FYI: Whatsapp introduces Bold, Italic & Strikethrough option

Whatsapp update version 2.12.17 for iPhone and 2.12.535 for Android finally lets its users format their texts. Bolditalic, strikethrough or bold italic are the new way to be cool.

 

anamariapopa.com blog post whatsapp new feature bold italic strikethrough

 

Now, the option is not activated from settings or by one magical button, but it’s available by using codes. From the printscreen above:

  • Bold option: hug the word or sentence with asterisks (*). e.g.: *really*
  • Italic option: hug the word or sentence with underscores (_). e.g.: _just saying_
  • Strikethrough option: hug the word or sentence with tildes (~). e.g.: ~don’t~
  • Bolt italic option: hug the word or sentence with asterisks (*) and underscores (_) together, regardless the order. e.g.: _*all of them*_

With more than one billion people using the app every month, this makes the app so great, since Whatsapp’s new features and updates have been kind of basic and the only exciting thing about it was introducing voice calls.

Public Relations: Have you got what it takes?

I frequently get asked about the PR field. Last time, the conversation took place with a 20-something-year-old who’s hesitant about what to do next in this life.

– I was thinking to go for PR, if I can’t find anything that I like to do. How do I know if I’ve got what it takes? What’s the job? What do you actually do? How did you start?, they usually ask.

My reply is – ‘I didn’t choose PR, PR chose me.’ Basically, because it’s true. It all started as an extra thing to do besides university, in order to earn my own money. And I got really lucky this way, I admit it.

It was my second year at university and I got this question – ‘We saw you were passionate about Facebook, how would you like managing our business page as a job?’. Now, passionate is a special way of describing my Facebook skills. I was basically obsessed… All day, every morning till night, I was online on Facebook. I posted about everything, sharing things that I liked or found interesting. My day would be defined by the time between the new and the old posts in my news feed. But I said – hey, I’ll give it a try. And so I started learning about the professional way of using Facebook. Yes, it all started with Social Media for me, and then my duties got bigger and bigger. I would manage all the online accounts and then even got to the offline part – events, meetings, gatherings, projects. Anything that had to do with representing the company I worked for, a dental clinic in Bucharest.

Job Description

PR is easily defined by its name, yes – it is about managing the connections between the company you represent and the public. As a PR, you are responsible for the image and reputation perceived by the community. Your tasks consist of establishing, implementing and maintaining multiple ways of communication, as well as strong relationships with the media reps.

A PR officer can find his/hers place whether in an agency/PR consultancy firm or as an in-house specialist. The PR agencies enjoy the benefit of offering a wide range of services in many areas of expertise, but they can also concentrate on a particular field, such as consumer or B2C (business-to-consumer) PR, corporate or B2B (business-to-business) PR or just general public affairs.

In-house specialists can be found both in public or private sectors, but also in non-profit organizations. They are in charge for both internal and external communications and will face a challenge bigger than a PR consultant, given the fact that for this role, an in-depth knowledge of the field and business environment is needed.

I was an in-house PR officer in the dental field and even though my knowledge of actual medicine was limited, I found it amazing! My motivation came from learning new things, on a level that it makes sense for the future. I took part in dental interventions that showed pure anatomy. And with it, along came the struggle. As an outsider, I was highly impressed. As the employee of the clinic, I was taught basic dental activity. But as a PR specialist, I had to find the right way of putting into words an intervention that seems scary to the public. Challenging enough? This is a level apprehension not possible for an external PR.

Qualifications & Background

As any other field, some study is required. The most relevant fields would be:

  • Public Relations
  • Marketing
  • Journalism, Communication and/or Media
  • Creative Writing
  • Social Sciences.

I come with a background of Psychology and a passion about Communication and people – what drives them, what motivates them, etc.

Passion is much more important than whatever degree you’ve got. Passion is the first thing people read when they see you, and trust me when I say that you won’t have your degree subject written on your forehead.

One way for an employer of any kind to be sure of your passion is providing a history of volunteer work or internships. The no-pay or low-pay activity gives them an idea of how up you are for gaining experience. Subsequently, there are trainings, workshops and courses you can attend in order to deepen your knowledge and understanding of the field.

Skills

This is it – you either have it or you don’t:

  • Amazing verbal and written skills
  • Self-confidence, excellent presentation and networking skills
  • Creativity
  • Attention to detail
  • Patience and great interpersonal skills
  • Ability to handle pressure and juggle with different priorities and deadlines
  • Drive, flexibility, pro-active attitude, open-mindedness and willingness to learn new things
  • Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills
  • Excellent organizational and planning skills
  • Business orientation.

Activity & Responsibilities

If you’ve made it to this point, now it gets real. PR is never just PR. PR has a way of asking for some Marketing skills, Event Planning, Budget Planning, Social Media or even Project Management talent.

Still here? Good, let’s see what this is all about.

Your work tasks may include, but wouldn’t be limited to:

  • Plan, develop, implement PR strategies
  • Set up the PR budget and needs
  • Create and maintain a favorable image and reputation of the company/brand/organization
  • Build relevant relationships with the media reps
  • Write press releases and promotional materials
  • Market research
  • Develop a Social Media strategy
  • Create new business opportunities
  • Attend and/or plan events, press conferences, open-days and/or exhibitions
  • Create a PR crisis strategy
  • Update information on any online platform
  • Constantly search to grow the contact list
  • Manage projects and/or product launches
  • Coordinate photo opportunities
  • Manage sponsorship and/or partnership opportunities
  • Write and edit all written communications – articles, speeches, case studies, reports
  • Manage the logistics of brochures, leaflets and/or videos.

FYI – For Your Info

These are just a few of the PR needs of any company, brand or organization. They may vary when working in a team, but just be prepared.

  • PR specialists are usually office-based, but the duty might also involve travel when meeting clients or potential clients, suppliers or partners
  • The dress-code is usually smart, unless a certain event says otherwise
  • Working hours may vary and involve unsocial hours
  • The career ladder can go from PR Assistant to Manager and then to Senior
  • Salaries do vary, depending on the career level, location and employer.

 

With that being said, it is important to know that PR presents a fierce competition when it comes to jobs in the field, for women and men equally. With the glamorous picture aside, a great significance should be given to both the pressure and the reward of choosing a career in this field.

 

FYI: Facebook introduces Legacy Contact

Facebook introduced yesterday new policy that allows a trusted friend of yours, designated as the ‘legacy contact‘, to pin a post on your Timeline, after your death. This acts more or less as a funeral announcement. Still, the designated friend won’t be able to log in on your account or read your messages, but he/she can respond to new friend requests and update your photos (profile and cover). Take note that your contact won’t be able to delete or change things already shared on your Timeline.

 

www.anamariapopa.com blog post facebook legacy after death inherit profile Facebook-Memorial-Page-thumb featured image

 

As you may or may not know, before this, accounts could be memorialized, deleted or left unchanged, after friends or family reported the death. Memorializing meant freezing the account so it no longer appeared in searches or notifications. Now even with the legacy contact, accounts can still be deleted, if wanted so.

The legacy policy was requested by families and friends of the deceased, along with their wish of downloading the user’s photos and making announcements about the situation. Important to know is that this new policy is optional, it can be set only if you want to.

At the moment, this policy is available only in the US, but the social network plans to have it established around the world also, time frame unknown. When available in your country, and if you want to set it, just follow these simple steps:

1. Go to Settings -> Security -> Legacy Contact

2. Choose your legacy contact and send a message to that contact (optional)

3. Select if you want to give permission to your legacy contact to download an archive of the photos, posts and profile info that you’ve shared on Facebook.

 

Featured photo: Mashable

31 Days Challenge – Intro

Who doesn’t love a nice little challenge?

Well, in my many many wanderings through Social Media I found this blog and kind of a dare. As a person who loves those, I started reading. So, you have to write on your blog for 31 days, on any subject you like.

‘Oh boy, oh boy, that sounds lovely… And there were so many topics going through my mind… But…wait. I don’t have a blog… Yet.’

So that’s how it all started 🙂 I wanted a blog for so long but I was always unsure of what I would write on it. Even though I do have lots of stories to tell, at least my friends always tell me how interesting my life is and how I live every moment, something just wasn’t right. But when THIS came along, it felt just perfect. Maybe because just a few days before that, a friend of mine was annoyed with the fact that I was narrating a story and I only share it with a few people.

So, this is it. You’re on my blog now, so it exists, yey! I joined the ‘Write 31 Days’ Challenge, that starts on the 1st of October and I plan to write the whole month, one post a day. At least one that’s related to the topic I chose especially for this and then others of my day-to-day life.

You might be curious about my topic… But that’s going to come out when the time is right. Let me tell you a bit about ’31 Days’. So it’s an online writing challenge started by blogger Myquillyn Smith. And it’s where bloggers pick one topic and they write a post a day on it. There’s also a community where we post those articles, and also a Facebook group, so that everyone can read the ones they’re interested in the most.

I thought this was the perfect place for me to be in my blogging beginnings. It was all the motivation I needed, plus the social interaction with people that have the same determination and enthusiasm as me, but most of all, the same purpose.

I was looking at all those categories and I knew that I would never write on ‘House & Home’ or ‘Family Life’. In the end, I just knew that I belonged in the ‘Too Awesome to Categorize’ group. Ok, now may be the right time to tell you about my topic.

Initially, I was thinking about listing lovely words like ‘Sausade’ or ‘Wanderlust’, words that have a certain meaning that makes them interesting. But then, there would be no ‘ME’ in there… And since my friends tell me I have some interesting stories to tell, and they even got angry with the fact that I keep them to myself – there you have it, okay? I’m going to take out my memories box out of the closet and for the 31 days of October I will tell you 31 lovely, funny, stories that made my life until now.

After deciding on my topic, I needed just one other thing – a title. How was I supposed to call it? 31 Days of what? Memories, stories, happenings, they were all too specific. One dear friend even suggested ’31 Days of Sunshine’. I did like it, it just wasn’t right enough. And I got to thinking that all those memories were made at the right time with the right people for me to be a part of them. Most of them were unexpected, the people and/or the happenings, I wasn’t looking for either of them… And that made me remember my fav word in the whole world 🙂 I just felt it, it was right, it was ME. And that one word is ‘Serendipity’.

 

31 days of serendipity challenge write 31 days anamariapopa.com blog post ana maria popa

 

To get the latest ‘31 Days’ posts, simply follow #Write31Days on Facebook. You’ll especially find me by following that hashtag of course, but also #ampblog and #31daysofserendipity, starting the 1st of October!

Anyone who wishes to take part in this lovely project can find more info here.

 

31 days of serendipity challenge anamariapopa.com blog ana maria popa

 

 

 

Later Edit: Below you can find all my posts that are ‘Too Awesome to Categorize’ 🙂

Day 1 – I’m (Still) a Barbie Girl

Day 2 – Learning to Let Go

Day 3 – First (Business) Meeting

Day 4 – Beyond Comprehension

Day 5 – First Friend

Day 6 – Red and Blue Love

Day 7 – Obsession

Day 8 – The Aww Factor

Day 9 – Mood for Love

Day 10 – Coincidence or Fate?

Day 11 – My Thing

Day 12 – Always a ‘Bridesmaid’

Day 13 – Happy as A Child

Day 14 – Angel

Day 15 – Barcelona of My Soul

Day 16 – I Heart Burberry

Day 17 – My Fortune Cookie

Day 18 – ‘Something to Remember Me By’

Day 19 – Second Beauty Queen

Day 20 – Hey, Bartender!

Day 21 – Why Settle?

Day 22 – Full Age

Day 23 – Princess Me

Day 25 – My Vienna

Day 27 – Virtual Friend