1908

I was just looking at an article from “PRWeek” talking about how necessary it is today for agencies to be able to use social media. Do you believe that is true? Has the world gone so high tech that we cannot as PR practitioners use the traditional methods of this profession? Sad, but true. Social media is a necessary and important part of everyday life.

PR agencies and the practitioners that work there function all on the basis that media is forever changing. From blogging, podcast and different social media channels, public relations should always be on top of the curve when it comes to new things available in the media.

For many, if it wasn’t for social media they wouldn’t be as successful as they are. During this semester at school, my Style & Design class has taught me a lot about the advantage of social media and what it can do for a client. I believe that social media is an amazing thing, but we should never forget where we started.

For the past few days I have been looking over my last posts and I felt that there needed to be a bit of lightness in the air. After seeing all of the harsh topics that I have covered I feel like my audience deserves a break. This week I want to focus more on the things most people do not think about when voting for a political candidate, graphic design.

In last week’s Thursday issue of “The New York Times,” journalist Steven Heller talks about the importance of typography and visual graphics of political branding and campaigning. He speaks with Barack Obama’s branding expert and leader of his visual campaign, Brian Collins, about why it is so important.

I believe that this is an important part of a political campaign, but for all the wrong reasons. It is extremely easy to persuade people these days. It is so easy to influence someone; it just takes a letter on a piece of paper? For me, I know I can’t recall a time where graphics were not used within a political campaign, but I do know they were not always around, and back in the day people had to win based on their merit not on how pretty their poster was.

I wish people didn’t base their decision on that, but they do.

   Now I’m sure the topic of Eliot Spitzer, former New York governor, has been over drawn for the past month or so. I’m sure everyone is tired of the prostitution scandal and all of the mess involved with that situation. But now it is time to switch gears and focus on the new governor’s tactic to protect his “reputation.”

   When New York Gov. David Paterson admitted he and his wife Michelle had affairs during a rough patch in their marriage several years ago, the country was shocked. Paterson told the “Daily News” that he maintained a relationship with another woman from 1999 until 2001. He and his wife eventually sought counseling and repaired their relationship.

  Basically, he took matters into his own hands and let the world know what he has done wrong so there will be no surprises in the future. Was that really the best idea? I think not. Do you really want people to know your business? My answer would be, no. Since he is a public figure, his life is an open book. I just believe you shouldn’t be that open. Think about it, it is not the best PR move someone can do.

 I feel the new governor felt pressured to be honest about everything that has gone on in his life and had a moment where he had to blurt it out, but that wasn’t the best idea. One has to ask the question, would you do the same thing if you were in his shoes?

  Over the past few days the city of Auburn and the university have been in a panic. The city has experienced something horrific. Tuesday evening Auburn freshman, Lauren A. Burk, was shot and killed by a single gunshot wound. Even more strange her car was found burning on campus, minutes after she was taken to the East Alabama Medical Center. 

 Since Wednesday morning students and local residents have been concerned about what was happening. The truth is, no one really has any idea what was going on. There are still many questions that need to be answered in this case.

My main concern is the naivety of some people in this town. Many people have the famous saying” I would never think this could happen in Auburn.” They need to get it through their heads that this, like any other crime, can happen anywhere….even here in the “loveliest village.” People need to be more aware of their surroundings and stop believing this City of Auburn, Ala. is a utopia, where nothing goes wrong.  It is important to do this, so in the future this horrible incident will not be repeated.

The reality has set in for the New England Patriots. They did not walk away with a perfect season. When they walked away from last month’s Super Bowl, they fell into a state of shock because so many people had them winning it all in the end. Not only did they lose the game and a trip to Disney World, they lost millions of dollars for advertisers that had investments with the team before the game even aired.

Nike and Reebok each sunk several thousand dollars of premature commercials that pegged the Pats to win the game. The team’s owner, Robert Kraft, also planned many things, such as different ads for the team and other opportunities for individual endorsements. In this case, the money went down the drain.

In my opinion, I feel it is naive to make such an early decision like this, but it has to be done, considering the time constraints. But to waste your money on a team that MIGHT win is stupid and I’m sure these advertisers can use their money more wisely. Maybe next year, the people in charge will make a better decision.

For little over a month now the Democratic Party has narrowed in on two final candidates for the 2008 presidential nomination, Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), former first lady. The country has been following these two and watching who can win the most state primaries and caucuses.  Obama has had victories in 10 consecutive states and it doesn’t look like he is slowing down any time soon. Communication professionals have observed these two candidates and have noticed a pattern in their two different speaking styles.

 Obama is using language that is more general and emotionally influenced to appeal to a mass audience. Clinton on the other hand has been using a style of language that gives more explanation, backing and specifics. The main question is which is better? 

If you base it on who is getting more votes in more states, the answer to that question would be Obama, but who is to say that Clinton doesn’t have a better platform plan? Many believe that since Obama has been using more general statements with a greater emotional charge, this is why he is receiving more votes. He is famous for using words like “change” and generic statements like “fired up” and “ready to go.” Changing what? Fired up about whom? Where are we going? Clinton on the other hand uses specific examples of where she believes she can take this country.

Clinton has tried to be swayed to use more general statements like Obama so she can get more of a mass appeal, but it’s just not her. While Obama has been scrutinized many times for not saying what he exactly means, numbers don’t lie and we are just going to have to wait and see what happens.

When it comes to who has better communication styles, Republicans and their fancy tool of talk radio with AM frequencies vs. Democrats and their high tech use of social media, I try not to be bias when it comes to stuff like Republican vs. Democrat, who is better, but when it comes to communication tools used today, there is a clear cut winner. Social media is the communication tool that is going to rip apart the competition.

 Now I will admit there is an essence to talk radio that social media does not have. Talk radio has the feel of being at your grandmother’s house. Does not matter how many times you go back there…it is always the same. In talk radio, there is a sense of tradition that is and always will be there. Social media does not have that. It is changing constantly and there is always something new. Talk radio has an advantage of being able to keep hold of an older audience, and those are the people that will always stick with them.

 Social media is a better communication tool because it is attracting a different type of audience. It is attracting an audience that is young and using social media tools as their main source of information and networking. It is a politician’s dream to have the educated and voting youth on their side. Though these two tools are different, they do the same thing, they inform. That is all you can ask for.

  I believe the article “Union University Blog Sets Example for Emergency Response,” from the Poynter Online shows a great example of where technology and the world of social media is going. I think it is important to show a small community like this university using social media to its advantage in every way.  This also showed how they came together and gave emergency communications a “new face.” 

   Last week, when the  tornados hit the Southeast, I thought of all of the people affected by this natural disaster and pondered a list of ways people could have been informed about what was coming their way. In today’s world the average 8th grader can use their computer and cell phone for up-to-date information every five minutes of every day. The most basic information is and should always be at our fingertips, but for many university and college systems that vision is far off.  For Union University (Jackson, Tenn.), their advancement in social media and concern for the community’s well being probably saved lives.

    Social media outlets like the UU (Union University) Recovery Blog and their Facebook network, helped their students and faculty out in the long run. It is important for all university and college systems to have a network like this. If not, other schools might have another incident like this again in the future. Maybe this can be the start of what is to come.

This is an interview with my roommate Jalesia. She is talking about her craziest teacher at Auburn. She had an experience that was like no other.

Her chemistry teacher freshman year was hilarious and out of this world. Jalesia tells everyone that she meets, NOT to take him!

Regarding the situation involving the retailer Target and Amy Jussel the complaining blogger from ShapingYouth.org, I only have one thing to say, Target needs to get a reality check…fast! In this situation Target not only represented themselves in a negative light toward one of their customers (Jussel) in an advertisement, they gave off an energy towards the rest of the media (Bloggers especially) that they were too good for bloggers and on top of this high-horse, a high-horse that needed to come down, extremely fast.

Target needs not to be concerned with what “non-traditional media” outlets are coming to them. The organization needs to consider the concerns and worries that one of their loyal customers or “core guest” had with an advertisement, whether she was a founder of a “non-traditional media outlet” or not. That has NOTHING to do with it.

I believe that Target wanted to make up an excuse for an ad that didn’t go so well and when they were faced with someone with a voice, they didn’t know what else to do.

If they do indeed believe that blogging or any other type of non-traditional media outlet does not serve a purpose to their customers, they are in for a rude awakening and need to be educated on the way technology and media are integrating, before they have another situation like this on their hands in the future.