eReaders

Since attending Full Sail University I’ve become very familiar with ebooks. The majority of our class textbooks come in this format, and after my eyes lost focus from reading on my MacBook, I decided it was time to invest in an ereader. 

By now, I’m sure the majority of you have heard of ereaders. As a matter of fact, the latest study from Pew Internet states that 29% of people in the United States own either a tablet or ereader. Tablets have dominated the industry for a while now, but Business Week predicts that ereader sales will triple by 2016. So far this year there have been 25 million ereaders sold, and any reading enthusiast will tell you why. 

As an avid reader and Apple lover, an iPad is high on my wish list, but at the same time being able to read outdoors is a huge must for me. The LCD screen featured on tablets doesn’t allow you to read outside as easily, but the e-ink display found on ereaders gives the look of an actual book, and makes it just as easy to read in direct sunlight. In addition most are smaller and lighter than many books, making it easy to hold and take from one place to another. To me the biggest perks are the battery life and price. My Kindle Touch has a two-month battery life, making it easy, convenient and stress free. Furthermore, the basic Kindle model costs only $79, which was a huge plus to a poor college student like myself. 

Over the years I’ve collected a huge number of books, but just as the iPod meant the death CDs, many predict that the same will be true for paperbacks. Paperback book sales have dropped by 25%. With the expected rise of ereader sales, and the lower cost of ebooks, I can’t say that I disagree. If you’ve visited your local library lately you may be shocked to find that many are offering the option to rent ebooks as well. Do you think the fact that libraries are supporting the trend adds credibility to it? Do you have an ereader? 

Photo courtesy of: http://keithjinternet.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/ipad-vs-nook-vs-kindle/

Personal Learning Networks

One important thing I’ve learned while studying at Full Sail University, is to build and maintain personal learning networks (PLNs) via the web. For those of you who don’t know what a PLN is, it is anyone that you engage and exchange information with. Think of it as your social network, but one that is more gauged towards learning. 

Photo courtesy of: http://www.olecommunity.com/the-power-of-personal-learning-networks-wait-what-is-a-personal-learning-network/

Blogs can be an excellent source for PLNs, but they need to be written by credible sources. I have a number of public relations blogs in my PLN. One of my favorites is Richard Edelman’s 6 A.M. blog. As the president and CEO of the world’s largest independent public relations firm, Richard Edelman can certainly be considered a reliable source for any public relations practitioner. I find his blog posts to be extremely helpful because he writes about what he is currently doing in the field. For example, on March 5, he wrote about his trip to Vietnam and China. Readers not only get a first hand look into the life of a public relations practitioner, the blog also offers information on how public relations is practiced in countries all over the world. 

Another one of my favorite daily reads is the blog PR in Your Pajamas. Written by Elena Verlee, founder of the Cross Border Communications agency, this blog covers a wide variety of different topics within the field of public relations. For example, on March 13, the blog featured a post titled, 7 Critical PR Lessons for Launching Start-Ups. I found this post to be extremely beneficial while working on my business plan in graduate school. 

These are only two of the blogs in my PLN, and not all of them are public relations related. It is important that your PLN covers a wide variety of topics. My PLN is also comprised of technological and social media blogs that I find to be extremely beneficial. Consider setting up a really simple syndication (RSS) feed for all of your favorite blogs. Google has a great RSS reader that can help you get started. You can also use your Twitter to keep track of your PLN. Both writers of the blogs above have Twitter accounts. By following your favorite blogs on Twitter, you can easily find out about blog updates and new posts.

Which blogs do you consider to be an asset to your PLN? Do you a use a different reader for your RSS feed? 

Public Relations Society of America

I’m sure many of the public relations professionals out there know about and are a part of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). If you’re in the PR business or are aspiring to be, I highly suggest that you visit the trade association’s website to see all of the great things they have to offer.

For starters, I recommend that you become a member of the trade association because there are a number of different benefits. First off, by becoming a member of PRSA, your professional value and credibility are greatly improved. PRSA has created a Code of Ethics that all PR professionals should live up to and guarantees a standard of success for PR practitioners across the board.  In addition, PRSA offers professional accreditation through their Accredited in Public Relations (APR) credential.

Second, PRSA is constantly posting articles and screening webinars that offer professionals a chance to stay current on upcoming strategies and trends. According to the website, members will now have access to more than 50 webinars in 2012, all for free. PRSA makes it easy to do research as well with their members-only database of case studies, articles and research.

Last, PRSA offers incredible networking opportunities. There are more than 50 different chapters across the country that allow you to connect with local professionals in your area. In addition, you can join specific Professional Interest Sections. Sections cover nonprofit, employee communications, travel & tourism, new professionals and more. Membership with PRSA also includes access to the PRSA Jobcenter that offers career advice and job openings.

If you are currently in college you should check out if your school has a student chapter, or Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). If they don’t, consider starting one yourself. Once you graduate you’ll be able to join PRSA at a discounted rate.  

YouTube Trends

I recently watched a speech on Ted given by Kevin Allocca. The first line of his biography alone is enough to grab your attention. “Kevin Allocca watches YouTube videos. For his job.” He is the trend manager at YouTube and his speech, titled Why videos go viral, discusses how YouTube sensations come to be.

Allocca begins his speech with an astounding statistic. Over 48 hours of video get uploaded to YouTube every minute. My first thought was probably something close to yours. If that much content is being uploaded, how does anyone stand out?

Allocca makes it simple to understand. He attributes it to three different, and recently new occurrences. The first, are tastemakers, or influencers. These are the people that have a wide variety of followers, and with one tweet can cause a mass of influx to someone’s YouTube post. For example, think Tosh.0 or Jimmy Kimmel.

The second occurrence is linked to communities of participation, or culture. Once the masses become aware of something, they spread the phenomenon even further. They tweet about it and even make their own parodies, in turn, creating viral videos.

But before a video can accomplish any of that, it needs to be unique and unexpected. It wouldn’t matter who the tastemaker for a video was if it was lacking entertainment. Simply said, videos have to stand out in order to go viral.

After listening to Allocca’s speech I began to think about how this trend could be applied to all areas of social media. With so much content, no matter the medium, being added to the web, how is it possible that anyone is able to make a splash? I think these same three occurrences or phenomena could be applied to the Internet as a whole. Let’s look at blogs, for example. According to Web Designer Depot, there are over 100 million active blogs on the Internet. It’s safe to say that in order to have a successful blog you need original content. You also need followers to read your blog and spread the word, so to say. If you have the first two and could get a tastemaker to endorse your blog, the sky would be the limit.

Photo courtesy of: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30311/10-Amazing-Blogs-About-Blogging-to-Start-Reading-NOW.aspx

As our culture continually changes and the public becomes the gatekeepers of information, I think that content will become much more quality driven. Tastemakers will still influence the masses, and the Internet clearly isn’t going anywhere soon, but I believe that the content that drives those trends will begin to improve.

Love.

I saw this very funny picture, courtesy of Duffey Communications, on Facebook today and couldn't resist sharing. I really couldn't agree more! :) 

Twitter: Breaking News via Social Media

My previous post discusses the impact of social media on our everyday lives. Social media is utilized daily by a wide variety of demographics, and the statistics from 2011 support the growing trend entirely. According to Edison Research, in 2011, approximately 46 million Americans over the age of 12 checked their social media sites several times on a daily basis. While the article refers to Facebook as the driving factor behind most of the statistics, there’s no doubt that Twitter is catching up.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/twitter-worm-hits-googl-redirects-to-fake-anti-virus/7938

Since the site’s launch in 2006, the social media platform has exploded with users. The most recent example of the website’s popularity was displayed this past weekend when music icon, Whitney Houston, passed away. According to this article on Mashable Entertainment, Twitter released the news of Houston’s death before the mainstream press.

Many people, myself included, might say that the primary job of the press is to break stories as they happen. Considering that the first tweet about Houston’s death went out 27 minutes prior to any news station mentioning it, it’s safe to say that the press let us down in a way.  The press does deserve a little slack though. It’s not like this happens on an everyday basis, but it’s not the first time Twitter has outdone mainstream news.

Not only did Twitter break the news first, but the first reported tweet about the incident even alluded to the possible cause of death.  Twitter user @AjaDiorNavy was the first person to tweet about the incident. The tweet claims that Houston was found dead in the bathtub, a fact later restated by celebrity gossip website, TMZ.

While TMZ doesn’t register to many as the most credible website, it’s astounding that someone on Twitter not only reported Houston’s death first, but may have also reported it right.

So far, there are not many incidences where Twitter has broken a top story, but no one can say what will happen in the future when Twitter’s popularity has doubled or even tripled what it is now. Will the general public become the first source for breaking news via social media sites? How did you first find out about the news of Houston’s death? 

Defining PR

One question that I am constantly asked is, “What is public relations?” Even though nearly every business must utilize the public relations industry in order to succeed, many people don’t even know its main function. If you ask any public relations practitioner, they may give you the standard definition, to create and maintain relationships between a company and its public. The problem with this answer is that, like any industry, the world of public relations is much more complex.

If you search for job postings in public relations you will see an array of different industries seeking PR pros. For example, education, government, medical and entertainment are all options.

I found a very funny article from PR Daily titled, 33 (more) signs you work in PR. It literally made me laugh out loud. Anyone that works in the PR industry can spot a fellow practitioner, but for those of you who don’t know this article breaks down common PR characteristics.

While reading through the list I thought, “Yup, that’s me!” about nearly every trait. For example, number 11 states, “In your personal life, when people try to help you stuff invitations, assemble gift bags, etc., you take over the project because you can do it more quickly.” Most PR pros are extreme multitaskers. Many people might even classify them as ADD. There is usually so much to be done in so little time that multitasking is a necessity.

Another favorite is number 16, “People assume you attend parties and meet celebrities for a living (and you let them think so, because it’s better than the reality of being chained to your phone and laptop).” The public relations field that I would most like to go into is entertainment. When I tell people this they usually respond with, “Oh, so you want to work with celebrities for a living?” While, yes, it would be exciting to brush elbows with the rich and famous, that would hardly cover all aspects of the job.  

PR pros are first and foremost, researchers. We are constantly researching our clients to see who is saying what about them.  Reputation is everything, and maintaining a positive one for an unruly client can be the biggest headache.

According to this CNBC article, public relations is ranked seven on the list of most stressful jobs in America. It’s no wonder that PR pros are stressed out. Most of the time, we are dealing with people and incidences outside of our control. One of my favorite examples from pop culture is when Britney Spears went crazy and shaved her head. It’s the classic instance of a PR nightmare. Her publicist couldn’t do anything to stop her; he/she simply had to deal with the aftermath.

Photo courtesy of: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2007/02/19/britney-spears-shaved-head/

While this post doesn’t give you a complete look at the hectic world of PR, I hope that it at least gives you a better idea. Hopefully, I’ll never have to deal with a ‘Britney’ incident, but that’s just a risk I’ll have to take. The fast paced and unpredictable craziness of the PR world is what I love most, and I wouldn’t trade it for a thing.