autumnecockroft

[autumnecockroft]

Week 8

Though I have given my client, Boomerang Backpacks, the advice I believe will help them become a social organization, it is not so simple. Implementing social media successfully can be a tough task, so there may be some challenges.

One challenge is that the employee may get overwhelmed. At this time Boomerang Backpacks only has one employee: the Executive Director. She already has a lot on her plate, so adding another task (social media) may be a challenge. Although, as the lecture video states, it is not all about numbers. Some of the biggest organizations, with the biggest budgets, are less successful than smaller teams. 

Another challenge may be to get all of BB’s board in agreement. A lot of times, older people can be more resistant to the benefits, since the board is made up of mostly older members, that is a concern. It will be very important to get the whole team on board with the goals, objectives, and voice. 

Lastly, BB’s social media journey will begin with a very small budget. As things kick off, eventually that budget will grow. For now, the organization will have to be creative and strategic about where that funding goes.

All in all, though there will be challenges, I have full faith Boomerang Backpacks can become a social organization. 

[autumnecockroft]

Good afternoon, Caitlyn!

Thanks for sharing. You bring up a great point-- effective content is crucial to meet your business goals. One thing I found interesting from modules three and four was the discussion about curated vs. created content. Before, I was mostly focusing on created content, when curated content has so many benefits. Plus, Hootsuite even says organizations should post more curated than created content. Great post and good luck on finals!

Sincerely,

Autumn

Week 7 Blog Post

After finishing modules 3 & 4 on Hootsuite, we learned about different content strategies along with content creation. Our question one for this week is “discuss how effective content is developed and shared.” Creating and sharing content can be the most important thing for your marketing and advertising side of business. Your business will not thrive properly like it should unless you use social media to your advantage and share content about your product/business. I think that is something we can all agree on. If you lack in that area, you wont get as much business as your business plan had hoped. Putting a lot of time and effort into this area will allow you to be where you want to. As we read, creating the right content at the right time can help with making sure all of your audience sees and understands the purpose of your post. It’s good to do this frequently so you’re still advertised for and not something that people forget about. Effective content is content that is thought out and has a purpose and is posted at the right time. Whether it’s a weekly announcement or something that may be important to your business/product. For example, my non-profit organization that I did my project on is with a woman named Jeanette, you lost her daughter to Cystic Fibrosis. She opened up the non-profit in remembrance of Chelsea. An example of good timed posting could be for her to post on Chelsea’s birthday, and share stories. This would make it personable and allow her audience/followers to connect with her on a more personal level. 

Our question for the second part of this post reads, “What does becoming a social organization have to do with the principles of effective content development and sharing?” In order to become a successful social organization and hit your projected goals, you must have good outcomes and responses when it comes to sharing effective content. For a business, you need to realize what posts help your business, and what posts are not helping your business and essentially are a waste of time. A business needs to be good at developing effective content that they share and allow that to reach all of their target market groups along with any outside audience. Knowing the principles of effective content development and sharing and executing them is the key way to achieving and becoming a social organization. 

I hope you all have a good week! 

[autumnecockroft]

Good afternoon, Madison! Thanks for sharing-- you made some great points. I’m glad you reiterated the importance of a content strategy. Without a clear plan of what you want to accomplish, things could get off track very easily. Adding a content calendar to the mix is even better! This is something I never considered before this class. Great post. 

Sincerely,

Autumn

Week 7 Blog Post

After completing modules 3 and 4 of Hootsuite, I learned how effective content can be developed and shared. Module 3 stressed the importance of aligning your social media strategy with your organizational goals. This is how organizations make sure that their social media content is effective. For example, the company I am working on is an accounting firm. Their organizational goals revolve around gaining more clients. In order for their social media content to be effective, they must attempt to accomplish this goal through their social media posts.

Along with aligning overall strategies, content strategies are also important. Following a content strategy helps the organization keep a cohesive story behind their brand. With every post following the same strategy, consumers won’t get mixed ideas about your brand. This also helps the company focus on their specific target market and understand what is performing well.

Content calendars are another tool for developing and sharing effective content. These calendars make sure that your company is consistent with their posting schedule on different platforms. It also makes sure that your posts are well thought out and intentional. A helpful aspect of a content calendar is that you can keep track of which posts performed well and which didn’t. This helps your company tailor their content to be more engaging with their followers. 

The principles of effective content development and sharing play a major role in becoming a social organization. Once a company has an understanding on how to post effective content, they ultimately develop a larger audience that is more engaged. This type of interaction with their followers can make the company a social organization. Following the strategies I mentioned above will benefit companies in accomplishing this goal. There is a lot of strategy involved in growing your following on social media and making sure that your followers are always engaged.

[autumnecockroft]

Week 7

After completing modules three and four on Hootsuite, I learned what it takes to develop and share effective content. To my surprise, there is a lot that goes into social media content. Without effective content that will engage your audience, social media is pointless. The first thing an organization should do is create a content strategy. This will make sure that what you are posting is relevant and entertaining to your audience’s interests and goals. It gives your content a purpose and tells a story about your organization. 

After you have a clear strategy, Hootsuite suggests creating a content calendar. This is a weekly/monthly calendar detailing what you will be posting, when you will be posting it, and what time it should be posted. This will keep everything organized, and it will allow you to observe how your content is doing. Here is an example of a weekly calendar I made for my client, Boomerang Backpacks, a non-profit organization geared towards feeding hungry school children.

Another point Hootsuite makes is to know your platform. In the third module is goes through trending social media platforms and describes what effective content looks like on that app specifically. For example, Instagram thrives off visuals, while Twitter is based on shorter statements. 

All in all, posting effective content is so crucial because it is one of the first steps of becoming a social organization. Quality content brings your audience together-- it creates community. It will spark conversation, build trust, and build relationships. All of these things will then lead to the ability to reach business goals and objectives. Effective content and community building are vital to becoming a social organization. 

[autumnecockroft]

Hi, Abby!

Thanks for sharing. Just like you, I was intrigued to learn about community collaboration. It is interesting to learn when it is necessary and when it should be avoided. Whether it be in the business world, or anywhere else, there is no doubt that an involved, supportive community will bring tons of benefits! Lastly, I love that you used Ben and Jerry’s as an example-- they do an excellent job on social media. Nice work. 

Sincerely,

Autumn

Week 6

From reading chapter 4 and 5 in the Social Organization book, social media community collaboration is what was the most interesting to me. The importance of community engagement of is very important for a business. It increases brand awareness and overall establishes a positives reputation for the brand. The feeling of community provides a feel-good sense of supporting that business and involved in something. This helps a business stand out in compared to its competitors. This engagement on social media for the business is very beneficial as it will create loyal customers and encourages social media users to get involved. But at the same time can have downsides and backfire on the company. When done right, like Ben and Jerry’s ice cream brand does on via Instagram, the pros will way out the cons.

Hootsuite module 4 discussed in detail about the way social media channels ads work. I learned quite a lot from this. Though I know how most apps ads worked that I frequently use. It was interesting to learn about google ads and LinkedIn ads work. I never realized that Google ads are everywhere. I never put thought into why there were ads when I am reading an article or search for one item, and an ad pops up for that item. It all was full circle for me when I realized this.

[autumnecockroft]

Hello, Katlyn!

I really enjoyed your post, thank you for sharing. I appreciate that you mentioned the value of starting small. Building an online community and presence is a marathon, not a sprint. For very small organizations, such as the ones you and I chose, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Setting small goals and celebrating every victory is a very important step to help you reach your bigger business goals!

Great work,

Autumn

Week 6 Blog Post

There are a number of effective principles to be used to build an online community. Some that I have found that seem to be the most effective is to create a powerful concept, commit the time and resources, and start small. I believe that having a powerful concept will be what will originally draw people in, and will be what interests them. You want to have a powerful and interesting concept or topic to talk about. Whatever the concept is, you want to be able to commit the time to it. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself. I have found that this will just cause you to get burnt out. Whatever you do in your business, if you don’t have the resources to keep up, then it will start to negatively effect your business. Which is why you want to start small. If you start out small, you can work on slowly building up to larger ideas and concepts.

After going through the Hootsuite chapters this week I thought about how it I could apply it to the business I am working with. I am working with a small Etsy business called The Divine Geminine https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDivineGeminine?ref=usf_2020. This shop has only been live for about a year and MaCayla is still trying to figure everything out. She wants to reach a larger audience and has asked me to help! One thing is, I don’t think MaCayla wants to pay for ads right now. So we have been trying to brainstorm some ways she can bring in more traffic to her shop without paying for ads. So far we have creating a content calendar, posting more reels and TikToks, and doing more lives on both Instagram and TikTok. She already has a concept that she wants to start with, which is helping people feel beautiful and confident in affordable jewelry. She wants to reach women that enjoy learning about crystals, and jewelry. So I hope to be able to help her do this!

[autumnecockroft]

Week 6 Blog

After reading chapters five and six of The Social Organization, I was able to get a better idea of what it takes to build an online community. The first subject the book covered was community collaboration. In order to write a vision statement for your organization’s goals, you must consider community collaboration. There are four things to consider: 

1. When community collaboration is appropriate

2. Where community collaboration will bring value

3. Consider your organization’s culture and objectives

4. Construct a vision statement that implements collaboration

Next, The Social Organization emphasizes the importance of purpose. Your audience needs a driving cause to participate with organizations online. Page 71 highlights four questions a purpose should answer:

1. Who are the target participants?

2. What is the focus of their collaboration?

3. What do the participants get out of it?

4. What value will the business get from this?

If an organization does not have a set purpose that aligns with their business goals, it is likely that their online efforts will fail. 

After completing the fourth part of Hootsuite, I learned methods to building an online community. This chapter discussed the advertising side of social media. Ads allow businesses to reach a wide variety of individuals. Your ads should align with your business objectives. On the other hand, not every organization is ready to begin advertising. There are other factors to be considered, such as budget. 

Currently, Boomerang Backpacks has a budget of $350 towards advertising and marketing. Since that number is not huge, and Facebook is our most successful platform, I believe the best place to start would be by implementing Facebook ads. Ads should be geared towards people in the Midwest, as that is where we are located. I recommend visual ads for BB that could reach other schools and meet the goal of “growing the number of schools we partner with”. Then, we can see how those ads do! 

[autumnecockroft]

Hi, Laryssa!

Thanks for sharing. You mentioned how consumers should be aware we can’t do anything, and it got me thinking. I can’t understand how it is legal for companies to sell and use our information without our consent or knowledge. It makes no sense when you say it out loud. I wonder if this will ever become illegal? Or what measures will be taken legally to get this under control? We can only hope. 

Sincerely,  Autumn

Week 5 Blog Post

After watching “The Legal Side of Big Data” I think it is important for businesses to be aware of first, how likely they are to be hacked. In addition to that they should also consider what it would do to their business if they were hacked? What would it cost them? How will this affect your customers? It is also important for businesses to ensure that they own their data, because if they don’t then it is very likely it might get sold to a competitor. So, assure that contracts are in place that confirm confidentiality.

Consumers should be aware of the fact that we as citizens can’t do anything about these data records being hacked so we should be very mindful of the fact that it can happen and it does happen, more often than we think. Consumers should also be aware that it is possible they are being lied to about what their data is being used for by different companies.

The best way to balance the opportunities and threats presented by the development of big data is to first get ahead of the problem and spend the money to be preventative. Although big data does allow for making faster advances in many areas and in improving the profitability and success of many businesses through allowing a better analysis of the large volumes of data that have been made available. This amplifies the need for these businesses to clarify what is going to happen to your data in the event of bankruptcy. In addition to that there should be very strong security where the data is being housed.

After reading “The internet’s Original Sin” and watching Maciej Ceglowski’s talk, I think internet business models influence surveillance and data gathering on the internet because these models dig deep into the world of surveillance by tracking us on our mobile devices everywhere we go and creating more in-depth user profiles for each of us through trading our information between different data brokers. In addition to this advertising is very invasive and targeted, users can be targeted by gender, age, race, location, etc. Many websites also promise their users personalization of content to their interests this means that these platforms are gathering information on our interests.

[autumnecockroft]

Kara,

Thanks for sharing! Like you, I was very surprised to hear about the high-scale hackings-- I was unaware this was happening. I shop at Target a lot too, so that example hit home. It was scary to find out our information could be hacked, but it was even scarier to learn that there isn’t much we as consumers can do to prevent it. I am curious where this situation will be in ten years. 

Sincerely,  Autumn

Week 5 Blog

After watching “The Legal Side of Big Data,” I’ve learned about some issues I was unaware of. Businesses specifically need to be aware of how likely it is for their “big data” to be hacked, or compromised. Of course it is important for businesses to try to ensure that they won’t be hacked, however, it happens more often than we think and it happens to companies we wouldn’t expect, such as Target and Home Depot. Following this, it is especially important for businesses to have a plan for what to do if they were to get hacked. Businesses have to address a poor risk assessment, and determine things such as how likely is the hack to happen, what would it cost, how would it hurt your company and consumers, and how that would affect your company on a competitive aspect. It is important for companies to be ahead of the problem, and spend money to prepare in case of a hack.

As consumers, it’s important to know that there is nothing we can really do to prevent this from happening. It was insane to me to read and hear about big data being sieged within big companies, such as Target, Neiman Marcus and Home Depot. The Target example shocked me, that there were 740 million data records exposed in 2013, because I shop at Target almost weekly. It is also important for consumers to know that there is a possibility that companies are not being reliable with what they are using their data for.

The best way to balance the opportunities and threats presented by the development of big data is to get ahead of the problem. It is possible to spend more money to ensure that your data is as safe as it can be, and it is stored correctly. If a hack were to occur, it would probably cost just as much money to fix as it would to ensure safety before the problem arises.

After reading “The Internet’s Original Sin,” and watching Maciej Ceglowski’s talk, I can confirm that the Internet business model wasn’t “supposed” to be used to influence and normalize surveillance. I really liked Ceglowski’s example about cars. He was discussing how cars were a great idea, however, now the entire country’s landscaping is built around the idea of cars. He said, “Now that everyone has a car, everyone needs a car.” which is true about the Internet too. The Internet used to be a source of freedom, and now, everyone’s on it. This can relate to the article, when it states, “The model that we acquired was analyzing user’s personal homepages so we could better target ads to them. Along the way, we ended up creating one of the most hated tools in the advertiser’s toolkit: the pop-up ad.” (The Internet’s Original Sin). The quote continues by stating, “I wrote the code to launch the window and run an ad in it. I’m sorry. Our intentions were good.” (The Internet’s Original Sin). What I got from both the talk and the article, is that this surveillance and data gathering and hacking was not expected, and was not supposed to be what came from the Internet. The creators of the Internet had good intentions, likewise the inventors of the car had great intentions. Both came with negative outcomes (accidentally). Now that we are here though with advertisements generating so much money for companies, there really is no going back to an Internet without surveillance. The article mentions that “the primary benefit of online advertising is the ability to see who’s looking at an ad. Simply paying for online advertising requires surveillance, if only to eliminate click fraud.” (The Internet’s Original Sin). When companies know who is looking at an advertisement, it is put into the algorithms and the people who looked at the ad longest will receive more ads based on that ad, and those who immediately clicked away from it will keep receiving different advertisements until there is one they look at for a long time. This is how companies can determine our likes and dislikes, and work us into the algorithms.

References

Ceglowski, M. (2021, November 23). Maciej Ceglowski – the internet with a human face – beyond tellerrand düsseldorf 2014. Vimeo. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://vimeo.com/102717446.

Zuckerman, E. (2018, June 20). The internet’s original sin. The Atlantic. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/advertising-is-the-internets-original-sin/376041/. 

[autumnecockroft]

Week 5 Blog

After watching “The Legal Side of Big Data”, I have learned more about the damage that Big Data is capable of. Perhaps I live under a rock, but most of the information was news to me. I was unaware that such high-scale hackings were going on-- I was so surprised to hear about them, especially the Blue Shield example. Knowing what I know now, it is evident that both businesses and consumers are at risk. While there is no real solution to this problem, there are a few preventative measures that can be taken. 

For consumers, unfortunately there is not much that can be done to avoid this. I suggest only opening cards with a company if it is absolutely necessary. Along with that, the cards should be closely monitored in case any hacking does occur. Once your information is out, there really is no way to know what the business is doing with it. As a consumer myself, I find this frightening. 

As for businesses, there are steps that must be taken to ensure as much protection as possible. First, the company should ask themselves: how likely are we to get hacked? From there, they should put together a security plan. These businesses must put aside money for data security. Businesses should protect themselves with Trade Secrets and by implementing confidentiality agreements to protect themselves and their consumers. Lastly, it is crucial that organizations have policies in place to monitor the data, an analytical officer would be ideal. It is important businesses are taking data breaches seriously as it can harm everyone involved. Taking these preventative steps is the only way to balance the threats and the opportunities that Big Data imposes. 

Moving on, after reading The Internet’s Original Sin and watching The Internet with a Human Face, I have been able to get a better grasp on the internet business model. The business model is based entirely off of surveillance. Surveillance is Big Data tracking people’s devices to build a bigger, more complex profile about consumers. The more complex these profiles are, the more accurate the advertisements will be. Have you ever had an ad pop up on your phone and it was something you just talked about? That’s not a coincidence. That is surveillance. The saddest part is society has accepted this. People have come to accept manipulation as a package deal with internet. To be honest, I might just be guilty of that myself. 

[autumnecockroft]

Good afternoon,

Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed reading your thoughts. In particular, I liked that you chose the word proactive to describe a social media consultant... I think you hit the nail on the head. Clients will not be happy if their consultant doesn’t incite growth! 

Continuing on, I find it funny that you have no social media besides linked in because I am the opposite: I have all social media besides LinkedIn. Honestly, some days I wish I didn’t have social media. I feel like it is rare to not have it nowadays, so kudos to you. I am sure after this class you have no desire to change that!

Sincerely,

Autumn

Social Media - Consulting

Social media is a phrase that has been so huge for at least the past 15 years so it’s a little bit challenging to think of qualities that are the most important. If I could narrow it down to a few, I would have to say coachability, being a quick learner and being proactive are most important. One has to be coachable when consulting for whatever industry because who knows what the client may want to change or do differently based off the consultant’s suggestions. This may even require doing more search or deploying new tactics. Directly relating to the next quality, being a quick learner is necessary if and when one needs to learn something new or maybe collaborate with an outside source to get the job done. Lastly, proactivity is just as important as the previous two. As a consultant, you’re hired to come in and add value to complete an organization’s desired results so getting at it and tackling the day is vital. The earlier and harder a consultant works to meet the needs of their client, the better the result would be.

I’m sure there are other important qualities a consultant would need but these three stood out the most because they’re universal for every industry. There are probably more specific qualities for social media professionals but I think the ones I mentioned provide just as much value.

The only true social media platform that I use is LinkedIn. If I were a consultant for myself, I would try to post content daily to improve and build on my personal brand. During my previous internships, I’ve had numerous workshops that preach the importance of developing a personal brand since that carries a significant amount of weight about one’s professional work style. For me, I would post content related to things that were interesting to me such as motivation, certain books and maybe some spiritual guidance. I would deviate from the professional side of LinkedIn to be more personal. Also, I would try and have more authentic connections with people and try and do WebEx meeting’s to actually learn from them.

All I really do on LinkedIn right now is mindlessly scroll and save certain posts that I like or resonate with me. It’s not very fruitful or productive at all. I give myself some grace since I’m in my last semester and have other things to prioritize. Post-graduation, I’m looking forward to developing my presence even more without a doubt.

[autumnecockroft]

Laryssa, 

Thank you for sharing. Your post was very well written. In your response, you mentioned how algorthims are machines, or artificial intelligence, improving every single day. This concept makes me afraid every time I hear it. How far will it go?

Going on, you make a really good point when you suggest people do not believe everything they see online. People say this all the time, but after watching The Social Dilemma, I can see how important that really is. Social media is dangerous and as a society we need to come together to find a solution. 

Sincerely,

Autumn

Week 4 Blog 2

Reason 1: Algorithms

My opinion of algorithms are they are not very beneficial in the ways that matter most. As stated in the article “instead of promoting the free flow and exchange of ideas that is necessary for a healthy democracy, the personalization of content has created filter bubbles that limit information flows and perpetuate bias.” I think it is important for businesses and more importantly people to be aware of the fact that algorithms and how they are formed are not a result of human activity, instead they are created by machine learning models. These models improve and get better at reading us every day. Instead of humans selecting information and news that they deem important for the public to know and giving it to us, complex algorithms take on the role of that job and dictates what we see and what we don’t. I would say we can respond to these conditions by realizing that not everything we see is true and not to take everything we see online serious unless we have other sources of proof as well.

Reason 2: Advertising

This section reminded me a lot of the Social Dilemma video that we watched last week. As crazy as this sounds, I have never even thought about why social media is free before watching that video. I don’t agree with how social media platforms are built. As stated in the article we are “paying with our personal information”. This allows for fake news to go viral and turn into a bunch of clickbait. Individuals and businesses should be aware that these social sites are built around collecting their personal information and it is being strategically used to target users with manipulative messages. We should respond to this in the same way as we respond to algorithms. Don’t believe everything you see online.

Reason 3: Exposure

The third reason given as to why junk news spreads so quickly is due to exposure. What individuals are exposed to on the internet on a daily basis often is in line with their personal preferences. As stated in the article “As a result, voters do not get a representative, balanced, or accurate selection of news and information during an election, nor is the distribution of important information randomly distributed across a voting population.” As a result businesses and individuals should make notice to the fact that during times when there are things like elections individuals are only being shown advertisements/ posts that are in line with their pre-existing beliefs. Individuals should respond to this by voluntarily looking for new information that doesn’t necessarily agree with their current perspectives and preferences in order to be informed about more than just what they prefer to see.

Overall, algorithms, advertisements, and exposure should be regulated by humans as well and not just machine operated. They have affected individuals and society as a whole more than any of us even realize. Individuals should be aware of the power that these three tactics have in determining what they see on social media on a daily basis. They should respond by not being so close minded when it comes to their beliefs and what they see on social media. Instead they should look beyond their current perspectives and preferences and expose themselves to information that is new and challenges their current beliefs.

Resources

Howard, P. (2018, March 26). Three reasons junk news spreads so quickly across social media. Oxford Internet Institute. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/blog/three-reasons-junk-news-spreads-so-quickly-across-social-media/.

Orlowski, Jeff, director. The Social Dilemma, Netflix, 26 Jan. 2020.

[autumnecockroft]

Being a social media consultant is no easy feat. There are some qualities one must have if they want to be a good consultant. First, social media consultants must be problem solvers. Like the lecture explained, working with social media can be difficult, as clients typically are not aware of where the problem lies. Consultants have to find both the problem and the solution. It takes a lot of problem solving. Next, a social media consultant should be a good teacher. A lot of people and businesses are unsuccessful with social media because they do not know how to use it effectively. As a consultant, you will have to do a lot of teaching and explaining to your clients about how to properly use social media. The lecture states that most of consultants job is to be “an advisor and an educator”. 

If I were to act as social media consultant to myself, there are a few things I could begin with to expand my professional presence online. The first thing I would do is create a LinkedIn profile for myself. I have not yet made one and I know I need to. A profile on LinkedIn could help me to make connections with future employers, so I should definitely make myself an account. 

Creating this Tumblr was one of the first things that I have done to build my social media presence in the business world. On this platform I am able to connect with classmates and have valuable conversations about business and social media. I already have an account on Facebook that I keep rather professional, as well. I hope to continue to build my presence as social media becomes more and more relevant by the day in the professional world. 

[autumnecockroft]

Hello, Abby!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I enjoyed reading them. I have to say, I think you hit the nail on the head by using the term “violated”. Big data truly feels like an invasion of privacy. On the other hand, there are some positive things that come from social media, such as expressing creativity. You should not feel bad for having fun with that! It is funny how you mention FBI agents because my friends and I say the same thing. I agree it is off putting. As a result, I will be making a concious effort to spend less time on social media. It’s dangerous. 

Sincerely,

Autumn

Week 3

After this documentary I view social media differently. It makes me almost feel violated. With how simple and easy it is to scroll to keep up with friends and family. Along with how much fun I have with making posts about certain events in my life. I never think about who is making money from my activity on these applications. During the documentary when it was stated “if you are not paying for the product, you are the product.” I had to pause and think about that statement to understand what was just said and how real it is. These platforms are powerful by using simple yet addicting tactics. As it is a software that has a mind of its own and knows how to control us to make any future decisions. The software using algorithms to show ads or base suggestions off what we search and like. I have noticed this as I joke round calling it the “FBI agent” in my phone. After watching this documentary, it is quite off putting. I feel that with our society being so accepting of the new norm of social media is dangerous. I think that it is helpful to watch this documentary and be informed before creating new social media accounts. Users for these applications need to be informed on what these algorithms and data are holding on them, in the way that is easily understood. Social media can be very helpful in many ways but also can come back to haunt you.

[autumnecockroft]

Hello, Kara!

Thank you for sharing, your post was very detailed and informative. I had forgotten about the comparison between magicians and big data until I read your post. Hearing it again, it is actually terrifying. It makes me wonder: what else do they know that we don’t? 

Going on, I think you made good suggestions for potential solutions. In my post, I had similar suggestion. For example, I also expressed the importance of spending time off of your phone and keeping as many face-to-face interactions as possible. The solution to big data is much more complex than that, but it’s a start. 

Week 3 Post

Big data is such a powerful tool because everything you do online is monitored. What images you look at, for how long you’re engaged with an image, your current moods, your browsing history, your personality traits, gps coordinates, etc. There is an immense amount of information that can be tracked and recorded by the internet. Using this big data, social media platforms are able to predict what you will be doing therefore, they can personalize links and “recommended for you” links to see what will keep you hooked on social media. Something really weird about that has actually happened to me is when I plug my phone in to carplay, it immediately maps me to some place I was previously talking about. It’s scary to think that even though these social media platforms are free to sign up for, you are the product. Your attention is being sold to different advertisers who are competing for your time. We are all lab rats being used in experiment after experiment to try and determine what will be the most optimal for overall engagement. Social media experts purposely try to manipulate your psychological behavior as fast as possible by implementing different experiments to see which method of advertisement or which types of posts/videos will generate the most engagement on their specific platform.

There are three technology goals according to The Social Dilemma. The first goal is engagement, which hopes to drive up usage. The second goal is growth, which will keep you coming back, inviting your friends and getting friends to engage with the platform. Lastly, is the advertising goal, which essentially is the goal of generating as much profit as possible. Each of these goals are powered by different algorithms, whose jobs are to figure out what to show you on each platform to ensure you will remain on the app for as long as possible, and to keep you coming back for more. This is extremely important to the social media world because algorithms are driven by big data. The data that is collected by “monitoring” your social media usage is exported into a computer that can create an algorithm based on what was humanly written.

The danger of the use/abuse of big data, algorithms and social media can vary on multiple different aspects. It scared me a little when I was made aware of how technologists can be compared to magicians, who were among the first to understand a different aspect of people’s minds. The documentary mentioned that magic illusions work because magicians are able to tap into a part of an individual’s mind that they don’t know exists. Having this perspective described to me really showed me how dangerous social media really is.  Technology has to deal with a larger aspect of psychology than I can even comprehend. They also compared phones to slot machines in Vegas because whenever you have your phone laying on your desk or your bed, you just check it to see if there is a notification there. This unconscious behavior is a design technique, just like it is with the slot machines in Vegas to see what you’ll get if you pull the lever one more time.

The discussion about photo tagging was extremely intriguing to me also, and can also be a danger/abuse of algorithms. Social media platforms purposely notify you when you have been tagged in a photo, but don’t include the photo in the notification. Having the photo on the notification pop-up would make it much easier and faster to quickly see what photo it is, however, they purposely don’t include it to make you go on the app to see what photo you were tagged in. This will increase their engagement goal, especially when it is a photo of yourself. This also has to do with the growth goal because tagging in photos allows friends of tagged people to see the post, and engage with it using the comments and/or likes feature. This is known as growth hacking.  

Another danger that really hooked me was the discussion about tools-based technology. The example provided was bicycles are a tool, just sitting there waiting until you need it. Social media on the other hand, is not a tool. It’s demanding things from you and is manipulating you. We’ve moved away from having a tools-based technology to an addictive and manipulative technology because of social media’s idea of using your psychology against you to generate engagement and growth.

Additionally, another danger has to deal with self-worth and identity. It matters to everyone what people in our “tribe” think of us. But we were not supposed to be built to experience what thousands of people think of us. This “fake popularity” on social media with like counts and comment counts forces individuals to think of what is next so they can gain that sense of popularity and that spike in dopamine again. This has increased depression and anxiety amongst teenagers. There was a conducted study of U.S. Hospital admissions for non-fatal self harm per 100,000 girls which concluded to have increased 62% since 2009 in girls ages 15-19, and increased 189% since 2009 in girls ages 10-14. This can be blamed on social media algorithms keeping them addicted to their phones and social media platforms.

I think that the biggest danger also correlates with why algorithms are so important. It is the fact that not very many people working at these social media companies even understand them. Algorithms are opinions written in code written with the goal of their definition of success, which at most times, is profit. Everyday, these computers installed with the written algorithms are getting better and better at picking the next post, or the next video, or the next tweet to keep you on the platform for longer. The scary part about this is that the machine is doing all the work, which means the algorithm is controlling us more than we are controlling it. This can be proven because multiple of the interviewees who have previously worked for a social media platform can also say that even though they see and understand the behind the scenes work of addiction, they too, are addicted to their phones.

As for how these problems can be dealt with on a personal, professional and societal level, it seems humanly impossible. For a personal aspect, you have to stop giving into social media, which I have experience with saying that it is easier said than done. Social media experts have done an incredible job with keeping the public entertained and addicted to it. It is nice to have the ‘do not disturb’ setting, and the ‘sleep’ setting on our phones because it makes sure those pesky notifications don’t pop up while those settings are turned on. Taking advantage of those settings can be a way to deal with the social dilemma on a personal level. As for professional settings, ‘office hours’ are a great way to keep individuals off of their phones (texting/emailing), and gives them the opportunity to meet face-to-face. This is something that can be a benefit in an educational setting, and a business setting. Another way to deal with the social dilemma in the professional world is to keep business settings professional and traditional. Host meetings face-to-face, and have as much in person interaction as possible. As for a societal resolution, we have to find a way to agree to disagree. As we are all aware of, social media does a great job of splitting up people. This was evident during the 2016 and 2020 elections. Democrats were only shown democratic opinions online, and vice versa for republicans. This was an example provided in the documentary. Again, this is harder than it sounds, but individuals need to agree that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, and we all need to learn to agree to disagree. Throughout history, the documentary mentioned that everytime something improves or changes, it’s because of critics. Without critics, we would never see room for improvement, or realize what’s wrong with our companies. Without someone calling it into question, nothing will happen. As an overall resolution, we must speak out for things that we believe are unethical.

[autumnecockroft]

Big Data Big Damage

After watching The Social Dilemma, I am truly afraid. I knew social media had negative effects, but I did not know just how in control it is. Social media is powered by big data and algorithms. This technology has the ability to manipulate people. Big data can predict what users want to see based on a variety of factors such as location and previous searches. In other words, big data intentionally puts ads or notifications on people’s phones that will make them use their phones. People are essentially lab rats to social media and big data.  

Looking back, I can remember the very first time that I experienced big data. When I was in middle school, I used to watch YouTube on my iPad. I remember joking and relating with friends about the “black hole of YouTube”. This was when you would watch a video, then eventually you would be four hours deep into random videos. After you watch one video, YouTube would suggest another video, and essentially this meant you would continue to watch the suggested videos. Back then, I thought this was funny, and now I realize that it was just manipulation.

Anything that holds that much power comes with abuse. One danger that stood out to me in the movie was the negative effects social media has on young people. My generation, Gen Z, was the first to grow up with social media, and it hit us extremely hard. I can remember the school making support groups for self-harm and depression in sixth grade. During that time, according to the movie, “From 2009 through 2015, statistics revealed that girls, ages 15-19, who were admitted to the hospital for non-fatal self-harm rose 62%. For girls 10-14, it rose 189%. Even worse in the same years, suicide rates of girls 15-19 rose 70%. For girls 10-14, it rose 151%.” These statistics are terrifying. If we continue this path, those statistics will continue to rise. Social media sets unrealistic societal standards, and when teenagers are unable to meet them, they are left feeling worthless. This is costing people their lives.  

Another danger that stems from big data is the division it has created. If big data knows that someone is a Republican who feeds into conspiracy theories, their algorithm will be more and more conspiracies because that is what will keep them active on Facebook. In other words, Republicans are only seeing information that supports their views, and Democrats are only seeing information which supports theirs. As a result, the United States has become divided. People are ending relationships over political parties. The scariest part of the movie was when a former Facebook employee predicted this will lead to a civil war. I am truly scared for my generation.  

While it may be easier said than done, this must change. It seems like we are in so deep I cannot imagine a way out, but like I said, if we continue down this path the damage will be irreversible. There are different measures that must be taken on personal, professional, and societal levels. It will take baby sets, so I have a few ideas of where to start. Personally, it is important that people are spending time away from their phones and off social media. Though it may be addicting, it does more harm than good. I encourage people to make it a goal to spend dramatically less time behind the screen. The value of being outside and living in the moment got lost when social media grew. Professionally, people again need to spend as little time on technology as possible. I recommend avoiding virtual meetings as much as possible. Face to face interactions have decreased at an alarming rate, despite the benefits they have. Keeping as many in person interactions as possible is what is best for humankind. Lastly, we as a society must come together and try and fix this mess. We need to remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but we also need to value finding accurate information. We need to stop holding young women to a beauty standard so unrealistic that people are ending their own lives. We need to make a conscious effort to be stronger than the notifications on our phones.  

I don’t have all the answers—in fact, I feel as if I have close to none. Big data is powerful, and it is scary. It is controlling our lives right before our eyes. After watching The Social Dilemma, I have a lot of reevaluating to do myself.  

[autumnecockroft]

For my Social Media experiment, I kept track off six different categories over a 24-hour period: overall screen time, time spent on Snapchat, time spent on TikTok, overall notifications, notifications received from Snapchat, and notifications received from iMessage. Here were my results:

Overall screen time: 8h

Time spent on Snapchat: 1h 51m

Time spent on TikTok: 2h 35m

Overall notifications: 322

Notifications received from Snapchat: 134

Notifications received from iMessage: 102

I was honestly ashamed to read my results. Eight hours spent on a phone in a day seems incredibly high. If you notice, I spent most of my screen time on TikTok-- more than two and a half hours in a day. I wanted to lower all of my numbers.

In order to do so, I tried to pinpoint when I spend the most time on my phone. I realized that I started almost every morning by laying in bed watching TikToks. Eventually, I developed an experiment where I do not use my phone the first hour that I’m awake. I figured it would get me out of bed quicker, and give me energy. So far, I have done this every morning since 11/04/2021. 

I already feel so much better, as I anticipated. I will admit it was challenging at first. I kept grabbing for my phone instinctually, but I remained focus on the experiment. Since I do not have a phone to entertain me, I get out of bed much quicker. Adding to that, I have been able to be more productive in the mornings. Since I have no social media to slow me down, I noticed I was not rushing around to get to my morning classes in time. I was able to trade TikTok time for meditation and mindfulness time. Mindfulness is something that is very beneficial for me, yet I struggle to find time for it consistently. This small and simple change feels like such a breath of fresh air, and I will definitely continue to make this a habit. Lastly, this experiment made my screen time go from an eight hour average to a 6 hour average. This experiment has inspired me to spend less time on social media, and I hope to continue to do so.