As I was watching the news earlier this week there was a whole segment on Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer having a Twitter and Facebook account. I had never given much thought to people in such positions being involved in social media. I kind of assumed that almost everyone had joined at least one social networking site. Apparently he is the first Supreme Court Justice.
This raised questions about the content that he posts on these sites and if it is acceptable for him or any other Justice to belong to these sites. When he was asked what type of information he posted he avoided the question but praised social media for bringing greater interest to political affairs. He also stated that he first started using these sites to keep up with events happening over seas in places such as Iran and the political unrest that is occurring there. He made sure to point out that he does not accept any followers other than his children because it would be to easy for people to twist anything that he may post into something else.
I thought this was interesting because these Justices and anyone else that is in a position of power has to be careful what they post so that it is not taken out of context and so that they do not show a bias for or against anyone. This is something that everyone could make use of because anyone that is looking for a job should have a "clean" image on any social networking site they belong to and this is what Justice Breyer is striving for.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Multi Tasking
I don't know if I see more things about social networking and technology now because of this class and I am more tuned into listening to related topics or if there is actually more discussion about technology and the growth of social media. Either way, since I have been writing a weekly blog about the possibilities of social media for marketing as well as the growth of various sites I have seen several segments on the evening news dealing with teens and other age groups that use technology.
Tonight as I was watching there was a segment about teens and multi tasking and how they have the ability to multi task better than anyone from other generations. They related this to their ability to use multiple technologies at once to gather information or to keep in contact with others their age group. There is a doctor that has been tracking the same teens and runs brain scans on the same group every two years to follow their development.
The parents of these teens were interviewed briefly and they said that during homework time the teens generally have a laptop, a cell phone, notebook, and textbook out in order to complete an assignment. Instead of completing the assignment then texting or making phone calls or going to various websites they are doing everything at once. The parents' concern was that the homework was not being completed efficiently or correctly. The doctor actually dispelled this. He stated that from this work and research that the teen brain is more efficient and can hold more information and he contributes this to their ability to multi task.
A lot of this multi tasking can be attributed to the ability to take technology anywhere. Smart phones allow anyone to do practically anything they can do with a computer. The ability to always be connected is something that my generation (20 somethings) and younger will not know how to cope without.
Tonight as I was watching there was a segment about teens and multi tasking and how they have the ability to multi task better than anyone from other generations. They related this to their ability to use multiple technologies at once to gather information or to keep in contact with others their age group. There is a doctor that has been tracking the same teens and runs brain scans on the same group every two years to follow their development.
The parents of these teens were interviewed briefly and they said that during homework time the teens generally have a laptop, a cell phone, notebook, and textbook out in order to complete an assignment. Instead of completing the assignment then texting or making phone calls or going to various websites they are doing everything at once. The parents' concern was that the homework was not being completed efficiently or correctly. The doctor actually dispelled this. He stated that from this work and research that the teen brain is more efficient and can hold more information and he contributes this to their ability to multi task.
A lot of this multi tasking can be attributed to the ability to take technology anywhere. Smart phones allow anyone to do practically anything they can do with a computer. The ability to always be connected is something that my generation (20 somethings) and younger will not know how to cope without.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Facebook is Life Changing
Someone last week wrote about how Facebook can be life changing because of posts. I thought this was very interesting and it got me thinking about anything that has happened to me that I learned about through Facebook or became more educated about through Facebook. The information on Facebook can be either positive or negative and I recently experienced both of these on Facebook.
At the beginning of the semester I received a phone call about a long time friend being in the hospital due to a self inflicted gun shot wound. He was a very vocal person and the last person anyone would expect. On his Facebook page he wrote a note and published it. The note contained a lot of information, answered some questions and brought up some new ones. The new questions that were brought about are now being investigated by the local police department because there were allegations of abuse. My friend wanted to make sure that nobody else would have to experience the same things he did and was asking for a call of help to stop the events from occurring. I think this is a great example of how the information on Facebook can be very important and should be taken seriously sometimes and not just looked at as entertainment or somebody giving out too much information.
One example that I thought of that had a positive effect on my life just occurred last night. I found out through Facebook that a friend from elementary school is now engaged. As we grew older and went our separate ways to college and became busy with our own lives we grew apart but I think it is great to be able to keep in touch with her through social media.
I know that I cannot be the only one with examples that have had an effect on my life that I learned about through Facebook or became more educated about through Facebook. So what are some examples things that you have experienced? Do you think it is a good thing to have sites such as Facebook or are these things that should be kept private?
At the beginning of the semester I received a phone call about a long time friend being in the hospital due to a self inflicted gun shot wound. He was a very vocal person and the last person anyone would expect. On his Facebook page he wrote a note and published it. The note contained a lot of information, answered some questions and brought up some new ones. The new questions that were brought about are now being investigated by the local police department because there were allegations of abuse. My friend wanted to make sure that nobody else would have to experience the same things he did and was asking for a call of help to stop the events from occurring. I think this is a great example of how the information on Facebook can be very important and should be taken seriously sometimes and not just looked at as entertainment or somebody giving out too much information.
One example that I thought of that had a positive effect on my life just occurred last night. I found out through Facebook that a friend from elementary school is now engaged. As we grew older and went our separate ways to college and became busy with our own lives we grew apart but I think it is great to be able to keep in touch with her through social media.
I know that I cannot be the only one with examples that have had an effect on my life that I learned about through Facebook or became more educated about through Facebook. So what are some examples things that you have experienced? Do you think it is a good thing to have sites such as Facebook or are these things that should be kept private?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Victoria's Secret
While searching for a topic this week I ran across a blog that is all about social media sites and the impact they have on the companies that use them. I thought that this was somewhat ironic but it is a great blog. The writer is passionate about finding companies that do a good job of interacting with their customers and explaining how they do what they do so well. On her blog she had a list of 26 companies that she chose to highlight one of which is Victoria's Secret. I decided to follow her link and learn more about what they are doing and how they are using their social media presence.
I know their products especially the Pink products they sell which are more athletic wear type clothing and t-shirts pretty well. I do not follow them on any social media sites and had never really thought about following them, until now. The author of the blog basically completed a social media audit for the company very similar to the one we have to complete for our project. The interesting thing is that the best part of their social media presence was right on the website itself. At the bottom of the page there is a link to a discussion board for anyone to become involved in. The link is a membership club that offers incentives to these members. The company also has a Facebook and Twitter presence that engages the followers and members of the club in many ways.
A lot of companies could take note of what they have done and turn the simple steps into a marketing power house. After reading this blog and blogging about it myself I believe that I will join the membership that I was unaware of until now and that I have now passed along to you all! Perfect example of word of mouth at its finest!
http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-media-examples/victorias-secret-social-media-marketing-example/
I know their products especially the Pink products they sell which are more athletic wear type clothing and t-shirts pretty well. I do not follow them on any social media sites and had never really thought about following them, until now. The author of the blog basically completed a social media audit for the company very similar to the one we have to complete for our project. The interesting thing is that the best part of their social media presence was right on the website itself. At the bottom of the page there is a link to a discussion board for anyone to become involved in. The link is a membership club that offers incentives to these members. The company also has a Facebook and Twitter presence that engages the followers and members of the club in many ways.
A lot of companies could take note of what they have done and turn the simple steps into a marketing power house. After reading this blog and blogging about it myself I believe that I will join the membership that I was unaware of until now and that I have now passed along to you all! Perfect example of word of mouth at its finest!
http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-media-examples/victorias-secret-social-media-marketing-example/
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Facebook Ads
While I was trying to find a topic to write about this week, my attention naturally turned to Facebook to see what everyone was posting and hoping that something would strike an idea that was worth writing about. Unfortunately none of my friends had posted anything very interesting. I had faith in what Facebook would uncover for me and I scrolled down to the bottom of the news feed and there was a link that said advertising. I thought that it was worth a shot and I clicked on it to my surprise it was very helpful. The link actually highlighted a particular company that used Facebook advertising and how it affected their business.
CM Photographics has a target market of 24-30 year old engaged women. The photography company used the marital status on profiles to reach their demographic. Over 12 months CM Photographics generated almost $40,000 in a $600 advertisement on Facebook. This is amazing! That is a small amount of money with a great return for a company that is not very well known and would not have generated as much profit if not for Facebook and the advertising possibilities they offer.
I have often wondered how the companies that advertise on Facebook and who's ads appear on the right hand side of my news feed always seem so tailored to my interests. I guess this question is now answered. I see endless possibilities for small business such as the one I have discussed here.
CM Photographics has a target market of 24-30 year old engaged women. The photography company used the marital status on profiles to reach their demographic. Over 12 months CM Photographics generated almost $40,000 in a $600 advertisement on Facebook. This is amazing! That is a small amount of money with a great return for a company that is not very well known and would not have generated as much profit if not for Facebook and the advertising possibilities they offer.
I have often wondered how the companies that advertise on Facebook and who's ads appear on the right hand side of my news feed always seem so tailored to my interests. I guess this question is now answered. I see endless possibilities for small business such as the one I have discussed here.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Social Media Support During Disasters
We all know the tragedy that Japan experienced and is actually still experiencing because of the threat of the nuclear meltdown. These are horrible events that I hope very few people will ever have to go through. There has been chaos in Tokyo and surrounding areas because people has no way to get anywhere. All forms of transportation were at a stand still because of the large amounts of destruction. The phone lines were also down and there were and probably still are very few ways of reaching loved ones that are not accounted for. One picture on a news station showed hundreds of people waiting in line for a single working pay phone in hopes of making contact with someone they know. I cannot even being to imagine Americans standing in line as calmly as they were during such an event.
An episode of Dateline was focused on the tragedy and the ways people were trying to cope what had happened. Most people's main concerns were with tracking down the people they loved that were not accounted for and who's names had not shown up on any of the numerous lists being posted of those were either deceased or in another shelter. One way that people were trying to bridge the communication gap wherever they were was by using Facebook and Twitter. There were numerous individuals that were making status updates about where they were and making Tweets as to their location as well. This helped to solve some questions for those looking for answers about friends and family.
I thought that this was very interesting that Dateline took the time to highlight the fact that people were making a very strong effort to find people using these sights, the reporter even stated that since she had no means of transportation that she had been using social media sites for updates and story lines to use in her reports. This is just one example as to the staying power of social media sites. People are even thinking about them and updating them during times of disasters. I find this pretty amazing!
An episode of Dateline was focused on the tragedy and the ways people were trying to cope what had happened. Most people's main concerns were with tracking down the people they loved that were not accounted for and who's names had not shown up on any of the numerous lists being posted of those were either deceased or in another shelter. One way that people were trying to bridge the communication gap wherever they were was by using Facebook and Twitter. There were numerous individuals that were making status updates about where they were and making Tweets as to their location as well. This helped to solve some questions for those looking for answers about friends and family.
I thought that this was very interesting that Dateline took the time to highlight the fact that people were making a very strong effort to find people using these sights, the reporter even stated that since she had no means of transportation that she had been using social media sites for updates and story lines to use in her reports. This is just one example as to the staying power of social media sites. People are even thinking about them and updating them during times of disasters. I find this pretty amazing!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Sheen's Newest Way to Spread the "Truth"
As I am sure a lot of you know, Charlie Sheen is on a very fast downward spiral! He has made appearances on various shows in the past couple of days such as "The Today Show", "20/20", and "Piers Morgan Tonight" where he has been telling his side of the "truth" about his dismissal from the hit TV show "Two and a Half Men". He has made some very strong remarks about the producer and network the show is on and he is following the trend of some other celebrities that have fallen off the wagon so to say. Brittney Spears and Lindsey Lohan are a couple of these celebrities that come to mind.
He has created a Twitter account as of today, March 1st. This is apparently big news. Since the creation of his account he has made the news as well as "Dateline", in fact on this program he was the leading news story with about 20 minutes of the show being dedicated to it. He has created his account in order to tell his side of the story and he felt there was no better way to do this than through his own written word on the social media site. His followers are growing by approx. 2,000 per minute. I can not decide if he is accumulating so many followers because they support his stance against CBS or if they are simply waiting for him to make yet another infamous statement, this time one that they can all read for themselves.
Regardless of his reasoning, I find it very interesting that Charlie Sheen and his breakdown that is caused by whatever reason it may be(drugs and alcohol if I had to assume) is receiving more attention today than some much more pressing issues. This just goes to show that social media sites are here to stay and they should be taken seriously by organizations.
He has created a Twitter account as of today, March 1st. This is apparently big news. Since the creation of his account he has made the news as well as "Dateline", in fact on this program he was the leading news story with about 20 minutes of the show being dedicated to it. He has created his account in order to tell his side of the story and he felt there was no better way to do this than through his own written word on the social media site. His followers are growing by approx. 2,000 per minute. I can not decide if he is accumulating so many followers because they support his stance against CBS or if they are simply waiting for him to make yet another infamous statement, this time one that they can all read for themselves.
Regardless of his reasoning, I find it very interesting that Charlie Sheen and his breakdown that is caused by whatever reason it may be(drugs and alcohol if I had to assume) is receiving more attention today than some much more pressing issues. This just goes to show that social media sites are here to stay and they should be taken seriously by organizations.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Social Media Marketing Trends
When the topic for this weeks blog was left up to me to decide what I wanted to write, I started thinking about if I had heard anything in the news recently about social media and companies that market on them. Nothing came to mind so I did what most people would do, Google it! I found a webiste http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/five-social-media-trends-for-2011/ that was all about the social media marketing trends for 2011. This content was a little old, it was posted in the last few weeks of 2010 but it is still very recent and applies to the future.
There are five trends outlined in this website from alot of different aspects of social media but one in particular stood out to me. This trend had to do with getting companies to realize that the members of these social media sites that are followers of their brand also control what they want to see from them. These companies need to focus heavily on creating conent that will legitmately put into people's streams. This happens through the followers of the company hitting the Like button or Retweeting something on their own account. This will also get the followers friends to notice the information and will ensure the marketing tactic is a success!
I thought that this was something that seems obvious but it over looked. Most of us have become fans of a business on Facebook but we decide when we want to be updated on what is going on with that business by going to their page but if they were proactive and developed some savvy posts that would show up on news feeds this would help to promote the company name a lot faster and more efficiently.
There are five trends outlined in this website from alot of different aspects of social media but one in particular stood out to me. This trend had to do with getting companies to realize that the members of these social media sites that are followers of their brand also control what they want to see from them. These companies need to focus heavily on creating conent that will legitmately put into people's streams. This happens through the followers of the company hitting the Like button or Retweeting something on their own account. This will also get the followers friends to notice the information and will ensure the marketing tactic is a success!
I thought that this was something that seems obvious but it over looked. Most of us have become fans of a business on Facebook but we decide when we want to be updated on what is going on with that business by going to their page but if they were proactive and developed some savvy posts that would show up on news feeds this would help to promote the company name a lot faster and more efficiently.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Successful Social Media Campaign
Burger King had a very successful campaign on Facebook for their Whopper. They created a campaign called the "Whopper Sacrifice" in which people could delete 10 people from their friends list in order to receive a coupon for a free Whopper sandwhich. The Burger King name as well as Whopper were publicized on the news feeds and profiles of the person that deleted their friends as well as the person that got deleted. Each time a someone was sacrificed they were sent a notification that their friend had choosen a Whopper over their friendship! This campaign gained a lot of attention making news on various other sites such as Youtube as well as new stations such as Fox news along with newspapers like the New York Times. This campaign got everyone talking about Burger King and their Whopper sandwhich and also increased their sales. The campaign may sound harsh but a lot of people joined in, to the tune of 200,000 friends sacrificed in a week! All of the extra recognition that Burger King received on the new stations as well as the newspapers was free advertising for them. This was a genius idea that really got people talking and was also humorous.
This campaign took place in 2009 and as recently as January 21, 2011 was still being talked about on various blogs and other social media sites. This one is going to be talked about for a long time to come. I love this idea and think that it was genius of Burger King's marketing department!
In order to find this article I Googled successful social media campaigns and this campaign showed up on several different lists that have been recently updated. A true testament to the staying power of social media marketing.
This campaign took place in 2009 and as recently as January 21, 2011 was still being talked about on various blogs and other social media sites. This one is going to be talked about for a long time to come. I love this idea and think that it was genius of Burger King's marketing department!
In order to find this article I Googled successful social media campaigns and this campaign showed up on several different lists that have been recently updated. A true testament to the staying power of social media marketing.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Can social media help/hurt on job hunt?
Social media is a large part of our society now. My last post was about how social media is here to stay and is not just a fad, it is becoming an integral part of many aspects of everyday life. The pages that one may have established on various networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In can either help or hinder the job search.
If these web pages were created with future goals in mind, more than likely they can be of assistance when looking for a job and may even result in the employers coming to you instead of vice versa. The content on social media sites are created by yourself so the content is completely under your control. Seize the opportunity to make yourself stand out and look your best. Stay well informed on current events happening in your field of interest and write about it on your social network page. You should also join groups and create contacts that could lead to possible job offers in your field of interest. When these social network sites are maintained and created for the right reasons they could be very beneficial.
When creating these profiles you should always keep in mind that whatever is on the internet never really goes away and is always accessible by others. Make sure to portray a positive image and stay true to yourself in order to find leads that will result in happiness for you in your career.
If these web pages were created with future goals in mind, more than likely they can be of assistance when looking for a job and may even result in the employers coming to you instead of vice versa. The content on social media sites are created by yourself so the content is completely under your control. Seize the opportunity to make yourself stand out and look your best. Stay well informed on current events happening in your field of interest and write about it on your social network page. You should also join groups and create contacts that could lead to possible job offers in your field of interest. When these social network sites are maintained and created for the right reasons they could be very beneficial.
When creating these profiles you should always keep in mind that whatever is on the internet never really goes away and is always accessible by others. Make sure to portray a positive image and stay true to yourself in order to find leads that will result in happiness for you in your career.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Social Media Marketing is Here to Stay!
Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter along with various others are here to stay. They are growing at a very rapid rate and have become a source for so much information. If there is any product or service that you may need additional information on, it is as easy as posting a status and asking your friends for their opinions or experiences.
Word of mouth is the cheapest yet most effective form of advertising for any company. Social networks are the best form of word of mouth advertising available to anyone. Businesses are just now starting to scratch the surface of how to advertise on these networks. The future is bright for advertising in general but the amount of people that a social network can reach in a short amount of time is mind boggling. A fellow blogger stated that he knows someone personally that uses social media for advertising by establishing expertise in an area via blogs http://dmiracle.com/blog-marketing/you-do-know-that-social-marketing-isnt-a-fad-right/.
Word of mouth is the cheapest yet most effective form of advertising for any company. Social networks are the best form of word of mouth advertising available to anyone. Businesses are just now starting to scratch the surface of how to advertise on these networks. The future is bright for advertising in general but the amount of people that a social network can reach in a short amount of time is mind boggling. A fellow blogger stated that he knows someone personally that uses social media for advertising by establishing expertise in an area via blogs http://dmiracle.com/blog-marketing/you-do-know-that-social-marketing-isnt-a-fad-right/.
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