Who Owns Social Media?

I first heard the term “social media” in JMC 301: Intermediate Newswriting.  I was considering a story on text messaging and my teacher said I should point it in a  “social media” direction.  I had no idea what she was talking about.   This term has now inundated my life.  I think I understand how many organizations are feeling about this phenomenon: like  I’ve been training in the kiddie pool and now I’m supposed to swim laps across the Atlantic.  Despite my fears (being eaten by a shark, drowning, etc.) I plunged into the great saltiness.  I am now the proud owner of accounts on Twitter (feel free to follow me – MeganGj), Delicious, Word Press (so what if they were required for class), MySpace and Facebook.

Ah, Facebook.

As of February 4, 2009, Facebook owns all content posted on, transmitted through or pretty much distantly related to its server EVEN AFTER AN ACCOUNT HAS BEEN DELETED, and it can use your content for any purpose including advertising.

Facebook’s updated Tems of Service have caused a stir on Twitter with many tweets expressing frustration and plans to end accounts.  Several of the tweets complained about Facebook owning everything they posted without acknowledging that users freely choose what to post.  (Granted it is probably easier to vent in 140 characters than to weigh both sides of an issue.) None of the tweets I read mentioned the fact that Facebook always did own what you post.  The only difference now is that its ownership does not expire when you cancel your account, as Jacob Botter of  The Consumerist explains.

I had a minor internal struggle about this issue.  Here’s a summary of my thought process:

• That’s messed up.
• I can’t really explain why that’s messed up, it just is.
• I’m finished with social media…except what’s required for JMC 417.
• I guess I’m really frustrated that Facebook always owned my content and I didn’t know about it.
• I guess I always knew that I had to be careful about what I posted because the Internet is forever.  Once something’s out there it’s out there for good.
• If it weren’t for other forms of social media I wouldn’t know about this issue.
• I guess social media is not completely evil…I guess.

It looks like I’ll be keeping my Facebook, at least for now.   I will definitely be reviewing my privacy settings though and reading those Terms of Service agreements more carefully on other social media sites.  I certainly understand why so many organizations are wary about jumping into this ocean.

What do you think?  Should we head back to the kiddie pool or keep paddling away?

Is our Twitter addiction something to worry about?

In a way I find our addiction to social media hilarious. This is quite fitting since we are all learning about Twitter right now. Has anyone been about to go to bed and their laptop is 3 feet away and you grab it to update your status on Twitter to “going to bed” or “had a long day I did this, this and this, finally going to bed?” Ok now tell me, how many followers do you actually have (since almost all of us signed up within the week). Isn’t it terrible that probably no one will read that yet we have this urge to edit what it says?

If it is on Twitter, Facebook or Myspace the desire to let people know your next move exists. I found a story on PR Practitioner about how Tweets will soon turn into “a sidebar in the newspaper”. I think the author, Brian Camen, means that events are being followed so closely on Twitter that maybe some users comments on tweets will actually turn into quotes in the NY Times. My login name is “Flynchie” could you imagine if you read a article in the NY Times that said, “I know that Barack will make a true change to the United States” commented Flynchie on Twitter. Rellly?

There is a specific language that people speak on Twitter as well. You give information in a respectful manner, not to mention quickly. Twitter Search allows you to follow specific events, which became very popular during the 2008 election. I feel that in order to be “good” at Twitter I need to really get a hang of the #, @ and all of the other random codes existing.

I almost ask, what is our world coming to and then I wonder, are we just adapting to our technology as quickly as it is advancing? If we have gotten this far with the internet in about 15 years, I can’t even believed where we will be in another 15 yearas. We will just have to see if Brian Camen is right in the end and if Twitter turns into a sidebar in a newspaper.

We are PR Practitioners, Not Ambulance Chasers

Charlotte Risch made an interesting post  in last week’s Valley PR Blog, she claimed that PR practitioners may be the new ”ambulance chasers” replacing lawyers, who were previously attached to nickname. The derogatory term, in short, is defined by TIME magazine as a lawyer who persuades an injured person to hire them to sue for personal damages.

Risch made this comparison to ambulance chasers after Nadya Suleman, who gave bith to octoplets in early February after already having six previous children, hired a publicist instead of a nanny. I understand why Risch made this comparison, Suleman should be more focused on her 14 children rather than her relationship with the media. However, Suleman became an overnight sensation in the media.

At first it was positive attention but the headlines started turning against her when the truth behind her controversial pregnancy was revealed. The situation changed from a sensation to a crisis and who better to handle that than a publicist that specializes in crisis management. An ethical PR practitioner should serve as a mediator between Suleman and the media  and advise her on actions she could take to improve her reputation in the public’s eye.  However, if a PR practitioner acts unethically by drawing more attention to the client by making her out to be a “victim,” that would be the “ambulance chaser” that Risch is referring to.

In response to Risch’s frustration with people asking what PR is and questioning its involvement in cases like Suleman, I think we should take this as an opportunity to explain to people what crisis management is. If we explain that when crisis management is done properly and ethically it can be benefical to all parties involved and something good can come out a bad situation.

I understand the resoning behind Risch’s analogy, but we should be hesitant to associate the PR profession to more derrogatory terms than it already is. As long as practioners stick to the ethics the profession is based on (PRSA Ethics), critics will have fewer opportunities to attach it to derogatory terms.

Chris Brown- PR Nightmare?

By now I am sure that everyone has heard about the incident that allegedly took place between singers Chris Brown and Rihanna.  Was anyone else as shocked as I was when all we heard for a week after the incident was nothing?  In every article that was written there was a ‘no comment’ somehow tied in from Chris Brown’s spokespeople and no sight of the singer himself.

Eonline posted a blog before Chris Brown released his apology where the writer reached out to PR professionals who specialize in crisis PR and the only thing they disagreed on was terms that described Brown’s career: ” finished, over or merely done.”  Where was his apology?

Well, it came, a week to late.  Yesterday, MSN.com ran a story talking about how Brown was “sorry and saddened” about what happened.   After reading the story I decided to google “Chris Brown and PR” and the top search results contained the sentence “Chris Brown’s PR team working overtime.”  You search “Chris Brown” and more results about the incident, his abusive past and the fact that all his sponsors and invites to sing at major events (including this past weekend’s AllStar events) are backing out. 

I learned early on that the worst thing you can do is say ‘no comment’ when you have a crisis on your hand.  I highly doubt his publisist was not given enough time to return media phone calls since we didn’t hear anything for a full week.

I decided to look up mistakes in a PR crisis and come across one that I really on   Cyber Alert: “Only Start Work on a Potential PR Crisis Situation after It’s Public.”  I really wonder what was behind the reason for not commenting right after the rumors started.  Was there a strategic reasoning behind it or did the PR person make a mistake and that is why they are “working overtime” now?