Science using social media as a resource
Check this out! Scientists are turning to social media as a resource for sharing consistent information. The Encyclopedia of Life focuses on creating an online database of all the species in the world. I think this an incredible step that scientists are taking to utilize business technology to their advantage. (I say “business technology” because science uses a lot of technology in other ways.) The Web site even has a blog.
I think this shows that social media can work for anyone, if used the right way. It’s incredible. The Web site designers created the software to text mine information from several natural history libraries in the world, after they electronically scan the literature into computers.
According to the project’s brochure, the Web site “will be a moderated, wiki-style environment.” This is something that requires careful analysis and attention. As a student, I’m constantly reminded on how Wikipedia is a great place to start understanding a topic, but it is not a reliable source. You never know who edits the information and whether or not it is accurate.
Luckily, Encyclopedia of Life is in its early stages of production. The Web site just launched this week. The developers need to strategically think about how they want to build the community and moderate the incoming information.
In the mean time, I’m going to keep looking through the Web site and brainstorm ways something like this can maintain credibility. Do you have suggestions?
Here’s the article that introduces the site.
* Image courtesy of Encyclopedia of Life.
Social media, writing and the public relations job candidate
This blog is extremely beneficial to me – not for potential future employers, but for personal professional development. I agree with David Reich of my 2 cents. I don’t think I am a better job candidate because I am active in social media. I am a better job candidate because I have some public and people relations skills under my belt, as well as actively listen and learn about the profession.
However, researching and finding things to blog about have helped me come across the conversations that other public relations professional are talking about. It’s a way to keep myself updated and interact with others.
Reich talks about how the most important skill he looks for in a candidate is writing. He then says, “It’s an acquired skill that comes from studying how media stories are written, coupled with good on-the-job training.”
Maybe public relations students need the opportunity to partner or shadow with journalists to get a better understanding of what they look for and how they write. Or – maybe public relations students should be journalists first (but that’s a lot to ask for). I bet the best public relations candidate is someone who started in news or magazine or worked in a news office before.
Since I have little experience in the newsroom, I think blogging is the next best way to acquaint myself with public relations writing and development. I practice writing with each post, finding a working style and voice. I also submerge myself into the top issues and topics.
Although social media may not be the main attributes an employer looks for, it surely is a great way for public relations students to develop a better understanding of the field before entering the job market.
Learning to podcast
I turned in my podcast assignment for class today. Let me just say, it was an interesting experience. On top of learning how to use Garageband, I had to learn to like how I sound in a recording. I’m pretty sure most people are surprised with how they sound. I’ve been a little under the weather, so I had to hear a little bit of that nasal-y tone as well. But when all is said and done, I actually enjoyed creating the podcast.
I tend to be a little bit of a computer nerd so I learned how to use, cut and edit in Garageband pretty quickly. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was how to get my laptop fan to stay quiet. Every time I started recording, it would start going crazy. When I edited the recording, I could hear a little bit of the cuts because of the background humming noise. Luckily, the “female radio” feature was there to smooth it down. Any ideas on how to get it go away completely and isolate my voice?
Other than that, I figured out a technique to make myself sound more natural. I pretended the computer was another public relations colleague. So, I did the entire podcast in one recording and talked like I was having an actual conversation (talking hands and all). I found that I could let go of the nerves from the thought of the microphone and be myself.
If you are looking for more tips to creating a podcast, Jason Van Orden has a great complete and free online tutorial. Just visit: How to Podcast. He talks about everything from terminology to promotion.
*Image courtesy of Flickr: the_scottish_podcaster. It was taken under the Creative Commons license.
Tips for getting media coverage
Getting Ink has done it again – another great post with more great tips. As students training for the professional PR world, my peers and I can use a little help with getting coverage for a client. Getting Ink’s post features tips from the perspective of a journalist on doing so. I think learning from a journalist is extremely valuable for PR students because it gives us the opportunity to strategically get media to cover our stories.
A couple weeks ago, I had my AHPR team update the media list. I cannot emphasize how important it is to do this. After compiling the list, each team member called the media outlets to obtain updated lead times, reporter/editor preferences for sent materials and publication general preferences. We found that some smaller town publications only covered local news. By local, it meant that only anything within the town’s limits, nothing in the bigger city right next to it.
See, when we were creating the list, we thought it would be great to include the little suburb cities on the outskirts of a large one. For some publications, it was fine because they still found it relevant (see tip 9 of Getting Ink); however, for others, it did not want anything outside of its own city. So, what did we do? We listened and understood. We pulled those publications out of the media list so we don’t waste our time or the publications’ times.
So, here is my 11th tip to add to the 10 on the Getting Ink post:
Research and communicate with the media before sending press kits and other collateral materials. Going through and updating the media list is a great way to organize yourself and your team and increase the success rate of your media coverage.
*Image courtesy of Flickr: dsevilla. It was taken under the Creative Commons license.
Danger: framing a social media strategy as a “campaign”
Paul Dunay’s post about the terminology of “campaign” in the realm of social media really caught my eye.
Recently, I’ve been working on a small social media strategy for a client at AHPR. I realize that there is so much more to it than just sticking it into a PR campaign, which is what my team and I ended up doing. It needs to have its own strategy along side the PR campaign because there are so many components for a client to understand.
First of all, it is true – the word “campaign” is dangerous to frame a social media strategy. Social media take a lot of time to build and sustain. It is much longer than the standard PR campaign. From my understanding, for example, it can often take up to a year for a blog to obtain a steady readership (courtesy of my professor, Kelli Matthews). Framing the social media strategy as a standard campaign can increase client expectations for both timelines and strategies.
Here are two things that I think are important to convey to a client when proposing a social media strategy:
- Emphasize that it takes time. Getting noticed in the information age takes a while, especially on the Internet. It will take a while for readers to trust you and consistently keep track of your social media efforts, as well as results of increasing search engine optimization.
- Reiterate the importance of the client’s role and participation. The client needs to know that being part of the Web 2.0 means continuous surveillance and activity. In order for the audience to trust the client, the blog posts and comments, and any other social media tactic, need to come from the client. It means he, she or they need to take the time to research and write. The social media realm is too personal to have a PR professional write personal notes as the client to the public.
I’ve talked to the AHPR client about these two things, and the social media strategy is still moving forward. However, in the future, I know I will emphasize the size of it and make it a separate or supplemental plan.
*Image courtesy of Flickr: Paladin27. It was taken under the Creative Commons license.
Editing: a key part of the writing process
Getting Ink gives some good constructive criticism to a few press releases it has seen this week. Some mistakes include grammar, capitalization and style. Of the three analyzed, my favorite is:
8 Tips to Help Your Child with SATs tests This May
If I was a parent and saw this headline, I would not read it. Why should I trust your tips, if you can’t even write correctly?
As a PR student, the consequences for grammar and writing mistakes are pretty rigorous. I took a class called Writing for the Media that rewarded a big fat ‘F’ if there was one mistake – harsh, but a great incentive for proofreading. Luckily, students in that class had the chance to rewrite each ‘F,’ but this is not how the real world works.
There are very few, if any, second chances once you send out a release to a publication. Training early to watch for errors is good. As the editorial services director for Allen Hall Public Relations, here are a couple of common errors I’ve seen that can be easily avoided:
- Misspelled names and titles – It is extremely important to spell names correctly because no one wants to see his or her name spelled wrong. The person always notices.
- Incorrect title punctuation and style – This is the first thing the reader sees. It should be error free and appealing.
- Inaccurate information – What is the reporter going to do when it finds your information is inaccurate? First, the person will either conduct more research than necessary or not write the story. Second, the person will toss your next press release.
Social media privacy
Yesterday, I gave a brief presentation on a Web 2.0 service to the Advanced PR Writing class I am taking. I chose Yelp.com. However, during the selection process at Go2Web2.0, I came across another service that posed a privacy issue.
I was registering for Zookoda, a free e-mail marketing service for bloggers, when I was prompted to give personal account information. The service would not let me sign up without providing my physical address. Red flag! Granted, it wasn’t as serious as asking for my social security or bank account numbers, but it still seemed odd to me. For a service that is Internet-based, it should not need my address.
In the last couple of years, Facebook has undergone huge privacy changes due to the increase of users and information options. I distinctly remember an outrage by users when they implemented the news feed application with little privacy options. Luckily, the Facebook team immediately addressed and fixed it so users can choose how private they want their profiles.
What I don’t understand is why social media services aren’t taking extra precaution when it comes to privacy before it becomes an issue. I personally do not post my address on Facebook for safety reasons. You can never be too careful.
How do I know that Zookoda is a legitimate service when I sign up and not a hoax just to get addresses? Social media needs to be responsible and perform all the same precautions that online stores (that really need private information) do.
On the other hand, you need to be aware of what you are signing up for. Your privacy is automatically lowered when you join the Internet, social media realm, but if you are careful, it won’t be an issue. Be responsible and selective.
Don’t get me wrong, I think social media services are fantastic resources and tools – just don’t ask for my address if it’s not necessary.
*Web 2.0 graphic courtesy of Flickr: Montara Mike©. It was taken under the Creative Commons license.
Looking the part
Everyone says that a first impression goes a long way. It’s true, and part of it is looking the part. Penelope Trunk gives some great tips in her Brazen Careerist blog. Whether it is an interview or your first few months at a new job, what you wear is a huge part of how people view you.
Although I’ve only had a few internships, couple jobs and probably double the interviews, here are a few tips of things I’ve found to go by:
Interview:
- Always dress formally, conservatively and professionally. You don’t usually know the dress code of the company. If you are dressed accordingly, chances are the interviewers know you are serious about getting a job there.
- Make sure everything is ironed. A wrinkled shirt can show the interviewer that you are not detail-oriented. I’ve found that “detail-oriented” is a great characteristic to have, and if you say you are, then you must show that you are.
- Trunk advises to find a good tailor. This is another example of showing how detail-oriented you are. Plus, it decreases the number of distractions the interviewers may notice. You don’t want them to watch your slacks drag on the floor.
First few months at a new job:
- Get to know the dress code, and follow it. A good way to show the company that you know what you are doing there is following all of its guidelines. It leaves one less thing for your managers to worry about for a new employee.
- Limit the amount of flashy jewelry. Some of these things can sparkle under light and become a distraction. Remember – you want them to look at your capabilities, not your accessories. Trunk gave some good tips for girls that work for both looking older and decreasing distractions.
Whether or not you feel qualified for a position, looking the part is important to gaining the respect of your colleagues and interviewers.
** Photo collage courtesy of Flickr user: waldrup_2000
PR as a Community
I’m not going to lie. Writing this post is pretty scary for me. I’m actually getting into the PR blogosphere with bloggers that have been in the industry, that is PR, for years. So, I’m going to tell you where I stand here – I’m new and learning.
As I was looking around at all the different blogs suggested by AdAge Power 150, I noticed something. Everyone knows everyone else. Many of the blogrolls contain the same links, and posts talk about other bloggers’ thoughts and comments. Then, I came across Joseph Thornley’s Pro PR blog. His Advice to the class of ’08 post caught my attention.
Thornley said, “The old PR was about communicating messages to an audience. The new PR is about being part of a community.”
Entering the social media world means involving yourself in a community. It’s not just about networking anymore, but more about maintaining a steady stream of conversation with those in the PR industry. It keeps you connected and helps others get to know you more as a PR practitioner and conversationalist, opposed to the business-card-sitting-in-the-Rolodex PR contact.
The community concept can and should be applied to clients. Getting involved into a client’s community is probably a better and more credible way of influencing its target audience’s behaviors.
So, it’s good that I’m starting now. I can build my relationships and immerse myself into the PR community.
Jeremy Pepper also has an in-depth post about community at POP! PR Jots.
*Web 2.0 graphic courtesy of Stabilo Boss at Flickr. It was taken under the Creative Commons license.
