When writing a book that takes place in an unsavory time in history, there is a fine line that has to be drawn. You want to be historically accurate in a way that doesn’t come off as insensitive to those reading your book in today’s society. “Where the Crawdads Sing” is a book written by Delia Owens that takes place in North Carolina during the 50s and 60s, a time that was still heavy with racism, especially in the South. The book focuses on the life of Kaya, a girl growing up in the marsh, poor, and abandoned by her entire family. She learns to live with little to nothing except the nature around her, and the help of a few people, two of whom were an older African-American couple living in a colored community not far from Kaya. The fact that these are the only African Americans in the book, is an issue for many readers especially after Owens was brought into the spotlight for past actions, but for others, it is a beautiful and honest part of the story.
After Reece Witherspoon made the book one of her “Reece’s Book Club” picks, it gained more popularity which eventually led to a movie deal, which also led to rumors resurfacing about Owens and her husband, Mark Owens. The fact that in the 80’s, Owens lived in Africa with her husband, and in the end fled after being wanted for murder, came back to the surface amid the movie hype. Despite denying all rumors, Owens is currently wanted for questioning in Zambia regarding the murder of poachers. Is it a coincidence that in her book “Where the Crawdads Sing”, Kaya is wanted for murder and in the end gets away scot-free? Some readers don’t think so.
Over the years, we have seen more and more authors getting canceled online, a couple of examples being J.K. Rowling, Sarah J. Maas and Sherman Alexie. All these authors have either done something or written something readers considered unsavory. Under these conditions, Owens is no different. Are there ways to avoid this cancel culture? According to Sikich, there are four things you can do to avoid being canceled. Actions speak louder than words, so show the public your values in action, have policies, company-wide or personal, to implement your values, watch out for who you work with, make sure their values match up with yours, and make sure to stay up to date with what is going on in the world and the atmosphere you are in.
Owens was not thinking of these sorts of things, especially when writing some of her first books in the 90’s. When Owens was writing about her time in Africa, we were living in a different cultural climate, things that were accepted then are no longer accepted today. When the trailer for “Where the Crawdads Sing” came out, Owens’ past came back to haunt her and brought hatred to a book that had once been beloved by many. Due to readers’ sudden dislike for the author, they began to pick apart the book and search for anything problematic they could find. When it comes to being the owner of something, you need to protect your image and your brand because both will be scrutinized. Consumers are always going to look for pieces to exploit either with your personal image or with the work you produce, being cautious is something that has become ingrained in us with the spread of social media.
Despite the criticism, the movie earned over 1 million dollars in box office sales worldwide. This begs the question, can you still enjoy a book/movie despite the author being considered controversial? The answer for me is yes. It should always be the readers choice when deciding what book to read next. If that book is by a canceled author, then that is there choice to make. A book like “Where the Crawdads Sing” is a wonderful coming-of-age story that shows struggle and triumph. This story pulls on so many different types of readers, that it will continue to live on and garner positive attention from readers everywhere, despite what some may think of the author.
“The Love Hypothesis” is a science romance-themed book written by author Ali Hazelwood. One of her many romance books, this one stands out as her breakthrough novel which began as Star Wars fanfiction. A popular published book being based on fanfiction is not unusual, and shouldn’t change your opinion of the book. For a lot of readers, this turned them off from the book, and for the ones who still read it, the relationship overall was not up to standard. The relationship in this book is between a student and a teacher, due to the level of education both characters are of legal age, but the workplace relationship trope that is established can leave a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths. Sometimes a story with a unique power dynamic can be interesting, other times it can be toxic.
A forbidden love story is a popular trope that can be established very easily in books with worldbuilding, especially when they take place in a world different than our own. When writing a book that takes place in the world we know, forbidden love can get a little more tricky. Not only does “The Love Hypothesis” have a teacher-student relationship, but it is also a book full of science which caused a disturbance in the academic science community who felt they were being represented in a bad light.
Despite the flaws in this book and the relationship as a whole, it still had amazing sales and brought Hazelwood into the spotlight. Since “The Love Hypothesis” Hazelwood has released books rapid fire, and has developed her relationships to be more to the reader’s liking while still having her signature flair.
When writing a book made for the average reader, some topics should be avoided, and having your main characters joke about Title IX, and be involved in glossing over sexual assault situations, is a great way to turn readers off your book entirely. When there is something in a book that is unsavory, reviewers and readers will then begin to pick the entire book apart. People are not afraid to give one-star reviews and tell you exactly why they did so. No matter their reason, a one-star review is still a one-star review. Sometimes these reviews can be comedic as YouTuber @ebnovels shares, especially to those who enjoyed the book. In the end, the reason this book did so well despite unsavory topics and hate is because it had diversity and women in STEM, it hit on other ideas that readers would love to see more of causing them to still read, and enjoy, the book.
Readers want to read about relationships that are out of reach to them, which is why fantasy romance is so popular. Another popular trope in romance novels is fake dating, which “The Love Hypothesis” also contains. The main characters agree to fake date because the relationship has the potential to be beneficial for both of them. The power dynamic in this relationship, fake or not, is where problems begin to arise. Even just changing that power dynamic slightly could have made a huge difference in the way people viewed the book. A good rule to follow is if something is considered unlawful in our society, don’t make that the focus of your book, it will only draw negative attention.
You can create drama and angst between a couple without making their relationship toxic and questionable. When reading a romance book, the relationship is going to be the component that is analyzing the most. Make the relationship the strongest part of the story. If there are certain components that absolutely need to be a part of the relationship, write them in a way that will make sense to the reader and will leave no questions regarding the morality of the relationship. The reader should fall in love with the couple. If the couple is supposed to be toxic, that is a completely different story and should be treated as such. Creating the perfect couple is not rocket science, but it is a sort of science as demonstrated by @thecaffeinebookwarrior in her illustrated guide, relationships are complex.
There are four emotions believed to be felt the strongest by humans – fear, anger, sorrow and joy. When writing a book, do you just pick one? How do you want your reader to feel when reading your book? One of the easiest ways to draw an emotion out of the reader is to have the character feel the same way. Humans play off of each other’s emotions, if your character is feeling sad, make the reader feel sad with them. Books that form emotional connections between the characters and the readers are the books that do best overall.
“The Song of Achilles” is a powerful story going through the motions of childhood, adulthood and finally death. The book focuses on the lives of Achilles and Patroclus, one a warrior and one a healer. Despite their differences, the two go on an amazing life journey together and find a peace within one another they never thought possible. But, like any well-written Greek story, theirs ends in tragedy. This book is filled with emotional twists and turns, it makes you smile, it makes you angry and it makes you sob. Despite this vast range of emotions, the book somehow manages to keep you wanting to come back for more.
Madeline Miller takes a story that in its truest form is violent and harsh, and turns it into a story of a love that is stronger than all else. As The Guardian said “Madeline Miller has found the lover beneath the bloodshed and fury” (Haynes, 2011). It is the act of toeing the line between different emotions that draws in a reader. If your book is just full of sadness, no one is going to want to read it, you need to have happy moments to offset the sad ones. In this case, the book does not have a happy ending, and it doesn’t need one. Miller is able to pull emotions from the reader that the original Greek tale was not able to do, and she did so without really changing the ending. She gave us the opportunity to understand the characters of Patroclus and Achilles in a new way.
Another good reason to write a book that pulls strong emotions from the reader is because that makes them more likely to want to share those emotions with others inadvertently making more press for your book. Chris Olsen, a fairly popular TikTok creator, not known for reading, released a video exclaiming that he had “never felt so much emotional pain”. The comments on this post are mostly about how the book was so sad, but a must-read. Having an influencer such as Olsen sharing his emotions about the book brought it to his followers’ attention and made them want to read it.
In reading, emotions are something the reader is going to seek out, especially emotions they would prefer to avoid in their real life. Seeing someone else experience emotions such as sadness can make one’s own easier to understand. Many authors write using their own emotions, making the book feel more real and relatable. In a book such as “The Song of Achilles” the emotion of losing a lover can be very real for anyone, and it can normalize these feelings for the reader. In this society men feeling emotions such as sadness is frowned upon, this book opens the doors on this issue. You have two men who discover this beautiful love for each other only to have it ripped away just as fast in an inevitable turn of events. Both Patroclus and Achilles demonstrate their emotions in different ways and show their own stages of grief. This book, despite not taking place in our current society, has very real emotions which is why it attracts the attention of readers as much as it does.
Miller is known for her mythological retellings and plays off of the idea of the Greek tragedy, reshaping well-known stories in a way that will draw in a modern reader. When creating a retelling, it is important to make the reader feel different than they may have felt when reading the original. Without making those edits, your story will not stand out in a substantial enough way to make it worth reading. Miller has said that she wrote this book out of anger and frustration at the way Patroclus and Achilles’ story and relationship was being presented, “I knew that interpreting their relationship as romantic was a very old idea, and I was angry at the way homophobia was erasing this reading” (Miller, 2021). Readers thrive off of the emotions they feel when reading, for most it is an escape from their normal everyday lives, and as an author, it is your job to create those emotions with only words.
We all know the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, but maybe what we should be saying is “Don’t judge a book by its length”. Seeing a large book when shopping around can be very intimidating, especially for people with full-time jobs, and thousands of other things that need to get done before they can even think of picking up a book. Ignore the enormity of a book, think about the contents, why is it so long? Some authors only write long books, and some only write short ones. The authors writing style can decide the length of the book, how much time has been put into creating this story? How in-depth is this story? Is this story just a bunch of filler with no real plot/meaning?
Leigh Bardugo is an author who tends to write books that are on the longer side, her upcoming release “The Familiar” will be 400 pages and a standalone. Though not her longest book, “Ninth House” is a hefty read at 450 pages, and it has a sequel. A book with this much depth involves a lot of planning, and Bardugo claims outlining is the bones of all of her books, and without it, her books would lose their layout which makes the length less daunting. As an author, it is your job to eliminate “word vomit” and create a book that is complex and intriguing without being too word-heavy. A good way to eliminate overuse is a lot of well-thought-out dialogue. Dialogue can make a book seem more manageable than walls of text, and can still offer just as much information as the rest of the text within the book. “Ninth House” is a very complex book with a lot of worldbuilding and a newly developed magic system, which can take a while to explain. Bardugo does an amazing job explaining all of this new information to the reader by having the main character Galaxy “Alex” Stern also be new to the magical world we are all getting to know.
This book focuses on Alex, a girl who has been able to see ghosts her entire life, and now has caught the attention of a secret society that needs her peculiar skill set. She joins this secret society and is introduced to a world full of magic, murder, and greed. After living the difficult life she has, to finding people who to a certain extent understand her powers but have lived extravagant lives because of it, Alex is forced to confront her demons and realize she might not be able to fit in anywhere. Reading this book can be a little bit confusing especially if you are the type of person to set a book down for a while (guilty). Bardugo does a great job of reminding the reader of certain rules within the universe without taking away from the overall story. As David Farland put it, “The thing is, if you set your story in an unusual setting, it almost has to be long” (Farland, 2021).
The more detail put into your story, the more a reader can connect to the story and will share those connections with others. Fanart can be traced back to the Greeks and the Romans in terms of their mythology and has only expanded since then. When people love a story they want to express that love in any way they can, and one of the most expressive things humans have learned to do is create art. A book with a more expansive story will generate more fanart. You can tell how much the reader understands a book, and how much they took away from the book by the fanart they create. The fanart found related to “Ninth House” is almost entirely character-based which shows the depth Bardugo was able to create with her characters. To the readers, the characters were the most important part of the story. Fanart can show the reader’s favorite part, the part they found most heartbreaking, the part they found most important and so much more.
Bardugo does an amazing job of interacting with her fans, and understanding your fans is one of the steps in knowing how long your books should be and what your fans want to see from your writing. As seen here, she talks about her characters like they are real people, making them even more real to the fans who have brought them to life through art.
“Sister, Maiden, Monster” is a horror novel written by Lucy A. Snyder. Snyder, a Bram Stoker award-winning author, wrote her first novel in 2009. “Sister, Maiden, Monster” is her most recent novel, released this year. 2023 was the perfect time for a novel such as this one to be released. This novel focuses on three women, Erin, Savannah and Mareva, and their dark and twisted journeys through a pandemic/borderline apocalypse. To start, this book should come with trigger warnings. It is dark and gory and pushes the line of what the average person is comfortable with. As TikTok user Hun1103 puts it, “I thought I had the stomach for it and apparently I don’t”. Just like us, in this novel the characters have gone through COVID-19 and are now going through another deadly virus called PVG. This virus affects people on different levels, and at its worst causes people to become murderous at the drop of the hat. Besides that though, it has some pretty crazy side effects… such as the hunger for brains, preferably human. This novel isn’t your typical apocalypse story though, this time the government manages the illness with a strict military presence and rules that take away most human rights. But that’s all for the greater good right? The women of this book don’t seem to see it that way. With a mix of our reality and some cosmic horror, Snyder presents a scarily addicting novel.
In terms of research, this novel is a mix of scientific fact, real-world experience, and a little bit of fiction. The story to focus on is Erin, her experience is the most relatable to what we all went through during the COVID-19 pandemic. Snyder clearly did her research when it came to describing the medical terms, and the situation/rules created by the government and the CDC. This type of research gives the novel a scary amount of reality. Reading about Erin being tracked through her phone, having to quarantine and the health issues she has from contracting the illness hit a little too close to home and give the novel an even more scary message. Without proper research, this novel would have lost its overall effect. It is the use of certain terms that are ingrained in our brains that make everything seem real despite the clearly fictional elements such as having to survive off of brains.
Erin’s section of the book allows for more creative freedom with the other two sections in the novel. Snyder used Erin’s section to do worldbuilding, and that is where most of the research-related elements can be found. The worldbuilding in a novel like this is extremely important, without it the reader will use the real-world experience they have and make their own world. Worldbuilding is one of the hardest things for an author to accomplish, and it can make or break any book. If the world is weak, the reader has a much larger chance of getting lost, readers don’t want to be confused, they want to be immersed. Poor worldbuilding usually spans from poor research. Simon Provencher has stated that “unless specified otherwise, everything inside your world is assumed to behave exactly as it would in the real world.” (Provencher, 2013). In the case of “Sister, Maiden, Monster” the parts that are not a part of our real world are the parts that make this book so terrifying because when blended with the things we see every day, the horror seems all that more real.
Research is something writers of all kinds use every day. Research keeps us informed, and when we are informed we have more time to focus on other perhaps more important elements. As Helen Benedict said, “Thorough research instills in the writer enough knowledge to give her real confidence in her material—the kind of confidence that releases her from a need to show off or twist her plots, and frees her to finally sit down and write” (Benedict). The more knowledge you have on your topic of choice, the more freedom you have when writing because you are not overthinking everything. Research will always be one of the first steps to tackle when aiming for award-winning quality.
Pura Vida is a term that means pure life in Costa Rica, and it is also the name of the jewelry brand that we are going to be analyzing. Pura Vida started when two college friends, Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman, took a trip to Costa Rica in 2010 and fell in love with the culture and laidback lifestyle they discovered. The two friends discovered two artisans named Jorge and Joaquin, who were struggling to make ends meet with their colorful string bracelets. Thall and Goodman ended up asking for 400 bracelets to take home with them where they immediately began to sell out. Pura Vida is not just a brand, but it is also a lifestyle, representing enjoying life’s little pleasures, slowing things down and living life to the fullest. This lifestyle is exactly how they represent themselves on social media and is the reason for them being so successful.
Pura Vida not only sells bracelets but is also very involved with giving back to the community and working with several charities worldwide. Over the last few years, they have partnered with more than 200 charities resulting in donating over $3.5 million. Pura Vida is a family that includes the founders, all the artisans, the customers, and they even have brand ambassadors. Having brand ambassadors is a great way to help the Pura Vida brand stand out on social media and gives them the ability to reach a larger audience. Pura Vida makes it super easy to become a brand ambassador and they use them to their advantage on social media by showing the everyday person using their products and spreading the word of the cause.
The reason we chose this brand is because of the social media presence we know they have. Pura Vida manages to have a very recognizable aesthetic and has reach on several social media platforms, we will be focusing on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Pura Vida is such an interesting brand with beautiful jewelry that holds a deeper meaning than what you see at first glance, and we think that the way they use social media gets that message across as well as beautifully representing their brand.
Pura Vida has a huge social media presence having 2.1 million followers on Instagram alone. Social media is extremely important for companies to get by in today’s society, and it can really help companies stay afloat. Social media can increase sales, reach, and influence. Pura Vida is very good about distributing their ads, and they take advantage of algorithms found in social media platforms to reach a specific audience, in their case mostly young adults.
Focusing on Instagram first, it is probably their biggest draw especially when you take into count that Instagram and Facebook are one in the same. Pura Vida takes advantage of that and has them connected to post the exact same posts; this is helpful in that it is easy to tell which posts gain the most attention. They also have the possibility of reaching two audiences, Facebook usually being toward the older generation and Instagram the younger. On Instagram, they use Instagram highlights to do exactly what the name suggests, highlight what they want their followers to see such as new products, their blog, and their involvement in important issues such as BLM. Pura Vida’s Instagram bio is also full of opportunity, they include where they were founded, who they support, and then go into the business side of things with an email, link, and a hashtag to use when posting about their product. The idea of sharing a specific hashtag with their followers is super interesting and could be really effective in spreading the word of their brand. Their profile picture is their logo which is the best path to take when it comes to advertising a company, and their handle is @puravidabracelets, very straightforward and easy to find. When it comes to their posts, they are all beautiful and full of laughing and happy people showing off the product. Their posts represent the brand of the saying Pura Vida to a tee and represent that carefree lifestyle that their followers expect to see. Some posts are just the product, usually when they are sharing a new product, but most posts are just people having fun. This is a great tactic because it ensures that people don’t feel like the product is being pushed on them. For a company that wants to advertise to young adults, they do a great job of having their Instagram models all fit that mold, while also looking like an average young adult living life. The overall purpose of the Instagram account is promotion because they are sharing their product but are not necessary pushing you to buy.
Next, looking at Twitter, there is definitely a tread that fits the mold that Instagram followed, but there are also distinct differences. On Twitter you have the ability to retweet posts and the people at Pura Vida take advantage of that by retweeting posts that fit their image and help the brand. Twitter is definitely more of a marketing page with almost every post pointedly advertising a specific product. Pura Vida also interacts with their followers by posting things such as polls to gain engagement which is essential when running a business. Every tweet that Pura Vida releases includes a photo or other form of media which only enhances each tweet and shows off the product more than it would have without. Just looking at their twitter, you can tell that they spend the time listening to their customers, they retweet people who are excited about new products, like I mentioned, they post polls, giveaways, and they even post downloadable content such as coloring pages. Twitter is a social media for all ages, and Pura Vida does a great job of not only posting photos of pretty girls, and instead post a lot of product images, and images from followers. Their Twitter definitely has more interaction than with Instagram, and that is the beauty of the platform that they take advantage of.
Finally, let’s take a look at Pinterest, which pretty much consists of only products and almost acts as a store alongside their website. Pinterest is an interesting social media platform to use, and Pura Vida uses it to their advantage. The types of people who use Pinterest are the same type of people that Pura Vida wants as customers. Pinterest is good at showing certain ways to wear products, and good ways to pair them, this can be good for a product because it shows how wearable it is. It is also super easy to get to the Pura Vida website from Pinterest. It is basically a shopping trap and everywhere you look you find more and more products that you can buy. Pinterest doesn’t have things such as captions, so Pura Vida must rely completely on their photos, most of which are just the product and not as done up as the ones on Instagram and Twitter. Pura Vida knows that they don’t have to be as brand heavy on Pinterest because it is basically a shop, so all they have to do is show off their products in a good light. They even have their account split into categories of their different jewelry types to help their customers work their way through the site easier.
Even though Pura Vida currently has an impressive and relatable social media presence, they still have different aspects that can be improved. For example, because Pura Vida stands for so much and has such a large community behind the brand, they would benefit from giving that more attention. While it is featured in their Instagram bio as previously mentioned, Pura Vida would benefit from putting more of a spotlight on the story behind, and the people that inspired the brand.
One platform that would be able to best bring this idea and concept to life would be YouTube. By utilizing YouTube, Pura Vida could show where the jewelry comes from, how it is crafted, and give representation to the artisans behind the products. YouTube would create the opportunity to have videos that are able to capture the beauty of Costa Rica that Thall and Goodman fell in love with in the first place. Another great aspect of YouTube is that the videos created by a Pura Vida channel can be shared on the other platform they are active on. When consumers see the background of the brand and who it is they are specifically supporting when they purchase items, they are more likely to go for the brands with the quality story over the big name brands. Utilizing YouTube would provide that opportunity to showcase the brand’s background as well as tell the story of how the jewelry is made/who is making it. Pura Vida would also have the opportunity to showcase their top brand ambassadors and create an ambassador vlog series. Pura Vida has a lot of people behind the brand, and a lot of them do not get seen. Creating a YouTube channel would allow an outlet to showcase the different people that help make the brand what it is.
Another platform that Pura Vida would benefit from using is LinkedIn. The brand does currently have an account, but it is the bare bones. One thing Pura Vida does well is appeal to their market, but you do not see a business side to them. LinkedIn would help establish a more professional business profile for the brand, while also opening them up to a wider audience. One tactic that Pura Vida could implement on LinkedIn is showcasing the business side of their operation. They can post updates as to how the company is doing, what it is to combat certain challenges, and who the people are running Pura Vida. Another benefit to Pura Vida having an established profile on LinkedIn would be to allow their brand ambassadors to add their title to their profile and have it be seen as a respectable position. Influencers may not be taken seriously in the business world, so to have an established brand backing you on the platform would greatly benefit the ambassadors. Pura Vida is a brand that has a really nice aesthetic which makes it pleasing to a younger audience, and by having that on LinkedIn a wider range of people will be reached because those on LinkedIn may not have come across Pura Vida in another capacity.
Pura Vida does appeal to their target audience currently very well. They are looking to attract millennials as well as Gen Z, and those are the exact people that are looking at and purchasing items from Pura Vida. By having a well thought out aesthetic, as well as a good purpose behind the brand, people are very attracted to the brand and items. One thing that has spiked in popularity over the past 5 years or so is sustainability and being environmentally conscious when purchasing things such as jewelry and clothing. Pura Vida appeals to that side of people, which is what helped them become so popular with the demographics they have been targeting. Something they could do to further appeal to the target market would be to expand their line of available products/switch up the jewelry more often. However, that is of course easier said than done, especially when everything being made is mostly handcrafted. As a brand it is difficult to reach out to the artisans to request that they switch up what it is they are doing. One key component that the brand could use to reach a broader audience is establishing a business profile. Expanding the professional side of their business will put them on the radar of the professional world, which could lead to partnerships. Pura Vida is seen as a fun and laid back brand, so to create a side that is seen as professional would only help them.
Pura Vida is a brand that knows how to run its social media. They know who it is they want to reach, the best way to reach them, and they put that into action. One of Pura Vida’s strongest assets is their aesthetic and how they stay true to it. Pura Vida’s dedication to transparency within the brand as well as how they do not waver from what it is they stand for and post are just a few of the reasons why they are respected by so many. However, the brand could produce a more professional image on some other platforms such as LinkedIn in order to appeal to another range of people. They could also focus more on their story and who it is creating the jewelry and clothes that so many have fallen in love with. By showcasing the faces behind the brand and emphasizing the professional side of them, Pura Vida has the opportunity to become an even bigger name than it already is, all while respecting the environment and promoting their views along the way.
Seton Hall University Raises Money to Give Back to Their Students
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ, April 27, 2021 – Seton Hall University is celebrating their fourth year of Giving Day, where students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff, friends, and clergy have the opportunity to give back the community that raised them. This year was the biggest turn out Seton Hall has ever seen.
The event took place April 20-21
There were 1,700 donors
The money raised was more than $422,000
This is the biggest day of giving during the year for the university
The theme for this year’s Giving Day was “One Community” inspiring students and the community to give back and work together toward a better future. Giving Day was a collaboration between University Advancement, Pirate Blue, and Seton Hall Law School. Out of all the donations received, the areas that received the greatest support were the Pirate Blue Athletic Fund, Law Alumni Endowed Scholarship, and the Seton Hall Fund.
“I am always so overwhelmed by the passion shown by our strong network of alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, friends and clergy,” says Anthony D. Bellucci, MBA ’18 Associate Vice President of Alumni Engagement and Philanthropy. “This year, we have recorded our highest total in Giving Day history, which is profound and will make an exceptional difference in the lives of the students.”
Seton Hall Students
Leading up to Giving Day, the Student Alumni Association hosted Philanthropy Week which involved several activities to help students get in the giving mind set such as, Tag Day. Tag Day allowed students to post tags around campus offering fun facts about past Giving Days as well as inspiring quotes.
“The celebration allows everyone to get involved to show their pride for Seton Hall, but also serves as a reminder and guiding motivation of the University’s focus on prioritizing its students,” said Bellucci. “I am excited to see Giving Day continue to grow in the future.”
Giving Day helps all over the University by providing students with an enhanced Seton Hall experience and a strong path toward success. During these times, showing support is extremely important and Giving Day gave the community the opportunity to show its support in giving students a brighter future.
Giving Day may be over but there is still the opportunity for the Seton Hall community to support its student by donating here. If you would like more information about Seton Hall and its activities, check out their website.
###
One of the country’s leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall University has been a catalyst for leadership — developing students in mind, heart and spirit — since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 academic programs, Seton Hall’s academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek.
Press releases are an essential aspect to any PR professional. Over the years, the idea of a press release has changed and adapted to the society we live in now, which is one full of technology and the use of the internet in every aspect of life. Now, you can write a press release and distribute it completely online directly to your customers instead of trying to go through a reporter. This can be really beneficial because it helps form a connection with your customers and it ensures that your customers are reading exactly what they want them to read.
Despite the ability to do this, there is still the opportunity to get yourself out there and reach out to reporters/journalists. You want to make your press release interesting and something that the journalists would want on their resume and that they think they’re readers would enjoy reading. According to an article by Inc, you want to be completely honest with journalists, and super straight forward or else they will not consider your work and write about it.
Like I mentioned before, it is completely alright to take things into your own hands and publishing your own press release. For a social media press release, you want to write as the press release as if you are the journalist. This type of press release has to be very user friendly and should make it very easy for your customer to understand with the easy access of social media. Posting a press release on several different social media platforms will get you more views and traction.
Social media is an interesting tool that any type of company can use to their advantage. The age-old question though is which social media is the best? Tik Tok? Instagram? Snapchat? It’s really up to the user because each social media has its own pros and cons. Instagram is the most popular option for people to use when advertising, with Tik Tok being a close second and a much newer platform. Instagram now has all the functions of other social media platforms including stories and reels along with their classic Instagram style giving it the opportunity to be used by everyone.
Instagram
Almost anyone you can think of is on some form of social media because that is the norm nowadays. Every social media platform offers a different experience to its user, and the purpose they want it for. There are a lot of social media platforms other than the ones I mentioned before that have unlimited uses, so you just have to find the platform that is right for you.
Tik Tok
Apps such as Instagram have so many benefits for their users. For example, photojournalists can use Instagram to discover new and creative photos, places that they wish to check out, and even new stories that catch their eye. Brands can use sites such as Instagram for ads and reviews, they want to let the public see their product and understand what it does and why they need it.
Snapchat
Journalists are on social media every day, the one they use the most is Twitter, but the other ones can be just as important. Social media is a good place for journalists to share their work, network with others, and get new angles for their stories. People are on social media to be social so journalists can have really great conversations with their followers and other journalists.
![How to Write a Press Release? [The Guide + Expert Comments]](https://prowly.com/magazine/app/uploads/2017/06/press_release_triangle-916x1024.png)
ePortfolio 