Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Rachel Maddow on McCain - oops!

Rachel Maddow recently said Senator John McCain was for repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy regarding gays serving in the military, but was he really?

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McCain uses the phrase "...consider seriously..." in his statement. This does not mean he's either for it or against it, but such a turn of phrase is commonly used because it can so easily be misinterpreted.

Seriously considering something is the same as "thinking about it."

Unfortunately, Rachel Maddow and perhaps others who targeted McCain on this point have been spreading false propaganda by implying that Senator McCain is inconsistent on this position and perhaps others.

Oh, well, if you're going to chose dangerous phrases that can be misinterpreted, you should be held responsible, and deserve such treatments as those dolled out by the likes of Rachel Maddow.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Social Media Marketing?

How does social media marketing work? I'll tell you how it doesn't work for me, but it might be because I'm a jaded communication specialist: Making an incomplete television commercial with a message to visit the Oreo cookie Facebook page to find out what happens next.

Friending a consumer product on Facebook seems rediculous to me, because I use social media to chat with people I already know. If I want to make tons of new friends, I use MySpace because it allows me to create totally anonymous unique identities.

Facebook forces users to be honest about their identities, so I'm very cautious about new friends and I'm forced to limit my communication to more civilized rhetoric. Also, I like a tightly concentrated list of relevant messages from close friends. I don't like a lot of junk filling my pages, so I block all applications like Farmville too.

Local radio talk-shows are my special exception. I listen to WMAY AM 970 http://www.wmay.com in the morning and I like to use Facebook to communicate with the hosts, when they decide to post their topics, that is. Normally, they encourage people to call in and talk to them on the phone, but I'm not a phone person.

They sometimes have the courtesy to repeat some Facebook posts on the air as part of their discussions. I find this encouraging because it motivates me to promote their station and website where one can listen live anywhere in the world, not just within the limited range of their radio transmitter.

Sometimes they don't start topic threads on Facebook and it leaves me wondering if I just do a Wall post, it might simply get lost out of the proper context of a particular morning's discussion.

One afternoon WMAY radio host has taken  the Internet by the horns and built his own online forum. http://www.godofradio.com A.K.A. The Kramer Show forum allows listeners to sign up for free and interact even more freely than Facebook because users can make up anonymous avatars and identities.

The point is that AM radio is gaining new life thanks to the Internet. It's up to AM radio organizations to take seriously, the value of the Internet as a potential source of new listeners, and start budgeting for new computers and faster Internet.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Walgreens commercial touts myth

The new Walgreens flu shot commercial ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF13r0MjnnQ ) shows a couple wearing heart stickers on their arms, indicating that they got flu shots at Walgreens. The man and the woman are then seen coming into contact with other people throughout their day, and then at the end of the day, coming home and picking up their infants.

The message implies that if you get vaccinated, you will protect those around you, as if you are a barrier against spreading viruses between other people with whom you connect.

The problem is that when you get vaccinated, you are protected from the viruses, but that does not mean that viruses cannot be transported on your skin or clothes to the people you physically contact.

The responsible thing to do is pull the commercial and rewrite a new commercial that specifically states that viruses can be transported by people who are vaccinated and it is important that you wash your hands frequently, get vaccinated and not rely on the "herd protection" myth.