Blogging throughout the semester was a new and fun experience. I had always known what blogging was, and had followed a few blogs, but never had one of my own. The topic of my blog from week to week was how blogging has become a form of public relations in its own way. With research conducted on my own and lessons learned in class, it is clear that social media as a whole is taking over as a form of public relations. Knowing this, and knowing that the use of social media will continue to rise, it has been beneficial to start blogging as I will most likely use it in my future as a PR professional. That being said, as a final post, I will comment on two of my classmates blogs and how they could use their blogs within their future careers.
Classmate Jordana has had a series of blogs focusing on The American Cancer Society. Her blog is very well put together; the writing, the visuals, and even the background color are all great PR tactics. They represent the organization as a whole and draw the attention of the reader causing the reader to remember that the blog is about The American Cancer Society. If Jordana were to work for this organization, or any non-profit, blogs are a great way to spread the word and garner more attention. Interactive blogs like hers keep readers coming back for more which continues to promote the things the society does.
Classmate Mara also had a very visually appealing blog with a focus on PR campaigns across the globe. Her blog was well written and had a strong focus on her topic that carried throughout the semester. Along with PR Research, I also take International PR, so it was a interesting to look at Mara's blogs about global campaigns and compare it to campaigns we have learned about in class. Blogging about PR in other countries is a great form of PR since PR is so different abroad. Blogs bring about an awareness that everyday people can use to educate themselves on worldy matters.
As I wrap up my final post of the semester, I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts because it has been a very fun way to share them.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Experiments
Experiments within Public Relations research are important because they give a different type of result than focus groups, surveys or any other type of research. Experiments are becoming more popular within public relations because they are "the most accurate indicator of causality in the behavioral sciences" (Hendrix & Hayes, 2010)." Experiments are often used in public relations "to determine which forms of communications or messages may be most effective with selective audiences (Hendrix & Hayes, 2010)."
The article from the Public Relations Review that I used in my weekly assignment has a direct relation to not only the reason of use for experiments quoted above, but also to the topic of my blog from week to week: blogging as a form of PR. The article did an experiment to find whether or not PR practitioners would start to use blogs and other forms of social media to accommodate their publics, or if they would just assume stick with the format of the company's they work for. In the experiment different scenarios were created for participants to read, and then they were instructed to fill out a questionnaire. The results proved that yes blogging and social media are becoming major factors within PR, but as of now, they are not a top priority when actually conducting PR. Professionals are more likely to use methods that have a longer history in the field than to jump into somehting so new just because it would more easily accommodate publics.
However, as we have learned in class, experiements can have sources of invalidity. Maybe there were some sources of invalidity within this experiment and blogging will become more of a go-to method when conducting public relations.
The article from the Public Relations Review that I used in my weekly assignment has a direct relation to not only the reason of use for experiments quoted above, but also to the topic of my blog from week to week: blogging as a form of PR. The article did an experiment to find whether or not PR practitioners would start to use blogs and other forms of social media to accommodate their publics, or if they would just assume stick with the format of the company's they work for. In the experiment different scenarios were created for participants to read, and then they were instructed to fill out a questionnaire. The results proved that yes blogging and social media are becoming major factors within PR, but as of now, they are not a top priority when actually conducting PR. Professionals are more likely to use methods that have a longer history in the field than to jump into somehting so new just because it would more easily accommodate publics.
However, as we have learned in class, experiements can have sources of invalidity. Maybe there were some sources of invalidity within this experiment and blogging will become more of a go-to method when conducting public relations.
Hendrix, Jerry A., and Darrell C. Hayes. Public Relations Cases. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Survey Research
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, blogging has become increasingly popular. It has not ony become an outlet for people to share thoughts and opinions, but it has also become a social media. What is so great about blogging, is that anyone can do it. Not only can anyone blog, but anyone can read a blog; it's just a matter of stumbling across one on the internet. To some, this poses a problem. As bloggers become more well-known and their blogs become more creative, the issue of privacy is brought up because many bloggers write (or rant) about family, friends, and the companies they work for. Some bloggers are careful about using only first names in their blogs about the people they blog about and some bloggers even go as far as keeping their own identities a secret. In a survey conducted back in 2004, 492 people responded to a questionnaire asking about privacy issues and blogging. Out of the 492, 486 completed the online questionnaire well enough to use for data analysis. Some of the results were:
- the great majority of bloggers identify themselves on their sites: 55% of respondents provide their real names on their blogs; another 20% provide some variant of the real name (first name only, first name and initial of surname, a pseudonym friends would know, etc.)
- 76% of bloggers do not limit access (i.e. readership) to their entries in any way
- 36% of respondents have gotten in trouble because of things they have written on their blogs
- 34% of respondents know other bloggers who have gotten in trouble with family and friends
- 12% of respondents know other bloggers who have gotten in legal or professional problems because of things they wrote on their blogs
- when blogging about people they know personally: 66% of respondents almost never asked permission to do so; whereas, only 9% said they never blogged about people they knew personally.
- 83% of respondents characterized their entries as personal ramblings whereas 20% said they mostly publish lists of useful/interesting links
Respondents for this survey were not randomly picked like other surveys are. This survey was announced through mailing lists within MIT and was also published on well-known blogs written by people who the author of this survey knew. The rest of the results along with a study populations complete with charts and graphs can be found on the website provided by the link above.
Surveys are very useful. They can be used anywhere for any topic to help find results to a question. Even on the issue of privacy within blogging as this form of media becomes more than just an online diary.
- the great majority of bloggers identify themselves on their sites: 55% of respondents provide their real names on their blogs; another 20% provide some variant of the real name (first name only, first name and initial of surname, a pseudonym friends would know, etc.)
- 76% of bloggers do not limit access (i.e. readership) to their entries in any way
- 36% of respondents have gotten in trouble because of things they have written on their blogs
- 34% of respondents know other bloggers who have gotten in trouble with family and friends
- 12% of respondents know other bloggers who have gotten in legal or professional problems because of things they wrote on their blogs
- when blogging about people they know personally: 66% of respondents almost never asked permission to do so; whereas, only 9% said they never blogged about people they knew personally.
- 83% of respondents characterized their entries as personal ramblings whereas 20% said they mostly publish lists of useful/interesting links
Respondents for this survey were not randomly picked like other surveys are. This survey was announced through mailing lists within MIT and was also published on well-known blogs written by people who the author of this survey knew. The rest of the results along with a study populations complete with charts and graphs can be found on the website provided by the link above.
Surveys are very useful. They can be used anywhere for any topic to help find results to a question. Even on the issue of privacy within blogging as this form of media becomes more than just an online diary.
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