That's All For Now.

As I come to my last and final blog post of the semester (I know - so sad!), I will leave you with a few posts from my peers that I found interesting.  First and foremost, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to read what's on my mind and I hope I have enlightened your thinking about the field of public relations, especially in the social media and entertainment worlds.


The first blogger that I will discuss is Alyssa and her post on companies using surveys to provide feedback.  I totally agree with her when she mentions how fast food companies, in particular, make it extremely easy for customers to provide their feedback by using the Internet.  The Internet is becoming a very commonly used tool when it comes to public relations (as you can see from my social media blog), especially with surveys.  I am aware that some companies like to provide incentive for their customers to take the time to fill out a survey.  However, I found it interesting to learn that some fast food companies will actually offer free food! Does anybody need an extra opinion from me?! Sign me up!


As I digress...Another peer of mine who's blog caught my eye was Katerina. Her blog focused on social media, as well as mine, so I found this even more interesting to read.  Katerina discusses how she believes that an experiment should be done to find out if using social media would create more publicity and positive results for businesses.  I, personally, believe this should be done because businesses that are not already using social media to their advantage are most likely missing out! From experience, I have noticed that businesses who promote themselves via Twitter, Facebook, etc. have gotten more attention than those who prefer to remain quiet.  Are they "too good" for the Internet? Understandably, the "mom and pop" type will probably remain on the DL, but as for the big-name companies, I highly suggest you jump on the social media bandwagon.

You May Try This At Home.

When you hear the word "experiment," what's the first thing that comes to mind? Scientists? Laboratories? Those ugly and EXTREMELY unflattering goggles? Mmm...maybe.  Although I will be discussing research in this particular instance, I will be using the term in a slightly different way.


Experimental research does not always have to be conducted under very strict and careful instructions.  In fact, it can be done all in the comfort of your own home (without explosive chemicals, of course).  This type of research is used very frequently in the PR industry, especially with social media.  In fact, how do you think publicists evaluate which marketing tool is working the best for their clients?  Ah hah! Through experimental research!


Allow me to set up a situation (or...an experiment).  You are trying to determine which social media website allows for the most feedback and followers for a particular person in the entertainment industry.  Try Lady Gaga, for instance.  Start by pulling up MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook in your web browser, since these are the three biggest and most commonly used social networking sites at the moment.  How many followers does she have on each?  Comments?  Feedback?  By figuring out which website seems to be more popular for her audience and fans, you are conducting experimental research -- a blind experiment to be exact.  This just means that Lady Gaga isn't aware of the fact that you are stalking her fan base, which can reduce any form of bias (just in case you speak with her on a daily basis).


Well, what are your results?! The conclusion of our experiment today was that Lady Gaga's Facebook page resulted in the most fans, with a current total of 22,115,400 people "liking" her.  Does this mean that Facebook is the most popular form of social networking and can lead to more publicity?  It might, but not necessarily.  In this particular case, however, Facebook took the gold.

I'm Sorry, Did You Wanna Ask Me Something?

If you, yourself, have a Twitter or Facebook account, you probably are well aware that lots of celebrities do too. (Note to self: Don't admit your constant stalking of celebrities' tweets or updated Facebook statuses.) Whoops. Anyways, often times, these celebrities will ask their fans for feedback on their most recent outfits they wore to an event, or just general questions about what they should do, wear, what movies to see, etc. The list goes on and on. You might not realize that what they are doing can be considered a form of "surveys," which are a common method used in researching.

Now, you might be asking yourself where I am going with this. Surveys are commonly used on a daily basis, whether we realize it or not.  They consist of general questions that result in feedback that forms a consensus of opinions from the public.  What separates a survey from an interview is the simple fact that surveys do not get very specific and down to the nitty-gritty.  However, they can involve more specific questions about one general topic.  In other words, there is a very fine line when evaluating the difference between a survey and an interview.

Celebrities, often times, will tweet questions to their fans pertaining to a certain topic, with hopes that they will receive feedback that will aid in their "research."  Although this is not formal research they are conducting (I'm pretty sure none of the celebrities that I know of are professional scientists, unless you want to count Tom Cruise?) That's neither here nor there. What I am trying to have you understand is that by providing your feedback to these celebrities, with hopes that they will respond, RT (re-tweet), or simply read what you wrote to them, you are involved in a survey -- in a way.  "But don't surveys involve circling or checking off the best answer?" Not necessarily.

While browsing the Internet, I recently came across a website that displays a tweet from the rapper Bow Wow (wait, who?) that poses a question about if he was the only person who hates breakfast. The general consensus from fellow tweeters in regards to his question was "Hell Yes!" The people who took part in answering his question and forming this result were involved in a form of a survey.

So -- the next time you find yourself reading Kim Kardashian's tweets and being asked a question about which pair of Christian Louboutins you thought looked best on her, sit back, try to hold yourself back from vomiting, and remember that by answering her question and providing feedback, you are participating in an informal social media survey.