Closing time?

The close of the semester has brought the end to a great class for which this blog was initially created for, but I have good news! I will be continuing to blog here but the subject matter will be much more open now, not just about the wondrous and exciting world of social media and PR. I just wanted to thank everyone who has read my blog posts and contributed comments over the course of the semester.

FYI - You may begin to notice some changes to the blog over the course of the next few days.
Revamp coming soon.

Web Video Class Project

Please enjoy my first attempt at making a web video!


The creative idea behind this video is just a peek at what great pets you can adopt from the humane society as opposed to supporting pet shops which are known to use horrible puppy mills. These animals really need homes and the love and care of a good owner and home. This video hopes to motivate people who are looking for a new pet to adopt from their local humane society and change the life of an animal for the better.


I used Jumpcut to make this video. Also I shot some of the photos of the animals at the Houston Humane Society and the others were obtained online. The song used in this video is Paramore's cover of "My Hero" by the Foo Fighters.

SMO!

I just came across this great presentation on maximizing your blog's exposure.

"This presentation, originally given at the SixApart Business Blogging Seminar in November, 2006 offers ideas for using the emerging concept of SMO to market and promote your blog."

Social Media Optimization: An Easy Guide to Marketing and Promoting Your Blog

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: smosocialmediaoptimization)

I found it interesting as to how SMO (Social Media Optimization) is now coined as a legitimate term in the industry. The term was invented by Rohit Bhargava, Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy & Marketing at Ogilvy PR Worldwide. His 5 rules for SMO are:

1. Increase your linkability
2. Make tagging and bookmarking easy
3. Reward inbound links
4. Help your content travel
5. Encourage the mashup
6. Get communities connected

Post Election Facebook Status Updates

This past Tuesday marked a historical moment in all of American history. Senator Barack Obama won the race for the 2008 President Elect position. Chances are if you took a peek at your Facebook friends' status updates post election you may have encountered some surprising responses. I know in my news feed I saw a number of anti-Obama comments like "oh no, the socialist won - time to move to Canada or Europe" and that's no where near the worst of it.

We've been discussing the campaigns, the candidates, and the election in every one of our classes to the point that many of us are tired of hearing about it but people are still going to have things to say. Facebook is a place where people know they can sound off. I do feel as though everyone should have the right to voice their opinions whether it be via their Facebook or elsewhere. I found this editorial on Jezebel which brings up some interesting points on the aftermath of post election facebook status updates.

Status updates, the Facebook method of broadcasting one's thoughts or mood out to the world, became filled with hateful rhetoric, putting some Facebook users in an incredibly awkward position: "Do I de-friend this person?" "Do I engage this person?" And perhaps the most puzzling question of all, "How did I become friends with this person in the first place?"

- hortense of Jezebel

So what's a Facebook friend to do? If you really feel so inclined to de-friend someone because their political views may not match up to yours, then do so. But if not, just realize that all social media is an open forum for people of all different ways of thinking to interact and join in on the conversation, especially of such important issues as our next President.

Xbox to Blame for Boy's Death

In one of my latest blog entries, I talked about social media addictions amongst young people. This entry will be a continuation of that general topic.

It was just released that a young boy was found dead in Canada as a result of not being able to play his Xbox. This is yet another example of how social media is becoming so addicting to the young people of generation z/c that very negative things are happening.

15 year old boy, Brandon Crisp, ran away from home on October 14th because his dad took away his XBox. He had been addicted to and obsessed with playing the online game Call of Duty 4. What's really interesting is that once Microsoft, Xbox creators, heard of Crisp missing; they offered a $50,000 reward to anyone who could find him. Sadly, his body was found Wednesday by hunters.

In an interview with the media, Brandon's dad admitted that he had no idea how important this game console was and that he would react in such a way.

"This had become his identity, and I didn't realize how in-depth this was until I took his Xbox away," Mr Crisp told the Globe and Mail. "That's like cutting his legs off."

"This is such an issue that hits every parent out there, with video games that are starting to control our kids' lives," he said.

"I just took away his identity, so I can understand why he got so mad and took off. Before, I couldn't understand why he was taking off for taking his game away."

- Times Online Article

I was doing a little MySpace snooping while researching this story and I found this MySpace page entitled "RIP - Brandon Crisp". It's disturbing because it is mimicking the child's death. It was found that Crisp likely froze to death and the MySpace page is decorated with a layout that has falling snowflakes and its latest mood is set to "cold". The "about me" section reads: Brandon Crisp was a xbox player who loved to play "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare," and when his parents decided to take his Xbox , Brandon was just following his dad's orders when he was told to "go chill out."

"In the east of Canada, born and raised, On the Xbox was where I spent most of my days. Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' with the door locked, All shootin' some Iraqis in CoD4.

When a couple of parents who were up to no good, Started making trouble up in ma hood. We got in one little fight and my mom got scared, She said, "We're movin' your Xbox 360 downstairs!"

I begged and pleaded with her for a day, But she packed up the console and sent me on my way. With no Iraqis to kill and no clan wars ma' guild, I left the house and said, "Imma' die irl."

I looked for my bike and when I came near, The tire was flat and it was missing a gear. If anything I could say that this bike was rare, But I thought, "Nah forget it" - "Yo homes get out of there!"

I pulled up to the road over 9000 or 8, And I yelled to my 'rents, "Yo hommes, smell ya later!" I looked at my kingdom, I was finally there... To die in the field, as the Prince of CoD4."

- "RIP - Brandon Crisp" MySpace

It is VERY disturbing that this MySpace page was just created today, November 7th. I speculate that it was made by one of Crisp's peers and fellow Xbox players. The page also has an active chatroom embedded into it which has many young users participating. After observing the chat for awhile I saw comments like "I played with Brandon. He didn't deserve to die like that," as well as other general discussions about parents taking away xbox consoles and playing Call of Duty. The MySpace page also has disturbing photos like the one posted below of Brandon being photoshopped.




I think this page should be taken down immediately by MySpace. It's horrible that someone is out there making a total mockery of this poor kid's death. This page is so inappropriate and so disrespectful to the boy and his family. It's really unfortunate that parents are not paying sufficient attention to how obsessed their children are becoming with such social media as online gaming. Like Autumn Eadows, Brandon Crisp formed an identity online. He had somewhere to go and feel as though he belonged and when that was taken away from him he decided to take matters into his own hands. These type of addictions are becoming more prevelent amongst young people. It's important that parents begin to closely monitor their children's usage and not let them become out of touch with reality.


11-8-08 Update: http://www.myspace.com/ripbrandoncrisp has since been deleted by MySpace.

Hulu Hits High Numbers

The free video sharing website, Hulu, has prooved to be a big social media success. Hulu was launched just over a year ago, in August 2007. Neilson Online has reported that the website had over 142 streams in the month of September, it's highest numbers yet.


Hulu not only lets you watch free movies and tv shows, but also has kept up with Election 08' footage. Obama's acceptance speech and McCain's concession speech were posted immediately after the live delivery, courtesy of MSNBC. Hulu also provided much of the debates and other commentary in their coverage.

Hulu is supported by advertisements which media buyers are definitely paying attention to. Web TV Wire reports that currently 93% of Hulu users are content with the amount of advertising they see while using the website. This is good news for Hulu now, but the number of ads will surely continue to increase. I surely hope it's not a matter of time before ads take over this website, too.

Websites like Hulu are changing the way we watch entertainment. Along with other media devices such as digital video recorders, which allow us to record programs on television and watch them later, as well as give us the ability to fast forward through advertisements, social media is changing everything. You don't even need to own a television set to "watch tv" anymore. If you have a computer, a high speed Internet connection, and a good screen and speakers.. you are good to go.

I have to say that I absolutely love Hulu. It's great to be able to watch entire seasons of shows and movies that I haven't seen yet at no cost to me. The advertisements don't bother me at this point, but like I said earlier, I hope they don't increase too badly as the website begins to become more and more popular.

Do you think a website like Hulu can ever hit YouTube status?

Social Media Addictions

It was just released this morning that an 18 year old, Terry Gene Starnes, from Hayden, Idaho, was arrested last week for stabbing his own mother. The cause for this stabbing? She would not let her son get on MySpace!

Terry's MySpace page headline reads: "School work sleep!!!!! that's it!!!!".. and MySpace, of course.

Social media addictions amongst young people, Generation Z, are continuing to become more and more apparent. Ask any 13 - 18 year old to live without Internet access or texting for a week and see what would happen. Chances are they would not be happy about it and would not be able to fulfill the challenge. It is somewhat disturbing to think that kids are growing up more and more online instead of being outside with their friends playing, interacting with one another, and enjoying real life.

So what are your thoughts on this story? Do you feel that social media has the potential to turn into a big social problem amongst young people? Would you be able to live a week without Internet access? Without Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter? Without SMS (texting)?

Social Media On The Rise

Thanks to Google reader, one of my favorite social media tools; I was just informed of a new post by social media connoisseur, Marta Kagan, on her blog (The Secret Diary of a Bonafide Marketing Genius). In one of her latest blog entries, she discusses some interesting stats:

• 3/4 of US online adults now use social tools to connect with each other (compared with just 56% in 2007). On average, they spend one hour per week using these tools; however, 19% [and growing] are averaging 7 HOURS PER WEEK. [source: Forrester Research, October 2008]
• 75% of Fortune 1000 companies with Web sites will have undertaken some kind of online social-networking initiative for marketing or customer relations purposes in the next year. [source: Gartner, October 2008]

- Marta Kagan

Social media usage is going up and it doesn't look like it will be stopping anytime soon. It is pretty clear that social media is the future. 7 hours per week may not seem like much to you and I but the increase of usage from 56% in 2007 to where it is now (just in the span of a year) is pretty darn impressive. People of all demographics are beginning to understand social media tools and how helpful they can be.

What are your thoughts on this increase in numbers?

Business Wire Partners with Digital Citizen Media

Business Wire, "the leading source for press releases," has just partnered with Digital Citizen Media to offer something more to corporations everywhere. After picking up on how important social media is, specifically web video, Business Wire has decided to provide its members with the opportunity for " a unique set of customized video and management tools to fill a variety of traditional corporate communications needs" and more. As a result of this partnership, Business Wire members are able to use Digital Citizen Media for their professional use.


This is exciting for the corporate world because it is time for them to catch up in respect to their social media practices. Digital Citizen Media is very happy about the partnership and hopes to bring quality work to the new businesses that will be using their services.

"We looked to Business Wire as the ideal partner in expanding the role of video in public relations and investor relations efforts. Business Wire's long commitment to technical innovation includes their recent pioneering adoption of XHTML to support multimedia and their launch of the multimedia Smart News Release way back in 1996."

- Anthony DePasquale of Digitial Citizen Media

It's interesting to see that web video has been specifically cited as one of the main reasons behind this partnership. It's important to keep up with competitors' use of technology for PR purposes and it's great that Business Wire has picked up on that and will now be offering these services to their members.

Growing Up Online Discussion Panel Podcast

In class, we recently viewed the PBS Frontline documentary 'Growing Up Online'. Enjoy this panel discussion featuring three classmates (Wiltson, Ceci, and Shannon) and myself discussing the generational differences between the way we use social media (Generation Y) and the way the younger kids (Generation Z/C) are using it. Mind you, this is our first attempt at podcasting ever, so be nice! It was overall a great learning experience. Hope you enjoy the show!

Show notes can be found below.

The Social Media Syndicate - Episode 1 (click to listen to podcast)

:05 – Intro

:26 – Welcome

:41 – Panel Self Introductions

1:23 – The Hot Topic

1:33 – Shannon discusses generation definitions.

1:58 – Shannon asks panel: "What tools do you guys consider to be important in looking at the diferrences between how our generation, Gen Y, and the new generation, Gen Z/C, use the Internet tools?"

2:09 – Ceci discusses YouTube

3:42 – Wiltson discusses Facebook

5:21 – Christine discusses MySpace

6:04 – Shannon weighs in on Facebook and MySpace

6:22 – Wiltson responds

6:46 – Shannon discusses cell phones and SMS (text) messaging

8:16 – Wiltson weighs in on texting

8:49 – Ceci discusses Second Life

10:35 – Shannon responds

11:22 – Wiltson responds

12:09 – Closing

12:20 – Outro

Twitter

After being formally introduced in class to Twitter, I decided it was time to give it a try. When I first got on, I was instantly reminded of Facebook status updates. Basically, they are the same thing. Micro-blogging allows you to post short messages of up to 140 characters. I really like the fact that you can follow your friends and family, as well as other interesting people you many come across. Not only are individuals the ones to Twitter, but organizations, projects, and celebrities are doing the same. I came across Whole Foods, Social Media Club, and even Britney Spears! From a PR perspective, I think Twitter offers a great connection to consumers. Consumers are able to follow what is going on and get a better feel of the company's personality.

SocialVibe: Social Media Helps Give Back

SocialVibe, recently founded in 2007, is a new type of social media tool that is taking people and their online activity to the next level. Already with 160,000 members and counting, SocialVibe is all about giving back. The company understands the huge influence users can have online and are now giving people the opportunity to help causes that they are passionate about.

"SocialVibe is a new social media platform that facilitates interaction between people, the brands they love and the causes they care about. SocialVibe recognizes the influence people have online and has created an easy way for people to use their influence for social good. Social media advertising opportunities are plentiful, however SocialVibe's unique platform empowers communities of real people to make a real difference. With SocialVibe, people enhance their online experiences by getting sponsored by brands to support the causes they believe in."

- SocialVibe website

Broken down to three simple steps, here's how it works:

1. Select your favorite cause to support.
2. Choose a sponsor & post your badge to your social profiles. (MySpace, Facebook, blogs, websites, etc.)
3. Earn points for donations to charity and perks.

Once you earn points they are then turned into funds for the charitable cause of their choice. Basically, users are advertising their sponsors for a good cause on their social networking sites. Some of the sponsors featured on SocialVibe include Apple, Colgate, Gibson, and Billabong. Examples of some of the causes featured are To Write Love On Her Arms, Stand Up To Cancer, World Wildlife Fund, and Invisible Children. Currently, an impressive $20,395 has been raised by 30,731 supports for TWLOHA.

I think the SocialVibe is a great concept! People can put all that time and effort they put into their MySpace pages to good use by supporting and help earning money for a cause they are really into. SocialVibe has the potential of really catching on and making a difference in the world. This is another great example of the positive effects of social media.

Would you consider joining in on SocialVibe and posting a badge in support of the cause of your choice? What do you think about this new type of social media and what they are trying to accomplish?

Blog Action Day - Poverty 2008

I was first introduced to Blog Action Day by Dr. Weisgerber in our Internet and Social Media class. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. After doing some research on the event, I found out just how big of a deal it really is. People from all over the world are uniting today to fight against poverty. We are all coming together via the Internet and our blogs to advocate against poverty.



I really like how the Blog Action Day website defines advocacy. "What is Advocacy? Advocacy is speaking up. Before change can happen, decision-makers need to know that their customers, community and constituents want change. Advocacy is letting them know." This definition really goes hand in hand with what are learning about social media in terms of PR. It is all about starting the conversation. Hopefully, after today, politicians will get the idea that poverty is still a huge issue in our lives and we want change, such an important issue that continues to plague our world.



Initiatives such as these use social media to bring people together to take a stand and make a difference. Blog Action Day has also made resources available to all that are interested in the cause. Educating those that want to help is a big part of the initiative. "What can one person do?" This is the most important question that is answered on the organization's website. People need encouragement and to know that what they do really does matter.


Below is a great video about the Micah project in Australia which gives tips on what you can do to fight poverty in your area. This is just one example of a viral video that is a large part of the fight against poverty.







Social media for advocacy, hope, and change.

Blog Action Day - 2008

PodBean

PodBean.com, around since July 2006, is a social networking website centered around podcasts. There are two types of accounts available on PodBean. Users can choose from the podcast publisher account and the podcast audience account.

Podcast publishers are able to learn how to create podcasts, as well as gain production tips. After creating and uploading their podcasts to the website, publishers can use tools to promote their podcasts and gain better exposure. Publishers can also keep track of how many listeners are streaming and downloading their podcasts through the use of statistics. Publishers even have the opportunity to profit from their podcast by sporting ads on their pages and offering paid subscriptions to their audiences.

Podcast audiences are able to collect all of their favorite podcasts into one place. Users can browse what other people are listening and subscribing to, much like YouTube. Users can use tags to browse available podcasts and easily find something they like. Audiences can also share podcasts with other users as well as get recommendations from other users.

Podcasting vs. Radio

The battle is on.

With younger audiences being drawn to iTunes, mp3s, and podcasts.. what are the effects on radio? Research has show that younger radio audiences (ages 12-24) are slowly slipping away. Audiences are able to find more specialized media through podcasts as opposed to turning on the radio and listening to talk shows and music. Podcasting is definitely giving the radio business a run for its money. Although, radio is not going anywhere soon. Tim Gordon, expert in the digital recording realm, agrees that podcasting has had a huge effect on radio over the past couple of years and will continue to do so.

In class Thursday, we began to work on Garage Band. We were able to experience first hand how simple it is to product a podcast. Podcasts are a huge aspect of the development of social media. People can record their own podcast shows and distribute them easily via iTunes and uploading them onto their blogs or websites.

As far as radio and podcasts go, what's your preference?

Facebook Responds

Looks like Mark Zuckerberg, and the rest of the folks at Facebook, are listening to its users. Zuckerberg just started an official Facebook group to get the option between the two platforms of Facebook (new and old).

After a long hard decision I, Mark Zuckerberg, will bring back the option of New and Old Facebook if 10 million people (which is less than one-tenth of the current active users) join this group/petitioning spot. The reason I am making this group is because I would like to see how many people would really like the choice of the old Facebook. I wanted to make this group in Facebook because it globalizes your opinion with not only words but statistics (which my co-workers and I can examine closely).

If you would like the option to choose between the new and old Facebook please raise your opinion and join this group. Your membership will not be overlooked but closely examined. Thank you for your time.

As of now the wall and discussions etc will be taken off, later they might be added.


Thanks,
Mark Zuckerberg

Join the group and pass it along! [Update 6:07PM: Group has been taken offline.]

This is a great example of the efforts of people, through social media, demanding and getting a response. Like we talked about in class, this is about starting a conversation and responding to the public. Stay tuned to see what happens next!

Vlog Wars: Vimeo vs. YouTube

Where was the last video you watched online? YouTube, am I right? Launched in 2005, YouTube is currently the largest video sharing website on the Internet. The website is available in 12 different languages and well known all over the world. In August 2006, YouTube had acquired about 500,000 users and around 6.1 million uploaded videos. In the past two years, those numbers have with a doubt gone up.

BUT video sharing is not just about YouTube. Let me introduce you to Vimeo. Launched before YouTube, in 2004, Vimeo is another video sharing website with somewhat of a better emphasis on networking than the competition. As of 2007, Vimeo had 250,000 registered users and over 300,000 uploaded videos. Much like YouTube, Vimeo allows you to embed, share, store, and comment on videos.

So what's the difference here?

Vimeo videos are actually of much better quality than what can be found on YouTube. Nick Campbell wrote in his photo blog, Grey Scale Guerilla, about the differences seen in the video quality of one of his own movies when comparing the two video hosting websites.

"Notice how Vimeo keeps the skin tones looking warm, whereas Youtube has a tendency to blow out the skin tones and make everyone look too pink? Now that more people have hi-speed internet connection, it’s great to see the quality of video on the web get to a higher level."

Vimeo even has HI DEF capabilities! Instead of the typical 320 pixels x 240 pixels resolution that YouTube uses, Vimeo distributes 1280 pixels by 720 pixels on their High Def channel. Vimeo has made social media history by being the first to make this sort of HD distribution available to users.

Vimeo is also a great place to video blog, if that's what you're into. Musicians like Katy Perry and Josh Groban have jumped on this bandwagon and post fairly frequently to their blogs via their Mac laptops.

Although, currently YouTube is the powerhouse when it comes to numbers, getting exposure and hits, Vimeo has impressive video quality to offer and a more close knit online community. Many users are making the switch. Will you?

In my opinion, Vimeo is where it's at.

Video blogging is extremely important to social media PR practices. In our course blog, Dr. Weisgerber posted a blog entry about the YouTube video channel by Governor Perry's camp about Hurricane Ike Relief. The quality of the video is.. well, YouTube quality.. I think if they had hosted the video on Vimeo HD, the quality of the 30 second spot would have been far better in relaying the message and probably have made a much bigger impact on the its audience.

The Best Corporate Blogs

During our last class, we talked about a number of corporations that blog. Amongst these, were SouthWest Airlines, Whole Foods, and Wal-Mart. Majority of our discussion on these companies and their blogs was negative so I was just curious as to who is really doing a good job at blogging for their company and receiving the most hits.

Thanks to the world's best creation ever, Google, I was able to find a great list compiled by Mario Sundar for his wordpress blog, Marketing Nirvana. He used Technorati Authority to come up with his findings.

Here's the list of the 15 Most Popular Blogs as of May 2008.

#15. Boeing - Authority: 67

#14. Monster - Authority: 73

#13. Kodak - Authority: 105

#12. Delta - Authority: 252

#11. Yahoo! - Authority: 297

#10. General Motors - Authority: 364

#9. Ask - Authority: 364

#8. LinkedIn - Authority: 591

#7. Digg - Authority: 641

#6. Dell - Authority: 799

#5. Yahoo! Search - Authority: 1130

#4. Facebook - Authority: 1478

#3. Flickr - Authority: 1744

#2. Adobe - Authority: 1797

#1. Google - Authority: 8492

Not a shocker to see Google at #1!

Are you surprised by any of the placements on this list?

Heroes Gets Interactive

We've already covered that with social media comes the potential for really great PR. Companies, professionals, celebrities, and television shows are able to interact with their audiences now more so than ever before.

NBC's Heroes, now in it's third season, has a number of interactive opportunities for their fans. Heroes Evolutions is the online place to go for access to all things Heroes. The website reads, "Online, offline, and on your phone, Heroes Evolutions brings the adventure into every corner of your world."

Fans are able to access character blogs, creators blog, past episodes, webisodes, an official Heroes Wiki,and even character MySpace accounts (Claire Bennet). Heroes is now taking things even further and letting their audience have a say in what happens in the online webisodes. People can vote for which hero they want to see star in their own series.

Hardcore fans that want to be even more involved can sign up for SMS (text messages) to be connected with the Heroes phenomenon 24/7. These messages are usually prompts for finding things on the Heroes website and/or new information pertaining to the current story lines of the show.

I think it's just really interesting to see how social media is allowing for entertainment to grow more and more interactive for its viewers. On the PR side, the audience is able to build a closer bond to the show and feel like they really are a part of things, solidifying a solid number of viewers. They have access to the show 24/7. It's something to hold them over for a week until the next episode and keep them involved in the storyline.

This type of technology has even sparked it's own Emmy award category, which was first created in 2000. Heroes is the 2008 winner of the Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media—Fiction Emmy. Definitely an award well earned!

How do you feel about interactive media? Should TV shows just be TV shows? Are character blogs and MySpace pages just a little too much?

Down with the new, bring back the old!

The social networking giant, Facebook, has recently changed their platform to the "new" Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg, one of the Facebook founders, posted yesterday on the official Facebook blog that "almost all 100 million people around the world on Facebook are using the new design." Wow, that's a lot of people.

So what's the verdict? Are people into the changes that Facebook has made? All signs point to... NO. A number of Facebook groups have sprung up in response to the unwanted change. Below are just two examples of these groups:

• 5,000,000 against the new version of Facebook - 1,121,409 members

• I Hate The New Facebook (www.new.facebook.com) - 1,341,439 members

These groups are not going unheard! News sources all over the world, such as the Australian Herald Sun and Forbes, have picked up on these stories. Obviously, majority of Facebook users want the old, simple, familiar version of Facebook back that we all have come to know and love.

But will Facebook listen to its displeased members or will it choose to ignore the millions that are not happy with the new format? How do you feel about the "new" Facebook? Would you rather have the option between the two platforms?

Consumer Opinions: The Make or Break-er

When you are looking to buy a new product, chances are you want to know what others are saying about it. With the development of the Internet and blogs as a medium for consumers to voice their opinions, now more than ever, you are able to make an informed decision. There are a number of websites out there where consumers are able to comment on their opinions of products and services such as ConsumerReports.org, Amazon, and eOpinions.com. Blogs and message boards are also used as a great place for consumer commentary.

Product websites also offer consumer feedback. But are these posts as reliable as what you might find on a non-related third party website? A number of product websites allow you to rate your experiences with the product but these comments are monitored and usually altered or deleted if it will negatively affect sales. Dell and Apple are examples of online stores which are suspect of such practices. You never see any truly negative feedback on any of their products. Why is that?

Before you make your next big purchase - do yourself a favor: research, shop around and read up on what others are saying.

RSS is Love.

After learning about a number of Internet inventions in class recently, I've come to the conclusion that the Internet really is here to make our lives easier.

We're in the age of information overload. Because of the Internet, everybody has the opportunity to be a source of information with the use of blogs. Blogs are websites where users can post entries about anything. There are all sorts of blogs out there: news, celebrity gossip, entertainment, sports, consumer commentary, and personal blogs; just to name a few. With all the availability of information on the internet, how can we even try to keep up?

That's where RSS feeds and readers come in to play.

Almost every news source (website or blog) gives you the option to subscribe to their RSS feed (usually, with an awesome orange button like the one pictured above). Once you are subscribed, anytime a new entry is posted on that feed, you are instantly able to see that on your reader. The news comes directly to you, without having to click all over the world wide web just to keep up with your chosen news source. If you have yet to get yourself a reader I recommend Bloglines or Google Reader. It really does make life easier!

After all, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Doesn't get any more simple than that.

Lance Armstrong Blogs His Come Back Plans

On Tuesday, September 9th, Lance Armstrong made an important statement via a video blog post (seen above). Armstrong declared his plans to return to professional cycling in 2009 as a strategy to fight cancer. This video blog serves as a teaser for his appearance and further discussion of his comeback and LIVESTRONG plans in New York City at the Clinton Global Initiative on September 24th.

What better way to inform the world than to post a personal video post on his organization's blog? The 45 second video statement was picked up by television channels and other news outlets worldwide and aired later that evening. It was a great idea for Armstrong to go about blogging this news. His camp has not paid for any publicity or airtime but has already received impressive attention just by blogging. More evidence that the power of social media is astonishing and has a large effect on PR. Which lead me to wonder if the press release was created before or after the blog post? Judging from the quotes used, it was created after Lance's video blog had been made.

Already his blog post has received 550 comments from supportive readers all over the world.