In a world of too many acronyms, IE (internet entrepreneurship) and PR (public relations) are becoming commonplace names..or letters. Their relationship is foggy, as the two fields are clearly connected but not so clearly as to what extent.
Working in PR this summer, I have seen the devastation that the economy or at least the recession-mindset has on advertising. Most magazines and newspaper, the age-old venue for PR, are in the black due to ads. Since subscriptions are down, meaning less people are reading the magazines, then the incentive to advertise is lower. Certain industries like water sports engines have gone from 150 trade magazines 5 years ago to 15 magazines this summer.
The basic conclusion of my work this summer is that PR is in a new phase. If a company wants the public to see its press releases or read its editorials, then the news must go beyond the trade magazines. Sans the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, widely-read periodicals could be out of business in the next 20 years. The PR firms which capitalize on IE by creating real-time news release sites will rise to the top in this new era of PR’s relationship to the internet.
In 8th grade, personal websites were the ultimate cool. If you did not have a GeoCities account, then you might as well have been in the boys’ glee club. So when Facebook came around for my graduating class of 2006, the simplicity of having a clean-looking, user-friendly was nostalgic and exactly what we liked.
Now though, every time I sign in to my personal Facebook page, I am bombarded by invites to MobWars or quizzes about which Twilight personality I have. I am uninterested in these side-shows; I want to use Facebook as my personal page — where my information is there for other people to connect with me.
I believe that this lack of focus could be a turn towards the demise of Facebook. If they continue to develop their “applications” to combat iPhones, they are moving away from their initial selling point of a simple, free, and user-friendly interface that everyone can use. Facebook has opened the door for competitors to creep in and serve the need for simple, quick, and free connection. <Enter Twitter, Stage left>.
Not too long ago getting your work “published” was something to be really proud of, now all you have to do is push a button, and ta-da! Published! It is now easier than ever to start your own blog, get your own website, run your own online business, sell products online, and publish your thoughts.
With the internet expanding and the creation of sites like WordPress the internet is our oyster. We are free to do (almost) anything we want on this new platform. People like me, who know nothing about coding or HTML can start up a site that looks just as legit a the next one. Internet entreprenurship is booming and I can’t wait to explore its posibilities.
Facebook has gone through another graphical and interactive update! Many users will most likely gripe about the change and quickly become used to the new layout.
As a Facebook user, it’s important that you can zip around and easily add friends, send messages, and use applications! In order to get used to the new layout, let’s discuss what’s different!
What’s new with the new Facebook?
Icons for friends requests, messages, and notifications can now be found in the upper left corner of the page! Clicking on an icon pops up a dynamic window so you can read your messages, accept friend requests, and check out their notifications without leaving the home page.
Secondly, the chat list has been relocated to the left side of the window. Not a huge change, but it helps display the list to users who may have not known about F-book chat at all.
You can now access links to Facebook applications from your Facebook home page. Interesting idea, but this change doesn’t seem to help at all.
I personally think the presentation looks cleaner. What do you think about the new layout?
I remember the days when news traveled via phone call and parents couldn’t check up on their children via online photo album. But my younger brothers likely don’t. Facebook has become a worldwide networking system, but also a new tool for parents.
Thankfully, my parents haven’t joined the world of facebook, but more than one of my friends have gone through the dilemma of ”crap, my mom just friend requested me!” I’m glad I haven’t experienced this, not because I don’t want them to know what I’m up to, but becasue I like to preserve at least some sence of privacy, even if it is a false sence.
Nowadays, if a parents child is tagged in a photo from “January 6th” and that child was supposed to be somewhere completly different – busted. If the kid is listed in a relationship with someone dad doesnt approve of – busted. Not only will parents track their childrens activity but they can check on on their childrens friends and if a friend comments on their wall and says a dirty word the parents will likely no longer be fond of the friend.
In a sence this is good because it will theoretically regulate the bahavior of our children, but on the other hand, how far will this go? Do we have anything left that is private? I suppose, as long as it isn’t on facebook.
Facebook is a great way to network with friends from high school, but there are definitely some downsides to it. Facebook is constantly changing its format, which makes it tough to navigate around it. There are a lot of annoying applications, groups, and fan pages to belong to that seem like they’re never ending. There are also people who randomly friend people, which is an annoyance. Facebook is good for preparing an event, for example to set up a tailgate for a concert. It can become addictive and distract people from school work and paying attention in class. If you meet someone, it is a nice way to see what kind of person they are by looking at their wall posts and pictures. I think Facebook overall is a positive network to keep in touch with friends that are at college, and people can actually see what their friends are doing rather than just hearing their stories.
The 2010 Grove City Baseball started practices on Tuesday January 19th and practices 6 days a week. The team added nine freshmen to the squad, where it looks like there will some immediate contributors and some quality back-ups. The team returns its starting catcher, the second baseman moves to shortstop, and its third baseman returns as well. The outfield brings back its two corner outfielders who have started since their freshman year. The pitching staff is almost fully intact from last year and should have some freshman contribution. The team leaves for Florida on February 23 and returns the 28th.The catcher, Marcus Magister, was selected to second team preseason All-American after a tremendous season last year where he set the schools home run record. Magister was First Team All PAC last year, while earning Third Team All American by D3baseball.com. Outfielder, Scott Moran was selected to First Team All-Pac last year. Also, Grove City returns ace, Mike Herringshaw, who was selected Second Team All-Pac last year for his pitching performances. This year’s shortstop, Andrew Patterson, was selected to Second Team All-PAC as well. The team consists of only 3 seniors, Ty Thompson, Mark Scriven, and Mike Herringshaw, but the team figures to be among the top 4 when the conference tournament comes around.
Another new layout? Seriously? After what feels like several thousand design changes, Facebook has yet again changed the layout of their website. This endeavor was set in motion to create a more “simplified design and provide easy access to your entire Facebook experience.”
Here is a list of some of its new and reorganized features
The Top Menu
Icons for requests, messages, and notifications light up at the top left corner of the website so you don’t miss anything new.
The Account Menu contains links to important settings pages. It’s also where you can go to find help or log out.
The Basics — Search, Home and Profile — are accessible on the top right of every page.
The New Left Bar Menu
Core Features such as News Feed, Messages and your Friends – are now nicely organized at the top of the left bar menu, making it easier to keep up with what’s new.
Applications you’ve bookmarked have moved up the page for easy access. The new Applications and Games dashboards allow you to play to your heart’s desire.
Friends Online provides quick links to chat with your friends, or quickly go online yourself to show others your ready to talk. Facebook chat options are on the bottom bar.
While researching I recently stumbled across the quite helpful site Wikiquote.org. Although this domain has been around for over 5 years, I have somehow failed to notice it before. For this reason, I thought it might be helpful to share it with the rest of the readers here.
There are a few key benefits to finding famous quotations at Wikiquote.
There is a large reference of quotations from people, books, films and proverbs
Wikiquote allows visitors to the site to contribute additional quotes or information about the quotes
Pages on Wikiquote are linked back to articles about the same topic on Wikipedia.org which comes from the same parent organization.
We are a different class of college students every Spring. Together we explore what it means to do business in a "Web 2.0" world. Technology, new businesses, cutting-edge trends, we cover them all!
We are a different class of college students every Spring. Together we explore what it means to do business in a "Web 2.0" world. Technology, new businesses, cutting-edge trends, we cover them all! 
