Twitter Chat Craze Continues

Social Media is the “it” thing today. It can make you or break you. It has become a way to brand yourself or a company. For Public Relations, it has become a skill that we must acquire and something we must utilize. One of the most popular social media sites, Twitter, has become the new way to break news and even have conversations. It even is the site of a new craze, I think, called “twitter chats”

            The basics of “Twitter chats” were explained in a previous blog. It gave more of a technical explanation on how to use the “Twitter chats.” So refer to that for the basics on hash tags and the ground rules on them.
           "Twitter chats” have become a way to network with other professionals and students around the nation. It’s like an on-line conference. There “twitter chats” on any and everything Public Relations. You get great advice, guidance, and general information during these sessions. Some help those by informing other of jobs and internships.  I mean, who doesn’t need help finding jobs or internships these days? You network with professionals, and could possibly be talking with future colleagues. Some chats are weekly, some monthly. This keeps the information fresh and recent. 

            You many options to get involved, just in case you miss one here or there. For example, UF PRSSA has gotten wrapped into the craze, and has been holding chats for two semesters now. We have had over a 100 different people participate in these conversations. Current students, alumni and former staff of the College of Journalism and Communications are some of our participants.
            It is moderated by the Twitter account: @ufprchat. Follow that account to find out information about our chat. Last Wednesday, October 27^th, we held our first one of the semester. It went successfully with 52 people using the hash tag #ufprchat. With a great mix of people, they discussed things from the lessons you’ve learned in your experiences to how you use your social media. To view the transcript, visit the #UFPRCHAT website. It shows our top contributors (hint- good people to follow), and all the information that was provided.

            There will be another #ufprchat this semester, so keep your eyes peeled. Do you want some say in when you want the next chat to happen? You can. It’s simple, follow @ufprchat and follow the link posted on a tweet to the poll. The poll is asking all those who are interested when the next best time for a chat will be. 
           Don’t miss out on this craze, because basically you’re missing out on an easy, fantastic opportunity to brand yourself and expand your knowledge. It is also a great way to dip your toes into the “Twitter chat” world. Maybe after a few chats, you will be going into the 30 other Public Relation related chats going that go on weekly around Twitter. So join in. Expand your follower list with professionals and students alike. Make a name for yourself.

Welcome back, Gators!

Fellow Gators, it's time. We're about to embark on a great adventure. That is, the 2010-2011 school year. Are you ready?

Challenges will be met. Foes will be overcome. Greatness will be achieved.

Needing some inspiration? Check out 40 inspirational speeches in two minutes.

Enjoy! We know you can do it.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Chatting in the age of Social Media: Twitter Chats

Remember the days of classic instant messager, chat rooms, and AIM? The internet has come far from that with the growth of social media. Facebook has a chat feature as it grew over time and now Twitter is being used as a chat tool. Twitter Chats are not set up like your traditional chat room or even a Facebook chat. It is a matter of hashtags, replies, and trending topics. PR practitioners have turned to Twitter chats as a source of networking and social media communication.


For many, Twitter is the place where you go to check out what your favorite celebrities are up to, find out breaking news, or share with your followers what exactly is on your mind. This alone has advantages for Public Relation professionals by being a place to spread the buzz around, to brand yourself, to just letting people get to know you in a sense.

Turns out Twitter holds many other advantages for PR professionals. It can keep you in the loop with the industry and those in it. How? Twitter allows you to search what people are talking about, which is important for professionals since we always want to know what’s going on. A topic you may have not thought about keeping an eye on is the conversation on Public Relation itself. Searching this topic can lead you to finding professionals or other students to follow, and from there your Twitter horizons are endless. Doing this once a week or spur of the moment, you can find yourself reading transcripts of Twitter “chats” or even get involved.

These “chats” are basically tweeting to a hashtag (#_____), a trending topic, or what some may know as putting # in front of a statement. Doing this at the same time various people at that time creates a chat. For those interested or in the field of communications, two common “chats” on twitter are “#prstudchat” and “#journchat”. Some point during the week everyone interested gathers around their Twitter at the same time, refreshes looking for questions, opinions, and advice from fellow practitioners who are located in all parts of the country. The monitors, who are generally professionals who organize the chat, control the questions that will be asked and the topic for that chat. The “chats” can be on any question relating to topics in PR in that week, a crisis, to progression of the profession. There various professionals on Twitter monitor these “chats” making them available to all professional, those interested in PR, and most importantly students on Twitter.

If you miss a chat, don’t worry. These are still good hashtag to search daily. People on Twitter will add them to their tweets, if it’s related to a topic or if they find it beneficial to those who would be involved in the chat. By doing that, it allows it to come up in search results. So, if you miss the opportunity to get involved or feel overwhelmed just check it out and watch. You’ll like what you find.

Even UFPRSSA got into the action. UF alumni even got the idea of creating a #ufprchat. On March 23 at 9 p.m. current students, alum, and even former staff joined in the discussion on topics in communications today from social media to branding yourself for an hour. A transcript of the highlights from the chat is available http://ufprchat.com/2010/03/31/highlights-from-323-ufprchat/ for all to take a look. With a successful first trial and positive feedback, #ufprchat was created its own Twitter page, username ufprchat, and it plans to return for another go. If you joined in last time, or are looking to join in on the future, you should also check out the Twitter page and take the poll on how often you’d like to see it.

Hope to see you there at the next #ufprchat!

A Fair(y) Use Tale

It comes around in almost every PR class or textbook. Usually in the chapter about legal issues, but sometimes sharing space with ethics.

Copyright law.

As dull as this subject can be, it is vital for PR practitioners to be aware of. Knowing these restrictions can help save your company thousands or even millions of dollars in legal fees. And of course, doing the right thing never hurts your image in the long run.

Because there are so many free use provisions that allow certain copyright infringements for educational purposes, we sometimes forget about the rules that are in place. But you won't be in school forever. Hopefully. So start mastering this topic now.

When talking about copyright, one of the first organizations that pops to mind is Disney, a company that is intensely fierce about going after people who try to use its movies, images and logos.

And rightly so. If I'd created some of the most well-known movies and characters of all time, I'd want to protect them too.

This video takes snippets from a bunch of Disney movies (we're talking one word at a time), and tries to teach about copyright, fair use and the public domain. Being a Disney junkie, I was highly amused.

Laugh all you want. But more importantly, keep copyright in mind. You and your company will live happily ever after.

How to Use LinkedIn...Really

Hi everyone,

This week I wanted to conduct a short tutorial on how to use LinkedIn as an online resume/portfolio and valuable resource for the job/internship search. LinkedIn is like other social networking sites, except it's based on your professional identity rather than personal like Facebook. You can "make connections" with people you have worked with, give or receive recommendations and join groups on topics of interest. It's also a great way to keep up with your professional contacts.

A couple of groups I'd recommend to PRSSA members are #PR Intern / #Entry PR and Future Social Media

If you're interested in seeing a complete LinkedIn profile, feel free to check out mine at http://www.linkedin.com/in/leahsouthers (notice I've changed my URL to a personalize URL, which makes it easier to search and type). On my profile, I've got links to my personal blog and this blog, past/present work experience, and recommendations from past employers and professors.

So, what does this matter in the real world? Well, say you apply for a job and the potential employer Googles you: your public profile will show up (hopefully near the top) in the search. This way, the employer can see your recommendations, in-depth summaries of your work experience, your contact information and even personal information, if you include it. This way, they have access to a more comprehensive view of your personality prior to granting you an interviews.

Here are a couple links from a Web site called New Grad Life that explain 13 LinkedIn Mistakes You Should Avoid and How to Get a Job Using LinkedIn. These articles give you more in-depth answers to some questions you may have.

Comment if you have any questions. I'd be glad to help.

Don't Forget -- tomorrow's Speaker Series features David Tinson, the head of worldwide communication from EA Sports at 6:30 p.m. in Little 101. Come learn about how EA uses social media!

-Leah

Putting Social Media to Work for You

While the economy seems to be improving, the job market remains tough, and getting that sought after internship remains as competitive a process as ever. Since everyone strives to have a great cover letter and resume, how do you stand out? How do you land that interview?

Even if you’re not a Web wizard, I would encourage you to think about developing some sort of professional Web presence (this means going beyond Facebook and Twitter accounts) and pointing to this Web site or blog in your application materials. As you know, seemingly every internship and job listing these days says it wants candidates with strong social media skills and knowledge. Everyone can claim they are strong in this area, but if I am an employer, I want you to show me.

Having your own Web site or blog helps show that you “walk the talk” and “get it.” Here are several painless ways to establish a professional Web presence that you can then direct employers to in your resume and cover letter, as well as discuss during your interviews:

1. Set up an account with LinkedIn and activate your public profile if you haven’t already. Your LinkedIn profile can be turned into a public resume with a Web link that can be easily shared. Here is my public LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattragas

2. Create a Google Profile. Not only does creating a Google Profile help control what people see when they search for your name, but the profile also provides a handy Web link that can be shared. Here is the link to get started: http://www.google.com/profiles/me and an example of my profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/matt.ragas

3. Create a social media business card with card.ly. If you really want to show off your social media chops, sign up for a free account with card.ly where you can display your social media accounts, Web feeds/streams and contact info all in one place. You can then embed your social media profile on Web sites and blogs, as well as share a public Web link to your card. Here is an example of mine: card.ly

4. Create a free blog that serves as your online resume. A blog offers a great opportunity to “tell your story” to a potential employer by including a short bio sketch, resume, portfolio, clips, etc. A new blogging platform I started using recently and find easy to use is called posterous. Other platforms include Blogger, WordPress, TypePad and tumblr.

5. Personalize your blog with your own domain name. Most blogging platforms now offer support for what’s called domain mapping. For example, let’s say we were using Blogger for setting up our professional blog. With domain mapping, instead of having to type in: BestResumeEver.Blogspot.com, we could just type in BestResumeEver.com. Registering a domain name these days is pretty easy (check out GoDaddy.com) and the instructions on most blogging platforms on how to set up domain mapping is fairly straightforward. I use TypePad and domain mapping for my professional blog: http://www.mattragas.com

The first four tips are all free. All they cost you is an investment of time, effort, and some creativity. The fifth tip (domain mapping) shouldn’t cost you more than twenty dollars a year to register your own domain name. None of these tips require having hard core Web design skills. Bottom-line, if employers say they want social media skills and knowledge, then show them you have them. A professional blog or Web site is one way to get this conversation started.

Matt Ragas is a Ph.D. candidate and instructor in the Department of Public Relations. He may be contacted at mragas@ufl.edu. In addition to his professional blog (www.mattragas.com), he maintains restaurant review (www.flfoodhound.com) and family (www.ragasreport.com) blogs.

Welcome Back!

So, we know it's February and all, but things are settling down a bit, and we're finally getting back to blogging. Hopefully everyone has a great schedule and the semester has gotten off to a good start. We're really excited about the events and speakers we have coming up in the next few weeks. Be sure to give us some feedback via blog comments, @mentions on Twitter or the good old traditional in-person conversation. We'd love to hear what you think.

This week (Weds at 6:30 in LIT101), we have Jane Adams coming to speak about lobbying. A little background about Mrs. Adams:

• Vice President of University Relations for UF
  
• U.S. Senate Press Secretary
  
• Vice President of Government Relations and Manager of Media Relations for Walt Disney World
• Director of Communications and Public Relations for Disney Cruise Line
• Vice President of Media Relations in the Washington, D.C. office of Burson-Marsteller
• A graduate of Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and Political Science

If you're interested in politics, lobbying is an exciting area of public relations that is not covered much by our curriculum, so this is your chance to learn a little more about it.

We're looking forward to seeing you all this Wednesday and getting to know everyone even better this semester. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns. See you in the J-School!

Something for us all to remember in practicing responsible public relations:

"A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was." - Joseph Hall