Welcome!
16
Jan
2009
Welcome to the all-new janetaronica.com! I’m very excited about this.
Special thanks to Jesse, who – if oh so slightly reluctantly – helped me build a site that is “so Janet.”
You’ll find cool shiz on here. I’m going to use this space to write about PR, internships, student-run firms, social media, and entry-level job searches. (If you’re familiar with my other blog, you aware of how…”opinionated” I am. I have lots to say about these topics and I’m pumped about getting the conversations started.) Then there’s my resume and bio, along with the blogroll – or as we call it in Janet World – “hotties.”
I think blogrolls are a conversation topic in and of themselves. I wanted to connect with like-minded PR people, so this is my way of reaching out. If you are on the blogroll, you fit into one of three categories:
- You are my real-life friend. I love you! Your blog isn’t too bad, either.
- We’ve talked. You’re really nice! I like your blog and I think you are talented.
- I’ve never talked to you. You may not know I exist. But you’re probably nice, I like your blog, and you are most certainly talented. Let’s be friends!
So what to do about blogrolls? Is it creepy to just add people to your blogroll even if a) you don’t necessarily have permission or b) don’t personally know them? Is it flattering, or freaky? I feel like kids my age are especially sensitive to the “creep factor” in social media. Personally, I think adding fellow-bloggers to your blogroll is friendly – and a huge compliment. It says that you care to align your brand with their website because you think they are just that awesome. On the other hand, the hairy adult learner that Facebook pokes freshman girls probably thinks that he, too, is just friendly.
I once heard that social media is like a cocktail party. Like learning what to do with the end of that shrimp hor d’oeuvre (beats me) or learning to keep your elbows off the table (still working on that), there’s an etiquette to these things. My solution? I say throw on your cocktail dress (or a tuxedo t-shirt, because it says ‘I wanna be formal, but I’m here to party’), ask lots of questions, and join the party.