lynn-vo-blog

[lynn-vo-blog]

Influencing the Influencers

When it comes to having a strong social media presence, my client does well on Twitter but shines on Instagram. However, one challenge they face is not using their Facebook page. Although most of their audience mainly use Instagram and Twitter, using Facebook will increase the likelihood of reaching a different audience—parents. Showing parents what the Panhellenic community is a great way to make parents feel involved and also to have the option to engage directly with members from the community. My client can use messenger to answer questions and closed Facebook groups for women in the community. A closed group with all members of the community will allow members to ask questions about recruitment, philanthropy events and more.

Another challenge they face is not having a LinkedIn page. This would be more beneficial for the executive board members since they would be able to use the organization on their page. This would show possible employers what e-board members' duties are and get more of a clear view of how their position is helping them professionally.

My client only has to tweak a few things, but these minor tweaks may be what gets them a larger and more engaging audience. 

[lynn-vo-blog]

Creating Effective Content

Having a social media presence is important. But what comes before the posting is the dreaded creation of a social media calendar. This past summer, I interned at a well-known Coney Island chain as a marketing intern. During my internship, I was mainly focused on their social media, which including creating content calendars, making posts and interacting with users. Creating effective content was my world during that internship. 

The most important things to remember about creating content is making a content calendar, posting consistently and engaging with the audience. Making a content calendar is stressful. It varies from company to company but it is usually (at minimum) one post a day on each platform. Creating a monthly calendar is more work at the beginning, but less stress when it comes to creating and distributing the posts. Making weekly calendars may seem ideal, but it is more stressful since you will always be on to creating the next post and brainstorming ideas; this could end up in feeling burnt out. Having a monthly calendar allows you to make content weeks ahead, schedule posts and have more time to brainstorm ideas for the next month.

Posting consistently is what keeps businesses in the mind of their audience. SugarBearHair’s Instagram posts six times on average every day. They also engage with the audience by asking questions on some of their posts and they also hold contests regularly. For some, seeing posts this often may seem too much, but their Instagram has 2.7 million followers—more than Pilot Pete, ABC’s current bachelor on The Bachelor.

In order to create effective content, a lot of planning has to go into it first. Knowing what time, what day and how often to post are great ways to start sharing effective posts. Planning a month ahead will save you more time in the long run versus planning week by week. Whatever you do, just do not be too reliant on Instagram's ever-changing algorithm. 

[lynn-vo-blog]

Building Online

In 2003, we were given Myspace where everyone’s first friend was Tom. In 2020, there are dozens, if not hundreds, different social media platforms. Want to see if a couple broke up? Check their Instagram. Stay in the loop with drama in your hometown? Facebook is read to show you the gossip. So how do people build communities online with the millions of people jumping around different social media platforms every day?

Having a vision statement is the first thing that an organization should do before it starts its online community. The vision statement should have the goals. the “why we’re building an online community” and anything else that will help lay the foundation for the online community. 

This blog post says that one way to build an engaged online community is to make it easy for people to contact your organization. On Facebook, there is Facebook Messenger where organizations can respond to customer’s questions. Getting involved with the Twitter community has been successful in companies like MoonPie. MoonPie’s unique and relatable voice has sent many of their Tweets viral.

After completing Hootsuite module four, one thing that has been proven successful is engaging on social media like replying, liking, retweeting, etc. This shows consumers that the organization is paying attention to its consumers and cares about what people have to say about it. This also shows people that the organization is easily approachable, ready to answer the tough questions people have and can inform consumers the best way to enjoy their services or products.

Of course, not every organization must have a style like MoonPie. But, MoonPie is a great example that when an organization is engaged with its audience, it will only grow from there. Just ask Moonpie’s 300,000 Twitter followers.

For my organization, being engaged with its followers is one of the most important ways to grow its audience. My organization is the panhellenic council at CMU. Answering users’ questions in a timely manner, replying to their comments and liking their comments shows appreciation to the community. After all, if there was no panhellenic community, there would be no panhellenic council.

[lynn-vo-blog]

Remember Snowden?

For my friends and I, joking about having our personal information being leaked/hacked/stolen/whatever it maybe is a weird way to deal with the fact that this is already happening. Maybe not to us, but millions of people who thought they could trust whatever organization that had their personal information. 

When companies use big data, it is (usually) for good reasons like wanting to keep current customers and to get more customers. When using big data, businesses should be aware of all the risks that come with it. One hack from one person can ruin how the public views your business; don’t get me started if the information that gets leaked is classified. We all remember the Snowden incident with the huge leak of NSA documents; when those documents leaked, many citizens started to question the intentions of the government. Companies must be able to assess the risks and pay the money to reduce the possibility of a hack as much as possible.

There are 7 billion people on this planet and all of us have an equal chance for our data to be compromised. I’m not going to lie and say that I have perfected the art of keeping my data safe. I have my card and address stored on Amazon, use the same 5-6 passwords for everything I have and probably a lot of other things that are not safe. Consumers should be more aware of the websites they are visiting and what they click on. There is a browser add on called “Disconnect” which blocks sites from tracking your activities and personal data. It also gives you an option to see how many trackers they are blocking from the website you are on.

[lynn-vo-blog]

Double Check Before Sharing

The day that Instagram changed their algorithm is a day that I will never forget. People were complaining on Facebook and Twitter, and influencers and celebrities were posting on their Instagram story asking their followers to turn on their post notifications so their followers “don’t miss a post” (but really, they did not want their number of likes to go down). Although the intention of Instagram’s algorithm was good, it is easy for fake news to start spreading; especially in an age where so many of us rely on our feeds to give us news.

Advertisements used to be what we would see on TV, magazines, billboards, etc. They used to be primarily print ads. Now, advertisements are everywhere you turn; especially on your feed. Phillip Howard and Samantha Bradshaw discuss how although social media is seemingly free, users pay a fee in the form of their personal information. There have been countless times where I would be talking about a product with my friends, just to see that exact product being advertized on my feed hours later. It has happened to much that I have a dedicated photo album titled “FBI” with screenshots of the products I was being advertised after talking about it. My friend and I were once hanging out and she was showing me her new dog, I commented saying she should get one of those pet ID tags that look like a Michigan license. Low and behold hours later when I was on Buzzfeed, an ad came up for the exact same dog tag I was talking about. 

Thanks to our phones essentially spying on us, it knows what kind of information we want to be exposed to. Selective exposure is when we actively seek out information that aligns with our views. Companies and businesses that have access to our personal information like what we like and share, are going to expose us to more advertisements and “propaganda” that will strengthen our view on whichever matter. 

Businesses should be more conscious of what they are using in order to engage their current followers and to achieve more followers. Being able to expand your business is great, but do not use it for nefarious reasons. For consumers, be sure to research before you share an article. Is the source reliable? Did you actually read the article, or did you just read the headline? Headlines nowadays are much more clickbaity. And the most important question: do you ACTUALLY need to share that article about how essential oils can “cure” any disease or illness? 

[lynn-vo-blog]

Pay Me To Help You

Social media consulting is what many businesses look past when it comes to growing their brand. Many businesses may try to do it on their own or hire an intern, but it is important to hire a social media consultant if there is no dedicated person, department or if the business wants a bigger boost on social media.

One important quality of a social media consultant is to be firm, but gentle. At first, this sounds weird, I know. But say that you are consulting for a local family business and they have social media but do not use it effectively or if their posts or accounts are out of date. It is important to lead them in a direction that they can follow when you leave, but also remind yourself, as the consultant, that this business is very personal to them, and know when to step down when giving advice on how they post or if they should rebrand themselves. Another important quality is being understanding. What you would suggest for a fortune 500 company may not work best for a local business, say a mom and pop restaurant chain. Lastly, a great quality to have is to be creative. Being able to think out of the box can be the make-it-or-break-it for the company. Standing out and having a unique social media presence creates a lasting impression on social media users; just look at MoonPie’s Twitter account. 

Looking through my social media, I would say areas I need to focus on are readability and consistency. For my LinkedIn, for example, I have done the bare minimum to make my account and for people to get a general idea of my education and work experience. I should be adding bullet points to go in-depth about the things I have done during my work and school experiences. I should also be more consistent in posting, even if it is just an interesting news article because it shows that I want to be engaging and open with the people that follow me. 

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FOR SALE: Privacy

I feel like I can confidently say that we all love the internet. We can find recipes for dinner, look up our symptoms when we’re sick (albeit, never actually accurate) and keep up with the news. But at what cost? Turns out, there is a huge market for people’s private data that is getting sold left and right. Remember when we did something shady online and then immediately delete our browsing history? Don’t worry, it has already been saved somewhere else.

Big Data is the collection, storage, and analysis of large amounts of information. Have you ever downloaded an app and think “I can’t believe this is free”? Yes, you do not have to spend money, but you are letting the app access your private information. Not so free after all. This 60 Minutes video, explains the cost of using the internet: our private and personal data. But why is our private data being compromised? Turns out, a lot of companies will pay to know what consumers want, and how to get to more consumers. When you first think about it, it makes sense of why companies would want this information; but then when you realize that your information is being compromised, that is when it gets personal. 

The article, The Internet’s Original Sin discusses that although companies want our data in order to improve advertising to current and potential customers, people with bad intentions can access our data which could spiral out of control. Companies buying data is a cheap way to reach large audiences, but it comes at the price of our privacy. Meciei Ceglowski made a great point in his talk about how users should have the option to have their data mined. This would allow users to take control of what information they want companies and people to access; if users want anyone to access their data at all. 

In a perfect world, our data would not be up for sale. But this is not a perfect world (ex. boneless “wings” would not exist in a perfect world). Companies are greedy to make money and people are greedy to have information about others. But for now, if anyone is interested in buying my data, please contact me directly. Serious inquiries only.

[lynn-vo-blog]

Yell If You Need Me

Not babying my phone for 6 hours seemed like something I would not be able to accomplish. I have group chats that are always active and notifications that show an angry red dot until I check to see what it wants me to see. Really, I thought it was close to impossible for me to do. Until I did it.

I decided to leave my phone in my car while I went to work on Wednesday just so I could actually have my phone out of my reach the whole day. I work as a secretary for an office on campus and for the first time, I hoped work got busy so I would not have to spend those six hours wishing I had my phone on me. I also had homework I had to finish up and other tasks I had to complete around the office. 

The first hour of having no phone, it kept reaching for the phantom phone until I realized I purposely left it in my car. To be honest, the first hour completely, absolutely sucked.

But after a while, I started focusing on all of the things I needed to do and found myself finishing everything on my list with two hours left in my shift. I used that time to talk and joke around with my coworker, Liz, who I told earlier in the day that I had to ignore her until I finished everything (sorry, Liz). She even saved TikToks she wanted to show me while I was working (all of them were great, BTW).

Not having my phone during work seemed like something I would not be able to do. But after not having it, I realized how much my phone holds me back from accomplishing things. What would take me 30 minutes to do ended up only taking 10 minutes because I was not getting distracted by my phone.

I really enjoyed doing this experiment because it showed me how much my phone distracted me, and how much I could get done if I ignored my phone to focus on the things that I had to do.

The digital world can wait, but the real world keeps moving. And I think I will continue to keep up with the real world.

[lynn-vo-blog]

Learn to be alone or be lonely.

My phone owns me. I do not go anywhere without it, I make sure it is charged so it will not die, I check it over a hundred times a day to see if I missed anything, I buy things to protect it in order to prevent damage, I buy specific products that pair easily with my phone to avoid the hassle and my stomach drops if I think I lost it. My phone completely owns me; but why am I okay with that?

In Emma Rathbone’s article, “Before the Internet”, Rathbone shows digital natives what life was like before our worlds revolved around a black mirror. It showed that people had to make up their own ways of having fun instead of immediately relying on their phones to pass the time. I know that in my opening I basically declared the dedication I have towards my phone, but reading Rathbone’s article made me wish to live in a world where phones were not the priority. Living life that is not run by dings and chimes from my phone.

One thing that resonated with me during Sherry Turkle’s interview is when she said that when they were talking about the seduction of phones, Turkle explains that the seduction is from something new. There have been countless times where I was doing my homework or hanging out with my friends when my attention gets interrupted by my phone, and I put my real life on pause to see what’s going on in the digital world.

Social media is a huge part of my life. I get to know what people are doing, thinking about, eating and laughing at. Social media was created to connect with others no matter what time zone you are in, but it has turned into a way for people to share maliciousness. People can choose to share something joyful but can also share something with the intent of hurting people. 

Having quick access to the internet is a privilege and helps a lot. Need to know what time a store closes? Google it. Want to know if a gem is a cat-eye or opal? Google it. Personally, being able to access the internet is something that has positively affected my life due to the ability to expand my knowledge on whatever I want.

There have been quite a few times where I have not had access to interne, but how I react depends on the situation. If I am on a trip with my friends like camping or at a friend’s cottage, I stop noticing after a few hours since I am busy having fun with my friends. But say I am on campus and the wifi goes out, I start freaking out. I remember freshmen year, the wifi on campus went out and since it is Mount Pleasant, I had no service. I decided to skip my class and go to my friend’s house because their wifi was working and I could not stand not being on my phone.

[lynn-vo-blog]

Hi, 2020!

My name is Lynn and I am in my final semester here at Central Michigan University. I am majoring in public relations with a minor in communications. Essentially, I have control issues (PR) and I overshare (communications). This past summer, I had the opportunity to intern at National Coney Island for their marketing department. I really enjoyed the internship since it taught me a lot about my strengths and other skills I need to focus on.

A short-term career goal of mine is to get a job or a post-grad internship after graduation. A long-term career goal is to continue working on personal development like communication skills and networking.

What I hope to accomplish with this blog is to become more comfortable with blogging since it can be used as a great way to grow professionally and personally. Since I have been using social media for over a decade now, broadening my skills on a popular platform like Tumblr will help further enhance my skills with social media.

A company that has a great social media presence is SugarBearHair. This company sells vitamins that are supposed to help hair growth and hair health. Although they have branched out to women’s multivitamins and sleep vitamins, they came to fame with their hair vitamins. Although I have never used products from this company before, their presence on social media is something you cannot avoid. They reach out to many influencers and celebrities to promote their products; most notably, the whole Kardashian-Jenner family (excluding Rob). Although many people (including myself) are skeptical of whether or not the “vitamins” actually work, people know the brand, what they do and who endorse the product. Going on social media, specifically Instagram, there will be a post about SugarBearHairs and how much the person “loves” the product. Having such a large footprint on social media and using famous faces to promote the brand was the best thing they could have done for the brand. Average consumers are familiar with these celebrities and influencers, and consumers naturally trust these endorsers. If Kylie Jenner loves SugarBearHair, her 157 million followers are going to search, click and buy SugarBearHair

SugarBearHair Instagram

SugarBearHair Facebook

The reading discussed that social media is not an end, but a means to end, and that is exactly what SugarBearHair is doing with its social media. Their Instagram is filled with women with gorgeous hair and a SBH gummy or bottle with them. Their 2.6 million followers know its message: if you want hair like theirs, buy our vitamins. SBH collaborating with celebrities and influencers is helping to expand both the companies and endorsers platforms. In a world where social media reigns king, it is hard not to see how hard and smart SugarBearHair is working to make sure that if you want better hair, you are going to learn about their company.