Motrin Moms

Last week in class, we discussed Mad Motrin Moms. If you haven't seen the commercial, you can watch it HERE!

Personally, I am not a mom, and am well aware that I am not the target of that commercial, therefore, I do not feel affected by this commercial, whatsoever. However, when it was discussed that there were so many women upset, and that had been responding through the use of social media, I decided to do a little bit of research on my own.

I went ahead and looked up them up on YouTube, and definitely found quite a few. Then, I realized that they were all being hosted by Newbaby.com. One of the ads has this as a description:

http://www.Newbaby.com presents Lisa from Crazy Adventures in Parenting as she responds to the Motrin ad's claim of being 'fashionable' while wearing her newborn. Lisa blogs regularly at www.CrazyAdventuresinParenting.com. View all Motrin Mom response videos at http://www.Newbaby.com. Spread the news about this and feel free to post this on your blog and please attribute http://www.newbaby.com

I went to the website, to figure out what they were about, and realized that they are an online social network for moms to gether, share tips, but, primarily share videos.

I thought this was interesting because we had recently been discussing how different sharing through video can be from sharing through a blogs. The website itself seems to be really successful with a lot of users and a lot of insight.

Web Video: MEDIA CHANGES THE FEMALE IMAGE

In class, we are currently discussing web videos and their use in media and public relations. We were assigned to express ourselves through expressing an opinion through the use of a web video.

I chose to create a video which discusses the media's influence in women. I decided that an interesting way of proving my point was to show how the media has obviously stylistically influenced women throughout the last 100 years. This was a very interesting way of showing my information, especially in comparison to the podcast, or just a blog, because it allowed me to communicate in a more visual manner, and letting the images speak for themselves more than text. Since, this topic is something that is very physical, images allowed me to make this concept more interesting and direct. I used Ratatat's song, "El Pico" to help me move the video along. All of the images were obtained from the Internet.

I used Sprout Builder to do this video. In the beginning, it seemed like a friendly and easy to use program, but, in the end turned out to be way more troublesome than I expected. I mostly had trouble with the timing and publishing features of the software.



I hope you enjoy it!

Facebook and the Elections

I realized that several people wrote some very interesting blogs in regards to the elections, but, more specifically focused on Facebook. I was also very intrigued by how much of an impact Facebook itself might have had in these past elections.

As I am sure several of you witnessed the rampage of Facebook status updates minutes, perhaps seconds, after President-elect Barack Obama, was announced, I am sure most of you also witnessed the ones days, perhaps hours before the voting casts closed. I personally, didn't do this, but, I was very interested when I read the "...is the 1,618,392nd person to donate their status to get out the vote for Barack Obama today. Donate yours: http://causes.com/election/11700602" and the same for McCain. Talk about fabolous PR move!

According to an article, For Facebook's Causes Election Rally application on the social-networking site, users can pick to which candidate -- either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain -- they would like to donate their status on Facebook. They also can donate their status simply to get out the vote.

We have heard time and time again, that this was the election of first time voters. According to polls in the same article, sixty-nine percent of Facebook users who used the application opted to remind users to vote for Obama, the Democratic Party candidate, while 16% wanted to remind people to vote for Republican Party candidate McCain. Obama and McCain are the main candidates for the U.S. presidency, though there will be other candidates on the ballot.

Now, I am not saying that this is proof of anything, but it is definetly worth noting how this social network allowed us to have some sort of idea as to what the young voters were thinking, isn't it?

The Social Networks World

Recently, in class, we have discussed social networks in relevance to geography. For instance, do people in the U.S. use Facebook just as much as people in Singamore use Friendster?

Well, I did a little bit of research, and found an article that showed an interesting visual...


The areas are color coded by dominant social networks by country. In the site, you can see a chart see this information, but in a text chart.

According to the site...

Some patterns from the data:

• Orkut leads in the Indian subcontinent, as well as Brazil;
• Facebook is stronger, internationally, than Myspace, with surprising strongholds in the Middle East;
• hi5.com is the most international of all the social networks, leading in Peru, Colombia, Central America, and other, scattered countries such as Mongolia, Romania, and Tunisia;
• both Bebo and Skyblog follow colonial patterns, the first strong in smaller English-speaking countries such as Ireland and New Zealand, and the latter in Francophone countries;
• and Friendster, the original social network, leads all across Southeast Asia.
• Fotolog, a photo service defeated in the US by Friendster, has re-emerged as the dominant social network in Argentina and Chile.

I personally, only use Facebook, and have seen, first-hand, the impact of this social network in regards to both social facets, as well as how advertisers have slowly began to take over it. It would be interesting to know if it has had similar effects in other countries..

Self-Empowerment Podcasts

Recently in class, we have been discussing and working on podcasts. Personally, I have never been really into the whole podcast thing, so, I decided to do some research and check out what was out there. There seems to be podcasts that focus on everything out there...from technical gadgets to art history and environmental affairs.

Being the podcast newbie that I am, I was astounded to see just how many classification and types of podcasts there are. One of the best resources I came across was Personal Life Media (PLM). PLM is a publisher of "lifestyle podcasts" which are made for people that are, according to a report I found, on the "leading edge of culture." Recently, PLM announced that ten new shows have debuted or joined their network, which brings a total to 35 weekly audio shows and one daily vidcast with their companion blogs." The site launched 18 months ago, and has continously grown in popularity. According to their reports, " in addition to more than doubling the content offering since launch, web traffic has increased 128% for the year, 1,000 episodes have been produced with nearly 600 guests resulting in more than six million downloads. The free multi-show podcast player widget launched September 2008 received nearly 500,000 page views in its first month and is utilized by myriad podcasters on and off the PLM network." Four of their shows are even now finalists in the upcoming Podcasts Awards, and all of their shows can be found in iTunes.

Family History: Genealogy Made Easy.

As for the 10 new shows, they range in topic to better serve their wide variety of listeners:

• Once Susan and Tim Bratton optimized my podcast on their network, it simply caught fire

  I climbed to #41 in the iTunes Top 100 within two short weeks of moving my show to Personal Life Media.

  We moved TheDivaCast to Personal Life Media because the podcast advertising campaigns and sponsorships PLM is already bringing us reflect the quality of our very popular show

  Michael and I could have launched a new photography show on any network based on the sheer success of our first endeavor, The Digital Photography Show, but we chose PLM because of their combination of technical savvy, amazing creativity, business connections and commitment to our success, says Scott Sherman, Host of

  Digital Photography Life - Make Every Shot Count : Digital Camera Reviews and Tutorials
  

• Camera Dojo: Digital Photography Enthusiasts

• TheDivaCast: Encouragement, Work Life Balance, Girl Talk, Women's Issues
  

• Music For Midnight: Downtempo, TripHop, Ambient, Lounge, Chill and Independent Electronica

• Family History: Genealogy Made Easy

• Life Zero: Adventures in Zen and Lifestyle Design

• Sales Magic: Motivations, Meditations and Visualizations to Kick Your Assets Into Action!

• ">Words to Mouth: Women's Novels & Non-Fiction, Author Interviews and Book Reviews

• Dear Zanny: Relationship Advice from a Family Therapist
  

• Modern Immortal: Unleash Your Vitality, Alternative Medicine, Holistic Health, Wellness and Longevity

If you didn't find any of those interesting, or exactly your taste, check out Personal Life Media site, because with about 35+ uploads a week, you might find something worth subscribing to!

Virtually Divorsed

Recently, I blogged about how virtual reality has in turn affected the way we treat relationships both in and out of the web. Well, while reading the news this past week, I came across a crazy article that deals with a similar situation.

According to reports, "A 43-year-old player in a virtual game world became so angry about her sudden divorce from her online husband that she logged on with his password and killed his digital persona." Apparently, the woman got really upset when receiving the online notification that her virtual husband was cutting her off. She has not yet been formally charged, but if she is convicted, she could face up to five years in prison or a fine up to $5,000

While this is an interesting case, what I found most important, was the way that it reflects how seriously we are beginning to treat online communities and social networks. Not only are they becoming more common, but, they are now affecting people's lives in reality not just virtual.

PODCASTING: Kid Bloggers

This week, for our class, we were assigned to create podcasts in groups. Our group decided to do a podcast in the topic of Kid Bloggers.

We felt as though this has been an issue that we have lacked to discuss in class, but seems to an upcoming hot topic. In the podcast we discuss some popular advantages and disadvantages aswell as some controversial instances in regards to kid bloggers.

From this experience, we learned that podcasting is really a facet that requires time, patience, and technical knowledge. However, we gave it our best shot!

If you are interested in listening to our podcast, feel free to follow the shownotes and click on the podcast below:




SHOWNOTES

{Music Intro}

→Introduction to Podcast “Topic: Adolescent Blogging” .5seconds

{Music}

→Sherry: Article by Bob Sullivan from MSNBC.com 1min 3seconds

{Music}

→Cori: Concerns & Benefits 3min 3seconds

→Bradley: Controversy with Justice Samuel 4min 25seconds
Marie Osmond/Adolf Hitler 5min 26seconds

{Music}

→Analee: Raising Entrepreneurs, “Carl”/“Yuga”

{Music}

→Closing Discussion 7min 40seconds

→Resource Mention: Blogsafety.com 9min 46seconds

→Closing 10min 2seconds

{Closing Music}

Gettin' Some Second Life Lovin'

This past week, we discussed the common use of virtual online communities. One of the communities, in particular, Second Life, seemed to be all about making money, making friends, making whole a virtual life for yourself. This really led me to wonder about relationships in these types of communities and their impact.

I was not surprised to find just how much emotional and physical impact these relationships caused. One of the most important themes I found in this topic was extramarital affairs.

I read one particular report done by MSNBC that asked Is a virtual affair real-world infidelity? The article read through different relationships, the troubles, and the stories that came about due to extramarital online relationships. I clipped out some interesting excerpts to give you all a small glimpse on the report.

According to one of the men, “With Second Life, there wasn't the fear of a real-life physical attachment,” he says. “The fear of someone calling me up at home.”

According to the report, Sam, another man who was married and with a family, but having an online affair, "at some point, Sam’s in-world relationship with Kat began to intrude on his real life. A recent family vacation was punctuated by furtive Second Life meetings with his avatar girlfriend.There was a breakup, a half-hearted reconciliation and a final breakup. What Sam didn’t expect, he says, is how much the virtual breakup would affect him. Plenty of people, though, initiate in-game romances because they’re seeking something that’s lacking in their real-life relationship."

And in yet another instance, there is the story of Max. According to the article, "within six months of signing up for Second Life, Max’s wife was spending up to eight hours a day online — and even more on the weekends. Max says he found out later that his wife and her avatar boyfriend were having drinks together — in his house — via Web cam. Max went on Google and started doing some detective work. To his amazement, he learned that his wife had married her in-world boyfriend in Second Life."

It seemed obvious that online relationships could intrude in people's real lives, however, I never imagined I would read such stories. This is still a fairly new format of interpersonal communication which adds a whole new dimension to our lives. I think this is really interesting, in that it shows how people are very receptive to online communication. Now, I know that blogging, may not be as interpersonal as Second Life can be, but, this leads me to wonder in just how trusting people can be when receiving information and opinions online and if this is reflective on the concept of new influencers.

European Social Network Privacy

According to reports, "Social networking websites were urged Friday to warn users about the low level of protection given to their profiles at a Council of Europe-organized conference on the issue."

According to European Union Data Protection Authority (Cnil) most social networking sites fail to rightfully advice users when their profiles have minimal privacy protection. According to their recommendation, this would mean that website users should also be adviced of the risks that they could face by going online, and detailed instructions on how to change their protection settings. One of the sites listed in the report was Facebook.

The report states that this request was finalized after a 2-day conference, in which 70 countries stood in agreement of a universal standard on privacy and personal data protection. Among the detailed request, organisers are also considering offering financial rewards to countries, institutions and businesses each year that install the best privacy and personal data protection.

There are constant tragic reports in the United States, daily, that all trace back to personal protection online. Should the United States follow along with these other countries to better serve the America online community? I believe, like the other countries, that perhaps creating more awareness of the problem might be an interesting initiative.

Blog Action Day 2008!

What a smart idea! Bloggers of the world can unite to write on one specific topic on a specified day of the year. This year, POVERTY.

There are many things that create physical and emotional borders between everyone in this world, like languages, cultures, or oceans. However, I believe there are even stronger things that unite us. Whether those things are positives or negatives, they should remind us that we are all human, with the same essential needs and struggles. As ironic as it sounds, instead of the thought of harmony or peace bringing us together, how about we let poverty bring us together? The global fight against poverty.

Did you know that half the world – nearly three billion people – live on less than two dollars a day?

Or that over nine million people, of which five million are children, die worldwide each year because of hunger and malnutrition?

source

To find out more about what you can do to make a difference, there are several programs out there that are looking for your help, such as NetAid or DoSomething.org. Or, hey, join me in participating in Blog Action Day 2008!

I support blog action day because I feel that the most important thing that a person can do is help create awareness of a problem. So, bloggers of the world, crash those servers with a message worthwhile!

Blogging to the World

Sometimes it is hard to grasp the power and possibility of these blogs. It is not easy to consider that there are people out there in the world, outside of our classroom, that could possibly be reading these posts!

However, in one of my posts from last week, I was shocked to see a comment from an outside source! That was really amazing!

Understanding the magnitude of the possibilities within these messages is such a telling part of the nature of our generation. Years ago, it would take an extravagant talent for you to be able to speak to the world, but, now, you can do it, right out of your living room.We honestly have the world at our fingertips! Therefore, I propose to you, that if you have a strong message that you feel the world needs to know, go ahead, blog on!

Facebookers Unite!

Reports online show that nearly 2.7 million Facebook users are being urged to boycott the site next weekend as part of a protest for the new redesigned layout! What is even more interesting is that they are using Facebook itself to as a communication tool to pass on the word about the boycott!! They are communicating through what is now known as the fifith-largest Facebook social group.

Last week, Facebook chief operating officer, Sherryl Sandberg, was at a conference to discuss advertising methods though Facebook, however, the conversation quickly turned to to this topic instead. According to her, it was "good" to have so many consumers using Facebook to boycott Facebook! She was said, "We are trying to make the world more transparent, to give people more options to share." She said this has happened several times before, but, obviously not to this extent. However, she also said that they were optimistic that people would learn to love the new site, as it is, just like they learned to love the Newsfeed when it first appeared.

This is yet another example of how social media groups can make an impact on a larger scale. Now, after seeing her uneasyness about going back to the old layout, I am not sure whether this group will actually be able to make a difference, however, it is good to see that they are not obvlivious to the complaints of the users.

E-Marketing and E-ducation

This week, Carmella Manges, the Director of E-Marketing from St. Edward's University came to talk to the class. It was interesting because gave a very realistic perspective of everything we have covered so far. She described various situations in which made the subject of PR and Internet marketing a very tangible cause.

E-marketing in this realm of business seems to be increasingly growing, as even more traditional campuses, such as St. Edward's, adapt to change of the Millennial generation. It seems that, with most of these e-marketing approaches, schools are more able to open up personal conversation with prospective students, aswell as make them aware of involvement opportunities, and the like.

Personally, I like that our campus relies on e-marketing, even for students that have been here for a while. For instance, the e-newsletters we receive once a week. These letters inform us of both social and academic events that will be occurring in school during that week. I know that if I would not see some of those posts, I would never find out about certain things, although there are posters hanging out all over campus. I am sure, I can testify for several of my friends, the exact same thing. It is the same thing for restaurants, or events around town. Our generation is very reliant on an online approach to many things, therefore, in order to reach us, you might have to do things online.

This made me wonder, how many campuses actually have not adapted to an online communication system? Do those campuses really exist and how does this affect the social and academic community within their school? Most importantly, what do they students have to say about this?

Cyberbullying

According to recent studies, cyberbullying is a bigger deal than one might typically consider.

A study released this week shows that 3 out of 4 teens were bullied online over the last year, but, even more importantly only 1 in 10 of those kids told their parents or another adult about it.

The psychologists who followed through this study fear that most parents may not understand the vitality of the Internet to the social lives of their teens. According to the lead psychologist in the study, it is important that parents talk with their kids about what they may foresee when they join the Internet world.

Now, I know that this may not be only pertaining to blogging, but, I found it interesting that since the Internet has become such an integral part of our generation, that "blogging etiquette" is now something that child development professionals feel is now yet another talk that parents must have with their teens. Now, in a world, where all parents would follow these parental tips, would this have an effect over the blogging community? Now, given, I understand that Would people be less likely to be so judgmental and personal about their public commentary?

MTV will be Watching, Second-by-Second

According to news reports , "MTV Networks will track second-by-second viewing of Web commercials and videos, and link viewer online communities built around its TV programs." This is all based on their new advertising strategy that feels that they need to keep up with the generation of the digital age.

According to this new plan, MTV will pass on second-by-second data to their advertising partners about what videos and ads on its site are being watched by users online. They believe that they have a bigger community than they actually realize within their reach, therefore, they want to improve all sorts of interactive communication to give users a better experience.

For a long time, MTV was a label that defined our generation. However, this new advertising plan seems to point out that they are no longer in control. Is MTV no longer defining our youth? And, if MTV is reaching out to online communities, are online communities a more definitive label of this generation?

CEO's gone mad

Recently, in class, we have been discussing the importance of being careful with your "online identity." We have discussed several examples of people in charge using a blog-type format to communicate. We also continued to discuss the repercussions of an enraged CEO responding to a blog. Well, last night, I bumped into another one of those...

I had to do an online survey for a project I am working on, and since I am not really familiar with these programs, I decided to do an online blog search for some community feedback. I quickly bumped into The Moth. If you follow the link, you will see that this guy chose to comment on his personal experience with these programs. The article was fairly helpful, it points out the good and the bad of each software. Well, as I continued to scroll down to the comments, to see if there was anything helpful on there, I realized there was an enraged co-founder of a website on the loose! Vivek Bhaskaran, co-founder of QuestionPro, responded to The Moth in a way that proves just like we have discussed in class.

Now, in Bhaskaran's defense, he knew just how hurtful that blog post could be to his program. Honestly, now that I come to think about it, I never even went to the website in question. Therefore, this leads me to think about that quote any publicity is good publicity!

Can bad response customer blogs be good publicity?

Stumbling newbie

Okay, okay...So I finally got suckered into joining one of the social bookmarking sites mentioned in class (that was not mandatory): StumbleUpon.com.

I can't talk about it much yet, because I am too recent of a member, but, so far, so good! It is nice to learn, explore, and find several good sites of my interest that I would have probably never found, or taken the time to find, honestly. I suppose, as of now, I have found myself never doing "nothing" online, because I am stumbling, and I like to tell myself that at the very least, I'm being resourceful, and finding interesting sites. However, I have also found that as for the times I am actually supposed to be doing work, I find myself stumbling once again. I suppose that is the default of the newbie obsession to any other site.

Blogging or Plugging? (Now, that is the question!)

Blogging has not only opened gateways for the everyday person to talk to the world, but, celebrities have also found themselves at good use of this form of communication. This, then allows them to create a more personal and straightforward conversation with you and !. You know, to tell us of their problems, and everyday events. However, this also allows them to plug in their personal agendas.

A recent example of this is Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, who has started a blog. In the blog, he tells of being at risk for Parkinson's Disease, and then he also uses his blog to plug his wife's genetic testing start-up firm. This is the link to the blog, for anyone who is interested: http://too.blogspot.com/

This led me to question, can blogging be considered more successful or useful than actually going through the trouble of paying millions of ad dollars?

Is RSS the new DVR?

Recently, in class, we have been discussing RSS. I, personally, had never used, or ever heard of this technology. I feel that I understand the convenience, however, somehow, I still feel rather hesitant about applying every single website I visit in my new Google Reader. I feel that there is something to be said for the truly dedicated fan to a website, no? I mean, who knows, someone with opposing views may say that they use their RSS, and feel just as, or even more dedicated to any particular site because at least, they will for sure not miss any new articles or...that maybe, this way, they truly show to be interested on the content rather than the pretty colors it lies on. I don't know.

But, that same thought got me thinking again. It got me thinking about RSS working just as like our TV's DVR system. Essentially, is RSS not causing us to skip over all of the other crap on the page to get to the real meat, just as we skip over all commercials? DVR has caused quite a controversial stir, however, is internet advertising still not as acclaimed to be create an issue of importance out of this at all?

What does this mean for graphic designers out there designing webpages that may not be looked at much longer?

Or to major firms getting paid millions of dollars to place banners alongside every and any blank space on a website?

In the end, is getting more RSS subscriptions better for a website than getting more hits?

The Ol' High Speed Rumor Mill

Well, I am not much for writing, but I am one for thinking, processing, and observing things around me, so I will go ahead and give this blogging phenomenon a chance. 

I think it goes without being said, that this is one of the most controversially political things in our history. First, the nation was split as the Democrats battled it out, competing from what almost seemed like two completely separate parties. Then, after that was settled, Americans were thrown for another loop when McCain threw a major curveball in the political race: Sarah Palin. 

Sarah Palin has been in the limelight, literally seconds, probably milliseconds, since the announcement of the Vice Presidential nomination. Everything form her beauty queen photographs, to her exercise routine, and caribou hunting skills, sparked all over the front pages of all major websites. 

I find it interesting to consider just how much must have gone into the protection and media watch before the public release of her name. Can you imagine how many websites and postings they must have created/deleted to prepare for the mass search engine entries that were to come? I mean, in essence, they had to prepare what the wanted you to learn about this person. Therefore, just like people clear their names so that when their future employers Google them, they may not find anything incriminating, the same way works for Palin. Palin had to cover her tracks so that when the people of the United States Googled her, we wouldn't see those embarrassing Facebook pictures from that toga party last year!

Well, that may have worked well at first, but, who was to control the mass media, including the common day blogger, from there on after? This short news piece gives an idea of just how much the Internet media has had an effect over Palin. 

Now, bloggers, just like Bob, who was mentioned in the news piece have caused a riot by simply sitting in front of their computers for about 15 minutes and distributing a message that has made its way to millions and millions all over the world! I didn't decide to post on this issue because I am a follower of Palin, by any means, but, because I thought this was a great example of the way that the Internet affects social medial and public relations. The Internet has surely changed the way that information s distributed to the rest of the world and the way it affects the public view.