Social media session with Dr. Iseman

After learning about podcasts in my social media class, we were given the assignment to pair up with a classmate and create our own podcast on a concentrated topic of social media. Below is the result of the pairing of Ellen Keough and I. We interviewed Dr. Stephen Iseman, PRSA Fellow, APR, professor of public relations at Ohio Northern University, and smartest and wittiest man I have ever met. We sat down to discuss the changes he has seen in social media over the course of his career, and how he feels social media is shaping the academic field and young students making the move to the professional playground. Enjoy!

http://reneelegendre.podbean.com/mf/web/8dsy8r/EllenandReneepodcast.m4a

And on the eighth day, God gave social media…

Didn’t know there were commandments for social media, did you? Well, I at least certainly didn’t, but I came across the mighty list in the second chapter of Paul Gillin’s “The New Influencers.” While they all provided great guidance to the people of the blogosphere, a few particular ones really stood out:

Thou shall be transparent

This commandment can be taken on a fairly simple, direct level: use strikes if replacing a word, alter a post through a comment instead of deleting it. These matters of transparency seem like common sense. But I also think it hits a bigger notes: blogs are truly becoming a powerful player. We count on newspapers to be transparent- they have been our reliable source of news for years. If people are demanding transparency from blogs, it must mean people are looking to blogs to be a credible source of news. Not bad for a fairly new communication medium

Thou shall comment

The word “communication” implies a two way sharing of message. Therefore, we would assume that any communication channel, including blogs, has a balanced two way flow of information. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always seem to be true; people get caught up in their own opinions and forget to consider those of others. The commandment “thou shall comment” reminds us that what we truly need from a communication channel is a conversation. The sharing of ideas and opinions is what truly fosters good communication.

Three pieces of advice from a PR pro

This past Thursday Rachael McKee- an Ohio Northern alum and PR superstar- came to speak at our weekly PRSSA meeting. Rachael is certainly no newbie our PRSSA meetings- she has been back multiple times to ONU to help guide and mentor students along their college path.

But this return visit was a little bit bittersweet for both parties; Rachael is getting ready to make a move. And I don’t just mean to another organization or across town. At the end of the month, Rachael is jumping on a plane and moving to Singapore! So in order to share a little bit of wisdom before she puts a 9600 mile difference between her location and ONU, our PRSSA chapter ran a Q&A session. Below are 3 words of wisdom that really stuck with me:

1. Be willing to go global.

Maybe not as global as Singapore. But Rachael has a point. Our world may be getting bigger in terms of people, but the distance- physical and communicational- between these people is getting smaller by the minute. You can get halfway across the world in 1 day with a plane ride, 1 hour with an email, or 1 minute with a Skype call. Global relationships are now key- they broaden company reach, broaden a consumer market, and most of all, broaden our general outlook. Companies have been taking their businesses oversees for years- isn’t it time we took our relationships there?

2. If you don’t love it, don’t work there.

Seems like such common sense, right? But I really think this is a rule that is both extremely important and easily forgotten.  As a college job hunter who is a little overwhelmed, sometimes it seems easier to just take a job to end the process. But how fulfilling would that be? I do my best and brightest work when I’m doing what I’m passionate about- no quality work would be done for an organization that doesn’t have my heart. It reminds me of some of the backbone rules of ethics we have been covering in my PR case studies class- if you don’t fully believe in a cause, your motives aren’t in the right place.

3. I don’t really do social media.

Ok, this wasn’t exactly a piece of advice as much as a personal pet peeve Rachael voiced. At first my mouth dropped- you don’t do social media? But it’s the truth. No Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. Considering that we often judge people’s influence by their social media power, Rachael McKee probably doesn’t even exist. But I promise my 20/20 eyesight is accurate- she was sitting right in front of me, a successful PR professional. One that built up a strong career and extensive network in Columbus from the ground up by always maintaining a can-do attitude.

She did all that-and didn’t use social media. Don’t think I’m knocking social media- we all know I’m a ridiculous social media enthusiast. But Rachael was a refreshing reminder that while social media is certainly a powerful vehicle to communicate a message, it’s not the only vehicle. You can drive the sporty, souped up social media model off the car lot, or you can take the traditional, Model-T model that represents face-to-face communication. Social media is a strong tool when used properly. But it’s certainly not the only option for building relationships.