Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A Public Relations Rant...

Social media... social media... social media...

It's everywhere.

By now, everyone should be aware of what it is. It is everywhere we look. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Blogspot and Myspace are just a few examples of this new social explosion.

I have discussed social media in a previous post and the new effect it has on our society today. For PR, it could make or break you. Before you are even aware of a situation, people are blogging, facebooking and tweeting about you or your company.

Two students in my Public Relations class have recently just be involved in a social media explosion. As a joke, fellow classmates whom we'll call Sonny and Cher, posted on Facebook that they were in a relationship.

Within two hours of the posting, the relationship status post was removed and the couple 'broke up' but that did not put an end to all the attention. Congratulatory phone calls by Sonny's mother were flooding his cell phone as tons of people began commenting on the post and writing on each others walls. Even now, about one week after the 'break-up', questions are still arising by peers about what really happened, whether the two are 'still together' and why they 'broke up'.

It just goes to show that you should watch what you are posting online because you can never really be sure what kind of fire it will start or who will see it.

As for Sonny and Cher, they are making out as best they can. Dealing with this PR crisis on a daily basis. Coming to class for the two is like walking into a daily press conference.

Social media. Its everywhere. Its everyone.


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