Messages of any type are always in process, but I wish to share a few multimedia examples below. A range of work is offered including radio interviews, press releases, presentations, and other traditional/alternative media sources where my contributions were offered and requested by invitation.
The first presidential debate set a Twitter record as the most-tweeted about event in U.S. political history. The words "Big Bird" were tweeted over 17 thousand times a minute.
It's clear politics and social media have merged. Many people are using their Facebook pages to campaign for their favorite candidates, and that is turning some people off. At one point, it was considered taboo to speak about religion, politics and money with friends, but social media has changed that belief. Facebook and Twitter seem less personal than a face-to-face conversation, but the concept is still the same.
There are some members that will block or defriend you if your posts get too political...something to keep in mind when you are updating your status or composing a new tweet to tell the world your political opinions. Mary Beth Marsden talked to Jenny Armentrout, assistant professor of communication studies at Saint Mary's College in Indiana, about the social situation.
Did you know that the idea of New Year’s resolutions is rooted in religious ideals of Lenten sacrifices and similar notions? That’s why we often vow to give something up rather than set self-improvement goals.
Resolutions typically revolve around weight loss and other body transformations. After the holidays with lots of consumption we think that the next natural step is to discipline our bodies by resolving to lose various numbers of pounds—but many of us don’t achieve this "goal."
Jenny Armentrout, assistant professor of communication studies at Saint Mary’s College, studies contemporary weight discourses. Her goal is to challenge the status quo about how we regard weight. She can speak about suggested alternatives to the typical resolution to lose weight regarding empowerment, empathy, balance, and rights for all. For instance, why not resolve to do more reasonable things? Resolve to stop drinking pop. Resolve to take a 15-minute walk everyday. Resolve to NOT step on a scale.
More on Armentrout’s expertise: She looks at the relationship between the dichotomies and paradoxes observed in the process of setting body goals: good vs. bad, healthy vs. unhealthy, success vs. failure, fat vs. thin, gluttonous vs. abstemious, moral vs. immoral, deserving vs. undeserving, attractive vs. unattractive, etc.
NOTRE DAME, Ind., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Although half of America may be happy its candidate for president won, half of the population is unhappy with the outcome, a U.S. communications expert says.
Jenny Armentrout, assistant professor of communication studies at Saint Mary's College, in Notre Dame, Ind., said when the election ends some will take to social media and, if their candidate won, gloat.
Such "status updates" might offend those whose candidate lost, but that's been the case throughout this election season, Armentrout said.
The virtual world often provides more monologues than dialogues and Facebook posts can antagonize friends with opposing political views, Armentrout added.
Perhaps more than ever before, people know their friends' political persuasions going into an election, but many blocked each other's posts or even unfriended people who didn't think like them, Armentrout said.
After the election, "campaign hangover," the heady experience of winning can annoy those happy and unhappy with the election results, but reaching out -- something social media was supposed promote -- could make a difference.
"Conflict resolution and empathy are huge parts of communication processes that we sometimes overlook in terms of online formats due to how ambiguous/anonymous we perceive these mediums to be," Armentrout said.