Kelli S. Burns, Ph.D.

The full potential of social media is achieved when users not only effectively disseminate messages to their followers, but also inspire their followers to share messages within their networks. The presidential campaigns of 2012 are tapping into this power by creating presences on Facebook and Twitter, building networks of friends and followers, and distributing content…

I did an interview for WTSP Channel 10 News today where I spoke on all the reasons that a child under the age of 13 should not be on Facebook. Last year, approximately 7.5 million users were estimated to be under the minimum age of 13. First of all, the Child Online Privacy Protection Act…

Legislation introduced in Congress last week by Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) bans employers from requiring employees provide passwords to social networking sites as a condition of hiring or employment. This legislation, called the Social Networking Online Protection Act, or SNOPA, would also apply to colleges and schools. Maryland has already passed a similar bill at the…

Many of us have discovered the benefits of smartphones. A Nielsen study from February 2012 reported smartphone penetration in the U.S. to be almost 50%. For the three-month period ending in February 2012, two-thirds of mobile purchases were smartphones. For me, I use my smartphone to check email when I’m on the go, browse the web,…

Rich Brooks wrote a helpful article on Social Media Examiner called “21 Ways Non-Profits Can Leverage Social Media”. Which of these ideas are most useful to my students for their social media cause campaigns? #1: Use a blog to tell your story My students are required to blog about the School Supplies for Afghan Children…

I’m teaching a class this semester called PR Issues where my students are creating a social media cause campaign for School Supplies for Afghan Children. My challenge is finding resources to help my students learn how to raise awareness and donations for this cause. They have been reading David Scott Meerman’s New Rules of Marketing…

A new Facebook redesign launched today (although I think they have been rolling this out gradually because my site has looked this way for several weeks now) and what follows a Facebook redesign is always an outcry from the public. I believe that Facebook always knows what we want better than we know ourselves. Remember…

A recent AP-MTV poll found that young people are generally not offended by racial slurs and other derogatory words that are posted on social media sites or used in text messages. Young people consider this language acceptable if used among friends and within the context of a joke. The presence of such language is quite…