Social Experiment amandakatlyn22 1:48 pm
My social experiment is now over, but this does not mean I am going to stop doing favors. This experiment has shown me that if you take the time to look there are people all over who need help.
None of these favors interfered with my life or my school work, most of them took five minutes of less.
I hope that after reading my blog you will see that small favors do make a difference. I hope it will encourage you to now help someone you see in need!
Social Experiment amandakatlyn22 12:00 pm
My last week of my social experiment I told myself I would only do favors for strangers since I have been really wanting to concentrate on that for a while but has always found that I am more apt to do stuff for my friends because I see more opportunities since I am not constantly out in public.
Luckily as I was in an airport flying home from visiting my friend, a perfect opportunity presented itself infront of me.
While waiting to board a girl about my age sat down next to me, she looked very distraught and very unhappy. I did not know if it was stepping over the line but I asked her how it was. I guess it was a good move on my part because she just started spilling every problem that is happening in her life to me. Not really knowing her, I just sat there and patiently listened. After she was done, she looked at me and said thank you for listening, I’ve been needing to get all that off my chest and it was nice saying it to a complete stranger.
I don’t think I would ever spill my guts to a random stranger but I can see how it could be therapeutic. I was happy I could be there to listen and it was very entertaining as well. It made waiting for the airport go by a lot faster!
Social Experiment amandakatlyn22 11:49 am
This weekend my sister and her fiance went to orlando, so I volunteered to watch their dog so they did not have to worry about putting her in a kennel.
I’ve started to realize that doing small favors for people can sometimes also have a positive effect on your life. I love being with spending time with dogs and an added bonus was that my sister lives on the bay so I was able to lay in the pool all day and also have an amazing view. This favor was a win-win situation for both of us!
Another favor I did was when I was in the library this week, I was waiting for a computer to open up and finally one did. I started heading in that direction when I saw another person also going for the same computer, I was closer and probably would have been able to get it but I turned the other direction and gave it away.
As tough as it was to think about having to wait for another computer, I reminded myself that I had to stay dedicated to my experiment! Being selfish myself is not setting a good example for a “selfless experiment.”
Social Media Essays amandakatlyn22 6:09 pm
When I first entered the Mass Communication program at USF, my beginning classes such as Mass Comm and Society and Writing for the Mass Media only briefly touched on the topic of social networking.
Now, 2 years later, social networking is a topic that is brought up often and our professors stress the importance of them to us, especially since we are public relations majors.
Steve Rubel, from Edelman wrote a blog entry on public relations and social media. He believes that within time social networking will be the main way public relations practitioners connect . He believes this will be where they can connect with journalsts, other clients etc. He also mentioned that journalists are already talking about this idea in a facebook group that was formed.
Steve also mentions that many people are also choosing to use Facebook or Twitter as a mean to send e-mails. They are less formal and sometimes quicker since some people check their accounts more than their e-mail.
Another blogger also talks about how Facebook can be used for social media. She mentions that Facebook groups can be an open forum for public relations practitioners to interact with consumers and professionals.
One of the problems she said with the mass use of Facebook would be the credibility. Facebook is an open community and anyone can join make an account. This can lead to people being able to post anything and form groups, it would be hard to tell if this person was legitimate or not.
With more and more social media sites popping up, it is just going to keep growing and soon not only public relations professionals will be using it to connect other buiesness and clients.
Social Media Essays amandakatlyn22 5:00 pm
Presenting information by the means of video is becoming more and more popular everyday. Youtube is one of the top three sites in the world! Another option that is a different way to present information is audio waves. Video and audio are an interesting way to get the attention of your audience, especially for public relations practitioners. Its a fresh way to have someone listen and seeing or hearing something is more visibly and audibly pleasing then reading something in a paper or magazine.
This blog I found talks about how videos and audios have the potential to build audience and membership and it can also help generate more traffic to your companies sites. The blog also mentions that videos and audios can encourage your audience to be interactive with you site.
A video is always better to use if it heightens the appeal of your message and make it emotionally charged. A song in the background, images, and comments from people can have more of an effect, it can bring people in more.
This blog also gives tips on how to get your company’s “feet wet” in the video world. It suggests that if are unfamiliar with videos a good start would be to get any stock videos you have of your company and make a demo of story you would like to tell the press. If you keep practicing making videos you will eventually be ready for the real things.
Audio is good to use if you wanted to do a podcast for your company or client. Podcasts have recently become a new outlet for companies to to send out press releases. According to this website podcasting is an easy tool to use for press releases because it can be spread successfully and it can be added to an online directory included with news feed.
Podcasts can also promote your client. For example if your client is a chef, you can have them record a podcast of simple recipes to make for your family that are quick and tasty! It is an easier way to get their name out and for people to hear their material.
Social Experiment amandakatlyn22 10:28 pm
It seems that a lot of my favors are for my roommates, and this week it seemed like it even more. I believe this happens because I am around them the most but a recent favors I did for one of the was helping them with a wine spill. The other night we were watching a movie in my roommates bed when she spilled her wine all over her comforter. I usually have luck with getting stains out so I took a stab at it. Thankfully after 20 minutes or so of scrubbing the stain came out.
The next favor I did this week that involved one of my roommates was driving her to the airport for spring break. I was not leaving for my trip till the next day so it was not a problem for me to drop her off. I also got home before her and was able to pick her up from the airport as well. I travel a lot and I know there is nothing that is more of a pain then having to pay for parking at the airport on top of the price you paid for your ticket.
Social Experiment amandakatlyn22 9:19 pm
This week I again did a bunch of little things here and there. My friend was having a problem with her car and needed to bring it into the dealership. I could tell she did not want to sit there for two hours waiting for her car to be ready so I offered that I would go with her to the dealership and then we would drive back when the car was ready. I know from past experiences that waiting for my car to be ready can be quite tedious so I knew she would appreciate it.
A small favor I did for a stranger this week was when I was on my way into Publix. I saw an older lady putting her groceries into her trunk. I offered to take her cart for her so she did not have to worry about walking it to the cart return. Again this is something very small and easy for me to do but we all know that returning carts is a pain. Look at how many stray ones are around the parking lot!
I have realized that a majority of my favors have been for my friends so for the next couple of weeks I am going to try to do more things for strangers.
Social Experiment amandakatlyn22 10:52 am
This week my main favor was to babysit and feed my friends fish because she was going out of town. I did not know taking care of a Beta fish could be so tricky (or maybe its because my friend is rather picky) but I had to feed him 3 pellets every 6 hours. The water also had to be cleaned every 3 to 4 days and a special water purifier liquid had to be added to it. Thankfully the fish did not die and I actually became a little attached to the tiny creature.
<p< While walking into the grocery shopping this week, I walked past the self-check out aisle. While walking by I saw an older lady having problems with lifting items out of her cart and scanning them properly. I noticed that the attendant at the self-check out was not even paying attention to her. Thankfully I am quite the expert at this because as I have mentioned in another blog of mine, I do not have the patience for waiting in regular lines.
I approached the lady and asked her if should would mind if I helped her, she seemed a little confused at first but then she understood that I was there to help her. After getting all of her groceries bagged and payed for I offered to help her put them into her car. I do not think I have ever been thanked so much. This favor took 5 minutes of my day and I was back on my way to grocery shopping!
Social Experiment amandakatlyn22 12:44 pm
This week I was home in Pennslyvania visiting my family. The majority of my favors were for my Mom and Dad and I think they greatly appreciated my help around the house. During my visit I helped my Dad put together a bedroom dresser and I cooked dinner for my parents two nights. I think my Mom really enjoyed this because she got a couple nights off from having to be on kitchen duty.
While I was visiting we received a a lot of snow so I went outside and helped shovel the sidewalks and the deck. There was also one favor that I did everyday and that was taking my dog outside to play and go to the bathroom. It was freezing outside and no one wanted to do it.
It is not to say that when I am home I do not help out my parents but I think they were happy to see that I was making the extra effort to help with little things.
Social Experiment amandakatlyn22 10:40 am
This week I did a bunch of little things. My week started off when my roommate locked herself out of her bedroom. I went down to get a spare key at our office as she searched her car looking franticly for her lost key. Thankfully we were able to get a spare key but we never ended up finding the missing one, we still wonder where it is….
The next day, my roommates and I were talking about how we have not really spent much time with each other lately so I suggested that I make dinner and we can all sit around and catch up. I enjoy cooking if it is for other people, I get bored when its only for myself.
Throughout the rest of the week, I did just tiny favors like letting a car go in front of me in traffic, which for some reason is usually a big pet peeve of mine, I get annoyed so easily in traffic! I let go of another annoyance of mine by letting someone cut me in line at the grocery store, I get very anxious waiting in lines for some reason. In the end it did not turn out as bad as I though it was, it was actually easy and it helped someone’s day.
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