It would seem par for the course that as I turned on my laptop to blog, the power would fail. My immediate reaction was to tweet about the power failure. The challenge with that and my momentary lapse in logic are both evident.
Once I moved past the realization of a self #fail, I was left wondering what we would do without social media. Or, more accurately, could we return to a world without social media? Continue reading
I recently attended and presented at the Social Media Conference presented by the Connecticut Valley Chapter of PRSA . Among the topics discussed at the conference was who should be the voice behind corporate tweets, the company itself or a company representative?
Several attendees expressed that hectic schedules often prohibit upper management from taking on the role of tweeting for their brand. This led me to question if these should be the people tweeting or if a generic account representing the brand was adequate. Continue reading
In this age of social media, there are a few situations that every PR pro prays will never happen to them. One of the most dreaded inquiries that one can get from a client is:
“I was at a networking event the other night and I met a social media consultant. She said that we should really be on Twitter and that she would give us a session on using it for $2,000. Why haven’t you built us a Twitter page yet?” (Ok, so that’s probably second to “I want a viral video… you know, like the inmates performing Thriller.”) Continue reading
Clients want it. Publicists work for it. But not everyone can have it. That’s right. I said it. Not every brand can be a cover model.
It’s an ugly reality, but we all need to accept it. Particularly as print publications, even well-established icons like Gourmet, cease publication. With less publications to cover the same amount of, if not more, content, the battle for the cover, or even a column, can only become more intense. So how will this new world work? Is it possible that the day will come where clients won’t want print hits? (Even I thought that sounded a little funny as I wrote it. Can we say ‘pipe dream?’) But, seriously. How will it work? Continue reading
It’s hard to remember a time when there were no celebrities on Twitter. We used to get all of our juicy gossip from the entertainment rags (or Perez, of course), but now we can hear almost any actor, musician, or athletes innermost thoughts and their impulsive commentary just by following them. While this new system is great for the fans, the problem is that celebrity publicists no longer have any control over what their clients are saying through their feeds. With the media being able to access anything they write, celebrities are having to become their own representation; their personal brand can be affected positively or negatively by each Tweet they send out. Continue reading
Dear Facebook,
Seriously, we broke up awhile ago remember? It was right after I met Twitter. Even though Twitter and I are currently having our ups and downs, it doesn’t give you the right to try and rekindle what we once had. Granted, we had a lot of good times together, especially after my AWFUL relationship with MySpace, and don’t even get me started on Friendster (man, he just tried way too hard).
So, sure we hang out at work (because we have to) and the occasional evening – it’s a strictly platonic relationship. Now just when I thought we were developing an understanding, you have gone TOO FAR this time. You know what I’m talking about – you got my parents involved. Continue reading
This is what happens when a great search engine that appears to have its head on straight (Bing) teams up with a company that has little clue about how to not implode on itself (Twitter): Bing/Twitter search (just went live in Beta):
On first glance, my initial thought was: This is awful. Seriously, just awful. Ask my #prbc friends. I wasn’t happy with the product. Basically, I thought Bing and Twitter had gotten together and created a giant cluster of links, tweets and people’s Twitter handles. Basically, there was no structure or coherent approach to how to effectively utilize and manage this new search feature. Continue reading
Disclaimer – I’m a Google Harlot. With minor exception, if Google offers it, I use it. Yup, I’m on Wave (along with most of PRBC and BTW, if anyone’s got a few extra invites, we’ve still got some holes to fill), I used Google Docs back before it was Docs (Writely was acquired by Google and then morphed into Docs), Maps, Earth, pretty much everything. I usually prefer Google search to Twitter search for finding old tweets – a username or two, a keyword, isolate the search to twitter.com and frequently I can dig out old tweets with minimal difficulty.
So Microsoft’s Beta launch of the Bing Twitter search was a disappointment for me. I had been unimpressed with any of Microsoft’s search engines (The original Microsoft search/MSN search, Live, Bing, meh….). So I had little hope. The one big selling point a proper Twitter search would give it a longer memory. Continue reading
Considering I’m writing these thoughts in a blog post, and that the #PRBC was formed through Twitter, I think it’s safe to say I understand the value of social media. That said, I also understand its limitations and that it is one piece of the publicity puzzle; a puzzle that include events, traditional media placements and a comprehensive strategy which ensures synergy amongst all components.With that in mind, it’s no surprise that a recent blog post (you’ll want to note this was a blog post as you keep reading,) The Fallacy of Facebook: Twittering Away Our Time, rubbed me the wrong way. By no means do I disagree with all points made, but I think this post warrants some scrutiny and careful examination. Continue reading
Please tell me I’m not the only one. You sit at your desk, trying to hold in the giggles from something brilliantly funny that just popped into your head. “I have to tweet that! I’m a genius!” you say. (Ok, that’s a bit far from what I say to myself, but you get the point.)
But wait! My client Scooby Doo Scuba Gear follows me on Twitter . . . Shoot! I can’t tweet that. They will see it. They will think I’m nuts. Continue reading