The clergy and the world of social media

A clear sign that social media's presence cannot be ignored can be seen in the Vatican's interest in developing its own social-media identity. Today, bishops from across Europe met at a special conference with various executives from Facebook, Google, Wikipedia and YouTube. Additionally, the Pope released an app earlier this year called H2Onews, which is sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. H2ONews includes writings, audio and video news. The Pope also has a Facebook, a YouTube channel and Wiki.

My initial reaction to reading about these developments bordered on incredulity. However, when I think about this situation in more detail, I find myself thinking that I shouldn't be surprised.

According to examiner.com,"Observers are speculating this educational conference is in actuality an attempt to more closely monitor the development and spread of the church's persona and overall message."

The Vatican does have a vested interest in what is being said about the Pope and the day-to-day activities of the Vatican itself. Not to sound as if I am saying that the Vatican is a business, but their goal in venturing into the world of social media is not unlike that of many of the businesses that currently subscribe to the multitude of social media platforms.

The fact that such a highly-respected religious leader understands the importance of social media speaks to the fact that social media is something that should not be ignored.

Social media should be embraced. It should not be threatening. However, all social media strategies deserve the same level of attention to planning and implementation as other public relations strategies.

The only question that remains is: What will Pope Benedict XVI tweet about?

The intern and the world of social media

As public relations major we are constantly bombarded with advice on how to get the most out of our education through internships. Every authority figure that we come in contact with seems to have their own take on the situation. This barrage of advice throws us into a frenzy to snatch up the right internships before our peers take them.

While we learn practical knowledge in class, there are few exceptions of where we can utilize our vast social media knowledge with that classroom knowledge. It would seem that this is changing on the internship front. Many public relations professionals are grappling with how to best implement social media to generate more buzz about their clients. Because we as college students have learned to use social media intuitively, it has become apparent that our expertise could come in handy while we intern for various companies.

A blog post from Disruptology listed the 10 Social Media Tasks for Summer Interns, which includes account creation/ customization, RSS building and blogging. Some of us might be a little unfamiliar with RSS building, but I believe that it is a skill that can be easily mastered. When it comes to account creation, we have that down. And thanks to this assignment, we have blogging experience, if we didn't beforehand.

I will be happy to report this information to my mom because she has been hounding me to delete my Facebook account. She thinks that nobody will want to hire me if I have a Facebook. The implication of an increasing dependence on social media is that maybe we should have a detailed knowledge of multiple social media platforms so that we are more marketable to existing employers.