End of the Semester Reflection

So the semester is almost over and I can honestly say I have learned much more than I had anticipated. Things that we learned about like the personal learning networks have helped me broaden my reach with the social media sites I used, like twitter. Of course, in the scope of social media, personal learning networks can be very beneficial because they can target and get the attention of different kinds of people that you would want to get the attention of. For example, in the context of this class, I had social media experts in my PLN and received some followers because of how I would associate with these experts online.

Another big learning experience during this semester was working with a real client. My group and I worked with the Foundation for the Education of Young Women, which was an interesting experience because they were not trying to use social media like a company would, but wanted to utilize social media to keep alumni in their network connected. This made us have to think about the material we learned a little bit differently. We learned most of the material from the perspective of a business, so we had to take that into consideration when we gave our clients information about how to utilize social media. Overall, this project was a great learning experience and opened me up to what social media has to offer.

Some Ideas for our Class Project

In order to increase the involvement, and growth in Facebook page for the Foundation for the Education of Young Women, I want to figure out ways that would encourage people to participate in the Facebook group more. One idea my group and I discussed was using incentives like rewards or gift cards to encourage participation. Someone could win the reward by participating in a scavenger hunt, or another game that requires some level of engagement. For example, they could post a status on the Facebook page that asks its members to take a picture in front of one of the schools involved in the organization in order to win a gift card or other small gift. This would make members of the Facebook page take notice of current happenings on the page, as well as have something to look forward to involving the Facebook page. Another idea we talked about could be to highlight the academic achievements of members of the page which would be fitting because it is an educational organization. This would keep the content of the Facebook page new and relevant while also acknowledging the achievements of the members of the Facebook page.

The Influence of Facebook

One thing that Facebook has been known for has been its great amount of influence. Facebook not only is one of the primary social networking sites, but also has several other companies under its wing. Some of these other companies include the Whatsapp messaging application for smart phones, and Oculus VR which is developing the latest technology in virtual reality. I think these acquisitions are positioning Facebook to be much more than a  social media site, and instead reach everyone in very different ways. People use Whatsapp and Oculus in very different ways, which are not exclusively related to social media, but also enhance communication in ways that have not been possible until recently. The impact of these things has yet to be fully expressed, but I am optimistic in the future of Facebook, and its subsidiaries.

Update on Our Class Project

As I have talked about before on this blog, my classmates and I are working on a project to help an organization better utilize their social media with what we learn in class. We are going to talk about LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. I am going to be talking about Facebook, specifically how to increase engagement. One thing that I will explore is different incentives to use to encourage more users to engage the alumni Facebook page for the Foundation for the Education of Young Women. Another classmate will be talking about what kind of content will be best suited for their Facebook page. That is what we are focusing on the most for Facebook, in order to increase engagement and provide a place where alumni from different schools that the foundation supports can communicate and connect.

What Nike Can Teach You About Social Media

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     There are things about social networking that I have learned through some of my interest like collecting sneakers. This hobby is not something that personally invest a lot of time and money into, but there are people who dedicate almost all of their available money and time to the acquisition of rare and highly sought-after sneakers. I have learned a few things from reading twitter accounts like @nikestore, which is the twitter account of the Nike website. Some of the things I learned are:

  • To peak the interest of the general public, keep them guessing.

@Nikestore did this when they put a status alluding to new options for customizing sneakers with the Nike ID program. This got people asking many questions and speculating as to what they would reveal.

  • Make sure to reply to as many questions as you can.

Nike is good about replying to customers who ask questions about the availability, sizing, and other specifics about upcoming sneaker releases. This keeps your audience engaged encourages them to continue asking questions

  • Take the opinions of your audience into consideration.

Many people in the sneaker community complain about automated programs that give some people the upper hand in getting sneakers from online releases. There disdain for such programs is very obvious and there has been pressure on Nike for a while to address this issue. Recently Nike started implementing a captcha-like extra step to curb the use of the automated programs, or “bots,” from scooping up all the sneakers before others are able to.

These steps that Nike has taken have satisfied customers, and keeps their social media an integral part of their operations. This goes to show how much of an importance social media interactions have on corporations.

Laying the Groundwork for our Social Media Project

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My group and I have been working on ways in which we can improve the social media usage of the Foundation for the Education of Young Women, and we know now that we will be focused primarily on their Facebook page. I look forward to getting more involved with their Facebook page because Facebook is something me and my classmates are probably most familiar with. I think Facebook is a great tool to spread awareness because whatever you post is being directly broadcasted to people who know you personally, granted you only accept the friend requests of friends and acquaintances. This familiarity may encourage someone to take the extra click necessary to visit your website or listen to your music, which increases your chances of having that person further spread  your content to their network. I have only used Facebook to keep in touch with friends and state updated with the organizations I am involved with, but I look forward to using Facebook as a means to help an organization spread their message.

The Foundation for the Education of Young Women

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In my Social Media for Public Relations class is doing a group project in which we get into groups, and help a local organization better utilize social media to spread awareness of their cause and draw more attention to their organization. My group and I are going to be working with the Foundation for the Education of Young Women. This organization aims to raise the graduation rate of young girls, specifically in Texas, by supporting programs to enhance education at all-girl schools. I wanted to give a bit of background on the organization we will be working with before going into the details of what we will be doing with this organization. But we will be utilizing the things we have learned in class to expand on this organization’s social media presence and ability.

The Importance of Headlines

With all of the existing content on the internet, it is hard to sift through and find exactly what you want sometimes.  One factor that I think is extremely important is a good headline. Headlines grab the readers’ attention, and also give the readers a heads-up as to what the article is about. A good headline could be the difference between something that is read hundreds of times and something that gets buried underneath the countless other posts and articles on the internet. For me, headlines have a great deal of influence and can be the deciding factor for whether or not I take the time to click a link or read an article or blog post.

Coca Cola Super Bowl Ad Controversy

Today, as many of you know, the Denver Broncos played the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. As is tradition many companies came out full force with their advertisements. One such advertisement that has already garnered a lot of attention for the wrong reason is a Coca Cola ad, in which “America The Beautiful” is sung in different languages, symbolizing America as a melting pot of different cultures. Some people thought the ad was downright unpatriotic and are calling for a boycott of Coca Cola. Personally, I think that it is a little embarrassing some think it is an outrage for Coca Cola to celebrate the thing that America is perhaps most well-known for: Diversity. I thought the ad was tasteful and well-done. I invite anyone to leave their opinion of this controversy in the comments.

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