So my time in my social media class has come to an end and this is my last blog for the class. I feel like through this course I have received a better understanding in not only specific platforms but overall how important it is to engage with your viewers and followers. My teacher did an awesome job and I feel like I can speak for the class in saying this was super relevant to my future endeavors in the real world. Social Media knowledge is a high commodity right now and soon enough it won't be so we are lucky. I feel like I've used this class in personal conversations as well as interviews. I also think I have learned to be more aware of what businesses I follow are doing on their social media sites.
I'm happy to say I have been offered a job where they want to me improve their social media skills. I feel that by taking this class I am capable of exceeding their expectations and coming up with great ideas and tactics to make the company have a better engagement and quality of their social platforms.
Keeping this blog was fun and I learned a lot about social media through the responses I did weekly on Social Media Today. I really enjoyed it!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
#AldeanUGA
All week UGA has been promoting #AldeanUGA via Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms. Jason Aldean himself even used the hashtag once he came to Athens to post pictures of the set up and with Hairy Dawg. As of today there were 1005 pictures on instagram using the hashtag and I could not tell the numerical amount of tweets.
In class we have studied the many social events that promote via social media. This week we talked about The Voice and how they continuously use social media and Twitter to interact with their audience. I actually love watching The Voice and seeing the tweets on the bottom of the screen and I think that people who want to interact with the show have a close ability to do so. This relates to the #AldeanUGA because those people who knew about the hashtag could use it and then look at what other people were communicating about for the concert. Also, it did wonders on Jason Aldean because he was actually using the hashtag and so that gave his account more traffic as well.
Throughout the concert all forms of social we blowing up. People were posting Instagrams then sharing them on Twitter and Facebook, tweeting, and posting Vine's and sharing them on other sites too. This gave the reach of the concert to become huge. I know I posted things on Instagram and shared on Facebook and Twitter.
Big events like this concert attract tons of social media interaction. It was a large concert with 4 performers, it was in the football stadium, and all types of people (age, gender, race, lifestyle, etc) were there. So it was bound to be mentioned on social media and I think that having a designated hashtag that people could use was beneficial. Now, people who want to see about the concert or see who else was there can search that hashtag and be connected to tons of photos, tweets, and other social items available.
In class we have studied the many social events that promote via social media. This week we talked about The Voice and how they continuously use social media and Twitter to interact with their audience. I actually love watching The Voice and seeing the tweets on the bottom of the screen and I think that people who want to interact with the show have a close ability to do so. This relates to the #AldeanUGA because those people who knew about the hashtag could use it and then look at what other people were communicating about for the concert. Also, it did wonders on Jason Aldean because he was actually using the hashtag and so that gave his account more traffic as well.
Throughout the concert all forms of social we blowing up. People were posting Instagrams then sharing them on Twitter and Facebook, tweeting, and posting Vine's and sharing them on other sites too. This gave the reach of the concert to become huge. I know I posted things on Instagram and shared on Facebook and Twitter.
Big events like this concert attract tons of social media interaction. It was a large concert with 4 performers, it was in the football stadium, and all types of people (age, gender, race, lifestyle, etc) were there. So it was bound to be mentioned on social media and I think that having a designated hashtag that people could use was beneficial. Now, people who want to see about the concert or see who else was there can search that hashtag and be connected to tons of photos, tweets, and other social items available.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Vine
It seems that UGA has been taken over by a new social media craze. Vine. An app quickly strengthening it's name in Athens, is an app acquired by Twitter that allows users to post a video up to 6 seconds on the Vine page and share via Twitter.
I recently became aware of this new platform when my friend asked me on Wednesday to take a picture or me drinking my wine and eating my cake at last resort. "Excuse me what?" was my response. Little did I know I would be participating in many "vines" over the past few days and they would pop up on my Twitter feed. For example, today while on the lake our boat actually stopped mid cruise and we were stranded. Instead of signaling for help my friend pulls out her phone and requests a Vine to document the moment. My role: the food eater. (Again...it seems to be a popular occurrence with me and food).
It seems to me that Vine is a newer way to post funny things you are doing, inform people about your oh so important life, and to capture mini clips of different things. The cool thing I have learned about Vine is that you don't have to video 6 consecutive seconds. You can pause and shoot something else to make mini clips of different people or things going on.
I did some other research on Vine and found that:
-the videos play in a loop so you can continue to watch the short clip
-it was made to make Twitter more engaging and to provide Twitter more traffic
-many think this is Twitter's way to one-up Instagram by allowing videos instead of just pictures
Also, that already Vine has:
-pornography and age controversy have already begun to take place
-celebrities are using this as a way to communicate more with their followers
It wil be interesting to see if businesses pick up on this social platform, and I will be curious to see what T&Cs they make or change in the near future. As of right now, I think Vine is really neat and new to everyone and so they are generating tons of traffic. I also believe that it is allowing Twitter to receive a lot more interaction because people can actually say and show what they are doing and how they are feeling in a video and not just words and a photo.
I recently became aware of this new platform when my friend asked me on Wednesday to take a picture or me drinking my wine and eating my cake at last resort. "Excuse me what?" was my response. Little did I know I would be participating in many "vines" over the past few days and they would pop up on my Twitter feed. For example, today while on the lake our boat actually stopped mid cruise and we were stranded. Instead of signaling for help my friend pulls out her phone and requests a Vine to document the moment. My role: the food eater. (Again...it seems to be a popular occurrence with me and food).
It seems to me that Vine is a newer way to post funny things you are doing, inform people about your oh so important life, and to capture mini clips of different things. The cool thing I have learned about Vine is that you don't have to video 6 consecutive seconds. You can pause and shoot something else to make mini clips of different people or things going on.
I did some other research on Vine and found that:
-the videos play in a loop so you can continue to watch the short clip
-it was made to make Twitter more engaging and to provide Twitter more traffic
-many think this is Twitter's way to one-up Instagram by allowing videos instead of just pictures
Also, that already Vine has:
-pornography and age controversy have already begun to take place
-celebrities are using this as a way to communicate more with their followers
It wil be interesting to see if businesses pick up on this social platform, and I will be curious to see what T&Cs they make or change in the near future. As of right now, I think Vine is really neat and new to everyone and so they are generating tons of traffic. I also believe that it is allowing Twitter to receive a lot more interaction because people can actually say and show what they are doing and how they are feeling in a video and not just words and a photo.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Bloggery
So I was reading this article on "Bloggery" on Social Media Today that broke down bloggery into 5 different types of blogs and how they in turn become bloggery. It helps to read it to understand more on my point:
http://socialmediatoday.com/jacey-gulden/1329951/content-marketers-beware-bloggery
Ironically enough as I was reading this I was hoping, "oh dear God PLEASE don't let me fall into bloggery, that's so awkward". Then, it hit me, don't you think maybe all blogging is bloggery in some fashion? Defined in the article, bloggery is blogging snobbery- that comes from studying other people's ideas and then providing your own opinion about it in a possibly critical way. AKA what fashion blogs are about, cooking blogs, cleaning blogs, even informative blogs provided by businesses.
Then, the writer goes on to talk about how she used to not respect journalists and yatta yatta to then describe blogs as:
The How-To
The Rant
The Name Dropper
The Word Dropper
The Uber-Obscure Topic
Hmmmm...well wasn't her post just a rant? Or Uber-Obscure topic?
It's okay girl, mine's more of a rant too with a little word dropper sometimes. And I have no idea what I'm talking about half the time, I just like to write about it!
Back to my point: nowadays, she's right. There are tons of junk blogs that talk about random stuff that most people do not even care to look at. For instance, I wrote a blog during my 6 weeks in London this summer so that my family could follow my steps. Now, do I think that someone in California might enjoy it? No. But it wasn't for them. Essentially blogging doesn't have to be for anyone. They can be rants, they can be how-tos, or they could just be someone's opinions. Plus, they can all be bloggery. People write blogs for others to read and formulate a group of similar ideas and opinions. Someone who hates to cook probably shouldn't read cooking blogs. You catch my drift?
See now I'm ranting..
Anyways, reading her article made me somewhat upset. What's wrong with bloggery? Isn't that some point of blogging?
http://socialmediatoday.com/jacey-gulden/1329951/content-marketers-beware-bloggery
Ironically enough as I was reading this I was hoping, "oh dear God PLEASE don't let me fall into bloggery, that's so awkward". Then, it hit me, don't you think maybe all blogging is bloggery in some fashion? Defined in the article, bloggery is blogging snobbery- that comes from studying other people's ideas and then providing your own opinion about it in a possibly critical way. AKA what fashion blogs are about, cooking blogs, cleaning blogs, even informative blogs provided by businesses.
Then, the writer goes on to talk about how she used to not respect journalists and yatta yatta to then describe blogs as:
The How-To
The Rant
The Name Dropper
The Word Dropper
The Uber-Obscure Topic
Hmmmm...well wasn't her post just a rant? Or Uber-Obscure topic?
It's okay girl, mine's more of a rant too with a little word dropper sometimes. And I have no idea what I'm talking about half the time, I just like to write about it!
Back to my point: nowadays, she's right. There are tons of junk blogs that talk about random stuff that most people do not even care to look at. For instance, I wrote a blog during my 6 weeks in London this summer so that my family could follow my steps. Now, do I think that someone in California might enjoy it? No. But it wasn't for them. Essentially blogging doesn't have to be for anyone. They can be rants, they can be how-tos, or they could just be someone's opinions. Plus, they can all be bloggery. People write blogs for others to read and formulate a group of similar ideas and opinions. Someone who hates to cook probably shouldn't read cooking blogs. You catch my drift?
See now I'm ranting..
Anyways, reading her article made me somewhat upset. What's wrong with bloggery? Isn't that some point of blogging?
Monday, March 25, 2013
So here it is: I joined Instagram.
While our flight got delayed to Puerto Rico during spring break my friends convinced me that I needed to have instagram to capture all of the beautiful pictures I could take on our trip. They fooled me right? I took the bait and here I am addicted more than ever. Not only do I love keeping up with my friends and their photos, I like being able to choose which filter I want to use on my own pictures.
Some things I have learned about Instagram:
-You can follow tons of people and because it will show you your Facebook friends who have it, it is super easy to find all of your close friends, old friends, or people you think have a super cool life you want to live vicariously through!
- People you don't really think would like your pictures will. It's so strange to me how random people will like photos of a group of my friends, but not my friends. Interesting.
- Everything looks better with a filter. Bad photo? Not tan? A tad blurry? No problem, just change the filter and you're good to go!
- People do things like #TBT and #latergram and #no filter. It's fun and interesting, but just like Twitter in the hashtag aspect.
Remember when I wrote that post saying I had no interest in Instagram and did not want to follow that trend, well too late and I'm glad. Even my mom has Instragram, weird. And, when writing my paper for Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme I had both of them request to follow me! Embarassing? Nope.
I wonder what other social media sites I'm not a part of that I will soon give into? Vine? Tumblr? Those seem to be the two I would be interested in, but for now hopefully I'm social media-ed out.
While our flight got delayed to Puerto Rico during spring break my friends convinced me that I needed to have instagram to capture all of the beautiful pictures I could take on our trip. They fooled me right? I took the bait and here I am addicted more than ever. Not only do I love keeping up with my friends and their photos, I like being able to choose which filter I want to use on my own pictures.
Some things I have learned about Instagram:
-You can follow tons of people and because it will show you your Facebook friends who have it, it is super easy to find all of your close friends, old friends, or people you think have a super cool life you want to live vicariously through!
- People you don't really think would like your pictures will. It's so strange to me how random people will like photos of a group of my friends, but not my friends. Interesting.
- Everything looks better with a filter. Bad photo? Not tan? A tad blurry? No problem, just change the filter and you're good to go!
- People do things like #TBT and #latergram and #no filter. It's fun and interesting, but just like Twitter in the hashtag aspect.
Remember when I wrote that post saying I had no interest in Instagram and did not want to follow that trend, well too late and I'm glad. Even my mom has Instragram, weird. And, when writing my paper for Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme I had both of them request to follow me! Embarassing? Nope.
I wonder what other social media sites I'm not a part of that I will soon give into? Vine? Tumblr? Those seem to be the two I would be interested in, but for now hopefully I'm social media-ed out.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Coming Soon for Social Media
On Social Media Today an article was posted about Apple launching a new product called the iWatch. Can you imagine? I picture a mini computer on my arm. The article does not go into detail on what all the iWatch will feature but does say that it will most likely have iOS and a cellular antenna for phone calls. In photos the map app and mail app are shown. I am assuming that the iWatch will be able to do everything an iPhone can do. However, instead of going into hype about what all the iWatch will provide the article mainly talked about what the band will be made of and the screen, so I did not receive a lot of information. This must be Apple's response to the Google glasses. What do you think will be more realistic for normal people like us? I feel like the glasses are so bizarre and only swanky people and tech savvy people will follow that craze. However, I feel like the iWatch is innovative, realistic, and will appeal to a wide variety of people. The downfall? Today almost everyone already has a laptop, iPad, and/or iPhone so do we really need another device that our Cloud can backup to? Most people carry their phones or some technology device with them at all times, so do we need our watch to have all of those applications as well? I cannot seem to picture myself checking my emails on my watch or talking to my wrist to make a call like a secret agent. Who knows. I do think it is the more logical of the two, but I am not sure it is necessary. However, when has that ever stopped people from purchasing something? Doesn't everyone always want the next best thing or the new hot item? This article predicts the iWatch being launched by mid 2013. While I'd be shocked if they are right and it comes that soon, I guess we will see the fate soon enough.
The iWatch will be interesting to see how it will effect the social media forms. Many life situations today require or are considered ill habit to use a cell phone. For example: at work, at school, in church, in a meeting, etc. But, people who wear watches wear them all day. How will this stand with morality and values or respecting others? Can you picture someone looking at their watch checking emails in a meeting or someone looking through their Facebook pictures while in class?
Another concern that can come upon the iWatch is safety. It's already a war zone walking to my classes without bumping into someone while I'm on my phone or someone bumping into me because they are too busy looking down at the newest Tweets. Can you imagine if it was attached to your arm? How about driving? New law: you cannot wear a watch while driving because it is dangerous. That's probably never going to pass, but you have to see where I'm coming from. It does slightly concern me because social media being so available is causing people to no longer pay full focus to what is going on right in front of them but more on what is being shared on the internet they are potentially missing out on.
Personally, I don't plan on purchasing an iWatch. Not only do I think they aren't going to be very cute, but I can't imagine me NEEDING it. (but who "needs" anything these days right?) However, I do think it's a cool idea and will step Apple once again back on top. I think they will be more successful than the Google glasses and I think that it will increase activity even more on social media sites. People will have more opportunities to post and will have a higher availability to surf and search than ever before. There will no longer be that short moment in a families household where the phones aren't allowed at the dinner table because the parents want to have their kids attention, but there will not be any conversation because between Mom checking her emails, Dad checking stocks, son checking sports updates, and daughter checking new photos added to Facebook everyone will be too busy on their watches to even interact!
Okay I'm probably being over dramatic but does anyone else feel like social media availability has effected their personal skills or interaction with people face to face?
The iWatch will be interesting to see how it will effect the social media forms. Many life situations today require or are considered ill habit to use a cell phone. For example: at work, at school, in church, in a meeting, etc. But, people who wear watches wear them all day. How will this stand with morality and values or respecting others? Can you picture someone looking at their watch checking emails in a meeting or someone looking through their Facebook pictures while in class?
Another concern that can come upon the iWatch is safety. It's already a war zone walking to my classes without bumping into someone while I'm on my phone or someone bumping into me because they are too busy looking down at the newest Tweets. Can you imagine if it was attached to your arm? How about driving? New law: you cannot wear a watch while driving because it is dangerous. That's probably never going to pass, but you have to see where I'm coming from. It does slightly concern me because social media being so available is causing people to no longer pay full focus to what is going on right in front of them but more on what is being shared on the internet they are potentially missing out on.
Personally, I don't plan on purchasing an iWatch. Not only do I think they aren't going to be very cute, but I can't imagine me NEEDING it. (but who "needs" anything these days right?) However, I do think it's a cool idea and will step Apple once again back on top. I think they will be more successful than the Google glasses and I think that it will increase activity even more on social media sites. People will have more opportunities to post and will have a higher availability to surf and search than ever before. There will no longer be that short moment in a families household where the phones aren't allowed at the dinner table because the parents want to have their kids attention, but there will not be any conversation because between Mom checking her emails, Dad checking stocks, son checking sports updates, and daughter checking new photos added to Facebook everyone will be too busy on their watches to even interact!
Okay I'm probably being over dramatic but does anyone else feel like social media availability has effected their personal skills or interaction with people face to face?
Monday, February 18, 2013
Google +
At the beginning of this blog I discussed what social media I was a part of, not including Google +. But, today I read an interesting article explaining why it is becoming necessary to be a part of this network along with the perks of being a member. I'm not going to join just because of this article, and I don't want to quite yet, but I thought the points they come up with were very interesting and beneficial to any business or person that is hoping to expand their social media footprint.
On Social Media Today there was an article, "7 Reasons You Need to be Using Google Plus Now", that talks about how important Google Plus can be for a business or people and how it is better than Facebook and Twitter. Really? But don't we consider those the epitome of what social media sites are supposed to be? Don't we as college students consider those the CORE sites for social networking?
Anyways, the author goes on to give us 7 points on why we should use Google Plus and how Google is the biggest thing on the internet. In my opinion a lot of these reasons make tons of sense and people using Google Plus are doing it right. However, as a college senior I feel very fulfilled in my social media and do not have the time to spend on another website every night.
The Reasons:
1. Google Integration- we all use Google search, Gmail, Chrome, Google Maps, YouTube, G-chat, and Calendar which are all owned by Google. So, having Google Plus integrates your dominating Google internet even more.
2. Google Plus Hangout- It's cool: you can have up to 9 people video chatting at once where you can share content
3. Google Circle makes managing your friends fun and easy- You are required to place your friends in a circle when added so it's easy and you aren't backed up doing all your friends or never doing it like on Facebook
4. Privacy- Google does a great job of keeping your privacy private. On Google Plus you can click a few buttons and erase all of your personal data
5. Higher Rank in Google Search- if you have a Google Plus account and you are a business you have a higher rank in the search engine. Others can find you easier.
6. Sparks- Sparks doesn't make you open a new tab or page when viewing something so you can search external sites within Google Plus and share easier.
7. Google Plus is Facebook and Twitter combined- You have instant updates like Twitter trending on the Explore but can still form a detailed profile and share with others.
These 7 reasons make perfect sense on why Google Plus is a cool social media site to be on. Anything dealing with Google and the internet obviously go hand and hand and it was only a matter of time before Google made their move to come out on top again. With Google Plus, Google is allowing people to use all of their Google owned internet sites and the new craze of social media. My favorite is the sparks. I feel like I am constantly opening new tabs to search stuff I see on social media and it's nice to know someone made it possible to search while staying on the site you really wanted to be on. Also, I think that the Google Search ranking for businesses is huge. Just by having a Google Plus you get better rankings in searches- that's awesome. And super easy and lucky. Especially when most people use the Google Search engine to find things anyways.
I think that this article makes great points about what Google Plus has to offer and how they are competitive with the big boys. I'd love to hear more about how people like me use Google Plus besides just chatting with their friends at the same time. I feel like it is more beneficial for businesses and people who need to host conference calls through videos than people like me.
On Social Media Today there was an article, "7 Reasons You Need to be Using Google Plus Now", that talks about how important Google Plus can be for a business or people and how it is better than Facebook and Twitter. Really? But don't we consider those the epitome of what social media sites are supposed to be? Don't we as college students consider those the CORE sites for social networking?
Anyways, the author goes on to give us 7 points on why we should use Google Plus and how Google is the biggest thing on the internet. In my opinion a lot of these reasons make tons of sense and people using Google Plus are doing it right. However, as a college senior I feel very fulfilled in my social media and do not have the time to spend on another website every night.
The Reasons:
1. Google Integration- we all use Google search, Gmail, Chrome, Google Maps, YouTube, G-chat, and Calendar which are all owned by Google. So, having Google Plus integrates your dominating Google internet even more.
2. Google Plus Hangout- It's cool: you can have up to 9 people video chatting at once where you can share content
3. Google Circle makes managing your friends fun and easy- You are required to place your friends in a circle when added so it's easy and you aren't backed up doing all your friends or never doing it like on Facebook
4. Privacy- Google does a great job of keeping your privacy private. On Google Plus you can click a few buttons and erase all of your personal data
5. Higher Rank in Google Search- if you have a Google Plus account and you are a business you have a higher rank in the search engine. Others can find you easier.
6. Sparks- Sparks doesn't make you open a new tab or page when viewing something so you can search external sites within Google Plus and share easier.
7. Google Plus is Facebook and Twitter combined- You have instant updates like Twitter trending on the Explore but can still form a detailed profile and share with others.
These 7 reasons make perfect sense on why Google Plus is a cool social media site to be on. Anything dealing with Google and the internet obviously go hand and hand and it was only a matter of time before Google made their move to come out on top again. With Google Plus, Google is allowing people to use all of their Google owned internet sites and the new craze of social media. My favorite is the sparks. I feel like I am constantly opening new tabs to search stuff I see on social media and it's nice to know someone made it possible to search while staying on the site you really wanted to be on. Also, I think that the Google Search ranking for businesses is huge. Just by having a Google Plus you get better rankings in searches- that's awesome. And super easy and lucky. Especially when most people use the Google Search engine to find things anyways.
I think that this article makes great points about what Google Plus has to offer and how they are competitive with the big boys. I'd love to hear more about how people like me use Google Plus besides just chatting with their friends at the same time. I feel like it is more beneficial for businesses and people who need to host conference calls through videos than people like me.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The Spread
If I have learned one thing on my social media sites it's that anything you post on there can spread like wildfire and people you don't think will see it- will. Maybe this leads to the conclusion that I need to delete half of my followers and friends because A- I don't know them B- they are random people I have accumulated over the years from people I am friends with C- they are friends of my parents D- people from my high school I haven't seen in 4 years. Anyways one thing is for sure: your newsfeed does creepy things to you.
From this weeks personal lesson- liking photos.
On Friday night I had a date night and we had to wear camo. I was decked out in my overalls along with my friends and our dates. Of course photos were tagged on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter of me and my fellow camo-ed out friends and by Saturday afternoon I had accumulated many likes from various sources. I mean don't get me wrong, everyone enjoys seeing their numerical number of likes increase, but I had to step back a minute and remember who half of the people were. Creepy. Lesson learned- some people don't mind liking things on Facebook of people they aren't really close with. Personally, I do not do this unless it gets me a free coffee at Starbucks or a free top at a local store here in Athens. I always stick to my friends when it comes to spreading news and sending any type of notification to the other person's home page.
However, here is the other side of the story that I have realized this week. People need those random friends on sites to get their message to spread. It's an interest sparking way of spreading communication and instant. Here's the story:
One of my closest friends was telling me about a friend of her's from home who is using social media to make her dream job come true. She loves Ellen Degeneres and wants to work with her. Also, side note is that she has been trying to get tickets to her show for years and finally got some for this month. So, in honor of her dream of meeting and working for Ellen becoming closer to a reality she has started the Ellen Needs Erica campaign. Look it up- #ellenneedserica And, she has been posting a video everyday leading up to the day of the show on YouTube and sharing it via Twitter and Facebook. It doesn't hurt that she is hilarious and probably could be Ellen's best friend. But, the point is, she is reaching so many people and getting so much attention from people she has never met before. I mean I have never met her but I watch the videos. I am pretty sure her college (University of Arizona) newspaper even did a story about her. I mean, this is serious advertising. Everyone who has heard about this is rooting her on and sharing her videos. So far, there have been 25 videos adding up to a total of 56334 views. I think that's a lot for a girl to get on her own by just doing funny things like Ellen would do. She has people retweet #ellenneedserica all the time and has set up a Facebook so that she can share the videos and her thoughts leading up to Feb 21st, the day of the show.
I think that this type of sharing and liking is totally okay and worth it. Erica is totally cool with people liking her pictures and videos to get her the attention of Ellen. Plus, she needs those random mutual friends and people she doesn't know to spread her videos and goal. It's what has really made a difference and could even be the reason Ellen potentially hires her for. It's a really neat thing to watch and I can't wait to see what happens on the 21st.
So, there's my conclusion. Some people like me prefer to not have their personal lives spread via social networks and get a little spooked when things happen showing people see your every move. But on the other hand, some people NEED those friends because they have a purpose. They are able to share and like and send and voice opinions to form groups that can gain attention. For Erica's purpose, she doesn't care who sees her singing in her car as long as in the end it gets shown to Ellen. That's why social media is so great. It provides opportunities for people to communicate to people you don't even know. Without Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter Erica would probably have a much harder time reaching Ellen and could possibly never live out her dream.
GO ERICA!
From this weeks personal lesson- liking photos.
On Friday night I had a date night and we had to wear camo. I was decked out in my overalls along with my friends and our dates. Of course photos were tagged on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter of me and my fellow camo-ed out friends and by Saturday afternoon I had accumulated many likes from various sources. I mean don't get me wrong, everyone enjoys seeing their numerical number of likes increase, but I had to step back a minute and remember who half of the people were. Creepy. Lesson learned- some people don't mind liking things on Facebook of people they aren't really close with. Personally, I do not do this unless it gets me a free coffee at Starbucks or a free top at a local store here in Athens. I always stick to my friends when it comes to spreading news and sending any type of notification to the other person's home page.
However, here is the other side of the story that I have realized this week. People need those random friends on sites to get their message to spread. It's an interest sparking way of spreading communication and instant. Here's the story:
One of my closest friends was telling me about a friend of her's from home who is using social media to make her dream job come true. She loves Ellen Degeneres and wants to work with her. Also, side note is that she has been trying to get tickets to her show for years and finally got some for this month. So, in honor of her dream of meeting and working for Ellen becoming closer to a reality she has started the Ellen Needs Erica campaign. Look it up- #ellenneedserica And, she has been posting a video everyday leading up to the day of the show on YouTube and sharing it via Twitter and Facebook. It doesn't hurt that she is hilarious and probably could be Ellen's best friend. But, the point is, she is reaching so many people and getting so much attention from people she has never met before. I mean I have never met her but I watch the videos. I am pretty sure her college (University of Arizona) newspaper even did a story about her. I mean, this is serious advertising. Everyone who has heard about this is rooting her on and sharing her videos. So far, there have been 25 videos adding up to a total of 56334 views. I think that's a lot for a girl to get on her own by just doing funny things like Ellen would do. She has people retweet #ellenneedserica all the time and has set up a Facebook so that she can share the videos and her thoughts leading up to Feb 21st, the day of the show.
I think that this type of sharing and liking is totally okay and worth it. Erica is totally cool with people liking her pictures and videos to get her the attention of Ellen. Plus, she needs those random mutual friends and people she doesn't know to spread her videos and goal. It's what has really made a difference and could even be the reason Ellen potentially hires her for. It's a really neat thing to watch and I can't wait to see what happens on the 21st.
So, there's my conclusion. Some people like me prefer to not have their personal lives spread via social networks and get a little spooked when things happen showing people see your every move. But on the other hand, some people NEED those friends because they have a purpose. They are able to share and like and send and voice opinions to form groups that can gain attention. For Erica's purpose, she doesn't care who sees her singing in her car as long as in the end it gets shown to Ellen. That's why social media is so great. It provides opportunities for people to communicate to people you don't even know. Without Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter Erica would probably have a much harder time reaching Ellen and could possibly never live out her dream.
GO ERICA!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Super Bowl Sunday
In honor of the big game going on right now I figured that I needed to base this blog on advertising and how social media sites go viral over the companies paying millions of dollars to have their commercial be 30 seconds or a minute long during the Super Bowl.
Also, I think that Beyonce has been mentioned more that any NFL player actually playing in the Super Bowl (besides possibly Ray Lewis) along with people saying her performance caused the power outage (wouldn't be too surprising). Let's be real, Beyonce was the star of the show tonight. She came out looking so great and didn't even break a sweat. However, as much as I'd like to talk about Beyonce, how I know every word to Bootylicious, or the fact I LOVE Destiny's Child, another big part of the Super Bowl are the commercials. Mainly, that's why I watched tonight. Ever since high school in my Marketing classes I've always discussed the advertisements the next day in class. This year here were my favorites:
In no specific order:
1.Tide
2. Budweiser
3. NFL
These were GREAT commercials. Tide and NFL (Leon Sandcastle) sparking the humorous cord while Budweiser making everyone tear up with the horse recognized his trainer from years ago. NFL did a series of different commercials, but the impersonation of Deon was by far my favorite.
Not only did these three commercials spark conversation topics on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, people were blogging about them, writing articles about them, and being critiqued as soon as their aired. The formulation of groups were made so fast on who liked what commercials and who believed the Go Daddy make out session was way too gross to watch (YUCK) that it became a thread of conversation back and forth between people all over the US that didn't even know each other. At one point on my Twitter #Tide was trending. Also, from just my friends I could tell you who had what opinion about the tear jerking Budweiser commercial and who thought the RAM commercial was so great that they wanted to buy a truck (being from Small Town, USA- EVERYONE).
Anyways, here is my point: that we all talk about how we can't believe companies spend that much on commercials for the Super Bowl yet that is the ONLY time people actually want to watch commercials. It makes perfect since. In society now we think that the Super Bowl commercials are better than the regular day to day commercials and that we HAVE to watch them in order to know what all the hype is about. We want to know what's going on and what people will be talking about in class or at the office the next day. However, we may think that the companies are crazy- but they have it right. Think about it, they spend millions of dollar for little air time but it hits tons of viewers who are looking forward to seeing their ads for the only time of the year and then bam a million things get posted on the internet about that commercial. This magnifies the awareness by so much and now with social media it can be instant. It sparks a relation between people, forms groups, forms opinions, and ignites something inside of those people to express their own best and worst lists. All of that money spent gets paid off really quick to me. Their commercial hits YouTube by the time the game is over and by tomorrow almost everyone who is linked to football, the internet, social media, or any time of communication outlet will probably know what everyone is talking about.
And you can't deny it, even you want to look up the worst commercials just so you know what they were and can participate in all of the hype.
So that's what I've gotten from watching this game. Beyonce is fabulous and made the power go out, and the Super Bowl commercials may be worth millions but every penny gets paid off thanks to their on air time and now social media making them continue to go viral after the game.
Also, I think that Beyonce has been mentioned more that any NFL player actually playing in the Super Bowl (besides possibly Ray Lewis) along with people saying her performance caused the power outage (wouldn't be too surprising). Let's be real, Beyonce was the star of the show tonight. She came out looking so great and didn't even break a sweat. However, as much as I'd like to talk about Beyonce, how I know every word to Bootylicious, or the fact I LOVE Destiny's Child, another big part of the Super Bowl are the commercials. Mainly, that's why I watched tonight. Ever since high school in my Marketing classes I've always discussed the advertisements the next day in class. This year here were my favorites:
In no specific order:
1.Tide
2. Budweiser
3. NFL
These were GREAT commercials. Tide and NFL (Leon Sandcastle) sparking the humorous cord while Budweiser making everyone tear up with the horse recognized his trainer from years ago. NFL did a series of different commercials, but the impersonation of Deon was by far my favorite.
Not only did these three commercials spark conversation topics on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, people were blogging about them, writing articles about them, and being critiqued as soon as their aired. The formulation of groups were made so fast on who liked what commercials and who believed the Go Daddy make out session was way too gross to watch (YUCK) that it became a thread of conversation back and forth between people all over the US that didn't even know each other. At one point on my Twitter #Tide was trending. Also, from just my friends I could tell you who had what opinion about the tear jerking Budweiser commercial and who thought the RAM commercial was so great that they wanted to buy a truck (being from Small Town, USA- EVERYONE).
Anyways, here is my point: that we all talk about how we can't believe companies spend that much on commercials for the Super Bowl yet that is the ONLY time people actually want to watch commercials. It makes perfect since. In society now we think that the Super Bowl commercials are better than the regular day to day commercials and that we HAVE to watch them in order to know what all the hype is about. We want to know what's going on and what people will be talking about in class or at the office the next day. However, we may think that the companies are crazy- but they have it right. Think about it, they spend millions of dollar for little air time but it hits tons of viewers who are looking forward to seeing their ads for the only time of the year and then bam a million things get posted on the internet about that commercial. This magnifies the awareness by so much and now with social media it can be instant. It sparks a relation between people, forms groups, forms opinions, and ignites something inside of those people to express their own best and worst lists. All of that money spent gets paid off really quick to me. Their commercial hits YouTube by the time the game is over and by tomorrow almost everyone who is linked to football, the internet, social media, or any time of communication outlet will probably know what everyone is talking about.
And you can't deny it, even you want to look up the worst commercials just so you know what they were and can participate in all of the hype.
So that's what I've gotten from watching this game. Beyonce is fabulous and made the power go out, and the Super Bowl commercials may be worth millions but every penny gets paid off thanks to their on air time and now social media making them continue to go viral after the game.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
My Social Media outlets- The Beginning
Since this is my first post on Social Media I thought I would start off with a list of social media outlets that I am participating in as of right now. That way I can see the progress throughout the semester on my knowledge of social media- it's growth, feedback, participating demographics, and new types; as well as whether I expand my social media footprint.
Right now I have a:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Pinterest
I just started my LinkedIn account this semester due to my job search furthering and getting closer to graduation. I would say this is the one I know the least about and the one that I use the least as of right now. Also, I barely ever actually use my Pinterest account. I think it is easier to just browse through my own searches and save the links I like to my computer. I do not like people being able to see everything I pin or I don't like only seeing what people I know pin. Then, this is the second blog I have. The first one I made while studying abroad this summer in London so that my family and friends at home knew what was going on and could enjoy my travels.
I do not have Instagram, like almost every one of my friends, and I have been contemplating it a lot recently. I've tried to not be another girl who gives in to ways to post pictures so people can see how great I think my life is or what I am doing at every second. However, I must admit, it looks pretty entertaining and I enjoy all of the "filters" it provides to make my pictures look better. Maybe because of this class I am in or because of the things I learn for this blog I will give in and get Instagram. TBD.
This morning Instagram announced that it hit 90 million users that post at least once per month. This seems huge especially when last month they had some bumps in the road by unhappy users over the change in service. I was even more impressed that this is Facebook connected users only. I think this is interesting especially coming from someone who is interested in the app but has not given it a chance yet. Facebook paid 1 billion dollars for it, and it has allowed them to connect between both outlets and share all together. Even if I do not have Instagram I can still see the pictures and be tagged in them if they are put on Facebook. It seems like I already have the plus of seeing the pictures I want to see, but I cannot filter the ones I take. I also do not get to see the 40 million photos per day or participate in the 8500 likes per second. I guess those are the main benefits from having your own account. You can post your own photos, filter the colors, and share, comment and like other peoples just like on Facebook, but without all of the political status updates. That seems pretty nice, entertaining, and then just like all the other social media outlets- time consuming.
For all of the other social media hubs I think I will hold off for now.
Right now I have a:
Blog
I just started my LinkedIn account this semester due to my job search furthering and getting closer to graduation. I would say this is the one I know the least about and the one that I use the least as of right now. Also, I barely ever actually use my Pinterest account. I think it is easier to just browse through my own searches and save the links I like to my computer. I do not like people being able to see everything I pin or I don't like only seeing what people I know pin. Then, this is the second blog I have. The first one I made while studying abroad this summer in London so that my family and friends at home knew what was going on and could enjoy my travels.
I do not have Instagram, like almost every one of my friends, and I have been contemplating it a lot recently. I've tried to not be another girl who gives in to ways to post pictures so people can see how great I think my life is or what I am doing at every second. However, I must admit, it looks pretty entertaining and I enjoy all of the "filters" it provides to make my pictures look better. Maybe because of this class I am in or because of the things I learn for this blog I will give in and get Instagram. TBD.
This morning Instagram announced that it hit 90 million users that post at least once per month. This seems huge especially when last month they had some bumps in the road by unhappy users over the change in service. I was even more impressed that this is Facebook connected users only. I think this is interesting especially coming from someone who is interested in the app but has not given it a chance yet. Facebook paid 1 billion dollars for it, and it has allowed them to connect between both outlets and share all together. Even if I do not have Instagram I can still see the pictures and be tagged in them if they are put on Facebook. It seems like I already have the plus of seeing the pictures I want to see, but I cannot filter the ones I take. I also do not get to see the 40 million photos per day or participate in the 8500 likes per second. I guess those are the main benefits from having your own account. You can post your own photos, filter the colors, and share, comment and like other peoples just like on Facebook, but without all of the political status updates. That seems pretty nice, entertaining, and then just like all the other social media outlets- time consuming.
For all of the other social media hubs I think I will hold off for now.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)