It was a busy week in all things social and public relations. From Foursquare rebranding to presidential candidate selfies, catching up on this week’s blog post about the 5 pieces of PR news you may have missed is a breeze! Here’s what you need to know:
- Hilary Clinton visited Silicone Valley and spoke about the future of social media.
The former Secretary of State and possible candidate for President visited Twitter, Facebook and Google this week. At Twitter, Hilary spoke to a room of employees on many topics, including the future of social media.
Clinton said, “It is a fact of social media right now that too often people use it as a weapon instead of an opportunity.”
Many PR professionals have the same view and are hoping for an increase in the community aspects of social media as opposed to it becoming a platform for people to argue.
Read more about the interview with Hilary Clinton at Twitter or watch the video of it on Mashable.com.
- Facebook released a new app, but you need “celebrity status” to use it.
Facebook’s new iOS app called Facebook Mentions will be a medium for celebrities with “verified” accounts only. Its mission is essentially to help celebrities manage their personal brand.
With the app, celebrities can see posts that reference them and will be able to respond. Mentions will also allow them to create posts and host live Q&A sessions.
It’s apparent Facebook is working to compete with other social media sites that have these capabilities. Twitter allows celebrities to post their thoughts and promote themselves and some use Reddit for Q&A sessions.
We will have to wait and see if celebrities take to Mentions like they have on Twitter but our team will keep you posted. Read more via the Wall Street Journal.
- Smartwatch will project notifications directly on your hand.
A new concept was announced this week that will allow notification to be sent from your phone to a bracelet then projected directly onto your hand. This technology will be sold by Ritot and will certainly allow users to be more connected to their phones.
The question is, will they be too connected? Technology and social media can distract us from what is going on in the world around us. With a watch that projects notifications it can be tempting to put social media ahead of important aspects of life like family.
The Smartwatch will be available in early 2015 and will be priced at $120. Read more about the watch and see pictures of the projection in the Mashable article.
- Pinterest hired the man who made Axe Body Spray millions.
This week Pinterest hired David Rubin, former VP at Unilever who was responsible for marketing hair care products. Now he is the head of brand at Pinterest and will be working with their team to increase activity on the site.
Rubin will help to lead Pinterest’s global brand marketing and solidify their strategy. One of Rubin’s goals for Pinterest may also be to increase its number of male users. Around 80% of Pinterest users are female and women create 92% of the posts.
In order to compete with other social media outlets Pinterest must appeal to both genders. For more information on Rubin visit adweek.com.
- Foursquare is continuing its rebrand with a new app and logo.
Checking in is not all Foursquare is providing anymore. They are transitioning to an app that provides recommendations for dining and entertainment, similar to Yelp.
They have debuted a new logo as well as an app called Swarm. On Swarm users can still check in but they can also recommend places that are nearby. When you select a location you can see a map of it, reviews as well as view the menu.
This new app could help Foursquare in their rebrand and keep them alive in the extremely competitive social media market. To take a look at the new logo and screenshots of the app visit mashable.com.
What interesting PR news stories have you read this week?
Photo via Mashable.