I’m pleased to announce that I will be back on the University of Gloucestershire’s student radio station, every Thursday between 4pm – 6pm.

Designed by Alex Jones

My fellow Radio Presenter from year 2 of University, Ian Pinnell, has now graduated. In his place new student, Alex Jones, shall be presenting with me.

As some of you may recall the past radio show called “Not Wireless Radio” covered many topical news stories and was also available through this website as a podcast series. This year the new radio show is called Techie Talk and will focus on all technological matters.

This will include (amongst other things):

-          Top tech news stories of the week

-          Features (such as ‘Are tablet PCs worth it?’)

-          Future moments looking at technology which is theoretical or in the making

-          Plus everything else…

In time these shows will be made available as podcasts through the usual distribution channels such as this blog and the iTunes store. However, even if you are outside Cheltenham you will be able to tune into the show through the internet by clicking on this link.

A key importance all PR professionals face is clearly communicating their messages through all broadcast mediums. This is not only a skill required by Journalists but also PR’s now that the internet has the ability to cut out the middle man (two-way communication).

So please tune into the radio show this Thursday and leave any feedback as a comment. Once I am on the air with Alex Jones you will have the opportunity to email and text into the show.

Hopefully this new technology show will be a success but time will tell. Planning to fill 2 hours of radio content each week is a challenge whilst also planning for a dissertation, global PR project and keeping up with all the course reading. However Tone Radio offers a priceless opportunity to all students at the University of Gloucestershire and I am pleased to once again be involved.

Tune in tomorrow (every Thursday) between 4pm – 6pm.

Blogging is a muscle which requires exercise. Yet no matter how dedicated you may be with travelling to the gym each week you may sometime go through a patch of absence. During these times it is easy to become lazy, to fall into a day to day routine which skips your once heavy physical activity.

Unfortunately this has happened to me on the blogging side of my life. Shamefully it has almost been 1 month since I last posted on mikewhite.co.uk. For this I have no excuse – other than a much needed break. My blogging muscles are now firmly working again.

A lot has happened since I last blogged here.

For a start I am now a final year PR student at the University of Gloucestershire. The real world objective to make money has stepped back and now  personal gain consists of delving into a mountain of textbooks in preparation for essays, dissertations and questions. Eventually this experience will become part of a far more useful experience based work placement but for the moment learning is my key objective.

Cheltenham gladly offers a far more peaceful atmosphere than commuting into central London each day but the importance of working for Microsoft has dramatically affected me in a number of ways. Surprisingly identity has become somewhat of an issue – this applies to most the students in my lecturers.

Our placement experience has resulted in us not really feeling like students. Many of which would rather still be working full-time but it’s best not to critique University – this is an opportunity I won’t be able to experience in my life again.

Now back at University I have a few different things lined up including a couple of interviews, being back on the student radio again (which will probably involve some festival work) and maybe writing an academic paper (to be confirmed).

It is good to be back in Cheltenham.

Source: Reuters

As of writing this I have safely arrived home from London. Microsoft security kept all employees up-to-date of the London riot situation and eventually many decided to leave and work remotely (one of the beauties of working for the world’s BEST software company!). The atmosphere in London is twofold; of panic and solidarity. Somewhat oxymoronic, ironically caused by morons who choose to loot and pillage their own communities.

Last night Ken Livingstone voiced his opinions on BBC News insinuating that rioting amongst the younger generation was due to the economically tough times. Personally I find it rather disgusting how Red Ken decided to take a situation caused by greed and sheer violence as a political point. Yes, generation Y do have it particularly bad but these gangs were never looking for a job – they feed from those who do. The London riots do not seem political, instead gangs have discovered that through joint communication it is possible to cause havoc in designated areas.

Blackberry Messaging is being blamed to be the telecommunications choice for looters. This afternoon the official Blackberry blog was hacked by infamous group TeaMp0isoN_. Yet blaming particular social mediums is not the point. Text messaging could easily be just as valid. Both communications forms could be traced (it is simple) but unlikely.

TeaMp0isoN's Message to BlackBerry_

Panic has swept London and the police will be out in full force tonight. Not only is the police presence necessary to maintain order but it is also a PR drive. Politicians decided that sipping their wine abroad and waiting for the violence to shift was harming their reputation. The Met need to prove that their force have what it takes to keep London under control.

This is only a quickly written blog post by a student who happens to share one aspect with rioters, age. Let’s not tarnish the whole of generation Y over the London riots. Many of us are very different. When I watch the news I feel betrayed – clearly there are many in our society who do not recognise ethics.

In my opinion this video sums up the whole of the London riots. Warning: it will make you angry.

Stay safe.

I’m 21 years old yet I have been blogging in various forms over the last 6 years. Before 2005 I had no idea how blogging would have shaped my life. Now 6 years on I reminisce on what I have learnt and if I would have changed anything.

Comments are Gold and Dust
It is much easier to forget positive feedback than the negative. Negative comments build like dust and unless you brush them away it is easy to let them blind your path. Treasure your positive comments and either forget or grow from the negative. Either way comments are good, it shows you are making a difference.

Your learning will speed up – LOTS!
Once I started blogging alongside my PR course at University I realised writing posts was acting as a form of revision. Every student should be aware of the world around them and blogging accelerates that process.

Be Brief
Most of us scan read when browsing the internet. Dwell times are reduced and so it is necessary for blogs to be brief. Sometimes people on Twitter will RT a post just based on the title! Shorter posts generally are more successful, in my experience the larger ones are more entertaining to write.

Old Posts are always Cringe worthy
To this very day I cannot stand reviewing old blog posts. Somewhere on my computer I have a list of posts which I wrote in 2006 and I am glad to say I have progressed a lot since then. The latest post is always one to keep in mind but be careful what you write, the posts you wrote six years ago may still be Google-able. (Nothing is truly deleted on the internet)

Your Audience is two-way
Don’t think that blogging will provide you international fame. Equally don’t think that an audience will just flock to you. Building an audience takes time (this blog’s audience is certainly niche) and requires you to make the effort to interact with other blogs. Even being listed effectively in search engines requires a lot of work. Perhaps in the next year I will become more popular than Darren Rowse?

Blogging won’t make you Rich
We have all heard the stories of people who manage to blog full-time and make a living from it but they really are exceptions. Through sponsored posts and advertising over the course of the year I have probably earned enough money to purchase a Nintendo 3DS. Compare that with the amount of time it takes to keep the blog running; it wouldn’t be worth it.

Publish Frequently
To maintain an active blog it is important to publish frequently. Quantity keeps search engines happy and causes people to regularly visit for more information. Don’t forget quality though – miss that and you won’t be doing your reputation any favours.

Hiding behind a veil of words is easy.

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” – Oscar Wilde

Credibility is often casually exchanged with fraud to decipher interactions on the internet. The truth is that unless you have physically met an individual then it is difficult to evaluate the integrity of one’s online identity.

Yet identity is not necessarily monogamous. Whilst my Twitter account @michaelwhite1 is technically me, it is not ineludibly representative of my personality in real life. Equally the content written on this blog, whilst from the same brain, could be a writer’s personality.

Be One
When we find ourselves in new situations it is tempting to try re-inventing ourselves. I am convinced this is why some wish to move away permanently to different parts of the world – escapism. As time goes on it is clear to see progress is coming in the form of convergence of social media and real life. It won’t be long before our online identities won’t have anywhere to hide.

In the Past
A far cry to how the internet used to exist. Forums and IRC ruled my digital life before my “teens” hit. Users represented themselves with anonymous usernames such as ‘Privatisation’ or ‘G33K’ – they remained hidden on the net (unless you tracked their IP…). Newer networks such as Google+ require users to provide their real name; accurate data has become the currency for social networks.

What is my Online Personality:

Blogging – Tends to be professional but at times can be a diary. A real mix of personal and business.

Twitter – The closest to the real me as possible. Very honest, maybe too transparent at times.

Google+ – Similar to Twitter. Mostly use to find out what you think.

Facebook – Mostly communicate with friends and family. Find myself to use the network reservedly.

Do you have a Social Media mask?

Is it possible that social search and networking could be a limiting the scale of the internet? Watch the below video where I attempt to explain what I mean…

Thoughts?

You can change the lives of children with speech, language and communication difficulties in a rather amusing way. Adopt a Word gives you the opportunity to own a little slice of the English Language, for £15 you can adopt a word of your choosing. Once you have adopted your word you can proudly show off your Certificate of Adoption as I have done below.

As you can see I decided to go for the word ‘pseudohermaphroditism’ (as I discovered ‘orgasm’ wasn’t available). My word is charming, simply the medical term (although redundant) of one who is lucky enough to have been born with genitalia that differ on the outside and inside (eg, man outside and woman inside). If you are going to adopt a word then it has to be an interesting one.

Please consider adopting a word today, it is easy and will go towards helping a child with their communication difficulties. As most readers of this blog are in the PR industry we all know just how important communication is.

Adopt a Word can also be found on Twitter.

Used this picture on my application form. Not sure if it is good, a tad overexposed!

After much support on Twitter and Facebook I have applied to appear on series 8 of BBC Apprentice. At this stage I have mixed feelings about my application. First cause of concern is the impact the show could have on my career if I were to appear on the show (if I were not to win). Secondly I have no idea for what the producers look for in a candidate.

Whilst I can boast about my efforts at Microsoft in the application (which will provide weight), the rest is University related and probably not too unique to others around the country. For the moment though I live in belief that my application has probably disappeared into a pile of thousands.

Whether the filming dates would work around my final year of University is a mystery but appearing on the show would be incredible. Mainly as I believe I could do a better job than most candidates who appear on the show.

Time will tell. I’ll let you all know if I hear anything back from the BBC.