Aug
7
Why blog when you can twitter?
August 7, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
It’s always popular to compare different things. Is Sir Alex a better manager than Arsène Wenger, what’s the better car of a BMW and a Mercedes, and who is really the fastest kid in the class?
After blogs, Myspace, Facebook and Twitter became popular, each of these members of the social media class have been compared against each other, however I’m not going into the discussion of “what’s best” and so on, as they all have their advantages.
What I started thinking about a few days ago, was if Twitter (in time) will lead to a major decrease of blogs? Not because people don’t like blogs or stops reading them, but perhaps the bloggers just doesn’t bother to blog anymore, because they find it too time-consuming, and just as easy to micro-blog their messages across through Twitter?
Obviously, Twitter has its major limitation when it comes to the amount of words you are able to write compared to a blog, but still, it’s easy, quick and as with blogs; you get the attention of a (possibly) large audience. At the moment many blog and Twitter at the same time, but I feel the need to predict, that after a certain time, a blogger would either quit their blog, close their Twitter account, or at least blog a lot less frequently than they used to before they started to twitter.
Clearly, I don’t have any proofs or statistics to back up my “prediction”, but some people say that they have busy life’s (they all do really). And when the romance of participating in “every” social media tool available at the World Wide Web disappears, it will be so much more easier to only write those 140 letters and click post.
I might be one of them? Just check the date of my last post!
Do you only twitter? Only blog? Both, or perhaps neither? Give me a comment on your view.
By the way… Follow me at http://twitter.com/tmn84
Until next time….Goodbye
Jul
6
Post dissertation hand-in
July 6, 2009 | | 3 Comments
It takes time before it sinks in. What ?, do you properly ask yourself.
Well, I’ll tell you. In the weeks that have passed after I handed in my Master dissertation, I still find it hard to really understand that I’m done. I’ve completed two degrees in PR, but I still have the hunger to spend a great deal of my time on this interesting field of study. Every day.
I guess it wouldn’t be too strange if I wanted a break from something I’ve spent so much time on since 2004. However, I don’t feel like I need it. I’m just as interested now as when I started, and if I’m lucky, PR will still be as exciting when I’m 50 as it’s today.
I doubt that PR will ever be boring. PR is such a broad field, which makes the possibilities endless when it comes to areas to explore, and that’s clearly a good thing.
Next week it’s graduation time in Leeds, and I really look forward to seeing my class mates and tutors one final time, before I start my PR career. As I’ve studied PR both in Norway and the UK, I’ve benefitted from experiencing two different types of approaches to PR. I’m not going to discuss which I prefer the most, but both have their qualities and flaws. Like everyone else.
Even though I’m without a job at the moment (I’m applying for those of you who need a PR graduate), I see no reason to be worried. In today’s financial climate it takes time to find a job, but when I eventually do, I’m certain that it will be the right one.
I feel very sure that I did the right thing when I chose to concentrate on PR, instead of taking a Master in a different field. I belong in PR, and the only thing that’s missing is that someone in PR needs me!
Apr
1
PROpenMic’s first anniversary!
April 1, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
One year after Robert French started up PROpenMic, a social network for PR students, faculty and practitioners, it celebrates its first anniversary with 4100 members from 50 countries and more than 300 colleges! That is truly amazing and Mr. French has every reason to be proud of the effort he has put into PROpenMic.
For all of you out there who still aren’t members of PROpenMic, I encourage you to check it out, and take part in this great social network.
Happy Birthday PROpenMic – I’m looking forward to the next one!
Mar
6
UK’s Twitter capital?
March 6, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
PR Week reports in their latest issue that while PR professionals flock to Twitter, research has found tweeters in Coventry to have most followers.
The survey made by the Social Media Library , shows that Twitters in Coventry have an average of 540 followers pr person, while the average in London is as “low” as 256.
PR agencies are also known for their obsession for Twitter, and practitioners often takes their habit with them when they go home.
Citigate Dewe Rogerson director Phil Szomszor is quoted in PR Week saying: ‘There seems to be a general obsession among many PROs about who comes out top and who’s got the most followers.’
However, does this make Coventry the UK’s Twitter capital?
Mar
5
Online knowledge
March 5, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
I’ve earlier blogged about the French publishing house Larousse, who launched its encyclopaedia online, and established themselves as a competitor for Wikipedia, at least on the French market.
Well, now has “Det store Norske Leksikon” (The great Norwegian encyclopaedia) taken the step to go online without any kind of subscription needed. Two of Norway’s largest publishing houses, Gyldendal and Aschehoug, are behind SNL, and the encyclopaedia have sold over 4 million copies since 1975, but both companies have a 100 year long history in selling encyclopaedias.
SNL has been available online since 2000 but then only by subscription membership which not surprisingly hasn’t worked out after Wikipedia’s entry. On 26th of February 2009 300 000 articles was made available. The online encyclopaedia will be funded through advertisement, and people will be able to contribute with articles. This is something that Encyclopædia Britannica also has chosen to do. Interestingly, SNL, will also depend on newly recruited sphere leaders, which will be responsible for quality assurance on the articles which are contributed.
Anyone could apply to be a sphere leader, and you don’t need to be educated in a certain area to be accepted, but some knowledge is obviously expected. By choosing this model, SNL makes it possible to accept contributions from the public, but at the same time avoid losing their status as a trusted encyclopaedia.
A survey made by SNL showed that 86% trusted a traditional encyclopaedia, but only 46% trusted the online alternatives that have been available so far. 88% of the participants answered that they would use SNL if they became available for free. That’s promising news for the online version of SNL.
So, is this the future for traditional encyclopaedias? If they should be able to compete with Wikipedia I think this is the only way to go, and I also believe that it’s a market for these types of encyclopaedias. That’s because even though people use Wikipedia a lot, it’s because of a lack of a better free alternative online, and most people wouldn’t trust their life on Wikipedia information.
The other traditional encyclopedia’s in Denmark and Germany has already tried the SNL model, but e.g. Sweden’s national encyclopaedia still continues to offer a subscription based service. Time will show who made the right choice.
Feb
9
You can run, but you can’t hide!
February 9, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
Google strikes again, but have they crossed the line?
For every man or woman who wants to be in total control over where their girlfriend/boyfriend keeps themselves, Google have developed the perfect programme. Google Latitude.
The recently released programme is a location-aware mobile application which makes it possible for mobile phone users to allow friends to track his or hers whereabouts. These chosen friends may track the user through Google Maps via their own iGoogle accounts. Amazingly, the exact location can be shown, but fortunately it can be limited to identifying the city, or if the user actually wants privacy, they can disappear. The location features put into action are normally only transmitted to emergency telephone numbers.
GPS navigation on your mobile phone is not newsworthy anymore; if you want to unveil yourself to selected inhabitants of the World you are now free to do so. The question is if this is something people really want to do?
It’s probably bad enough that 98% of all mobile phone users carry it around wherever they go, but an increasingly amount of us updates Facebook and Twitter through our mobile phone when travelling. Funny enough, that’s no longer needed as your friends can check their iGoogle account to find out where you are in the world.
So, will you show your friends where you are at all times? Or is it enough with Twitter and Facebook updates?
Feb
4
Facebook’s five – hip hip hooray
February 4, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
Five years and 150 million users later, Facebook has gone from a college project to a global communcations platform. That’s just simply astonishing and shows how dramatically the internet has changed in the last few years, how fast something can become a worldwide trend and a huge part of people’s daily life.
Jeremiah Jowyand of Forrester Research claims that Facebook is a place where you can communicate with people you actually know, and it’s different from other pages like MySpace where there’s a lot of celebs and fictional characters created by PR companies. However is this true?
Perhaps two years ago, but today there’s a lot of commercial profiles made by bands like Oasis, car manufactures like BMW and even movies like Changeling are promoted through Facebook. Clearly they have realised that by only being present at e.g. MySpace they lose out on a big part of their possible audience, which again leads to lost income.
So Facebook might have started up by being a site where people were able to stay in touch with present and “forgotten” friends, but today it’s something much more commercial than that. For Facebook the challenge would be to get a hold of the possible income they can get from large global company’s who want to get closer to their 150 million users, and at the same time make sure that their own users aren’t scared away. If they fail Facebook could dissapear just as quickly as they arrived.
Facebook brought something revolutionary to the internet, and have users all over the world. For that reason alone I congratulate Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook with their fifth birthday.
By the way – I’m sorry I haven’t blogged for a very long time, but as many of you know, the last months have been rather busy. However, that’s not a very good excuse and I promise to update the blog more often.
Oct
16
Flat Earth News
October 16, 2008 | | 1 Comment
Flat Earth News
“Hello! I hate you and all of your colleagues, but could you please give me something to write about?”
Nick Davies stated in his book “Flat Earth News” that up to 80% of the news in newspapers comes from either PR or news agencies as Reuters and AP.
I find that rather amusing, especially when we know how much criticism our industry get from “up to 80%” of every journalist around. It’s ironic when you think of the fact that journalists think PR people are arrogant, “full of it”, and patronizing (feel free to choose the word you find suitable), because why criticise someone who you depend on?
Ok, PR practitioners are clearly not perfect, but how is it possible to be so negative to a whole industry? An industry that indirectly keeps his or hers newspaper alive? Where’s the logic in that?
So, my question is: How will journalists do their job if their wish comes true and every PR person disappears to a dark, dark place?
Sep
12
Publicity – a dangerous tool
September 12, 2008 | | Leave a Comment
Hello boys and girls!
The summer is over, and I’m back in Leeds. I’m sorry for the low posting rate during the last months, but I guess most of you have been busy with other things than reading my blog.
In a few weeks I’m back at Uni and it’s a bit scary to think about the fact that I’m going to be done with lectures, assignments, presentations, exams and let’s not forget about a certain dissertation in about eight months. Exciting, but I can’t stop thinking about everything that has to be done before that day come.
However, I will try my best not to complain too much in the coming months.
(Who am I kidding?)
Andy Warhol once said “Publicity is like eating peanuts, once you start you can’t stop”. Mr Warhol said a lot of brilliant things, and that quote must have been said in one of his finest hours. Most people love publicity, but it’s a fine art knowing when “the audience” has had enough, and need a break from you. If you don’t notice, you could end up like a true joke.
Most reality show contestants end up like that (read Jade Goody), but we also have people like Jordan, Danielle Lloyd, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie who receives so much publicity that they just end up embarrassing themselves. Nevertheless, there are some who manage to get a lot of publicity but still have society’s respect, Richard Branson being a very obvious example, but Steve Jobs and Al Gore are other examples on people who people listen to.
Publicity is addicting and dangerous, if you don’t take control, the tabloids will, and when they first do, then there isn’t a shred of doubt: You have a problem.
Its fun in the beginning, but the final chapter might not have a happy ending.
Jun
23
The times they are a-changin’ – but not fast enough
June 23, 2008 | | 1 Comment
In today’s post I’m going to tell you about the main problem for PR students wanting to work with PR, in-house our in an agency, and why it probably won’t change in 15 years.
Those who hire probably won’t hire a PR student.
Why? you might ask.
Because they have never studied PR. It really doesn’t matter what they are educated in, because it’s more likely that they will hire a person who is similar to them. So if they are educated in economy, it’s a very big chance they will hire a talented economist to do a PR job for the firm.
Reason? Because they know that they didn’t take any PR studies (it probably didn’t exist) and they have managed the job just fine. Do you see the problem? Do you understand why companies will continue to do bad PR for their own company?
The problem I’ve described is obviously most common to students applying to in-house positions. In agencies those who hire (even though they don’t have any PR education either), understand that PR develops every day. And with a talented student as a part of the team, the agency will benefit from the theoretical update the student bring to the agency. However, I could mention a global PR firm who recently hired two “just out of university economists”, for two PR positions. But I won’t.
The good thing is that the world is moving in the right direction; the problem is that it won’t change very much until a lot of people retires. Let’s start counting days, for every future PR student around the world.
