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Implementation and Adaptation of the Unfamiliar 

My client for this class will face, and has faced already, a few challenges implementing my social media recommendations. The first challenge being unfamiliar building a strategy for social media. While the second challenge being understaffed or not having the time to focus on social media.

The implementation video on Blackboard explained that you have to have purpose and passion to implement new things into your business. One example in the video said that a company with only a staff of two was more successful than a company with a multimillion dollar budget. The client I have been working with does not have a huge budget to spend on social media. However, while working with other clients in my free time, I learned that it is possible to implement my recommendations with a small budget or free if practiced enough.

Being unfamiliar with social media is quite common. Everyone knows how to make a post, put a filter on, and write a description. Implementing strategy into your social media content is where people get stuck, they don't know where to start. "Doing an audit on social media? What are you on..." is something that goes through their head. Becoming more familiar helps these clients understand the importance of knowing these social media tips. It's just like anything else. For example, my time in the military taught me the importance of going over material over and over again before jumping into something unfamiliar. Sure I "knew" what to do, but I wanted my live shoots at the range to be as smooth as butter.

Having little to no staff should not be an issue if you are familiar with building a social media content strategy. Yes it is time consuming, took me this whole class to fully understand how to build social media properly. That's just the issue, time. You have to commit some of your time to understand how to effectively use social media. I am a social media consultant for a few personal trainers that I also shoot content for. The recommendations I gave them are each individually different and they implement them with little to no issue. Difference is we all work for ourselves and are successfully using the recommendations I made. Purpose and passion is what drives you to be familiar with social media, adapting to new unfamiliar things, leading to effective implementation of content and strategy.

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Strategic Development of Successful Social Media Growth 

Most people who start a brand or business for themselves know that social media is the best tool for brand awareness. What most people do not know is "how" to get the best awareness with the use of social media. You can't just start posting on social media and expect your page to blow up within a few days, weeks, or even months. What you need is a strategy for the content you are posting, proper planning of when to post that content, and studying up on better ways to reach out to your diverse audience.

Imagine you just started a clothing brand. You have a manufacturer, you have the property, and you have a business plan. You know you need to make a presence on social media so you create a few profiles on different sites. You ask yourself "where do I start?". Your social media growth solely relies on the strength of your strategy and plan. There are four components of content strategy: Research and Analysis, identifying a your target audience by platform, content-specific goals and objectives, and planning the distribution of content.

Identifying your target audience should be the first objective. For this specific example we will say the clothing brand is for 18-25 year old individuals who like traveling and doing outdoor activities. Post some content for a few weeks and do a Social Media Audit to see what content is the most popular and what is not. Each platform has has network-specific tools to do this action so be sure to use the tools available to the fullest.

Make sure to reach out to your audience and react to comments, questions, concerns. For example is someone tagged your company in their personal page make sure to like their post and leave a comment. This not only solidifies the commitment of the customer/client but shows other potential customer/clients that you are actively interacting with people loyal to your brand. Other recommendations would be to hold polls which has your following vote on specific topics. Such as: "What content do you all like the most?", "Which top should we release this Spring?". Interaction is key to holding your audience's attention. You can post 15 times a day but would not get the same view time if you posted three times a day and interacted with your following.

Make sure you have a set number of goals when creating social media for your company. Short-term and long-term goals need to be put in place for each platform you use. Remember that each platform holds a different audience. Your Twitter audience may be different than your YouTube audience. Distribution of content may be different as well for each platform as well.

Social media can be intimidating at first. You are putting your ideas on the internet and not everyone is going to respond in a positive to them. Remember that social media is meant to help you grow, you will grow from the negative comments which could also be taken as positive criticism in some cases. Be consistent and you will achieve your dreams.

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No Small Issue with Big Data 

No one thinks about the issue with data until the issue comes to you. Being personally affected by identity theft, having your personal accounts hacked, or your bank account being emptied would have anyone ask "why and how could this happen". It could be an issue with Big Data. Big data is data that contains greater variety, arriving in increasing volumes and with more velocity. Companies, federal agencies, any corporation has big data.

We have to think about the issues we have with sharing information with companies and the places we work. This may seem impossible as some jobs, for example federal jobs, need certain information such as your social security number, birth certificate, and bank information. There needs to be more security for big data especially when your personal information is within a companies records.

This past year there have been over 143-million credit cards breached, almost half of that number was due to breaches within companies data. With overall data breaches, there have been over 4.1 BILLION breaches within the first six months. So what is the solution? Having proper risk assessment, preparing for an issue before it happens, and confirming agreements with customers/employees/etc.

Big data is not just a personal issue, it affects companies and their assets. For example, an engineering company is making a new engine that creates less CO2 emissions. They record their research but their data is stolen and unrecoverable. Years of research out the window with no sign of who took it or where it went. To avoid things like this corporations would have to confirm employment agreements, restrict access to only certain individuals, and confirm ownership over the project in the event someone tries to copy their research.

As for personal information, we have legal obligations by the court to protect our information. It is however our duty to read any document we sign or agree to. Those Apple updates you get on your phone or Mac? Scan through them. Signing onto a new bank? Ensure they have security for where their data is housed. Yes it is tedious and time consuming to read those documents. You will be thankful you had rather than the opposite which could be life altering.

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Social media has taken over most of our lives. Unless you are "off the grid" you are on social media. If you have a phone, computer, or tablet you have participated with the rest of us. Having one account; Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, they all present the same presence. Algorithms, Advertising, and Exposure.

Algorithms are used for solving problems or used for calculations. Have you ever noticed when you search for an item other related items show on your feed? This is an algorithm. Something related to what you are searching for or something the "algorithm" thinks you would want or need. If you are part of a group and search specific terms or items, an algorithm will advertise certain products or groups to you. This can be either good, bad, irritating, or you won't notice it at all depending on your awareness or time spent on social media.

Advertising is something we all know. For example, McDonalds. You already know their slogan, "I'm loving it". Advertising is the push for a product with either visual or vocal aid. Television, social media, coupons, literally anything that can present a product a company will. Newspaper ads were an early onset of advertising. Before that it was word of mouth of who owned what and where.

Exposure is the most important topic of this conversation. How long do we all actually spend on social media? On a daily basis, the average person globally spends two to two and a half hours on social media. Doesn't sound like much; however, there are only 24 hours in a day. Eight hours of sleep, eight hours of work, that leaves eight hours of free time not including preparation for work or travel to work. So we have six hours, minus the two from social media, to ourselves during the week. Realistically, we have four hours for ourselves. That does not give us much time for self improvement. If you have a hobby, family, or just want to relax, social media ends up taking one third of that time.

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Social Media Consultant 

Social media consultants have many important qualities. Having knowledge of social media tools and social optimization to name a few. Having the knowledge of social media tools can help get your message out quick and save you time and money. There are various types of tools a consultant can use, some being content curation tools, scheduling apps, content creation tools, and others that help analytics. Optimization goes without saying, knowing what size picture to post or what to tag and what not to tag in the post for the highest viewing post.

If I was my own social media consultant, which currently I am for videography, I would advice myself to use more social media tools for faster content creation. I have used scheduling apps for better organization and planning but I would use something like Hootsuite to manage multiple social media sites at once. There are a lot of tools that can help content creation and help better manage your work.

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Week 2: Ignoring Social Media for 24 Hours 

Never really knew how much technology had affected my life. My iPhone, laptop, TV, even my Alexa and Ring camera if we're getting technical. Each device serving a different purpose and giving me a reason to use them throughout my day. Yesterday, I decided to not use any social media and only use my phone or any other device for emergencies only. The difference in my focus and the amount of work I accomplished was huge. I put the time I was on Social Media towards things like practicing guitar, working out, and fixing my camera equipment. My sleep at night was a lot better and I felt like my head was less "foggy".

I don't use social media that much but when I went a day without it I noticed I had more energy for the day. I wasn't distracted by what other people were doing or looking at deals from my favorite stores. No notifications or buzzing in my pocket having the need to check it immediately. Less anxiety of who or what to worry about. There are days that I use social media more than usual, but it only seems to make me feel more anxious than the opposite. I think I will from now on start to use less and less social media for myself other than building my business up. My time would feel better used and I think I will thank myself later for giving myself more time than the internet.

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Social Media Influence 

After watching Max Stossels explain the influence of social media on everyone it had me dumbfounded for a moment. Almost as if social media is literally a part of who people are and who they have become. Some, if not most people, surround themselves with social media on a day-to-day basis. Whoever these people think they are as an individual is partly, in some cases mostly, due to their involvement online. Have an opinion? More than likely influenced because someone else posted about it. Want to start a new career? You start following other people with the same career and develop a certain persona around that work style. For example, people who join the military develop a persona around aggressive behavior and sometimes belligerent habits such as addiction to nicotine and drinking.

I myself have been heavily influenced by social media when I was young. Your beliefs start to change as you see different opinions that people can relate to. Of course this is not true for everyone, but in today's time everyone that does go onto social media is influenced a slight bit even if they don't recognize it. One point Stossels made that I thought was interesting was going onto snap chat and keeping what is called a "streak" with someone else on the app. He asked how many people have a streak with someone else and most people raised their hand. Then asked "do you like having to keep that streak going?", and almost everyone dropped their hand. The reason people dropped their hand is most likely due to the message you are sending the other person. "Well, if I don't keep the streak going then I am not a good friend" or "If I don't keep the streak going they are going to notice a change in my behavior and accuse me of something wrong". People are literally taking pictures of a wall or ceiling just to keep a streak going...because they feel as if it is their social responsibility to do so.

Social media is almost like a second language to people. Using a period at the end of a sentence is shown as an act of aggression. Why? Because it seems more serious even though it is grammatically correct. Instead, we use emojis or acronyms to show certain emotions over text. You could literally have an entire conversation using emojis like we are back in the Egyptian times using hieroglyphs. To me, I do not see emojis as a bad thing especially over text. Sometimes a text can be bland and be interpreted the wrong way (especially if you have a sarcastic humor like me). So, you send a smiley face or laughing face to show the emotion that is supposed to be presented.

Social media is both good and bad for society. We all stay more connected, more opportunities are present, and you are kept up do date with how and what people are doing globally. However, the opposite presents almost an addiction or presents a false state of reality which can cause mental health issues. Individuals who use social media for a type of "validation" clearly corresponds to the lack of validation in their younger childhood or even how much they are presented today. Using social media as a crutch for being unsociable can help, but typically would create a dependance. Using social media moderately, lightly, or even not at all except for work purposes is what I recommend. We all need to come back to reality and love our own life instead of viewing others through a five inch screen.

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Introduction

Hi my name is Alec Dugan. I am a freelance videographer/photographer with a passion to travel the world, explore new environments, and meeting new types of people from all cultures. Currently, I am attending Central Michigan University for Broadcasting and Cinematic Arts with a minor in Applied Business Communication.

My service in the Marine Corps inspired me to enjoy life to the fullest and follow my dreams as a videographer, hopefully one day in film. In the mean time, I’m enjoying my youth and exploring the world while recording the best moments to share for anyone to see. I encourage everyone to follow their true passion and not get caught up in life. We aren’t here for a long time so ensure you make it a good time.

If you want or need anyone for any sort of video or photo shoot, let me know!