Tweet Me, Poke Me, Digg Me

When I started PR school, I never would have imagined that social media could have such an influence on the industry. However, I quickly learned that to communicate effectively you need to go where the audiences are, online. PR has started to transform from talking to people to talking with people. A dialogue opened up online, and the PR industry started to see it was working. I also took notice, and so began the narrative of my social media journey...




“Just tweet me later.” Gone are the days of simply phoning a friend, social media has created an entirely new platform for friendship making and networking. Two months ago you would never have seen me on Twitter. I was adamantly opposed to putting myself online, worried too many people would see my picture, or heaven forbid, actually want to follow me. The problem really was fear of the unknown.




Here’s a great video that helped me understand what social media is really all about:




So I dug my heels into the ground and I got a blog. I started by looking at other people’s blogs to give myself a point of reference. Here are my favourites: Casie Stewart, Mitch Joel, Brian Solis and blog TO. Then I went to blogger.com, it was really easy to sign up for.

Recently I went to Brand Camp in Toronto to learn how to better my online presence. It was an incredibly valuable experience. Blogging, tweeting, flickring, tumblring and facebooking are becoming essential to successful PR practitioners. But to create this online presence you need to “brand yourself”. Here is what I learned about online identity from Personal Brand Camp:

1. Write about things you are most passionate about.
2. Be honest about who you are.
3. Employers will Google your name before interviewing you.
4. Don’t use your blog to complain or vent, people appreciate positivity.
5. A successful blog can land you your dream job in PR or marketing,
6. PR is about image, so protect and uphold yours online.
7. When people search you on the internet, your blog should be the destination.
8. Network online
9. LinkedIn, is a professional version of facebook.
10. BE YOURSELF

After finally being able to embrace social media, I have compiled a few online profiles to optimize my online presence: LinkedIn, Facebook, Ning and Twitter, with many more to come.

So next time you want to get in touch, tweet me! Happy online trails to you.



DIGG IT!!!!