Blog Comments January 25, 2010

Each week I will be posting comments on various blogs for my Social Media and PR course. The links to the comments will be posted here:

1. Kacie Whigham, Social Media and Wedding Planning? Jan. 25, 2010

• I think that it’s great that you are able to use social media to help with wedding planning. I know you are planning a wedding of your own, so being a public relations major probably helps you when it comes to finding out information and searching various social media sites. I like your video, I hope I can get some up soon… but I have to figure out these social media sites one at a time! ha

2. James Kicklighter, Topic of the week: Haiti and Social Media Jan. 25, 2010

• I agree with both you and Kacie. After the earthquake, it was amazing to see all of the various ways that people could donate so easily. Social media can be seen in a positive or negative light, but I believe it has definitely helped in situations like this one.

3. Jessica Cameron, TOW Week 2: “Haitian Earthquake Crisis, American Red Cross, & the Use of Social Media” Jan. 31, 2010

• As soon as I saw the Lady Gaga shirt, I knew this was your blog post! As upsetting as the crisis in Haiti is, it is great to see so many people and non-profit organizations coming together to help people that are in need.

4. Mackenzie Stratton, Top 10 List for GSU Freshman Girls! Jan. 31, 2010

• This is a really interesting post. I agree with all of the items that you suggested. Being a senior, I wish that I would have seen a list of things like this when I was a freshman! It is great that you write things like this, and I’m sure this information will come in handy to a lot of girls.

5. Kati Ann Wright, Weekly Topic: Body Language and Non-verbal Communication in Job Interviews, Feb. 7, 2010

• This blog post was very informative! I got some great information about different things to prepare and look for in a job interview. Being a senior, it is important for me to start getting ready for job interviews (hopefully). It is hard to think that the real world is coming up so soon!

6. Jayme Stroud, Week 4- Social Media in 140 Characters or Less…, Feb. 7, 2010

• All of the various definitions of social media were interesting to look at. It is crazy how so many people’s concept of social media can be so different. I like your definition a lot, I believe it sums up social media well.

7. Jessica Cameron, TOW Week 4: Twitter Definitions of Social Media, Feb. 15, 2010

• I think your definition of social media is really good. All of the definitions that were given were so different, but so alike at the same time. It is interesting to find out how so many different people feel about social media and what it actually is. There are a lot of ways to define social media and reading all of these definitions gives a valuable insight on what the most common concept of social media really is. It took me a while to come up with my definition of social media because it is hard to put something that is so broad into only 140 characters or less.

8. Haley Higgs, Is Twitter Creating a Narcissistic Generation?, Feb. 15, 2010

• This is an interesting blog post. I think that not only Twitter, but many online social media sites are all about “me.” When people update their status or post a tweet… a lot of the time it is about themselves and what is going on in their lives. I can’t lie, mine are, for the most part, that way as well. It is interesting to think about if these sites could be creating or leaning towards a more narcissistic generation. This thought process will probably lead to more observations and studies being done to see if this observation may really be true.

9. Haley Higgs, Search Engine Visibility, Feb. 22, 2010

• After reading Search Engine Visibility, I noticed many of the same things that you did. I think it is so interesting that the majority of people never click to the second page after the results of a search come up. People always want to click on the first thing they see, and it is competitive and hard to get to the top of the Google search engine. I also wanted to know what the latest statistics were when it came to Google and other search engines. It would be interesting to see how much things had changed in only two years.

10. Meg Tidmore, For my fellow PR grads, Feb. 22, 2010

• Thanks for this article! I think it is a really helpful article. It is hard to think that many of us will be in the real world after only a few semesters, and it is important that we get all of the tips that we can. I believe that it is important to never stop learning because, like we should know, new technologies come out all the time and we have to be able to understand and use these technologies no matter what age we are. Articles like this are helpful because they remind us how close we are to graduation and how much we need to prepare for what is to come.

11. Jayme Stroud, Toyota Fights Back, March 3, 2010

• After talking about Toyota a great deal in class (especially campaigns), I saw this commercial and thought the same thing. It is important that Toyota recognizes that they did something wrong and strives to better their company by doing so. This commercial made me feel like they were really trying to win back the people and let everyone know that they truly do care about their customers and the cars they are building. It will probably take a while for Toyota to build their company image back up, but I believe this commercial (as well as a few others I have seen) are a good start in doing so.

12. Maranda Butler, The Three-Pronged Approach, March 3, 2010

• I got a lot of the same information that you did out of the Edelman paper. It is interesting to see how important information on the Internet can be. In today’s world, having information, press releases, social media sites, etc. can be extremely beneficial to a company or brand. I agree that the three-pronged approach can be applied to a variety of fields because it is a great way to look at what you have read and to know what you want to read more about. In PR, it is important for all of us to understand pieces like the Edelman paper and to learn from it as well.

13. Jessica Cameron, TOW Week 6: “Social Media: Friend or Foe?”, March 9, 2010

• I really like what you said about social media and how it can expand consumer-company relations if it is used in the correct way. Social media can help a company immensely if it is used in the right way. The Facebook example is a great one. If someone uses Facebook and posts not so great pictures on the site, it has the potential to really hurt them when they are looking for a job. People always need to be cautious of the information they post on the internet about themselves.

14. Haley Higgs, Podcasts and PR, March 9, 2010

• Podcasts are becoming a bigger part of PR every day. Many people learn from them and use them for exposure. I think it is beneficial for professionals to use podcasts because of the growing number of people who use them. I like what you said about how blogs are transitioning into podcasts. I didn’t think of that at the time, but it is true that many people are transferring from blogs to podcasts. It is important for everyone in the PR world to stay up to date on everything that is going on.

15. Kacie Whigham, T.O.W. 9 & 10- PR OpenMic, March 22, 2010

• I just read your blog post and learned that you can join groups on the PR OpenMic site. The more I find out about the site, the more it interests me. There are so many benefits to being a member on the site, especially the job/intern section. It is important for PR students to find sites like PR OpenMic and use it to their benefit. There are so many opportunities that may come from being members of social media sites like this one. It is interesting to find out the amount of information and benefits that can come from using only one site.

16. Marie Walker, Trade Book Review: Cluetrain Manifesto, March 22, 2010

• I read this book for my PR Practicum class last semester. It is interesting to see what someone else learned about the book other than me. I learned a lot from the book and I thought it would be beneficial for PR and marketing professionals to read if they have the chance. I am glad that I got to look at your slides and listen to the audio of your presentation because I feel as though it only helped me to understand more about the Cluetrain Manifesto. Hopefully more people are able to learn from our Trade Book Reviews as well so we can all be prepared to enter the world of PR.

17. Ashley London, Search Engine Visibility, March 22, 2010

• I just read your blog post and I like your summary of Search Engine Visibility. Companies need to recognize the growing age of the internet and all of the possibilities that can arise from using it properly. The more a companies name comes up on the internet (in a good way), the better the chance the company has of being noticed and gaining customers and appreciation. It is also important for the companies to realize what their customers want and what they will benefit from as well. Companies are (hopefully) growing more and more aware of the need to have an online presence.

18. Natalia Daies, What is a podcast?, March 22, 2010

• Podcasts are new forms of technology that are growing rapidly. Your blog post gave some great insight to what a podcast is and how to make an effective podcast. I like to listen to podcasts because it is an easy way to stay up to date in what is happening currently in public relations. I would rather listen to my iPod on the way home from school or work, than get on the computer and read articles or try to find a channel on TV worth watching. Podcasts are even more important when pertaining to public relations because PR professionals need to be current in all the new technology.

19. Mackenzie Stratton, Calling the Troops in for Tiger Woods, March 30, 2010

• I agree with you and that article. Tiger Woods took way too long to come out and talk about what happened. Now he seems to be talking a little bit more to the press and doing a couple more interviews, but really… is it enough? Some people think that he is talking more now just so he will not feel as bad when playing in the Masters. I question whether his apologies and everything are really because he is sorry or because he wants his fans back. I guess we will never know, but the one thing that is for sure is that he could have used some better public relations help!

20. Kacie Whigham, Podcast: PR for Engaged in Savannah, March 30, 2010

• I listened to your podcast and it is interesting! I am glad I read this post because I am working on my Podcast right now for Social Media and PR. It took me a minute to try and figure out how to plan and record a podcast, but I think I am getting the hang of it. Podcasts are such a new technology to so many people, that it will be interesting to see how much they evolve in the next couple of years. I hope your wedding planning is going great and I know you are getting more and more excited about the big day!

21. Mackenzie Stratton, Media Communities and Widgets & Badges, April 6, 2010

• Widgets and badges were pretty confusing to me at first. I really didn’t understand the difference or really even what they were. The more I read in our book and looked on the Internet, the better understanding I got of what they both are. I really like this blog post because it is informative on what they both are and how and when to use widgets and badges. With all of the new social media terms and sites, it is hard to keep up with everything. The more research and studying you do about any new term, the more you will learn about it and understand it.

22. Haley Higgs, Widgets and Badges, April 6, 2010

• I got my definitions of widgets and badges from Wikipedia as well. You say, “Are we still a little fuzzy?”… I know I was! The terms can be confusing and difficult to understand until I did some more research and attempted to find out more and more information about these terms. After finally figuring out what they are and what they mean, I could write a more thorough blog post about the terms. Your blog post helped me to even further my understanding of the terms. Hopefully we can all get a better understanding of what all of these new social media terms mean by reading each other’s blog posts.

23. Lauren Hopkins, Shift Happens, April 13, 2010

• Viral videos are so fun and interesting to watch. One night I swear I looked at almost 20 of them because some are so hilarious! While we are creating our own viral video, it is more complicated to understand what makes a video become viral and how to create one of our own. I can’t wait to see different people’s videos from our class and see if any of them become viral.

24. Kacie Whigham, Ethics, April 13, 2010

• This post is so true! When you gave the drinking example, I also thought of people smoking cigarettes. Many people act like they like cigarettes or want to smoke cigarettes because they think it is “cool” and it is what everyone else is doing. College students will start a really bad habit because they think it is the social norm. It is important for people to realize what they are thinking and doing before they actually do it because they might change their mind.

25. Maranda Butler, PROpen Mic, April 13, 2010

• I also created a PROpen Mic account a while ago for an earlier class and have also not done much with it until now. Now that I am looking more into the site for this class, I have realized a lot of things about it that I didn’t know a year ago. Because I am graduating soon I guess I am more aware of the benefits of the site and how it can work with me while I am trying to enter the world of public relations. I like the features that you found interesting as well and I think it is important for as many public relations students, graduates, and professionals to join the website as possible.

26. Lauren Parr, Happy 50th Birthday Barbie!, April 20, 2010

• It is crazy how Barbie’s birthday can be such a big news story! I loved to play with Barbies when I was younger and they are most likely a part of every young girls life. PR is a major part of any product, company, or business. Barbie probably has a very good public relations representative! This post is interesting and got my attention as soon as I saw it. I think it is fun and many people will be surprised by the impact Barbie has had on so many people’s lives. I love your last line to about the plastic cake and Ken, too funny!

27. Lauren Hopkins, Too Big To Fail: Tiger Woods, April 20, 2010

• This advertisement definitely caught my eye. Half of it was it was Tiger Woods and the other half was that I heard about it EVERYWHERE I went! When everything happened with Tiger Woods, I never thought he would be down and out. Many people that watch golf are men and although they might not agree with what he did, most don’t really care. They like to watch him play golf and that is what they watch him for. That being said- I think this commercial was a great way for Nike to make a statement about Tiger. Nike was the only sponsor that did not drop him and they needed to come back with a bang and I think they did.

28. Haley Higgs, Guest Blogger, April 20, 2010

• Awesome blog post!! haha After I wrote this blog post, more and more commercials about Dominoes new pizza have been coming out. They are really trying to revamp their business and put a new spin on things. I think it is working because I know after all of their new commercials that I wanted to try the new pizza. Their commercials, in my opinion, are helping their business and making more people want to see what they have changed about their food. I think this campaign definitely had to do with the YouTube video that came out last year… but whatever they are doing, it seems to be working!

29. Kacie Whigham, Viral Video, April 20, 2010

• I really liked all of your viral videos. I knew it would be a good video if all of you guys were doing it! I think it is informative and gives a great idea of what Veazey Hall is and what the Communications Art Department is about. You can tell that you all put a lot of time and effort in creating this video and it shows. It will be interesting to see if any of our videos go viral. It ended up being a good time creating these videos and learning how to edit and post them on YouTube.

30. Michaela Carter, What makes a video go viral?, April 20, 2010

• I think it is hard to tell what exactly makes a video go viral, but there is a reoccurring theme of humor. I got a chance to see the viral video you guys made for PR and Social Media and I thought it was hilarious! I think I liked it even more because the clip of me dancing was not in it!! haha Your video was fun and interesting and gave a different outlook on Veazey Hall and the Communication Arts Department. It will be interesting to see if any of our videos go viral. We all spent a lot of time producing these videos and I think they all turned out great!