COM0014 – Blog #7: Personal Reflection

This course has been incredibly helpful when it comes to concepts and the importance of storytelling when it comes to standing out and engaging readers through social media.  My favorite concept that I have learned is inverted pyramid writing, this concept was completely lost on me at the start of the course.  I for some strange reason always had the idea that you need to save the best for last and would always keep the interesting or important content until the end of my post/video. After reading and practicing the concept it made me realize how true and effective it is. I also started to realize how much and how often it worked on me while looking through social media, it entices you to keep reading rather than losing or never getting your attention in the first place. The other thing that I already knew to a degree but learnt a lot more throughout the course is the importance of studying and learning who your audience is in order to better communicate with them and gain more viewers of similar interests.

Overall this course has been very insightful and has benefited me and my story telling in many ways and I will continue to use these strategies as I go on.

COM0014 – Blog #6: Do People Know Your Story?

The biggest challenge for my business is unfortunately more traditional media such as radio and television when it comes to the news and weather.  The ski industry either thrives or dies off of what mother nature gives us, but unfortunately when we get the big snow falls and best ski conditions, medias such as the radio and news channels have become extremely dramatic about the conditions scaring people away from trying to get to the ski hills, when in fact the roads really aren’t bad at all. It’s taken a lot of effort on our part through our own social medias when these days happen to actually show people the conditions and that people are still skiing and having fun even with the snow.  It has definitely been interesting, the last 15cm snow day that we got we posted an article that was talking about this exact topic, and so many people agreed that the weather conditions are over dramatized on these medias, especially within Ontario.  So we are working really hard now on showing people that they don’t have to be locked inside and that they can still get outside and enjoy a fun day out on the hills.

COM0014 – Blog #4: B2C Case Study

When it comes to B2C business’ who are engaging with their consumers online, the absolute best example that comes to mind for me is Netflix.  To give a brief history, Netflix has been using social media to benefit them before even launching as a company, they targeting avid film buffs on internet chatrooms as well as Indy film reviewers in the 1990s before launching their DVD delivery service.

Now a day since Netflix is quickly becoming a very dominant business, they still use social media to benefit themselves and engage with customers daily.  The main one being Twitter, and since Netflix is different between each region, they all have separate accounts and banter back and forward which engages and entertains consumers. But what else is great from Netflix, is that through these accounts they acknowledge what people are saying and that they are listening to what the viewers want.  Netflix is great at so many things with social media, communicating and interacting with their customers as well as advertising is just the start of it.

Netflix’s approach to social media and B2C strategy is fantastic and shows for itself with the amount of success it has had, they have definitely put a lot of money and effort into it and it is definitely working.

COM0014 – Blog #3: Target Audiences

For my target audience I have chosen to do it on snowboarders as that is definitely one of my biggest hobbies, below are the results that I was able to find.

Demographics:

The biggest age group with the most snowboarders is between the ages of 12-17 and the second biggest age group is 65+ which I found pretty shocking while doing my research. The gender gap for snowboarding in 2015 was 61% male and 39% female.  It was found in 2015 that 70.9% of snowboarders speak English while as home, 18.8% speak French while at home, and 10.3 % spoke other languages.

Psychographic:

In 2015 it was found that the large majority of snowboarder household incomes are over $100k a year, and that 75.7% of all snowboarders have annual household incomes over $50k. It was also found that the large majority of snowboarders work full time vs part time.

Some ways that I think would be really good at connecting with these people would be online adds, commercials etc. because even though it might sound stereotypical, since most of them are making a good amount of money they are likely to spend a lot of time connected on the internet. I would definitely need to look more into location of where these people live and possibilities of attracting new comers.

COM0014 – Blog #2: Storytelling

Storytelling and communication styles vary for everyone, though with this week’s lesson I have learnt about a few things I never really thought of before. Passive vs, active voice is definitely the one thing I learned that I have never been told about or even heard of, but it really makes a lot of sense and I believe once I get used to it, it will really help me and my writing as I have never been much of a writer.

Another thing that I learnt while reading the lesson is the importance of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  Of course I already knew that it was important, but it really made me think about the importance of the structure of each sentence that I write.  It really made me realize that I need to learn to proof read multiple times and make sure my writing flows well, this is something I really need to practice and get better at, as I know I’m not the best when it comes to those things.

Overall with this lesson I have learnt many things, the most important being patience.  I tend to rush my writing which negatively affects it, and I know that I have a long way to go with my writing, but I am looking forward to practicing and getting better.

COMM0014 – Blog #1: My Last Vacation

Hawaii, what a magical place.  Just recently me and 2 very good friends took the trip of a lifetime to Kauai, Hawaii. With Hawaii not being one of the most affordable places in the world we had to figure out some fun ways to save money, so what did we do? We camped! Camping was definitely the best decision for this trip and I would recommend it to anyone, its waking up and going to sleep right on the beach to amazing sunrises and sunsets.

Most of our trip consisted of driving around the island exploring, meeting locals and finding the best places to go, best waterfalls to see, and of course, soaking up as much sun as we could get before it was back to the cold here in Canada.  I would say that each one of our days had at least 2-3 hours of hiking, and this hiking was not only intense but every place was just so breathtakingly beautiful.  One of the best that I would recommend is a hike to a place called “Secret Beach”, it’s a very secluded beach that is about an hour hike both ways from where you park, and it is so worth it.

As you can see in the picture I have at the top of this blog post, I got to cross off the number one thing on my bucket list, SKYDIVING!! I truly wish that I was able to put into words the feeling that you get as you are falling from 10,000 ft. in the air, it’s incredible.  The best way I can put it is that was somehow the most peaceful I have ever felt, I know that sounds strange and no one ever understands unless they have done it themselves.

I could go on about this trip long enough to write a novel, but what I am going to leave you with is a tip and a question.

TIP: When traveling, make sure that you are with people that you trust and truly get along with.

QUESTION: Have you been able to cross anything off of your bucket list? Tell me about it!

The False Reality of Social Media

Magnified illustration with the word Social Media on white background.

Let’s face it, in today’s world or Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube etc. we use social media to project the idea and perception of ourselves that we want people to see.  We post about the positives in our lives like our perfectly made food, big beautiful house or new car but rarely do people share the real struggles they may be going through.

This is something that I think is very relevant today and that everyone needs to be very aware of when using social media. We are constantly comparing ourselves to those that we see online.  Even when people post “real” photos or bad hair days or a messy room, its far giving an insight to a person’s true imperfections.   Now in no way am I saying people need to or should be posting such things on social media, I just think that we get so lost in the world of social media that we start to believe others “perfect” lives which is generally a false reality.

A good example of this that is relatable for the younger generation is YouTuber Elle Mills. Elle because YouTube “famous” incredibly fast, she always portrayed herself as a fun and charismatic girl.  Recently she began sharing her struggles with depression and the pressure she has felt to keep up her image, which has shocked a ton of her fans (me included), but this for me and so many others was a good reality check that no one is perfect and there is always more going on in a person’s life behind the scenes.

Have you ever noticed about how you may be doing this yourself? Or caught yourself comparing yourself to another’s social medias?

Is Social Media Negative for Your Mental Health? This might get candid…

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I want to start off this blog right away by saying I am very aware of all the positives of social media and the amazing things it has provided us with, but I want to use this platform to talk about the use of social media and how it can negatively affect a person’s mental health.  Not all the numbers and statistics that have been done over and over and always seem to have a different result, but through me and what I have been through and learnt.

Social media is a scary place, it’s a space where you can sit behind a screen and say whatever you want anonymously with next to no repercussions.  I absolutely hate to admit it but I have not only the receiving end of online bullying but been the one saying the negative hurtful things.  This is something I am ashamed to admit and will be burdened with my entire life, but I think it’s important to see both sides (though this in no way excuses what I did) I was in an incredibly dark place and I thought projecting hate would make me feel better about myself. No surprise, but this tactic did not work. The reason I am bring this up is let people know that bullies are not born, but made.  Almost every single person (no not all but most) people I have talked to about this, their hate came from a similar place as mine, wanting to make others feel bad in an effort to make yourself feel better.

The best advice that I have for anyone is making others feel bad will only make you feel worse, take breaks from the internet, don’t let it consume you, and if you are getting bullied the best thing to do? Block them! It took me so long to think of this and I don’t know why, you don’t need to read that negativity and let it bring you down.

While it may not be the greatest movie ever made, I’m linking the trailer to a movie I  recommend to everyone to watch that shows all these affects from multiple different angles and shows how fast it can happen is Cyberbully.

Do you have any similar stories to share? What are your thoughts on this negative side of social media, is there a way to avoid it?

 Is Social Media Negative for Your Mental Health? https://bit.ly/2pNKoD8

 Are You Contributing to Negative Social Media? https://bit.ly/2pNKoD8

 

3 Tips to Help You Unplug From Technology

Photo by Oleg Magni on Pexels.com

Do you ever catch yourself so focused on capturing a moment through your phone or simply just being distracted by it, that you missed what’s actually happening right in front of you? Me too! That’s why I have decided to compile this list of 3 tips to help you unplug from technology and focus more on the moment…

1.  Designated no phone time

I think that a great first step to unplugging is designating a couple hours each day to turning off all the devices and just enjoying yourself and/or other peoples’ company, whether it be dinner time, breakfast time, or maybe a couple hours before bed.

2.  Keeping the tech out of the bedroom

I know to some this may sound drastic, but I think that keeping the bedroom a technology free room is a HUGE step to giving yourself time to unplug at the end of each day as well as bright and early in the morning. Click HERE to read more.

3.  Have time for a hobby

Whether it be working out, meditating, arts and crafts, sports or whatever else you may be into.  Make sure to have yourself some me time doing something you enjoy that’s separate from the world of social media, something just for you to enjoy.

Unplugging is definitely a tricky thing to do in todays’ world of technology, but where there’s a will there’s a way! Let’s not let the world of technology stop us from making memories and having real intimate moments with the people we love.

Have you already tried any of these tips? If yes, comment below your experience and if you still use them today

3 Signs You Need to Unplug from Social Media

 

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

As we all know by now social media is a platform that can completely consume people.  But how do we know when enough is enough? Heres some signs that it may be time for you to put down the phone and unplug for a little bit!

1. When you post do you find yourself obsessing over the amount of likes/rts/comments you get?

Who doesn’t enjoy a little attention and praise every now and then when they post something? But when you find yourself NEEDing a certain amount of likes/rts/comments in order to keep something posted or feel okay with yourself than it may have come a little to far.

2. Constantly refreshing your feeds

Do you find yourself constantly refreshing your news feeds, or thinking about them when you don’t have access? Is checking your feed the first thing you do when you wake up and last thing you do before bed?

3. Missing out on real life experiences

Have you been noticing yourself missing things that happen right in front of you, or maybe you’re only seeing it through your screen so that you can post about it?  Or maybe people have to nudge you in order to get your attention away from the screen.

If you have found yourself falling into any of these habits I challenge you to step away from the devices and completely unplug! Now I’m not saying completely get rid of it, but a few hours a day unplugged could do us all some good!

Have you noticed you need to unplug? If so share your experience!

    3 Signs You Need to Unplug from Social Media: https://wordpress.com/nrrbhy

 

Are you addicted to social media? Find out here: https://wordpress.com/nrrbhy

 

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomward/2018/06/08/how-much-social-media-is-too-much/#585a5e6360e6