Twitter, the new way to get news?

Over the years Twitter has become a very popular and real-time way that individuals get their news, but is this real-time news taking away from our nightly news channels? Many individuals these days have Twitter and with just 140 characters you can start anything. When sending a tweet, it can either be an informative tweet to tell your followers what is going on and when  or it could just be a social tweet saying what you did for the day. Whatever the tweet may be, Twitter has influenced our lives both for the good and the bad.

A few of the positives with Twitter, is receiving news in real-time and constantly being up-to-date
with breaking news. Also going along with the real-time news updates, you are able to follow particular celebrities or companies, so you can receive a special offer only valid via Twitter. Even though you only get 140 characters, you can make those characters counts to get the important information out that you need.

A few of the negatives with Twitters is it's taking about from the daily news, as individuals can learn what will be on the news that day and night via Twitter since it has been updated and talked about all day. Also, celebrities no longer have to go to reporter to get their important information to the press or tabloids, as they can just post it themselves via Twitter. We are never going to lose the news, but we can see how Twitter has not only changed the news stations, but also how we get our news.

With Twitter we are also able to use hashtags to start a trend, such as #iHeartvillage, which is currently trending on Twitter. Twitter has completely changed our world in how we send and receive news in just a short time.I personally think it will be interesting to see how the news adapts to the real-time aspect of Twitter. I also believe that Twitter will continue to grow as it is constantly telling you important, real-time news.

Welcoming a New Class

Yesterday was bid day, the day all four sororities on campus welcome new members after a long and stressful recruitment process. Throughout the weekend, the following rounds took place, Philanthropy, Sisterhood and Preference. After each night, we would go down a round and have 15 more minutes added of time. Bid Day is not only when we get to welcome our new members, but we also get to welcome back our sisters who decided to give up their letters and become Rho Gammas.

One of my closest friends was a Rho Gammas this past year, and I was beyond excited to get her back yesterday. Throughout the weeks of recruitment, I also inherited her little, as she couldn't be seen with here. Sunday around 10:30 a.m. the photographer showed up at the Alpha Xi House, and the pictures began. For the next thirty minutes, we got a variety of pictures, including the last one of me having two littles. By 11 a.m. it was time to go outside and welcome both our Rho Gammas and new members. 

We started out the same, the Rho Gammas would bring their girls out and we would all be chanting. Then it was time for the Rho Gammas to reveal their letters, which is an exciting time for not only us, but also the new members as they can see if one of their leaders is also going to be their sister. Now that the Rho Gammas had run back to us, it was now time for us to receive our new members. As the new members ran to us it was time for a lot of hugging and congratulations as they were now going to be our sisters. After all of the hugging was done it was time for over an hour of picture taking. We would take group pictures all throughout campus and eventually made our way back to the house because it was lunch time, and we were hungry. Throughout lunch we got to know more about our new members, but we also got to catch up with a variety of sisters an alumni. Around 3:30 p.m. we broke for the day, so the excitement could dwindle down and we could all go get some school work done, as the next day was Monday. I am excited to get to know these 18 young women as I hope they're ready to get to know all of us. In all I think it was a very successful Bid Day.

Dealing with a Problem

In chapter 10 of Real-time Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, he discussed the four key contact points where companies need to focus on creating or improving real-time connections with customers. These four points are presale, immediate postsale, ready to receive and problem solution and crisis communication. Throughout these four points it is important to think of the customer and their needs. It is also important to solve problems quickly and address the problem on the same media it originally started on.

An important aspect when dealing with a negative post or comment on social media is to take the post or comment offline. By taking it offline you are drawing the attention away from your company and dealing with the problem in a quick and efficient manner, internally. Also, the individual who posted the negative post will also be more likely to come back with a positive comment and talk about how the company fixed their problem in such a timely manner. Companies are also going to look better to other customers when they see positive posts about the companies taking action.

We also learned throughout the readings of chapter 11 and 12 that no one is immune to a crisis. As a company it's important to always have some sort of crisis plan in action for any
potential situation. As we discussed in class, you never know when a crisis will take place, so it's important to always be prepared. If a crisis emerges, it is important to have an assigned team ready with their contact information, quickly gather facts to plan an initial comment, don't ignore the situation and provide updates as needed.

Throughout these chapters we also talked about how a variety of companies are going mobile with a majority of their information. I currently receive 7 texts a week from different companies. These texts normally contain general sale information for the week or coupons for a specific amount off your total purchase. Many companies have adopted to this , as it is real-time because they know that most individuals always have their phones within arms length. Companies are not only learning how to engage with customers before a problem starts, but they are also learning how to deal with problems in a timely manner before the problem gets out of control.