PAN Blog

I thought the agency vs. corporation discussion in class was really interesting. Having only interned for a corporation, I think this class will be really beneficial to me as I start to decide which route I want to take when I graduate. I enjoyed my experience so much at Carrier Corporation last summer and like the idea of focusing on one subject. Other past internships have also focused on one topic such as interning for our local congressman?s office, St. Joseph?s Hospital, and Syracuse University?s Athletic Communications Department. I'm interested to see what the agency world is like and from what we discussed already in class, the agency arena holds many opportunities to advance and a more diverse environment.

So you’re going out tonight, and you’re bringing the digital camera with you! All those great pics of you and your friends havin’ fun at the bar, and plus it’s your birthday, so you’re wearin’ a crown and a sexy top. Great!

The next day you upload all the details of the night to your Facebook page, tag every one of your friends that joined you in the midnight shot of Cuervo, and blog about the ridiculous antics you all got up to. So much fun to share your life online! Right?

Of course it is, and Facebook isn’t the only venue. Blogs, MySpace, Twitter, Flikr, Friendster, Bebo, Gather, imeem, LinkedIn, Jaiku, Meetup, ok you get the point. There are hundreds more. The question is, as we grow more and more comfortable sharing our daily details online, how do we know where the line is when it comes to what is appropriate, and more importantly, what is NOT, when it comes to putting content online?

Maybe we should ask Mark Jen, Ellen Simonetti, or Mike Hanscom. Each was fired for blogging, and they weren’t even maliciously sharing inside information about their companies. In fact, all three were surprised that their company took issue with what they had written online, they were just sharing anecdotes, posting pictures of friends and having a conversation online, but in each case, what they had revealed in the course of blogging was ultimately considered inappropriate for a representative of the company to be talking about online.

Think it’s just blogs? What about that profile picture on Facebook? Or the wall post your friend wrote you? Just ask Charlie Barrow or Zach Good. Your boss might not be your friend, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know someone who is, so assume that everything you put on any social site can be found by anyone, regardless of your privacy settings. With 63 million active users, odds are one of them has a connection to your employer!

So now you have a clean Facebook profile, but seriously, you can’t control what your friends do! No one would ever hold you responsible for who you are friends with, right? Wrong. Just ask Officer John Nohejl, who is under investigation because one of his friends on MySpace has a link on his or her page to a porn Web site.

The moral? What you put online is not just a fun way to share with friends and family, it’s a reflection on you, your company, your family, your friends, your school and any other organization you belong to. In addition, even if you think you’re blogging anonymously, you will probably eventually be found out. (Fake Steve Jobs, for example). Keep this in mind when writing and posting! Follow guidelines for online interaction. And speaking from experience, never doubt how fast what you thought was an innocuous post can be spread to hundreds of people and create unintended waves in your personal and business life. The world of online interaction continues to expand, just be careful how you play in it!

Imagine a life without meat or cheese or any form of animal products? I can’t, in fact, I think it would be unbearable. But veganism seems to be the new rage these days. Two of my friends have been vegan for the past 7 months or so and they swear by this new lifestyle choice. Initially, I equated vegan foods to bland, cardboard-textured awfulness. Seven months later, Boca Burgers has emerged as a staple stockpile in my fridge. These soy protein burgers are easy to prepare (pop them into the microwave for 2 minutes and you have a meal), tasty, healthy, low in carbs and just amazing. I have had chocolate vegan cake, vegan applesauce bread, Tofuttis (tofu ice-cream), vegan pumpkin spice muffins, all of which were ridiculously delicious even without dairy products. Although I refuse to give up my current meat-eating, cheese-devouring and ice cream-licking lifestyle, I did look into vegan Web sites, such as www.chooseveg.com, www.vegan.org and www.veganchef.com to learn more about the vegan lifestyle. These Web sites offer great tips for vegan cooking, recipes and having a balanced diet.