A Content Analysis of Up and Coming Websites

NYC PR Girls

NYC PR Girls serves as a blog digital portfolio of two twenty-something PR professionals, Adrianna and Meg. The home page adds personality to the site and includes “About Me” narratives from Meg and Adrianna and a Q&A. The Career & PR page consists of work samples and narratives of situations they have encountered in the field. The NYC Lifestyle page consists of a more specific look at PR within NYC and how they succeed there. The fashion and beauty page shows off both their graphic design skills and their personal style. Their content is very recent, and it is apparent that they work to keep it updated. The design of their site is extremely feminine in color and font choice, but it is also easy to navigate and laid out logically. They created a professional logo for their brand, and they use three consistent colors throughout the site, pink, black, and teal. They do not utilize video very much, but they do have photographs and graphics on every page, as well as their social media links.

The Nation

The Nation is a nontraditional news site with the tagline “Instigating progress daily.” The homepage features breaking news from the United States and around the world. It is an extremely visual website. Every story has a corresponding photograph, and some photographs take up the width of the entire page. The homepage also features opinion articles on some of today’s top issues. However, I would say that the homepage has almost too much content because it is very overwhelming to scroll through. The site is laid out in five different pages: politics, world, economy, culture, and take action. The overall design of the page is very striking. They use a bold font with capital letters for headlines and a traditional serif font for the body copy.

Lean In

Lean In is a community website meant to bring people together to encourage women to lean into their careers and stay in the workforce. The homepage includes information on how to join a ‘Lean In’ circle, lectures from top women in various fields, inspirational stories and articles from men and women who are leaning into their careers or encouraging women to stay in the workforce. The homepage is jam-packed with photographs and graphics containing facts and figures, and there is a big emphasis on Instagram. The overall design of the site is appealing. They use red, black and gray to portray a positive and powerful brand. The site contains five pages, Circles,  #LeanInTogether, Education, Inspiration, Books, and Partners. Each page provides a different resource for women looking to stay in the workforce and lean into their careers.

Women In the Workforce

Media Ethics and Standards

In recent years, more and more citizen journalists have begun posting news-worthy content on websites or social media. Read below for some tips on  how to protect your content and your career from lawsuits.

Top 5 ways to avoid violating copyright & intellectual property laws

• Give credit where credit is due. If they are not your words, don’t post them without citing your source correctly.
• Ask for consent before recording, videotaping or photographing any sources. Be sure to record your source giving you verbal consent or have them sign off on a consent form.
• If you promise confidentiality, keep your sources confidential and their secrets secret.
• Always correct errors to previously published work.
• Be wary of the rumor mill. Any false accusations could result in a defamation or libel suit.

Top 5 ways to not get sued for what you post online

• Tell the truth.
• Identify yourself and your credentials
• Verify and identify your sources.
• Consider opposing perspectives. There is not one side to a story, and it is your duty to consider both sides and distribute all information accurately and fairly.
• Do not manipulate images or audio. These media are not your property, and tampering with them could tell a different story than the truth.

Celebrate National News Engagement Day with the St. Louis ‘Newsicals’

It is often said that art reflects life, and vice versa. In an attempt to reflect the lives of St. Louisans and Missouri natives in the art of music, we compiled a list of songs that correlated with the news stories that have come out of the St. Louis area in the past week.

While reflecting life in art, our project was also a way to celebrate National News Engagement Day (Oct. 6). In order to honor this sacred day in media, Emily Higginbotham (@EmilyHigg), Nena Koseva (@nenakoseva) and I put together the playlist (below) full of songs that were inspired by the news stories in St. Louis over the past week.

1. For three consecutive years, the Cardinals manage to clinch the NL Central title and avoid the wild-card game. It is also the first time in 10 years that they win 100 games despite the multiple injuries the team experienced this season. The team gained a spot in the postseason and their fans hope to see strong players like Molina and Martinez back on the field.
2. Last Wednesday, the students of Saint Louis University were surprised to wake up and find out that classes on the North campus were cancelled due to a power outage. The outage occurred at a substation near McDonald Douglass, and over 20 buildings were out of power for more than 24 hours. Unfortunately for the students, power was restored late on Wednesday, and classes continued as scheduled on Thursday.
3. After more than five months on the road, Taylor Swift’s 1989 tour entered into its final leg. Swift performed two sold out shows at the Scottrade Center, and her stop in St. Louis was not without a surprise guest.  St Louis’ very own Nelly took the stage with swift to perform his hit “Hot in Herre.”
4. On Monday, October 5, St. Louis native Jack Dorsey was named CEO of Twitter, Inc. His appointment is no surprise as he has been running the popular social media site since July when Dick Costolo, the previous CEO, stepped down. Dorsey is well-known for being a successful entrepreneur, founding Square and co-founding Twitter.
5. The homeownership rate between foreign (<40%) and native-born (46%) citizens of St. Louis is rather significant in a city whose immigrant population is constantly growing. After observing the available data, the Immigrant Housing Center believes that an investment in homeownership for foreign-born citizens will bring economic growth to the city. With the help of other local organizations, the project is hoping to help immigrants overcome the barriers associated with purchasing a house and be an educational resource in the process.
6. The state of Missouri is planning on acquiring 2,500 acres of land along the Eleven Point River for a new state park. The expansion is being funded by lead-mining companies to curb environmental damage from the southeast Missouri’s long history of lead mining.
7. On Monday, October 5, businessman John Brunner officially entered into the race for 2016 Republican nomination for Missouri governor. Three years ago, he personally spent $8 million dollars trying to win a seat in the U.S. senate and is expected to shell out a similar amount on this campaign.
8. On September 30, the St. Louis Ikea opened its doors to thousands of customers. The store had prepared a variety of giveaways for the first visitors who had patiently been waiting in line for the grand opening. Promotions continued throughout the first three days along with other events and donations, which raised the excitement of the ones attending. St. Louis is happy and proud to welcome the Swedish superstore that it taking over the world of DYI furnishing.
9. Emergency plans released for the Bridgeton landfill are not easing the minds of those who live in the surrounding neighborhoods. Last month, Missouri Attorney General, Chris Koster, released a report that said an underground fire was moving toward a section of the landfill that contains radioactive waste. The emergency plan acknowledges the possibility of radioactive fallout, and the neighboring communities have been informed of evacuation processes and procedures.
10. On Saturday, Ameren Corp. pledged $2.5 million in support of community initiatives in North St. Louis County and St. Louis. This pledge followed the release of a Ferguson Commission report, which outlined various programs and initiatives created in response to racial inequity in St. Louis. 

Hope you enjoyed our “Newsical” playlist and have a happy National News Engagement Day!

Using Twitter Analytics to Evaluate Personal Brand

By utilizing social media, whether it be Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat, we are sharing our stories with the world. These stories communicate, not only our likes and dislikes, but who we are as a person and, more importantly, who we want to become. Through storytelling, we establish our personal brands. However, sometimes, the stories we are sharing do not communicate how we would like to be perceived. This is why it is important to use analytics to evaluate our social media sites and the stories we are sharing, which will in turn improve our personal brands and the quality of our social media sites.

This past week, I used Twitter analytics and Export Tweet to analyze Dr. Hinsley’s top tweets, according to the number of engagements, retweets, replies, profile clicks, url clicks, favorites and follows. Then, I analyzed the content of these tweets to find out if there were any overarching themes among them.

I found major trends among Dr. Hinsley’s top tweets, including breaking news on Ferguson and the city of St. Louis, information about St. Louis Public Radio and updates for her SLU communication students. These stories create a very clear and consistent personal brand. Dr. Hinsley is a journalist and a professor, and all of her top tweets related to these categories. She frequently uses the following hashtags: #STL, #Ferguson, #mpj2015, and #GiveSTL. These are all strong hash tags which communicate her interests and personal brand. From evaluating Dr. Hinsley’s top tweets, I think she is telling the right stories, and I don’t see anything that needs to be drastically changed. Just keep on tweeting, Dr. Hinsley!

Exploring St. Louis, SLU and Lindenwood University through Twitter

Both the city of St. Louis and the campus of Saint Louis University have become my home during the past three years. St. Louis is a hidden gem of the Midwest and a fantastic college town. SLU is all about the community. It’s the people who make this institution even more beautiful than the architecture and landscaping. Come with me on my journey throughout St. Louis and the campus of Saint Louis University.

From Dance Marathon to the Real World

I feel as though my personal brand stems from the organizations and causes that I am passionate about. My work in Saint Louis University Miracle Network Dance Marathon (SLUDM) has defined my college experience and has also ingrained in me a passion for nonprofit work.  Working with SLUDM over the past three years as Family Relations chair, Overall co-chair and Vice President of Marketing has helped me find my niche and has developed my interest in marketing and communications. I entered college undecided in what I wanted to study, and I can honestly say that SLUDM helped me find the major that was right for me.

I believe that my expertise in public relations stems from my ability to write and my detail-oriented mind. I excel in creating integrated communication plans, event planning, presentation preparation and public speaking. My experience in SLUDM, Fraternity and Sorority Life, and two marketing and communications internships have honed in on these skills.

However, I think my real worth as a public relations professional will come from my experience in many different areas of the marketing and communications field. Public relations requires you to be adaptable, and I am always willing to learn and learn fast. I will establish my brand online through my social media accounts, an blog and portfolio, and my Linked In profile.

One of my role models within the field of marketing and communications is a woman named KJ McNamara. KJ works for company called Phired Up productions, and they work to advance Fraternity and Sorority Life across the country. I have met KJ several times, and I am continually blown away by her ability to communicate her message and relate to a crowd. Her personality is so strong, and her social media accounts work to support her personal brand. Those who want to learn form her can  follow her on Twitter and  Instagram and also check out her blog posts.

5 Ways to Establish my  Personal Brand:

• Create online portfolio

• Engage in conversations with PR professionals on Twitter

• Social media audit

• Brainstorm and implement YouTube channel concept

• Incorporate photographs on blog

Mini Project Reflection

In short, this project was much more difficult than I had expected it to be. I’ve never used a tablet before, but I had thought that they were very similar in use compared to laptops. I was very wrong. Logging on to WordPress via the application was pretty straight forward, but importing photos became a huge issue. After testing the wifi, restarting the iPad, and pasting the photos into the page. I eventually figured out that if I logged in to WordPress via Safari, I could upload the photos into the media library and post them from there, which made the process easier.

While taking the photographs, I focused on the rule of thirds and attempted to take strong images. Photography is probably where I struggle the most. I do not post very many pictures on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, and I have never taken a photography class. However, I do understand the power of images, and I think I can improve both my photography skills and my social media presence this semester.

I think the area that I struggled most within this project was coming up with a concept. While signing up for presentation days, I thought I was going to have a good amount of free time last weekend. However, I did not manage my time well last week and became very overwhelmed quickly. I felt like I was playing catch up, and that was when I came up with the idea to create tips on how to avoid the stress of the first week of school and start the semester off on a good foot. I am planning on using my own advice to get back on track!

5 Tips to Become a Better Online Writer

Most of us write online every single day, whether it be through blogging or posting on various social media sites. It is important to keep your writing clear, concise and content-rich. See below for five tips to improve your online writing.

1. Know your audience. Who are you posting for? There is a huge difference between writing on behalf of an organization or company and writing on your own personal blog or social media site. Always remember to keep your writing appropriate. Your reputation is on the line every time you tact your name onto a tweet or a blog post.
2. Be concise. Keep your writing short and sweet. Very few people have the time to read a 10-page article in the middle of the day. Make your point early on or you will lose your audience.
3. Enhance your content with images and video. Nowadays, it is difficult to engage an audience solely with the use of text, especially online. Use video clips, gifs, tweets, and photographs to support your message.
4. Utilize bullet points, bolding and italics. These are all easy ways to organize your thoughts. Bullet points can organize a message and create a clean aesthetic. Bolding and italicizing can emphasize a specific word or message.
5. Be real. The best online writing is authentic. Use your own voice, and don’t worry too much about perfection.

BuzzFeed Redefining Breaking News

Just a few years ago, BuzzFeed emerged as a top social news and entertainment site for Millennials. This company tapped into the minds of a generation and began to distribute a myriad of media catered to teenagers and twenty-somethings.

BuzzFeed has “redefined” the consumption of media through its unique style and voice. The site reads like a blog, consisting of concise and colloquial content. Many of the posts also contain video content and images, including photographs, gifs and screenshots from various other media outlets.

BuzzFeed originally began reporting entertainment news, but the company is currently transitioning into a website that provides reports on the top issues that both our country and our world are facing. This is clearly seen in BuzzFeed’s mission statement, which is to “provide the most shareable breaking news, original reporting, entertainment, and video across the social web to its global audience of more than 200M.”

Their reach is impressive, but BuzzFeed is not the new CNN. While the site is expanding the breadth and depth of its content, the company has preserved its modern style and voice, which is relatable to Millennials.

Everyday, the site distributes a post entitled “What’s Going On Around The World Today?” The post contains five to six top headlines and 10-15 “Quick Things to Know.” BuzzFeed focuses on clear and concise content and the use of photographs, video clips, gifs and tweets, among others. This multi-platform approach to breaking news is more appealing to Millennials than the more traditional approach to breaking news seen on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. BuzzFeed makes staying informed easy. Now, Millennials only have to read one post to get the lowdown on the news of the day, and the photographs and video content make the news exciting and fun to read.