But I have decided to continue. Once I got started writing these blogs and had an idea of how to go about them I began to actually enjoy writing them. I have learned a lot about myself, the willingness of others, and the benefits of blogging, and I want to continue to learn.

I have decided to change-up the topic a little from here on out. Though I am sure I will continue to talk plenty about social media, I want to focus more on my experience as a college senior in her last semester trying to get a job. I know I am pretty worried about finding one right after I graduate and would like all the help I can get, and would like to help others. So I am inviting everyone to continue to read my blog. Read about my trials and errors, my successes, and whatever else I will experience during my last semester of college while searching for a job. Please offer any advice you have, and for those of you in the same boat as me, let me know some of your experiences.

Allan, thanks for a great semester and I hope to continue to receive your feedback. Also, I promise this post is on time, even though its going to say I posted it at 12:45a. I think my time in EST. Thanks again!

When planning a social media campaign it is important to keep in mind the client, their image, and who you would want to target. It is also important to keep in mind that your client might not totally understand all aspects to social media and who exactly is using social media.

My friend Emily from class had a great example of this. She was talking with the manager at the restaurant she works for about social media and his take on it if they were to start a campaign for the restaurant. His response was “I don’t want a bunch of tweens coming in here and ordering cheeseburgers and fries” (the restaurant she works for is Italian cuisine). CLEARLY, he does not know much about social media.

Because of how new social media is there are going to be a lot of skeptics, such as myself with blogs before I began one of my own, the important thing is to remember that it might take others longer to adapt, but be patient and explain to them how it can help their company and you might really be able to create a great campaign for them!

Most of you told me to just dive in, follow others, and figure it out as I go, which I plan on doing. When I first started blogging I was frustrated with having to think of topics to discuss, thinking none of them were interesting enough. As I have used my blog more I find the topics and discussions coming a lot easier. Hopefully this will happen with Twitter.

Also, in the PPT Josmosis6 posted, I found a lot of good starting points and suggestions. I think the most helpful of the presentation was when he said “Be the person you want to follow.” I am worried that my followers won’t be as interested in my opinions as I anticipate, but I think if I follow his advice and tweet about things I would want to read about I will be able to gaining a following (I hope!). I’ll just make sure not to tweet “sitting on the patio!”

I am currently in finals week and have NO time to start my Twitter account right now, but I do plan on starting it next week, so look out for me!

Thanks again for all your help!

This year it seems that companies are turning to social media to try another way to reach their target market. But, is this really differentiating themselves.

“Retailers are embracing social media like never before this holiday season. More than half are including it in their marketing strategies, up drastically from only 4% in 2007, according to a new survey out from BDO Seidman.”

This drastic jump in the use of social media is both positive and negative. Positive because the media platforms are really thriving from being used by such major corporations as Best Buy and EBay, and for the companies because it is an inexpensive way to reach their target. It is negative because consumers may see the overload of information as a negative and associate this negative with the brands. This relates back to the post I made just before this one about taking your campaign to the next level. How far is too far?

Does anyone feel they are not only becoming overwhelmed with paid advertisements during the holiday season, but also by the amount of social media that is being utilized and reaching you on a more personal level that you may not want to be at with these companies?

In one of his blog posts, Jared Quinn uses Samsung’s “Tap and Take” campaign as an example for an effective social media campaign. I think he makes a lot of great points.

I absolutely agree that a social media campaign should be unobtrusive. Using social media really targets consumers on a personal basis and by being too forward the consumer may see the brand in a negative light.

I also think he makes a great point about participation. A social media campaign should be one consumers have the choice of participating in if they wish, and if they wish to not, the campaign should still make sense to them and be able to be followed. This should especially hold true while using such platforms as Twitter that are made to be able to easily use for information, or easily tune out.

Take a look at this article if you are having trouble with a campaign, it helped me a lot.

The ideas for this came slowly and as our teacher observed us develope these ideas he kept telling us to take it further, do more with it. At first I was frustrated, but I think his pushing us made us come out with a better plan than we originally were going to stop with.

While making this campaign however, I wondered where it was appropriate to stop. Sometimes I felt as if we were over doing the idea and the mediums, which my cause the campaign to burn out faster than anticipated. How can one tell when they should stop and just go with what they have? When does a social media campaign become to obtrusive?

I am not the only one who has these reservations regarding Twitter. Simon Dumenco, who has a Twitter account (@simondumenco) and uses it quite often, seems to agree. In an article he wrote, “10 Things Twitter Taught Mr About Media — and Myself,” he also states that he doesn’t feel he needs to know everything right away and he is not sure what to believe. Though he sees these as negatives regarding Twitter, he admits he LIKES to know things right away, regardless of if he NEEDS to or not, and he finds an adrenalin rush in Twitter.

This all makes me a little curious, maybe even enough to create an account. But where do I start? What do I say? Do I have a theme are just tweet whatever I’m feeling? How often? Before I make any commitment to start a Twitter account I am going to need help. Any suggestions?

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?

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?

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?