Hello!
 From here on in it's a countdown, with just 15 days left until we choose our next president.
Who will it be?
 Please, take my unofficial poll to the right of this entry and let me know what you think.
 It's between Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and me!

Public Relations, Fall 2012

Hello Public Relations Fall 2012 class, and welcome to Blogger.com.
 I hope you have a great experience in this class, as you learn to use new media to get your word out, and see how the experts do the same!
 I'm Professor Mary Ellen Lowney, chair of the Communications/New Media Department at American International College. Please come and visit me in my office if you have a chance -- I'm below the Dining Commons in Room 4. You are welcome to stop by to say hi, or to ask any questions about this class as we progress through the semester.
 Meanwhile, set up your own blogs, and make sure you 'follow' my blog while you're at it.
 When you are done setting up your blog, please email me the link so that I may follow you as well.

 Here's me holding up the Eiffel Tower this past May. It was quite a feat!

 I'm posting a link below, to a New York Times piece about a man who used social media as he climbed up a successful professional ladder. Check it out.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/jobs/the-boss-surveymonkeys-ceo-on-starting-small.html?ref=technology

 Thanks, and again, welcome!

Welcome to the World of Blogging!

Yes, the academic year has started at American International College and yes, Internet Communication is in full swing, after just two classes. To match the spirit of the moment, we're going to blogging in this class, both about the class, and about its subject, the social, cultural and economic impacts of the Internet.

We can find something personal in that -- the Internet has made us, individually, both smarter and less smart. Haven't we all clicked on our keyboards to find out things like, 'Who won the World Series in 1943' and 'What are the symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?' Well, questions like that anyway! By the same token, haven't we all stared at our computer screens, eyes glazed, barely focused on some ridiculous game, or looking at our Facebook accounts, as opposed to doing all the work that's piled up around us, or just going to bed for the night?

Then there's the bigger picture. As of March 31, 2011, there were 2,095,006,005 Internet users on the planet Earth, according to InternetWorldStats.com. Yes, that's nearly 2.1 trillion! A whole lot of people! Nearly half of us -- 44% -- are in Asia. North American has the largest Internet penetration, with 78.3% of the population online. The smallest penetration area is Africa, where just 11.4% of folks are online. Surely they will catch up.

The Internet is big business, too. One example: During the final quarter -- that's just three months -- of 2010, Google reported revenues of $8.44 billion. And that was a 26% increase over the prior year!

It's clear that the Internet has us hooked, and it's enabling some companies to make a whole lot of money. Right?