Posts Tagged ‘social media’

Media Influence on the 2008 Election

{ November 6, 2008 @ 4:02 pm } · { Personal }
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In doing research for my Comm. 305 (persuasion) class I stumbled upon some interesting information.

First, blogs really did have an affect in, not only this past election, but the 2004 election as well. According to the intermedia agenda setting theory (which states that different sources of media-including blogs, news coverage, and ad campaigns-influence each other on the important issues in which they address). The issues that are being blogged about indirectly affected the lists which CNN and the New York Times posted as the most prominent issues in the election.

Technorati offers a graph of the frequency in which the election was mentioned throughout blogs over the past month. It is easy to see that technology and blogs is becoming a prominent way to advertise/discuss the candidates.

Second, studies have shown that the media has “favored the Obama campaign.” According to the center for media and public affairs, “Comments made by sources, voters, reporters and anchors that aired on ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts over the past two months reflected positively on Obama in 65 percent of cases, compared to 31 percent of cases with regards to McCain.” This agenda setting that Obama is the leader could have contributed to the success of his presidential campaign.

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Blogging and Blogging Relations

{ October 27, 2008 @ 3:41 pm } · { Assignments }
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  1. What are some best practices for engaging with bloggers? i.e. blogger relations?
  2. What are some best practices for creating and running an organizational blog?

HOW TO LAUNCH A SUCCESSFUL BLOG IN THE FIRST 90 DAYS

-Find a good niche: write about something that will interest your audience

-Set your targets: worry about what audience will want to read about next

TOP 5 CORPORATE BLOGGING MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

-First follow similar blogs before starting one of your own so you know what others offer their audience

-Do not write exclusively about yourself

USING BLOGS FOR NONPROFITS

-For a personal blog you must be compassionate about the topic which you are writing about.

-For a community blog you should have an engagement plan.

-For a special event you should have experts blog about the subject.

-For blogs consisting of information you should present multiple authors as well as subscribe to an RSS reader.

50 WAYS TO TAKE YOUR BLOG TO THE NEXT LEVEL

-Some of the main advice I saw on this page that differed from the others that seemed helpful is that it is okay to use a personal voice and if you’re going to blog that is pretty much the whole point. Also, refrain from “me too” posts. Instead, only comment if you have something new to add.

HOW TO RESPOND TO A BLOG CRISIS IN 5 STEPS

-You must publish an authentic point of view to the problem as well as evaluate how many people are commenting that the situation is negative and/or positive.

BLOGGER RELATIONS CASE STUDY

-Correct blogging can create very good advertisement.

HOW TO COMMENT ABOUT YOUR COMPANY ON BLOG POSTS WITHOUT BEING SPAMMY

-Make your comment useful by updating readers on new development.

-Use humor.

-Don’t discredit your competitors.

BLOGGING IS SO 2004-WIRED

-I’m a little confused that the author is critical of blogging while he continues to write a blog himself. He says that twitter, flickr and facebook are the new tools for social media and blogging does not consist of enough brevity.

Comment, October 23, 2008

{ October 23, 2008 @ 3:52 pm } · { Comment }
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Comment on Dr. V’s Blog on Live Twittering.

Online Monitoring

{ October 14, 2008 @ 3:27 am } · { PR Connections }
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Dr. V. asked us to use different social media tools to discover what kind of information/opinions were on the internet under the subject of the Wake Forest and Clemson game!

Erin Martin and I did a powerpoint on our research findings as if we were presenting the information to a “busy executive” who needs advice on how to manage Clemson’s stakeholders.

Skype With @pistachio!

{ October 2, 2008 @ 4:13 pm } · { Responses }
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Ok so this is a wind down from the intense, yet very well informative, conversation we just had with Laura Fitton. Wow, I learned so much more in 20 minutes than I think I ever have!

Background: Laura Fitton is better known as “@pistachio,” her twitter account and she has an amazing blog as well. With over 6,500 followers on Twitter she is considered by some to be the “Twitter Queen” but she states that it is not about the amount of followers you have, it is about WHO is following you. She even told our class that you can “freakin’ change the world with five good followers.” She doesn’t teach how to do campaigns. Instead, she teaches and advises on how to integrate these campaigns onto social media networks.

Advise: Just like the “Clue Train Manifesto” states, it is the first time that the consumer and marketer are on communicating together. This refers to sites with products which consumers can comment on and just as well be heard as the marketer. If you search a product you can find all types of ratings and comments which other consumers have talked about. @pistachio says 2 good ways to twitter are to tweet are by using these RSS feeds to generate conversations and to follow thought provoking PR leaders.

The best advise which I think she gives is to be conversational. Instead of inserting a link, you have to ease into the link. For example, ask a question about the topic which the link consists of & then mention the link later on in the conversation. I think this is a very good way to draw attraction to the website because it makes the “tweeter” seem more human. Therefore, you can relate to them & would want to go check out the link if they suggest it.

My favorite thing @pistachio mentioned was the future of social media because I had been thinking that it would be so easy to get wrapped up in all of this twittering and blogging. However, she brought it back down to earth by stating the potential social media has in helping others. Her example is that Angelina Jolie could use her phone to send out messages and pictures to others about what she experiences in the third world countries and enhance the number of people she helps! This reminds me of when my parents were adopting from Guatemala they used blogs geared toward foreign adoption parents to get advise and to help each other with their process. I think the blogs even convinced them to adopt a second baby boy instead of just one :) .

The Cluetrain Manifesto

{ October 2, 2008 @ 2:39 pm } · { Responses }
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I think the fact that people used to think that the internet was “no big deal” and that people could not conceive how large the internet would become is an example of how technology has not only changed our culture, but has the potential to change our culture in the future. If 15 years ago nobody felt like the internet would be substantial in the future, maybe that could happen for the next new technological invention. Who would have thought that the internet would lead such companies to become billionaires?

However, like “The Cluetrain Manifesto” states, not every company can reap the benefits from the internet. Most of the time, you have to have “something special” which is the “voice.” I think it is true that the internet can go so much farther than a television show in that it can “give you an excuse to get together than not.” When I read that sentence I immediately thought about Facebook. I know so many people make fun of people “Facebook creeping” or “stalking” but the truth is Facebook, and other social media websites as well, have really connected more people. Personally, I stay in touch with my siblings, school mates (especially to ask questions about assignments) and friends. The “excuse” to get together has made these relationships stronger. For example, if I saw something that made me laugh or reminded me of a friend, I probably wouldn’t take time to call that friend. Instead, I would Facebook her when I got on computer the next time. If there was no Facebook I would most likely forget about it and never mention it to her.

This article is kind of scary when it mentions the story about “Joe Six Pack” saying that when Joe is on the internet, he is more important than who he is when he isn’t. I feel like that makes the internet seem so impersonal.

When the passage mentions that workers and markets are speaking the same language and that both groups need each other this reminds me of opinion leaders. The “workers” would be telling their opinions of the products just as the markets would be sharing their opinions of the products, each trying to inform their audience of their experience with the product/service.

I think it shows what direction corporations are moving in by the two sections “The Hyperlinked Organization” and “Talk is Cheap.” These sections explain how businesses are becoming impersonal and standard ways of communication (such as sticky notes) are becoming desolate.