Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Censorship

“Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material, which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the government or media organizations as determined by a censor.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an organization that has over 500,000 members which is dedicated to defending freedom. One of the freedoms they protect is the freedom of speech. In many countries today people are still forced into censoring their speech along with many of their expressions.  Censoring still occurs in modern countries like the United States. Many things such as music, the Internet, and television are continuously censored. Certain things are censored due to inappropriate content. Many things should be censored so that children will remain innocent, however they should be guided instead of having to censor everything for the rest of the people.  It is not fair that all people have to endure censorship.

When things are censored it suppresses the ideas and information that people find to be dangerous. It is no more complicated than someone saying, "Don't let anyone read this book, or buy that magazine, or view that film, because I object to it!" Censors pressure public institutions, like libraries, to suppress and remove from public access information they judge inappropriate or dangerous. If things are censored no one else has the chance to read or view the material and make up their own minds about it. The censor wants to prejudge materials for everyone.

I wanted to spread awareness about how people today still are continuously censored. I decided I wanted to make my movie on censorship. The idea came to me as I was searching for social issues that were important to me. Censorship was one particular issue that really caught my interest. I thought I could find pictures of people as they were silenced to put together my movie. The people in my video all have their mouth’s covered representing censorship. They are unable to speak. The people cannot get their messages across because they are forced into silence.    

   With my video I wanted to inspire people to speak out rather then for them to continue to stay quiet. I wanted to portray the people as being held back from being able share their views. Throughout time people have been forced to censored their art, speech, and ideas. In my video I used more pictures of women because they have always endured some type of censorship whether it was not being able to vote or limited ability to speak their minds for being women. Women were never taken seriously when they did speak out. Women have been forced to censor themselves for many years. My video will show how censorship should be opposed.


 

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Facebook and Linkedin: The New Face of PR

  The public relations industry continues to change more and more. As technology evolves, so does the PR world. New tools are being used for clients to get their names out. People want their companies or products to be known. With the emergence of social media networks more and more public relation firms are using social networks such as Facebook and Linkedin to keep up with their audiences. When a company decides to use social networks it is because they can spread news faster through social networks. Web 2.0 platforms can help businesses build credibility, drive sales, lower operating costs, and increase brand equity. 
 Linkedin is more for professional people rather than just friends. Linkedin is used to keep connected with certain businesses. You can even search for jobs of your specialty on Linkedin. Linkedin is a social network that connects working professionals. 

 Nathan Egan has five important reasons as to why PR should use social networks. 


Monday, March 30, 2009

PODCAST: How Social Media Can Benefit Corporations in Their PR Strategies

PODCAST: How Social Media Can Benefit Corporations in Their PR Strategies

In our podcast we chose to interview Cynthia Baker from Accolades Public Relations. In the interview Cynthia discusses how social media has changed the PR industry. In the interview she states that in order to succeed in the PR world you need use both traditional Public Relations methods as well as incorporating the new social media tactics. In the interview Cynthia offers insightful information about the public relations industry. I really enjoyed listening to what Cynthia had to say during the interview. I feel like I learned a lot working on this podcast project. I am glad I was able to learn from a woman who runs her own PR company. 

    ">Link 

Produced, Directed, Edited and Recorded: Alejandra Gonzales, Monica Hampton, Jaime Masterson, and Ailynn Skinner

00:07 INTRO: Jaime Masterson & Alejandra Gonzales

00:30: WELCOME: Ailynn Skinner & Monica Hampton, introducing Cynthia Baker

00:46: Overview of Accolade Public Relations

01:25: 1st QUESTION: What are the first steps you advise a client in entering the social media realm?

03:40: 2nd QUESTION: What is the most important social media component for companies to use

04:56: 3rd QUESTION: Who should be blogging within the company?

05:45: 4th QUESTION: Business Strategies, not just PR Strategies are incorporating social media

06:49: 5th QUESTION: How do social media plans differ between sizes of companies?

07:48: 6th QUESTION: How has social media has changed the PR industry?

10:04: OUTRO:

Music by: Ariyasamade

Song: Just Relax

Found on http://www.podsafemusic.com

Monday, March 9, 2009

Facebook Can be Harmful to Your Computer

  I came across this article that said Facebook was being attacked with a Koobface Worm virus for the fifth time in a span of one week. The worm has even wiggled its way onto other social networking sites. In the latest attack, researchers at Trend Micro discovered that a user receives a link that appears to be a message from a Facebook friend. After the user clicks on the link a legitimate-looking YouTube page pops up. The YouTube page is even complete with fake comments from "viewers." Thvideo appears to come from the "friend" that sent the user the link, along with his or her name and a pulled Facebook profile photo. In order to view the video, the user is prompted to install a version of Adobe(NSDQ:ADBE) Flash Player, which is actually malicious code that unloads a variant of the Koobface worm once the user hits "install." 
People need to be careful and aware of what they open on the internet. People may think Facebook is a trusted site but even it has its faults.  

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Filters and Fanatics

 Fanatics are a great new part of the PR industry. Fanatics give products and companies free PR. Some sites can be very helpful. When shows or companies are going under the fans are there to support them. The fan websites spread the word fast and can help raise money or boost the shows ratings. With the help of the fans feedback companies can change what they are doing wrong. The companies find out what they need to change by reading the fan sites. The companies then find out what the customers want fixed so they change what needs to be fixed in order to please the customer. Fan sites can really get the message about your company. People who are loyal customers really enjoy sharing their thoughts and how the company can improve. People can come together in a fan site and share stories about experiences they have had with the company. Fan sites are a great thing. The

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Oscars Tonight

   The 81st annual Academy Awards are tonight! There are many amazing movies this year that have been nominated. I am very excited to see tonight's winners. One of my personal favorites to win is Slumdog Millionaire. I really think it deserves to take home the Oscar. It was such a heartwarming tale of struggle and triumph. 
   Oscar night is a great night for fashion! The top designers get a lot of free publicity from the celebrities that wear their designs. Many people love to hear what the celebrities are wearing but, only a few lucky people get to actually buy those designer dresses. I'm anxious to see who wins and what people are wearing! I hope everyone enjoys the Oscars!  

Microblogging for PR

   Twitter is a new form of social networking called micro-blogging. Twitter will allow you share your thoughts or what you are doing with your friends and family by only using 140 characters. It is a short way to stay updated in people's lives. With Twitter you have to keep your thoughts brief. Twitter is fun, but is also good for business.  It is a wonderful way to see what other people are thinking about issues and products. Twitter is helpful as a PR tool because it helps companies get to the point of their message. 
     Twitter is another way  for a company to connect with their customers by following the customer's brand. A company can respond when a customer tweets about a certain product of theirs or when their company is mentioned. While micro-blogging is still "new" to many marketers and public relationships professionals, it is quickly becoming a must need like a website. Since micro-blogs are bite-sized updates, a more intimate environment is created between the Twitter and its followers. A company that engages its audience with micro-blogging can further increase its brand awareness, which creates a stronger community.   



 

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Some Great Social Bookmarking Tools You Can Use

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Everyone Can Use Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking is a way for Internet users to rank and store websites, blogs, articles, videos and other types of website content bookmarking is making many people's lives easier. People are saving time using bookmarking sites. More and more people are using these sites. Professors are using bookmarking sites to connect with their students. By using such sites professors share information with students and colleagues. Rather then emailing each person the sites, the bookmarked sites are tagged so that everyone can have access to them. People are even using social bookmarking sites to promote their businesses. Social bookmarking sites are particularly popular among people with affiliate marketing programs because such sites are a free and effective way to get backlinks and drive traffic to websites and blogs. Anyone can use social bookmarking to help them find websites for business or for pleasure. Here are some tips you should know about social bookmarking  

Social Bookmarking: New Ways to Connect with People

  Social bookmarking is a new way people can connect on the internet. Social bookmarking websites are places where a person can bookmark certain websites they enjoy. It is the practice of saving bookmarks to a private website and "tagging" them with keywords. Social bookmarking, basically, is a way for people to move their list of favorite sites from their hard drive out into the cloud by saving them online. People can search other people who have similar interests as they do. Social bookmarking websites are becoming more and more popular. They allow you to save bookmarks online categorize them with keywords instead of saving them as bookmarks in the favorite’s list of your browserBookmarking also is very helpful in saving time. By bookmarking you can search for certain topics and interests with a simple keyword. There are dozens social bookmark sites. Among the more well known are Digg, Delicious, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Jumping on the Social Media Band Wagon

   So many people have begun joining in on the social media band wagon. Millions of people are connected each day through these websites. Social media is the new way of sharing information with people. With social media websites people can stay connected and in touch all over the world. With social media websites you can share pictures, thoughts, personal information, and just about anything else. Becoming hooked on social media websites is easy to do. Even my aunt and uncle have a Facebook account and they are technologically challenged. If you have not heard of social media websites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter then you must be living under a rock. 

The Clue Train Manifesto

   The way the world works is changing therefore, companies must adapt to that change. The Clue Train Manifesto states that companies must speak with a human voice so they can relate to their customers. If a company does not change to fit in with the times of the Internet they will begin losing customers. The loyalty people once had to particular companies will disappear if companies do not adjust to the new social media age. People want to buy products from companies they can trust. The Clue Train Manifesto is trying to help companies become more human and get in touch with the people and their needs. The Clue Train Manifesto is trying to get companies to become more networked. I believe that the use of social media is a great way for companies to relate to their customers. By using social media people will be heard.