Blah-g, Blah-g, Blah-g…(TOW11)

Before this year, I didn’t really follow a blog.

Well, scratch that “really”: I didn’t follow a blog at all.

I didn’t really know why or how or when or where…. you know: the necessary basics. 🙂

But through my becoming more “socially-active” on the internet by joining Twitter (@IsaWisaRamos), Pinterest (Isa Ramos or isawisa) and WordPress (this blog), I have come across several blogs that I enjoy.

1) RandomStuff >> http://www.myrandomstuff.se/

The "Anti-theft Lunch Bag" (from "Don't Steal My Lunch!")

This is put together by “Alexander” and, just as it sounds, it’s just a bunch of “random stuff.” He includes a mix of humorous, inspirational, interesting, and just plain random posts. For instance:

• See some good suggestions of future vacation destinations in his post about “Amazing Places to Experience Around the Globe.”
• Or add the locations of “The Most Amazing Water Parks” to your bucket list.
• Or see what they would look like “If Disney Princesses were Real.”
• Or see how German teenagers spent their summer with their creation of a “Mercedes Supercar Recreated from 10,000 Pieces of Scrap Metal.”
• Be inspired by the testimony and ministry of Australian “Nick Vujicic–From No Limbs to No Limits“, a young man, born without arms or legs, who appears to be little more than a wobbling, hobbling torso that loves Jesus (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this guy!). He’s now 28 and a world-speaker and president of his own international 501(c)3 ministry, “Life Without Limbs.”
• In another post, he advertised this new product (see pic, right) in “Don’t Steal My Lunch!“:

2) UndressedSkeleton >>  http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/

I know the title sounds like a freaky science-lab-‘R’-rated-romance-gone-bad, but it’s really not like that at all. The blog on Tumblr is about and by this teen girl (now 20 or 21, I think), Taralynn McNitt, who decided to make a change in her life and live by her personal mantra, “Healthy is Happy.”

On UndressedSkeleton, Taralynn tells the story of her remarkable transformation (see pic, left) as well as: shows pics of her “before and after”; encourages others who are trying to make the same life transition with motivational inspiration; and provides tips, trends, and new habits to implement in daily life that will get  results.

She continually adds new healthy and easy recipes, exercise activities, fashion sense pointers and ideas on how to live better. I find out about these updates through her Twitter, @TaralynnsTweets, which she uses quite often.

3) How Much Does God Weigh? >> http://sammyadebiyi.com/

This blog is by Sammy Adebiyi, a Nigerian who is a Young Adult Pastor at North Point Church in Ohio. As a pastor to the college ages, I find Sammy’s voice in the blog posts very fresh and appealing for kids/”adults” (I refuse to take that title, just yet) my age today. His posts are always very encouraging, inspirational with a touch of humor, at times. His titles are always creative and inviting and he’s good to include stories and experiences from his daily life and family in his mini lessons, which I just love.

4) Lawfully Wedded Wife >> http://lawfullyweddedwife.wordpress.com/

As an avid foodie always looking for new recipes and ideas, I had to include one of the sites I went to several times over the holidays. Other than my pinterest “Food and Recipes” Board (which I love adding to and dreaming about), I have gotten tips from Lauren—the lawfully wedded wife.

Lauren is a 23-year old law-student, wife, and amateur food critic and cook. Busy gal. Lauren includes her critiques of meals she’s eaten at restaurants she has visited and posted several of her own recipes, documenting her steps, tips and experience making the dishes or desserts.

Oh, Don’t Mind Them; They’ll just get easily offended…that’s all. (TOW10)

UESTION: After reading Chapter 9 of THINK Public Relations which addresses Ethics and the Law:

Which aspects of law do you believe public relations practitioners need to be most aware of, and why?

*********

Personally I think that practitioners need to be very aware of all aspects of the law surrounding their job. One slip in any area and that could be the end of that. It only takes one person one person who is easily offended.

(Source)

Since a PR person represents and is the symbolic “face” of a company, it’s important that he or she is careful of the things they say and write when addressing issues regarding public opinions or competition.

When reading about defamation, libel suits and the like, at first, it was easy to think, “So just don’t say anything negative…that’s easy.” But I know that when you’re angry, especially when in times of crisis, offense or defense, and if you have poor self control, you can throw caution to the wind and say things you’ll only regret later. You wouldn’t want to be slapped with a fine or law suit for making an rude or generally unflattering comments about the competition.

(Source)

 Even blogging: defamation suits have been handed out to bloggers and people on Twitter just for mentioning a negative experience they had with a certain company in their posts. Because of the potential damage to their reputation, among other issues, the company has the right to claim libel and defamation, if they can show your statement to be false.

Marketing is another big part of public relations. For the sake of the success of your ad campaign, it’s vital to understand the rules around the uses of protected material. It could be quite dangerous to be caught using protected catch phrases, trademarks, photos or artwork.

Julia Roberts (Source)

 Remembering also that permission needs to of course be granted for the use of pictures, names or quotes of celebrities in marketing ads–especially if you were looking for their endorsement… it’d be good to check with them first.

(Source)

Also included under the umbrella of marketing is the topic of the Federal Trade Commission’s “jurisdiction to determine if advertisements are deceptive or misleading” (196). They have the power to monitor and regulate product news releases, advertisements and product publicity (like videos or brochures). PR people need to be aware that they may become subject to liability claims if they in any way create ads or promos that present  false information– information that could potentially mislead or deceive audiences regarding their  product.

Don’t make that mistake.

Be Social and UNITE!!

Interesting.

Future journalists: looks like we need to get a Linkedin account.

I had only heard Linkedin mentioned in class and in a seminar, but with minimal details. So, for my sake and for the sake of anyone else who stumbles across this blog and doesn’t know, I did some research.

• A professional networking site. (Source1)
• A huge database of available professionals. (Source2)
• Commonly misconceived as a site solely for the “professionals.” (2)

• Allows members to “create business contacts, search for jobs, and find potential clients.” (1)
• Enables employers searching for employees to pinpoint their ideal candidate based on very specific factors and searches. (2)
• Insures future career growth for anyone. (2)
• Lets a person find and be found by potential companies and recruiters (2)
• Gives members can be a part of “LinkedIn Groups” and “LI Answers,” which give the curious, ignorant, searching and confused job-seekers the “ability to ask questions…and learn a great deal of information that can help” in his/her career. (2)

• Was founded in 2002; site officially launched in 2003. (Source3)
• The management team is formed by “seasoned executives” from corporations like Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, PayPal and others. (3)
• Claims membership of more than 135 million professionals. (3)
• Has more than 14 million student and graduate members. (Oct. 2011) (3)
• Counts executives for all 2011 Fortune 500 companies as members (Sept. 2011) (3)

• Organizes entered introductory, descriptive and personal experience info easy categories. (2)
• Makes it easy to establish business connections with professionals and company recruiters; the more connections, the more your profile will be viewed/found. (2)