Sunday, April 17, 2011

Oh Baby, Rebecca Black Just Surpassed Justin Bieber for Most Disliked Video!

Long post title? Maybe, but it seems a new piece of history has just been made.

Personally, I spend many hours a day searching for videos on YouTube. While I acknowledge that it probably is not the best way to spend my valuable time, I can at least say that I’m typically not actively engaged the whole time. I usually use music videos as background music while doing other work.

Now that we’ve gotten past explaining my bad YouTube habit, let me move on to something related, however much more interesting. I was, once again, reading my PR Daily News Feed, and a certain article stuck out to me: The 10 Most “Disliked” Videos on YouTube.

Intriguing.

I must say, I usually go to YouTube to view videos I like, however I have many friends who go online to view “bad” videos, simply for a good laugh. By bad videos, I mean ones displaying funny failings of humanity (I hope that makes sense). I do have a personal YouTube account, and sometimes take the time to comment on videos I like, or “like” them, but usually, I just add them to my favorites, to watch again at a later time.

Anyway, moving on. I'm sure many have recently heard the buzz about Rebbecca Black’s new video for “Friday,” and I heard it got quite a bit of hate. A few weeks ago, I wrote a post stating that Justin Beiber's video for "Baby" topped the list for "Most Disliked Videos on Youtube." While this may have been true at the time, I have received some feedback claiming that it is in fact "Friday" that currently holds First Place. Don't believe me? Check this out.

Well folks, I hope you all still “like” my post, however I am now going to include the new most “disliked” video below. Enjoy (if you can).



Oh, and if you want, follow Rebecca Black on Twitter: Follow Rebecca Black

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Brian Solis Unveils the New Influencers

Hello once more!

Finishing up Brian Solis' book Engage, I have once again found some very interesting information to share. In chapters 19 through 23 of his book, Solis discusses who the "new influencers" of social media are and goes on to talk about Developing a Blueprint for New Marketing.

To begin chapter 19, Solis states that "we are media." He claims that, "we, the people, demanded personalization in engagement, improved services that put the customer back into the spotlight, and acknowledgment that our feedback would incite a more value-added circle of overall communications and product adaptation." A very good point. As one of "the people," I can certainly attest to this. Communicating with customers and valuing their opinion and feedback is crucial to developing products and services that they want. I like to know that a company cares about how I view their products.

Solis goes on to say that we must engage with purpose, and do so by shifting from monitoring to action. Later on,  he gives tips on "breathing life into the human network" by means of finding and utilizing influencers. This is the key to success. On his website, Solis writes urges his audiences to Please Repeat: Influence is Not Popularity. This is important to keep in mind. Before we delve in too deep, it is helpful to first Explore and Define Influence.

My opinion? I entirely agree. With such easy access to all kinds of social media nowadays, it is easy to get lost in the crowd. Being a PR student, I run several blogs, and I know firsthand how difficult it is to become influential. It takes time, dedication and patience. If someone becomes influential online, they can alter the opinions of so many people!

-V

Solis Discusses Influence:

For J.Crew, Nail Painting Proves Controversial

This semester, I am taking an Honor's Class called Issues of Social Justice. Earlier this week, one of my peers shared an article she had come across that raised the issue of socialized gender roles in mass media. Then a few days later, the article was indeed in my PR Daily News Feed, so I thought I would blog about it this week.

The latest controversy seems to lie in a recent catalogue that showed its creative director, Jenna Lyons, painting her young son’s toenails pink. The caption read, "“Lucky for me I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon.” This photo received a huge response, and many have criticized it for setting a bad example. Fox News claims that, “This is a dramatic example of the way that our culture is being encouraged to abandon all trappings of gender identity—homogenizing males and females when the outcome of such ‘psychological sterilization’ [my word choice] is not known.”

Should this really be so controversial, though? Take a look at the article here. I decided to read some of the comments that others had posted, and it seemed that a majority of the commentators did not believe it was such a huge deal. Personally, I do not see this as an issue. I have many guy friends who had their toenails painted as a child, and it did not seem to effect their "manliness" or sexual orientation. I think many siblings and family members use such activities as bonding moments, and nothing negative is intended by it.

Why then did J.Crew respond with "no comment?" It seems to me that they are contributing to the drama. If there is nothing to hide or regret, then why create such a mystery? I'm going to continue to check J.Crew's Twitter for the latest.

-V

Here is a photo of the controversial article:

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Brian Solis' Social Media University 403: Branding

I'm back, folks!

Time to once again further delve into the very informative book Engage, by Brian Solis.
Today, I'll be picking out and discussing the most compelling sections of chapters 12 through 18.

In chapter 12 of Brian Solis' Engage, he discusses something very relevant to my own life: personal branding. In my Social Media for PR course, I am currently working on an assignment called my Personal Learning Network (PLN). I have chosen to focus my network on digital portfolios and personal branding. Since I am specializing in Public Relations and Advertising, and have taken classes in both of those areas, I have decided to create an online advertising and design portfolio. In order to chronicle the process of its creation, I have actually utilized blogging: here's my blog!

This is why I was particularly excited about some of the information Solis provides in this portion of the book. While most of his advice tends to deal more with company and brand management, I can still use some of these tips when approaching my project. Some personal points of interest that I found include:

-Establishing an Online Presence: Solis mentions that, "the challenge isn't necessarily how to convince management of the need to outwardly engage online. The real obstacle is defining and reinforcing the brand personality as it either existed prior to social media and/or how it should display and present to those across the social web" (128). Solis then provides the reader with some helpful questions to ask yourself when beginning an online presence.

-Multiple Personality Disorder: This section particularly struck me, because I've definitely experienced the things he mentions. There are so many ways to present yourself online, we must choose what "reflects our corporate soul and personality" as opposed to something fabricated and simply well-meaning.

-Multiple Personality Order: To create a good online presence and keep your profile in order, it's still important to remember that "While 'being human' is consistent throughout the cycle, you are indubitably a different person to different people in different circumstances" (131).

-Discovery and Actualization: In order to put what we know into practice, we must look toward the past, but also the present and future. We must attempt, without bias, to show our personal identity and character.

All of this information was very compelling to me, as I am working on personal branding. Another good source for personal branding (as opposed to corporate online presence) is Dan Schawbel's Personal Branding Blog.

All in all, the information here has many takeaways, hopefully for everyone!

-V

-photo courtesy of Alan Gonzales

March's Top 10 Viral Videos!

March seems to be quite a month for viral videos. So many disasters, so little time! The subject of March viral videos is so popular, that even Ragan's PR Daily seems to have taken some time to list the top 10. Remember folks, I'm only discussing the month of March 2011. It may be April now, but some of these videos are still viral, or just gaining momentum (as in the case of Rebbecca Black)

Being a person who loves to spend time online-- particularly on YouTube watching videos-- I decided to check out the list. Going in, I was fairly sure I'd be seeing various "winning" Charlie Sheen videos, as well as Rebbecca Black's "Friday" video. I was right! Here's the full list of the top ten:

1. “Friday” by Rebecca Black (48.1 million)- seen it.

2. Video of tsunami waves reaching Sendai airport in Japan (18.3 million)

3. “Winning” – a song by Charlie Sheen (17.4 million) -seen it.

4. Aerial view of Japanese tsunami (14.3 million)

5. Scared baby (13.4 million)

6. Earthquake in Sendai (13.4 million)

7. ‘I just had sex’ (12.1 million)

8. Japanese dog refuses to leave injured friend (10.7 million)

9. Footage of 9/11 attacks from police helicopter (10.6 million)

10. Charlie Sheen says he’s “winning.” (9.6 million)- seen it.

Upon reviewing this list, I realized that I've only seen three of these. While I was aware of the terrible Earthquakes in Japan, I hadn't seen any of these videos, at least not online. I did see snippits on TV. It does make sense, though.

I have seen the Rebbecca Black video, but I had no idea just how many parodies are already going around! For a very comprehensive list, check out the article on Know Your Meme. Some of the parodies include a Conan O'Brien "Thursday" parody, a Deadmau5 remix for all you ravers, and the Chipmunk version (among many others).

Good times.

-V

P.S. I -had- to include one of the funniest things ever: Introducing the: Rebecca Black - Friday (Ft. Charlie Sheen Dubstep Remix)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The New Media University, According to Brian Solis

Hello once more!

Today, I'm continuing my journey of reviewing Brian Solis' book Engage. This time, I will be discussing chapters 6 through 12--that's quite a chunk, but I'll do my best to do it justice.

This section continues "The New Media University" portion of the book. Here, Solis writes about Social Media. In chapter 6, he writes about the importance of images, forums/groups, URL shorteners, etc. In further chapters, Solis goes into detail about Facebook pages, groups, and other useful social media tools such as microblogs (including Twitter).

One part of the section that really stuck out to me were Solis' "Tips for Twitter and Social Media for Socially Savvy Business". Here are some of the tips:

-Special offers
-Ordering
-Word of Mouth Marketing
-Conversation Marketing
-Customer Service
-Focus Groups
-Direct Sales
-Events

He goes on to discuss even more wonderful tips, but for the sake of time, I'm only going to mention these.

A final point I would like to bring up in this week's post is Social Media Optimization. Google has some great info about that here. It sounds fancy, but basically accounts for how someone gets noticed on the web. This is quite relevant to my life, at this time, because I host two PR blogs, and have a Twitter account. The problem? Only 12 followers...
In order to get noticed, I learned that I need to "optimize" my blogs. There are many ways of doing this. Here are some that I learned:

1. Choice of accurate keywords.- Both in your titles, headlines, as well as TAGS.
2. Use outside applications/websites, and think of all possible keywords for your subject.
3. Be specific.- talking about everything will get you nowhere.
4. Use other social media to spread awareness.- tell people via Facebook and Twitter!

Overall, these chapters were very helpful to me, even now as a student. I will definitely have to work on optimizing my blogs, so others outside the class find my posts and comment on them! How about you?

If you want some helpful tips on SEO, check out this video:


Saturday, April 2, 2011

Oh, Baby, Your Videos are the Most Disliked on YouTube!

I spend many hours a day on YouTube. While I acknowledge that it probably isn’t healthy, I’m typically not actively engaged the whole time–I may be listening to a song while I’m writing, for instance.

Now that we’ve gotten past my bad YouTube habit, let’s move on to something related, and more interesting. I was (once again) reading my PR Daily News Feed, and a certain article stuck out to me: The 10 Most “Disliked” Videos on YouTube.

Intriguing.

I must say, I usually go to YouTube to view videos I -like-, but I have heard that many people go online to view “bad” videos. By bad, I mean ones displaying funny failings of humanity (<– I hope that makes sense). I do have a YouTube account, and sometimes take the time to comment on videos I like, or “like” them, but usually, I just add them to my favorites, to watch again, or be able to find later.

Anyway, on to the list. I did recently hear the buzz about Rebbecca Black’s new video for “Friday,” and I heard it got quite a bit of hate, so I was surprised it didn’t top the list. Who did?
Justin Bieber. Should have seen that coming. His video for “Baby” is the number one most “disliked” YouTube video. Sorry, Justin.

Well folks, I hope you all still “like” my post, however I am now going to include the most “disliked” video below. Enjoy (if you can).



Oh, and if you want, follow him on Twitter: Follow Justin!