navigatingthedigitalage

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Implementation Struggles

I believe that my client will have some challenges implementing some of the strategies due to her business being so small, run by just her. In order to create some of the suggested content she will need to seek assistance from others with filming videos, and all of the responsibility will fall onto her as far as a posting schedule and creating a community around her content through responding to those who interact with her content. That will be the main challenge, is accomplishing goals and setting standards with the business being run by just one person as it is a lot of work, planning, and responsibility but I believe that she is capable of building a stronger social media presence than her company currently holds.

[navigatingthedigitalage]

Week 7 Blog Post

After completing modules 3 and 4 there are several ways that effective content is developed and shared. Examples given within the module are diverse content, inclusive content, and engaging content. The following article highlights just how important it is to be inclusive in your content that you are releasing as it helps to broaden the customer base, brings life to the company, and can help you earn points with younger generations.

By becoming a social organization you are furthering your companies effective content development as well as sharing. As you interact with those who are commenting, liking, and reviewing your posts, you are building a community around your company or brand. As you build this community, those who regularly interact with your content can start answering commonly asked questions. If they positively review your brand/product online, that could be utilized as curated content that the brand can repost as well as the original post directing viewers to your brand due to the positive word of mouth. As your community grows, you will have more positive word of mouth as well as more content that has already been made to choose from.

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Week 6 Blog Post

After completing module four of the Hootsuite training as well as reading chapters four and five of "The Social Organization" it is apparent to me just how detrimental poor usage of social media can be to an organization and company. Chapter four especially highlights how misusing social media can lead to high failure rates, mediocre results, and risks related to information management. The following article highlights how this misuse can affect your business both long and short term.

https://www.franchise-ed.org.au/franchising/franchise-marketing/how-social-media-misuse-can-affect-your-business/

Following completion of module four, I am aware of how important it is to foster an active, strong community around your brand or company. This helps administer positive word of mouth in regards to your company/brand as well as advocating for your brand. By responding to and liking comments from potential customers and current customers you are helping to humanize your brand as well as show that you are communicative with your customers and interact with them regularly so you understand their potential needs/desires.

The client I am working with on the client project is a photography company so by making more of an effort to interact with commenters on posts, the company can potentially gain more business as customers understand how the process works, where the locations are, openings in the schedule, as well as general pricing. Through asking questions to the audience, this company can also help gauge if there are any customer needs that they are not meeting and how they can start working to bridge that gap.

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Surveillance and Data Gathering

After watching Maciej Ceglowksi's talk and reading "The Internets Original Sin" I can see how data gathering and surveillance has been woven into the very fabric of the internet since the very beginning of it's existence. Maciej highlight's the operation hyacinth where police submitted what were called pink papers to document homosexuals. Even though it was agreed upon that these area violation of human rights, they still exist and those who hold these files refuse to delete them. The idea that everything on the internet is permanent is a prevalent one as everyone who was raised on the internet was told since a young age of it's dangers.

Because none of the data gathered on you for your entire lifetime spent on the internet is ever deleted, agencies and ads can watch how your preferences change over time and target ads to your interests and things they may believe you to be interested in. With these internet companies constantly surveilling you, you never have any true privacy on the internet because they are constantly trying to advertise new things and get you to click on their sites. The internet was built on surveillance and data gathering, and I do not foresee any changes in the coming future as it seems companies are getting away with taking more and more of our personal data for their own advertising and business model uses.

[navigatingthedigitalage]

Week 4 Post 2

After reading the article "Three reasons junk news spreads so quickly across social media" from the Oxford Institute, I agree wholeheartedly with the three reasons they had given for fake news spreading so quickly. Algorithms, advertising, and exposure.

Algorithms are a powerful force that keeps us chained to our phones and the specific apps that utilize extreme ones. https://mindfultechnics.com/manipulative-algorithms-and-addictive-design-summing-up-whats-wrong-with-social-media/

Mindful technics speaks on the algorithms manipulative nature and the way that apps are designed to keep us scrolling and interacting with the content for hours on hours. Personally, I find the algorithm on TikTok to be particularly addicting as it is just endless videos that are of interest to you based on what the algorithm has gathered from your personal information.

Advertising and exposure are huge on the internet especially social media. Everyone is looking to make a quick dollar, or start a new business etc. so we are constantly bombarded with ads and exposed to new products. We as consumers can select and choose what we want to be exposed to, however, that just means that the ads will simply change to something the algorithm believes that you are interested in.

Businesses and consumers must both be aware of what information the algorithm is taking, what demographics is is showing your content to, or what demographic the content being shown to you is placed in. Customers must also be aware that there are often junk store sites on the internet that drop ship clothing or items from china for a large up charge. In response to these conditions, businesses and consumers alike can call for stricter regulation on advertising and what personal information the algorithm is taking so that they can protect their privacy as well as helping to stop the spread of junk news and junk sites.

[navigatingthedigitalage]

Week 4 Post 1

In my opinion the most important qualities a social media consultant should have are that they are comfortable navigating various social media sites as well as willing to learn new ones as they pop up. I believe that they should be professional, but also know which market they are attempting to reach through their social media posts. Social media consultants should also be able to advise companies on various strategies to reach different audiences.

I would have a tough time being a social media advisor for myself as I do not actively post on any social media site and prefer to keep my information private. In order to improve my professional social media presence I could implement a few posts or things about me in my bios or make an attempt to create new accounts on new sites where I post. I believe that all of my information being private is a sign of professionalism though as I am not willing to share all of my information with everyone.

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Big Data and Algorithms

After watching the documentary The Social Dilemma and listening to this weeks lecture, it is clear that big data and the algorithms it creates hold a large amount of power over us in our daily lives. The algorithms that are created through the collection of our data through social media sites means increasingly customized content which can be seen as a positive thing, as you are only seeing what the algorithm knows you are interested in. On the flip side however, these increasingly personalized feeds mean that we are becoming more and more addicted to our technology and are constantly pursuing new notifications and content that interests us.

My personal views on how the problems associated with the collection of our data and algorithms in the personal sphere are that you should only share what data is absolutely necessary online and with social media sites as well as commercial sites. On a professional level, the company should ensure that employees do not access social media sites and other unapproved sites that could hack into the companies computers and steal important information. Societally, I believe that we need to place regulations on sites collecting and selling customer data as well as passing laws so that we remain protected. Societally we should take a stance against the companies that utilize predatory and addictive algorithms to keep us on their sites instead of doing what we need to do.

[navigatingthedigitalage]

Social Media's Influence on Me

Max Stossel speaks in his video titled "We've Been Sneaking Into Your Brains" on how social media is in essence a slot machine to keep us as consumers on these social media sites, to keep coming back, keep interacting with the content shown to us, spend five more minutes on the site and make the owners more money. I think that this is an important point that many people don't realize with the algorithms that are set up on every social media site now, they are designed to keep you there longer, keep you coming back to the app, keeping you trapped on their site for hours upon hours when you have other things to do. I don't believe that social media has a huge impact on my daily life at this point. In 2020, I deleted all of my social media except my TikTok, Snapchat, and Reddit, everything else went out the window as I was growing increasingly frustrated seeing people not take covid protocols seriously and endangering others with their reckless behavior, then bragging about it online with posts about huge parties and get togethers. I think that this mass exodus of social media from my life has changed it for the better, I am no longer on my phone at all hours of the day and instead seek out other hobbies or things to do instead of scroll mindlessly.

In Emma Rathborne's article she describes life before the internet. and as someone who has grown up in the digital age and always had some form of technology/internet access around me, I still find truth in several of her statements about creativity and boredom in those times. I do believe the internet constantly being available to me has impacted my life, there have been periods where I was constantly on my phone and probably missed out on some major events. However, the vast amount of knowledge available at our fingertips is a great asset and being able to look up something if you don't know know it is invaluable. There have been several times where I have mot had access to the internet for a week or two weeks when out camping, and the only thing I ever miss is being able to talk to a few friends who are not with me on that trip, but by the second day I realize that I can catch up with them when I am back and that I should just enjoy the nature while I can.

I believe that I am already pretty intentional about my usage of technology, but I could set limits on my time when I use it at the end of the night to wind down so that I do not stay up too late scrolling, and so that my exposure to the so called slot machine of social media is limited enough that I am not tempted to use it more. There are probably more ways that I could be more intentional about my social media usage, however, I believe that setting limits on my time would be most beneficial to me personally as I already have such little time in my day.

[navigatingthedigitalage]

Social Media Experiment

When asked to track my screen time, I found that I spent a total of two hours and fourteen minutes on social media on my phone, and two hours on my laptop doing homework. While my social media time is not substantial by any means compared to what some of my friends spend on it, it could still be improved upon. I decided to attempt an experiment where I would not go onto social media at all for twenty four hours to see if it would be difficult for me or if it would be a breeze since I am already on social media so little. To do this experiment I didn't consider snapchat to be a social media app as I only use it to communicate with others, so the social media sites that I use regularly, TikTok, Pinterest, and Reddit were deleted from my phone for a 24 hour period to see if I could avoid the temptation to redownload them or spend time on my phone doing something else.

Results

I found this experiment to be relatively easy, I am not on very many social media websites, and since I work two jobs and have schoolwork I do not have very much time to be on my phone realistically. I use it to communicate with my friends and family and wind down on TikTok at the end of the night after a long day. I simply replaced my nightly scroll through TikTok with a book, or some crocheting until I felt tired enough to be able to sleep. I know that I am not the ideal candidate for this experiment as my screen time is already pretty limited, but it did open my eyes to the fact that I could be on social media even less than I am currently and I feel that moving forward I will most likely use it less than I do currently.

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First Post!

Hello all, my name is Natalie and I am a 5th year student at Central Michigan University. I am studying for a Psychology major with a Management minor and plan to graduate spring of 2023. In the fall I will be a special education elementary teacher and plan to make that my career. In this blog I hope to document myself navigating through social media after deleting several of my accounts in 2020 during the pandemic, and hopefully help others navigate it as well.

Companies in this day and age must utilize social media to their advantage or they risk extinction due to customers not knowing about their brand. A company that exemplifies the utilization of social media is Dollar Shave Club. They create unique video advertisements across various social media sites to draw in customers and emphasize the quality and affordability of their products. Check out their youtube channel to see just how effective their advertising strategy is!