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Social Media: the good, the bad, and the ugly

As a member of Generation Z, I often struggle to imagine a time in my life where the internet and social media didn’t exist.

Though I may have missed the age of VHS tapes, my generation has grown up surrounded by the rise of social media. Joining Instagram at only 11 years old, I have had control over my online apperance for almost a decade.

Being a part of the online social circle for so long now, I have seen both the positives and negatives of social networking. While companies and brands want to gain followers and media attention, there are some drawbacks to online publicity when something doesn’t go as planned. Followers will become the company’s toughest critics, and the comment section can be a dangerous place. The PR industry is interesting, as PR practitioners and publicists must know exactly how to respond no matter the situation.

Crisis management and social media damage control are among the first things a PR major will learn in any intro to public relations course. If the company you represent is having a problem that is inconveniencing their stakeholders, or just morally wrong, you must apologize while addressing the situation immediately. Letting the public know what you are going to fix it and how long it will approximately take will put followers at ease, trusting that your company will keep them in the loop.

This PR crisis from United Airlines is a prime example of how impactful a bad response on social media can be.

On a more positive note, this article shows five PR crises that were properly handled.

Lets be real – comment sections can get ugly, especially if your brand boasts a bigger following. But remember, nobody likes to have their comments deleted. The best way to combat negative comments is to gain back control of the conversation and revive the brand’s reputation the right way – killing them with kindness.

Though there are countless times where social media has be at fault for starting a PR cris, we can’t forget everything that the same platforms have given us. This Huffington Post article shows how to use social media to a company’s advantage through cowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is an effective communication and marketing strategy to increase public interaction and involvement. Voting polls, questionnaires and online idea competitions allow companies to gain feedback from the public, which is mutually beneficial.

Arguably the best part about social media is that it is happening 24/7 and everything is shareable. Crowdsourcing takes full advantage of the multifaceted tool that is social media.

Cheerfully yours,

Kassidy

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The Hunt is ON(line)!

Whoever said scavenger hunts are just for kids have clearly never tried to document it on Twitter…

This week, my classmate Nicole (@nicolealvesxx) and I (@kellyblondeblog) were tasked with going on a fun Twitter scavenger hunt to learn more about the Seton Hall community from the people who know it best – current students, professors, and alumni! Though collaboration is tough with our two busy college and work schedules, Nicole and I made it work by dividing the tasks found it interesting that even though we go to the same school, we connect with so many different people during our week.

Here’s what we found:

1. School Spirit!

2. Good Eats

3. Professor’s Take on Social Media

4. Ever wonder how students get thier news?

5. Academic Excellence

7. Little did you know…

8. SHU’s Fanatic Fans

8. Extracurricular Extravaganza

It’s hard to pick a top five out of everyone in the class because we thought each team did a fantastic job. Personally, I (Kassidy) liked Maddy’s tweet about CHAMP (Communication Honors Alumni Mentor Program) at Seton Hall. I may be quite biased as a member of CHAMP myself, but it’s an awesome program that I wish more SHU students knew about. Tweeting about what makes Seton Hall so special highlights what makes our university different from others.

I (Nicole) liked Samantha’s tweet from her professor who stated that too much social media can time-suck for students. I felt that since we grew up with social media around it, its harder for us to realize how much of it we consume and how dangerous it could be to our studies. Although social media can well-be in our job description in the future, we need to set aside time out of the day to reflect outside of it. 

We also enjoyed everyone’s tweets about delicious food spots around campus and the South Orange area. I can’t wait to try out some of the places and coffee shops myself next time I need a break from the caf! 

Our favorite tweets of the assignment were the ones that proved our involved our student body is. From basketball fans to sorority sisters, The Hall has it all. I feel as if these tweets are so great, they should be compiled to be showcased in a Seton Hall pamphlet to show to incoming or perspective students!

Overall, we enjoyed seeing how differently everyone’s experiences life at Seton Hall University. It helps us to open our eyes to new sites, new foods, and new people. It was a great way for us all to connect with one another in a unique way while using a platform that most of us consistently use. 

We thought this assignment was really fun and had a great time completing it. Being able to strengthen my communication skills while live tweeting was cool, because it allowed me to gain more practice in reporting. It takes a lot to go up to a stranger and ask them a question and to pose for a picture, so this exercise helped me to feel more confident and outgoing with speaking to the public!

I’m definitely ready for some more live tweeting and reporting in the future!

For more information and a closer look at our findings for the scavenger hunt, check out our twitters : https://twitter.com/nicolealvesxx and https://twitter.com/kellyblondeblog 

Cheerfully yours,

Kassidy and Nicole

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News Sharing in the age of Social Media

To me, social media isn’t just a tool or an outlet, but it is a part of how I live my day-to-day life. From the moment I wake up to the minute I fall asleep, everything I need from news to entertainment, is just one click away. As the Economist article stated, the switch in how people receive their news began in 1999, which is the exact year I was born. To speak on behalf of my generation, I think it’s hard to even remember when print publishing and daily newspapers were ever the norm.

Back in the days of Myspace and in the early days of Facebook, most users just shared funny pictures and videos of their pets or children on their pages. It was a great way to connect with friends and family that live far away, and an even better outlet to meet new people through the internet. Nowadays, social media has evolved into much more. Though chances are high that you may still scroll past some pet videos, social media is also a major source of how the public gets their information.

Personally, I think social media is a much better news gathering source than print publishing. Networks like Twitter allow users to comment their own personal opinions about world news and take action however they see fit. Events, news, and other happenings would not be able to “go viral” without these elevated platforms.

As for the future of public relation practitioners and journalists, I agree with the sentiments written in the Medium article, as we must adapt to the changes in the industry and build from there. Change is inevitable, especially in the PR world. Once its realized that we can be taking advantage of this headfirst dive into digital information sharing, I do not think that print will be missed, given all the opportunities that social media has to offer.