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Brittany

The History of the Selfie

Today's teens, young adults and even (gasp!) real adults are guilty of continually supporting an online sin: selfies. Now, I'm guilty of selfies, or self "portraits", and I'm not ashamed of admitting it. However, this phenomenon is not going anywhere any time soon. In fact, selfies have been around for about as long as the personal camera itself.

The first recorded use of the word selfie was an Australian man in 2002 when he posted a lip of his busted lip after a night of parting. "Sorry about the focus, it was a selfie," he wrote on an online forum. But just because he was the first one to use the word doesn't mean that selfies didn't exist before this. In 1914, the Grand Duchess of Russia Anastasia Nikolaevna photographed herself in a mirror in order to send a photo to her friend. 

Just like many other things, we can thank the rise of popularity of selfies to technology. Digital cameras giving users many chances to take a photo of themselves without assistance can be handed some credit here, but most believe that the rise of cell phone cameras, specifically front-facing cameras, is what pushed this narcissistic behavior to an every day occurrence in our society. 

But just being used by the average American isn't enough. The selfie is further accepted due to use by celebrities on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook fan pages. One of America's most tech-savvy families, the Kardashian's, post selfie photos on a nearly daily basis. 

If you think the selfie is going to fall off the map any time soon, hold your breath. Odds are it isn't happening. 

Not Measuring Is Not An Option in Nonprofit

In chapter 13 of "Measure What Matters", Katie Paine discusses how measurement and accountability have recently become more important than ever in the nonprofit world. The creation of social media has completely changed how nonprofits reach their audiences. However, all of the social media in the world does not make a difference without measurement. Due to how competitive the world is, nonprofits need to measure like for-profit companies to receive donations to keep pushing their mission. Nonprofits have to be transparent enough for donors to be sure that their funds are going to programs and initiatives that are benefiting from the nonprofit.

All of these above goals can be achieved through measurement. Katie Paine believes that any nonprofit organization can measure its success by following her six step process:

1. Using the organizations mission to define objectives
2. Identifying and prioritizing audiences
3. Establishing a benchmark
4. Picking metrics
5. Picking a measurement tool
6. Analyzing results and making changes

However, practitioners of nonprofit public relations may not agree that is as easy as she leads on to believe. Maggie McGary, a marketing manager for a nonprofit organization, is in charge of measuring social media for her organization. In her blog, she details the struggle of combining Facebook, Youtube, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram data into one simple, readable report at the end of the month. While larger, for-profit organizations have the benefit of a budget that allows access to $500 programs that quickly create a report of the metrics, nonprofit is not that lucky. Instead, nonprofits must pull out data individually or use free, but not as convenient, analytic tools. There is not a tool available for nonprofits to easily access measurable data and combine it into one report. While Katie Paine gives good steps for measuring in the nonprofit sector and understands the importance of social media in nonprofit, she does not outline how a nonprofit organization with a nearly nonexistent budget can find these measurements in a timely manner. 

The Legendary Life of a Roadie

On the Monday before we left for Thanksgiving break, I began my career as an officially hired Texas Roadhouse server. While I thought the training would be a cakewalk, it most definitely was not!

Each day, I was required to take a quiz on things that I learned in training, from sanitation rules and server etiquette to knowing everything about an item on the menu. After an hour long of book training from the training manual, I had the chance to put what I learned into action by shadowing the server trainer I was working with that night. After five long days of training, I took my tests on Black Friday. 

You may not think that a test on Texas Roadhouse would be hard. I thought the exact same thing when I was told on my orientation day started. This was far from the truth. To become a member of the Texas Roadhouse family and, more specifically the serving staff, you must take a server test, a bar test, fill in all of the locations of tables in the restaurant and a 103 question menu test. The menu test was a tough one. In addition to general knowledge of the food, you're required to know the exact ounces of food included in combo meals, steaks and pulled pork dishes, the exact ingredients of salads, the amount of sides included with meals and more. 

Luckily, I passed the tests and finished my final night with a trainer. As of November 30, I have been serving the hungry masses of Lima, Ohio solo. So far, I love my new job! While the obvious perks are tip money that I get to take home with me each shift and free salads and fresh baked bread while I'm working, there is a lot more to it than that. The people that work there are great and act like a huge, extended family. People hang out with each other outside of work. They know each others kids, buy cookie dough to help support whatever fundraiser is currently going on and take care of each other on and off the clock. I'm not stuck behind a register for hours at a time like I was at Rite Aid and I get to talk to people from all walks of life. I've figured out things like not everyone tips like they should (not yet from personal experience!), peanut shells do not like to come off the floor very easily and it is very easy to trip over your feet while line dancing. 

If any of my lovely classmates are bored the last two weeks of classes, come visit me at work!

Essie's Royal Following

Brand loyalty is a fabulous thing. These loyal followers will defend their favorite brand in a crisis, constantly (and unintentionally) participate in word-of-mouth campaigns to increase awareness among friends and acquaintances as well as returning to this brand purchase after purchase. When these followers are famous, organizations essentially receive a free celebrity endorsement due to an individuals sheer adoration of the brand. Essie, a brand of nail polish owned by L'Oreal USA, is one of these types of brands.

Essie has a cult following among American women. Creator Essie Weingarten set out to create a type of nail polish "that would go on like silk and wear like iron and would look wet for a week to ten days." Followers of the brand are more than happy to agree that she has succeeded. Since 1981, Essie has created over 200 colors of nail polish. In 1983, Joan Rivers announced she was wearing Essie color "Jelly Apple" while hosting the Tonight Show. But the brand has a slightly more famous celebrity fan.

In 1989, Queen Elizabeth II's hairdresser contacted Essie requesting a bottle of "Ballet Slipper", a subtle pink color, because it is the only color the monarch would wear. During the royal wedding of 2011, Kate Middleton wore the Essie shade "Allure", a flattering nude color, during her vows to Prince William. 

In a world as fickle as cosmetics, having brand enthusiasts among some of the most watched women in the world is nothing but positive press for a brand. While Essie owner L'Oreal pays celebrities like Beyonce to serve as a brand representative in advertisements, having the most anticipated bride in years wear a shade of nail polish for the price of $8 from her own pocket is the best type of advertisement a brand could ask for. 

Personally, I tried Essie after Kate and Prince William's wedding just because she wore it. Honestly, who has never thought that if a brand is good enough for a celebrity, it was good enough for them? After trying it, I understand why it has such a following. Have you tried Essie brand nail polish? Is there a product that you have tried simply because a celebrity has used it? 

Trust is the Key to Building and Defending Your Reputation

In chapter 11 of Measure What Matters, Katie Paine discusses threats to reputations and how to measure these crises. Trust is extremely important in building and repairing these relationships. When a crisis is not handled correctly or in a timely manner, organizations can experience damaged trust with their consumers, which in turn hurts the relationships and reputation the organization had established with those consumers. 

Organizations depend on trust to create and nurture relationships with their target publics. Employees that trust their their employers are more satisfied with their jobs, which in turn creates lower employee turnover. Trusted organizations grow faster. Most importantly, good relationships with the media can help prevent a crisis. 

Trust is multilevel, culturally rooted, communication-based, dynamic and multidimensional. When you trust a business, organization or brand you are more likely to take the time to listen to their explanation of the crisis and not jump to conclusions.  

Let's look at Burger King, a fast food giant in America. In February of 2013, Burger King's Twitter was hacked and its name changed to McDonald's with a Fish McBite's background and a photo of the golden arches as its profile picture. The hacker tweeted about Burger King being sold to McDonald's, people doing drugs and linked to videos of controversial rapper Chief Keef talking.

The hour long Twitter hi-jacking resulted in Burger King gaining 30,000 new followers, the account being suspended and Burger King's social media team taking responsibility for the situation and doing their best to fix it. Burger King's response to the media was “It has come to our attention that the Twitter account of the BURGER KING brand has been hacked. We have worked directly with administrators to suspend the account until we are able to re-establish our legitimate site and authentic postings. We apologize to our fans and followers who have been receiving erroneous tweets about other members of our industry and additional inappropriate topics.”

Because Burger King was quick to respond and take control of their crisis, the media listened and empathized with their situation. Followers and fans of the brand did make some jokes at the burger giant's expense, but it was in good fun. Mentions and conversations about the brand sky rocketed. People trusted the brand, believed them when they they had nothing to do with the hacking and Burger King definitely came out on top in the situation. According to Social Media Today, Burger King received an almost $1,000,000 campaign investment for free due to Burger King trending on Twitter, media coverage of the event and the lack of time, agency involvement or human resources to create this type of campaign. 

What are some other examples that trust in an organization can help it come out on top during a crisis?

Find Your Inner Mister Rogers

In chapter nine of Measure What Matters, Katie Paine discusses measuring your relationships with your local community. She states that "it is more important that ever to understand and measure and improve your relationships with your local community," or what I like to think of as finding your inner Mister Rogers. Mister Rogers was the ultimate neighbor. He cared about people, did his best to resolve negative situations and talked about the important issues in a timely manner. 

In a world where many organizations and businesses focus mainly on their key publics, the Mister Rogers of the world would not stand for this. You must look beyond your customers, stakeholders and the media and learn to think about what else you may need to do to get approval. To be a good neighbor in your community, you must become involved. Businesses need to take an interest in the community they are involved in by creating a plan of corporate social responsibility, treating employees and consumers well and fully embodying all the positive attributes of the company. Mister Rogers would not say something to his audiences face that he didn't mean, nor would he let fear keep him from doing what is right. He would admit that his business practices were wrong before he would let his image take a hit on the internet by bloggers and the media. He would take responsibility for his actions. 

As Mister Rogers says, "We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say, 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes." Be a hero, share responsibility for whatever your business or organization has done to create a negative impact and be a good neighbor.