The life of a PR professional is hectic to say the least. To help you keep up with PR news we’ve compiled 5 stories you might have missed:
- A Powerful ad is the latest tactic to combat domestic violence with guns.
A home invasion was displayed in an ad from the Bloomberg group that came out this week. The ad depicted a frantic young woman trying to protect herself and her infant son from her ex. The last words in it are “I’m taking him” and after a struggle the woman is shot.
The ad is part of a campaign to persuade Senators to pass a bill that will ban anyone convicted of domestic violence or stalking from buying a gun. This ad is a graphic display of what often happens in domestic violence and the Bloomberg group is hoping that key Senators take notice.
To watch the ad and read more about the bill visit MSNBC.com.
- Twitter wants to profit from people who don’t have a Twitter.
Even if you do not have an account with Twitter it’s not likely that you have never seen a tweet. They are constantly coming up on websites, news stories and on television.
BTIG research showed that “off-Twitter monthly active users” are growing 10 times faster than traditional users. Twitter is hoping to monetize from off-Twitter MAU’s by persuading marketers that because of this group Twitter should be able to increase its price for advertising.
This change is prompting Twitter to create new metrics for these users and could lead to higher advertising prices. Read Mashable’s article to find out more about Twitter’s plans.
- New Google Maps Smartshoes vibrate to tell you where to go.
In last week’s blog we wrote about a SmartWatch that projected notifications on your hand now it seems that everything on your body will be “smart”. The technology announced this week was Bluetooth enabled shoes that tell you where to turn by vibrating one shoe.
Co-Founder of the company, Krispian Lawrence, told the Washington Post why he thinks the technology will be essential. “The shoes are an extension of the human body. You will leave your house without your watch or wristband but you will never leave your house without your shoes.”
For more on these technology read the full Washington Post article
- Hackers are using remote access software.
PR is one field where it is possible to work from home, but according to the New York Times using remote access can leave users more vulnerable to cybercriminals.
This discovery is especially relevant after thousands of customers had their credit card information stolen when major retailers were hacked. For good measure the Times suggests that if your company’s software contains credit card information you should encrypt the payment data from the minute that a customer swipes their card.
It is important to consider the kinds of monetary loss, as well as the PR crisis that can come about if your customers’ financial information is in stolen. Read the full article here.
- Snapchat is valued at $10 Billion.
Despite $0 in revenue Snapchat was valued at $10 billion these week, this is unusual for a company and would not have been fathomable 20 years ago. Many mocked the quick photo app for turning down offers from Google and Facebook. However many trusting investors have put Snapchat at the value that it is.
We will have to wait to see if this value will increase to the size of Google or Facebook but for now they are holding their own in the social media market. Read more about Snapchat on the Huffington Post.
What news stories have you read lately?
By: Paige Strott
Photo via the Huffington Post.