Susan Cain

Over the summer I read and really enjoyed Susan Cain's book 'Quiet - The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking.' Having been shown her talk at TED I found her really interesting and inspiring and so I bought her book to find out more.

I found I could really relate to the things she spoke about in her book about the social bias in society that benefits extroverts, and makes introverts feel they must act more extroverted than they are naturally. Having studied psychology at school I was able to easily make sense of the research in the book and I think that the messages contained in the book should really be widely recognised.

Having read her book I also followed Susan Cain on twitter, and I enjoy reading her tweets and the articles and research she often posts. Today she shared an article about research that suggests that being a good listener helps you to exert influence over people. I think this is an important point for PR practitioners to remember and that a lot of her research can be taken into account for the practice of PR. It is likely that introverts and extroverts may respond differently to PR campaigns.

 http://anniemurphypaul.com/2012/12/how-listening-helps-you-exert-influence/#

Dumb Ways to Die

This Campaign by the Metro Trains Melbourne has received a great response across social media. The lovable characters and catchy song convey a very important message in an inventive and fun way. This makes audiences more likely to watch and share the company's message.

This campaign highlights the importance of social media in modern PR. As it is for a company on the other side of the world it is unlikely that without the internet this would have become so widely seen even across countries. YouTube as a social network site also comes into its own here as the video can be shared across different platforms.

Kylie and Matilda

This is my first ever blog post since my A Level media portfolio and so I thought I'd begin with something close to my heart...

Since I was very small I've been a massive fan of Kylie and Dannii Minogue. I've also enjoyed dancing, singing and going to see shows. I love musical theatre and my Ipod is full of musical soundtracks. The other day whilst scrolling through my Facebook news feed I saw a post from the 'Matilda the Musical' Facebook page with a picture of Kylie Minogue with the four girls who play Matilda in the Royal Shakespeare Company's west end musical. They were at the Royal Variety Performance and Kylie took the time to talk to them and have a photo with them. One of the things I've always admired about Kylie is how she's so down to earth and friendly even though she's such a huge star. I know this from personal experience when I was lucky enough to meet her a couple of years ago.

I have also seen Matilda the Musical and loved it and its soundtrack is a favourite of mine. This is why this photo really excited me.

I think Kylie's visit was great promotion for the show and that photos such as this are very useful for stage shows as they find their place in the theatre world. This is a great usage of photography on social media as a PR medium. That concludes my very first blog post!