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The New Digital Divide: MySpace vs. Facebook
2007-10-10 18:05:00
A "blog essay" written this June got tech bloggers talking, and I just wanted throw in my two cents as a participant since 2004 in both. The essay, entitled "Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace " by danah boyd, contends that Facebook is for the kids who are going to college with the money to do so and MySpace is for the kids who are lower-class outcasts:The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society. They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities. MySpace is still home for Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, "burnouts," "alternative kids," "art fags," punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn't play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm.
Read more: Digital , Divide

BuzzDash: Snapshot of the American internet user?
2007-10-08 18:41:00
This post recommended by Dustin Harris, fellow helpdesk co-worker.Hope everyone had a nice weekend :)Yesterday, Dustin showed me the website BuzzDash, which came about a little over a year ago in September 2006. Here's a bit more about them in their words:BuzzDash is a site and tool for gauging popular opinion on a wide range of topics - from sports, movies and politics to relationships and philosophy. Built upon individual polling modules called buzzbites™, BuzzDash provides a real-time forum where people can solicit, measure and share opinions on nearly any issue. - "About" pageSo for example, here's one that I made (you do have to register with the site to create polls - see the lengths that I go to for you guys?): On the site, you do not need to register to vote in the polls, just get voting and you'll see the immediate percentage change on the poll that your vote had.There are user-created polls for most topics, some are silly and some are serious. A fun featur
Read more: American

Target's still-unaccessible website results in class-action lawsuit a year later
2007-10-04 20:51:00
Target, Target, Target... goodness knows I love you and give you much of my money, but this just doesn't look good.Last October, Target got into trouble when Chris Danielsen (who is blind) tried to make a purchase on their site could not complete his transaction because their site was so inaccessible. The NFB sued Target on his behalf under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Target tried to refute it saying the Act did not apply to the internet."The blind have more access to information than they ever had in history _ but that's only true to the extent that Web accessibility is maintained," Danielsen said. "The technology is out there, and we don't need barriers to be put in our way. Give us a way in." - "Blind Web surfers sue Target" (Oct. 2006 MSN article).So here we go again: This October, another similar lawsuit brought by a blind UC Berkeley student in February 2006 has now become a nation- wide class -action suit.Public locations in the real world have long been requi
Read more: Target , website , results , later

Microsoft's 2nd Gen Zune: they're "nothing earth-shattering"
2007-10-03 20:52:00
You've heard it before:large shiny screen!touch pad navigation!slim design!comes in multiple color options!get it in 4GB or 8GB!Are we talking about the newest sexy new iPods? No! It's the second generation Zune to be released in mid-November!My favorite quote from the CNN Money article about these ready-for-the-holidays Zunes:"There's nothing earth-shattering there," said Van Baker, an analyst at the research group Gartner, in an interview about the new Zunes.A nice and concise way of summing it up, Mr. Van Baker."Maybe next year they can make an aggressive push against Apple," he said.Yeah... maybe... ya know if they aren't busy or whatever, Microsoft can come up with something innovative for the Zune.Don't get me wrong I'm not a complete Microsoft hater, but come on. Apparently they designed these 2nd genners "from scratch" and came up with an iPod.Microsoft tweaked the look of the new Zunes' display and menus, and added the Zune Pad, a combination mouse-button and touch pad


Student Beware: is it time for you to do an internet audit before job searching?
2007-10-01 11:08:00
While surfing Ars Technica, I found an article posted earlier this year called "Job Candidates Gone Wild: be careful what you post online," which I find extremely relevant as I draw closer to graduation. This is something all students should consider as they prepare to seek professional jobs and opportunities: if a hiring manager Googles you only to find your ridiculous Myspace page or your serial drinking binges and intoxicated escapades on Facebook, this is probably not going to help you (unless that's what your job calls for and in that case, good job!) Be careful what you post online if you want to be able to get a job in the future. Your blog, web site, Facebook, MySpace, online dating profile, or even forum postings might "out" your salacious activities to a potential employer. According to a survey conducted by business social networking site Viadeo, one-fifth of hiring managers have used the Internet to find personal information about potential job candidates, and a quart
Read more: Student , Beware , searching

Super Cool: "Citizen Marketers" co-author Jackie Huba talks to our class
2007-09-27 23:06:00
Today in class we were lucky enough to have Jackie Huba, co-author of "Citizen Marketers : When People Are The Message," visit our class to talk to us about using social media in PR, marketing and in the corporate world. She showed us clips and examples from points brought up in the book then generously took several questions from us students.We discussed the ethics of companies and bloggers working together, such as when companies send free gadgets to bloggers asking them to write about them - do they keep the gadget? Can the bloggers give an honest review? Will the blogger need to add a disclaimer to the post?When asked about reasons why a company may be hesitant to have a public blog, she said the concerns she heard most frequently were that they were concerned about consumers using the blog as a soundboard to vent all of their grievances on, or that having a blog would take up to much human power to monitor it. Ms. Huba suggested that while it is true that readers may leave many neg
Read more: Super

"Logging": Using the Interwebs to keep you organized
2007-09-26 17:49:00
Juggling classes, a job, an internship and a life can get a little chaotic, right? Inspired by a Web Worker Daily blog post called "How to Develop the Logging Habit With Some Online Tools," I decided to give one of his recommended tools, Backpack, a try.I think the best way I found to explain what Backpack is to think of it as a virtual "notebook," akin the the physical one that keeps all of your to-do lists, grocery lists, business cards, ideas, etc. in. When you register, you get your own URL and then you can change and add pages - it's a wiki - but with some some organizational tools, like making lists with check boxes that you can check when you're done. Fair warning: a free account will only let you make 5 pages and will not let you store any files.Considering I spend a ridiculous amount of time in front of a computer (for personal use, school and at work), I think this is could be very handy. You can leave it open, then add and change it easily. It's also much more easy to org


Tech News: Businesses get to "downgrade" to XP, but not individual consumers
2007-09-25 19:14:00
The XP/Vista debate is a constant issue I have to deal with at work, especially over this past summer. When a new OS comes out, businesses usually wait a year or so before adopting the new one. According to the news.com article "The XP alternative for Vista PCs," businesses who purchased PCs with Vista on them can now "downgrade " back to XP, but this offer only applies to Windows Vista Business and Ultimate versions. This is being offered via the computers manufacturers, who will ship the computers with Vista installed but include the XP installation CDs.But there is demand for XP among businesses and consumers , due to "Vista's hefty graphics and memory needs," not to mention having to re-orient yourself to getting used to Vista (Why was it necessary to rename everything in the Control Panel? Why does it ask me if I'm sure I want to run an application every time?).As far as the general public, there's no word about such an option and there probably won't be. But if you think you ca
Read more: Tech News

MUDs/Second Life + Web 2.0 + 3D = Metaplace
2007-09-23 20:17:00
Just when you thought you've seen everything the Web 2.0 and social media has to offer, Metaplace scribbles all over that and writes their name over the sad remains, making MySpace look childish and old-fashioned.What is Metaplace? I first heard about it when my boyfriend mentioned it from an interview he read. Let's see how well I can explain it.If MySpace and Second Life had a lovechild, the next generation would be named Metaplace.Take the personal website profile aspect of MySpace, but add the graphics and navigation of a videogame or MMO a-la-Second Life and you would have a 3D virtual world of your own creation that exists on your own personal Metaplace website.Gah, it's difficult to really picture it without seeing it. So watch this:The idea is that like other social media in that you don't need to know any code to use it. Designer Raph Koster describes it like a 3D graphical blog or profile page that you can make in minutes then alter and add at will.Metaplace gaining subst


Social Networking is Born-Again
2007-09-21 16:18:00
With the insane general appeal of MySpace and Facebook, it seems that the new growth in social networking sites is going to come from niche markets, appealing to specific types of people. Today I highlight the surprisingly longer-than-I-thought list of social networking sites that are appealing to specific religions.Christian Social Network Holypal (holypal.com) - Calling themselves the "Christian MySpace Alternative," Holypal features all of the typical social media genres we've come to expect - a personalized profile and blog and the ability to upload video and pictures. They also offer a discussion forum and a Christian singles dating service. The homepage highlights the current forum discussions like "once saved always saved," "why do we go to church?" and "defending our faith".Xianz (xianz.com) - I always thought saying "Xians" was meant to be a little offensive, but this site has embraced it. Xianz.com calls itself "The MySpace alternative for Christians! It's the Faith Based
Read more: Again

Ikea's "America at Home" experiment in social media
2007-09-20 11:35:00
We are the edglings and we’re experimenting with new forms of media , not to gain fame or fortune, but to change marketing from a business of bullying, bullshit, and deception, to a genuine form of respectable and valued sense of service and personalization. - Brian Solis, PR 2.0As Ikea begins their more heartstring-pulling, emotional new ad campaign "Home is the most important place in the world," they are also experimenting with social media with their "America at Home" project. This week-long (September 17-23 with an additional 2-day grace period until the 25th) contest asks anyone to submit their photos of their home life (there are different catagories such as "morning rush" and "bedtime rituals") in an attempt to be featured in an upcoming book. Ikea wants to inspire Americans to bust out their digital cameras and capture the essence of "home" and submit them to the site, creating a digital "time capsule" of home and family life.I think this is a good example of integrated socia


Keeping out the Social Networking Peasantry
2007-09-19 12:10:00
The New York Times' tech article "The Gated Social Network" discusses the trend that new social networking sites are designed to keep the layperson out, and only allow certain applicants access to their network. The article features a modeling social site that accepts you based on appearance and the "Diamond Lounge," that will only accept celebrities and other such A-Listers.I suppose that everyone likes belonging to an exclusive club, so it makes sense that you should be able to gloat about such a thing online. I guess that's how you know you're "in" with the cool kids, and it's a sign of the times to see such invites being extended to hard-working bloggers.If anyone has any further examples, I would love to hear about them. We always talk about social media and web 2.0 as an open door for the average joe to start up and make a difference. But what if we're not invited?9/20: Update: Sign up on inviteshare.com to get sent invitations to betas and invite-only sites! I received an i


University of Florida / John Kerry Incident: Is Seeing Believing?
2007-09-18 14:47:00
Today's classic example of social media's rapid influence of public opinion:I'm sure you all know the story already about the University of Florida senior student Andrew Meyer and what happened during a Q&A session with John Kerry at the school.But whether or not you believe the police officers' reactions was warranted or not, what's interesting from a social media perspective is how fast this story has blazed across the interwebs via the YouTube video that shows what went down (there's many videos posted from different angles, check them out).When you watch the video, his screams of pain and cries for help makes you immediately think "omg police brutality!!," but really - do these videos tell the whole story of what transpired before the tapes started rolling?? Apparently many students on the Facebook page calling for a protest believe that despite the sympathy the video creates, Mr. Mayer had broken the rules established about going over time and using profanity."What these
Read more: Incident , Seeing , Believing , John Kerry

PR 2.0: don't ignore bloggers, or they'll end you.
2007-09-17 19:41:00
Perhaps it just seems so obvious.After reading the first chapter of Citizen Marketers: When People Are the Message, I couldn't believe that there are still some companies are ignoring bloggers . How can businesses not respond to the influential blogs that revolve around their products? For example:"Coca-Cola does not engage in conversation with its fans or citizen marketers....it tends to ignore or dismiss the work of everyday people." - page 13, Citizen MarketersThis just seems crazy.Engaging with bloggers seems a critical part of PR today. Ignoring your bloggers can only hurt you; sticking your fingers in your ears and yelling "LA LA LA" is not going to make the criticisms go away. Rather, not addressing a significant issue voiced by bloggers is only going to make it worse. I like the approach that the authors describe on pages 17-19, where HBO and BMW took the bloggers and bulletin-board posters into account (begrudgingly by HBO and pro-actively by BMW) and came out the better for i


Web comics affect ideas and purchases of their readership
2007-09-14 13:20:00
Though not as easily created by the average internet user as blogs are, web comics are becoming more prevalent on the internet – with just as dedicated readerships. For the web comics whose subject matter deals with the realm of videogames and the latest techno-gadgets, featuring a daily or weekly comic strip on their site is only one of the services they provide. Whether placed below the strip-of-the-day or elsewhere on the site, many of these gaming-themed web comics feature frequent commentary by the authors and artists. Often they’ll discuss the daily strip, but what is most important as a PR professional to be aware of is that these popular web cartoonists also love to rant or rave about the newest video game releases and the latest news of interest to gamers. These blog postings that are coupled with the newest strip (that most likely is a critique of a game or a company itself) ensures that daily readers will be exposed to the passionate opinions of the authors."Play it,
Read more: ideas

The Five Commandments of Blogging
2007-09-13 15:50:00
According to Paul Gillin's 2007 book The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media, he describes the "emerging standards" of blog maintenance that are a "kind of a Five Commandments of social media". Let's discuss:1. "Thou shalt link" - couldn't agree more. Nothing gets my goat like reading an interesting blog entry that is sadly without any links. The importance of links are two-fold: (1) it hearkens back to "citing your source," and not linking to where you pulled your quotes or what other blogs you mention is unprofessional and could be considered stealing! and (2) links direct your reader to where they can learn more about the topic of your post that would be of interest while giving yourself some credibility.2. "Thou shalt not diss" - disagreeing is expected, but disrespect is uncalled for and in the end will only hurt yourself. Be civil in your disagreement will lead to a much more productive debate on your part - set an example!3. "Thou shalt be transparent
Read more: Blogging

Press Release 2.0: The "Social Media Press Release"
2007-09-06 23:07:00
And just when everyone was worried about the immanent death of the press release, it has instead been re-innovated to have a place in our 2.0 world as of May 23, 2006. The brainchild of Shift Communications, they have provided a downloadable PDF template for public use for writing a digital press release full of social media bells and whistles. Though it may not be aesthetically pleasing, it is a great way to tell PR professionals what features need to be included.Read Shift Communication's press release about the template while also seeing it in action here.As PR Squared puts it nice and concise: "Love it or hate it, what is important is that the banal, unhelpful, cookie-cutter press releases of yore have outlived their pre-Internet usefulness."Personally, I am excited to see the revitalization of the press release that does its job while being technologically relevant. Since it's been over a year since Shift Communications' original release, it seems that creating such releases sh
Read more: Social , Press , Release , Press Release , Social Media

Google Book Search allows users to share their bookshelves
2007-09-06 22:34:00
Google Book Search offers users to catalog the books they have in their personal collections and organize them by category (which is a great way to keep track of what you’ve read and own!). Users can then share their collection pages with each other to see what their friends are reading. According to Google’s Book Search page: You can now create personalized libraries on Google Book Search where you can label, review, rate, and of course, full-text search, a customized selection of books. Google Book Search is also actively promoting its benefits for book publishers: By matching the content in your books with user searches, Google Book Search connects your books with the users who are most interested in buying them. Links to bookstores, online retailers, and your website make it easy for users to go from browsing to buying -- with new ways to buy and access your books coming soon. A book link will also be featured that tells the reader where they can purchase the book onli
Read more: Google

Student Beware: Entry-Level PR and Marketing Job Scams
2007-10-17 18:52:00
In researching job prospects here in Austin, I've come across several suspicious companies looking to hire for entry level PR/marketing positions. This post is to warn you of the biggest scam artists preying on the recently graduated here in town.But Megan, what are the signs of a scam employer? Here are the warning signs I've caught onto:Stupid headlines like "Entry Level PR!!" and "Entry Level Marketing - New Firm - WILL TRAIN!!!" should be your first red flag. Most of these are obviously scams, but some are cleverly disguised. My favorite dumb headline, courtesy Horizion Promotions: "Promo & Mkting Reps Needed! MUST Work Well With The Opposite Sex" sounds fun to me! :PPoor job descriptions that don't tell you anything about the position. Either that or they make it sound too good to be true, which it obviously is. They also will probably not include contact information except maybe a link to their website. Which brings us to:They have an ugly,crappy website. Some may be reall
Read more: Student , Beware

Tech News: Mac OS X Leopard is why I waited to get a Mac this semester
2007-10-15 10:06:00
I've had it with you, Vista. I see enough of of your "better security features" at work.For my colleauges and my boyfriend, they've heard nothing but "I want a Mac" from me for the past few months; I've even dubbed my change jar "Megan's Laptop Fund". As I'm graduating soon, I want to hook myself up with a new laptop - preferably a MacBook. :) I wanted to get one this summer but my mom suggested I wait and wait and wait.....And then the Universe tells me why:The Flack (with good analysis about this release vs. previous Apple release extravaganzas) reports on the newest Mac OS X version: Leopard - which will replace Tiger this month . Check out the link to take a tour of the newest changes. Overall it's nothing crazy new but there's a few smaller cool features: it seems that they sought to tweak the desktop appearance and re-work the search functions. Time Machine is perfect for creating a backup drive on an external hard drive. For those who use Mac Mail, if you're nerdy or gi
Read more: Tech News

Blog Action Day: "Greening Your Workplace"'s Greatest Hits
2007-10-14 21:04:00
This post is in honor of Blog Action Day. But there really is a point in making even the smallest of changes. For example, if 20 employees turned off their PC during a lunch hour, your company would save over 3700 watts of electricity in just 60 minutes; that’s enough power to keep an energy efficient lightbulb burning for over eight and a half solid days! -"Green-up your workplace," Big Green SwitchGoogle "green workplace" and you'll get a lot of hits about ways you can do your part to think of the Earth at work. In a discussion with some techies from SEU and Dell about recycling, everyone agreed that while we were awesome recyclers at home, we were ashamedly not so at work.Why? While we dutifully recycle our paper, plastics and glass at home, at work it can be more difficult and admittedly a bit inconvenient. Here at work we recycle paper, but to put your water bottle in a bin on another floor - and it's the only one in the building.Without further ado, my favorite green work
Read more: Workplace , Greatest , Greatest Hits

PC vs. Mac: It's a tie you both lose
2007-10-21 16:29:00
PC vs. Mac - South Park MashupNo one's perfect. I've shaken my fist at both in the past. This cute video points out the deficiencies each like to point out about the other.The "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" advertisements (which are great) just scream to be parodied - perhaps intentionally? :P


New Influencers: Tools of the Trade
2007-10-21 14:53:00
At the risk of being redundant (Shane beat me to it :P ), I thought Chapter 9 of The New Influencers was the chapter the reader was waiting for the whole time: the chapter about making all of the aforementioned tools work for you and what steps a marketer/PR pro could take to get started integrating social media into their practice.Lemme break it down for you, based on the chapter, because lists are beautiful:Keeping track of the buzz: check out Nielsen BuzzMetrics to see who's talking about you and your product. Set up some Google Alerts to monitor what the media is saying.Read up on the Big Boys (and Girls!) of Blogging: Search for the influencers in your market by searching your company and products on sites like Technorati and BlogPulse. Technorati has a mysterious way of calculating the "authority" of a blog, which apparently "is determined by a proprietary formula that factors in inbound links and the activity level of a blog" (pg. 165). The chapter also highlighted Opinmind, wh
Read more: Tools , Trade

Group Podcast: Social Media for Non-Profits
2007-10-25 22:09:00
The JenKasMeg Show – Social Media for Non-Profits :28 sec – Jennifer: Social Networking 3:44 min – Megan: BloggingMy Sources: RB Digital Rodeo and NetSquared 7:08 min – Kassie: Twitter This podcast is the result of a class project for our "social media and internet for PR" class. This podcast was made in Audacity. The song we used is called "Move Your Body" by miyoshimasato.Listen to our Podcast here.
Read more: Group , Social Media

How to Talk like a PR Blogger
2007-10-29 19:57:00
Cruising the PR blogosphere has not only taught me so much about social media and the PR industry, but also some PR 2.0 lingo. Next time you're catching up on your PR industry RSS feeds, you may come across some words and phrases unfamiliar to the noob PR student.snarky - I've seen this word used a lot and had no real idea what it meant beyond what I could gather from context clues. luckily one of our texts, The New Influencers, provides a definition in the glossary! Paul Gillin defines "snarky" as "Early twentieth century British slang for 'to nag' or 'to find fault with.' In the blogosphere, it is frequently used as an adjective for cynical or sarcastic" (pg. 222)snake oil - a term I've seen tossed around by those who hate the idea that PR is using social media as a cure-all for the industry's woes or to discount those entrepreneurs who think their Web 2.0 startup is going to be the next MySpace. This one I had to look up on Wikipedia: "The expression is also applied metaphor
Read more: Blogger

Social Media Resume: show off your mad 2.0 skillz
2007-11-04 17:39:00
I had starred this post from Marcom Blog as a favorite last month, but now it's particularly pertinent since our next assignment is a social media press release about ourselves - a social media resume.Classmates, check out the post link above for some examples of other's social media resumes and maybe they can inspire you for your own assignment.Check out the source of Marcom's entry: a post entitled Die, resume! Die! Die! Die! by Bryan Person, where Bryan details his reasoning in support of the SMR and goes over a list of what you should include in your own.another example (if a bit too much for our needs, but definitely the right idea): Rohit Bhargava's Social Media Bio
Read more: Resume , Social Media

A Lil' Bit of LinkLove
2007-11-03 14:09:00
Though these sorts of posts aren't the most exciting reads, at least I can point my readers in the direction of some interesting articles I've harvested from my prolific RSS feed that I just can't keep up with. Here's some of the articles I actually stopped to read:Technology:Microsoft happy with Vista, despite adoption- (Ars Technica) Seems that Vista is proving profitable in that sales are up (because XP is no longer an option) and the corporate world is starting to slowly adopt it. Personally, I don't think there should be any rush for businesses to adopt Vista unless they're already planning on upgrading their computers as well.RSPlug.A Mac OS X trojan: a new threat, but the sky is not falling- (Ars Technica) You will cry too when it happens to you. Just because getting a virus on a Mac is very unlikely doesn't mean you shouldn't be wary. At least wear protection and get an anti-virus program on.Public Relations:PR-Squared's Social Media Tactics Series: Blogger Relations-


Case Study Update: Whole Foods Top Exec Banned from Forums
2007-11-09 15:52:00
Remember the case study we discussed about the Whole Foods incident? I found the latest update from Social TNT: the top exec has been banned from participating in forums.According to the Wall Street Journal article "Whole Foods Bars Executives From Web Forums ": Whole Foods Market Inc.'s board, reacting to Internet postings by its chief executive, amended the company's code of business conduct last week to sharply restrict online activities by the grocer's officials. The new code bars top executives and directors from posting messages about Whole Foods, its competitors or vendors on Internet forums that aren't sponsored by the natural-foods chain.This seems a bit of a delayed reaction, and a pretty obvious one at this point. Whole Foods had to make some sort of announcement about a policy change, but you'd think they would've done this earlier.
Read more: Study , Update , Banned

Web Video Class Project: Religious Tolerance
2007-11-14 20:27:00
For our final group project of the semester, each group had to make a video about a social issue they were passionate about. We used Flickr images to make a video collage about religious tolerance by showing different religions' takes on "the golden rule". Even though each religion practices differently - the message of respect is the same.The song is "Wisdom" by Delerium.Religions in order of appearance: Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Native American Spirituality, Islam, Wicca, and Christianity.
Read more: Project , Tolerance

And speaking of getting caught by your "social" life...
2007-11-12 17:24:00
Check out this article from Valleywag about an intern who said he had a "family emergency" but then submits his Halloween party pics on Facebook from the night he was supposed to work.This article features his original email, the reply, then the office-wide email sent with his lovely Halloween picture.
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