Nicole Angela

There’s something recently that’s been on my mind.

The concept of alone.

Not lonely, that’s an entirely different ideal. I’m talking about doing things alone, namely in public, and namely back in school.

I remember when I was in high school there had always been this stigma around doing things by yourself.

“I can’t go to the movies by myself, I’ll look like a loner!”

“I can’t go out for dinner by myself, people will think I don’t have friends!”

“I can’t do this or that because SHAAAAAAAME”

Something I learnt while finishing school and then moving far away from home is basically… screw that!

In high school it’s all about friend groups and hangouts, and that’s totally fine! But upon getting older and becoming an adult (*shudder*) it makes you think about how silly that ideal really is.

If you want to see a movie that none of your friends are interested in, then go! Why should we be held back by what others want to do. Be honest with yourself and with others, and be independent. Sure, if you don’t want to turn up to a party by yourself because you don’t know anyone except your friend there, then yeah! Hitch a ride. Safety first.

But I’m referencing the stigma around doing things alone, which kind of sucks if I’m honest.

Now that I am a (semi) functioning human being who pays her taxes and rent and all that other necessary stuff, it’s given me a perspective that wasn’t as big of a priority in school. I had grades to worry about, dammit! Which is that you have to fend for yourself, whether you’ve got 2 friends or 200 friends, you’ve still got to make sure you’re doing what YOU want to do. Otherwise what’s the point really.

Don’t want to hang out with people tonight? Say no. Want to treat yourself to a nice meal at a restaurant but your friends are busy? Treat yourself!

When it boils down to it, there are a lot of things that, when in school, we thought were the most important things ever. “God mum! Becky has blue eyeshadow. Why can’t I wear blue eyeshadow?! You’re the worst!” (Take note young little millennials, Mum is right, no-one needed bright blue eyeshadow that young. Be thankful you didn’t catch that trend).

Anyway, to the point. Don’t be constricted by the stigma society puts on certain things and don’t get stuck in a high school mindset. With all the annoyances of adulthood, I hope that we can at least move past the stigma that doing things by yourself is bad. Ain’t nobody got time to think about that.

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Photography by myself

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I know it's been AGES since I last posted but I'm trying to get back into it!

If anyone has suggestions for blog posts or things you want me to write about, let me know!

Until next time...

I feel that on the spectrum of over-committing and under-committing yourself to whatever it is we’re doing in life; we always seem to slide closer to one end of the spectrum. While leaning a little to one side or the other is fine, sliding too far down one end can be detrimental.

I, myself, tend to make it so that when I’m busy, I’m REALLY busy. But when I have free time, I tend to have absolutely nothing to do. This is something I’m trying to fix and hope that in my analysis of commitment, you may find an interesting aspect of this too.

I want to start off by saying that it’s a really great thing to get out of the house and plan events with friends or work colleagues. It’s important to find that work-life balance that everyone keeps talking about and make your time useful.

Staying at home, being by yourself and lazing around is awesome but it needs to be done in doses. Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, it’s important to be both social and also have some time to yourself. While being a hermit may seem very appealing, you’ll feel much better getting up and going somewhere. Take me for example, today is my day off, so instead of writing my blog post in my room and probably not leaving the house at all, I’ve decided to sit at my local park and write this post out in the sun. Not only will it maybe make me less pale than I currently am but I now feel like I’ve had a (semi) productive day. You don’t have to organise a luncheon or anything spectacular, sometimes just sitting in a park can be nice.

On the flip side, it is also integral to know that you are allowed to say no to people. Just because someone invites you somewhere or asks you to do something, that doesn’t mean you have to say yes. It’s also important to weigh up what you have on and whether or not you can make another commitment. By over-committing yourself you then have no time to spend alone, and alone time is healthy, it will also affect your stress levels and probably your sleep.

It is important to consider what is best for you. There are necessary commitments, whether that be work or school but outside those, it’s really up to you. If you’re hanging out with the right people, they’ll understand that you’ve had a big week and just want to stay in or will be happy to grab lunch with you.

Really it’s all about balance, but no-one is ever going to live a perfectly balanced life so there’s not really much pressure to get it right, thank god. It’s more just about looking after yourself both physically and mentally and knowing the limits you can reach before one of them in jeopardized. I certainly don’t have the whole work-life balance thing right yet but I’m trying, it’s also why I’m sat in a park in the middle of the afternoon for no real reason.

I tend to write these posts then get to the end and reassure people that I have no psychology degree or incredible insight into how we should live our life but that this is just me stumbling my way through life, similar to a newborn giraffe trying to walk, and sharing some insight that I have gained that may just be useful to someone else.

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Words and Pictures by Nicole Dickson

Before I begin this incredibly insightful article written by a girl who is simply passionate about PR and YouTube as separate entities, and as one, and definitely is not a leader in the field, or a secret Google employee (one day…). I want to formally apologize for the two months of silence on this blog. I’d love to say that it’s because I’m so sort after in my field that I’ve had very little time to get to this blog, but let’s be honest. We all know I’m just a little bit flaky (authenticity, amiright..?).

ANYWAY, steering the conversation back to the topic at hand, I want to discuss PR (and business communications) and its cross-over with YouTube as a social media platform. Now, I want to be totally honest here and say that I have a bias opinion on this matter in that I think that combining these communication tools provides and incredible opportunity for both parties, and I will tell you why.

YouTube, to me, is a place that is both open to the public as well as being accessible by businesses, brands and celebrities. Think of PR campaigns that have been run through YouTube like Save The Children and Dumb Ways To Die, which both have awesome coverage. These were fantastic PR campaigns however this platform is also open to the likes of Zoella, Pewdiepie and Jenna Marbles, vloggers and all names I imagine you’ve at least heard of. The diversity of this platform is what first drew me to it.

There are many ways to utilise YouTube. Having just passed its 10^th Birthday, people have had plenty of time to work out new ways to thrive on YouTube and yet I still feel it is being underutilised. The average person, with the right equipment and motivation, can earn their living through becoming a YouTuber (#TeamInternet). Monetization, Ad revenue, sponsorships. Dedicate enough time and love into a channel (not to mention following those trends) and you could potentially establish yourself in the community.

On the flip side, businesses also have access to this opportunity, however in a slightly different way. I personally feel that businesses could do so much more with YouTube than they are already doing, some companies are doing it right, as you can see from the videos I mentioned before, however not all are. YouTube allows for the opportunity to make the company feel more personable and authentic and give it a face, and not just the face of the guy yelling ‘SALE!!!’ at you through the TV. Think behind the scenes, talks with important industry professionals, live-streams, a channel in which you can talk to your audience and have them be able to connect to a face. Use YouTube like you use SnapChat, just a little more refined.

I feel that, especially within fashion brands, YouTube is a must have and as mentioned, I’m 100% bias as I am definitely a supporter of the platform. This however, is just a little insight into what I’ve learnt through my university degree and what I’ve observed through studying PR and business communication in my free time.

Let me know what you think, is YouTube INCREDIBLE or do you have a number of reasons why you think it’s the weakest of the social media platforms? I’d love to hear.

So, like, comment and subscribe (share, comment and follow) and I’ll see you next week (don’t hold me to that) for another video (blog post).

P.S. Check out my ‘Projects’ tab for a mini-documentary I uploaded to YouTube as well.

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Words and Some Pictures by Nicole Dickson

Photo Links:

YouTube Logo: http://www.jocelynpook.com/news/official-jocelyn-pook-youtube-soundcloud/

Computer and Coffee: http://blog.springnest.com/blog/tag/youtube/

Team Internet: https://wanelo.com/p/31523522/team-internet-youtube-logo-by-youtuber-club

Let us run around the age old conversation that has stood the test of time (if by time you mean the last 10-15 years). Now I know this is not a new topic and has been spoken about many times over, however I wanted put my two cents in and tell you a little about how it can affect us.

Social Media

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Ahh yes, the good old social media platforms that give us a way to connect with those we know and concurrently promote our own work (as I’ve often bothered you all with). What I wanted to talk about however is how it is affecting my life as a university graduate as well as those who are looking to go into or who are already in the workforce.

It’s very much a game of personal versus professional when it comes to social media. While it is a great way to talk about how much fun it was going out last Friday night it is simultaneously a place that employers frequently go to seek new staff. Welcome to the 21^st century.

Different apps/ social media sites can be used for different things. In the same way that you wouldn’t post about personal events on LinkedIn you also wouldn’t Snapchat a company to ask for a job. Basically it’s a matter of picking your battles. The thing to remember is that with Google and its abundance of information, simply searching your name can tell an employer a lot about you.

Let me look at some of the major social media platforms a little closer and tell you what I think they’re good for (and what I use them for), just in case you’re not quite sure about that balance.

We’ll start with Facebook. This one for me is a little difficult, it’s the perfect place to share pictures with your friends and write a quick status about the pizza you just ordered but it’s also a good place for self-promotion (as I’ve done on many occasions) and is also easily accessible to potential employers and therefore an easy way to find out a lot about you. Facebook for me is a balance of sharing funny/ interesting videos and photos while also promoting the work I’m doing.

Instagram. This can lead to a career in itself. We’ve all heard of the Instagram celebrities, however not all of us are that lucky. Although that doesn’t mean we can’t introduce a work-life balance into Insta. Personally, for me, my account is quite work based. I’ll share my work, post about events I’ve been invited to and generally run with the theme of ‘career’. This worked in my benefit recently, where a company was advertising a position, I commented on the picture advertising said position and was then able to send them through my resume. This was a rare situation but it worked very much in my favour. Instagram is a fine line though, I guess it’s just the theme/ aesthetic you want to go for.

Twitter. I think Twitter is a fantastic platform to promote yourself professionally. I rarely post on Twitter unless it’s to promote this blog and I find I use it more for keeping up to date with the world around me. However, having been a part of TweePR, a PR/ Marketing group at the Queensland University of Technology, we frequently (and still do) take advantage of the business benefits of Twitter.

Snapchat. The baby of the social media platforms. Now a world away from the likes of Bebo\ and MySpace… let’s move on. Snapchat for me is more personal, I don’t see the connection between business and Snapchat unless you’re talking about Forever21 and the like, who do use the app in a professional capacity.

I do believe you have to pick and choose where you want to post your information. Anyone can see what you post (which is why you should check privacy settings) and of course, it is the internet, so once something is posted online it never really goes away. This article is really just a courtesy post to remind people that there are very few businesses who don’t use social media nowadays and that they will, 9 times out of 10, check up on you via the internet.

The argument for and against the use of social media is age old and will continue to grow and evolve for many years to come. It’s The Great Tech Debate all over again, and honestly there’s no real answer to it, just formula’s that tell you what that particular person/ company thinks you should do.

Honestly, I say just be you. People appreciate authenticity. Maybe just consider where exactly you want to post those photos from that girls’ night out on the town a few weeks’ back, but definitely don’t lose your personality just because you’re worried about an employer checking up on you.

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Words by Nicole Dickson

Photo Links Below:

- World: http://sonburst.com/the-importance-of-building-an-online-presence/

- Personal vs. Professional: http://es.123rf.com/photo_25082451_imagen-conceptual-que-representa-el-equilibrio-de-la-vida-profesional-y-personal-con-una-mano-del-ho.html

- Social Media Boxes: http://www.bandt.com.au/marketing/telstra-customer-unimpressed-with-social-media-apology-meme

- Facebook Job Application: http://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/more-employers-not-hiring-due-to-what-they-find-on-social-media/