PR & Technology dreamworld

I have a life i don't need a second!!

2008-05-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

After the presentation that Jelena did about Virtual world and Second life games I still believe that this is something that will not help PR for this time period.

Virtual world is something that doesnt exist and gives you the impression of something that you dont have. Even companies looking to use Second Life just for market research may run into problems trying to apply their findings to the real world, where the psychographics and behavioral patterns are different(http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/second_life_2_how_can_marketers_take_advantage.php).

From my point of view i believe that this new technology will be used more in advertising than in public relations because it gives the opportunity to somehow feel the product you want to buy or use. Additionally i believe that it will be used more from men than from women because it is a game something that facinates them.

I still dont understand how it is useful to public relations but maybe i m wrong because it is too early. What do you think?

Facebook collapsing?

2008-04-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

According to Siggy's post for Facebook. I didn't know that facebook faced this problem. Everyday i notice new people add in and i recive a lot of applications from different people. To tell you the truth it passed my mind to stop using facebook because of this uncontrolled aplication thing.

According to some recent report showed the number of people logging on to the social networking site in the United Kingdom dropped by 400,000 between December and January of 2007-2008.The decline, a first for the Facebook-crazed British, was pounced on by critics who gleefully warned that Facebook fatigue had finally arrived

In the U.K., for example, Facebook still boasts about 8.5 million users. That translates into about one out of every six people in the country. It is believed that this result referes to different age groups and the time they spent in facebook and their need. People aging from 12- 34 they use facebook to meet new people, communicate with friends and share photos. Those over 40 believe it is time consuming.

Check out this video that is against facebook!!!

Source: http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/310272

Mobile Spam alert

2008-04-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

I was reading Hilary's post about " Mobile spam" and it triggered my interest. Imagine that you go out with for friends to have fun and the mobile phone starts bipping with undesirable spam messages. What you would do? I would shut it down!

Experts agree that the time to stop mobile spam is now, before it becomes a huge problem and before opportunities for legitimate revenue are lost. Accordnig to Susan Wu, partner development manager for security at Sun Microsystems "Mobile spam is definitely on the rise, and the cost to mobile phone users quickly adds up. For every mobile message sent, a toll may be charged to both sender and recipient".But if the companies want to continue use this tool they have to use anti spam programms in order to blog the undesirable messages.

A recent survey by Rainier PR, a U.K. public relations firm, showed that 82 percent of respondents said all unsolicited commercial messages are unacceptable. On the other hand, 72 percent said they would opt in to receive location-based services on their mobile phones. Source:http://www.sun.com/br/0104_ezine/comms_spam.html

Do we need RSS?

2008-04-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

When i heard the word RSS for the first time Isaid what is this?Do we need that?

Rss is a need way that can keep you informed for everything you are interested in.I think that everyone spends a lot of time searching in their favorite sites-blogs-web pages to find any new information or post. It is time consuming and the amount of information huge.
For this reason RSS is very useful. You can choose you favorite site you can click on the RSS button and anytime you want in any place you are you access and find out the news. Especially for PR practitioners that spend hours searching the papers and other sources is a very usefull tool.

At the following link you will be able to see the 55 Active RSS Web Directories:

But as any other tool has its prons and cons:
Prons: RSS feeds are timely ,are cost effective ,works well with e-mail,helps you manage and organize content,maintains privacy and anonymity,help you save time .
ConsRSS feeds provide no history,are a bandwidth waster ,are complicated to set up,content doesnt lend itself to search,usually only show an abridged version of the content.

So its up to you want to make your life easier or keep on the old way?

Sources: http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/manageinfo/rss.mspx#EJD

Can PR cope with Internet?

2008-04-24T04:01:00.000-07:00

In these days it is impossible for Public Relations practitioners to practice PR without using Internet. The Internet not only is becoming the world's biggest source of information but also it's becoming one of the most powerful tools in the practice of Public Relations. The new technologies and specifically Internet have provided new and more efficient ways of producing, distributing, displaying, and storing messages. According to Cutlip, Center, and Broom "The Internet represents the most ubiquitous leading edge of what is a major communication revolution. The digital world has changed communication within organizations and between organizations and their various publics."

With Internet the practitioners can process their work faster,more effectively and efficiently, with less cost. Additoinally from the use of interrnet some theories are affected like two way- internal-mass communication.But all have their negative side too.Reputations can be damaged, brand names can suffer and uncontrolled messages can be distributed.

PR should engage using Internet but with having some lines and control.

Podcasting something that has two sides

2008-04-17T03:34:00.000-07:00

George the previous week made a presentation about podcasting. It is a term that i havent heard before. I understand that with the use of Podcasting you can download anything you want of your favorite show or programme and see it or hear it any time you want. You dont have to be on time and worry in case you cant watch something that you want. I also read what Irene commented and i searched in the net and i found something interested. I remember my reaction when George played a sample of podcasting " What is that?" It was boring!

In another blog i found a small research conducted about Scouta Agent for iTunes in Windows. What they suggest is that even though people download the programmes they dont listen the hole program. According to Scouta’s Richard Giles, “Only 10% of downloaded podcasts are consumed to any degree, and only 50% of those are consumed over 50%.”

Scouta’s numbers are based on information collected directly from iTunes. The Scouta Agent checks your iTunes library for downloaded podcasts, and then offer personalized recommendations based on what you listen to and watch.

Giles qualifies his stats as being less than definitive, because of the sample size - 117 people and 4329 podcasts.

I dont know if the research is correct but i believe that people that download the podcasts do so because they want them. If not why to do this?

source:

Wikis Used in Internal Communication

2008-04-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

While i was preparing my presentation for the Technology course about Wikis, i learned that wikis don't have only the traditional role that we know. I thought that Wikis are used only like a source of information like the WIkipedia and people log in to find information about what htey are interested in or add some information that they know about a topic.

What was new for me is that wikis are used as an internal tool of communication in organizations. Wikis can be used in different ways like : resources, event news ,collabrative discussion (Q&A), tracking coverage ,schedule, tasks, meeting notes, project status ,research results, contacts, team lists, member profiles .

Wikis can be both simple and complex. Wiki is simple and elegant, and conceptually this simplicity makes Wikis a good candidate for modest documentation needs or informal, shared notes capturing. Because they're hypertext publishing environments, however, they can also become quite sophisticated and complex. This is what makes them attractive and compelling tools for documentation.

This is a video that will make completely understood to everyone how WIkis work!

sources: http://www.llrx.com/features/librarywikis.htm

Use Social Media in Press Releases

2008-03-29T05:08:00.000-07:00

The recent release of the Social Media Group’s Digital Snippets social media release (SMR) template that my classmate Mattias presented caused a wave of excitement and criticism. There are two major reasons for the use of media presse releases that are the changing needs of the consumers and the increasing use of media.

The Web and the press releases play important role to the dissemination of information that is why practitioners of public relations have to adjust to these changes. With the new media releases links to additional information are included, the information of the releases are easier to be cited or used as a reference and images- videos can bu used to attract the interest of the reader. The new format is easier to read and more familiar to the use of the internet.

Social media environments require a different way of disseminating news so that content creators, individual stakeholders reading social media, and possibly journalist can get this information.

There are 9 points that can be discussed:

SMRs and press releases are tools, not strategies
We are inside the bubble, and much of the discussion to date revolves around technical merits (comments, MultiVu, YouTube or not) and means nothing to the average PR practitioner.
The average PR practitioner wants a tool that serves a function: Communication with social media communities.
Discourse needs to revolve around actual experiences on what has worked and what has not
The ideal result from an SMR should be to engage social media communities, in turn causing community members to create their own discussions.
SMRs is they are not ideal vehicles for hosting conversation.
Old-timers in the social media space need to remember there’s a great influx of new readers and minds.
Old-timers in social media need to realize that innovation and adoption will occur with or without them
Dismissing people for lack of social media experience when they’ve embraced it 1) pushes them away; 2) reduces the amount of valid real world marketing experience in the process.

Sources from http://http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog/2008/01/24/social-media-release-criticism-nine-points-to-consider/

Blogs power in public relations

2008-03-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

The Internet provides limitless opportunities for issues management, relationship management, environmental scanning, and other key public relations functions. Yet, researchers disagree on whether the potential and opportunities availed through the Internet are actually being used (Springston, 2001). As more Internet-based communication tools emerge and gain popularity, it behooves practitioners to understand how to integrate such tools early on. However, practitioners have been labeled “laggards” when it comes to technology (Anderson & Regan, 1992; Porter, Sallot, Cameron, & Shamp, 2001).

Generally the blogs are not used as a standard public relations tool. But the practitioners see the blogs play an important role. Some of them have the impession that the use of blogs gives them more prestige and expertise. Practitioners started using blogs for informational purposes – seeking out alternative viewpoints, the latest news, and experimenting with blogs for research purposes. Then they continued to use the blogs for information but in a more strategic and professional manner. The final step in the evolution of blog use is to begin engaging in two-way communication. Here the users are aware of how their organization or client is being discussed in blogs, and are then ready to become an active part of the conversation as well by maintaining a blog or interacting on others.

This is a way practitioners of public relations use the blogs in the effort of building communication and trying to contact with the publics in a more realistic way.

How Public relations are influenced by technology?

2008-03-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

In general the strategy and the tactics the public relations practitioners use are related with the use of media. For this reason any change in this area will force public relations practitioners to adapt. Some of these changes are made to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the tactics that are used but some others have the adverse result.

The new technology creates implications to the exercise of public relations. The internet and the World Wide Web have changed the way people have access to information. Moreover, wide ranges of other technologies, ranging from satellites, to cell phones, to video news releases, have developed into the standard means that influence public relations practices and policies.

There are different areas that the technology influence how the practitioners exercise public relations, how the messages are developed and exposed, how the management- culture of an organization are influenced and how the relations between an organization and its publics are effected.

As a public relations practitioner what is your opinion?

Do you know what is a Wiki?

2008-03-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

When we try to write a paper and find sources our professors tell us " Don't use wikis as your resources! We will not accept them." And I wonder why???

A wiki is a Web page that can be viewed and modified by anybody with a Web browser and access to the Internet. This means that any visitor to the wiki can change its content if they desire. While the potential for mischief exists, wikis can be surprisingly robust, open-ended, collaborative group sites.

Wikis permit asynchronous communication and group collaboration across the Internet. Variously described as a composition system, a discussion medium, a repository, a mail system, and a tool for collaboration, wikis provide users with both author and editor privileges; the overall organization of contributions can be edited as well as the content itself. Wikis are able to incorporate sounds, movies, and pictures; they may prove to be a simple tool to create multimedia presentations and simple digital stories.

The information about the wikis can be found in http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf

According to these data wikis can provide students with useful information about a research topic, but on the same time the reliability of the sources are under consideration.

What do you think?

Welcome to my Blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!!!!!

My name is Giota Spiliotopoulou and i have a few months left in order to take my Master in Public Relations from the University of Stirling!!! Here you can find the link to my department.

I created this blog because i want to exchange ideas with you about the technology and its impact on the practice of public relations!!!

I'm expecting any comments and ideas you have and i will be very happy to hear different opinions.

And as they say in Scotland

Cheers!!!