This is my podcast about Esmee Denters, You Tube star who was signed by a major label.

You can Listen to it here

If you want to check it our yourself here some links

Esmee singing "Cry me a River"
Oprah's after the show interview with Esmee
Esmee on the the Jenters! show

Be A Safe Twitterer

2007-11-24T18:28:00.000-05:00

Sharing every detail of what we are doing to strangers can be fun, but make sure you are not making yourself vulnerable. Listen to some advice I got about Twitter safety.

Here are the blogs I refer to:

Teaching PR Blog

Disruptive Conversations

Categorizing Social Media

2007-11-21T13:25:00.000-05:00

Susan Getgood's Nov. 19 post about who should "own" social media, and Scott Bauman's response to her post made me wonder why do so-called professionals even waste their time with trying to categorize where social media fits into a "skill set" or "channel expertise."

Getgood argues:

"The functional lines between our marketing disciplines of PR, direct marketing
and advertising are blurring. Social media marketing requires a blending of
marketing and PR/communications skills. BTW, this line is blurring
everywhere but it is more readily and immediately apparent in the social media
world than offline. But it is offline too. Remember that online social networks
are reflections of the interests and affiliations we have "in real life."
Computer networks simply speed up the effect. "

Why does it matter if social media falls under public relations, marketing or advertising? Trying to classify where a coming-of-age shift in communication should be utilized is irresponsible. Social media should be available to anyone who wants to learn this great tool.

Bauman's reaction to Getgood states:

"Social media doesn't belong to anyone with a particular "skill set" or "channel
expertise." Instead, it belongs to people who understand consumers and how
to engage in them in conversations. The conversationalist could be a PR
person, an interactive agency rep or a direct marketing expert."

I agree with Bauman's analysis that social media should not belong to a specific field.
Why try to monopolize social media when it should be diversified among all these fields? Limiting this knowledge will only be a detriment to a company. Since experts are too busy discussing who should "own" social media, it may be time to teach ourselves.

Hyku rant

2007-11-17T13:54:00.000-05:00

Josh Hallett couldn't take any more of the bs and he just had to write (rant) about it.

Here it is. I hope you get as much amusement as i did from it.

UGA concert in SL

2007-11-14T00:02:00.000-05:00

What a great SecondLife event hosted by the UGA New Media Institute:

Here's a chance for you all to experience SecondLife with a live concert featuring Allison Weiss. The concert will be live in SecondLife Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.

The next SecondLife concert will be on Nov. 19 with Blue Flashing Light at 6 p.m. Create an avatar and come to the shows!

Once you are at the Web site, you are instructed how to go about getting into SecondLife, creating an avatar, etc. The process has been simplified so that people aren't distracted too much by Second Life to actually enjoy the show.

Find out more about this event on Facebook.

YouTube Podcasting

2007-11-13T21:59:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been browsing YouTube and found a video so hilarious that you just had to share it with your friends? Well, of course you're saying, "I can think of a million and one ways to do that." True enough. But say you're a real procrastinator, and taking the time to send out that link via an e-mail or instant message is simply too much to ask. Welcome to my world. No, seriously... I'm that lazy. Anyway, just today I saw a featured video called "How to YouTube Podcast" (posted below). It was very short and informative and it basically offered a nice solution to my slothful tendencies. By taking just a few minutes (I know, I know) to set it up, you can sync YouTube with iTunes on your computer. That way, whenever you plug in your iPod to charge it or add new content, all your favorite YouTube videos will instantly be uploaded onto the device. Presto! Now I've got all those hilarious videos with me everywhere I go. And the next time I see my friends (you know, the ones I "forgot" to link to), I can whip out my iPod and we can all get in on the laughter.

So without further delay, here's uber-nerd Mark Erickson walking you through the relatively simple process of YouTube podcasting:

organization integration proposal

2007-11-09T19:18:00.000-05:00

As you work on your social media organization integration proposal, you might want to check out this post from Voce's Josh Hallett as he walks through the Georgia Aquarium's use of Flickr.

The proposal, as stated in the syllabus, must suggest a specific tool and include:

rationale -- why should the organization be concerned, what opportunities exist
background on the tool -- who is using it, what is it
steps of integration -- provide specific "how to" steps, be detailed & consider it directions for dummies!
suggest a way to track the effectiveness -- metrics!

The proposal is due to me via e-mail by 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 19.

One more :)

2007-11-08T19:58:00.000-05:00

In addition to my interview with Paull Young, I thought you may be interested in checking out my e-mail interview with Erin Caldwell -- one of our social media spotlights, founder of Forward blog and a wayyy cool, interesting person. Read it here!

Social Media Resume

2007-11-06T21:35:00.000-05:00

Have you ever stared at your half-finished resume wondering how you were going to make it seem unique? I have, and in my frustration last week, I gave up. I decided to take a break and look at the blogs I follow. Amazingly, I came across some useful information...the social media resume.

Listen to what I learned.

Here are some links that I refer to in the podcast:

Paull Young
Forward
Bryper Blog
Six Pixels of Separation

Interview with Paull Young

2007-11-06T15:09:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Paull Young for doing an e-mail interview with me for my blog. Check out the interview! He recommended some great podcasts, offers advice for getting into rugby and lets me in on his guilty pleasure. :)

Wikipedia: Your Source for Obscure Information

2007-11-05T20:47:00.000-05:00

The events of my day have left me very razdraz, fellow classmates. First, I had to be up at an hour I don't care to mention to itty off to skolliwoll. Just as I was heading out of town, I viddied the lights of a millicent behind me wanting me to stop. He was a bolshy veck, with a wide brooko and he told me that I was going 14 over the speed limit. Well this made me quite bezoomny but I politely told him that I was on my way to skolliwoll and didn't want to be late. Well this veck proceeded to scold me like I was some malenky malchick for about five minootas before letting me go with a warning. It shocked me because I thought he was a real bratchny. Anyway, I got out of there skorry and went on my way. Then I finally got to my class (late, thanks to the millicent) and had to slooshy as the teacher veck went on and on about some chepooka. I was not feeling very horrowshow at this point. Later I was off to get some pishcha in town. I settled on a Japanese place that was a malenky bit expensive. I ended up with no pretty polly in my pockets and a very marginal meal to show for it. After getting back home, I first fed the koshka and then started upstairs to study. I tolchocked my big toe on the last wooden step. Now I'm typing this post but I'm very fagged and need to zasnoot soon so that I can be up to go rabbit early in the morning. Maybe it seems silly to you that I'm complaining about these malenky annoying veshches that filled my day, but I'm just worn out. Have any of you vecks or devotchkas ever felt that way?

Confused? Probably so, unless you're intimately familiar with the Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange." The strange words I used are drawn from Nadsat - the language used the principle character and his droogs (or friends) in the aforementioned book. Anyway, I've always liked the novel and have oft wondered what it would be like to write a diary blog using only Nadsat. Sometimes I toss in a few words in my daily conversations. My friends really hate it. But the good news is, Wikipedia can help you understand everything I just said. You see, somebody took the time to compile a real horrowshow (or good) list of all the Nadsat you need to know. So check it out, and get a sense of just how awful my day turned out. Huzzah for obscure Wikipedia uses!

Oh, and I'll be sure to let you know if I do end up writing that blog... =)

Digital Natives: The Students of Today

2007-11-05T19:32:00.000-05:00

I am sure many of you remember our Aussie friend Paull Young, one of the speakers at UGA Connect who entreated us as students to take advantage of being a digital native.

On his personal blog, Young PR, he had some interesting thoughts about how our generation of students is already surrounded by this digital age and constantly immersed in technology. Consequently our passion for using these tools is what is going to change the communication industry.

Paull also had this awesome YouTube video on "A Vision of Students Today".

It reminded me of the video we watched early in the semester Web 2.0...The Machine is Us/ing Us. Well a bit more digging and crikey! They were done by the same guy!

Professor Michael Wesch at Kansas State University teaches a class on digital ethnography. His class is doing a similar assignment to our social media project in that they are all trying to become successful vloggers or video bloggers.

I am amazed at how much there is to learn about the influence of all this techie stuff on businesses, public relations and even cultures. Even projects that mere students and recent grads, like Erin Caldwell, are doing are having an impact on different areas of communications and social media.

As students of today's classrooms, we should expect integration of all these tools and applications in our education. UGA does a great job "Building a New Learning Environment" in the classes we take. There is even an article in today's Red & Black about Dr. Shamp's Second Life class.

But like Paull says, our learning must continue when we leave UGA, turning the web into our classroom. It is wonderful that students have classes available to them now to introduce new ways to communicate and foster relationships. When we graduate we must take it upon ourselves to continue to find and use the newer ways of social media that will inevitably be there.

GodTube

2007-11-03T11:35:00.000-04:00

Most of us know what YouTube is, right? Whether we use it to watch funny videos, political debates or to promote our social media projects, the majority of our generation is familiar with this website that is used to share videos.

I found an article (http://tinyurl.com/352yhd) on CNN.com that details GodTube, a video-sharing website with Christian content. Created by Clay Wyatt, a seminary student from Texas, GodTube drew more than 4 million unique visitors during October of this year. The videos on this new website include everything from comedy videos to theological debates. I even found this little gem:

As social media tools like YouTube become more and more mainstream, will we continue to see more sites like GodTube that target certain demographics? I believe that we will. It's only natural for smaller, more specific programs to emerge as the originals gain popularity. These new tools would cater towards a smaller population sector and ease the difficulty of finding certain types of videos. I would imagine that pretty soon we'll see video-sharing site that are specific to different regions, sports, television shows and so forth.

Gah, I love this stuff.

2007-11-02T17:22:00.000-04:00

After our discussion on crisis communication Thursday, I went and checked out the Web site of Levick strategic communications in Washington D.C. They also have a blog, and I decided to read what was on it.

The most recent post talked about customer service during crisis situations. I left a comment asking if they think Twitter is a good way to communicate during crises.

Richard Levick, President and CEO, replied to my post, and this is what he said:

Good point, Katherine. We’ve found that most ‘big’ companies are still trying to get a grasp on things like dealing with RSS feeds and interacting with the blogosphere, so we feel like it will be a while before companies and large organizations finally jump on the Twitter bandwagon. That said, Twitter is certainly effective for getting the word out to a select group of folks–but just like the blogosphere, there’s no gatekeeper–so the info may or may not be completely accurate. I think we may see some of the more cutting edge Web 2.0/Web 3.0 tech companies adopting this as another customer touchpoint, but they’ll have to create strong value-add reasons to get folks to sign up for their Twitter updates.

Now we have another friend out there who knows about our class! Yay for fun social media.

Reference to: Die! Press Release! Die! Die! Die!

2007-11-01T23:20:00.000-04:00

Today when Todd Defren from SHIFT Communications was talking about the social media press release he referenced a blog post called Die! Press Release! Die! Die! Die! by Tom Foremski, saying it was written at a tipping point for public relations and helped spark the creation of the social media press release.

The title made me laugh and Mr. Defren's comments about the post inspired me to go find the post, just to see what it said. You can find it here, at the Silicon Valley Watcher site. The post touches on what many people are and were annoyed with about traditional press releases - it seems like a lot of fluff and 'spin' that we as public relations professionals try to avoid. It also offers some of the ideas that were incorporated into the social media press release.

Anyway - it was a funny title with interesting content and I wanted to share. Enjoy!

social media spotlite #4: recap

2007-11-01T18:09:00.000-04:00

Today Todd Defren from SHIFT Communications skype'd in for a telephone call with us in class. Lucky for us, he was more than willing to talk about his company's revolutionary proposal to overhaul the 100-year-old press release. Todd told us about the history of the SMPR, the benefits of using it & even responded to some of barriers practitioners might bring up in opposition of the SMPR.

A few great take-aways from the conversation was that the SMPR isn't just for pitching -- it is a great way to tap into SEO & share your content with folks doing general searches for things you've covered in your releases & that that you don't have use it in it's entirety. It is a template - you decide what works. There's lots more to hear though.

The audio is available for download here.

Billboard and iLike Collabo

2007-11-01T17:21:00.000-04:00

Billboard and iLike collaborate to produce social media based music charts! How cool is that!

Click here to hear details!

social media spotlite #4: Todd Defren

2007-11-01T10:35:00.000-04:00

Today in class SHIFT Communication's Todd Defren will talk to us about the social media press release as we put him in the daily "social media spotlite."

Todd, principal at SHIFT, leads client services and business development efforts for the $10M firm:

Working in high-tech public relations for approximately 15 years, Defren currently specializes in Social Media strategies and is widely noted for creating the first template for Social Media News Releases in 2006; he followed up with a template for Social Media-optimized online newsrooms in early 2007.

Prior to SHIFT, Defren was at Sterling Hager, joining in 1994 as an account manager and reaching the level of managing director of the San Francisco office in August 2000. His earlier experience included managing the strategic and tactical corporate communications at ENTEX Information Services, a $2 billion New York-based systems integrator, now part of Siemens AG.

Defren has served as a visiting professor at Emerson College in Boston, lecturing on marketing and public relations on the Internet. In 2006, Defren was named a Research Fellow and member of the Advisory Board of the Society for New Communications Research.

Education: bachelor's degree in literature from Bard College (Annandale, NY).

Todd blogs at http://www.pr-squared.com/.

Update: Listen to our discussion with Todd.

Tips for Success in the Music Industry

2007-11-01T08:49:00.000-04:00

In the previous post, I was headed to the Atlantis Music Conference and Festival in Atlanta. It was absolutely phenomenal. I met so many people and gained so much knowledge. In my YouTube video I combined everything I learned from the conference, other panels I attended and notes from my music business class to create an instructional video. I wanted to share the valuable information I received with other artists so that they can become more successful in the music industry. I also included clips from an interview I conducted with JaWar, author of the Music Industry Connection Book Series and chief visionary officer of Music Therapy 101. I hope you all enjoy! Maybe you can use some of these tips yourself!

Here is my first video on networking:

The next video is on tips to use when you make your record:

Tips on how to market and promote your music:

Tips on marketing and promoting via internet:

Updated 11/1 - Changed video links to YouTube rather than hosting video in Blogger :)

YouTube Video Project

2007-10-31T20:46:00.000-04:00

Well, this is it. Below you'll find that I've embedded the video I created for my project. It's basically a celebration of Georgia's fantastic victory over Florida that happened just last Saturday. I got permission to use the photographs in the video from a friend at UGASports.com, the Rivals Web site for Georgia. The picture quality may appear to be a bit distorted. I did intend for this to happen. I placed an effect on the video to make it appear like the slide show is running on an aged film reel. I'll leave it for you to judge, but hopefully you'll enjoy it. I was also happy with the backing track. It's a classical work by J.S. Bach. Now you might be saying, "Classical? What does that music have to do with football?" Normally, not much. But for me, once I heard it behind this photo set, it meant everything to have it there. As many of you know, the game against the Gators was chock-full of emotion. The Bach piece is also very emotional, and I think it highlights the state of the game.

But enough about the video itself. Let me mention briefly the marketing strategy. I'm happy to say that the Web site which provided the photos to me will also be placing a link to my video on their "Dawgs' Eye View" page sometime soon. So be sure to check it out. In addition, I plan to share it with a variety of other SEC related message boards. Finally, I also write a college football blog called Down & Distance and I'll be posting the video on there in a day or so. I hope to attract a lot of attention. Please tell your friends! =)

mySocialMediaProject

2007-10-31T18:21:00.000-04:00

As promised here, I have created a tribute to the class of 2008. Watch my video for a peek into my college experience. Get ready to feel nostalgic, I promise it will trigger your memory! Feel free to share your thoughts and your memories!

I am having problems directly posting my video so this is the link to YouTube! Enjoy!

Dorinda

2007-10-31T16:17:00.000-04:00

Here is my project. Well pictures of my project. I met some people from the NMI island and they filmed me setting up my "studio" and it will be available friday.

Here is the link to my first post.

Here it is....

2007-10-31T08:25:00.000-04:00

Social Media projects have been "works in progress" for several weeks now. Well, the creation portion of my project is complete. If you'll remember, I had decided to create a video using iMovie about study abroad programs and other opportunities to go abroad as a student at UGA. In the next month, I'll be using several tools to market my video on the internet.

With that in mind, I've uploaded the video to YouTube. Check it out:

social media spotlite #3: recap

2007-10-30T21:57:00.001-04:00

Today Jeremy Pepper skype'd in to the class to talk to us about social media & he focused on the community aspect of it. The audio got hard to hear at times, but it is well worth listening to ... check out the video below.

Jeremy tells us a little about himself & the importance of community

The Point & their campaigns for change

How do you find online communities & engage them?

How important is it to operate by the "rules" in online communities?

Targeting specific age groups in social media

Thanks again to Jeremy Pepper for taking the time to talk to us!

Uga Got Bark

2007-10-30T20:23:00.000-04:00

We all love our adorable mascot and the school he represents!

For my social media project, which I proposed to the class here, I posted a video on YouTube. This remix to Sir-Mix-Alot's classic rap "Baby's Got Back" highlights some of my favorite places and things about UGA. Watch it below or go to YouTube and see it there.

Uga Got Bark!

social media spotlite #2: recap

2007-10-29T22:26:00.000-04:00

Last week Erin Caldwell from Edelman skype'd in as our social media spotlite for a phone call to talk about how students can prepare themselves for the work force by working on their social media skills.

The audio from this call is now available here.

measuring your blog

2007-10-27T13:22:00.000-04:00

Everyone wants to know who is reading their site. Here are some resources for understanding some of the metrics.

In addition the other sites I'll list, Google has some great videos on YouTube about how to understand & use Google Analytics. Tip: before you start diving into your analytics report, take a few moments to watch the flash product demo/tour first.

Conversation analysis
There are several ways to do a conversation analysis. Some people look at the comment-to-post ratio (are your readers interacting as much as much/more than you are posting). Other look at in-bound links under the logic that if someone is linking to your post/content then it is continuing the conversation on another site. A great site for checking out who is linking to your site is Technorati.

Bounce rate
When people come to your site - do they immediately leave? Bounce rate tells you that: it is the percentage of people who come to our site & immediately leave without getting any deeper. You want a low number for bounce rate - in general, a 40% rate is pretty good. Watch the video to learn more.

Understanding visitors
Who cares about averages -- we should care about distribution. Who are your loyal visitors and what are they doing on your site? Learn about those people who repeatedly visit your site, when the last time the visitor came, how long that person stayed on the site. Go a step further - segment the data (twitter, for example): of those who came via twitter, how long do they stay and how many times have they visited? This will give a better indication as to how "successful" that particular referrer was (& for companies using ads it will help determine where you should keep buying ads & what you should drop). Watch the video to learn more.

Track feed subscriptions
Google Analytics doesn't track how many people are subscribed to your RSS feed. But you still want to know how many read the site through feeds - especially because many times the RSS reader might not ever click through to the site. Google suggests using feedburner to get this information. It will tell you: how many readers, what are feed tools are they using & all sorts of podcast metrics. Tip: set up your feedburner feed before you start marketing your site because if you do it midstream on a blogspot blog then you'll have to change your feed URL (& readers might not take the time to update their subscription to your feed). Watch the video (jump to 11:32, end 15:38) to learn more.

Optimizing your content
Now this one is just really cool: After you've looked over your analytics & you have a good baseline of how your site is doing you might be ready to test ways to improve your site. What if I put a picture of a person with my product on the page? What if I use certain words? Heck, which layout for your site works the best? The Google Web Site Optimizer will let you set up experiments where people randomly get your page with one thing different on it each time - the data (very nicely laid out in a Google'y way btw) tells you what works the best on that page. This is the killer app made simple for usability design, if you ask me. You would use this when you're trying to improve your visitors experience & reach whatever goal you set (like get to a certain page). Watch the video to learn more.

Thinking about search
There are some things that Google Analytics doesn't do ... check out the Google Webmaster Tools. Find out what mobile devices are accessing to your site, the last time Google crawled your site & a little about Google SEO. Watch the video (jump to 7:50, end 11:32) to learn more.

---
There are more videos, but they are more geared toward making money so I won't go into them but you can view them all in the Conversion University section of the Google YouTube channel.

The key is that reporting is not analyzing -- don't just report numbers, interpret that data & tell people what it means about how people are using the site. Don't just look at one number, understand as much as possible about what is going on in your site. A single metric will not give you what you need to make quality decisions from your analytics reports.

social media spotlite #3: Jeremy Pepper

2007-10-26T12:07:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday in class, we will get a skype visit from San Fransisco-based PR social media thought leader Jeremy Pepper.

His official bio says all kinds of important things like that he is the Director of Communications at The Point; prior to that he was at Weber Shandwick working with clients like Cisco, BEA Systems, General Motors, MasterCard International, Verizon Wireless and VeriSign on social media; he founded POP! Public Relations in Scottsdale, AZ; worked in-house as Public Relations Manager at Ofoto, and at Shandwick International on the Eastman Kodak and Compaq teams; & he has a IPRA Golden Award + 2 PRSA Silver Anvil Awards of Excellence. But here is his the bio from his blog - it's more fun:

Work in PR/Comm/Marcom. Work at a start-up called The Point. Used to work at a large agency and prior had my own PR firm in Arizona, POP! Public Relations. Have lived and worked in Detroit, Scottsdale/Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Francisco Bay Area. Have a dog. He's great.

Check out what his new company, The Point, is doing by creating a single place for activists to pool their petition resources to make the world better.

Updated 10/31: posted the video for Jeremy's skype call.

California Social Media Podcast

2007-10-25T19:21:00.000-04:00

I know Dr. Sweetser has gone over this a little bit, but I found an article I wanted to talk about.

Social media and crisis podcast

Update on PRofessional CONNECTION coverage

2007-10-25T16:33:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who has already signed-up to cover a session of PRofessional CONNECTION on Nov. 13. If you hadn't had a chance, take a look at the details.

Dr. Sweetser has been nice enough to set up a Flickr group for us, and the tag for any PRSSA-related photos will be "UGAprssa."

Also, we are officially part of Twitter! I don't think any other chapter of PRSSA is this cool! :) Please "follow" us on Twitter! Once again, we are "UGAprssa."

Kelly will post an update on the blog situation shortly.

Get excited! I am!

FB pitching gone bad

2007-10-25T13:25:00.000-04:00

Hurt as it might, Todd Defren points out what not to do in a pitch by looking at one from his own company - this is a good, quick learning guide for pitching in general (not just within Facebook).

Many posit if you can't say it in 5 seconds, you can't sell it. Keep that in mind when constructing pitches - for any medium.

Here are some other great resources for pitch construction:

Blogger relations 101 lists 5 tips for engagement
PR lessons of a clueless pitch explains the why & how
Kevin Dugan gives pitch advice and a quiz, but questions whether you should even do it!
Another list with a focus on ethics
Steve Rubel goes through his own "what not to do"

Take away: Study up before you engage so you don't get hit with the pitch.

Image by Claire Laurence from Wildcat online article.

crisis readings for 11/1

2007-10-25T11:02:00.000-04:00

Sadly, we have another real case study to examine as we look at how social media can be used in a crisis as the California wildfires rage on in SoCal.

Please read the following to prepare for class on 11/1:

Red Cross case study: Building trust during a media maelstrom
Great links to examples of social media sites tracking the fires from Voce Nation
Step-by-step plan: Facebook crisis communications
Social media, technology and tragedy: On YouTube, Facebook, MySpace today we are all Hokies (read entire page)
Communicating during crisis: Use of blogs as a relationship management tool
Slogging, and blogging, through Katrina

The Voce link is more of a resource - click around & see for yourself how Flickr, Twitter et al are being used.

org adoption readings for 10/30

2007-10-25T10:22:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Edelman, you already have the hardcopy version of the "Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in the Blogosphere" booklet they did with First&42nd. (Thanks Edelman).

Additionally, please read "Blog bias: Reports, inferences, and judgments of credentialed bloggers at the 2004 nominating conventions�," which is an academic journal article in press.

See you after fall break!

We Are Your Solution

2007-10-24T12:55:00.000-04:00

Here we are class, we are the answer to the growing fear that the new breed of PR practitioners will not be ready for the constantly changing PR industry.

The PR Squared blog has placed our plight on its "Best of PR Squared" list. We, as PR undergraduates, are one of the most talked about concerns for the industry. In this post from the PR Squared blog in April of 2006 Todd Defren asks this question:

Wouldn't it be great if new PR graduates were on the cutting edge of technology innovations impacting the mediasphere?---Colleges are supposed to be the training ground for our future leaders in all fields; the place where the cutting-edge is honed... so why do most college comms programs focus on press releases (dying!?)and PR plans? When was the last time anyone asked a new college grad to draft a strategic PR plan, anyway? I'd rather that THEY are to equipped to teach ME about cool new ideas like, how Search Engine Optimization, wikis and RSS might impact the PR realm.

I think that this class in particular, Social Media: ADPR 5990, is the answer to this question. I have been in this class since August and I have learned more in the last three months than I have in the past couple years. Seriously, I never thought that I would be blogging, twittering and podcasting all at the same time. This is great!

There are many other great questions that Todd Defren asks on this post. He talks about how PR people interact with journalists and how undergraduate PR majors should be interacting with journalism majors. This rings a serious bell for me, since I am taking a News Writing and Reporting class with about 50 journalism majors. I can actually see how they work and what they look for!

So cheers to you class and cheers to the Grady College here at UGA for being ahead of the game in today's fast pace PR world.

PRofessional CONNECTION 2007: "Because the world is always ON"

2007-10-23T20:02:00.000-04:00

Thank you, in advance, for covering the sessions. I'm so excited about this!

Just a warning that this is still a working schedule. Not everything has been finalized. We still need to come up with some creative session names!

Like Dr. Sweetser said, please sign-up for the sessions you plan to cover in the "comments."

Yea for PRofessional CONNECTION! :)

Sponsored by Porter Novelli and PRSSA
Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007 – 1:30-6:00 p.m.
UGA Journalism Building

1:30 p.m.
Registration (Drewry Room)

2:00-2:45
Do's and Dont's of Dealing with the Media (room 403)
Faith Peppers

To Go or Not to Go: Is Grad School Right for You? (room 404)
Sarah McLean Cannon

Be an Entrepreneur (room 406)
Chuck Reece

Music PR (room 407)
Michelle Roche and Scott Siman

Meet and Greet the professionals & Resume and Portfolio Critiques (Drewry Room)
Kim Englehardt, Sherry Heyl, Nicole Hunnicutt, Jessica Laiti and Blair Logan

2:45-2:55
Break (During all breaks, refreshments will be provided in the Drewry Room.)

2:55-3:55
Professionalism 101 Round table (room 403)
Jessica Laiti, Blair Logan, Molly McFerran and Michelle Roche

Consequences of Technology on PR Round table (room 404)
Sherry Heyl, Kelly Hoag and Sarah McLean Cannon

Agency vs. Corporate vs. Nonprofit Round table (room 406)
Kim Englehardt, Nicole Hunnicutt, Chuck Reece and Scott Siman

Meet and Greet the professionals & Resume and Portfolio Critiques (Drewry Room)
Faith Peppers and Nikki Kay

3:55-4:05
Break

4:05-4:50
Bridging Media with New Media (room 403)
Sherry Heyl

Preparing for the Interview (room 404)
Blair Logan

Corporate Communications (room 406)
Alyce Sarno and Jill Krugman

True Life: Your First Six Months Out of College (room 407)
Kelly Hoag, Nikki Kay and Molly McFerran

Meet and Greet the professionals & Resume and Portfolio Critiques (Drewry Room)
Kim Englehardt, Nicole Hunnicutt, Jessica Laiti, Chuck Reece and Michelle Roche

4:50-5:00
Break

5:00-6:00
Hors d’ouevres Reception

Welcome
Dean Cully Clark

Greetings
Dr. Karen King, ADPR Head

Keynote
Porter Novelli

Special Presentation
Dr. Betty Jones, PRSSA faculty advisor

Closing
Kim Englehardt, PRSSA professional advisor

social media spotlite #2: Erin Caldwell

2007-10-22T22:22:00.000-04:00

This week in class we are lucky enough to have Erin Caldwell in the spotlite. She's going to talk about her journey from social media student to online advocacy account exec with Edelman in D.C.

Erin Caldwell, the founder and managing editor of Forward, graduated Cum Laude from Auburn University in May 2006 with a degree in public relations and an emphasis in marketing.

While Erin was an undergrad at Auburn, she started the student-centered collaborative blog, Forward, which dishes out advice on internships, getting your first job & how lots of great podcasts.

Update 10/29: audio from skype call is now available.

The launch of MySpace's first 'original' series

2007-10-22T12:03:00.000-04:00

Maybe MySpace is realizing it needs to being evolving with the times and add a little something extra. Forbes.com reported this morning that the social network site is creating a new show "Roomates." MySpace has hosted clips from television before, but this is the first time it has created original content and been the sole distributor.

According to Forbes, "A peek at 'Roommates' looks like a video version of much of what already goes on inside MySpace: Girls dance around in their bikinis, flash their lacey under things and shake their barely covered bums at the camera."

Because of the extremely high numbers of hits MySpace receives, advertising space is a hot item. If the series does as well as predicted, ads could generate a great deal more than television ads. Ford is taking advantage of this unique advertising opportunity and is a major sponsor; one of the characters will buy a new Ford car that boasts a great deal of new technological features.

While I question the uniqueness of this show and wonder if this content truly is "original," I do think it is great that all four of the women on the show will be social media savvy -- each woman will have a MySpace account as well as a personal blog. Interactivity with characters is encouraged, and viewers can influence the outcome of the show by commenting and voting.

So, are original Internet programs the next big thing? Maybe -- but I don't think the women of "Roommates" will be the next Meridith, Christina Izzy and Callie. To me there always will be something relaxing about sprawling in front of the T.V. to unwind, and sitting in my desk chair staring at my computer screen just is not the same.

Visit www.myspace.com/roomates to view the trailer.

Photos from myspace.com

10 Questions - a solution to the YouTube debate

2007-10-21T22:00:00.000-04:00

While scanning through Wired Magazine today, I noticed a story titled "Web 2.0 Project Taps 'Wisdom of the Crowd' to Probe Presidential Contenders" and thought it may be of interest for our social media class.

Lately we've been talking about the use of social media tools such as Facebook, MySpace and personal blogs by presidential candidates. We also spent some time discussing the YouTube debate and how much of a failure this was because the candidates couldn't or rather wouldn't take the questions seriously.

This was not only a failure for the candidates but also for the American voters. The candidates blew an awesome opportunity to show that they really care about America's citizens and the voters still didn't get the questions they were really concerned about answered.

This is attempt number two. Since the first one was such a failure and there was so much controversy about how the videos were chosen, a new effort called 10 questions was launched Wednesday.

The way this works is very similar to the original YouTube debate. People can submit videos of themselves asking their questions but instead of someone going through the questions and choosing which ones would be best for the candidate to answer, people can go to the 10 Questions Website and vote to move the video up or down a list in a kind of Digg-like tool. The top ten videos will be presented to each candidate completely unedited. The Website also offers its feedback on whether the candidate actually answered the question asked.

Here is the top video as of Sunday evening:

If you were to submit a video what would you ask and how would you present yourself. A big problem with the first debate was that people's use of creativity, as we saw in class with the snowman question, seemed to turn the candidates off to actually answering the question. Do you think it's ok to be a little creative to get your question across or do you think a serious answer deserves a serious question?

social media 101

2007-10-21T11:32:00.000-04:00

Sure - you're in a social media class so who needs a "social media 101"? Well, there are a lot of little things we are not experiencing in class -- so here's a little do-it-yourself learning thanks to Christie Goodman, APR.

On the PRSA conference blog, she dishes out short lessons in learning about social media tools one step at a time from your desk.

hip hop and social media

2007-10-20T22:02:00.000-04:00

One would think that an industry as large and affluent as the hip-hop industry would be a strong force in social media.

The thing is--they are, just in ways you would not expect. Of course they are creating blogs about hip-hop, there are sites like streetcred.com where you can have discussions with other hip-hop lovers.

However, as those that follow hip hop and its performers know, the conversation is usually between two artists or groups of artists. Recently, the conversation is between the hip hop world and the government. If you've been paying attention to the news, you would have noticed that rapper, T.I., has been arrested.

The hip-hop community is torn about this. You can find a discussion about it here.

In addition to that, hip-hop listeners are also creating their own conversations, there are sites (very explicit sites), mostly based on the musical representations of their favorite rappers. So in essence, a conversation is taking place between hip hop and the world. The rappers start the conversation and the listeners continue the conversation.

Another form of social media that these artists are using is that they make themselves and their product more available to their audiences. They have music to download, videos you can watch and also some artists have personal blogs you can follow.

They are learning that by making themselves more accessible they are cementing their fan base and allowing room for more people to become fans.

Is T.V. going out of style?

2007-10-18T19:41:00.000-04:00

After today's Peabody/Loyless State of Televison discussion, I think that social media tools, and the Internet in general, have all but destroyed the future of T.V. Well, that's not actually going to happen if the seven panelists from tonight can help it!

Click here to listen to a few ways the Internet has taken over the world of T.V.

They're finally catching on!

2007-10-18T14:24:00.000-04:00

I have decided there is hope for the Generation X-ers and Baby Boomers when learning about social media.

This morning on Atlanta and Company, a woman came to talk about the new website, peachymoms.com. It is a social network created for moms in and around the Atlanta area.

Sounds cool, right? Exactly.

There are blogs, forums, tips and other articles written to cater to a mother's needs. In fact, there are even forums for moms with kids of different ages: preschool all the way to empty-nesters.

The site was just launched last Monday, and it already looks like it's been well received.

I actually looked at a post a middle school mom had made about her child creating a MySpace profile. She made her post, and four different moms replied to her question. I know that may not seem like a lot, but I'm sure they had no clue what they were doing. It's a new process for them, too.

The woman on the show said the two most popular topics discussed were posted by newcomers in the Atlanta area and moms who wanted to know about organic food. There is information on where to get it, how to afford it and why it's better. With the new people to the area, nine posts have been submitted, and most of them have received replies. That's a pretty good turn-out for a Web site that isn't even two weeks old.

The peachymoms Web site is also a social network. To join, I had to create a profile, and, for the first time, I had to click on pictures of birds as a security setting. Interesting, I know.

Each person's profile isn't as detailed as the ones facebook suggests, but let's face it. Moms don't care what your favorite movies or quotes are. Basic information, web page URLs and interests are asked for. You can also have a profile picture.

Three main blogs are linked to the home page. Valerie Hoff, an 11 Alive broadcaster, hosts a blog about the work-family balance. Robby Carroll has been a parenting coach in the area for years, and his blog is filled with informative tips and crisis avoiders. Cindy Simmons, a radio host, is the author of the 3rd blog. I'm not exactly sure what the purpose is, but I think it mainly focuses on her dealing with her crazy life. She says, "how peachy is my life today?"

There are two reasons why I feel encouraged by this creation:
1. As a student learning about the ins-and-outs of social media, I am excited it has finally moved to the before generation, and I am glad to know they're learning how to use it.
2. As a future mom, I am encouraged that there are networks and groups of people who are creative and innovative enough to realize a need and pick the right remedy to solve it.

I was so excited to hear about this awesome Web site this morning. What a cool idea!

Blog Action Day

2007-10-17T23:37:00.000-04:00

This past Monday, October 15, 2007 was the first annual Blog Action Day.
Basically, this was an initiative to have as many people as possible all over the world blog about environmental and conservation issues to raise awareness of environmentalism.

It seems it was quite successful. On the wrap up site there are some incredible statistics.

Over 20,000 blogs registered and more than 23,000 blog posts turned up in a Google Blog Search of "Blog Action Day". 19 of Technorati's top 100 blogs posted about Blog Action Day on Monday, and "Blog Action Day" was Technorati's top tag AND search phrase for the day, hitting over 90 percent.

Blam!

I can almost feel the power of social media oozing out of my keyboard. I did my part to register and contribute. Check out my water conservation initiatives for the week on my blog.

I think Kevin Stirtz of the American Chronicle sums it up best when he wrote:

One reason I like Blog Action day is it demonstrates the viral power of an
idea. It shows how far and how fast something can spread via word of mouth,
using today's technologies. I also like it because it shows the vitality and
importance of New Media (of which blogging is a major player).

The brilliance of this idea lies in the fact that an incredibly huge impact was made on content in the blogosphere that stemmed from some emails and a few single bloggers. The cost was next to nothing and the reach was worldwide. Even traditional news sources like FOX and BBC found it compelling enough to jump in on the action.

So I am now even more of a believer in the power of social media, and I can't wait until next year to see how much farther this one idea can expand through people and technology.

The NYT is my Pimp.

2007-10-17T11:02:00.000-04:00

So I have gotten into the habit of reading the NYT, and I have decided there are a lot of stupid people and a lot of smart people. For this post, I will focus on the smart people, or at least the smart people jumping on the social media bandwagon.

1. LinkedIn: ht to Alicin for already clueing us in on that. Bigger ht to Dan Nye, CEO of LinkedIn, for creating Facebook for old people.

2. Google googling: According to the NYT, Google has been less than successful in the social network world. Over the next year, Google is planning to use the information/connection it has about users to create something called the "social graph." Google wants to sell advertising for Facebook (Microsoft does that now) as it does currently for MySpace. All this kind of creeps me out. Have any of you realized that the advertising on the right hand side of your e-mails comes from words IN your e-mail. WHY? Why is Google trying to make my e-mail information available to the person sitting across from me? That person can glance over to my screen and see "Find A Date in Athens" and start thinking all kinds of nonsense.

Google is going to take over the world.

3. YAY for Avatars!!!!: They are several virtual worlds. You can have an Avatar in each world. Now some really smart people are creating an Avatar that can travel across different virtual worlds. Props to I.B.M and Linden Lab.

4. I can seee youuuuu!: Several companies are creating video chat services. Well two that I am going to talk about.

TokBox-With TokBox, you do not have to download any software you just record a video message and send a link. Fun!

MySpace and Skype: These two companies, owned by media giants, are teaming up to join the largest voice network with the largest video and social network. Now you can video, test and voice chat at the same time. Kewl!!!!

The Big Debate: TokBox vs. MySpace and Skype.
You decide.