Assignment 5

For my event, I attended a Hootsuite Webinar entitled “Social Media Trends to Put into Practice in 2017”.

I chose to attend this webinar to get an idea of what to look for in the next year. I wanted to be ahead of the game in marketing and maybe push the boundaries a little bit. The Webinar was run by Erin Jacobson the VP of Digital for Western Canada at Edelman and Cameron Uganec the Senior Director for Growth Marketing and Education at Hootsuite. I learned a lot from their insight, especially about how there is a serious shift away from vanity metrics in Social Media now.  It was also great that we were able to ask questions directly via Twitter, however mine were not selected.

Some ideas I walked away with were:

• that organic reach is in decline
• video is the way of the future
• work and social media are melding
• increase in pay to play marketing
• platforms are finding their niches

Finally, a great quote “Social catches up to the Search for discovery”. This really hit me and will be my social media mantra tis year!

 

Webinar https://hootsuite.com/webinars/enterprise/social-media-trends-to-put-into-practice-in-2017

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In my time working in social media, I have found some interesting applications to help me work. Here are a few!

Hootsuite:

Hootsuite is a social media management tool. It allows you to monitor and cross post on any social media platform. You can also run analytics of how you’re doing at any time! Hootsuite is not free, however it is well worth it if you are building a brand or business.

Layout:

Layout is a free app from instagram that allows you to create photo collages. I find this especially helpful when you want to show a range of items on one post.

Google Analytics:

Seen here, Google Analytics helps you build a brand and always keep on top of what works and what doesn’t when using social media as a marketing tool.

 

 

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My present strategy is to follow as many people on wordpress, instagram and facebook as possible in the same circle as me. For my personal brand that would be poets and writers. I read and like and follow and even message others for advice or to comment.

The only activities I’m continuing are to keep posting and building my circle so others will share my work and build my following. I also plan to attend some local writer’s meetups and workshops to meet others in person as well.

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One organization with an impressive social media strategy is teeki. They are a yoga clothing brand with a really strong presence on Instagram. They gear towards a really specific group: Young women 19 -30 who are eco-conscious and love yoga. Their entire strategy is amazing shots of young women wearing their brand doing yoga in gorgeous scenery. They also often post inspirational spiritual quotes that meet their brand. A few examples of their Instagram:

 

 

Their Instagram posts really speak to their demographic and engage the customer to want to live the brand’s lifestyle.

I unfortunately really struggled to find a brand without a strong social media presence wh could use a strategy, and as yet have come up with nothing.

COM011 Post 6 Social Media and NPD

Roughly 1 in 25 people are diagnosed with a strange disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). The characteristics of NPD are:

• Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
• Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
• Exaggerating your achievements and talents
• Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
• Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people
• Requiring constant admiration
• Having a sense of entitlement
• Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations
• Taking advantage of others to get what you want
• Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
• Being envious of others and believing others envy you
• Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner

Now think about the average Instagram profile. Think about why people post everything they do to social media. See the correlation? I’m not one of those people who attributes all of modern society’s failings to social media. I think social media can be great for marketing, keeping in contact long distance and exposure to new cultures and ideas. However, there is a culture within social media that is inherently narcissistic. Many social media accounts are just endless selfies and tirades. Our culture has created such a sense of individuality over community that it has given power to and a platform to narcissists. Think Kanye West or Donald Drumpf. Recently, Kanye got into a twitter fight with another rapper saying horribly misogynistic things and insults to the other man’s child. All over a perceived dig at his album. This is a man who is so inept at taking any criticism, that he takes to social media to rant. All he can say is that he is great, an artist, a revolutionary.

The rise of social media has given everyone a bit of a narcissistic streak. A study in the Uk found that half of teenagers’ goal in life is to be famous. Growing up in an environment where it is normal to constantly post pictures of oneself and be judged at face value can only lead to narcissism in any generation. The pressure to always look good and make it seem like you are doing something exciting is not necessarily healthy. Also, social media has a way of making you feel like a mini celebrity. You base your worth on likes and followers. The feeling that people are admiring you and want to know you. e have created an environment where the norm is to be self-obsessed and be fed by constant admiration.

We idolize celebrities who post selfies all. day. long. Many people want to show that they too are living a high end life and emulate these people.

There needs to be a balance, kids need to be taught a balance. We need to instil what the difference between the internet and reality is. We need to teach the ability to find worth in doing rather than admiration. No one will do well if we all become narcissists.

Learn more bout Narcissism and Social Media here.

COM011 Post 5: Equine Emergency

As I have previously mentioned, I am an Equestrian. I ride English Hunter/Jumper and have dabbled in Dressage. I am obsessed with horses. Since breaking my elbow riding, I have dreamt of riding every night, pushed myself in physio to get back out there. I’m obsessed. A lot of my love of horses stems from my love of animals in general. In my years working with Horses, I have seen some pretty horrible things.

The Horse industry is a mess. There are many ethical people who love their animals and treat them well in the community. Many. I do not dispute that. However, there are many who do not. They see these intelligent and kind animals as property and do not care about their well being. Once the horse can’t race anymore, or work it is sent to slaughter. Knowing horses as I do I can tell you how particularly cruel this is.

The horse I was riding, the horse that threw me is a beautiful Grey Appendix Mare. She is 8 years old, no issues except for a few melanoma tumours. She is not ill or dying, the tumours are benign. She has beautiful form and loves to jump and work. This horse was rescued from an auction where she was set to be sent to slaughter. Horses can live up to 40 years, and she is 8. The reason? The lumps on her neck weren’t that pretty and she might die as early as 17. That’s it. The damage this has caused to her is immense. She now has severe trust and behavioural issues and sometimes lashes out. This is not her fault, we did this to her. Imagine spending the first 8 years of your life somewhere, and then one day a trailer comes and your taken away. You don’t know why or where you’re going. You never see the people you bonded with again.

We made horses they way they are for our benefit. They grow to rely on us and trust us. In fact, studies have shown that horses are capable of reading human emotions. Anyone who has bonded with one can attest to this. We have a responsibility to care for them and respect them. Like any animal. There is another way, stricter rules on breeding for example. Supporting your local horse rescue. Banning racing, which is the worst culprit of abuse and neglect.

They don’t have a voice, they need ours.

COM011 Post 4: I Need a Doctor!

Some of my coursemates may have noticed I’ve missed a few Blog posts and am now catching up. Well, a bit of background, I am an avid equestrian and was thrown from my horse and broke my right elbow. This made typing fairly difficult and I am only now beginning to regain my ability to write and type etc.

Anyway, this experience has led me to a lot of contemplation about the Canadian Healthcare System. I have to say, I can’t complain. Did I spend 6 hours in the ER with a broken elbow and no pain killers waiting for help? Yes. Did the attending physician seem at all invested in my care? No. Was my Orthopaedic Surgeon 2 hours late to every appointment? Yes. Was this all extremely annoying? Yes.

However, it was free. I paid a total of $30 between my sling and painkillers, so not totally free, but pretty close. My sister is about to have her second child, get another year of paid maternity leave. She won’t be leaving the hospital with a bill. Just her baby. I understand the waits are hard, and yes, there is a lot of room for improvement in the healthcare system. Is it as good as in Germany? Not by a long shot, but we pay lower taxes.

The next time you are angry or frustrated with the medical system here remind yourself that unlike in the US, you will get care. You will not go into debt over it. In the US, what I went through could have cost me anywhere from $500 – $3000. I make $14 an hour. That is a week and half to two months pay for a broken elbow, factoring in that I have been off work for the last month to heal. That is insanity.

Keep that in your head when you want to complain in the ER. You could be waiting in the ER and leave with a $3000 bill at the end. Could be worse.

COM011 Post 3: The Wage Gap

So the news has come out that the US Women’s Soccer Team is filing a discrimination suit for equal pay. All I hear from men in the industry (I’m looking at you, Landon Donovan) and men in day to day life is the following:

– They should quit whining, they make enough.
– They should be negotiating for better deals like we did!
– They don’t make enough revenue to get paid the same, no one watches Women’s Soccer!
– They should expect less, they knew what they were getting into with Women’s Soccer.

There’s more but that seems to be the baseline. Let me break this down simply; it’s not just about Soccer, it’s every industry. This represents women in every field of work. This is just a prime example of what has been happening since women entered the workforce. The US Women’s Soccer team is set to make $8 million more than the men’s team this year. Winning the World Cup brought in $20 million more in revenue than the men. Yet the star players get paid hundreds of thousands less than their male counterparts; Example:

Landon Donovan made $4.25 million last year.

Abby Wambach made $200,000.

That is a huge difference. Personally, I’m of the opinion no athlete should make over $250,000 and no one needs that sort of money, but that’s an entirely different issue. Women aren’t just whining. We aren’t making this up. Women are making significantly less than men in a variety of fields.

How are we supposed to negotiate for better when we are already at a disadvantage based on our gender? We hear excuses like “well women take time out of their careers to have families etc.”. So we should be penalized for being pregnant? For having a family? Why don’t men get penalized for it? Why aren’t they held back in their careers?

Why do only women face the choice of career or family?

Women are just as intelligent, strong and qualified as any man in any field with the same experience and qualifications. No woman should be paid less based on her gender, and we as a society need to stop putting women down and saying it doesn’t happen. We need equality in every sense.

A Plea to My American Friends COM011 Blog Post 2

It’s hard to escape at this point the circus of the American election right now. With a ringleader like Donald Trump, it’s hard to ignore it. It’s too easy to comment on the GOP however, their buffoonery is its own commentary. I simply have a plea to the half of (in my opinion) Americans who are sensible, the Democrats.

I may be Canadian, but American politics affect my country so I somewhat keep track of them. It’s hard not to be #feelingthebern right now. Really hard. In my opinion Bernie Sanders is not only the best choice to me, he’s also exactly what America needs to fix herself. However there is one issue not a lot of people are talking about. Regardless of whether you are for Hillary or Bernie, my American Democrat friends, vote.

I don’t particularly like Hillary’s platform, I don’t even think she’s the best feminist choice. Her uterus, sadly, does not qualify her to represent women. Bernie does a much better job of it. But, no matter how vehement you are a supporter of Bernie you are, if he does not win the nomination, Democrats, get out and vote for Hillary.

No, I wouldn’t want to either. Yes, I’d be angry about my chose candidate losing. However, if Bernie is out, Hillary is the least of all the evils. Minus Bernie, Hillary is still better than Trump, Cruz or Rubio. A moderate Democrat is still better than a Republican. So if the Bern loses and your only choice is Hillary, support her. You will need her Supreme Court nominations. They will be better than any Republican candidate. You will need her party advising her.

She may not be the best choice of all of them, but vanilla ice cream is better than an empty bowl.

How Social Media Made Me a Feminist COM011 Post 1

Feminsim. Just the word evokes visions of militant hairy women shouting. It is such a polarizing word. Some people think feminism means more rights for women than men. I’m not sure where they got the idea, but it is extremely harmful to everyone. I will not take up this space complaining about the MRA, however. I don’t have the time it would take for me to rant. Instead, I want to share my journey to feminism in hopes those who stereotype it will relate and open their minds.

I was never a feminist. For years I would not describe myself as one and thought all of them were crazy feminazis. I wanted to be the “cool girl”, I pretended to be the “cool girl”. The “cool girl” is not a feminist. She is not there for women, she is all about serving men. Then something started to happen, I aged a bit. I got tired of pretending. I got tired of shoving down my feelings and acting like I didn’t care. Once I started to shed that skin, I started to see all the ways in which society hurt women. From rape culture to the wage gap. I started to read articles and books about feminism and I woke up. The myth about society’s visions of feminism is that it’s not just for women. Feminism is good for everyone.

Men; have you ever been told to “man up” or “grow a pair”? Have you ben mocked for feeling or being interested in anything traditionally seen as feminine? That’s why you need feminism too. Men should be able to openly express themselves without ridicule. Also, they don’t deserve to be put in a box and told how to act. If women everywhere are educated and empowered, all the burden of being a provider does not fall on men’s shoulders. We can share it. When women are equal to men, we share all of life’s burdens equally, that only benefits society as a whole.

What’s funny is that for a world that loves to use up resources, so many places ignore their greatest one; women. Many studies show that when a country begins to educate and empower it’s women, the entire society benefits. Half the population of so many places are not being constructive members of the society because the hyper patriarchal culture keeps them in the home instead of in the workforce. If every man in the world were a feminist, believed in women being equal, who knows what kind of world we could be living in now.

My journey to feminism was brought on largely by Social Media. It started with #everydaysexism on Twitter. I watched the TED talk after. Then another documentary. Then I was lead to read Simone de Beauvoir’s work, then Gloria Steinem. The deeper I got, the more I realized the ways misogyny had impacted my life. How many times I had been groped in a bar and accepted it because society told me my body was not mine. It opened me up to seeing how women are treated in countries like Saudi Arabia, and informed me about the women being blamed for their own rapes in Sri Lanka. I hope Social Media will create an entire generation of strong, feminist men and women as it did for me.

Women’s rights are human rights. No one loses out with gender equality, and we should all fight for it.