PRBreakfastClub

Over the last few days, I’ve been doing a fair amount of reading about Google’s new privacy policy. It has received some positive and negative views. Privacy, to many, is a premium; we don’t want our information shared or sold to anyone. Of course, I enjoy privacy, too.

Here’s a (not so) little secret, though. When you log onto Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., your information is out there. You signed up for a Gmail account or to have a Twitter profile, you understood there was a risk. So why so many complaints about your privacy being infringed upon? Because we all need something to take issue with nowadays. Read the rest of this entry »

Providing counsel on Twitter, and sometimes specifically Twitter chats, frequently falls in our laps at the request of clients.  While we’ve all seen the ‘best practices’ for these things, there are of course, worst practices.  Some of my top ones, as well as those of some contributors, are below.  What are some of the worst practices you’ve seen?

You’re doing Twitter wrong for clients if you: Read the rest of this entry »

Hi Folks -

Welcome back to PRBC.  We hope you had a fantastic holiday and are ready to hit the ground running.

The kind folks over at PRNewswire / ProfNet have asked me to participate in their regular #ConnectChat Twitter chat today (Jan. 3) at 3p-4:30p Eastern time.  Full details can be found here.  Read the rest of this entry »

In case anyone missed it, on Tuesday of last week the FTC settled their eight-count complaint against Facebook alleging they “misled users about the use of their personal information.” Essentially the FTC was claiming that Facebook had knowingly made changes to their privacy settings in December of 2009 that automatically made aspects of user’s profiles public by default without their permission.

At issue is the inability for Facebook users to have control over who sees their private information (name, picture, city, gender, friends, etc.) and who doesn’t. Twitter has also been a Target of the FTC, and settled a similar case back in June of 2010 for failing to safeguard user information.   Read the rest of this entry »

You won’t believe it.

It’s still out there.  The dreaded auto-dm.  As long as the scourge exists we shall continue to post our “best” finds in our five-year never-ending mission to explore strange new worlds make this a better SM world… (and in case you need ‘em – part I and part II). Read the rest of this entry »

This week, I had the great opportunity to speak with Ferris State University’s PRSSA chapter. Not only was it a chance to give them an idea of how a public relations pro got his start, it allowed me to give them advice they may not normally get in an academic setting.Some of the points I made during the talk:

• Want a job when you graduate? Use your PR skills & put a plan together.

• Research and know the company you’re applying to. Go to their website and study the job requirements.

• PR and marketing professionals need to be open, transparent, and honest. Read the rest of this entry »

Klout sent the social media world into a bit of an uproar on Oct. 26, when it tweaked how they measure influence. According to Klout, influence is the ability to drive action and is based on quality, not quantity.

When someone engages with your content, they assess the action in the context of the person’s own activity. Klout is using three metrics in its “PeopleRank” algorithm: how many people you influence, how much you influence them, and how influential those people are. Read the rest of this entry »

Remember when every blog post and article in AdAge and Mashable was about how great Twitter was for marketers? That seems so 2009, doesn’t it? When was the last time you read a big story on how Twitter is grabbing marketers’ attentions and clients’ interests?

It’s just not happening much anymore. And, as we all know, if something is hot in marketing, we’ll talk it up endlessly, analyze its benefits and potential downfalls and examine every little nook and cranny of what makes something the current/next big thing.

And yet none of that is happening around Twitter. At least not on the scale it was six months ago, and certainly not on the scale of Facebook. Read the rest of this entry »

Social media’s integration with public relations and marketing is still “new.” There are some that are slow to truly understand how we, as PR and marketing pros, can make all these puzzle pieces fit. When is Twitter relevant for my business. Why do I need a Facebook page? What will a blog really do for me?

If you’ve been asked those questions (and I have), you’ll find great support in reading David Meerman Scott’s, “The New Rules of Marketing and PR.” Now in its third edition, it is essential for any up-and-coming pro. Heck, you should read it as a experienced one, too. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s no secret that the stock market is falling faster than someone with cement shoes. The blame game focused on Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgrading the United States’ credit rating from AAA to AA+. The markets reacted violently, dropping 635 points on August 8. It was enough to get many queasy about their financial futures.

The next day, the markets rebounded. But that didn’t stop the finger pointing from journalists and “experts.” A story in The Atlantic Wire’s technology section by Rebecca Greenfield placed blame on social media, saying it “could be making the market crash worse.”

I usually read these stories because it’s remarkable that they get published, in print or online. This quote is from the initial paragraph of the post: Read the rest of this entry »