TechCrunch just released a post called, NBC Prepares For The Winter Olympics With Silverlight, HD Video, And Facebook Connect.

The artcile discusses how NBC is preparing for the Olympics and how social media is being integrated into the games next year. One of the new features is Facebook Connect, which  allows people to chat with their friends as they are watching the events. NBC is expecting this new feature to make the videos a more social and engaging experience for viewers and is hoping that viewing times will increase as a result.

I look forward to the Olympics every year. I absolutely love the competition and how you can turn on your television and multiple channels are airing the event throughout the whole day. The fact that the implementers of the Olympics are taking social media into consideration excites me. Facebook chat is extremely unreliable, yet I like to chat with my friends about events going on, and television shows that are occuring in real time. Facebook Connect will hopefully provide a reliable connection that enables me to talk to friends and family while the Olympics are going on.

Social media is the wave of the future. The Olympics should be even better this year.

Twitter Peek is a mobile gadget meant specifically for twitter. What could society possibly get out of this device? First, it is just for twitter. My question is how does this device spark interest? What makes this different from every other mobile advancement? Simple: it doesn’t. John Biggs from TechCrunch wrote about this device and his experience with it.  He states, “It’s also really slow. You have to click twice to read a Tweet – once to bring up the menu and once to read the Tweet – and scrolling is really bad. And it makes a buzzing and a tweeting noise when tweets come in – which is all the time. And it’s $99 with 6 months free or $199 for life. And it only does Twitter. No email. No texting. I’m really selling this thing, aren’t I?”

I just don’t understand the point of this device. How can even companies utilize this new device? Employees who are responsible for keeping up with tweeting/blogging/ social media are not going to need this machine. It’s called phones/iPhones/Blackberries and laptops. No one needs a slow, tweeting machine for over $100 when other devices are readily available.

Twitter peek…I doubt you last for very long.

Today in my theories of persuasion lecture, my teacher used the subject of public relations to further explain certain persuasion tactics. My professor went into the experience and background of Edward Bernays and surprisingly, I had never heard any of these campaign stories before…and I’m a public relations major. Problem? I think so.

During this class, my professor brought up Edward Bernays’ breakfast campaign. Did you know that before the 1920s, eggs and bacon were not considered an American breakfast. They were more typical on farms where families could get these ingredients fresh. Since I was born, I always thought eggs and bacon was just a normal, American breakfast. I didn’t know it wasn’t always like this. And why is that: Edward Bernays.

How did he do it: Before implementation of the campaign, he found a physician and asked him what he thought of a hearty breakfast in contrast to a light breakfast. Not surprisingly, the physician was favorable to a hearty breakfast for certain reasons, one including energy for the day. Then, Bernays asked this physician if he would write 5,000 other physicians throughout the nation and ask them if they agreed with him. The physician complied and the majority of physicians agreed. Bernays then used the support of these physicians to implement a campaign on the basis of how a hearty breakfast is better for you, and then stated how eggs and bacon will provide the hearty breakfast everyone should get. Ever since, bacon and eggs have been a natural part of breakfast in the American culture.

I am pretty stunned that I haven’t been taught any of these campaigns. I learned this in a theories of persuasion class, not a public relations class. I think it would be a great idea for UT to provide a history of public relations class. This class would provide not only a background of pr, but it would also help us determine where pr is headed in the future. History is a big part of development and you can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’re from. UT needs to provide this class to inform pr students of important campaigns that have truly made a difference as a way to inspire students.

The article that was assigned for class this week was pretty interesting.The article surrounded the subject of social networking and how this specific study, now in its fourth year, indicates that social networks continue to climb in popularity around the world. However, “the research firm believes a change is happening in social media: Internet users are “starting to focus their digital life” around single networks, rather than around many specialized tools with social features.”

The study states that from 2008 to 2009, their was a major increase in the percentage of US intenet users with a social media profile. Also, the “Power to the People” reported that the US is far from tops in social networking activity. Surprisingly, seven other countries polled had higher percentages of Internet users with a social network profile. Russia came in first at 85.3%.

These findings prove that social networking is here to stay. I personally, do not believe that all these sites are a fad. Not only do they serve personal and commercial use, but they allow us to communicate to those across the world. Every country is connected and brought together easier because of social networking.

This past weekend at Whole Foods Market, Alton Brown was in town for a book signing and to discuss his new book release. When famous food writer and blogger for the Austin American-Statesman asked him, “So what do you think of all this Twitter and Facebook stuff?”

Alton Brown responded, “No Twitter, no Facebook, no involvement online whatsoever. He and his team spend $20,000 a year to kick impersonators off, he says, and he’s so fed up that he’s ready to take down his entire Web site.” This view of social networking as just an annoyance will hurt companies and professionals if they continue to have this attitude. People like Alton Brown need to realize that the benefits outweigh the cons when it comes to social networking and that if utilized to its full potential, social networking can alter the way we function. (p.s. it already has)

Read, Write, Web just posted a new article today about Barnes & Noble’s new Nook eReader. And let me tell you, I am an advertiser’s dream consumer. I am so susceptible/gullible when it comes to new technology out on the market. However, the Kindle from Amazon never appealed to me. But the Nook eReader does.

First, the Nook has a touchscreen vs. a keyboard. Positive #1. Next, the Nook can actually send books. I has the capability to send books to their friend’s Nooks, iPhones or iPods. Positive #2. (However, I don’t know anyone who would want to read a book on an iPhone) This amazing device can also play music. What else could someone want! Also, buying books on the Nook is as cheap as $9.99 and that’s for new releases too.

Now I want to take a step back and look at the broad innovation aspect. With technology growing so fast, how do we know what product is going to be “the best” forever? This is the single most frustrating aspect with technology. It almost inhibits me from buying new things because I don’t know if I should wait and see what other competitor’s come out with, or if this is really the top of the line, which is always unlikely in our competitive society. However, I really think the only brand that has been repeatedly successful at this is Apple and the iPod. Apple is such a distinguishable and status-signifying brand, not to mention they have the best TV advertisements I have ever seen in my life.

How do they do it? I remember when iPod’s first came out and I myself was skeptical. I liked my CDs and I thought the only way to put music on your  iPod was to buy it from the iTunes store. (Remember, I was young, probably around 15 years old) Anyway, iPod’s didn’t immediately win me over. It wasn’t till they came out with the TV commercial where they have silhouettes dancing with their iPods till I truly fell in love. My favorite: Hey Mama. And now, everyone has an iPod. You can’t walk across campus without seeing at least 20 iPods. Many companies have tried to introduce similar products, but Apple still dominates the market.

My whole point is technology is ever changing and in a competitive market, innovation is necessary for survival and will be rewarded. Technology will continue to bring new products into the market at an increasing rate. The downside, we have to face the fact that buying a “new toy” today, may mean having an “old toy” tomorrow.

Last night on the University of Texas campus, at the AT&T conference center, United Way held their 5th Annual Speaker Series with CNN reporter, Campbell Brown. I was blessed with a ticket yesterday evening when my boss at my internship offered me the ticket. Of course, I jumped on the opportunity and had a wonderful time. Campbell Brown was an extremely eloquent, witty and intelligent speaker and captivated the whole room with her down to earth presence.

Her speech consisted of a wide array of political topics, including the current debate between Fox and The White House, what’s going on in Afghanistan, Obama’s successes vs. failures, the midterm presidential polls, among other intriguing topics. She also mentioned social media many times throughout the presentation. She stated that technology is changing the way we function and go about day to day activities and she stated that anyone who disagrees is simply ignoring what’s going on around them.

At the end of her speech, she opened up to the audience for Q&A. One journalist from the Austin Business Journal asked her what her opinions about the future of print media. She, like many citizens, replied with the answer, “I don’t know.” Many of us keep on hearing that print media will be obsolete in the very near future, even perhaps in the next year. We’ve already seen many newspapers and magazines succumb to economic pressures and close down. But will this happen to all the reputable print outlets? The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, etc.

I still believe that people find comfort in opening up the crisp paper on a beautiful Sunday morning with a cup of coffee. Personally, I feel like my computer is not where I go to relax. My computer is a place for homework and emails and social networking, it’s not somewhere I want to go on a Sunday morning. I get joy out of reading a newspaper. Hopefully, others do too.

Getting the opportunity to hear Campbell Brown speak was such a treat. She was everything I expected and much more. Did you know she has 2 boys under the age of 2 AND is a career woman? She blew me away and ignited my determination to be just as successful some day.

Read, Write, Web just released a new article today about something Facebook calls, Gross National Happiness. Apparently, Facebook is now measuring Gross National Happiness based on what words, either positive or negative, people use during different times of the year. The article however, brings a negative spin to this analysis. They criticize Facebook for providing a hands-off graph showing that people were sad when Heath Ledger died and were happy on National Holidays. I however, think this information is extremely interesting and compelling.

If you take a look at the findings posted by Read, Write, Wed, you will find that people are the happiest on Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas, New Years Eve and Valentine’s Day. I think this technology is extremely innovative. But I’ve got to ask a question, what is this information useful for? Yes it’s interesting and I was surprised by the findings, but how are they going to utilize this information?

From a PR aspect, what if practitioners utilized this information to schedule the implementation phase of PR campaigns on the days people are most happy? And what if they avoided implementing campaigns on the days people are least happy? I think that poses a good question.

A recent article published by the Wall Street Journal discusses the three best ways to improve your online reputation. The article provides some interesting and logical insight into the world of online reputations. The discussion heavily relates to PR and what companies can do to reach out to customers, or various publics.

First recommendation: Reach out immediately to customers. From the articles standpoint, this is essential to maintaining relationships and immediately responding to negative criticism. From a PR standpoint, this not only can be advice for businesses and their customers, but their many publics. PR practitioners NEED to be aware that social media sites should be utilized to do this very thing. It not only can be used for crisis management, but to inform publics of changes and upcoming events in the organization, as well as to communicate and establish relationships.

Second recommendation: Flood search engines with content you can control. Evan Bailyn, founder of First Page Sage LLC, a New York search engine optimization company says he often helps clients put “good publicity on top to knock bad publicity off the first page” of search engine results. In order to accomplish this, Mr. Bailyn suggests releasing press releases through sites such as, prnewswire.com or pr.com and building Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts since these social-media sites show up high on search results. This advance directly relates to PR and is something me and my fellow PR majors are currently learning more about. Search engine optimization is a valuable tool that if used correctly, can drastically change the way customers see your business/organization.

Third recommendation: Appeal to bloggers to review your company or your product. The article states that getting others on the blogosphere to weigh in about your business/organization, can be essential to generating neutral or positive reviews to counteract negative ones. This is valuable advice because target stakeholders and customers are more likely to believe reviews by an objective outsider, rather than a PR specialist or the company itself. Once again, getting the word out to journalists/bloggers about your client to generate conversation, a major PR technique.

All three recommendations are interrelated and combine aspects of PR and advertising to focus on the new direction of communication, which is establishing and maintaining open communication and relationships with not only customers, but publics. This overlaps with what PR faculty at UT reiterate over and over again. Every single communication/PR class this semester focuses on this new direction of communication and combining social media to accomplish two-way symmetrical communication. As for me, I’m excited to see what social media evolves into and what new forms of communication develop in the future!

Read, Write, Web just posted a surprising article about social networking sites and the demographics behind those who use these sites. It’s interesting to see that the study states that Facebook users tend to be better off financially than Myspace users, who have the lowest income among the four social networks studied.

According to the research, the top third of lifestyle segments relative to affluence (aka the “richest” users) are 25% more likely to use Facebook than those in the lower third. The bottom third segments related to affluence (aka the “poorest”) are 37% more likely to use MySpace. Also of note, Facebook users are more likely to use LinkedIn.

Myspace used to be the one main social networking site. I remember throughout middle and high school that’s all anyone used. Then Facebook came along and soon after, Twitter and LinkedIn etc. This statistic isn’t extremely jawdropping since Myspace started out as more of a network for kids and non-tech users as well as a place for musicians to express themselves. Facebook, on the otherhand, used to be exclusive to college students, which are by definition more educated than others. But is does make me wonder, if new social networks can beat the older sites, what’s going to happen? Especially since talk arised about charging to use Facebook. If this is implemented, is Twitter going to become more popular, even if they don’t charge? Which reminds me, on a sidenote, how does Twitter make money? They don’t use advertisements, where is the money coming from to run this site?

The article also states the Nielsen study, the study in which the article was based, not only noted the financial discrepancies, but also discovered that many social networking users tend to be urbanites, especially those engaged in blogging and tweeting. Which I guess is not surprising, considering those that live in urban areas are probably more concerned about current events and  utilize these sites for “up to the minute” information gathering.

Social networking is still new and we probably are just scratching the surface of this phenomenon.  I can’t wait to see what these tech geniuses come up with next. And it’s always interesting when studies emerge that look at these sites from a demographic view.

This Sunday, Current Channel PR (my PR campaign team) went to San Antonio to meet with Karen, of the San Antonio River Foundation. Experiencing the river walk, and the advancements that have been made was so beautiful to see. Karen and the SARF are truly trying to make a difference among the SA community.

Me and my team, Current Channel PR, at the beginning of the tour

This is one of the art additions. Fish are hanging below I-35, every single one is hand painted, and at night they glow from within. Bats also live underneath this bridge and @ night a group of people come to watch the bats fly and then shortly after, the fishes light up. This space is a particularly amazing story because before the art was placed, this bridge was known as a very dark, gloomy, sullen place. Now, it is popular among the SA community and is well known and loved. What a great example of how art can touch people’s lives.

Another art installation. The artists inspiration for this piece was his daughter’s eyes, the water, and the colors all along the river. At night these pieces also glow.

Even the sidewalk was beautifully designed to incorporate the river.

A water fall addition was even included. As you can see, within the cave like structure, faces were sculptured into the structure itself. It’s amazing how the creativity of an artist can bring something so simply, such as a stone, to life.

Actually going to the Memorial Reach section of the river walk and listening to Karen speak about what they have accomplished made our project a reality. Hearing her passion, and seeing the art made me become excited about what we can help them accomplish. Group projects can sometimes feel unnecessary and boring. I know this project is going to be the complete opposite. We have a lot of work to do, but if we can help them achieve their goals, I will walk away happy and fulfilled. I’m ready to get to work!