COM0011 – Introduction to Social Media: Blog 6: Some ways social media will change future of a business.

There is no doubt that social media platforms are here to stay in our modern world.
From Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others, the way people engage and use information is a result of how businesses market that information to them.

When it comes to driving more sales, website traffic or launching a new product campaign, social media will always be there to determine how businesses can create brand awareness and see how well customers are for or against a certain product or service.

Key demographics are crucial for any business to determine its future growth and when cost is taken into consideration, the amount spent on a campaign and its return on investment will truly reveal a business’ outcome.

The above is just some ways social media will play a future role in business. What do you consider to be the future of social media or different types of platforms?

Reference:

5 Ways Social Media will change the future of your business

COM0011 – Introduction to Social Media: Blog # 5 – Has Facebook lost its edge?

Why is it whenever something is not as popular as it used to be, people seem to predict its demise? Lately it seems that social media network ‘Facebook’ is getting this treatment as more users are not uploading or posting personal updates about their lives.

Social media is alive and well through many channels, and Facebook is just one source of networking, but as time goes by, there will be new networks for people to try and that can give Facebook users a break too. In all fairness, it is like trying out a competitor’s product to see if there are other choices to use social media. Everything is cyclical, and Facebook will always be there for users to have as an outlet to post text and viral videos, etc.

Facebook has changed the landscape over how people use social media and post content for others to view. It will always have its ups and downs for users, but its decline does not mean its demise – just a put on hold until another worthy post comes around.

What do you think of Facebook overall? Has it reached its peak of overall use? Or does it still have room for growth for people to use? I’d love to read your opinions.

References:

Facebook Users Are Sharing Fewer Personal Updates and It’s a Big Problem

Blog # 4: Proofreading crucial in a social media campaign

With all the great intentions that a company has with a social media campaign, there are times that human error plays a part, and the backlash of consumers and followers have no trouble to reveal the error.

In 2015 there were many companies that believed their social media campaigns were going in the right direction, but due to carelessness or not proofreading the final product going out resulted in some embarrassing Public Relations that led to the company’s nightmares.

Department store Bloomingdales had a 2015 Christmas catalog ad campaign that featured a man and woman, but the ad’s context was taken as ‘date rape’.
In 2015 an ESPN analyst linked what he thought was a highlight video in his tweet, but it turned out to be a link to pornography. Again, this should have been proofread by the analyst as he represented a sports company.

When a social media campaign goes south for a company, it takes a long time to get the trust back for some loyal customers/ consumers, etc. A company can always avoid this by getting the facts correct and to make sure that what goes out is actually what they intend their followers to know.

Have you had any similar moments by catching a company off guard by their social media campaign? I would like to know what you think.

References:

http://www.cio.com/article/3012772/social-networking/top-10-social-media-misfires-of-2015.html#slide7
http://www.cio.com/article/3012772/social-networking/top-10-social-media-misfires-of-2015.html#slide6

COMM11 – Blog Post #3 – Celebrity Heroes and Social Media

Since the beginning of January 2016, the world has witnessed the passing of many great rock stars and other favorite Hollywood celebrities. But now the news about their passing is known by just the press of a button or watching it on television and other mediums. The word gets out so fast and in no time everyone is weighing on discussion about the loss of someone so great.

Musical artists like David Bowie, Glenn Frey from the Eagles and most recently Prince have passed away, but the worldwide reaction using social media tools like Twitter and Facebook have made it faster for people to know what is going in the entertainment industry’s loss. The fans get to react with other fans to voice and express their opinions of the loss. As time goes by, fans learn more and more about what happened to their favorite icon, and they get to purchase past musical merchandise or new ones put out by the artist’s record company. Fan bases and other web blog sites become a place of interest for them to remember and preserve the memories of past shows and other items for a lifetime.

Social media outlets have allowed fans to speak their minds on their idols whether positive or negative. It is with these tools that will keep musical icons in people’s minds for a very long time.

What are your thoughts on how social media portrays the death of musical and Hollywood celebrities? Does social media make them even more immortal?

 

References:

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/david-bowie-death-celebrities-pay-tribute-social-media-n493821

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/glenn-frey-dead-celebrities-pay-tribute-to-the-eagles-star-on-social-a6820401.html

 

http://www.wetpaint.com/celebrity-deaths-2016-1466194/

COM0011 – Introduction to Social Media – Blog # 2 – Branding in Professional Wrestling

When I was young, I was roped into the world of Professional Wrestling. Now some will say that Professional Wrestling is not a sport, it’s more of Sports Entertainment. But the fact that it still exists today proves that certain branding techniques have helped the industry gain more and more followers on a daily basis.

Professional wrestling, a performing art, is a popular form of entertainment in Australia, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Japan. It developed in the early 20th century, with predecessors in funfair and variety strongman and wrestling performances, which could often involve match fixing, in the 19th century.

During the 1980’s when cable Tv started to grow in various markets in North America, it gave Professional Wrestling the exposure it needed to gain fans worldwide, and it also used pop culture and world events to make people aware of its brand. Some of the more popular wrestling federations are World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Total Non-Stop Action and the WWF (now the WWE). Each federation has its own wrestling stars and to this day, different branding techniques or devices are used to get more fans over with a certain wrestling product and wrestlers. Before social media, one would watch wrestling on tv or buy magazines to get updates on their favourite wrestlers. But in today’s modern world, social media has literally exploded and that allows wrestlers and their federation to connect with fans like never before. Some of the ways are having their own Facebook page, twitter account, instagram accounts, doing live fanzone meet and greets before a wrestling show. Many wrestlers like to connect with fans so that they can keep in touch with them and keep track should they do something outside the ring some day.

Since the 80’s some of the biggest names like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage have kept Professional Wrestling in the minds’ of fans to this day. Most wrestlers have a gimmick that allows fans to recognize them. That gimmick becomes a branding technique that is recognized for decades to come. Entrance theme songs and a finishing move are just a few ways of doing that. A lot of wrestlers have retired have come and gone, but even with social media, fans can go back and relive some of the moments that they prefer. Merchandise with their logos on them help carry the wrestling to attract new fans of sports entertainment. Out of all the federations, WWE has been the most successful when hosting different cities for wrestling events, even the biggest one of all – WRESTLEMANIA. Their constant branding of wrestlers and their products in so many markets worldwide have helped them grow to new heights and levels that other wrestling organizations can only imagine.

In today’s society, other sports like Mixed Martial Arts have tried to compete with wrestling, but wrestling has been around so long and can be found in just about any part of the world, that it would be hard to see it fizzle out due to the branding and marketing it receives on social media.

What are your views? I invite you to discuss if sports entertainment has done all it can to become what it is today. Do you have a favorite wrestler?

 

References:

http://www.wwe.com/

http://impactwrestling.com/

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

http://ricflair.com/

https://twitter.com/Hulkhogan

Looking at some of the Pros & Cons of Social Media

Hello, this is my first blog experience, and I wanted to focus on social media itself when it comes to pros and cons, because nowadays social media is everywhere, and one can not escape its presence in our daily lives. Although there are many pros and cons to social media, I wanted to focus on a few that I believe are important factors.

Pros: Putting oneself out there in a positive way – This is the chance to make a name for anyone out there who wants to get their name known to the world. If it is with a product or service, then getting the word out is so important using the right tools in social media. Facebook, email, twitter, Instagram are just a few outlets people use to get the word out. Once the word gets out, one can make new friends and have loyal clients when it comes to goods or services. The use of surveys online can be a positive spin in determining future growth of one’s inventories.

Cons: Some people who are trying to get their message out may not know when they unintentionally post material on sites that may be deemed inappropriate to others. This can cause negative feedback and irreparable damage to one’s reputation. Gossip or rumors can come about, some involving legal action. One important thing to remember is if a blog site is not properly protected by anti-spam software, then hackers can invade the site leaving a permanent damage to a site.

Social media has come a long way, and it is here to stay in our lives. As the future progresses in social media, new types of software and gadgets will help change the landscape to get the word across about certain product or service.

 

https://sites.google.com/site/bhsdigicitizenship/social-media/pros-cons-of-technology