Saturday 15 October 2011

Social Media Buzz

Has anyone ever noticed that social media loves the colour blue? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even Skype have logos that are a shade of blue. It makes you wonder, why didn't any one of them want to stand out from the crowd? What is it with the blue?

I also sometimes ponder on how we all communicated before social media? Although Twitter has vastly become the latest 'must do' thing, my social media obsession began with Facebook. I did have a slight affair with MySpace but soon migrated with the other billion people to Facebook and boy how it changed my life.

It is not only easier to connect with overseas acquaintances (not to mention everyone else) but we are able to keep up with 'friends'' lives like never before with to the minute updates. I read an article lately outlining why it is harder to 'break-up' with your partner when you are connected on Facebook - it is simply more public and therefore more people are aware. You are forced to deal with hundreds of people at once - as soon as the 'single' button is pushed or the 'in a relationship' status is taken down. I have refrained from putting this information on Facebook for that exact reason. 

At a recent networking function I was given some advice...stay in the realm of the web. It shows you are up with recent developments, are aware of current news and affairs and participate in communication 2.0 (or is it 3.0? If it isn't, I am sure it is already on the way). I was told to continually 'Tweet' and read as much as I can. I drunk this advice up as I strive to continuously learn.

Something I have learnt over the past year....

If you have the drive to continuously learn and implement, you should eventually see the results.

This is the future of communications, something our field needs to be one step ahead of!

Favourite hash tag of the week: #PRgraduates

Monday 10 October 2011

On the Home Stretch

I am back at uni and I feel as if the fast forward button has been pressed on me! I am inundated with assignments, weekly questions and end of year major assignments. Every waking minute is spent on homework. I am pushing through, taking it one step at a time.

Another part of my life is being a part of the Intercomm committee (Public Relations Institute of Australia's young practitioners group). We regularly organise events to encourage young/new practitioners to engage with our profession. On Tuesday the 11th of October we are holding our last event of the year, featuring the winners of PRIA's Golden Target Awards. I am excited to listen and learn from some stars of our industry as I aim to continuously learn and strive to better myself.

I encourage all people in the industry to come along to Intercomm or PRIA events as networking is so important to build relationships and your personal brand - get your name out there!

In other news...university is slowly drawing to an end. This is both daunting and exciting. In the last week, I have been asked to do some freelance writing work which I accepted as I like to challenge myself. It has given me a taste of the working world. I hope to continue this as I enjoy writing, while I also hope to find a position where I can apply my PR theory and practice to real world PR.

Seven weeks and counting!