Your Facebook page is preventing that interview…

As I begin to look into full-time jobs after graduation (May will be here way before I’m ready) I find myself checking newly added Facebook photos, as well as old ones from freshman year of college, to make sure they are appropriate. Ever since I created a MySpace account in high school my dad had been telling me to not put anything up that I wouldn’t want certain people to see, and all I thought was that he was the only person I didn’t want seeing my pictures!

Throughout my classes and while talking with professionals, I am realizing more and more how crucial it is to make sure the content on the internet could not sabotage my chance at getting a job after graduation. I was reading an article online that further verified what I was constantly being told. According to an article published by the New York Times entitled A Pair of Social Media Predicaments, a recent study reports that about 45 percent of employers questioned were using social networks to screen candidates which is more than double a report from earlier this year.

As much as I am annoyed that employers judging candidates based on their social profile, I also understand. I feel that people act different when out with friends than they do in the workplace, but employers are always thinking about the reputation of the company.

What I find difficult is deciding what is appropriate? and what is not?

Social TV?

Just when I thought I knew all the different types of social media I find out about a new one. Today I read about social TV. In the online article Social TV: Watch Hulu with your Facebook and MySpace Friends they talk about social TV, which has been avaliable since this past April.

With this program, one is able to watch a television show and leave comments about certain parts for their friends to see when they watch the show. This is how the website explains the program:

The cool thing is that this is not done in real-time, but instead any time you chatter, it is synced to the video. So if you watch The Simpsons and put in a comment 6 minutes into the show, future users will see that comment, even if they watch the episode the next day. It’s like a running commentary left by social network users.

I think is is very interesting, and to be honest wish I knew about this sooner, but I have a few concerns regarding the idea of social television. The website insists that this will not take over regular television, but with all the internet TV shows people are able to watch these days, there is a possibilty that could happen. I don’t think it will happen anytime soon, but with programs that allow viewers to watch shows and talk to their friends at the same time about the show, people are going to continue to do what is most convenient for them, and this is a very convenient program.

What do you think? Has internet TV shows already started to take over regular television? Will this idea of social tv contribute?

PG Brand & Marketing Officer Supporting PR and Social Media

When I first started this blog I was very skeptical. Though I understood social media and used it quit frequently, this is my first blog and the blank screen when I went to write my first post, all five times I had attempted to with no luck at first, was extremely intimidating. This is only my fourth post so I am clearly not a pro, yet, but I find myself thinking about PR related topics that come up in my classes and work, and if I think they are something worthy to blog about. In my last post I talked about the social media revolution video. I was shown the video in class and immediately wanted to write about it. The same thing happened to me today…

At my internship with Hearst Magazines in the Harper’s Bazaar Chicago sales office, I often am responsible for keeping up with current news about our clients. I was reading an article today that Marc Pritchard, the Global Brand Building and Marketing Officer at Procter & Gamble Co., wrote about public relations. In the article he stated a few reasons why he believes in PR:

“PR Drives consumer loyalty and, ultimately, sales when it’s an integral part of a marketing communications program.”

1. Social Media and PR are inseparable. Word-of-mouth is the oldest and most personal form of marketing.

2. PR is the most authentic form of marketing because people advocate for brands in which they genuinely believe.

3. Pr is the best way to keep brands relevant by connecting them to pop culture. An example of this would be CoverGirl using celebrities

4. PR is the great amplifier to make big ideas even bigger.

I think Pritchard makes great points here and broadly touches upton everything PR does.

Are there any more points we can add to the list?