Image Is Everything

What exactly is someone’s personal brand? Nance Rosen suggests that your personal brand is your image and/or reputation. It is the image that you create for yourself to your family, friends, the internet, and the company and customers that you work with on a daily basis. Your personal brand tells the world what kind of person you are and what kind of personality traits you have. Your personal brand can also tell the public about which hobbies, travels, and projects you might be involved in; however, but they are not limited to such. Also, the public can tell whether or not you are easy-going, artistic, lethargic, egotistical, reliable, inventive, or any other trait that you might possess. (2013) So, did you know what you say and what you do online has consequences to your personal brand? Did you know if you post things that are unethical or immoral you could be putting your company and brand at risk? Nance Rosen states that anything you do on your social media website can have an impact on your brand. For example, whatever pictures, videos, and information that you put out there on the digital web such as on Facebook or Twitter reflects your brand, company you work for, and you. Therefore, if you post things like a half-nude picture of yourself or videos of you partying and drinking with a group of friends, the public and your potential clients will think that you do not take yourself and your job very seriously. People that were interested in your brand may not be so interested once they view your Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking page. However, this is a two-way street, because your Facebook or Twitter page could or might be filled with all sorts of family values and community projects. Therefore, having good morals will show potential clients and the public that you care and are passionate about your family, the community, and that you get involved. Potential customers will probably be more interested and willing to invest in you and your brand. (2013) Let us take a look back at the journalist that was fired for her confessions on her personal blog site.  Shea Allen and other journalists are supposed to uphold a certain type of image to the public so people like you and me will rely on their news coverage. Journalists have a certain code of ethics that they are supposed to uphold. Shea Allen’s blog reflects that she is a person that may not be trusted. She has obviously admitted to sleeping on the job and that she will ignore her clients if she deems them as boring. (Eck, 2013) This sort of behavior will not help her brand or the company that she represents. People that read Shea Allen’s blog will most likely, but not all, have a hard time trusting her. Another example of how someone’s personal brand can destroy their company’s image is the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal case. Criminal charges were filed against Mr. Sandusky for being accused of sexually molesting eight athlete boys from Penn State University. These charges and this case have had a huge impact on Penn State’s reputation. The school has lost donations, sponsors, and students due to the case. Jerry Sandusky’s personal brand has negatively impacted Penn State. Penn State will have to work hard in order to regain and rebuild their reputation. (Carpenter, 2011) Communication professionals need to be able to show the public and their company that they are hard-working, honest individuals that can be trusted. Also, Nance Rosen notes that it is highly important for professionals to stand out above the crowd on their social media websites. If your Facebook or Twitter page is boring, does not reflect your knowledge of your brand, or highlights you in some special way, you could be overlooked by potential employers. (2013) What is a good way to spice up your personal brand? For starters, do not post things that are inappropriate. You need to focus on your personal traits that will attract and appeal to potential customers or prospective employers. Larry Chiagouris and Brant Wansley suggest that your website must capture your viewer’s attention and build awareness of what your company and/or your brand is all about. Once you have the client’s attention, he or she will decide whether or not to do business with your company or you. Therefore, your website or social media site should appeal to the public’s desires and interest. Once a customer, client, or potential employer has become familiar with your website and you, he or she will trust you. When there is trust involved between others and you, the others will invest in your brand. You are more likely to get more job offers or your company that you already work for will increase in customers. Not to mention, if your company website does not look like a company that can be trusted, your customers will question whether or not share their most personal information with you such as their credit card number. The same is true for general brands. Companies like Yahoo and Amazon must keep their reputation shown in a positive light online. It is important for corporations to build a solid relationship with their customers. Organizations can do this by interacting with their customers on their websites and implementing strategies on their website that will continue to attract and appeal to the customer’s needs. In other words, the company must keep the customer engaged and satisfied. (2010) Branding is extremely important, and what you say or do has an impact on your brand. In conclusion, you always need to think about your actions before you do them, because a bad post or so forth can cause your company and you customers. As I have already mentioned earlier, cases like Shea Allen and Jerry Sandusky are perfect examples of personal branding that has gone wrong. In the world of marketing, it is completely true when they say image is everything.

References:

Branding on the Internet
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:CQD6Zz-_tTMJ:ftp.cleary.edu/MKT/MKT415/MKT_415_M2_Branding_on_the_Internet.doc+branding+site:.edu&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiT--i13I8OgmAGwZg1uCjVdkj0GLGFRkIU5FC2o_Y5hdPIDPNKRO1CE45GU4zyTcEWYaajY-NMMjCmKNnnncndAcEFBthpztrSBKo8YPK3hzNyEu-a4EW9g8xCXWn8btnm7w3G&sig=AHIEtbRrqOQkAOA4uiitlEtUQbM2JsEhWA

Fundamentals of personal brands
http://www.businessinsider.com/fundamentals-of-personal-branding-2012-10

Penn State Scandal: Image Damaged; What Can University Do? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/20/penn-state-scandal-image-_n_1103713.html

 

Is Crowdsourcing A Good Thing?

Crowdsourcing is when companies use the public crowd to help the company solve complex problems. Crowdsourcing is an online distributed problem-solving and productive model that has emerged in recent years. Companies can post a problem online and a vast number of individuals can offer solutions to the company’s problem. Once an individual has a winning idea, that individual will be awarded some form of a bounty such as money. One of the many benefits to crowdsourcing is that the company does not have to upfront a huge amount of money to get professionals to help solve their problems. Many small corporations have had some success using crowd sourcing as a way to solve complex problems. In Daren Brabham’s article, he gives several examples of companies that have had success with crowdsourcing. Threadless and iStockphoto are two small corporations that have benefited greatly by the use of crowdsourcing. Threadless does not have to pay professional designers to design their shirts. Anyone that has access to the online world can go to Threadless’s website with a t-shirt design and if the staff like it and the design receives good ratings, then Threadless will adopt the contributor’s design. The individual of the winning design will get a $1,500 check and $500 worth of Threadless t-shirts. IStockphoto uses a very similar strategy. Amateur photographers submit three photos to be judged by the iStockphoto staff. Once the photos are picked, the photographer will receive a 20 cent royalty for every time their photos are downloaded. Each picture on the website cost from a dollar to five dollars. The more extravagant the photograph is the higher the cost of the image will be; for example, the best photos might cost forty dollars. Companies are able to use ordinary people that use the internet to help build their company without having a bunch of professional staff members. This allows the company to save enormous amount of money. (2008) The problem with crowdsourcing is that the crowd could turn on the corporation. When the crowd turns against the organization this is called crowdslapping. Think about it, the crowd that has the winning t-shirt design or winning photograph is not getting paid the same or nearly as much as someone that has professional training in design or photography. Also these freelancers do not have to be provided with health insurance, paid vacations and sick leave. They do not require an office or workspace nor does the company have to provide computers or software for these individuals. If the crowd were to become angry at the fact that their contributions do not match their compensation, such publicity could be damaging to the company. Some might even call it “labor exploitation on the internet (Brabham, 2008).” Also, the new age of crowdsourcing is causing professional photographers to become out-of-date. Brabham states, “Because of the willingness for amateur photographers to ‘dump’ their work on iStockphoto for next to nothing, professional stock photographer are becoming obsolete. The tragic tale in this loss of jobs is the last tail of an increasing obsolescence of the industrial economy as a whole, and the diffusion of technology (like the digital camera) spread of expert knowledge (via the web), and our discovery of value in amateurs can be seen as refreshing and liberating in its own way. (2008)” In other words, professionals are losing their jobs to crowdsourcing, because crowdsourcing allows individuals to connect with companies and be a part of the company’s agenda and product. So what is in it for the crowd? Well, the crowd can sport their own ideas and or photos. For example, an individual that won a t-shirt design could sport his or her own design; therefore, promoting him or herself as an innovator, creator, and designer. A winning iStockphoto photographer could add that to his or her resume or portfolio. The crowd gets to become part of a business or industry that they have not yet been able to break into as a full time employee. Individuals who would love to be a professional photographer can now participate with iStockphoto to reach their goals and dreams. Crowdsourcing is way for the ordinary person to play on the same playing field as professionals without having the proper training or a person who has the training but lacks the experience to land a job in their field. The crowd gets to be creative, and they do get something such as money or so forth for their participation. Not to mention, crowdsourcing participation allows them a chance to advance in their careers. Some of the people have become quite successful after they have dabbled in the world of crowdsourcing. Jeff Howe states that Ed Melcarek has made over $35,000 by solving company’s problems by participating on a website called InnoCentive. Mr. Melcarek helped solve a problem that Colgate-Palmolive was having concerning injecting fluoride powder into tubes without it disappearing into thin air. This particular problem earned him $25,000 for solving the case. Melcarek also received $10,000 for solving the method to purifying silicone-based solvents. InnoCentive is another website that allows the crowd to participate in corporate research and development problems. Just like with iStockphoto and Threadless, individuals can go to the website and submit solutions to several companies’ problems. (Brabham, 2008) Another individual by the name of Lisa Gagne has had huge success from crowdsourcing. She has had over 390,000 of her photos downloaded on iStockphoto. Her and her husband can now live very comfortably. (Brabham, 2008) However, another problem with crowdsourcing is that there is still a digital divide in this world. Not everyone is able to get online and have a fast connection speed. There are many individuals that are unable to get high-speed internet. Also, most people that are using the internet according to Brabham are white, middle to upper class people with higher education. Therefore, the digital divide is causing a lack of diversity in crowdsourcing. (2008) Much like anything else in this fast paced ever evolving digital world, there is going to be ups and downs and pros and cons. Crowdsourcing is no different.

References:

The rise of crowdsourcing
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/crowds.html

Crowdscourcing as a model for problem solving
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:FzA8ZJPoDlgJ:citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi%3D10.1.1.175.1623%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf+crowdsourcing+communication+site:.edu&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgygsqMZduSX5CLJmU2wHUnsbcgKJw9fx6vpuga6n-iPHdgxdWukF0Ex3h0X77RfymaUXnxNxgWGUmwKyoD6t1rIy7yO6aQ6UhXb-zhFB7rOFMUhhYvBghNCPBfuJu62WRWYcEg&sig=AHIEtbRAO1nnozPTzolSo-nTgX0NOu0dww

Pros and Cons of Citizen Journalism

I guess the first thing to cover would be to define citizen journalism. According to Luke Goode, citizen journalism is associated with the internet; however, this is not always the case, citizen journalism does not always necessarily stay online. Sometimes professional journalists will use eyewitness accounts, pictures, or video footage as well as information found on the blogs of citizen journalists. Also, print media sometimes have columns written by citizen journalists called soapbox features. However, when the world of both the traditional journalism and citizen journalists collide, the boundaries start to become increasingly indistinct. He goes further to define the citizen journalist as being more than someone who simply comments, reposts, or tags pictures on random websites. A citizen journalist is someone who actually captures news worthy events as it is happening and shares it with the rest of the world. The scope of the citizen journalist is not limited to breaking news events. Investigative journalism is also becoming more prevalent in the world of amateur news. A person researching a company, business, or government agency for any number of reasons may stumble upon some sort of scandal or potential wrong doing relating to that entity. If this person takes this information and brings it to the public’s attention, they have just become a citizen journalist. Mr. Goode goes further to explain that we cannot ignore or dismiss the potential impact that citizen journalism has on traditional journalism. One of the problems with nontraditional journalism is the lack of regulation. A citizen journalist can take a story and rework, change, or alter a story as it is circulating online; therefore, changing the original story. In fact, without anyone to answer to or guidelines to adhere to, they can simply make up their own news and post it online. (2009)
The average American is getting more and more involved in the political process, thanks in part to blogging and citizen journalism. James Surowiecki said in his TED Talk video that, “we are giving people that have never been able to talk before a voice, and we are able to access information that has always been there but has gone essentially untapped.” (2005) Before the world became so utterly and instantly connected, we were unable to discuss things like news, current events, and politics outside of our friends, family, and coworkers. With the communication technologies now available to us, we can talk to virtually anyone, anywhere, at any time. Today, people can go online and create blogs, websites, and profiles to discuss and promote anything and everything. Scattered throughout the seemingly never ending sea of information at our fingertips is citizen journalism. Sometimes you can find it were you least expect it. Mena Trott created a blog with the sole purpose of leaving a legacy of herself for the future generations of her family. She felt it was important to make a record of herself so that they could know who she was, beyond what memories of her that had been passed down. (2006) Though this blog is very personal in nature, it has the potential to be a platform for journalism. For instants, if in one of her daily posts she happened to mention a car crash that she had witnessed then that could be considered citizen journalism. By posting the when, where, and what type of vehicles were involved and so forth, she would be considered a citizen journalist.
Of course there are draw backs to citizen journalism. James Surowieck mentions the following about blogging in general, that people tend to lose their individuality. They jump on a band wagon about a particular topic and begin to lose their own opinion on the issue in favor of the views of the majority within the group. (2005) This behavior could have an impact on citizen journalism. For example, say a person were to post a story based on some information he or she had. Then the person also read another post about the same story, that person is more likely to change their story to match the other story not knowing if the facts in the other story were true or accurate. This is when citizen journalist should always fact-check their information. Chris Measures, who has had 15 years of PR experience, suggests there are three reasons why people should be wary of citizen journalism:

1.      Citizen journalists tend to be bias. Professional journalists are trained professionals that look at both sides of a story and can write from a non-objective point of view. Citizen journalist does not have the type of training; therefore, their stories are not as credible as professionals.

2.      Citizen journalists are not trained on the libel law. Professional journalists do have this knowledge and training. They know what they can and cannot say in a news story. An example of this is when citizen journalists wrongfully accused potential suspects and alleged co-conspirators during and after the Boston marathon bombings. The citizen journalists caused the police to take longer on the investigation. It also caused huge problems for those that were wrongfully accused.

3.      Last but not least, citizen journalists do not realize the copyright issues. Once a citizen submits a story, video, or picture to the press or news site, that news sources has the right to use the material however they choose to use it. (2013)

Even though Chris Measures brings up three good points about why we should be wary of citizen journalism, the fact is they are not going away any time soon. Professional journalists and citizen journalists can learn a lot from each other and work together in creating the news. When citizens see things that are news worthy, they should tell professional journalists the story and details and let the professionals research the story more thoroughly and write the articles. However, there is no way to convince everyone in the world to do that, so for now my advice would be to always fact-check what you read online. Thank you for reading.

References:

Goode, L. (2009). Social news, citizen journalism and democracy. New Media & Society, 11 (8), 1287-1305. Doi:10.1177/1461444809341393

http://socialmediatoday.com/chris-measures/1430031/rise-citizen-journalism

When social media became news
http://www.ted.com/talks/james_surowiecki_on_the_turning_point_for_social_media.html        

Mena Trott on blogs
http://www.ted.com/talks/mena_trott_tours_her_blog_world.html

Social Media? What's The Hype?

Social media websites like Facebook and Twitter are changing the way the world communicates with each other. Social networking sites are also changing the way companies advertise and the way people receive the news. For instance, companies are using Twitter and Facebook to market products to people who have a common interest in their products. For example, I list on my Facebook page that I go to college and that I like certain types of movies. All I see now on my feed page are ads for colleges and movies. Also, people log on to their social networking sites to get the latest news. I know that I have learned about several stories from logging onto my Facebook page. However, I always go to creditable news media sites to research the stories that I see on Facebook to make sure they are true stories. Sarita Yardi and Danah Boyd suggest that there were over 30,000 tweets about the shooting of a late-term abortion doctor, Dr. George Tiller in 2009. People from all over started to dispute the pro-choice/pro-life debate. (2010) Social media has a way of getting people involved with the news. Actually, as I have mentioned before, ordinary people can now distribute the news. We no longer have to wait to watch the news on television. We can see it happening in real-time by using social media and other sites. Clay Shirky mentions in his TED talk that people can upload real-time news as it is happening. He gives a great example of how citizens in China uploaded photos and videos of an earthquake before any news source or government officials had a chance to say anything about the earthquake. Because the Chinese government and the media could not contain the information, the Chinese government placed a firewall so Chinese citizens could not have access to sites such as Twitter. (2009) The Egyptian Government took similar action when political uprisings in that country were being coordinated through social media sites. This is a huge change in the way news is dispersed to the public. Before the internet and social media sites, people watched the news on the television or read the newspaper. Professional journalist were the ones researching and finding out what was going on locally and around the world to tell the public of their stories. People had to wait for the news to come on or go buy a newspaper. The news was not in real-time, and people could not read it instantly at any given time. In today’s society, as long as you have access to the internet, you can watch what is going on around you when something happens.
Social media is changing how companies look at marketing strategies. Some companies are laggards in the use of social media for their business; however, not using social media could harm their business. There are many good reasons why companies should use social media sites. Splash Media states the following on their web-site about the top 5 reasons why companies should use social media sites:

1.      The conversation is already out there, so a company is either in the conversation or left behind.

2.      Facebook has over 618 million daily active users. A company cannot afford to miss all those people.

3.      It is an easy and immediate way to connect to both fans and potential customers.

4.      It is a way for companies to support their traditional marketing ventures.

5.      There is a huge benefit to having access to real-time market feedback and intelligence. (www.splashmedia.com)

Companies should participate and socialize with their customers on social networking sites. This type of interaction allows for organizations to know exactly what customers like or dislike about their products. Todd Wasserman notes that organizations can use the following three strategies to market a brand to consumers:

1.      Passion: When companies connect their brand to the consumer’s passions and/or interests.

2.      Personalities: When companies entertain consumers with their personalities.

3.      Transparency: When companies provide interesting or important information to the consumers about the product/brand.

 

The organizations can use one or all of these strategies at the same time. Companies who use the passion approach can upload pictures or commercials to their social media sites of their brand associated with something their customers like. For example, the Nike Company uses pictures of athletes associated with Nike clothing. Companies that prefer to use the personality strategy use humor or witty comments to appeal and attract consumers. For example, Geico uses a funny gecko lizard and camel to appeal to their customers. The transparency approach informs the consumers on what makes the product the best of the best compared to all other like-minded products.  For example, IBM uploads several blogs informing the public of all the new innovations that IBM has to offer the world. (2013)
However, there are some risks involved in using social media. Communication specialists always need to be professional on their social media web-sites. If communication specialists are not professional, it can cost them their jobs. They also need to be sure their personal sites and blogs are professional as well. Like it or not, what you post online can cost you your job. One journalist, Shea Allen, lost her job with WAAY for posting her top ten confessions on her personal blog. Among some of Shea Allen’s confessions, she admits to sleeping on the job, going bra-less during live broadcasts, and stealing mail and putting it back. (Eck, 2013) Once communication professionals enter the digital world, they are constantly being watched by the public and by their employers. Also, unfriending someone from your social media circle has real-life consequences. David Mielach mentions that social media users who were unfriended had a lower self-esteem, they felt unwanted, and a sense of loss of control. They were actually in a worse mood after a social media break-up. (2013) People need to be considerate of this when using professional or personal sites. Communication specialists should take the same precautions when posting on their company or organization’s web pages. For better or worse, social media has become an inescapable part of most people’s daily lives.    

References:

Dynamic debates: An analysis of group polarization over time on Twitter
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/grads/y/yardi/pubs/Yardi_DynamicDebates.pdf

Facebook unfriending has consequences
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/3890-unfriend-social-media.html

How social media can make history (This is a TED Talk video)
http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html

   
Steal three social marketing tricks from top brands
http://mashable.com/2013/02/22/social-media-marketing-strategy/        

WAAY (Huntsville) reporter fired after posting a list of confessions to her personal blog
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/waay-reporter-fired-after-posting-list-of-confessions-to-personal-blog_b98996

           

Are We Becoming Too Mobile?

My husband playing a game on his mobile device.

Imagine yourself in New York City walking the streets. What do you see? You probably see people walking all around the city talking on their mobile devices or texting on their smartphones. The world as we know it is becoming more dependent on mobile technology. Why is the new advancement in technology so important to strategic communicators and the media? Mobile technology has changed the way the public views the news. More people are going online and using their smartphones to find out what is going on in the world. However, statistics have shown that people still use traditional platforms such as listening to the radio or watching television news. (Blodget, 2012) As mobile users increase, companies are adopting a “mobile first” approach; however, the company should make sure that such a strategic plan is right for their company. The problem with the “mobile first” approach is that companies need to be aware of the digital divide. “The “Digital Divide” is defined as the gap between those with regular, effective access and ability to use digital technologies and those without.” (Boyera, 2004) Some less than fortunate consumers cannot afford cellphones that have all the fancy bells and whistles. Therefore, companies are going to miss those consumers. If companies use both traditional and mobile platforms to market their products then they will reach and meet the needs of all the population. There is no denying that mobile devices have changed our daily lives. We are more connected and accessible than ever before. There is also no denying the impact that mobile devices have had on media and marketing. In fact, mobile devices have become a huge market of their own. I would estimate that atleast one out of four TV ads are an advertisement for a mobile device or mobile service provider. Once you have connected online through your mobile device, you instantly begin to be bombarded with well-placed strategic advertisements. Even if you are not trying to surf the web, but you are simply playing a game you will see ads for other games or an upgraded version of the game that you are playing at the moment. Then you have to decide if you want to try the new latest game or upgrade the game you have. This is the mobile version of free samples much like the free samples you see at the stores and flyers and coupons in your mailbox. Unlike mass advertising through the postal service, mobile marketing can be better targeted at specific consumer groups. When you open your mailbox to find it full of “junk mail,” the inclination is to sift through it for bills and letters then throw the rest away without looking at the rest of it. However, when you open a frequently used app and are prompted to see all the features you can get by upgrading from the free version to the paid version you are more likely to engage in this form of marketing, because it is directed specifically at you. John McDermott states, “Despite having a decidedly negative view of mobile advertising, a significant portion of mobile users were open to mobile ad targeting based upon their personal interests (49%) and current location (43%).” (2012) This means that about half of mobile users are okay with receiving advertisements via their phone as long as it is geared to their personal interest and location.  For example, if you were a restaurant company that was only located in San Diego, California you would not want to send your coupons via mobile to people outside of the San Diego area. That would be a bad marketing strategy. Instead, you would want to send the coupons to San Diego residents that use mobile devices.

            However, there is a downside to all of this mobile usage. Rich Ling states, “The ringing of the device, the perception that one talks too loudly, and the sense that one coerces others to eavesdrop on their conversations are all seen as intrusions on the public sphere. (2004)” All too often we find ourselves in the uncomfortable situation of hearing a total stranger’s conversation, because they either do not realize it or just do not care that everyone around them can hear every word they speak. Even worse, in my opinion, are the people who carelessly use hands-free devices like Bluetooth headsets. These people walk around talking to themselves, and you sometimes mistakenly think they are talking to you. Another aspect of mobile dependency is the tendency to never put the thing away when socializing with friends or family. All too often when I get together with my family there comes a point when we all realize we are sitting in a room with every one of us looking at our phones playing games or even texting one another from across the room. Attachment to our mobile devices can be a social handicap if we allow the use of these devices to replace face-to-face interactions. I have noticed another side effect of the constantly connected world we live in. When getting together with family or friends you have not seen in a while, there is nothing to talk about, because everyone already knows everything that everyone has been doing; therefore, with a lack of conversational material, we revert back to playing with our phones. The same concept exists in the media. There is no need to wait for the six o’clock news when you can get the news in real time by going to any number of news or social media sites. Take the weather channel app for example, instead of waiting to hear it from the meteorologist on your local news cast, you can simply pull out your phone and get everything from a seven day outlook to hour-by-hour forecast with live streaming radar. I guess the key to it all is finding a balance between the real world and the digital world. Mobile technology has made our lives more convenient, but like anything else there can be too much of a good thing.          

References:

http://adage.com/article/digital/mobile-ads-disruptive-television-spots/238730/

http://www.businessinsider.com/survey-mobile-first-bad-strategy-2012-12

http://www.richardling.com/papers/2004_disturbance_of_social_sphere.pdf

http://www.w3.org/2006/12/digital_divide/IST-africa-final.pdf