The Presidential Trend to Twitter

According to CNN, digital history was made in early 2010. Then President Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to personally “tweet” a message on the social networking site. Well, he pushed the button. “Welcome to Twitter, Mr. President – I’ll follow you if you follow me,” Tony Fratto, a former George W. Bush spokesman, joked to CNN by e-mail. …

Tech Talks: the Wild Wild West

Should Facebook, Twitter and Google face regulatory oversight from the government? Or does that compromise Americans’ Constitutional Right of Free Speech? Just like the Wild Wild West, new frontiers in social media are constantly being pioneered. In today’s society, these large tech companies are shooting from the hip to provide people worldwide a platform of free speech without the law …

Pulling Strings!

Consistency is one of READY FOR MEDIA’s C’s of Communication. Consistent communication is crucial to both internal and external communications. Jingjing Hu, a music student at DePaul University School of Music, booked a round trip to Miami for a music festival in which she was performing. Her husband, Jay Tang, wrote on Facebook, “I purchased two round trip tickets for …

Don’t Hold Your Future Hostage

As hip-hop artist LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James) often says, “You can’t let your past hold your future hostage.” And  sometimes, past communication mistakes can more than tie up your future. Milwaukee Brewers’ relief pitcher Josh Hader, 24, found himself in a bind when past racist and homophobic tweets resurfaced at this summer’s All-Star Game in Washington D.C. After …

To Snap or Not to Snap

The once seemingly successful app that erases our pictures after ten seconds has been declining in popularity the past few years. Not only has Snapchat lost its uniqueness of story features to its competitors, Instagram and Facebook; CEO Evan Spiegel has negatively affected Snapchat’s public image with media mistakes. Let’s take a look at some examples of Snapchat getting it wrong. …

The “f” Word

The “f” word is in big trouble. And it’s classic! The once social media darling, Facebook, is now facing a crisis of unexpected proportions, complete with testimony before Congress:  both the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees and the House Energy and Commerce Committee! All, seemingly, without a plan. A crisis plan. Facing a weekend crash course in crisis communication skills coaching, CEO Mark …

Facebook’s Fireside Chat

It is often said that with great power comes great responsibility. Returning from parental leave, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated the 21st Century version of former president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “fireside chat.” Mr. Zuckerberg used his social media platform to announce that his company may have inadvertently participated in Russia’s tampering of the 2016 presidential election. After hiring numerous investigators, …

Pomp and Circumstance

Trending now is Graduation Speech Bingo for about-to-be graduates to play during the long, hot hours sitting in commencement caps and gowns with giddy parents watching their every move. The game is to see how many trite phrases are used: find your passion, it starts with us, today is the first day of the rest of your life. Here are …

“Biting the Hand that Feeds You”

Every employee is an ambassador of the brand s/he works for … good, bad or ugly. A recently-fired employee of Taco Bell, perhaps believing that one photo on his mobile phone of his licking a stack of empty taco shells wasn’t attention-getting enough, decided to post the picture on his Facebook page and Reddit, leading to a viral headache for his former fast food …

When Hip Hop & History Collide, You Get a “Belieber”

    After touring the Amsterdam hiding place of the young Holocaust victim and diarist, Anne Frank; hip hop sensation Justin Bieber decided to leave his mark in the museum’s guest book: “Anne was a great girl. Hopefully, she would have been a Belieber,“ (a believer in Justin Bieber.)  Her chronicle, The Diary of a Young Girl is recognized as one of the most …