Technology and Social Media

Social media and technology go hand in hand. Without our advanced technology of today, I’m sure that social media wouldn’t have rapidly grown the way that it has. Technology is constantly evolving; it changes and advances every single day. At this point it is hard to imagine that new technology could come about because it feels like all innovative and new ideas have been imagined. However, technology has infinite possibilities so even though it is extremely advanced right now, there is still a lot of room for innovation.

I found a very interesting technological concept that would affect the future of social media: optical pattern recognition. According to Wikipedia, pattern recognition is a branch of machine learning that focuses on the recognition of patterns and regularities in data. Police and security services already use this in order to help identify known criminals. Collaboration blog claims that right now, social media has already started using this technology to help with tagging pictures. If you notice when you upload a picture on Facebook, the site suggests who the people in the picture are for you to tag based on facial recognition.

What is really cool is what I read about this technology in a Mashable article. In order to explain it well, I’m going to provide the example that the article gave:

Imagine you're on your way to a conference and you have a couple of hours to kill so you park yourself in the corner of a local bar to catch up on Mashable. You've barely begun reading when an attractive girl or guy catches your eye. You're transfixed, your heart starts to race — you're in love. But being the shy type you can't just go over and introduce yourself, so instead you do a quick scan of the room with your cell phone to pick up any latent metadata. Unfortunately, a social network profile pops up informing you that the object of your affection is in a relationship. Your initial excitement rapidly dissipates and you get on with your reading.

So pretty much in the future, we could possibly be able to bring up people’s social media sites by “scanning” the area with our phone. I know that this is super crazy and a little bit far-fetched, but I find it extremely interesting.

A potential problem with this technology is privacy issues. There are already a lot of issues with social media stalking and I’m pretty sure this tech would make it a lot worse. If I were just at a grocery store and I saw someone using this technology to try to find me on social media I would be really creeped out. Although people can already find information about me on the internet just by knowing my name, I don’t want strangers to be able to find information about me just from seeing me in a public place.

Sources:

http://mashable.com/2009/06/01/social-media-future-tech/#YdDyqV5orGq3

https://collabocom.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/new-tech-social-media-of-the-future/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_recognition  

Stand-alone Mobile Apps vs. Internet Browser Apps

When I say the word “apps” what do you think of? I bet you’re thinking of the downloadable applications that go on mobile devices. But apps are so much more than that! According to Google, it is “a self-contained program or piece of software designed to fulfill a particular purpose; an application, especially as downloaded by a user to a mobile device.” So seriously, anyone who is tech-savvy whatsoever uses apps. Most people use numerous apps every single day, especially when it comes to those on our mobile devices.

Most people think the desktop apps and mobile apps are pretty similar in how they operated, but on the Paradox Labs blog I was able to find a few key differences between the two:

1.      Smaller screens. Okay so this one is painfully obvious. Obviously on mobile phones, the screen and the image pixels are much smaller than that of a computer screen.

2.      Slower processors. Although they are catching up, in general, mobile devices have much less processing power than desktops.

3.      Touch input. One important aspect of many mobile devices is the touch-based input. For a lot of apps, touch input actually makes usability a lot simpler.

So, most of us use apps every single day, but why would they be some important to businesses? Small Business Trends gives two excellent reasons:

1.      Web or online apps can be a faster, cheaper, more efficient way of deploying software in your business. Instead of buying an actual software license, having to install it on all of the company’s servers, keeping up with updates, etc., you can pretty much just go online and sign up for an account.

2.      Mobile apps extend the reach and productivity of your business. A mobile app usually helps you to do something specific, like accessing your bank account in the case of a banking app or run payroll with a payroll mobile app.

Sources:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=what%20is%20an%20app

http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/03/what-is-an-app.html

http://blog.paradoxlabs.com/mobile-vs-desktop-10-key-differences 

Viral Videos

The topic that I will be covering today is probably my favorite social media topic: viral videos. I would hope that most of you know what a viral video is, but just in case I found a really great definition. According to Techopedia, a viral video is any clip of animation or film that is spread rapidly through online sharing. Viral videos can receive millions of views as they are shared on social media sites, reposted to blogs, sent in emails, and so on. What I found interesting was Techopedia’s assertion that most viral videos have humor and fall into three categories:

1.      Unintentional viral videos: videos that the creators never intended to go viral.

2.      Humorous viral videos: videos that have been created specifically to entertain people.

3.      Promotional viral videos: videos that are designed to go viral with a marketing message to raise brand awareness.

Viral videos are all fun and games until it actually hurts the person in the video. The part that freaked me out was the category of “unintentional” viral videos. So, pretty much if someone posts a video of you do something stupid and embarrassing, there is definitely a possibility of it going viral. Even if you ask the social media site to take it down, it’s still out there. Someone could have downloaded it or screenshotted it before you were able to take it down. AND THEN THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! So, please be careful with videos of yourself that you don’t want anyone else to see. My advice is just to delete it immediately.

When people think of viral videos they usually think of hilarious videos like Gangnam Style or the Harlem Shake videos. But, viral videos can actually very beneficial for your business. Forbes claims that highly sharable content can give your business a lift, leading new people back to your site and increasing your conversions. I have one thing to add to that sentence, it makes your brand awareness skyrocket. Forbes then gives suggestions for how businesses can create a viral video: 1) Be short and sweet. This is an obvious piece of advice because NO ONE likes long videos. 2) Be upbeat. Being upbeat evokes an emotional response from the audience. 3) Be timely. It certainly helps if you can link your video to an existing popular topic. 4) Be involved by engaging with your audience. 5) Be informative. Everyone wants to learn something they don’t already know. 6) Be inspiring.

So after all this talk of viral videos, I have attached my favorite viral video below. Enjoy!

Sources:

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/26863/viral-video

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2014/08/07/6-qualities-to-make-your-videos-go-viral/#4e1ad1e8aea4

Search Engine Optimization

Social media is a great way to connect with people that we know. It offers a lot of benefits for those who are trying to maintain relationships. One of the features that continues to grow in popularity is geotagging. Digital Trends defines geotagging as “the process of attaching location information to content such as a photograph or video (for example, when you shoot and upload a photo to Facebook with the location of your whereabouts).” It’s a really cool feature that gives us the opportunity to be even more social with our friends, but what about those who aren’t our friends that can see our locations?

In the same Digital Trends article, they raise an important question: while you are letting friends and family know where you are with your posts, is it worth the risk of being a victim of a crime? Burglars and stalkers can easily track you through geotagging. If you post a picture with your whole family with a geotag saying you’re in Hawaii, if the burglar knows your address, he/she can rob your house. And for obvious reasons, a stalker can easily find you through geotagging.

I am absolutely not trying to scare anyone into not doing what they want, but I do think that it’s smart to always be aware of what you are doing when it comes to social media. As I researched geotagging, I came across a great article produced by AVG Now that not only says what to be aware of, but it also lists a few ways that you can protect yourself.

So first, a few things that you need to know about geotagging:

1.      Photos can contain location information stored in metadata (EXIF data) within the image itself.

2.      Location data can be automatically applied to your GPS enabled smartphone photos.

3.      The location data usually includes the precise GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken, as well as the time and date it was captured.

Most importantly, here are a few ways to protect your privacy:

1.      Disable location services on your mobile devices.

2.      Remove EXIF data from images before uploading to social media networks or file sharing sites.

3.      Be aware of location options in apps or online services and social media.

Social media is such an awesome tool, but please remember to be aware of all of the possible consequences whenever you post. Be safe out there!

Sources:

http://now.avg.com/the-dangers-of-geotagging-via-photos-social-media/

http://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/could-you-fall-victim-to-crime-simply-by-geotagging-location-info-to-your-photos/  

Management Platforms and Tools

At this point, everyone is involved with multiple social media platforms. Everyone checks their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at least once a day to check out the News Feed. But for a business, it is extremely difficult to manage all that social media requires. You have to check to make sure if your consumers are posting comments about your business, tagging your company in something, messaging you about a problem, etc. Businesses who manage each social media channel individually are wasting time going through each. Compukol gives a solution to this problem: use HootSuite. HootSuite is an effective online tool that can help you keep your social media platforms organized and allows you to do a relatively painless amount of work in order to keep everything running smoothly. By the push of a single button, all of your updates, messages, news, etc. will go to all of your social media accounts at the same time. Additionally, YOU CAN VIEW ALL OF YOUR CHANNELS AT ONCE! Cool, right?

A popular business blog called iag.me swears that the use of HootSuite is critical for businesses who are managing multiple social media accounts. In a recent blog post, seven reasons of why everyone should use HootSuite were in the article. However, I am only going to talk about the first three because I believe that they are by far the most important. 1) The ability to monitor multiple streams in one place. As previously discussed, this is the most appealing reason to use a management tool. 2) You have a team managing your social empire. HootSuite has a team management facility which allows you to delegate responses to different team members. 3) Better able to manage customer service. Well yeah, when you have a business that operates on multiple social media channels, you have to make sure that you are paying attention to the needs of your customers.

Sources:

http://www.compukol.com/the-effectiveness-of-hootsuite-to-manage-your-social-media/

http://iag.me/socialmedia/reviews/7-reasons-why-you-should-use-hootsuite/

Organizational Uses

I find it extremely interesting how well organizations can use social media platforms to connect to their audience. What I find particularly intriguing is how an unexpected organization, religion, has been using social media. For example, if you live in Utah, I’m sure you have noticed that every time there is a General Conference held for the LDS church, the hashtag #ldsconf circulates like wildfire. According to a KSL article, the hashtag on social media allows members (or those watching) to connect and discuss the conference with people from around the world. The stream moves extremely quick because of the popularity of the hashtag, but many people actually look into the LDS church because of it.

World Religion News actually listed 5 ways social media connects religion to younger generations. 1) Prayer Apps. Uhm, what?! I had no idea that prayer apps existed but it definitely makes sense. Apps like praywithme.com and instapray.com give people an opportunity to share in each other’s prayer needs. 2) Capture Miracles in Real Time. Social media gives people an outlet to share uplifting stories, or miracles, IMMEDIATELY after they have occurred. 3) The Big Three (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). These big social media platforms enable users to find and build online relationships with like-minded individuals. It also makes it easier for users to express themselves spiritually in religiously diverse communities (which hopefully doesn’t create a dramatic backlash). 4) The YouTube Effect. YouTube, or any other outlet where you can share videos, makes it easier for choirs, church pastors, and young performers to share their faith with a large-scale audience. Users can now find their favorite hymn, church talk, etc. on basically any platform. 5) Digital Communication. Smartphones, and other digital devices, create an avenue for users to download different religious apps (such as the Bible, Book of Mormon, etc.). This helps religious organizations to connect with the younger generation on their terms.  

Although hardly anyone immediately relates religion with social media, religious organizations actually use it pretty well to connect with their audience. This goes to show that any organization can use social media to their advantage, as long as they actually know how to properly execute it.

Sources:

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=31790061&nid=1016

http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/christianity/5-ways-social-media-connects-religion-to-younger-generations  

Class Cloud

A couple weeks ago, in my social media class, we spent the last half of class on the “cloud” where we only talked via Twitter. I honestly don’t think I’ve experienced this much fun while sitting in class. Everyone was super into talking to each other, as well as giving opinions on certain topics.

 What I found the most interesting was which topics got the most response from the class. For example, the two posts that got the most feedback that I was involved in had something to do with famous people. The first was when Adrian Bustamante posted about Donald Trump. It was actually the first post that I wanted to participate in because it’s such a hot topic right now among all media outlets. The second was when Michelle Booth posted a funny comment and picture about famous actress Amanda Bynes. I felt like I HAD to respond to this post because I wanted to be a part of the hilarious conversation.

This experience really taught me a lesson about what I post on social media. Although it was a very fun and awesome assignment in class, I can now definitely understand how things can get out of hand on a social media platform. With all of the platforms that we have today, and everyday more are being created, it’s very easy to get carried away with what we post. The internet is unforgiving, once you post something it will never go away. I honestly wish that every person with a social media account could do this assignment so that they could see how fast posting, responding, and sharing actually happens.

When you make a post on social media, it almost feels like it isn’t real because you don’t actually see how people respond to it. As I sat in class while we were posting on Twitter, I was able to see the emotional responses that people had to all of the posts. Now in this case, everyone was pretty much laughing at everything that was being posted because we were all in a classroom together so no one wanted to post anything that was a really sensitive or controversial subject. If every social media user had to sit in a classroom full of people watching what they post, all of the awful stuff that gets posted on platforms would never happen. Especially when it comes to cyberbullying; people only bully on the internet because they can’t see the emotional reactions that they cause. I think that this assignment would do a lot of good in middle school and high schools to prove a point to social media users that there is always someone looking at their post on the other end.