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. 

Social Media Case Reflection 2

In today’s society, we have come to highly dislike police officers. Stories that have been released in the media lately about cops haven’t exactly painted them in a positive light. Citizens across the United States have even been protesting the police in their respective cities. Riots against the police broke out in Ferguson when a teenager was shot by a police officer (don’t worry, I’m not going to argue who was right or wrong in that situation). The point is, it’s been a while since a lot of us have seen anything positive about policemen in the news, because cops doing good things isn’t prevalent in the media.

FINALLY, there is an awesome story about a policeman making a difference in his community: the story of Officer Bobby White. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the story, I’ll give a short explanation of what happened. A couple months ago, in January, Officer White received a dispatch telling him that in a certain neighborhood, kids were out in the street playing basketball too loudly. When the officer arrived to find the kids playing a game, just as kids do, instead of scolding the boys, he shot a few hoops with them. After a little while, he told them he had to get back on duty, but he would come back in a few days with “backup” to play some more basketball. A few days later, he came back to play with the kids with a few officers, as well as NBA fame Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq, along with the officers, played with the kids as well as gave them some life advice. As a special treat, Shaq even gave them $100 each.

Through doing more research, I’ve discovered that there’s even more to this incredible story. After everything happened with Shaq, Officer Bobby White did even more for those kids. According to NBC 4, he asked the mother of one of the kids for permission to build a basketball court in her backyard. He then began fundraising and was able to receive enough donations from the community to build the group a permanent commercial sized hoop and court.

So, what does a story like this tell us? Well, first of all, it’s awesome seeing a man like Officer White do so many great things for the youth in his community. I’m so happy to finally see a video that has gone viral that is actually uplifting and doesn’t have any negative connotations. Second, to me, it proves that people need to stop stereotyping cops as being dirty and terrible people. Let’s be honest with ourselves, the amount of good cops FAR out way the bad. FAR. In a Rolling Stone article, it said “it’s too bad there isn’t an Officer White patrolling every neighborhood in America.” You’re kidding me, right? That sentence actually ruined the rest of the entire article for me. There actually are a lot of cops that are truly amazing people; do we not remember all of the policemen that ran into the burning buildings during 9/11? Not anymore, because the problem is that all of America doesn’t see good deeds being done by cops because there usually aren’t videos about it that go viral like the negative videos do.

Something that I find wrong about today’s society is how positive news stories are often overshadowed by negative news. Quite honestly, I had actually never heard of Officer White and his incredible story before getting assigned to read it in my social media class. Why? Well probably because my newsfeed is way too busy being flooded with terrible things that have happened. Based on research done by PR News, negative superlatives work 30 percent better at getting our attention than positive ones. That’s sick (and I don’t mean that in the cool way). Media companies base their content on the preferences of the audience. If there was a majority of people that actually hated negative news content, then the media would be completely different.

I truly hope that stories like what happened with Officer White start becoming more popular in the news. I’m sure that if we were being told positive stories every day, it would restore our faith in humanity. As of right now, everyone is just way too focused on negative things that occur. And to all those out there that don’t respect policemen anymore, I promise you that there are a lot out there that care for our safety and rights. Please stop letting the FEW negative stories impact how you feel about ALL cops.

Sources:

https://www.facebook.com/GainesvillePolice/videos/10153223739347015/

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/24/us/florida-shaq-police-officers-game/

http://nbc4i.com/2016/02/24/officer-helps-build-basketball-court-after-video-of-him-playing-with-kids-goes-viral/

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/news/cool-cop-responds-to-hoops-noise-complaint-with-savage-dunk-20160122

http://www.adweek.com/prnewser/bad-news-negative-headlines-get-much-more-attention/86916

Online Reputation

The prevalence of social media has made it much simpler to find out extreme amounts of information about an individual—in other words, stalking has become so easy. This can be a problem if there is something online that you don’t want other people to find. When you type your name into Google, what pops up? Does something come up that maybe makes you feel a little uneasy? Or do you not really care about the information about you that is out there? In order to demonstrate how easily information about someone is able to be attained, I was assigned to “stalk” someone in my Social Media class; the person I have been assigned is Karlie Major.

When I searched Karlie’s full name on Google, there were several different social media accounts that came up—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram. Karlie is married to Colton Arave and now goes by the name Karlie Major Arave. She is a student at Utah State University, where she is studying Communications and Public Relations.

The very first trend that I easily noticed about Karlie is that she is extremely involved in the community. Being a native of Logan, Karlie was crowned Miss Cache Valley, and later crowned Miss Utah on June 21, 2014. For a year after she was crowned, she travelled around Utah promoting her platform—Get Real: Embracing a Positive Body Image Through Media Smarts. During this time, she was also an ambassador for the Miss America Organization’s national platform, the Children’s Miracle Network.  

Karlie is immensely caring of the youth in her community. On her Facebook page, she describes herself as a “Public speaker motivating youth to embrace who they are and set goals to achieve their dreams.” Via LinkedIn, under Volunteer Experience, for over two years she aided with fundraising events for the Child and Family Support Center. Also on LinkedIn, as part of her Experience section, she is the spokesperson and founder of Get Real Utah which focuses on promoting media literacy in the effort to educate youth on the impact digital manipulation has on body image.

It was extremely obvious that Karlie is very passionate about dancing. In the Miss Utah competition, during the talent portion, she did a Character Jazz Dance routine. Near the end of 2014, Karlie was in the Miss America pageant where dancing was again her talent. Not only does she love to dance, but she can also teach it. According to her LinkedIn, she has over five years of experience of being a dance instructor; she was a dance instructor for Dance Illusion from 2009 to 2014 and Universal Dance Association from 2012 to 2013.

This assignment really opened my eyes to how much information there is about someone on the internet. Knowing that anyone can see this information at any time makes me want to urge people to be careful of what you are putting online. If it is a post or picture that you don’t want the entire world to see, then DO NOT POST IT at all, even if your social media account is set to private.  

Sources: 

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765655557/Miss-Cache-Valley-Karlie-Major-crowned-Miss-Utah-2014-Saturday-night.html?pg=all

https://www.facebook.com/karlie.major.54

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlie-major-arave-4a873189

http://news.hjnews.com/allaccess/cache-valley-s-karlie-major-wins-miss-utah-crown/article_b8505880-faed-11e3-a2c2-001a4bcf887a.html

http://www.momseveryday.com/westerncolorado/local/headlines/Miss-Utah-274210011.html

http://news.hjnews.com/allaccess/miss-utah-reigns-karlie-s-major-experience/article_422833a0-45af-11e4-8db3-c7e7ba0db09b.html 

Legal, Policies, and Ethics

“By clicking Accept, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.” Does anyone actually read all of the regulations and policies before accepting? Not really. The Guardian actually did a study to find out just how many people in all of Great Britain actually read the fine print; the survey revealed that ONLY 7% of Britons read online terms and conditions when signing up for products and services! That is a pretty small amount of people, especially considering how popular social media is. So, why don’t we read the fine print to make sure we’re not accepting something we don’t agree with? Well…we’re lazy. The Terms and Conditions takes FOREVER to read through and uses words that we don’t really understand. Although, it is super annoying to have to read all of the policies presented by a company, it’s actually really important to at least familiarize yourself with what exactly you are agreeing to.

Snapchat is an extremely popular social networking app, especially among the younger demographic. The reason that the younger generation loves it so much is because of the feature that allows users to take photos that disappear after the receiver has viewed it. This has probably made parents a little more uneasy than other social networking platforms considering they can’t look through their child’s phone to make sure that they aren’t sending anything inappropriate.  

So, why is everyone freaking out about Snapchat lately? Well, Marketwatch explains that Snapchat’s updated privacy policy has claimed the rights to reproduce, modify, and republish photos and save them to Snapchat’s servers, specifically in relation to the ‘Live Story’ feature.  So yeah, all of the people who have sent pictures that definitely don’t want any chance to be resurfaced are freaking out about Snapchat’s violation of their privacy. But hey, Snapchat didn’t technically do anything wrong; all of its users agreed to it.

So, next time one of your apps, products, or services tells you “By clicking Accept, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy,” you might want to read into what you are agreeing to.  

Sources: 

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/may/11/terms-conditions-small-print-big-problems

https://www.snapchat.com/terms  

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/snapchats-new-scary-privacy-policy-has-left-users-outraged-2015-10-29

Collaborative and Distance Communication Platforms

Today, I’m going to talk about the social media platform that is very near and dear to my heart: Skype. Just for a small explanation, Small Business Chron describes Skype as a “hybrid instant messaging and voice chat application that allows users to connect with one another from any global location with internet access. With over 663 million users, Skype is one of the most popular communication systems in the world.”

Skype is actually extremely helpful for businesses. On the Skype blog, five benefits are listed for companies: (1) Cut the cost of your business calls, (2) Keep track of your expenditures, (3) Reduce your business travel costs, (4) Stay in touch with colleagues, (5) Stay in touch with customers. One of the best benefits that were listed is for businesses to cut the cost of business calls; I’m talking about international businesses. International calls are EXTREMELY expensive; Skype is free and it also gives the opportunity to be face to face instead of just voices on a phone call which increases customer service.   

So why does Skype mean so much to me? Well, it has helped me maintain relationships more than any social media platform ever has. Growing up in the LDS religion, I have had many close people go on missions. A few years ago, missionaries started being able to use Skype. At the time, my closest brother Caden was on a mission in Puebla, Mexico. He was able to Skype me and my family twice a year on Christmas and Mother’s Day. I remember looking forward to being able to finally physically see him, almost like he was in the room with us. Right after he came home, my boyfriend, Austin, left on a mission to Santiago, Chile. Both of us were extremely worried about what the two years of being apart would do to our relationship. But, about every six months we were able to see each other because of Skype. I know that it doesn’t seem like a lot to only see someone you love twice a year, but it is what helped us to maintain our close relationship. Now, Austin is home, and we are planning on getting married this summer.

Sources: 

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-skype-63207.html

http://blogs.skype.com/2012/05/24/5-real-benefits-of-using-skype/

Location Based Platforms

Why use a location based social media platform? Sounds kinda creepy that other people can see where you are, right? Well when used properly, they can be pretty awesome. My favorite location based platform is FourSquare. Now, I have been dating someone for almost a year now and living in Logan doesn’t give us the most options for our date nights. For the first part of our relationship, we pretty much went to every restaurant in town and wasted a bunch of money on going to the movie theater at least once a week. After a while, we ran out of ideas. One day, I was on Facebook and saw one of my friends had mentioned the FourSquare app. Ever since then, the app has helped us to come up with fun, creative stuff to do wherever we are.

So, just to explain, FourSquare is a social media site that provides a way for you to know of things that you might be interested in around your area. Wikipedia explains it as an app that “takes into account the places a user goes, the things they have told the app that they like, and the other users whose advice they trust, FourSquare provides recommendations of the places to go around a user’s current location.” For an example, when I first got the app, I put that I’m interested in sushi, movies, and fun date nights. The app then gave me a list of places to go, including customer reviews for each place. Pretty cool right? So next time you’re having issues finding something to do with your friends or on a date, try out the FourSquare app and see if you like it!

Location based platforms are not only beneficial for its users, but for businesses. On the GOBABL blog, they claim that there are five benefits that location based platforms give to businesses: (1) It helps to find new customers and expand your audience, (2) Increases brand awareness with less budget, (3) Learn about your audience easily, (4) Get instant customer feedback, and (5) It helps target audiences more effectively. These benefits can significantly help small, less known businesses become visible on the map of their consumers. 

Sources:

https://foursquare.com/

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

http://gobabl.com/blog/5-benefits-of-location-based-social-media-monitoring-for-businesses/

Most Used Platform

Facebook is now worth more than Walmart. No this is not a joke; yes I used a reliable source. On June 23, 2015, CNN reported that Facebook’s market value is nearly $245 billion, while Walmart is worth about $235 billion. Now obviously Walmart and Facebook don’t compete with each other, but it’s a pretty remarkable feat for a social media site that has only been around since 2004 to be worth more than the world’s largest store when it comes to sales. 

Facebook has been a powerhouse in social media innovation for a long time now. With so many social media platforms that have been invented, how has Facebook able to become and maintain the number one most popular platform slot? According to FBZA, “versatile features that cater for a variety of needs for the different categories of users continue to drive traffic to the platform.” So, the answer is plain and simple: Facebook is just different than any other social media. And what does different mean? It means more successful. Companies that are able to differentiate themselves from their competitors always come out on top. When I think of Facebook, I think of multiple social media platforms combined. The main purpose of Instagram is sharing photos; Facebook can do that. The main purpose of Twitter is to update your status, share articles and opinions, and follow news updates; Facebook can do that. Facebook continues to improve and evolve through the years, a strategy that MySpace didn’t realize to do and look where it’s gotten them. FBZA also came to a conclusion that there is a list of factors that social media sites must combine and implement in order to become the world’s biggest: (1) Vision, (2) Financial Investment, (3) Inclusive approach to membership availability, (4) A versatile array of application features, (5) Continuous improvement to guarantee relevance, (6) Media. From the beginning, Facebook has capitalized and evolved itself into applying all of these factors. Although there are rumors and articles saying that Facebook is going to start going downhill here soon, I really don’t see that ever happening. 

Sources:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/23/investing/facebook-walmart-market-value/

http://www.fbza.net/2014/10/how-facebook-became-worlds-biggest.html 

Blogging

Blogging. Everyone seems to be doing it right now. I feel like every time I get on Facebook or Instagram, I see at least one post about someone’s blog. So why is it so popular all of a sudden? Well, for people who write personal blogs, there are actually a lot of health benefits, both psychological and physiological. According to Scientific American, there is a high therapeutic value when writing about personal experiences, thoughts, and emotions. Research shows that it actually “improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity, and even speeds healing after surgery.” So, if bloggers truly believe this, why not just keep a journal? Why put everything online for other people to see? I personally believe that bloggers like that other people can comment with their thoughts on experiences, or whatever was put on the blog, so that the blogger can feel a sense of validity. I also think that a lot of bloggers want to help others that have been in similar situations or trials; I almost think of the ‘blogosphere’ as being a support group.

Another huge trend is for businesses to set up blogs. What’s the point of that? On a blog called Wishpond, it gives four reasons for why blogging is so important for businesses: (1) drive traffic to your website, (2) increase your SEO/SERP, (3) position your brand as an industry leader, (4) develop better customer relationships. I believe the fourth reason, developing better customer relationships, is the most important. When a company sets up a blog, they invite the customer to get to know the business (or the product). This builds trust with the consumer because it’s telling them that the company has nothing to hide, since they are welcoming the consumer to explore all of their information. The business is then able to develop a loyal customer base that they definitely wouldn’t be able to do without a blog. 

Sources:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-healthy-type/

http://blog.wishpond.com/post/47804902390/4-reasons-why-blogging-is-important-for-your-business 

Social Media Case Reflection 1

Social media is one of the best innovations of our time, but a lot of people tend to abuse and misunderstand its power. According to Ditch the Label, a self-help organization, 7 out of 10 young people have been victims of cyber bullying and 37% of young people have experienced cyber bullying on a highly frequent basis. So what’s going on? What makes a person feel comfortable with bullying someone else on the internet? The answer is actually pretty obvious: it’s easier. It’s so much simpler to sit behind a computer screen to attack someone than actually doing it to their face. Psychology Today released a great article in which it stated that one of the big reasons bullies are more comfortable on the web is because “online interactions are devoid of emotions.” So, to me, I feel like it gives people a sense of anonymity, which in turn gives them the excuse to almost lose a little bit of their human nature. When you can’t see the emotions of the person you are interacting with, of course it’s going to be a heck of a lot easier to say horrible, inappropriate things to them; it almost feels like you’re not even talking to another person, you’re just typing words.

The specific case that I want to talk about happened pretty recently, just right after New Year’s. A woman went on a rant on Facebook after she felt like she wasn’t given enough attention at a restaurant/bar when she was trying to pay her bill. The reason that she wasn’t given full attention was because a separate older woman had a heart attack, was thought to be dead, and employees were trying to help the situation. Now, what happened with her Facebook jab at the restaurant is the problem with a lot of controversial posts: the woman that went on the rant was both misinformed and had jumped the gun on making a post. She was misinformed because she had somehow thought that the woman who was thought to have been dead was a druggie who had overdosed. She had jumped the gun on making the post because if she had just waited, found out more information about the situation, and cooled down a little bit then probably none of this would have happened. After this woman had made the post, the managing partner of the restaurant gave a response that pretty much told the woman that she was misinformed, cold-hearted, and that her bill didn’t take precedence over a human life. All of these posts then went viral. Since then, this woman has seen some major backlash on many social media sites. Social media users have once again absorbed the mob mentality with this situation, sending her death threats, asking her employers to fire her, even mistakenly attacking someone who happened to have the same name. Yes, what the woman had posted was absolutely despicable and appalling, but that doesn’t give other people the right to publicly persecute her and even try to ruin her personal life. How many of these persecutors have posted something terrible on the internet that they most likely regret? Probably the majority of them since they definitely aren’t afraid to say awful things to this woman, even threaten to kill her. I really respect how the managing partner responded; it may have been harsh (which the woman definitely deserved), but he stood up for what was right in an appropriate manner. The people on both sides of this situation need to learn a lesson from him, instead of thinking they can say whatever they want just because they can.

The internet is an awesome tool with so many positive benefits, but all of this cyber bullying and people thinking they can attack others is both unethical and the internet’s biggest detriment. Once something is put on the internet, you can’t get rid of it nor can you take it back. Social media users desperately need to learn how to use these sites with caution. People need to realize that there is an actual living, emotional person on the receiving end of their bullying and harassment. If you feel uncomfortable saying something to someone face to face, then it also has no place on the web.

Sources: 

http://www.indystar.com/story/life/food/2016/01/04/kilroys-goes-viral-after-response-angry-customer/78252026

http://www.ditchthelabel.org/cyber-bullying-statistics-what-they-tell-us/ 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/behind-online-behavior/201408/the-psychology-behind-social-media-interactions

http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/08/hairdresser-sacked-after-complaining-new-years-eve-dinner-was-ruined-by-woman-having-heart-attack-5610374/

Social Media Change

Since I am a 22 year old college student, naturally I use social media every single day. If I’m not posting something myself, I’m scrolling through the news feed seeing what others thought was worthy to be put on the internet. As I have reflected on the past when social media wasn’t nearly as prevalent as it is today, I came to a pretty concrete conclusion: social media has significantly altered the way that we communicate in today’s society. Our ability to interact with other people has become so much easier and faster since the start of the social media trend. We are now better able to keep in contact and maintain relationships with people. For instance, most people don’t stay in constant contact with friends who have either moved away or even just moved on to a different stage in life (like me with my high school friends); social media makes it possible to see what’s going on in the lives of people that you care about when they are away from you, which I think is one of the best benefits of social media sites. The change in communication that I find the most interesting is the fact that we now have the opportunity to interact with people that we wouldn’t have been able to meet in our normal, everyday lives.  Millenial CEO wrote a great article describing how at our fingertips, we can communicate with people that we would never have even known existed without social media; someone in Laramie, Wyoming can easily communicate with someone in Melbourne, Australia within seconds. We also have the means to communicate with people that otherwise wouldn’t be able to hear our opinion; for instance, we can tweet a talk show host like Jimmy Fallon on our view of a certain topic or Justin Bieber about his latest concert. Now, whether they would read or listen to what we have to say is a different story. An event that I found particularly interesting happened in 2014 when the riots in Ferguson, Missouri broke out after Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer. During this event, many people were shocked when people all the way from Palestine were tweeting to the rioters in Ferguson, using the hashtag Ferguson, about different strategies of protection from tear gas. This proves just how easy and fast the spread of information and communication is via social media. Now, whether you think that social media has effected communication for the better or worse is up to you, but one thing is for sure: communication is not the same.  

Sources: http://millennialceo.com/social-media/social-media-changed-communicate/

http://www.ryot.org/palestinians-tweet-tear-gas-advice-to-ferguson-protesters/786953