The podcast describes how Twitter can be used in journalism, by the average person, and for companies.
Show Notes
00.14 Juan begins to introduce the show.
00.38 Juan introduces the various topics that will be discussed on the podcast.
00.42 Sara begins to talk about the use of Twitter for journalists.
01.49 Juan transitions topic to Kirby.
01.58 Kirby begins to talk about the advantages of Twitter for the average person.
03.01 Juan transitions topic to Joe.
03.12 Joe begins talking about the advantages of Twitter for business.
04.38 Juan ends the show.
05.13 Podcast ends.
March 30, 2009
March 29, 2009
Reaction: Machinima
In this week’s lecture, the Machinima animation of USAir’s Hudson River Landing illustrated what occurred during the emergency landing, and this scene system is said to be “democratizing access to technology.” Another machinima film shown was of the French activists during the 2005 Paris riots. The animated scene system used showed the events leading up to the riots, which the French media did not cover.
Machinima reminds me of how the news started showing footage from the Vietnam War on television, and how it “democratized access” to information. It was the first time a war had been broadcast, and people were able to see the reality of war. People started to protest, as it is a whole different situation to see something happen, rather than read about it. It seems to make a big difference, and at least the story from the other side of the Paris riots was told. Many more stories could be told.
Machinima reminds me of how the news started showing footage from the Vietnam War on television, and how it “democratized access” to information. It was the first time a war had been broadcast, and people were able to see the reality of war. People started to protest, as it is a whole different situation to see something happen, rather than read about it. It seems to make a big difference, and at least the story from the other side of the Paris riots was told. Many more stories could be told.
Aardvark thanks you for your question. It's on it!
Social media has infiltrated many aspects of daily life, from meeting friends to finding a job. Aardvark, a social search website, enables the social media network to answer your everyday question when you need it. It’s like an instant message program where you can type in your question, then Aardvark will reply, “Thanks for the question, I’m on it!” It will then find a person with the most helpful response and retrieve it for you in a couple of minutes. While it is technically a technology rather than a real life person who is answering your question from the other side of the instant message window, the answer was at least written by a real life person. The technology just helps you find the answer.
According to the website, Aardvark is valuable because “A real conversation with a friend (or friend-of-friend) can provide much better information than a web page. Think of all the knowledge and experience that you have in your head, but haven’t published on the web!” By making the search more interactive, Aardvark takes the idea of 2 way communication in social media, rather than the 1 way communication of web 1.0.
Furthermore, the website says that the “Social Search enables you to tap into the wisdom of your real-world social network, in real-time. Aardvark applies advanced technology to identify the right person, among the tens of thousands in your extended network, to answer a particular question; and then lets you reach out without bothering people, spamming friends, or imposing on someone who isn’t interested.” A search on Twitter found that people have heard of Aardvark, and most seemed to like it. One tweet from davelavinsky said, “Looking at Aardvark - very cool social search tool to get answers to questions. Twitter could add similar functionality - http://vark.com/” Another twitterer, Denizeda, said, “Playing around with my Vark account. I love it!” There really wasn’t any negative tweets about it, except maybe calling the Aardvark experience “weird.” Stebe said, “vark.com —man, that was weird.”
March 22, 2009
Bebo Wants to Send Your Message to Aliens
Apparently Bebo wants to contact aliens, so the site is organizing 500 of the best messages from the public (celebrities are invited, too) until September 30th, when the poll for the best message will close. The transmission will take place October 9 from the National Space Agency of Ukraine, via its giant RT-70 radar telescope, according to a Sky News article. The planet at which the messages are aimed is called Gliese 581c, which is 20.5 light years away. The messages are scheduled to arrive in 2029. This marks the first time in which the public has been offered the chance to send a message to outer space, free of charge.
Virtually, social media is the spread of information, and now that includes sending information to outer space. Whether it is important to send a message to space is not the issue; it is the notion that it is possible which makes it important. Bebo’s offer to send messages to space illustrates how social media has changed the way the world works. People are more aware of what is going on in the world, and they have the capability to voice their opinion, whether positive or negative. More importantly, they have the capability to do something about it. For example, Twestival, which was organized using Twitter, is an event that is hoping to raise $1 million dollars to get clean drinking water to people in developing countries. The charity event was announced on January 8th and had 24 participating cities. During the following day, the number of cities doubled. By the end of the week, more than 100 cities wanted to participate. Furthermore, it was a global event. According to a Sky News article, “And, through the power of online networking, over 1,000 volunteers across the world from Beijing to Brighton, Dallas to Dhaka will be hosting Twestival events.” Ultimately, in one month 20,000 people in 185 cities were involved.
Social media has no boundaries, and it’s an exciting time in which to live. It seems like everyone is getting closer and closer together, meeting people from across the world, working towards a common cause, as in the Twestival case. If Bebo accomplishes what it has set out to do, maybe we will have someone else to meet and with which to communicate in 2029.
March 8, 2009
Is 'Netroots' rather than grassroots campaigning in the political future?
The 2008 Presidential Election was full of firsts in the nation’s history, and the election may have even invented a new Internet term. A CNN article discussing possible approaches which may prove useful to President Obama with regard to persuading Congress to ratify the federal budget. The Republicans are threatening the budget with a filibuster, but according to the article, the best tool for Obama to counter is the use of ’netroots.’ As a play on grassroots campaigning, the way ‘netroots’ would work is through the online communities, such as Facebook. Called ‘Facebook Politics,’ the article said that ’netroots’ would “raise money to campaign against opponents of Obama's budget proposals. They might also encourage volunteers to explain and promote Obama's policies to their neighbors.” In addition, “They could also provide a forum to counteract Republican attacks, and remind senators of the kind of voter turnout they might encounter in the midterm elections if they decide to stand in the way of Obama's program.” The article, however, is mainly speculative, and it asks the question of whether the concepts of ‘netroots’ and ‘Facebook politics’ are even legitimate ways to build support for a campaign. It seems positive and that social media is the way of the political future, but the last line of the article raises doubts. It reads, “On the other hand, when he calls on the netroots to support him against those pesky senators, he might learn that many of his virtual supporters have already clicked onto another page.”
Although it still is speculation, I think it’s likely that ‘Facebook Politics’ and ’netroots’ are the way of the future. Some say that Facebook was one of the ways in which Obama gained support from the young voters and that social media really helped his campaign. Although the article does point out that Obama used grassroots instead of ‘netroots’ campaigning to win support for the stimulus package in the red states, it also points out that he did this after he strongly surmised he had already won support from Congress. In any case, I can also surmise that ’netroots’ will become a commonplace method in the political future. I read another student’s blog post last week that Congressmen and women were using Twitter to update their constituents on the latest activity. Social media is becoming more and more prominent as time goes by, and it’s getting more difficult for people to continue with a traditional way of doing things. The prominence of social media, after all, has changed the way the PR industry works and is the reason why a social media in PR class is offered.
Although it still is speculation, I think it’s likely that ‘Facebook Politics’ and ’netroots’ are the way of the future. Some say that Facebook was one of the ways in which Obama gained support from the young voters and that social media really helped his campaign. Although the article does point out that Obama used grassroots instead of ‘netroots’ campaigning to win support for the stimulus package in the red states, it also points out that he did this after he strongly surmised he had already won support from Congress. In any case, I can also surmise that ’netroots’ will become a commonplace method in the political future. I read another student’s blog post last week that Congressmen and women were using Twitter to update their constituents on the latest activity. Social media is becoming more and more prominent as time goes by, and it’s getting more difficult for people to continue with a traditional way of doing things. The prominence of social media, after all, has changed the way the PR industry works and is the reason why a social media in PR class is offered.
Reaction: Better Monitoring for PR 2.0
This week’s reading, Better Monitoring for PR 2.0, is about how professionals keep in touch with the public and monitor their image online. I was particularly interested to find that “As a group, PR practitioners have not historically been the most advanced at embracing new media tools (Breakenridge 75).” The reason to point this out is not to criticize, but make the readers, who are potential future PR professionals, realize the importance of monitoring new technologies in order to be the first to find out what people are saying about their company’s brand. It can only benefit them because Breakenridge also points out that “The worst thing for you, as a communications professional, is to have your executives find out about communication in the market before you do (75).” The chapter continues to talk about blog monitoring and how more and more companies are screening their presence online.
I’m interning at an organization right now where one of my tasks is to monitor where the organization is mentioned online in blogs. The organization actually compiles all the mentions of themselves in a binder for the board members to look at, so mastering those online tools is something necessary for the digital age. We have to know the second our organization is mentioned and we need to log the information. This task is not only for the board members, but it is also for the organization to know how they’re being perceived. It’s like a digital focus group, and the organization needs to know if their methods for getting their name out in the world is working or not. If not, they need to know so that they can find a different way.
I’m interning at an organization right now where one of my tasks is to monitor where the organization is mentioned online in blogs. The organization actually compiles all the mentions of themselves in a binder for the board members to look at, so mastering those online tools is something necessary for the digital age. We have to know the second our organization is mentioned and we need to log the information. This task is not only for the board members, but it is also for the organization to know how they’re being perceived. It’s like a digital focus group, and the organization needs to know if their methods for getting their name out in the world is working or not. If not, they need to know so that they can find a different way.
March 1, 2009
Facebook's Democracy
Just as Brian Solis said that social media is about people, Facebook has tried to reach out to the social media community after the story broke of how their terms of service indicated that Facebook owned users’ content. After a protest in the social media community, Facebook wants people to vote on how policy documents will be phrased. In a statement from Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, said, “As people share more information on services like Facebook, a new relationship is created between Internet companies and the people they serve.”
In order to give users more input on the site, Facebook’s method will be online voting and “virtual ‘Town Halls’”. With these methods, they can take users’ comments and review them in order to see how they should reword their policies. For future policies, Facebook will install a user council.
As a Facebook user, I think Facebook is trying their best to build a relationship with their users and try to correct the misunderstanding of the past policy mishap. Facebook is representing how the social media community operates, and that is, above all, that social media is about people. Users are what helped the site grow, and it’s important that it’s never forgotten. I believe Facebook is now giving the opportunity for people to be happy with how Facebook will be operated, and now users just need to take advantage of that opportunity.
In order to give users more input on the site, Facebook’s method will be online voting and “virtual ‘Town Halls’”. With these methods, they can take users’ comments and review them in order to see how they should reword their policies. For future policies, Facebook will install a user council.
As a Facebook user, I think Facebook is trying their best to build a relationship with their users and try to correct the misunderstanding of the past policy mishap. Facebook is representing how the social media community operates, and that is, above all, that social media is about people. Users are what helped the site grow, and it’s important that it’s never forgotten. I believe Facebook is now giving the opportunity for people to be happy with how Facebook will be operated, and now users just need to take advantage of that opportunity.
Reaction: A Guide to Blogger Relations by Brian Solis
Reaction to Blogger Relations - Brian Solis’ e-book
As a PR professional in the social media era, Brian Solis gives advice on how to connect with bloggers. The main point he tries to make is that “social media is about people (12).” As a part of the public, I always thought professionals’ focus should be pleasing the customer. Solis seems to agree, calling this concept common sense. He also says that PR professionals have become lazy, and social media has been the very best thing to happen to the field of PR. He says:
“The game of PR has largely enjoyed the comfort of existing behind-the- scenes and this exposure and public ridicule is forcing PR out of its comfort zone, which at the end of the day will only make PR stronger and more effective (18).”
As a public, I can only hope that this becomes true. As a professional, I think I’ll be under scrutiny for every move I make, but also I think it’s what PR was meant to be. As a professional, I’d like to establish relationships and keep them. Solis says that very few professionals take the time to build relationships with bloggers, and even their publics.
After reading “A Guide to Blogger Relations,” it’s clear that I have to do the best I possibly can to not be viewed as another annoying PR professional. Not all PR professionals are annoying, but they’re definitely viewed that way by techniques they’ve been using. The trick now, as I enter the workforce, is to know my public, know those who I want to help me, and know those bloggers.
As a PR professional in the social media era, Brian Solis gives advice on how to connect with bloggers. The main point he tries to make is that “social media is about people (12).” As a part of the public, I always thought professionals’ focus should be pleasing the customer. Solis seems to agree, calling this concept common sense. He also says that PR professionals have become lazy, and social media has been the very best thing to happen to the field of PR. He says:
“The game of PR has largely enjoyed the comfort of existing behind-the- scenes and this exposure and public ridicule is forcing PR out of its comfort zone, which at the end of the day will only make PR stronger and more effective (18).”
As a public, I can only hope that this becomes true. As a professional, I think I’ll be under scrutiny for every move I make, but also I think it’s what PR was meant to be. As a professional, I’d like to establish relationships and keep them. Solis says that very few professionals take the time to build relationships with bloggers, and even their publics.
After reading “A Guide to Blogger Relations,” it’s clear that I have to do the best I possibly can to not be viewed as another annoying PR professional. Not all PR professionals are annoying, but they’re definitely viewed that way by techniques they’ve been using. The trick now, as I enter the workforce, is to know my public, know those who I want to help me, and know those bloggers.
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