Text during Sex? Hmm...

Remember all those “scary” predictions in movies of how one day our toasters, radios, TVs and computers would one day revolt against humankind and take over the planet? Remember how we laughed and said it was impossible for man-made devices to overrule us and run our lives? What if I told you that our lives are indeed run by the devices in our home. Well, one in particular: our cell/smartphones. 

I read an interesting article on Mashable about how cellphone addictions have led Gen Y to use their phones during, ahem¸ inappropriate texting times. According to a survey done recently by Retrevo (a consumer electronics shopping and review site), one in 10 people under 25 think sensending text messages is okay during sex! . In the same demographic, a quarter of people thought it okay to text while on the toilet and 50% thought it okay to text while eating.


Where do I even begin?

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Last time...I swear.

I know, the Tiger stuff is getting old, but I just thought I'd post this as a follow-up to my last post...

Looks like Tiger is taking another break from golf.

So I guess it was too soon for him to return. I'll say it just because I can...I told you so.

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Time to face the music

Now I know everyone’s probably tired of hearing about the whole Tiger Woods scandal, but I want to add my two cents about the press conference at Augusta. Last week, Tiger Woods faced the media for the first time since the sex scandal broke out and freely answered questions from the media. I know I’ve been pretty harsh in my analysis of the scandal, but I have to admit he impressed me a bit at the conference. He looked more relaxed, smiled during his entrance and looked comfortable, not awkward. What really impressed me is that he finally acknowledged the fans and the other golfers who have had to put up with the media, and apologized for it. And it seems like he’s really making an effort to change who he is (at least, as a golfer). Watching bits and pieces of the Masters, I have noticed a difference in the way he interacts with the fans. He’s approaching them, talking to them, signing autographs, taking pictures and smiling; something he’s never done before at tournaments.

But at the same time, I was really disappointed in what was asked and discussed at the press conference.

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Star Power in Social Media

Celebrities have closed the gap between them and their audience by participating in social networks like Facebook and Twitter. And it’s not news that many celebrities have joined forces with different not-for-profit charities, but how has social media helped get the message across? And why is it so effective and important?

Social media allows celebrities to better reach their audience to send out information about a charity or asking their audience to support a cause. YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have become great resources for celebs to do just that. YouTube and Facebook video have become intimate channels for celebs to speak with their audience, making their message more personalized, almost tailored, to you, the viewer. They’re able to be themselves and not have it scripted or robotic as many television ads/campaigns are. There’s more creative freedom for the celebrity to reach out to their audience in the way that their audience knows. For example, Ben Stiller reached out to his fans and audience through a YouTube video to describe his StillerStrong campaign, which raises money to build a school in Haiti (before the ‘quake happened). The video was effective because it played up Stiller’s strength and fame: humour, yet it was informative, captivating and most importantly it was short. It was long enough to give out all the details of why he’s raising money, but short enough that it kept the attention of the viewer. Having Stiller just sit in front of the camera and do a monologue is effective because there are no gimmicks; it’s just him, the camera, the message and you.

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TTC - Take The Car indeed...

The new decade has not been good to Toronto transit at all. We’re only in month 3 and the TTC has been people’s choice for scandal and harsh criticism. From the TTC booth operator caught sleeping to Giambrone’s sex scandal/1 week run for Mayor of Toronto, to YouTube videos of terrible customer service. And while the TTC has done little to salvage their poor image, 2 more stories regarding the transit commission has surfaced.

A couple of days ago, a TTC driver was caught operating a TTC bus while under the influence. Riders called in the police when they were concerned with the erratic driver, and while she wasn’t over the legal limit, she had enough in her to warrant a 3-day licence suspension. The TTC is still deciding her fate on whether to slap a harsher punishment on her, fire her or just let her be. And they said that their decision will not be made public. Now hold on a tick. No decision will be made public? I think that is the most preposterous thing I’ve heard.

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Slacktivism: getting informed

Social media has become an integral part of communications in the past decade. Corporations, groups, schools and even not-for-profits have embraced the virtual revolution as a means to reach out to a larger audience. Social l media has its advantages of making the world smaller and connecting us to people around the world who share the same likes and dislikes.

Facebook has been a popular site for connecting people through groups and fan pages. Political activism has spread to the social media realm and there has been a recent trend in groups created around specific issues/topics. But how effective is social media when it comes to strengthening or nurturing political activism? Does it allow us to become more involved or more knowledgeable in the political realm or has it just made us more lazy?

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A tamed Tiger

This has certainly got to be the PR story of the year. Tiger just keeps resurfacing on all sorts of media outlets, and it's no surprise why. I know I've already talked about him in a couple of my other blogs already, but this one has to take the cake in terms of bad PR. I'm talking of course about his overdue apology to his family, friends, media and golf fans everywhere.

He's finally broken his silence. Sort of. I have to say I'm not very impressed with his apology at all. First of all, it's 3 months late. Second, it seemed so fake, unemotional and robotic. Even his tears seemed forced. And that hug with his mother? Awkward to say the least. Third, seems even more staged when questions were not allowed. 

Makes me wonder whether the apology was straight from the heart or just a means to regain his status in the golf world and with his sponsors.
 

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The year of the Tiger

According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the year of the tiger. In the PR world, it's also starting to look that way. It's only February and already we've seen 2 PR disasters/sex scandals, not including Tiger himself. I brought up John Edwards in the last entry, and what do you know, it's happened again...only this time on Canadian soil.

TTC Chair and (ex)mayoral candidate, Adam Giambrone, has been caught in a sex scandal with the young Kristen Lucas, who has unearthed the affair to the media. Only 13 days into his mayoral race and he's already quit. So what happened?

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The truth about hiding behind spin

Oops, another celebrity has done it again.

American Democrat John Edwards has come forward and admitted to fathering Quinn, the now 2 year old daughter of his mistress, Rielle Hunter. The truth has slowly begun to trickle out, especially with "The Politician", a tell-all about Edwards, has been published, written by Edwards' most trusted aide, Andrew Young. The Washington Post reports that Young claimed the paternity of Hunter's daughter to save Edwards from the political scandal that would ensue.

This seems to be a trending strategy for celebrities: deny, get caught, fess up. Talk about PR nightmare. We saw the same thing explode into the media/social media world when Tiger Woods admitted to cheating on his wife (Sorry, I had to bring up Tiger).

Entering the 'glamorous' world of celebrities means signing away one's privacy because Heaven forbid the media finds some sort of skeleton in one's closet. But full-well knowing that privacy doesn't stand a chance in Hollywood and beyond, why go through all the effort of lying and hiding? Sex scandals aren't new to celebrities. It's become almost a requirement now. So are denial. And apologies.

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The world according to Twitter (and Facebook)

It’s been a trending topic for 16 days, while we’ve been bombarded with devastating images and videos everywhere else. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti  a couple of weeks ago was all that anyone could talk about. In the days of yore, any news reached us via traditional forms of media, meaning by the time we learned about a disaster from a world away, the news would be somewhat stale, even up to a day before we knew what was going on (imagine that). The internet and social media has changed that drastically, and now more than ever we’re connected.  

Merely 2 hours after the quake, news hit and exploded on Twitter. Haitian musician Wyclef Jean tweeted a plea to help his people by donating via text to his foundation, Yéle Haiti. Twitter exploded with tweets from all over the world, getting in contact with loved ones in Haiti, organizing relief efforts, sharing pictures and just spreading the news. Even on Facebook, status’ changed to links promoting relief efforts. In a few shorts hours the world opened up a grand conversation. 

But how helpful is that grand conversation when it comes to financing the rebirth of a nation?

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The story behind the name

As a child, I always enjoyed word games like that. So for those of you who haven't caught on yet, bet|6ixDegrees|ween means "6 degrees inbetween". 

Knowing that I wanted to focus on social media and its impact on human connection, I was inspired by John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation theory. Because the internet has opened the door to a world we could have only imagined before, we're more connected now than ever before. Who knows, maybe we're all connected by lesser degrees. In any case, the topics I hope to discuss will explore the pros and cons of social media and social networking, and how issues can shoot to the surface from across the world in mere seconds. 

The stories I choose will offer a new perspective on topics and issues that are both important and interesting to me, and who knows, maybe in some way, these stories are part of the 6 degrees that separate me to you!

The world is indeed an interesting place.  

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Welcome to bet|6ixDegrees|ween

First (for me at least) there was MySpace, then I connected on Facebook. After 4 years on "the Book", I told myself no more social networking, especially not Twitter. Posting updates or news in 140 characters? For those who know me, I'm quite the vocal person with endless opinions, so 140 characters just didn't seem enough. But guess what? I caved a few months ago, when I started my post-graduate program, and I'm definitely a convert. But I'll leave that story for another day.


And now I've caved yet again. Blogging; the latest craze in the Web 2.0 world. Well I didn't cave on my own, technically this is an assignment for my Online PR course, but the more I thought about what the hell I'm going to talk about, I started to randomly surf websites on subjects that interest me, and as I watch the devastation unfold in Haiti, and how flooded the internet was on that subject, it came to me; social networking and media. I've always been fascinated by it, and while I never took the time to research it thoroughly, I know this much: it's very present in my daily life. 


So here I go, holding my breath and diving into the deep end, hoping for the best. And while I know that I am a respectful and open-minded person, please take this blog with a grain of salt and understand that I am merely expressing my personal opinions and that if you feel like I have offended you, please note that it's certainly not my intention to do so. But I am open to hearing from you, so please feel free to comment and play devil's advocate. In fact, I encourage you to do so!


I look forward to sharing my thoughts on the Web 2.0. I guess this would be my official welcome to the blogging world.  

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