What is Bitly?

Bitly is a URL-shortening service.It allows you to shorten, share and track links.This makes sharing easier.You can go to http://bit.ly website and type any URL and bit.ly creates a mapping to a much,shortened URL of the form http://bit.ly/18l5h, which is a simple HTML and redirector to the actual website. Some other examples are tinyurl, youtu.be and wp.me. One common trait of the short URLs is that they're just the host’s domain name + some random code or number.

Short URLs were pretty much mass popularized when Twitter was introduced.Twitter only allows 140 characters, so this shortening service is convenient to users who want to post more. The idea is simple, but convenient. Bit.ly offers a service that allows you to make your custom URLs, also.

Bitly is based in New York City and began as a project at Betaworks.

Team Social Media

Social media are defined as web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues. Social media have been modernized and are growing every day. They have become the new tool for businesses and are a popular networking device for the general public. Networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are the most common sites used among today’s generation to socialize with friends and others. As of today, Facebook is dominating social media.

Because the term itself is so broad, a lot of the public are unaware that social media cover a range of websites. Some examples of social media websites include social bookmarking, wikis, social networking and social news. The main idea for social media is two-way communication. These sites allow you to interact with the site and interact with other visitors.

An assignment that was given to our class was to research any social medium and explain its usefulness. Although I am a big fan of social media and I use a lot of my social networking sites, I didn’t know about the majority of the social sites that were introduced in class. Bitly, which was my social media tool, is a URL- shortening service. It is mainly used for Twitter to shorten or condense your characteristics since you are limited to 140. It is convenient for those long URLS that no one wants to remember or type into the search engine.

As social media continues to grow, the world of communication will continue to change.
Posted by Marri at 9:39 PM
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Climate Change and PR

James Hoggan, the author of "Climate Cover- Up" and a PR executive, reveals how small corporations and self-interest groups have been disguising climate issues. Although the evidence of global warming seems to be irrefutable, there are some who are convinced that it does not exist.This book equips the reader with how to use our sources and to dig deeper than what is presented to us. Research and communication are fundamental to the PR profession and to everyday life.

In the book, Hoggan says that no one was really confused by or had questions about climate change in 1988, so what happened? Hoggan outs companies like ExxonMobil, which had campaigns against the existence of global climate change for years now. The result is the lack of trust and action among us Americans.

People lack trust in big oil companies and corporations. They also lack trust in our politicians and leaders. PR practitioners get the blame for distributing false information and not building relationships among the public. In today’s society, PR practitioners are allowing these experts to justify scientific matters, when these experts don’t even have the appropriate credentials to do so. Money is the driving force behind some of these false stories, but isn’t the truth worth telling? PR practitioners need to start devising a strategic plan and find more ethical ways to turn around on these type of issues.


Posted by Marri at 6:12 PM

FRaming 101

Recently in my PR Research and Strategies class, a new approach was introduced to me and my classmates. This approach is called framing. I was familiar with the term but didn’t have a clue how framing was really applied. Practitioners and scholars have begun to use this approach to explain social issues to the public.


Strategic frame analysis (framing) was developed at the Frame Works Institute by a team that studied and tested the concept. According to this institute, framing means how messages are encoded with meaning so that they can be efficiently interpreted in relationship to existing beliefs or ideas. Framing focuses on organizing information in a way for the public to better interpret it. Framing is all about communication and interpretation. A frame can consist of metaphors, context, stories and visuals. These elements help people construct an expectation in their mind.


We often discuss global warming in class, and it is a good example of an issue being framed. The media and politicians often frame global warming to convince the public that this is a small issue. In James Hoggan’s book "Climate Cover Up", he addresses this issue and how it is not being properly analyzed. The book provides us with a plethora of examples of organizations and experts who frame and cover up the importance of this issue. As Americans we already have our views and opinions on certain things, and we often let the media be our decision makers. Research is important and should be our main source, especially about unfamiliar topics.


PR practitioners use framing as a persuasive tool. Some may confuse framing with spin because both are strategies to persuade the public. But spin is a negative strategy that public relations practitioners avoid. The public will make decisions off of previous knowledge and new information that a public relations practitioner has framed.

TIPPING POINT By Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is definitely a must read and is now at the top of my book list. The definition of a tipping point is any idea, product or message that spreads like an epidemic. In the book’s introduction, Gladwell explains how tipping has three characteristics. One is contagiousness, two is the fact that little causes can have big effects, and three is that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment. A great example that Gladwell used about "tipping" is the Hush Puppies epidemic. The shoe brand, Hush Puppies, was very unpopular at one point. Nobody wanted to purchase these unfashionable shoes until the right person spotted some local kids in New York wearing them. Once people recognized the potential in these shoes, designers from all over became interested, and just like that the epidemic began.

This bestseller makes you think more critically and analyze the concept of change.

Why is word of mouth so powerful? How does a TV show like “Sesame Street” help children grasp the concepts of reading and writing? This book helps us answer these questions by giving us an understanding of social change.

Gladwell focuses on three concepts in The Tipping Point. The first concept is Law of the Few, which tells the reader that there are three types of people who tip ideas. These individuals are known as connectors, mavens and salesmen. The second concept Gladwell presented was The Stickiness Factor. Gladwell defines the stickiness factor as the quality that compels people to pay close attention to a service, product or idea (p.92). The last concept that was introduced in the book was Power of Context. This concept determines if something will tip and spread. An example used in this chapter was the decline of crime in New York in the 1990s.

Public relations relates to the book The Tipping Point because of the concepts used to counsel organizational leaders, and to analyze trends throughout organizations and the public. Public relations introduces new ideas and change, and The Tipping Point has done the same.