Who is the most successful Canadian public relations professional? What makes you say this?
Although this may not count, Kim Cattrall the actress is Canadian and she was made famous by her roll as being a successful Public Relations professional on the hit shot Sex in the City. While this may a fictional and glorified version of PR, I can garantee that there are not many people who don’t know who ‘Samantha Jones' or who Kim Cattrall is.
However, I think the most famous PR professionals are the ones that aren’t really know. PR is about bringing awareness to your client, company or cause, not about making yourself famous. I think the most successful PR professionals are those who are constantly bringing their organization etc. to the public eye. If you want to look at the most famous PR professional look at which companies and organizations are constantly and actively in the media, the papers etc. I also think that PR is very much a team associated job, and so credit can't necessarily go to any one individual.
Answer submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Question Five
What kind of conversational patterns can you expect to encounter using social media as a PR professional? What will consumers of your content expect? How can you level these expectations?
Social media has changed the entire way in which we communicate. With the development of applications such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace etc. we are able to communicate quicker to a wider audience. It also has eliminated the need for long winded conversations and forces us to get to down to the ‘nitty gritty’ details that are most important. Twitter for example only allows for 140 characters, so you must make sure that what you say is direct and to the point.
Social media was also designed to create a new venue for conversation. It allows you to have a conversation about anything, (health care reforms to who won Canadian Idol) without leaving the comforts of your home. I also think that social media allows individuals to voice their ‘true’ opinions without any fear of being social scorned. Social media is also a little more impersonal than face-to-face communication so can create a more subjective platform for conversation.
With the development of social media consumer expectations of PR professionals is a lot higher. They expect consistency in messages. If you write something one day, don’t contradict yourself the next because social media is a double edged sword and once it is on the internet, it is always there. There is no way of going back and changing something and people can always search for your comments and use them against you. Clarify all your statements, make sure they are simple, straight forward and easy to understand. And last, but not least, repeat, repeat, repeat. Often times consumers are distracted with other things going on in their lives and so might miss part of the message being communicated. If you repeat your message three things can happen: a) those consumers will hear the entire message, b) consumers or potential consumers will hear the message for the first time, thus you increase your cliental, and c) it ingrains the messages your promoting in your consumers mind. After all, humanity has a very short attention span, so if you want the consumers attention, be honest, be specific, be concise and REPEAT!
Answer Submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
Social media has changed the entire way in which we communicate. With the development of applications such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace etc. we are able to communicate quicker to a wider audience. It also has eliminated the need for long winded conversations and forces us to get to down to the ‘nitty gritty’ details that are most important. Twitter for example only allows for 140 characters, so you must make sure that what you say is direct and to the point.
Social media was also designed to create a new venue for conversation. It allows you to have a conversation about anything, (health care reforms to who won Canadian Idol) without leaving the comforts of your home. I also think that social media allows individuals to voice their ‘true’ opinions without any fear of being social scorned. Social media is also a little more impersonal than face-to-face communication so can create a more subjective platform for conversation.
With the development of social media consumer expectations of PR professionals is a lot higher. They expect consistency in messages. If you write something one day, don’t contradict yourself the next because social media is a double edged sword and once it is on the internet, it is always there. There is no way of going back and changing something and people can always search for your comments and use them against you. Clarify all your statements, make sure they are simple, straight forward and easy to understand. And last, but not least, repeat, repeat, repeat. Often times consumers are distracted with other things going on in their lives and so might miss part of the message being communicated. If you repeat your message three things can happen: a) those consumers will hear the entire message, b) consumers or potential consumers will hear the message for the first time, thus you increase your cliental, and c) it ingrains the messages your promoting in your consumers mind. After all, humanity has a very short attention span, so if you want the consumers attention, be honest, be specific, be concise and REPEAT!
Answer Submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
Question Four
Who is Jamie Zawinski? How is the role he played & are design principals he helped spread important to you?
Jamie Zawinski, also known as jwz, is a former computer programmer who was responsible for helping in the development of Mozilla Firefox , Netscape Navigator, XScreenSaver and other free software programs. He helped develop the idea of HYPERLINK and made the World Wide Web more functional for society.
Zawinski helped open up a whole new world for accessing information and making the internet more interactive. XScreenSaver for example, created in 1992, is a collection of screensavers that individuals can apply to their computers. The software is also the framework for blanking and locking computer screens, for businesses this acts as a good protection tool. XScreenSaver also makes it easy to add extra modules to your computer like hacks. Many people, including myself, use these simple applications as screensaver for our own computers.
Netscape was the first internet browser that I ever used, and it therefore has a lot of importance to me. It is where I first discovered how to search for information online and began communicating with others not in my direct community. In that way, it was the beginning of my social media career. However, this program is basically obsolete and was replaced by the more popular Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Firefox. That being said, Netscape was essentially the pioneer of the internet browser, and it is because of its success that new and more advanced technology was created to make information searching easier.
Answer submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
Jamie Zawinski, also known as jwz, is a former computer programmer who was responsible for helping in the development of Mozilla Firefox , Netscape Navigator, XScreenSaver and other free software programs. He helped develop the idea of HYPERLINK and made the World Wide Web more functional for society.
Zawinski helped open up a whole new world for accessing information and making the internet more interactive. XScreenSaver for example, created in 1992, is a collection of screensavers that individuals can apply to their computers. The software is also the framework for blanking and locking computer screens, for businesses this acts as a good protection tool. XScreenSaver also makes it easy to add extra modules to your computer like hacks. Many people, including myself, use these simple applications as screensaver for our own computers.
Netscape was the first internet browser that I ever used, and it therefore has a lot of importance to me. It is where I first discovered how to search for information online and began communicating with others not in my direct community. In that way, it was the beginning of my social media career. However, this program is basically obsolete and was replaced by the more popular Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Firefox. That being said, Netscape was essentially the pioneer of the internet browser, and it is because of its success that new and more advanced technology was created to make information searching easier.
Answer submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
Question Three
McLuhan used a model with four elements surrounding the term MEDIUM. Touching on the four elements, describe how this model can help us in interpreting social media.
Does the medium enhance?
Social media absolutely enhances one’s personal brand as well as a company’s brand as it creates an atmosphere where information is easily accessible. You have access to information from all over the world right at your fingertips. This offers an advantage when finding target audiences as well as when you are doing issues management, your aware of everything. Social media also enhances communication methods. With the growth of social media as a business tool, you’re getting access to a wide range of audiences; you are able to target audiences that before were inaccessible. Social media also makes communicating to international communities easier with the development of Skype, or Onestop etc. Business conferences can be held with international partners without the expense of flights and hotels.
Does the medium reverse?
For every pro there is a con. By this I mean that while social media enhances online communication it takes away a little from actual physical interaction. This could be as simple as less face-to-face conversations, for example, the development of ICQ and MSN (or AOL if you’re in the United States). People no longer had to make plans or communicate via phone, or in person, they were able to make plans and have entire conversations without seeing each other or actually saying a word. This in no way is saying that social media is replacing face-to-face communication or making it obsolete because, at the end of the day, I still feel that is the best way of making an impression on someone. However, it is eliminating the amount of face-to-face communication that is necessary.
Does the medium retrieve?
Social media is a tool for receiving information and insight into the public’s wants and needs. In this way it retrieves the information that is vital to you and/or your company. It is also an effective way of giving a voice back to the people so that they once again are in control of what they want instead of being told what they want.
Does the medium create obsolesces?
To a certain extent it does. It makes the need for printed newspaper less important because everything you want to know, from every newspaper is online and offers the extra benefit of comments and opinions from other users. Do I think it’s going to replace printed press? No, probably not, enough people still prefer a concrete paper to hold. It will lessen the need for human interaction, but will not eliminate it; interaction is part of human nature. I think that the biggest worry is making facts obsolete, social media is getting boggled with personal opinion that it makes it difficult to differentiate between fact and fiction and eventually people will just stop trying to differentiate.
Answer submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
Does the medium enhance?
Social media absolutely enhances one’s personal brand as well as a company’s brand as it creates an atmosphere where information is easily accessible. You have access to information from all over the world right at your fingertips. This offers an advantage when finding target audiences as well as when you are doing issues management, your aware of everything. Social media also enhances communication methods. With the growth of social media as a business tool, you’re getting access to a wide range of audiences; you are able to target audiences that before were inaccessible. Social media also makes communicating to international communities easier with the development of Skype, or Onestop etc. Business conferences can be held with international partners without the expense of flights and hotels.
Does the medium reverse?
For every pro there is a con. By this I mean that while social media enhances online communication it takes away a little from actual physical interaction. This could be as simple as less face-to-face conversations, for example, the development of ICQ and MSN (or AOL if you’re in the United States). People no longer had to make plans or communicate via phone, or in person, they were able to make plans and have entire conversations without seeing each other or actually saying a word. This in no way is saying that social media is replacing face-to-face communication or making it obsolete because, at the end of the day, I still feel that is the best way of making an impression on someone. However, it is eliminating the amount of face-to-face communication that is necessary.
Does the medium retrieve?
Social media is a tool for receiving information and insight into the public’s wants and needs. In this way it retrieves the information that is vital to you and/or your company. It is also an effective way of giving a voice back to the people so that they once again are in control of what they want instead of being told what they want.
Does the medium create obsolesces?
To a certain extent it does. It makes the need for printed newspaper less important because everything you want to know, from every newspaper is online and offers the extra benefit of comments and opinions from other users. Do I think it’s going to replace printed press? No, probably not, enough people still prefer a concrete paper to hold. It will lessen the need for human interaction, but will not eliminate it; interaction is part of human nature. I think that the biggest worry is making facts obsolete, social media is getting boggled with personal opinion that it makes it difficult to differentiate between fact and fiction and eventually people will just stop trying to differentiate.
Answer submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
Question Two
In Wikipedia: The Truth in Numbers the message seems to be: no longer do the victors write the history books, we do: you, me, and everyone else. How is social media (twitter, blogs) forwarding this idea? What gives someone authority to "write history" and why should we listen to them? Is there a hierarchy of authorities? ie. is what someone like Seth Godin says more important? What should be taken as canon?
While I agree that there is truth in numbers and that collectively we can ‘fill in the blanks’, I do not believe that we can write history. We might be able to contribute, but for the most part, at the end of the day, it’s a personal opinion – or based off one book we might have read. Simply put, we don’t have the credentials.
The development of social media has both positive and negative effects. It creates an easy form of communication with people all over the world, the exchange of idea, beliefs and information. However, this can be a negative thing as well, as some people have some very biased opinions and sometimes, very damaging and influential viewpoints that cannot be taken as truth, no matter how many people may support them. To give these people authority is to cause more problems in the long run.
So what gives people the authority to ‘write history’? I don’t think it can fall on one person, no matter how educated they are. I think educated individuals who have studied a certain topic have more of ‘a right’ to comment and write about human history (including: war, technology, science, lifestyle, social issued etc.) however, even they will have a bias. The most appropriate way for to write history is to allow educated professionals in the field with different viewpoints to work collaboratively to create a historically accurate document. Unfortunately, this may be easier said than done, look at the Israelis and Palestinians for example.
I think that the whole point of social media is to get across individuals personal opinions on any given topic, however I don’t think that can be taken as fact. I won’t take the average Joe’s opinion on health care as fact, I want to see the statistics and talk to the professionals.
So yes, there is a hierarchy of authority, and those who write history are those who have all the facts.
Answer submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
While I agree that there is truth in numbers and that collectively we can ‘fill in the blanks’, I do not believe that we can write history. We might be able to contribute, but for the most part, at the end of the day, it’s a personal opinion – or based off one book we might have read. Simply put, we don’t have the credentials.
The development of social media has both positive and negative effects. It creates an easy form of communication with people all over the world, the exchange of idea, beliefs and information. However, this can be a negative thing as well, as some people have some very biased opinions and sometimes, very damaging and influential viewpoints that cannot be taken as truth, no matter how many people may support them. To give these people authority is to cause more problems in the long run.
So what gives people the authority to ‘write history’? I don’t think it can fall on one person, no matter how educated they are. I think educated individuals who have studied a certain topic have more of ‘a right’ to comment and write about human history (including: war, technology, science, lifestyle, social issued etc.) however, even they will have a bias. The most appropriate way for to write history is to allow educated professionals in the field with different viewpoints to work collaboratively to create a historically accurate document. Unfortunately, this may be easier said than done, look at the Israelis and Palestinians for example.
I think that the whole point of social media is to get across individuals personal opinions on any given topic, however I don’t think that can be taken as fact. I won’t take the average Joe’s opinion on health care as fact, I want to see the statistics and talk to the professionals.
So yes, there is a hierarchy of authority, and those who write history are those who have all the facts.
Answer submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
Question One
In Deirdre Breakenridge's article PR 2.0, Brian Cross discusses how changes in technology will change the function of PR practitioners. In what ways do you think public relations will change and what role will PR professional's play in these changes?
Brian Cross argues that the growth of technology will lead to changes in how PR professionals communicate. The development of this new medium has opened up a whole new playing field for PR professional. It allows them to access information that before was unavailable.
Social media allows PR professionals to get out there on the World Wide Web and reach and communicate with a wider target audience. It allows for two-way communication and feedback from consumers and stakeholders in a quicker and more direct manner. It also means a change in how consumers view companies. Instead of PR professionals constantly chasing after consumers, social media allows them to create an online identity. By ‘twittering’ and ‘facebooking’ you create awareness of your company, people start following you and want to see what you’re saying about certain topics. Instead of following them, you draw them in so they follow you.
However, it is important to understand that in order for this application of social media to work and in order for PR professionals to reach their targeted audiences they must converse with bloggers and social media users in order to understand the wants/needs of the consumer and to gain a mutual rapport.
Answer submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
Brian Cross argues that the growth of technology will lead to changes in how PR professionals communicate. The development of this new medium has opened up a whole new playing field for PR professional. It allows them to access information that before was unavailable.
Social media allows PR professionals to get out there on the World Wide Web and reach and communicate with a wider target audience. It allows for two-way communication and feedback from consumers and stakeholders in a quicker and more direct manner. It also means a change in how consumers view companies. Instead of PR professionals constantly chasing after consumers, social media allows them to create an online identity. By ‘twittering’ and ‘facebooking’ you create awareness of your company, people start following you and want to see what you’re saying about certain topics. Instead of following them, you draw them in so they follow you.
However, it is important to understand that in order for this application of social media to work and in order for PR professionals to reach their targeted audiences they must converse with bloggers and social media users in order to understand the wants/needs of the consumer and to gain a mutual rapport.
Answer submitted by: http://bit.ly/3dWHka
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