We have a big group offering up their opinions this week! In PRobecast episode #109, Topazers Renatta Siewert and Justin Martell join me in talking about how technology could be causing psychological damage, a non-alcoholic sports drink, holograms as conference calls and more.

Is tech changing who we really think are our friends? – Sherry Turkle, author of “Alone Together,” is concerned about how technology is changing people and causing possible psychological side effects with excessive use of not just physical tech, but social networks and the internet in general. In her book, she says who many of the adolescents interviewed said that they don’t particularly like using the phone – the conversations are too long, prying and hard to end – while texts are an easy way to control the situation. Is technology making it easier for people to engage without the personal connection?

Is a non-alcoholic beer a Gatorade competitor? – A non-alcoholic beer is the latest drink being marketed as a sports and fitness beverage. The beer is apparently full of vitamins and has “natural regenerative powers” that help athletes recover from a strenuous workout. It’s currently the number 1 non-alcoholic beer in Germany. Would you grab one of these recovery drinks over a Gatorade?

Google launches a new ‘Person Finder’ page – Google has launched a Person Finder page to help victims of the New Zealand earthquake. It’s all user-generated data and people can go in and search, add information about someone or leave a message for a lost loved one on the site. They’ve previously created similar pages after the disasters in Haiti, China and Chile.

Coming to your conference room soon: Holograms – Developers of holographic displays are working on new technology that could change the way we think of conference calls – hologram video projection. This technology could present a filmed presentation live and 3-D right in front of your eyes. Some are skeptical of the technology, saying that if it’s just a hologram, anyone sitting up close. Either way, if the technology does in fact work as planned, it definitely changes the meaning of teleconferencing people in.

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

Google isn’t always on the receiving end of complimentary news – but by offering a way for victims of these tragic disasters to help locate friends and family members makes them our PR Power Ranker of the week. It’s nice to see bigger brands help those that need it, especially under these circumstances.

Do you agree with us?

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Technorati Tags: Along Together, Erdinger, Person Finder, Sherry Turkle

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In PRobecast episode #101, Topazers Evan Siff and Renatta Siewert join me – along with special guest Christina Sapienza, client services manager at iProspect – in talking about Google’s launch of TeachParentsTech.org, Visa’s iPhone app, Time magazine’s Person of the Year & more.

Google’s launch if TeachParentsTech.org – Are your parents always asking for help doing “techie” things on the computer? Google just launched TeachParentsTech.org, which is a site that will allow people to send how-to basic videos like how to upload pics to the not-so-tech-savvy. What are your thoughts on this new launch? Do your parents always ask you for help?

Visa’s iPhone app offers exclusive deals – Visa just launched a free iPhone app which will offer Visa card holders exclusive deals from over 50 merchants – such as New York & Co., Holiday Inn, Zales, etc. The offers will be stored in the application and can be fine tuned to the card holder’s preferences. The application also has location-based technology which can offer directions to the store or to the closest ATM. Sounds like Visa launched this at a good time – right before the holidays.

Time’s 2010 ‘Person of Year’ – Time magazine has named Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, as the Person of the Year for 2010 as he is one of the youngest billionaires and his philanthropic ways. Do you think he should have won?

Are you using your smartphone for holiday shopping lists? – There is a lot of holiday shopping that happens in the month of December and our smartphones are making it easier than ever to keep track of those on our lists. More and more people are ditching the pen and paper and creating lists via a variety of apps on their smartphones. How are you doing your holiday shopping? Is technology helping you?

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

This week, Google’s launch of TeachParentsTech.org won for starting the initiative to promote the education of technology and enabling people to help those that aren’t tech savvy.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Christina Sapienza, holiday shopping, iProspect, TechParentsTech.org, Time Magazine's Person of the Year, Visa

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What do Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, FDR, Winston Churchill and Mark Zuckerberg all have in common? They’ve all been chosen as ‘Person of the Year’ by Time magazine.

Zuckerberg is the latest recipient of the award, whose criteria isn’t academic but rather based on the person, idea, group of people or object that “for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year.”

Well, it’s about time (pun intended)! Over the past five years, social media has had a profound effect on… well, just about everything. Facebook is to VHS what Myspace is to Beta, and they can now boast to having at least a half-billion members around the world, sharing thoughts, pictures and staying in touch in real-time.

However, social media isn’t just for complaining, letting people know you’re about to take a shower, which restaurant you’re eating at or posting incriminating pictures of you and your friends/family. Social media has become an incredibly powerful tool that can be a more effective instrument of social change than diplomacy or weaponry.

Whether we like it or not, social change is going to occur all over the world, for better or worse, and social media is now a mass medium. I would have been a bit more satisfied if Social Media itself had won the award, like the computer did in 1982 but nevertheless, I salute you Mr. Zuckerberg.

Meanwhile, millions of Apple Fanboys and Fangirls will almost certainly be whining about how Person of the Year should be Steve Jobs, who has still never won the award.

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Technorati Tags: Facebook, Man of the year, Mark Zuckerberg, Social Media, Time Magazine

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