Social Honeycomb

Remember the Why

I’ve noticed now that I’m in the working world, I don’t spend a lot of time during my days thinking about the greater significance of my work and the various tasks I do. I realized this today and I wondered how many people out there consciously keep their job’s significance top of mind during the daily grind. I’ve been finding lately that I get sucked into the “doing” and I don’t step back enough and think about the “why.”

I guess I have a new mental exercise: Remember the why. Do you?

Greg Verdino Shares Seana Mulcahy’s Musings on “Brand Loozrs”

I think Seana succinctly gets to the heart of a widespread issue that marketers and PR people are facing right now. It truly is not enough to use a tool just because it’s available and people are saying it’s the next big thing. Put the tool in the context of your brand, find out why it can work and make it work for you in a meaningful way. Thanks to Seana for a great post and to Greg for sharing her gems.

clipped from gregverdino.typepad.com In her Online Spin for this week, Seana Mulcahy writes:“Social media marketing is not just throwing up a page on MySpace, Facebook or any other social media site for that matter. You’ve seen some of the biggest U.S. agencies do that for their clients over the past year or so. These folks have patted themselves on the back for being trailblazers. Newsflash: That is not trailblazing, that is ignorant. I could go on and on. However, the bottom line is, look at the ethnographics of such audiences. Consider their life styles and how they use technology. Watch and learn. Don’t just hop over the fence of a walled garden with a sign saying you have 500 friends.” Truer words were never spoken.

Sociological Public Relations

There are tons of social networks on the Web. Tons.

As a PR practitioner, I can look at these various networks as resources and brand conversation opportunities. Full of people who are connecting for a purpose and open to meeting like-minded or interested individuals who understand why they’re there in the first place.

As a (structural functionalist) sociological thinker, I can look at social networks as nebulous, fragmented subgroups integrating themselves into the societal population on the Web in meaningful ways. It’s the idea of organic holism–each network is a functional organ in the overall body of the social Web.

If we combine these two ideas, I think we get something really powerful. Function, connectedness, purpose, opportunity. The more we understand and live up to the social, human aspects of public relations on the Web, the bigger and better our opportunities will become.

A noun is a person, place, thing or idea, right?

Public relations, n.

Which is it? 

Yay for Career-Starting

I can haz jobs?

Social Media Vocab: Engagement

Two of my dear friends just got engaged. When I heard the news, I was so excited for them, but also incredulous at the thought of being in the age bracket where your friends begin to mate for life. Their engagement came when I was without a computer, so it got me thinking about what it means to be engaged and about engagement itself as a word and a concept.

Engagement is an obvious social media and mar-com buzzword, but its meaning takes on different forms and meanings for different people. To my friend Jenna, engagement means a diamond ring on her finger and an outdoor wedding in the summer of 2009. To me it means a potent give-and-take in social conversation and brand awareness… Until now, I had never really stepped back and thought about how many ways this word is used.

Exhibit A: The American Heritage Dictionary’s list of definitions for “engagement.”

en·gage·ment (en-gaj’ment) n.

1. The act of engaging or the state of being engaged.
2. Betrothal.
3. Something that serves to engage; a pledge.
4. A promise or agreement to be at a particular place at a particular time.
5. Employment, especially for a specified time.
6. A specific, often limited, period of employment.
7. A hostile encounter; a battle.
8. The condition of being in gear.

Some of these definitions are really interesting to me. It is so strange that the same word can mean an intention to get married and a “hostile encounter.” But I suspect that some married (or divorced) people aren’t surprised that these two definitions are connected, haha. More than that though, the definitions that jump out to me are 3, 4 and 7.

I really like the idea of engagement being a pledge. I think in social media and public relations, this makes sense. Engagement is a two-way commitment. It isn’t enough to just pop into Twitter, say hello once a month and consider that meaningful participation in social conversation. By joining this conversation and by making this space part of your life, you are, in a way, making a pledge to be involved and active on the Web. It’s about feeling connected and giving others an opportunity for connection. We are making a choice to join the community on the Web, and when we choose to take ownership of our presence here, we really do make a pledge to engage with each other and with the technology we use. This relates to the No. 4 definition as well, in that by establishing ourselves here, we sort of promise to contribute on a regular basis and enhance the environment we are all constantly creating. Our agreement is to be active on the Web in our daily lives. Our pledge is to be engaging and to engage. (Diamonds sold separately.)

Since my old Dell laptop kicked the bucket right before Christmas, I spent more than a week without a computer to call my own. Consequently, I felt very disengaged. I wasn’t able to live up to the pledge I made in wanting to be engaged with my blog, my socnets and my social media pals. Now that I have my sleek, new MacBook Pro (w00t!), I’m back in the game of engagement. I haven’t had a chance to really catch up on all my blog reading yet, but I really liked the Resolutions post Jason Falls made on Social Media Explorer this week–really good advice on how to kick start or re-energize your engagement in 2008, plus you get the use of the word “tech-tard.”

So, I’ve been disengaged. My darling friends Jenna and Thomas got engaged. I’m about to begin my professional engagement at SHIFT. I’m looking forward to several social engagements coming up in the next few months. Oh yeah, and I’m getting in gear.

What does engagement mean to you and how are you engaging or being engaged?

Let’s Talk About My Awesome Classmates

Inspired by our New Media for PR class, a few of my fellow students have decided to start blogging. I wanted to share their endeavors with my friends on the Web so you could get a chance to see what my classmates are doing. Here’s the rundown:

Maria Thurrell: Maria has such sparkle. She writes for On the PRowl with me, but Maria started her own personal blog, ThruMyGreenEyes. On her blog, she talks about her foray into new media and public relations, and finding a voice in this big, crazy world.

Vanessa Gerard: Vanessa is a smart, savvy, social girl who just so happens to be a phenomenal ballroom dancer. Her blog, Anything that Glitters, talks about her perspectives on ballroom competitions, including the always-popular TV show, Dancing with the Stars.

Danielle Katz: Danielle is a theater buff, and she’s passionate about music and pop culture. Danielle is enthusiastic about everything she does, and her blog, Window by Window, showcases her thoughts on the intersection of social media and entertainment.

Kera Coyer: Kera is very thoughtful. She’s the kind of girl who, when she says something in class, people write it down. Her blog, Interconnection, is a reflective look at social media and social networking issues on the Web and in the news.

Elise Kohen: Elise is always smiling, asking new questions and giving fresh insights in class. Elise’s blog, The Scoop Gal, shows off her excitement about new campaigns and branding that’s happening on the Web.

Stephanie Shih: Stephanie is one hell of a PR student, and she has an interest in politics. Her blog, Exercise Your Right, discusses perspectives on the 2008 election and how transparency and authenticity are playing in politics like never before.

Whaddaya think, friends?

Yeah, I’m On the PRowl

Because we all need extra reading, right?

My friend Maria Thurrell (@MaThurrell) and I are co-authoring a blog about the experiences we’re going through as PR students transitioning to the “real world” in the industry. On the PRowl started as a project for our New Media for Public Relations class in Boston University’s College of Communication, but we are kind of loving it, so we plan to continue writing after the semester ends.

Let us know what you think, and put On the PRowl on your radar if you want to know what’s going on with us young ladies. Oh, and um, favorite us on Technorati and show us some link love to boost our grade! (I have no shame. Oh well.)

Photo: Steve Garfield

CC BY-NC-SA

Questions to Consider

Brian Solis recently participated (with Doug Haslam, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Cathryn Hrudicka and Marc Orchant) in one of Aaron Brazell‘s roundtable discussions about Social Media and PR.

Visit the Technosailor blog to read more about the questions and discussion. This is very relevant and interesting stuff. Tell your coworkers.

clipped from www.briansolis.com Question #1 - What do you think the biggest challenge is for the Public Relations industry to fully embrace social media? Question #2 - What does the concept of “brand” mean to you and how do you see the concept of brand protection (or the concept of “open source brand”, so to speak) being transformed in the internet age? Question #3 – How can bloggers work more effectively with PR people? Question #4 – Is “outing” a wayward PR agency or individual an effective way of dealing with the problem of misfired pitches?

Eddie Bernays, You Sly Fox

I’ve been reading Larry Tye’s book Father of Spin about Edward Bernays, and thought I’d share this video I found from ToddAnd‘s blog.

Very interesting clip of history.

While Britney Was Killing Her Career, GM Was Turning it On

I almost turned off the 2007 VMAs after I saw Britney pseudo-lip-synching during her gigantic failure of a perform-mess, but I’m glad I kept the award show on long enough to see some commercials from the new GM-Chevy Volt campaign. The funniest part of it was that the day before, E and I were talking about car brands and he couldn’t remember what the Chevy symbol was. I tried to explain the sideways parallelogram and the little slash through it, but he still couldn’t even picture it. I was thinking, “Damn, I kind of feel bad for you as a brand, Chevz. My boyfriend, who actually knows a lot about cars, can’t even picture your brand icon.”

Lo and behold, the next day, I had the pleasure of seeing some new Chevy commercials, which, in my opinion, were delicious. So, after I finished screaming, “There! There! That’s the symbol! I told you it was a parallelogram,” and pointing like a lunatic at the TV screen, I shut up long enough to actually watch this endearing little spot.

I mean, everyone and their grandma is “going green” and I’m getting sick of hearing about how eco-friendly you are, but something about this really just hit me the right way. The absurdity of each spot’s premise (pug licking feet, fairy playing the freaking ocarina of time or something…) cancelled out the seriousness of preaching about going green and saving the environment and all that jazz. And wouldn’t we be more likely to listen to these energy evangelists if it poked fun at itself? Don’t lecture to me about how I suck at turning lights on because I don’t use energy-saving bulbs– show me a dog tongue-bathing someone as an alternative to showering.