Today’s blog is a bit early and a bit of a departure from the usual Tuesday fodder, as today is November 3: Election Day. There are many important decisions to be made on ballots across the country today, so this is me imploring you to get out and vote. Ask your boss for an extended lunch, sneak out a bit early — make any necessary arrangements to make sure that your voice is heard and your ballot counted.

I vote by mail every year because I’m not a fan of crowds, or lines, or mobs of people handing me fliers. But I can assure you, my boss and PR/PR’s President, Mr. Russell Trahan, will be in the thick of it to get his “I Voted” sticker. The opportunity to have a voice in the political process should not be taken for granted, so brave the crowds and cast your ballot today!

While social media has streamlined our ability to connect and share information instantaneously, it has also created a medium for the distribution of mass-misinformation. The Onion is universally recognized and lauded as a trailblazer in the area of satire, but in a world where web-clicks amount to cash-flow, a more sinister trend has emerged with online content creators claiming to emulate the Onion’s model, but providing news stories that lack in humor and are blatantly false.

Essentially, they are peddling lies to be shared on Facebook and Twitter, and monetizing these fraudulent news stories as they go viral. I cannot begin to count how many times I have seen a link on my newsfeed to a story about Breaking Bad returning for a sixth season, celebrity death hoaxes, or that the Ebola virus has reached (insert small town here). Not only are these websites propagating falsehoods for monetary gain—they are actually influencing opinion to the point that results in PR personnel statements to combat the truth-distortions.

“Don’t believe everything you read on Facebook” should be the tagline for the Social Media Age. To combat the influx of misinformation that elicits reactions ranging from elation to overwhelming paranoia, Facebook announced in August that it would begin experimenting with a “satire” tag on links. Targeted less at the Onion than the wealth of websites hiding under the umbrella of “satire” to rationalize their existence (only denoted in the fine print on their sites), Facebook incorporating this functionality, in my opinion, would be a public service.

Conspiracy theory is often romanticized. Occam’s razor be damned, it’s in human nature to propose the “what ifs” and alternate explanations relating to certain events. This is especially prevalent on social media because of its conversational nature, and the thread that tends to develop when someone decides to post a controversial or unconfirmed story. As people we value attention, and nowhere is it easier to receive it than online in the form of likes, comments and shares.

Unfortunately when that online attention works as promoting propaganda, something has to be done. As of yet, Facebook has not instituted the ability to tag links as “satire,” but with any hope it arrives soon before the fiction becomes indistinguishable from reality.

Life is full of different paths and opportunities; an array of formative experiences that define your legacy; career choices, relocating to a different part of country or world or deciding to take vows to share your life with another person. One of life’s greatest journeys is parenthood, and in the case of PR/PR: motherhood.

Our Social Media Agent, Lindsay Durfee and her husband Ryan will be welcoming their first son, Flynn Cooper Durfee, into the world in the coming weeks. Russell and I are beyond overjoyed for their family. I’m sure Flynn will inherit Lindsay’s appreciation of cat videos, sarcastic sense of humor and outgoing personality.

Lindsay’s final day in-office before three months of maternity leave is this coming Thursday, but I will be sure to update all of you in Internetland as to her and her son’s status.

So congratulations, Lindsay and Ryan on the new addition to your family, and Russell and I cannot wait to meet Flynn!

Few corporations galvanize their consumer-base like Apple. Their brand is simply unparalleled in the tech market, creating a war of attrition with companies like Microsoft and Samsung, who are constantly struggling to match Apple’s ingenuity, and public enthusiasm for their products.

The Millenial Generation may as well be called the Apple Generation, as one of the biggest chunks of Apple’s market is the swaths of tech-savvy twentysomethings with money to burn. There’s no debating the revolutionary impact of the iPhone, and with last week’s Apple event announcing the release date of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as the Apple Watch, their technological dominance shows no signs of relenting.

Early reports have predicted Apple to shatter all their previous sales records, with an estimated 60 million iPhones to be sold in the December quarter. And while other incarnations of the smartwatch have garnered slow sales, one can anticipate that you will begin to see Apple Watches strapped around Millenial wrists very soon. The data shows that this demographic eats up everything that Apple puts out.

It was not that long ago that Apple announced the iPad, and many predicted it would be the tech giant’s first massive failure, as tablets produced by other companies had failed to take-off. Cut to 2014, where the iPad is ubiquitous aspect of the technology landscape. They are seen on NFL sidelines, in doctor’s offices and tableside in restaurants. Apple Co. has never shied away from risk-taking, and as a result, the public has found creative applications for their products in the real-world.

By marketing the Apple Watch with its fitness and health applications, I’m estimating another homerun for Apple. The “who would ever wear that?” snickers will be silenced by the mass amount of Millenials firing off texts and taking calls from their wrists. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 may draw derision because of its out-of-date technology, but that will in no way reflect in its sales numbers.

No corporation creates a desire for its products like Apple, and especially among Millenials, they will continue to fly off the shelves.

If the NFL had egg on its face after the bungling of the Ray Rice suspension, they dove head-first into a Denny’s Grand Slam Breakfast yesterday. Commissioner Roger Goodell’s appalling decision to only suspend Rice for two games prior to TMZ’s release of the elevator video showing the violent knockout of his then-fiancé makes the league look even worse for their initial pathetic ‘punishment’.

The security camera footage, leaked Monday morning, garnered immediate condemnation from the population, other players and pundits, and spawned swift action from the Ravens organization and the National Football League. Rice was released from the team, and subsequently suspended indefinitely from the NFL—but it immediately begged the question: Why the harsh punishment now?

The disturbing video of Rice dragging his unconscious fiancé out of a casino elevator has been out since February, and a league investigation was followed by a meaningless mea culpa from Rice, victim-blaming and willful ignorance from league-brass. Everyone knew what occurred in that elevator, yet the Ravens and the NFL were content to issue a meager suspension and allow Rice’s return considering there was no hard-evidence as to what had taken place. Meanwhile, players like Josh Gordon and Wes Welker received stronger suspensions for violations of the league’s drug policy—a season and four games, respectively.

Using the NFL’s logic in the Rice scenario, players disciplined for drug use should have a viable avenue for appealing their suspensions until videotapes surface of them in the act. Test results, handling of sample specimens and proper procedure are constantly scrutinized to possibly overturn a league punitive ruling—yet this rarely results in player reinstatement on a technicality.

Ray Rice brutally punched his wife in the face and dragged her out of an elevator like a caveman and they were willing to let him skate with a two-game ban.

This is a total failure by the NFL. Ray Rice should have never been welcomed in the Ravens locker room—he was cheered wildly at training camp—and never allowed on a field again. Many in the media are calling for a total dismantling of the league power-structure, from Commissioner Goodell down. The Ray Rice saga is yet another black mark on an organization already facing widespread scrutiny for improper concussion protocol, tax-free status and consistent sheltering of repeat offenders.

In order to remove the shroud of negative publicity from their image, the NFL must immediately reevaluate their entire code of conduct and never again allow the possibility of people like Ray Rice to fill the rosters of their teams.