Twitter Chat Is Simple, Somewhat Inefficient

For the Twitter Chat I chose to participate in the PRSSA chat. This chat involved PR students and experts discussing topics related to Public Relations. The chat was slow at first and I was worried about having enough content for the assignment, but things started picking up after a few minutes.

At first, I discussed internships and the leader of the chat, Lindsay Wamble, gave me some information about how she got her internship and a number of people asked me about my internship plans. This shows that Twitter chats can be a good way to network with people around the world and find job opportunities.

During the chat I asked a number of questions about PR and finding jobs in PR. Lindsay told me about the many different careers in PR and I gave my insight on the ones I was interested in. She also told me about writing for The Lantern, something that I will definitely think about doing in the coming weeks.

Overall I feel Tweetchats are too disorganized to be efficient communication tools. The tweets were sporadic and I found myself waiting a number of minutes for another tweet to appear. There were tweets coming from other areas of the country not related to our chat and that was very annoying. Another issue is that there were only about three or four people participating in the chat and everything was going fairly slow. I feel a regular chat room is still a better option than a Twitterchat.
 

A Social Media Idea I wouldn't Wrap My Head Around

Facebook is a fun tool and a great way to keep in touch with friends in high school, family overseas and to communicate with others about similar interests. But sometimes I feel that the social media website can be taken way too seriously. Many times in the past I have had friends take Facebook way too seriously, whether its a random comment from someone, or a giant argument about sports or politics. However, I think where i would draw the line is a vest that simulates hugs for every time you get a "Like."

This vest is supposed to squeeze your body every time one of your friends likes something on your page. There are a lot of things i see wrong with this idea. First of all, I don't find the vest very fashionable. It might fit other people's style but I would not look good wearing it.

I don't see how this vest will work efficiently with Facebook. It will likely need some sort of Wi-Fi device installed in it, or it will need to be connected to your phone. So that means that it will drain the phones battery and will make it a hassle to disconnect every time you want to use your phone. This likely would make the vest cost hundreds of dollars. It could also be damaged by rain or snow very easily.

The idea of this vest scares me a little bit. What if the vest malfunctions and starts squeezing my chest without end? It could cause a serious injury. The other aspect is that people with many friends who receive a lot of feedback from people could get annoyed by this vest hugging them 20 or 30 times a day. It could also be a distraction in class for others around you. And then there is the issue of friends trying to prank you. If my friends knew i was wearing this vest, they would immediately log on to Facebook and start liking every single item they can find on my profile. It's something I wouldn't even bother with. The creators of this vest have not yet decided if they would start selling this item, but I would easily say no if they asked for my advice.

Social Media: the key to winning the 2012 Election

In 2008, Barack Obama used the Internet and social media to gain the support of countless voters under the age of 25. One could argue that his excellent utilization of social media was the key to his victory in the 2008 election. Over the next four years, the popularity of social media has skyrocketed and appears to be the key to winning the 2012 election.

President Obama's opponent in 2008, John Mccain, did not utilize social media the way Obama did. However, Obama's current opponent, Republican Mitt Romney, knows that social media is one of the most important aspects of campaigning these days. Both candidates are using every social media hub they can find. From Pinterest to Tumblr, every website is a valuable tool for these candidates to utilize.

Barack Obama seems to have a better grip on these tools and has had more experience using these social media sites. He has a better understanding of what young voters like to see. The New York Times article above describes his posts as "sharper." Romney's following is smaller on sites like Tumblr. This should be a red flag for Romney. I think that Obama's past success was due mostly to the amount of young voters he won over. It looks as if he will be able to win the young vote yet again.

As someone who does not affiliate with either candidate, I feel Obama's messages are stronger. Since Ohio is one of the most important states in this election, I think Obama has the advantage especially in Franklin County, where many Ohio State students will be voting. Obama has had campaigners on campus for many weeks now and I have yet to see someone from the Romney campaign anywhere on campus. It seems to me that Romney has conceded the youth vote.

Facebook Hits a Billion Users, But Still Has Plenty of Work To Do

Five or so years ago when i first joined Facebook, i was not expecting to get much out of it. I thought it was just an upstart website trying to ripoff MySpace. Just a few years later, Facebook ran MySpace to the ground and became the most popular website and social network in the world. Today, the site hit a very significant milestone: 1 Billion Users!

Who would have thought that in less than 10 years this company would become one of the biggest in the world? A lot of people over the years have told me that Facebook is stupid and a waste of time. But Facebook proved how powerful social media is and it created an entirely new marketing strategy for companies.

Despite the milestone,Facebook does have some issues to work on. When the company made itself public and open to the stock market in May, the value of the stock was slashed in half because of how much it struggled. Investors have become very wary of the company and CEO Mark Zuckerburg has to rebuild confidence in the company he created in a Harvard dorm room.

The struggle with the stock market has led to Facebook making its first true advertising campaign. The company created an advertisement involving chairs and their similarity to social networks. This is the first time Facebook has had to fight negative views of their company. Zuckerburg hasn't confirmed whether or not the advertisements will be put on television. I think that this should be considered carefully because the company might come off as desperate if they do put out TV ads.

Another goal of Zuckerburg and Facebook is to break through the walls of China's Internet. China accounts for the most Internet users in the world, but the government has very strict control of the Internet and does not allow citizens to use Facebook. Zuckerburg's wife has relatives in China, and is learning to speak Chinese. If Facebook is ever able to make itself available in China it could be another significant moment in the company's history. It could also help open up China to more Internet freedom and would let Chinese citizens connect with the world, something many of us may take for granted.

Ohio State Football Gets a Chance to Defend Gordon Gee

The Ohio State Buckeyes' Athletic Director Gene Smith announced today that the football team will be playing a home and home series with Texas Christian University (or TCU) starting in 2018. Smith has been looking for tougher non-conference opponents for the Buckeyes to play over the next few years. The two-game series with TCU has the opportunity to be an exciting set of games that provides both schools with national attention. The game also gives the Buckeyes an opportunity to defend one of the schools most beloved figures.

Two years ago, OSU president Gordon Gee received national attention for his comments about TCU and Boise State. In a statement, Gee said that the Buckeyes "do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor" in reference to how tough the Big Ten conference is in comparison to the conferences that TCU and Boise State play in. Gee felt that the two schools did not deserve to play for a National Championship even if they were undefeated because of how easy their schedules were. Gee sounded ignorant to the national media especially when he claimed he "didn't know enough about the X's and O's of college football." Gee's statements angered many TCU fans and Gee was in somewhat of a PR nightmare.

The matchup with TCU offers Ohio State an opportunity to prove Gee's point. If the Buckeyes can outperform and defeat TCU each time it will validate what Gee said. It will provide Gee with an "I told you so" moment. TCU has not played many tough opponents in recent years and playing against the school whose president criticized them will provide plenty of media coverage.

The only risk for the Buckeyes is the possibility of TCU's football program declining and the game losing its luster by 2018. This happened to the Buckeyes this season when they played a subpar California team. The game was scheduled years ago when Cal was at its peak and had numerous star athletes. Unfortunately Cal arrived in Columbus as a mediocre team that the Buckeyes were expected to defeat easily.

When President Gee made his statements about TCU, there was little he could do to weather the media storm coming at him. However, if his school can dominate TCU in the coming years, there will not be much for TCU fans to say.