Today in class we learned about Twitter. Twitter is a website where people connect through mini blogs called tweets. Tweets consist of 140 characters or less. Twitter has become incredibly popular. Many companies have begun monitoring tweets through Tweet Scan. This feature allows companies, or individuals to be notified of any mention of their company name. This is an excellent addition to the two-way communication being buzzed about in the public relations field.
I am not on Twitter yet. To be honestly, I have considered it several times and I will probably join in. But I have one question concerning the public relations aspect for companies. One of the companies we looked at in class that has used Twitter to learn what the public is saying about their company and to provide better customer service is Comcast. Comcast was getting a lot of bad publicity through angry tweets and blogs posted by disgruntled customers. Luckily, they started listening and they started taking steps to correct their image and make customers happy again. Good for them!
My problem is what if people start abusing this incredible customer service. After so many examples of quick, efficient, and friendly service by simply complaining on a blog or tweet will people start saying that they have problems just to get freebies? Is this even a concern? Is there even a way to monitor honesty online? Maybe not, maybe I am just being a pessimist.
Besides my scepticism of the twitter users intentions I think that it is an excellent invention. Very creative and user friendly. It seems that I am learning of some awesome new technology almost daily that will make my life easier and more enjoyable. Yay technology!!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The 1% Rule
While studying for my exam in My Internet and Social Media in PR class I stumbled across the 1% rule. What is it, why does this happen; what is the demographic of the 1 percenters?
I found the answers to these question is the book Ciziten Marketers When People Are the Message by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.
1. The 1% rule is... one percent of the total number of visitors to a democratized forum will actually create or contribute content. (McConnell)
2. Why does this happen?... "A new social system starts and seems delightfully free of the elitism and cliquishness of the existing systems. Then, as the new system grows, problems of scale set in. Not everyone can participate in every conversation. Not everyone gets to be heard. Some core group seems more connected than the rest of us. What matters is this: diversity plus freedom of choice creates inequality, and the greater the diversity, the more extreme the inequality." (McConnell)
3. The demographic of 1 percenters... Generally contributors are in their 20's and they are computer savvy. More men than women fit into the one percenters. (McConnell)
I think that this is really interesting. The fact that there is a very small percentage of people who create content on websites makes me wonder how objective the information is. It sounds similar to Media Ownership, Perhaps it is not as bad as corporations owning and controlling the messages that you receive through the television or radio but it does make me wonder.
Does anyone see a problem with the small percentage of contributers to the information on the internet? Does it even matter?
I found the answers to these question is the book Ciziten Marketers When People Are the Message by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.
1. The 1% rule is... one percent of the total number of visitors to a democratized forum will actually create or contribute content. (McConnell)
2. Why does this happen?... "A new social system starts and seems delightfully free of the elitism and cliquishness of the existing systems. Then, as the new system grows, problems of scale set in. Not everyone can participate in every conversation. Not everyone gets to be heard. Some core group seems more connected than the rest of us. What matters is this: diversity plus freedom of choice creates inequality, and the greater the diversity, the more extreme the inequality." (McConnell)
3. The demographic of 1 percenters... Generally contributors are in their 20's and they are computer savvy. More men than women fit into the one percenters. (McConnell)
I think that this is really interesting. The fact that there is a very small percentage of people who create content on websites makes me wonder how objective the information is. It sounds similar to Media Ownership, Perhaps it is not as bad as corporations owning and controlling the messages that you receive through the television or radio but it does make me wonder.
Does anyone see a problem with the small percentage of contributers to the information on the internet? Does it even matter?
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mmm del.icio.us!
I recently set up an account on http://delicious.com/. We had a class assignment that challenged us to find our "perfect match." The way we did this was to choose one of our own tags and find someone else that tagged that page. Then we browsed through their other tags to see if we had more things in common. This was a very interesting exercise and I feel like it could prove to be very useful in finding helpful links in areas of my interest.
In the article The Several Habits of Wildly Successful del.icio.us Users, by Bren, I learned a lot of ways to make del.icio.us useful to me. She mentioned several things like, tagging as much as you want, use the inbox to find out who has been tagging the same things, and stalk other users, among other suggestions.
I embrace technology, I love social media sites, I text pretty much non-stop every day. I love it. But for some reason I don't feel like I will necessarily use del.icio.us. I think the concept is great, but I really don't feel like I have any use for it. Perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe it just isn't the right time for me to use it. I could see this bookmarking tool as being helpful when I'm out of college. Working, researching, networking. I would love to hear from someone my age (21) that has a million good things to say about this site. How I could benefit from it. Why I should actively give it a try. I have nothing against it, I just don't know if it is right for me.
In the article The Several Habits of Wildly Successful del.icio.us Users, by Bren, I learned a lot of ways to make del.icio.us useful to me. She mentioned several things like, tagging as much as you want, use the inbox to find out who has been tagging the same things, and stalk other users, among other suggestions.
I embrace technology, I love social media sites, I text pretty much non-stop every day. I love it. But for some reason I don't feel like I will necessarily use del.icio.us. I think the concept is great, but I really don't feel like I have any use for it. Perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe it just isn't the right time for me to use it. I could see this bookmarking tool as being helpful when I'm out of college. Working, researching, networking. I would love to hear from someone my age (21) that has a million good things to say about this site. How I could benefit from it. Why I should actively give it a try. I have nothing against it, I just don't know if it is right for me.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Do you want Facebook to know what you are doing?
Today I was researching for a paper that I was writing in my Communication and Popular Culture class. The paper was about Jessica Simpson's weight gain and how the media made a huge fuss over it. Throughout my browsing I logged into my facebook account and then closed that window. When I got to "The Insider's" story about Jessica Simpson I got a pop up. It asked me if I wanted to publish in my mini feed on facebook what I was looking at on "The Insider."
NO!
I remember we discussed this happening in class and we wondered if it was ethical for websites to monitor your browsing history and "cater" to your personal interests. When I was asked if I wanted to publish viewing "The Insider" in my facebook mini feed, when the facebook window wasn't even open I felt like my privacy had been invaded. I don't even see the point in telling my friends in facebook that I researched Jessica Simpson's weight gain via "The Insider."
I am curious, does anyone support this idea? Does anyone want facebook, or any other social networking site asking you if you want to publish your browsing history?
NO!
I remember we discussed this happening in class and we wondered if it was ethical for websites to monitor your browsing history and "cater" to your personal interests. When I was asked if I wanted to publish viewing "The Insider" in my facebook mini feed, when the facebook window wasn't even open I felt like my privacy had been invaded. I don't even see the point in telling my friends in facebook that I researched Jessica Simpson's weight gain via "The Insider."
I am curious, does anyone support this idea? Does anyone want facebook, or any other social networking site asking you if you want to publish your browsing history?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
95 Theses from The Cluetrain Manifesto
I thought that this reading was really interesting. As I was reading along I found myself agreeing with most of the points. I like the idea of having an open discourse with companies. I like the idea of feeling confident in a product or idea put forth by a company. I love seeing how the market is changing and how people are talking to each other about their experiences with companies and products. I often look up customer review of products that I am thinking of trying because I feel more confident in an individuals statement rather than the marketing and advertisements placed by the company who is obviously just trying to sell me something.
"These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked." http://www.cluetrain.com/book/95-theses.html
I am currently enrolled in two public relations classes right now. Both of them seem to be repeating over and over how social media and the Internet are changing the way PR works. This reading backs this point up. With blogging and PR and Facebook and all of the other social media tools out there companies hardly have a say in how they look. I have a Facebook profile and I often see movie reviews, links to videos, advertisements and complaints about tons of different things through my friends status updates. "My mac book is broken... again" "I finally got my luggage after a month" "Revolutionary Road was horrible!!!" The opinions and updates and in a way, product reviews I see influence the way I think. If I see that my friend thought a certain movie was horrible I probably won't feel the need to go see it! Companies have to pay attention to things like this as the Cluetrain Manifesto suggests. I respect the companies that get out there and have conversations with the public about what they represent. It makes people feel like they actually care about more than just making money.
I mentioned to my mom the other day that in my PR class I was told that honesty is the best policy. People like to be able to see into a company and trust it. She was honestly shocked and said, that isn't PR. PR is trying to cover up mistakes and sell ideas. This sentiment is shared by many in the United States. I think that maybe this is a new beginning. Students going into PR are being taught to value honesty and to build your companies reputation by making its motives transparent. I think that if companies learn from the Cluetrain Manifesto they will gain the confidence of the people and perhaps build a loyal following.
"These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked." http://www.cluetrain.com/book/95-theses.html
I am currently enrolled in two public relations classes right now. Both of them seem to be repeating over and over how social media and the Internet are changing the way PR works. This reading backs this point up. With blogging and PR and Facebook and all of the other social media tools out there companies hardly have a say in how they look. I have a Facebook profile and I often see movie reviews, links to videos, advertisements and complaints about tons of different things through my friends status updates. "My mac book is broken... again" "I finally got my luggage after a month" "Revolutionary Road was horrible!!!" The opinions and updates and in a way, product reviews I see influence the way I think. If I see that my friend thought a certain movie was horrible I probably won't feel the need to go see it! Companies have to pay attention to things like this as the Cluetrain Manifesto suggests. I respect the companies that get out there and have conversations with the public about what they represent. It makes people feel like they actually care about more than just making money.
I mentioned to my mom the other day that in my PR class I was told that honesty is the best policy. People like to be able to see into a company and trust it. She was honestly shocked and said, that isn't PR. PR is trying to cover up mistakes and sell ideas. This sentiment is shared by many in the United States. I think that maybe this is a new beginning. Students going into PR are being taught to value honesty and to build your companies reputation by making its motives transparent. I think that if companies learn from the Cluetrain Manifesto they will gain the confidence of the people and perhaps build a loyal following.
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