New Media: Pinterest

In a previous post, Platforms I Love, I discussed the new media tool Pinterest. Pinterest is a great site to use for both personal and professional use. Pinterest is way of story telling through images and a way to share and save ideas. It was launched in 2010 by Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp and Ben Silbermann. It is available in more than 10 languages. 

On Pinterest’s website they explain to users, “Millions of people use Pinterest in their lives and work.” I could not think of a better way to describe this new media site.

Ways to Use New Media to Embrace the Audience

Are you considering using new media for business? Then you need to consider what is important when using it.

What’s most important

The most important part of new media is the audience. Without an audience, new media is useless. To be successful you have to have people to interact with your product and your brand. You can’t live without a audience.

Embrace the audience

You have to think about what your audience wants to see or interact with. If you are not giving them what they want then they simply will not want to interact with you. There is not a point in using new media unless you are going to have an audience. So before you decide to use a new media site, consider your audience and what they want. 

My Community and How You Can Engage It

If there’s one thing that college students like it’s being able to brag. This can be through a “top” internship, a good grade or simply praise for doing well.  I don’t know one student who does not like getting a paper or assignment back with positive feedback. I think that College departments should take advantage of this.

How To Use Instagram

Credit:Instagram

A somewhat up and coming social media platform is Instagram.

I believe that it would be very beneficial for many businesses to join this platform. I think it would be especially helpful for universities when attempting to gain new students and to engage with any fan of the university.

Instagram is a social network where a person or organization can join and share pictures and videos. Mashable has a article “The Beginner’s Guide to Instagram” that shares the basics of how to utilize Instagram.   

Platforms I Love

Like many twenty-one year old undergraduate students, I use social media. This semester I even had to complete a fast for social media in my Specialized Writing in Public Relations. I never realized how often I was on social media or how many platforms I was on until this. I realized I use a lot of social media platforms, but there are two applications I love: Pinterest and LivingSocial.

Joining A New Media Platform- Things to Consider For a University

Any organization in any field must consider if a social media platform will work for them. To determine if a platform will be useful, an organization should research past success of other organizations and find out if their publics are using it.

University specific

Before joining a platform, universities must consider all students including prospective and current, as well as their families. They must consider alumni and faculty as well. A university’s publics are typically diverse.

Should Universities Use Social Media?

 When social media began, it was like most things, taboo. Users didn’t know what to use it for. It took time for users to learn to use it for personal use, and eventually it evolved for business use.

Today all different businesses use social media. Some of business use of social media is:

• To generate awareness
• To sell products
• To send out timely messages
• And much more.

Some universities have joined the social media train as well. But, why are there not more joining? This table from the Pew Research Center shows how young many social media users actually are. Many social media users are about to be college students, are college students or have graduated college within the past 10 years. If this is true, why are more universities not using social media?

Why Major in Communication

According to the Princeton View, communication is one of the top 10 majors. People are attracted to the communication major because it’s so adaptable. The Princeton Review  explains, “It will prepare you for a wealth of careers in business, advertising, human resources, public relations, government, education, media, and social services.” When you choose to major in communication you are setting up your future to include options.

My decision to major in communication with a concentration in public relations has taught me irreplaceable skills. Some of these include a keen eye for detail, a creative flair in my writing, a fresh vision for graphic design and the knowledge to create an effective public service announcements.