March in Statesboro

I know that my last two posts have been about what is going on in Ferguson, but I am very interested in it, and it is a crisis. I am actually going to focus this one in events that took place this past Monday here in Statesboro, Georgia. Some students at Georgia Southern University decided to have a peaceful protest. At about 7 p.m., the students met at the Russell Union Rotunda wearing all black. There were some various speakers prior to the march that was scheduled. The students then walked through campus, the city of Statesboro, and ended at the Court House. Through this time they held lit candles and were holding their hands up saying “Don’t Shoot.” I have noted that this action is becoming extremely popular in the nation as of late. Many are using this gesture to show their support for the lives lost. I was reading an article that stated that this gesture could become a real movement in society today, starting a revolution based on the actions that are taking place. I am not sure where society is heading as of right now, but strongly believe that things are changing. This nation is going to be different, one way or another.

Back to the assembly and march in Statesboro, many voiced their opinions on what was going on. There were a number of individuals speaking negatively about the assembly and the fact that it was in Statesboro. There were comments like “So apparently there was a march in Statesboro.” It seemed as though people believed that it was unnecessary for the students to have the protest for various reasons.

After speaking to a number of the students that attended the march, and helped to organize it, there were different opinions. There were many individuals who believed that some of the speakers were a little aggressive and inappropriate. However, the majority of the participants wanted people to understand that the intention of the march was more than just Mike Brown. In the end, it is actually more than African American males and black lives in general. It is the fact that there have been so many deaths that they deem unnecessary. I believe that this in itself is becoming a crisis. Whether or not there is malicious intent by the police around the nation, the fact of the matter is many of our citizens are dying, on a daily basis, and people are noticing.

Freedom of Speech on Social Media

Clearly the most prevalent occurrence in the news is the case of Ferguson. This case is becoming a sustained crisis, that I truly feel is not going to be ending any time soon. Sadly, it is making me a little depressed. I am not going to utilize this blog post to share my point of view. However, I do want to talk about the seriousness of the case, and more specifically the repercussions that some people are dealing as a result of their “personal opinions.”

Now it is evident that everyone has certain rights as American citizens. These are defined by our Bill of Rights and our Constitution. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Now based off of this description, citizens of the United States of America have the right to say what they choose as long as it is not threatening or endanger anyone; at least this is how I understand it.

The reason why I am bringing this up is all over my various Social Media sites, it is evident that people feel very passionately about what is going on with the case. Especially since the verdict of the indictment that was announced over Thanksgiving break. Now people are turning to social media to voice their opinions on the case. These opinions clearly cover the spectrum of ideas about what is going on from the case, the verdict, and the riots that have been happening as a result. I am strongly urging people to be extremely careful in what they are posting on Social Media. I have been seeing so many threads of individuals posting very passionate and extremely offensive posts about their personal beliefs on their personal social media sites. People have been then taking these posts, taking screenshots of them, copying them, and spreading them all over social media. Many have been attaching their place of employment, urging their employers to consider who they are employing and supporting through their company. As a result, many individuals have been losing their jobs, because of them posting their “personal beliefs” on social media.

Now although they do have freedom of speech, and it is their personal social media site, it does not matter. As I learned from my Social Media and Public Relations course, many companies have policies and contracts. These in many ways state that as an employee you authorize your social media to be checked by the company. Many say that they have a right to terminate your employment if certain actions represent the company negatively. It disappointing that this is happening before the holiday season, as I am sure no one wants someone unable to provide for their family. However, I strongly urge that you think twice before posting your personal opinions on line. Every action has a consequence, so consider your choices carefully.

Ferguson: When Will There be an Answer?

It is clearly evident that the tension between Americans and our police is becoming a largely growing and sustained crisis in the nation. The growing riots and stand-ins are starting to change the mentality of citizens today. There is ever growing fear of what either side is going to do. There are clearly two sides to every argument. From what has been reported citizens are feeling as though policemen are starting to abuse their authority. It is believed by many that many police officers are performing inhumane acts while in the line of duty. Among these is the killing of “innocent” individuals. I write “innocent” this way in the attempts to be unbiased, although there is no way to be truly unbiased. The other side of the argument states that many police officers feel like their actions are warranted by the various situations at hand. They are doing their jobs, and many cases are becoming he said, she said situations. There is an idea that you had to have been there in the moment to truly understand what happened. However, that is the challenging part. In many instances there are no witnesses. In other situations, there are so many different stories going around, it is hard to tell who is telling the trough.

A lot of these cases are starting to become international news, at the growth of their news values. The major occurrence that has been on the news and in social media up until today is the case of Michael Brown in Ferguson. Prior to this case, Missouri was unknown to majority of the world. Now it is a known area around the world.

The day that Brown was killed, protests began promptly. Majority of them were peaceful, however some turned to looting and violence. Despite efforts to fix it, the protests were getting worse. At this point the police in the area deemed it necessary to beef up security around Ferguson. Many protestors demanded the name of the officer that killed Brown. After a point of time, police released that Darren Wilson was the shooter. This led to battles of who had the correct account. How were we to get both sides of the story if there is only one person from the altercation available to give comments?

Now we are at a standstill, as there is so much information being released at different points, saying different things. The Grand Jury had until January to issue a ruling, but it is still ongoing. This is definitely a sustained crisis. The many citizens who are grieving for Brown feel like there need to be justice, but at what cost? Governor Nixon stated “This is America. People have a right to express their views and grievances, but they do not have the right to put their fellow citizens or their property at risk.” So what will happen now? Only time will tell.

The Domestic Violence Crisis in the NFL

Clearly the most prominent new stories floating around the internet are the issues regarding the National Football League and the inconsistencies with players. With many important officials and administration being investigated heavily because of the Ray Rice incident, one would assume there would be more steps taken to oversee the players, their actions, and how to handle the resulting chaos.

Along with Ray Rice, there have been two other cases of domestic violence with players in the NFL. Greg Hardy of the Carolina Panthers was convicted in July and is currently appealing the decision. Ray McDonald of the San Francisco 49ers has been charged but has not yet gone to trial. According to news sources, Hardy was been temporarily deactivated. McDonald has not faced any repercussions from the NFL to date.

The main reason why these particular instances are becoming crises is because the amount of men who are now being charged with violent crimes, and the administrators in charge not properly handling the situation. If there had been better steps take in a more expedient amount of time, the fall back probably would not have been so severe.

It seems like the NFL may have an epidemic on their hands. With this many players having domestic violence issues, one has to wonder if there are issues within the NFL that result in players having instances of domestic violence.

PRCA – 3334: Social Media and PR Responses

1. Sja-Mese Hagans

http://missbritt71.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/blog-post-4-social-media-and-pr-prca-3334/

 

2. Madison Roesel

http://madisonroeselsocialmedia.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/social-media-pr/

PRCA – 3334: Social Media and PR

Social media is such a growing medium for professional development and success. It is definitely something that I used to consider as a unfavorable use of time. Generally people underestimate the uses of social media in the public relations field. With the help of my public relations courses, this course specifically, I have learned that social media is providing a new way to provide the same necessary information and uses, but utilize them in such a way to cater to the various customers that utilize social media. The different factors that go into social media can be detailed and tedious at times.

There are a lot of steps that come with a crisis management plan, and public service announcement, bio sketches, fact sheets, and everything in between. Social media provides the users the ability to put out, and receive, this information in an expedited manner that is beneficial to be popularity and time. Understanding the different mediums within social media and the ways they are used are the best ways to reach the appropriate audiences. You would not post the way you do on Twitter that you would on your Facebook page. Although similar, Pinterest is very different than Instagram. Learning these differences and using them effectively are the best was to successfully utilize social media. I definitely plan on utilizing the account for this course. I had it beforehand, and will continue to use it for my professional public relations pursuits. It is a great resource for networking and connecting with those on social media for reasons beyond pleasure. With resources like LinkedIn, and others that are forming, social media is truly turning into a professional resource.

PRCA – 3334: Online Activism Responses

1. Sja-mese Hagans

http://publicallyrelated.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/topic-of-the-week-online-activism/

 

2. Dana Harrington

Online Activism – Post #3

 

PRCA – 3334: Online Activism

I have actually participated in a social media campaign, or movement. The one in particular that I was involved with was the Human Rights Campaign/Equal Rights Campaign. This was particularly regarding the support of equal rights and marriage equality. I mainly joined this because it is something I am extremely passionate about. I am also someone that identifies as a homosexual male so it is definitely a topic that impacts me directly. The older I have gotten, the more I have realized that this is something that I should definitely pay attention to.

I believe that a great number of people decide to start and join movements and campaigns for two separate reasons. The first one being that it is a popularity thing. Social Media is a very open outlet. People tend to see what you have liked, what you are a part of, and how you feel about a certain issue. The second reason goes along with factors of the first, but Social Media is a growing outlet and set of technology. It is extremely popular and is a great way to get out there and talk about different topics through a medium that many people will have access to. I definitely see the advantages to using this type of publicity. I believe that getting sure widespread notoriety can be beneficial. However, I can also see negatives. A bad side to it being so public is that if the topic, or movement, is something people do not agree with, people will voice those opinions as well.

PRCA – 3334: Shutterfly Oops Responses

1. Chinaka Herbert

http://empyreus.wordpress.com/

 

2. Brittany Barrett

http://missbritt71.wordpress.com/

PRCA 3334 – Shutterfly Oops

Although this is a very unfortunate and fairly sever mistake to make, I do believe that they handled this mistake in a timely manner based on their realization of this mistake. I am not sure how many mistaken emails were sent out, based upon the pool of customers that they sent to email to. However, if I were in charge I would try to have a more personal response.

They sent out apology messages to everyone, but depending on the individual, this could have had more of an impact than the Shutterfly staff could have realized. This then caused further confusion for those who did have newborn children who received the message mistakenly. With this being said, I may have attempted to send personal emails, or phone calls, apologizing for the inconvenience. Also, a lot of people like transparency. So maybe going into detail about what possibly caused the issue, and to explain the procedures that my team and I would go through to ensure it would not happen again.

I believe that the Shutterfly team did an amazing job in addressing the issue and responding again accordingly. They owned up to the mistake, showing the customers that they are human and make mistakes, but are truly sorry for it. Going out of their way to send not one, but two emails, shows that they truly do understand what happened and the impact it could possibly have on their customers. Understanding this and responding accordingly is the best thing they can do to alleviate the issue. As the “damage is done,” there is no way to change what happened. It is not the situation, but how you react, and recover from it that matters. Them contacting everyone and apologizing for this mistake, is there way of doing just this.