We live in an “e” world. Is it good or is it bad?

We have e-mails instead of mails, e-zines instead of magazines and e-newsletters instead of newsletters. The list can of course go on and on. The “e” has made our lives easier because with the “e” things are faster.


Another great thing about the “e” is that we can track it no matter where it goes in this entire Planet. We can easily find out who read our e-mail, e-zine and e-newsletter and when.

How effective is this tracking?

This online world includes of course websites and blogs. These can be easily monitored using the free tool Google Analytics. We can see how many people visited the website, where they come from, how much time they spent on our pages and so on.

These quantitative data are however not enough to provide an accurate picture of visits and visitors. Let’s take for example average time spent on website. The higher it is the better. But what if we open a page without reading anything, then go to the kitchen and eat, while at return we just close the window. The average time on the website is high but we have not read a single row. On the other hand, comments are a good way to evaluate a website. Only people interested in what has been written can leave comments. And we can tell who read what.

From a different point of view however it is a bit scary to know that every move we make online can be tracked.

So as a PR practitioner I like the fact that I can track the “e” (even with the downfalls mentioned) to improve the channels for disseminating messages. But as a person (PR pros are humans don’t get me wrong:)) I want my “e” to travel in “peace”….

Can Twitter replace call centers?

Twitter is being used all around the world for personal and business purposes.

PR pros have started to use it for real time and to-the-point media relations. But there are other publics that can be easily reached through this micro-blogging platform. Twitter can be also used for customer relations. From airlines to coffee shops Twitter “bonds” companies and clients.

The question is: can there be a twit center instead of a call center?


It is easy to ask a question and receive an answer via Twitter, isn’t it? Just type the 140-character question and you will receive the 140-character answer. Why bother to call when you can be “enlightened” (this word reminds of one of the greatest professors we had in college - Edu:)) for free? Some companies do have free-of-charge call centers, but there are some which have not.

Using Twitter as "call center" has advantages as well as disadvantages. The good news is clients do not have to listen to the call waiting song until an operator becomes available any longer. Things with Twitter can happen in real time and this is the beauty of it. But real time in this case means human resources. The "many" operators and clients still exist. Luckily we have Tweet Deck, which allows the same account to be handled from more computers. Moreover, lists of people followed can be made. So things can get easy: make lists based on criteria (e.g. geography, fidelity and so on), install Tweet Deck on more computers and let the twitoperators do their job.

We still have to deal with two more issues: character restrain and privacy issues. Asking a question in 140 characters is not an easy job. Nor is answering one. Being to the point might prevent the twitoperator from understanding the problem. Further information means more tweets. More tweets can be difficult to manage.

Then we have the privacy issue. For example if you call the internet provider to ask a question you will have to provide some personal data in order to prove you really are their client. Are we willing to give up our privacy?

What do you think?

Making websites social media friendly

Websites are not a novelty for companies, consumers and PR pros. But from “how to create a website” to “how to adapt the website to the social media reality” there is a step.

While issues such as what kind of background, font, colors to use, how to structure the information on the website, how to attract traffic, what content to publish, and what key words to use in order for search engines to find the website were popular in the past they now remain a common “should do” and other topics emerge.

With social media the requirements for websites change. Among the most important of these is proving USER SHARING. This is in the benefit of both the visitor, who can share useful information with friends, and the company as this sharing assures “positive” visibility. This is because the information on websites is most of the time checked, approved and controlled by the organization.

Visual communication is very helpful in depicting sharing facilities. People are accustomed with logos of Twitter, Facebook and so on. So all companies should do now is to make their websites social media friendly by incorporating these “buttons” onto their websites.


Even though there are websites that have adapted themselves to these online changes, unfortunately there are still many that haven’t. I have to say “their bad” :)

Me, you and Twitter

Although I have been using Twitter for some time now I have used it also for my PR and Technology module in the last month.

I started my Twitter account for my dear friends from college in Romania and further to an online PR training I attended at work. Then I realized it is a good source to get updates on what bloggers, journalists, PR pros, colleagues and so many other do, think and write about.

Before I engaged into Twitter for school purposes I had not used Twitter Deck. Quite frankly it was hard for me to follow all the tweets. Then I installed the Deck and made my lists. This was so much easier.

During the module Twitter provided a good opportunity for me to discuss with my classmates, get inspired for my blog posts, learn about so many things, and make my posts visible. What did I mostly enjoy about Twitter? The fact that so much and very interesting information can be exchanged via it.

I did not used to send links of posts and articles I found interesting on Twitter. But I was encouraged to do so by our instructor Derek Hodge. And the “experience” was rewarding. I got re-tweets even from people I do not know, which demonstrates how fast tweets travel and the global side of this network. It was the first time I got re-tweeted:) Another thing I enjoyed was that my blog posts were sent via Twitter by followers which made them visible to various people worldwide.

All in all, Twitter opened communication doors and new horizons for me. I twitted with everybody, friends, classmates, followers etc, learned about opportunities for personal development and enjoyment, and shared information on various topics.

At the end of the road with my blog I have to say I really enjoyed blogging, I liked the online PR module and I loved to tweet. This however is not a “good-bye” but more of a “new beginning”. I am thinking to continue with the blog and twittering.

Tweet tweet!