Broadband connects us all

Public Relations is evolving.
Right now.
This very minute.
And the super cool thing is that right now, this very minute you are a part of it!
Yes you are!
Good for you!!!

Long long ago, in the days of fax machines and snail mail there was Mr. PR. He was a vehicle for discussion and communication he represented the company. He was the a communicator and image maker.

Well not anymore my friends. With the arrival of broadband not only have we lost that funny dial up noise, we have developed into highly connected human beings. So long six degrees of separation hello Six Pixels! The evolution of the Internet has forced us to evolve. And so MR. PR2.0, master of social media, was born.

Broadband burst onto the scene promoting tools such as Blogger and Twitter and Picnik. Everything was accessible, and much easier to use. The people didn't need Mr. PR to communicate the message. They could get the message, or comment on the message, or write the message, sitting on the couch at home. And social involvement keeps growing.

Rise up citizen journalist!! We are listening!

PR2.0 is here and is a discussion the likes of which we have never seen. Deirdre Breakenridge puts into words the importance and relevance of broadband connectivity. It isn't enough to be online, you have to communicate online!!



Or your could ignore it. Your choice.

In order to not drown in social media tools, you need Mr. PR2.0. He can plug you in and turn you on and all together save you because he understands. GenY doesn't want to listen to advertising noise. Just give us the message, or we will write it for you.

And there it is. Broadband has enabled the masses to claim information production and transfer as their own. Mr PR2.0 is there to promote this exchange. Unlike his predecessor , Mr. PR2.0 wants to talk to everyone, all the time, he has social capital. His network is vast and far reaching your probably connected to him right now.

Are you on FarmVille?

Do you have something that distracts you? Something that you can justify wasting time on because it “helps you relax?” For my mom it was Tetris. She plunked down in front of the computer on a trip to Florida and played for the better part of a morning.

She is not alone. I have battled addictions to solitaire and checkers. Facebook was responsible for at least one paper being handed in late in college. Now, it’s FarmVille and I’m not the only one.

FarmVille is an application on Facebook where you plant, grow and harvest your farm. It involves little more than a point and click level of participation and it is HIGHLY addictive. So addictive in fact that Dr. Phil berated a woman his show about her addiction.

Everyone is talking about FarmVille. Facebook has a fan page and hosts the application, Twitter has a thread and there are countless videos on YouTube. Bloggers everywhere are posting hints, cheats and opinions. Gamespot.com posted on the subject. With almost 78 million users FarmVille is the fastest growing application on Facebook. Billions of man hours have been lost to this game.

Most reviews , and there are many, describe FarmVille as a simple game. By requiring very little brain power, FarmVille provides the user with a distraction from life. Just point and click your way to a more attractive and crop filled existence.

What I want to know is this. What is it about FarmVille, The Sims, celebrities and movies that is more attractive than our actual lives? Are we really so boring ourselves?

I don't know about you, but I would like an answer.

Just not right now, my crops need harvesting.

Vimeo a community for artists by artists

Vimeo is a community created for artists by artists. Enabling like minded people to share their creative juices in a cool and interactive way.

New users can chose from two account types, one that costs and one that is free. You can easily link up your Vimeo account to your Facebook account. Making the site user friendly and exciting all at the same time!

It's bright, friendly and the opening page lays it all out with Quality, Community and Plus tabs front and centre. Right away the creators invite you to take a look into their world. With tabs titled "Videos we like", "Explore" and "Right now" even your average Internet surfer will find something on here to peak their interest.

The Usability of this site, as outlined above is simple and direct. There are features that you would want to use right away that you cant find or learn about through a simple click from the homepage.

Particularly useful is the "Explore" tab. Click on it and you will see all the different communities that exist. Making reaching your target audience easier to reach. Generally they are all in the same place!! Alma won a bunch of awards and I didn't know about it before I clicked on the art link.

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

As a sharing site Vimeo increases the visibility of many different groups. There are 'communities' for artists, not for profits and on and on. Its application for business and entertainment. Use it to launch a new artist or search for new talent!!

This is a global community dedicated to sharing, though not necessarily a game changer Vimeo does provide a forum, similar to youtube in its sharing capacity but dissimilar in the content and overall goal of the people involved.

Now that you have a better understanding of Vimeo's Usability and Utility to go Jordana's Blog to see her critique of the Community itself. After all, sites like this are built on their community and can only survive if they are able to maintain a viable user base.

SlideShare How To

Social Media has earned itself an image that is not entirely fair. It is not just for the drunk and stupid, the procrastinators and the social butterflies. Social Media serves a much larger market , all you have to do it take a look.

Programs like SlideShare exist for the 'unseen' market. They are a tool for corporations to reach their audiences as well as their employees. No longer is being ‘sick’ a valid excuse for missing a meeting.

By uploading a PowerPoint presentation onto any host sites, you can share publically and reach millions or share privately on intranets with colleagues and clients. Even download the presentation right onto your computer. It is even applicable as a promotional tool for events. With 23mn monthly visits and 60mn monthly page views the founders of this San Francisco and Deli based operation are make an impact on Social Media.

Check out Jens Blog for the environmental application for an example of how it enables you to grow your personal network and reach a target audience and Aasana's Blog for some more info on SlideShare.

SlideShare is an easy and effective tool to reach the masses, from their own computers.

Check out this SlideShare about Social Media and Economic Developers!

Eight Things Economic Developers Should be Doing with Social Media

View more presentations from Atlas Advertising .

As you can see, SlideShare has use in many different fields. And in case you weren't sure just how to it. Here is a great How To video. Enjoy!!