No mumbo jumbo

As a student in Education, I don’t know much about press releases, nor do I ever see me having the need for them. However, this week’s blog is about press releases… so here we go!

The e•releases website is a very effective tool for helping writers of press releases make sure the press release is the best and most effective it can be. Below, I have gathered information the e•releases website suggests on press releases:

When writing a press release, it should be:

• Concise - editors receive hundreds of press releases a week (perhaps more) and appreciate releases that are brief and to the point.
  


• Well-written - a good way to ensure your press release ends up in the waste basket is: bad spelling, poor grammar, and illogical or unsubstantiated claims. Ask your friends and family to read your press release. Read your own press release aloud.
  


• Factual - stick to logical and substantiated claims, avoiding statements of belief: we're the best, the cheapest, etc.
  


• Honest - avoid the padded quotes by company officers; even if they are experts, they come across as biased, especially in a press release about your company. If used, stick to the facts.
  


• Timely - if your press release isn't topical, consider incorporating it with a recent news event -- but don't stretch it.
  

Questions to Consider Before You Write a Press Release:

• Who is the preferred audience of your press release?
  


• What do you want readers to take away from your press release?
  


• What does your press release provide: invaluable information or just another offer?
  


• What is the support or justification for the information in your press release?
  


• What is the tone of your press release?
  


• Are you aware of possible pitfalls or areas to avoid in your press release?
  


• What do you want to accomplish with your press release: increase business, disseminate information, or both?
  

10 Essential Tips to Press Release Success

1. Ensure your press release is newsworthy.
   


2. Give your headline a tune-up. Your headline should be concise and compelling while avoiding being cute or sensational.
   


3. Review your entire press release, then summarize it as one strong paragraph. Review if this new paragraph shouldn't become or replace your initial paragraph.
   


4. Brevity is not only allowed, it is encouraged and rewarded. It shows you respect the time of busy editors & reporters. If they require more information, they will ask.
   


5. Purchase an AP stylebook (or use a service like eReleases that takes care of this for you) and learn how to properly abbreviate words and numbers, as well as the proper way to refer to most formal names and titles.
   


6. Avoid excessive use of adjectives and fancy language.
   


7. Stick to the facts. Don't be afraid to pull statistics from respected third-parties if applicable.
   


8. Provide as much contact information as possible: name, address, phone, fax, email, website. An after-hours number or cellphone can make the difference when you have a journalist under deadline.
   


9. Identify editors and reporters who would be most interested in what you have to say.
   


10. Choose your media list carefully. If sending via e-mail, be sure the editors and reporters accept press releases via email. Also, avoid attachments and large media files unless requested
    

Does the Press Release's Lead (Opening) Address or Answer the Basic Tenets of Journalism:

• who
  


• what
  


• when
  


• where
  


• why
  


• how

Obviously, sending out a quality press release takes time and effective writing. I guess I understand better, now, why they are so important.

WhatTube?

Online video has become THE way of sharing video in today’s multimedia, social networking world. Sites such as YouTube, Revver, and College Humor all allow users to upload video content for public consumption. In a video posted on YouTube entitled “YouTube and the Evolution of Social Media,” people are asked what YouTube means to them. One of my favorite quotes from the video (4.28) is when a student, when asked what YouTube means to him, responds with, “YouTube has really flattened the world.” When he said this, I stopped. The idea that one site has caused the world to not seem so big and make everyone so inter-connected is simply phenomenal!

Revver has taken the bull by the horns and attempted to capitalize on the online video explosion. Users can have advertisements added to their videos by Revver and get paid for their efforts. While users of the larger College Humor and YouTube sites are simply uploading their content for the sheer enjoyment of the art, Revver users (in theory) get the best of both sides.

Online video is an extremely effective tool in the classroom. Of all of the social media, I would have to say that online video would have to be my favorite, as a teacher, for the classroom. While there are the funny and stupid videos, there are, believe it or not, the educational and informative. I can definitely see using online video in my future classroom, but it would have to be from a trusted source with applicable and appropriate content.

iPod + broadcast = podcast

While the word "podcast" may seem extremely fun and exciting, I have found them to be annoying and simply (so far), a waste of time. Nearly every podcast I've listened to just seem to be bored people who sit in front of their computer and talk into a microphone about anything they so choose. Well, good for them. I have three projects, a midterm, and a 40 page paper to write, thank you. Any podcasts on that?

According to the Podcasting Tools website, a podcast is, "online audio content that is delivered via an RSS feed. Many people liken podcasting to radio on demand. However, in reality, podcasting gives far more options in terms of content and programming than radio does. In addition, with Podcasting, listeners can determine the time and the place, meaning they decide what programming they want to receive and when they want to listen to it." The site goes on to say that podcasts can be used primarily for five reasons:

1. Self-Guided Walking Tours - Informational content.
2. Music - Band promotional clips and interviews.
3. Talk Shows - Industry or organizational news, investor news, sportscasts, news coverage and commentaries.
4. Training - Instructional informational materials.
5. Story - Story telling for children or the visually-impaired.

While I can see using these (possibly) for personal use for entertainment, I think I would have to search far and wide to find podcasts that could relate and be appropriate for my Secondary English classroom. It would be interesting, however, to have a someone with a British accent read a British poem or listen to an author talk about why he/she wrote something a particular way. On top of everything else in a school day, looking up podcasts might not be high up on my priority list. Oh well.

An example of a podcast on blog:

The Overnight Escape Podcast

fohr-uhm

When I first heard of forums, I was immediately taken back to middle school when everyone I knew used chat rooms to keep up with one another. Since I don't know much about forums, I researched them and every site I found compared them to chat rooms. Grassroots.org explains forums are, "a public meeting place open for discussion on various topics. An online forum is sometimes called a bulletin board or discussion area.There are many different kinds of forums and the main idea of a forum is to provide a place where people can go, interact, and discuss specific topics. Each forum states a topic and tries to keep the discussion on that topic."

I also found that there are apparently rules to forums. Most of the bigger forum sites generally contain the same overall rules:

• Posts must be relevant to the forum.
• Posts should be respectful of others.
• Posts should not contain SPAM.

I think it's good that forums establish rules so the followers and contributors of the forums can not only find relevant material, but also post on the appropriate forum.

As I have shockingly found, there are forums about anything from how to laundry to the every changing weather. While I do not personally follow any forums, I can see how they could be useful in a classroom. Having a classroom forum within in a classroom website or having a class follow an education-related forum would both be ways of incorporating new information, in an innovative and fun way. However, the one big obstacle I can't seem to get over is that all of the posts on most forums are pure opinion. While some statements may be fact, unless they explicitly list their source, there is no way of know which statements are fact and which ones are pure fiction.

While I do not see forums as apart of my immediate technology use, I do possibly see them on my educational horizon in my classroom. I would, however, have to find a trustworthy forum with valid and true information for my students.

Social Butterflies

Social networks. Are they sources for information or sources for entertainment? I must admit, I am a member of several social networking sites (Facebook and MySpace, to name a few), and it never ceases to amaze me what people will use social networks for. Personally, I use mine to interact with friends and classmates and to keep up and communicate with my brother in Iraq.

But what's the point of these sites? Take Facebook, for example. You can do everything on Facebook from uploading pictures to buying a dog to harvesting a blue cow. Is all of that necessary? How social do we really need to be on a social networking site? Honestly, if I see one more album about a woman giving birth, I just might delete my account... or at least pretend to.

Obviously, social networking sites have their positives and negatives, but they also have their risks and dangers. Take for instance the 13 year old girl who goes across the country to meet "the love of her life" she met on MySpace, only to find out he's a 48 year old lonely father of 4 with a thing for the illegal. Really? Social networking has given people a false sense of trust. Just because their profile says one thing, doesn't mean it has to be the truth.

As a 23 year old, I've been on social networks since middle school. I love the ability to sign on, find out within 5 minutes what my friends are up to, what events might be happening in town, and who I need to tell Happy Birthday to. It's the easiest way to feel like I actually have friendships with all 1,184 friends in my Facebook account, when honestly, I probably would have to seriously think how I actually even know two-thirds of them.

Personally, I think with a responsible, positive approach to social networking, it can be a fun, rewarding experience. It's turning everyone into social butterflies!

RSS'n

Though I do not consider myself overly technologically savvy, I do, however, find RSS (Really Simple Syndication) interesting, but not yet useful for me. I do appreciate the way that RSS can cut down on scanning through dozens of websites just to find the information you need, and only to find it might not even be there at all. As a civilization of people who need technology at the touch of a button and the patience of a two year old in church, it makes sense to have some type of application that gives you the information when it's posted; not you looking for it when it's not.

At the moment, I simply have no need for RSS. Because my brother is currently stationed in Iraq with the US Army, I do not watch, read, or listen to the news. They either tell you too much or too little, and neither is what I, with a family member on the front lines, need to hear. However, as a soon-to-be educator, I can see the usefulness of RSS within the classroom. If my class is doing a project on a particular subject and we find helpful websites or blogs that go along with that project, it would be nice to have the websites' or blogs' latest version or information to help my students.

Feed For All: RSS Feed Creation Tool website lists pros and cons to using RSS. I've listed my personal top three, as found on the website.

Pros
1. Saves Time-RSS feeds save time. RSS subscribers can quickly scan RSS feeds, without having to visit each and every website. Subscribers can then click on any items they are interested in, to get additional information.
2. Opt-In- The RSS subscriber chooses what they want to see, and what information they wish to receive. Knowing they have full control, and that they do not have to provide any personal information to subscribe, they will be more likely to opt-in.
3. Timely- RSS feeds are timely. RSS feeds will automatically update themselves any time new information is posted, so the information your subscribers receive via their RSS reader or news aggregator is timely.

Cons
1. Not Widely Adopted Yet- Outside of technical circles, RSS has not yet been widely adopted. While it is becoming more and more popular, it is still far from being a mainstream technology.
2. Content Can Easily Be Copied- Content contained in an RSS feed can easily be copied and replicated, regardless of whether you want it to be or not. Few aggregators respect the copyrights of content contained in an RSS feed.
3. Tracking Subscribers Is Difficult- It is very difficult to accurately track the number of subscribers who read an RSS feed or the items contained in an RSS feed. This is due in part to the fact that at its heart, RSS is all about achieving the widest syndication possible.

With all new technologies, there will be those that work well and the users who love it and worship it (i.e. the iPhone) and there are those technologies that consumers just can't find a use for and it soon falls out of use (i.e. the iPad). While I don't personally have a need for an RSS account yet, maybe one day soon I'll jump on the bandwagon and RSS everything from Wolf Blitzer to Perez Hilton.

Blogging to Blog

What is a blog? What’s the point of putting interesting or needless things on the Web for anyone who cares or stumbles upon it? Personally, I’ve never liked blogs or blogging, nor have I ever understood why people write them or read them. To me, trustworthy information I am interested in is better found on sites with authority- not on a blog that also lists the writer’s favorite cat names. However, throughout my many years of study at Auburn University, I have had several classes that have held a requirement of a blog. Though I don’t like them, I do enjoy getting good grades; ergo: I blog.

For this particular blog in this class (COMM7970, Social Media), I am asked to blog about blogs. No really. Though a pessimist when it comes to the craft of blogging, I would like to know about them (and so would Dr. Waters in this blog).According to Word Press, almost every blog can roughly be categorized into nine types of blogs:
1. Personal
2. Business
3. Schools
4. Non-Profits
5. Politics
6. Military
7. Private
8. Sports
9. How-to, tips and reviews

I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in English and am currently working on my Master’s in Secondary English/Language Arts Education, yet oddly enough, I must push myself to find anything about blogs to list under my “pros” category. Though I do see the benefit in writing and expressing one’s thoughts and opinions, there is no authority behind it. While someone may have the most passion and devotion, for example, for sports, who are they to give me any information on the subject? Do they play a professional sport? Probably not. Do they work for a sports museum? Probably not, again. Odds are, they happen to simply love the particular sport and want more people to know about it. So what makes them an authority on the subject and that I should trust the information? Next to nothing.

Blogs, however, can be a great way to express opinions and feelings… with anyone on the globe with an Internet connection. I, personally, don’t really have anything I really need to say to that many people, except for maybe: WAR EAGLE!!

For maybe a different, more optimistic view on blogs, check out some of my classmates’ blogs:
Ben: The Most Popular Guy You've Never Heard Of
Kate: Awesome Thoughts
Shanna: Practically Creative