Calling All Social Media Phobics!

My growing online presence

It started with an old-fashioned email from a friend...

"The Blogger user stevensonberg has invited you to contribute to the blog: bigups/smalldowns."

Blogger? No way, I'm not a blogger, never have been, never will be. I always viewed blogging as narcissistic and unimportant. A way for people to promote their ideas in an innane and irrelevant manner.

I was so, so wrong... and so began my immersion in social media. My basic unit of currency, "my story", needed some work. I needed to get more connected.

I was already on Facebook (like the rest of the world).  I agreed to collaborate on bigups/smalldowns, but didn't post anything for months. I felt I didn't have the courage to take the next step. 

Then came Michael Cayley's class on Social Digital Media. It was time to get serious.

Being a beginner , I started with a blogger account. Though SMOJOE calls blogger "the Fisher Price blog platform", I found it a less daunting place to start - and the centre of my story funnel. I decided to call it "Rachael May Blog", a play on my first and middle name while also awknowledging my apprehension to blogging.It's been mostly school-related posts so far, but as I get more ideas I hope to build on this. My review of Alice in Wonderland was a more personal project (and for those of you who haven't seen it, check out my post here). 

At this point, I've got the basics down. I can tag, embed:

    

and can add photos.

So now I can create a blog - but I needed to get connected through a more professional network. It was time to get...

LinkedIn is a social networking site aimed the business professional.  I've connected with former employers, collegues, and classmates through this website. So now that I'm LinkedIn... 

I'm tweeting as well. Trying to network and make connections is an essential part of P.R. 2.0., and social media is essential. Feeling like my online presence was scattered, a friend (the lovely Laura Teed) sent me an invitation to Flavors me, which:

"allows anyone
to create an elegant website using personal content from around the internet

Ideal for personal homepages, lifestreaming, splash and microsites, celebrity fan pages, commercial promotion, brand marketing – and everything in between."

Here's how it works:

Flavors.me from Jack Zerby on Vimeo.
  
Phew! Now you can find me all in one place at http://flavors.me/rachaelcollier

Now that my story has a more cohesive narrative on Flavors me, I am working on developing my brand. Personal Brand Camp 2 - hosted by Michael Cayley and featuring guest speaker Joseph Thornley, was a fun, informative, and interactive experience that helped to clarify the idea of personal brand. This brief video really conveys the energy of the event:

Find more videos like this on HumberPR

I have learned that my story is evolving - just like people, it will grow and change, but the core of who I am will remain. I refuse to pigeon hole myself into saying I am one thing - because no one is one idea. I will focus on being who I am, and my brand is emerging from this. I am a student. I am a music lover. I'm a foodie, an enthusiastic social media newbie, and I'm ready to work hard for positive change in this world. Please follow my emerging story through any of my social media platforms, and feel free to make comments and suggestions - feedback can only help me further analyse myself and grow. Till next time...

TTC - The Better Way?

Remember when people were enthusiastic about taking the TTC? Those were the days...



With the recent fare hike, the TTC has been especially hot topic lately. The issue became highlighted for me when I decided to study PR. I looked into different schools, but every knowledgable person I spoke to told me that Humber College has the best program. But I realized my return to school had one major drawback... I was going to have to take the bus to school.

I had avoided the bus at all costs since I moved to Toronto 8 years ago. I've paid exhorbtant rents to live downtown on the subway line, I quit a job in the east end, and spent far too much money on taxi's. It's not that I'm a snob, I just think it's an enormous waste of my time to add an extra half hour to my commute for what is normally a 5 minute bus ride because the TTC can be unreliable.

I know there are many other people who have the same feelings about public transit in Toronto. I take the TTC to school because I have no other option, and I believe that most people take it for the same reason. You can feel the tension when the subway stops for 10 minutes with no explaination, and the recent fare hike has only made people angrier.

and then, on January 9th, the following photo taken by Jason Wieler with his iPhone went viral...



It was taken at 9:30 pm at McCowan station. Wieler said he watched the ticket operator for five minutes and he didn't move. He posted the picture on TwitPic, Twitter's photo sharing application.

How could the TTC union possibly turn this into anything but a total embarrassment? They have launched an investigation into the case, and the worker could face discipline. Despite the inquiry, the president of the TTC worker's union Bob Kinnear defended the sleeping ticket collector. He said it was "disturbing" that Wieler took the photo rather than checking to see if the collector was ok.

I don't mean to hate-on the TTC entirely though. I generally love the speed that I can get around the city via the subway, and I recognize that working with the public every day is a difficult job. And who could really stay awake if they were faced with this as a daily routine:



The sleeping worker George Robitaille blames health issues and "holds his head high" after 30 years of service. I don't believe that the real issue here is that he was sleeping on the job - how many of us has ever gotten a free ride because the booth was unattended or the driver waived us through? Many including myself have, and they were not sources of complaint. The real issue is the lack of service within the TTC, from train delays and overcrowding, to customer service. The TTC is now forming a blue-ribbon panel to seek advice from the private sector to win the hearts of its customers back. With rider complaints at a record high, it will take some serious relationship management to show the TTC in a favourable light. Damage to a companies image can be done so quickly through social media that PR professionals need to be just as quick and connected to protect it. For further insights
on this Toronto Star's Joe Fiorito has written an article aptly titled "It's easy, isn't it, to point, click and cry 'gotcha'" that is worth a read.

After all, we have all had moments when an inopportune picture or video could have compromised our image. For now we can untag or remove those embarrassing pictures that people post of us on Facebook, but hopefully in the near future all the hard work us Humber PR students are doing will result in some more than decent jobs. We will want to keep those pictures out of sight from our employers, and ideally we won't be doing anything scandellous in the first place. But if a picture of us goes viral, there is little we can do to stop it which raises huge privacy concerns. I'm going to emphasize a young, fun, and professional attitude in my personal brand, and hopefully I never have to hear anyone yell "gotcha".

Updates...

TTC is extending the use of old tickets...is this a PR move or is this just a "token" gesture? I mean who really stockpiled temporary tickets? Check out the article here.

You can also take a look at the TTC's customer service memo.

Lastly, you can look at George Robitaille's apology here...

Now that TTC chair Adam Giambrone is running for Mayor rival Smotherman calls on him to resign.

*NEW* TTC work-to-rule pitch fizzles

Get LinkedIn or Get Left Out

It’s the social networking site that everyone is talking about...

It can be found in over 200 countries and territories worldwide...

You can use it to connect with friends, fellow students, and colleagues...

Anyone can join...

It’s Facebook... in a suit.

It’s Linkedin!

With over 55 million users as of December 17, 2009, LinkedIn is THE social networking site for the business professional, and those who aspire to be. While it is possible to use social apps such as Facebook for business networking, LinkedIn is primarily used for this purpose . Membership is growing quickly and it can now be found in English, French, German, and Spanish. Basic membership is free, so there's no reason all of us student's can get involved and start networking! But what exactly IS LinkedIn? This short video explains it clearly...

But how is it different from other social apps?

The thing that really made this social app stand out is that executives from all Fortune 500 companies are members. Ignorance of LinkedIn is not only a detrement because of the missed networking opportunity but it will make you look unsavvy to anyone who asks. In a business like public relations, it would be especially foolish to miss out. Public relations is all about connections and relationship management, and LinkedIn is an effective, timely, and essential tool for the new business climate that PR is facing. As students we need to use this tool as part of our currency in the workplace is our technology and social media savvy. It is a gamechanger, and we need to be a part of it.

A quick example: within minutes of creating an account, I had connected with classmates and my former manager at the not for profit organization I worked for several years ago. She messaged me and said she will keep an eye open for internship opportunities as she is very connected within that sector. It took little effort on my part to bring potential significant results.

Aside from connecting with others, you can also join groups. There is an astounding variety, from your university alumni grop to an official white house group for people who work within the white house.

The other major feature of Linkedin is the job search engine. It is has a clear, attractive lay out and is user friendly. Take a look at the LinkedIn job network for more information.

And onto the big players...

The company’s business profile packs some serious might. Unlike some social apps, it is not run out of some wunderkind’s basement. Linkedin was founded and launched in 2003 by Reid Hoffman, who is now vice-president of PayPal but still overseas operations and is the currently chairman of the board. He handed the CEO position over to previous Yahoo! executive Jeff Weiner in 2008. Linked in has 480 employees total. Since the company turned a profit in 2006, revenue has skyrocketed. With the help of such high profile investors such as Greylock Partners and Goldman Sachs, the company is now valued at about 1 billion.

There are two main ways that this revenue is generated. One is through advertising, offering smaller companies the opportunity for direct advertising and advertising solutions for those with a bigger ($25,000+) budgets. They do well in this because they have access to a very desirable market - the business professional. Most of their users are relatively young and internet savvy with disposable income to spare.

They also have different account types. The basic personal account is free, but business accounts range from $250- $5000 per year. You can learn more about the different levels of membership and costs here.

Now To Connect The Dots...

LinkedIn also integrates neatly into many other apps that we are familiar with. You can follow LinkedIn on on twitter at http://twitter.com/linkedin. Don't forget to also link your own LinkedIn profile to your twitter account. They also have a free iPhone application. It offers a new search interface and an attractive layout. You could use this app before a meeting to find a summary of the person or company you are about to meet within minutes. You can find out more about the app here. It's also worth looking at the LinkedIn Blog as it contains many useful PR-related articles, such as Tips on Personal Branding.

And of course, they have a facebook page. So let's get connected! You should also check out my 1C partner Maram's blog for her insights into the usefulness of LinkedIn.

So what are you waiting for? Go get yourself a LinkedIn profile - and don't forget to add me to your network!