Blogging: From Struggle to Addiction

Blogging has always been a social media platform that I have struggled with the most. However, I believe it will be one habit that I continue to do when MC 495 is complete. More than likely my posts will not continue to be just about social media; however, I have enjoyed searching new topics related to social media.

I have actually discovered that blogging can be a way to relieve stress or an outlet. I like to write, but most of my writing these days is writing that I have to do, such as: a research paper or something of the sorts. I have discovered that blogging is a way to write for fun while writing for a cause.

I hope to continue to blog at least on a weekly basis if not more. With many new exciting things in the near future, I will probably have lots of things to write about and a lot of stress to be relieved through letting my fingers fly across the keyboard.

Blog topics to come:

• Alabama Football – ROLL TIDE
• The Christmas Holidays
• New Experiences
• Graduation
• Law School Choices
• New interesting things with Social Media and PR related topics

For the how to on blogging for fun, check out the following article: http://www.wikihow.com/Blog-for-Fun

Check out the following article about what blogging for fun can teach you about blogging for profit:  http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/12/12/what-blogging-for-fun-taught-me-about-blogging-for-profit/

Thanks to MC 495 for making me blog in the first place and now creating yet another social media addiction.

Last but not least, stay tuned to my blog for more from Laci.

Social Media Promotes Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales

Social media can be used in different ways during the holidays. Throughout the month of November, I have watched many people post what they are thankful for. I have also seen many different people post pictures of family as they have traveled to see family and friends during the Thanksgiving break.

The major thing I have seen through social media this holiday season is the promotion of Black Friday through the use of social media. I have seen various different applications that were available to download via my iPhone. I may have not been paying close attention to the app store last year, but this is the first year I remember seeing an application just for Black Friday. Like many have said over this MC 495 course, there is an application for everything these days.

I have received numerous emails regarding deals and discounts for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I am not willing to fit crowds in order to get a bargain; however, I may participate in Cyber Monday shopping because I would rather shop from the comfort of my warm bedroom on a computer.

Will you be participating in shopping on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? Did a certain social media promotion contribute to this decision? Is there a major item you are interested in or do you just like the adrenaline rush?

For ways to integrate social media into your holiday marketing strategy, check out the following article: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/11/social-media-holiday-marketing-strategy.html.

For ways to use social media to make your holiday shopping easier, check out the following article: http://www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/social-media/use-social-media-to-make-your-holiday-shopping-easier/article_c65363c2-33df-11e2-a921-101f742c6b16.html.

Video as Social Media

Before MC 495, I never thought of video platforms such as YouTube as a form of social media. MC 495 has shown me the importance of using video as an efficient social media tool.

While preparing our group project, I realized how video can be used to easily explain what other forms of social media cannot. When I first visited the client’s website, I had no idea of what the client was trying to sell. After watching their YouTube video that they had available on their website, I fully understood what their product was.

Since the beginning of MC 495, I have watched more YouTube videos than I have ever before in my life. It has became another form of social media addiction. I use it for many different reasons. I will use it to watch information videos, videos for a laugh, and of course to watch music videos or hear new songs.

5 ways to make video a social experience:

1. Post videos to your Facebook profile.

2. Be active on YouTube.

3. Join live-streaming sites.

4. Use the video functions on social aggregators.

5. Shoot your own video blog.

For more information, check out the following article from the Social Media Examiner: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-ways-to-make-video-a-social-experience/.

After MC 495 and our group video project, I will be looking for more ways to incorporate video into my use of social media use and will be looking at ways to incorporate video into any social media plans that I create.

Have you always associated video platforms such as YouTube as a social media platform? Will you begin to incorporate video use in your social media use?

Social Media and the Election

The use of social media was overwhelming in the election of 2012. This was the second Presidential election where social media was used. Social media was used during this election not only for the candidates to promote themselves, but it was also used to allow conversation between the voters on both sides of the political spectrum. This was evident not only on the day of the election, but also at other peek moments during the campaign trail. The nights of the different debates and the night of the election itself you could not get on Twitter or Facebook without  Twitter set an all-time record for a political event with 31 million tweets in the hours before the results. There were 327,452 tweets-per-minute at peak.

9 Concrete, Specific Things We Actually Know About How Social Media Shape Elections

1. People and campaigns mostly use social media for dissemination, not dialogue.

2. Campaign websites remain the hub of US Presidential campaigns.

3. But non-major parties tend to converse more on Twitter. Especially pirates.

4. Elite journalists converse, too — with each other.

5. But there’s a potential for nonelite, anonymous users to succeed.

6. Discussion tends to happen around news events that are already being covered.

7. So what remains special about social media is that nonelite users control distribution.

8. Participating more in political discussion online doesn’t necessarily increase political knowledge.

9. The huge effect social media have in elections, then, is that they allow nonelites to frame and distribute content made by elites. For better or for worse.

For more on information on these nine things, check out the following article: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/08/9-concrete-specific-things-we-actually-know-about-how-social-media-shape-elections/261425/.

For more information about the use of social media during the election of 2012, check out the following articles:

– http://investorplace.com/investorpolitics/election-2012-takes-social-media-by-storm/

– http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/11/election-night-2012-social-media-the-memes-photos-stats/

Social Media: Connecting everyone

If you have checked any form of social media tonight, you have probably read something about the Country Musica Awards otherwise known as the CMAs. It seems like every post I have seen tonight was something related to that. I felt like I did not even need to watch. I knew exactly what song had just been sung because everyone on Twitter was tweeting the lyrics to whatever song it was. Also, I knew from my TL who did not perform well or who performed the best. I watched my Twitter list and my newsfeed on Twitter as people celebrated or showed excitement if who they wanted to win won, and I also watched as people complained about how ridiculous it was that so or so won and how they did not deserve the award.

While I am a huge country music fan,  I am not one to get super excited or upset over the different awards shows. I do not even plan to watch them. As I was seeing the updates on my different social media platforms, I begin to think about how TV events like these have changed as social media has evolved. Back in elementary school when me and my friends were beginning to show interest in different types of music, we might have called up each other to chat about those type of things. Or as we grew to the middle school age, we may have chatted online using Yahoo, MSN, or AOL. Or as we grew to the high school age, we began to use MySpace and eventually Facebook and used text messaging to discuss events like these aired on TV.

Today, everyone discusses or voices their opinion to these events regardless if anyone even asks. You know how everyone feels or what everyone thinks within seconds of a performance ending, an award being received, or anything related to the event. Social media: connecting everyone, even when we don’t necessarily want to be connected.

LinkedIn: If you don’t have an account, you should

What is LinkedIn?

Check out the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVlUwwgOfKw

Before this class, I had a LinkedIn account, but I was not familiar with how it worked at all and I had never really even looked at my account. Through MC 495, I am beginning to grasp how LinkedIn works. I am also beginning to see what a beneficial tool that LinkedIn can be. I am slowly building my profile and making connections on the site. Just this week I have downloaded the application for my iPhone. This week I have also been looking for people who I have worked with in the past and began to make connections with classmates. I have even explained to friends what LinkedIn is and encouraged them to join, as well. The easiest way I have explained LinkedIn was by saying it is equivalent to a social media full of references or a social media of “who you know”.

How to Use LinkedIn Powerfully: 10 Tips to Know

1. Think about your goals.

2. Post a picture. Please. Of your face.

3. Use LinkedIn to remember names.

4. Make the most of your headline.

5. Post statuses.

6. Write a rich but concise summary.

7. Explore LinkedIn applications.

8. Add sections to your profile.

9. Connect with care.

10. Join and participate in groups.

For more information about these tips, check out Tracy Gold’s following article: http://socialmediatoday.com/tracycgold/479022/how-use-linkedin-powerfully-10-tips-know.

If you are not currently signed up, you should join LinkedIn because it is the “World’s Largest Professional Network”. It is the way to open doors without stepping outside of your apartment.

Social Media Revolution

SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION

I was sitting in class Tuesday and every form of technology that I had with me was without any battery life. It was then I realized how many uses social media has. I was needing to interact with my group for MC495 through the use of Facebook, I was needing to get information from an old roommate via Twitter, and the list goes on and on. Yet I could not complete any of these tasks because I lacked the ability to use technology thus not allowing me to use social media.

This video clearly shows the impact of social media in today’s society. Society as a whole revolves around social media today and this has become the norm to the point that much of society does not even realize that this is occurring.

Today’s society no longer revolves around hand-written information or spoken words. Social media has taken over. It is EVERYWHERE. Just look around? How many forms of social media do you see or use on a daily basis? The number is to large to count. You pick up a newspaper and you see an ad that gives a Twitter account to follow. You go to eat fast food and signs outside tell you to “Like” the establishment on Facebook. These are just examples. You go to watch a football game, and there is a hashtag painted in the end zone. These are just three examples of social media in everyday life.

Be observant. Look for social media. Count the ways that you see or interact with social media on a daily basis. You may just be surprised at really how often social media is present.

Social Media in the Workplace

How do you feel about social media in the workplace?

I strongly feel that social media is very important in most workplace environments. Almost every company could be benefited by some form of social media. One important thing to figure out is which platforms are best suitable for your business. To do that you must first look at your consumer and who you are trying to create interaction with because that determines which platform is best for you.

For instance, I would not recommend a company who was trying to communicate with an older audience to use Twitter. I would more recommend a platform such as Facebook because most of that age group have been or are beginning to use Facebook.

While I do believe that social media is important tool for businesses in today’s social media obsessed world, do not use it if you are not going to put the effort into it. A lack of consistency or other social media mistakes can potentially cause more harm then good.

So use social media, use it efficientally, and allow it to boost your business.

Erik Qualman makes a list of pros and cons in companies in his article,  http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1900169/14-social-media-pros-cons.

I have listed some from his list below:

Pros:

• Low hard costs compared to traditional marketing like print, television, outdoor, etc.
• Quick, honest, and detailed feedback from the customer.
• Allows for deeper engagements with customers.
• Similar to great brand marketing and customer service, the benefits of doing social media right can last for years.

Cons:

• Often, many benefits of social media are seen in the months to come rather than immediately. It shouldn’t be viewed like Google AdWords, which has a quick return. It should be viewed more like brand marketing and good customer service, which pays off in the future.
• Tools can quickly change; one day it is MySpace, Orkut, Friendster, and Bebo; the next day it’s Facebook and Mixi.
• There are a lot of hidden soft costs: it takes time to develop relationships with customers. In the offline world, developing relationships takes time and effort – the same holds true within social media.

 

Social Media: My Drug of Choice

This week I have been observing my use of social media and the people around me who use social media. I have came to the conclusion that social media is a major addiction. This week as I have been doing last minute studying for the LSAT, I noticed how much I truly use social media. Some days to get anything accomplished I had to turn my iPhone, iPad, and computer completely off in order to be productive with my studying in any way. One thing I have noticed is that I check Twitter, Facebook and Instagram unintentionally. I will go to check the time on my phone and thirty minutes later I will have never looked at the time, but I will have checked some form of social media possibly more than once. What makes social media such an addiction? I think there is multiple reasons why we live in a world that is consumed with social media. One reason I believe that we are consumed with it is because we do not want to be left behind or be the one who has missed the latest information. We have grown so use to being able to use technology to find out information that it has consumed our everyday lives. Have you ever tried to not use one form of social media or the other. I have deactivated my Facebook more than once, but yet I still have one today. Social media is truly an addiction in today’s society. Is it healthy that we have such a dependency on social media?

For an interesting read about social media being an addiction, check out the following article:  http://socialmediagroup.com/2012/02/09/karly-im-addict/

All about your KLOUT score

What is a Klout score? A Klout score is suppose to be your influence online. My Klout score is currently 52. I would consider myself to be an avid user of social media. The social media form that I use most frequently is Twitter. I tweet multiple times a day. My Facebook posting has declined lately as I have lost interest in the site, but I still post every now and then. I post pictures to Instagram at least a couple of times a week. With all my uses of social media, I was not surprised that my Klout score was not extremely low. But how can your online influence be truly measured?

In the past two weeks my Klout score has rose from the low forties to its current score. How can influence increase that much in a short amount of time? With the large increase in score without a large increase in activity, I am not sure how accurate this score can possibly be.

While there are certain aspects of Klout I am not sure of as, I found somethings that I liked when I was wandering around the site. I do think it is interesting that you can see who influences your post and who you influence you. I also found that those listed as “influenced by” and “influences” to be correct or atleast the people I connect most with on social media.

What is your Klout score, and do you think it is correct?

For more information about KLOUT or to get your Klout score visit their official blog: http://corp.klout.com/blog/.