Thank you to prprofmv!  She termed my fears and insecurities about social media my digital immigration.  I love the concept because I believe it captures what I am feeling.  I feel overwhelmed by all the things that can be accomplished with these new media.  I feel lost in the terminology.  I feel like a bit of an outsider because I’m just starting to become involved.  However, I will say that so far my experiences have been positive, and the people who have reached out to me have been helpful in their attempts to guide me on this journey.

I’ve been pretty active in my use of Twitter this week.  At first I didn’t really understand what it was all about, but now that I’m using it, I can see how it can be addictive.  It’s kind of fun.  Wow!  I can’t believe I just admitted that.  However, I need to learn how to use it in more useful ways.  I did have some success with that today.  It took me by surprise even!

Thank you again to everyone who has written to me today to help me with better understanding social media.  I do agree that it is something I need to know about and that I need to learn more about in order to do my job as a PR educator.  And, I guess that the best way to learn is to become active with it.

I think I still feel completely overwhelmed.  And, I think my greatest trepidation is where is the line between a personal life and a professional life.  Am I a total square for wanting to have my personal life to myself?  Am I completely bonkers for wanting to leave work whenever I get things finished and not feel like I have to constantly be plugged in to update what I’m doing at that very second.  Will my students be not served if I don’t tweet to say I’m making dinner?  Or that I’m going to bed?  Maybe I am taking things too literally.  Am I only supposed to tweet if I have something of substance to say?  I just don’t know.

I’m just having problems with understanding the boundaries.  And, to be honest, I feel like Wow!  If I really do get into this how will ever manage to get my work done.  I have a hard time keeping my attention on tasks as it is, I’m afraid that with all these news tools and gadgets I could truly get myself in trouble.

So there it is!  I have put my fears down on a blog ( I really did want to say paper).  Does anyone have any advice?  Are my fears common?  Or am I in a league of my own?

I went to the UGA Connect conference Friday/Saturday.  It was a lot of information to absorb, and it was a good learning experience.  However, I can’t help but wonder if I am the only person who reacts to some of these technologies and tools, by asking “Why would I want to do this?”

In ways I don’t understand how anyone has the time to be so tied in so often.  I have a hard enough time taking care of myself, my pets, my husband, my household chores and bills, my classes, my grading, my research, my meetings, etc. that I don’t see how to squeeze it all in.  And, I can’t help but sometimes say, “Who cares?!”  Why should I care what random people are doing at every minute of the day?

I see the great potential that social media gives us to reach people, alums, consumers, publics, etc. on a personal basis.  I do understand the value that it can add to building and maintaining relationships, but when do you know when enough is enough?

Well today I handed back my third set of papers in PR Writing.  I think my students are starting to feel more comfortable, but they are having so many problems with AP Style.  I’m not sure where the disconnect is.  They have had several journalism classes before my class.  We spent a day going over common AP Style problems.  I’ve given them practice tests.  I guess I’m just hoping that they will realize the importance of AP soon, even if it’s just to get better grades in class.  I’m taking a new approach with the class and incorporating writing for clients throughout the semester.  I am excited to see how this process works, and also to see how students react to this new opportunity and stress.   Guess I will just have to sit back and wait and see.

The fall semester has begun and we are off to a fast start. Robert French is still a bit perplexed by my reluctance to fully embrace social media, or emerging media as Rick Murray prefers to call it. I think my hesitation is based in my belief that a message is so much more than the wording. How do we compensate for the nuances of non-verbal communication in a blog post?

I really do understand the importance and the huge potential impact that emerging media offers to us. I would have to be blind not to notice how users of this media are impacting political campaigns, fund raising, public opinion and so forth. And, ironically, I am the biggest voice in pushing our program toward integrating social media into our four majors. In fact, we will be meeting in a few minutes to start charting the directions for the program to follow so we remain relevant.

Bottom line, my practice and my intellect aren’t on the same page. So at this point I have used up my excuses and have to either start walking the walk or stop talking.

I just finished reading my first thesis on blogging. Melissa Voynich, a graduate student here at Auburn, wrote a thesis on the impact of transparency on credibility in the blogosphere. I really enjoyed reading the thesis.

FIrst of all I enjoyed the thesis because I learned a lot from it. I found that many of the questions we have researched in other areas of communication are now new again with this new medium. The whole issue of credibility really seems to be one of the most important issues any of us in PR can address. The Edelman Trust barometer clearly shows the most trusted source of information is “someone like me.” But at what point do we begin to believe someone like any of us? The results of Melissa’s thesis indicate that college students, at least those who participated in her study, are smart enough to question the validity of blogs in general. Newsom, Turk, and Kruckeberg in their text, This is PR, suggest that governmental and organizational web sites are the most credible. How do we know which blogs are the most reliable? Or more importantly, how do we make our blogs credible?

Second, I enjoyed the thesis because it made me think more deeply about the potential and limitations of blogs. It seems to me that if blogs and related social media are to be used effectively and ethically, we need to generate more research on the impact, the potential, and the limitations. To make the research useful practitioners and academics need to team up so we can gather real world data rather than college classroom data.

What do you think?

While my students were taking an exam this afternoon, I read through the May 26 issue of PR Week. A couple of stories caught my eye. One has to do with a survey of reporters in which the majority of respondents felt blogs and social media have a positive impact on editorial direction and diversity but a negative impact on quality and accuracy. Another related story is about the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. It seems under the guidance of Burson-Marsteller, the new design for the five dollar bill was unveiled via a virtual press conference. After the launching, they monitored the blogosphere to check on how smoothly the introduction of the new design into circulation went. In addition to the BEP using web based media, other government agencies are also embracing the use of social media.

So, why am I talking about these articles? The purpose of our research project is to get a sense of the impact of social media on PR. If government agencies are using it and reporters are thinking about the impact of it on how information is being presented, social media is almost, if not already, mainstream.

Here are some questions to think about. We welcome all ponderings.

How do bloggers and readers of blogs determine issues of credibility?

Do blogs and other social media have a measurable impact on public opinion of a product or an organization?

I think Robert was a bit optimistic when he said way back in February that he had me blogging. I’m trying, really, but I’m learning the system. A number of things have occurred that have motivated me to get back on this blog.

One is that I have begun to twitter. Interestingly, there are links to some good information shared there giving credibility, in my mind, to the value of social media. If I can pick up good links to valuable and interesting information from Twitter, where else can I find good stuff. . . maybe in a blog is I keep my mind and eyes open.

Another incident that is motivating me is the uproar about CBS questioning PR ethics. Robert blogged about that yesterday on Marcom blog, but I had to cool off a bit before I could comment. If we follow the CBS logic, all network news would be discredited because of the very questionable tactics that CBS has used. What kind of screwy logic is CBS using in looking at the world?

So all of this thinking and stewing brings me back to me original question: does Social media have a real impact on public relations?

Super Tuesday seems to be an appropriate day to write about our research project since the candidates are all using social media to some extent. This has gotten me thinking about several things so please be patient with my ponderings. After all, I am an “old dog” trying to learn about new tricks.

I just spent a little time looking at a number of candidate websites. Clearly the folks running those campaigns believe in the power of web based media. Either that or they are playing the odds and trying to reach every conceivable voter. How will they know how much impact social media has on voter choice or in fund raising? Will people vote for Ron Paul because of his extensive use of social media or because they are tired of the same old faces and messages?

I’m an inveterate eavesdropper ( I prefer not to think of this as being noisy). I love to walk around and over hear what students and others are talking about. As someone who has researched listening for 30 years, this process seems like a good way to get a read of what’s on people’s minds. It’s also a good way to pick up the latest vocabulary. Anyway, is scanning the blogosphere (sp?) the equivalent of learning by walking around?

Another question running through my mind has to do with reliability. If anyone can post a blog or entry in a social media outlet , express him or herself, say whatever he/she wants to, etc.; how will we know when to sit up and pay attention to the message? At what point do we reach critical mass?

One really good thing that I have observed about  blogging is that it’s fairly easy to identify opinion leaders.  It’s easier to do this on a web log because you can follow the trail(s) of conversation. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do this in other lines of communication.

Well it seems that I’m coming up with more questions than answers, so I look forward to reading your ideas and responses.

Now I have to go back to the candidates’ websites and decide who I’m voting for today.

Margaret