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Client Project Wrap Up

As my work on the client project wraps up, now is a good time to reflect on all the work I have done this semester towards making The Brainstormers! LLC thrive. I learned a lot over the course of this project about what it means to actually coordinate social media accounts for a business. Before starting this project I thought businesses posted about whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to make a post. I quickly learned that there is an exact science to creating content for specific audiences. Although all social media platforms are different, businesses need to master the art of spreading one consistent message across the multiple platforms. Spreading one consistent message can help companies reach their specific goals.

I had a lot of fun working with The Brainstormers! LLC in Royal Oak this semester. They’re a terrific company that does so much for students across the country, and I am lucky to have had the opportunity to work with them. I think a lot of things went well over the course of this project. I was able to give The Brainstormers! a lot of insight on how to use their social media platforms properly. The Brainstormers! are a really small company who doesn’t really use social media as much as other businesses. Their line of work allows for them to use social media platforms in a really fun and creative way, and I was able to show them that throughout the course of this project. 

Due to the time constraints of this project, I didn’t get to help The Brainstormers! out as much as I would have liked to. When I wrote my memos, I focused them mainly on what The Brainstormers! could do with their Facebook account, because that is the account they use the most. They are more familiar with how to use Facebook, and their Facebook audience is significantly larger than any other audience they have. If I had more time, I would inform them more on how to use platforms like Instagram and Twitter, and how to seamlessly connect all three to present a clear message to their audience. 

I think the biggest lesson I am taking away from this project is that in order to be a social media consultant for a company, you need to know the company inside and out. I spent a summer interning for The Brainstormers! last year, so I was very familiar with both external and internal information about the company. I think this really helped me out as I was trying to come up with new things for The Brainstormers! to try because I know firsthand what they have time and a budget for. Being a social media consultant takes a lot of work, but I think it would take even more work if I didn’t know the company as well as I did. Overall, I had a really positive experience this semester with my client project.

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Fyre Festival Goes Up in Flames

If we’re being honest, watching Hulu’s Fyre Fraud documentary stressed me out for a lot of reasons. It amazes me that out of all the people that were involved in the creation of this event, no one put a stop to it before it got so wildly out of hand. It seemed like the whole time everyone knew a disaster was coming, yet there was very little attempt to cancel everything. 

With that being said, I think the documentary also revealed a lot about how young people in today’s society think. The Fyre Festival was targeting people in the “millennial” age group. The people who make up this age category are still at a point in their lives where they are figuring out who they want to be, and how they are going to become that person. Social media influencers, like the people who were supposed to attend the Fyre Festival, have a huge impact on how a lot of millennials think and spend their time and money. It’s crazy to me that social media influencers have so much power over people that they have never even met before. As crazy as it is to me to have power over someone you’ve never met, I also know that my own thoughts are influenced every day by people on social media. 

The people who were supposed to attend the Fyre Festival were either influencing others to go, or influenced by others to go. I honestly don’t blame people for wanting to go to Fyre Festival just because an influencer told them to, because I often find myself doing similar things because my own influencers tell me to. People make their lives seem exciting on the internet because they want to come across as cool so they can potentially influence others as well, The Fyre Festival was going to be the perfect place to create instagram posts that made the attendees look and feel elite to people who did not go. If I had the insane amount of money the Fare Festival required, I can’t say I wouldn’t have thought about going if one of my favorite influencers said they were going to be there. 

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An Influencer’s Impact

If you’re on any type of social media, chances are you probably follow an influencer. Influencers are people that have the ability to change the way people think, and impact decisions. These individuals could be people you know in real life, or people you've never met before. You could be impacted by the person you’ve lived next door to your whole life, or someone who lives on the other side of the world. Some of the highest-paid social media influencers include Selena Gomez, Tyler Oakley, and Kendall & Kylie Jenner. 

Recently, I went through my own Twitter account and thought about all the people I let influence me on a daily basis. The best example of a person who has influenced the way I think and impacted my decisions because of their online presence is the lead singer of my favorite band. In the past year, I have traveled over 700 miles to attend shows in 3 states for my favorite band. If I was not following this band on Twitter and Instagram, I probably wouldn’t know whether or not they were even on tour. I wouldn’t see the pictures they post of their concerts. I wouldn't see other fans tweeting about how much fun they had at the shows. The lead singer’s influence decided purchases I made, and how I spent my time on the days of the shows I went to. Before I started thinking about the influencers in my life, I didn’t realize how much of the influencing was done through social media accounts. 

These instances were not the first time I was influenced to do something by someone online, and there will definitely be a next time. Influencers are all around us, and you might even be one yourself. As social media continues to rise and take over more of people’s daily lives, so will influencers. 

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The Power of Visual Disruption

I recently watched Fyre Fraud, the documentary on the failed Fyre Festival of 2017 on Hulu. Overall, I found the film to be very eye-opening and worth watching to anyone interested in the subject. The movie revealed a lot about the influence social media has on people. One of the concepts I found most interesting in the documentary was the idea of visual disruption. 

When the Fyre Festival team wanted to create hype that would really get people excited for the festival, they used visual disruption tactics to grab people’s attention. Several influencers posted a simple image to their instagram: an orange tile with the Fyre Festival account tagged. In a world where people post similar pictures all day long, this simple image made people stop. I thought this was really interesting. When I started thinking more about this concept, I realized that I had recently I had seen similar posts, and I had also fallen for the trap. I clicked on one of the posts to see what the visual disruption was all about. In a sea of sameness, this visual disruption got my attention. 

I think visual disruption would be a great tool to use for businesses unveiling a new project, or something really important to them. It builds excitement and makes people take a second look at what is being posted. 

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Unplugged & Unbothered

Over the weekend, I went to see one of my favorite artists in concert. I go to concerts a lot, and decided I wanted to try something new this time around. For the entire duration of the concert I didn’t take out my phone at all. I didn’t answer any texts, look at any notifications on my lockscreen, or take any photos or videos. This experience was super refreshing. I got to really enjoy every single second of the concert instead of worrying about getting a 30 second video clip of a song I can probably find somewhere on YouTube. 

As I was watching the show, I noticed just how many people around me were on their phones. Some people were live-tweeting, others were texting. I looked behind me and noticed that a majority of people were using their phones to film the concert. This makes me wonder what the artist thinks when they look out into the crowd and they are forced into getting lost in a sea of phones. A lot of people weren’t truly enjoying themselves because they were trying to get the best videos. If people would put their phones down and focus on the concert, a stronger connection could be made between the members of the crowd and the bands. 

This wasn’t my first concert, and it definitely won’t be my last. I think from now on I will be living my concert-life completely unplugged. Overall the experience was really positive, and something I would like to experience again. 

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Creating the Right Content

Recently I have been looking into what it takes to create online content that is appropriate to a specific business. I have been focusing on a business that I interned for last summer called The Brainstormers! LLC in Royal Oak, Michigan. Facebook is their most successful social media platform, so I have been focusing on creating content that thrives on Facebook as opposed to other social media platforms. 

One thing I found in my research is that it is smart to test different frequencies between posts to see what followers respond best too. Companies can start out by making one post a day, and then changing it as their followers get used to that pattern. If followers respond more to less frequent posts, it could be smart to consider posting less frequently that usual. If less posts are being made, it is important to make every post matter. 

Shorter posts get more engagement, so posts should mainly include relevant information. It is smart to limit the character count to around 120 characters. I know when I am scrolling through Facebook, I usually scroll right past the posts that feel like reading a novel, but I will take time to read short posts. With these short posts, ending the post with a question can lead to more engagement in the comments. 

Before my research, I was unaware of the Facebook Targeting option. Facebook Targeting allows people to target their advertisement in specific geographical regions. This is very helpful because not every advertisement applies to all geographical regions in the world. When creating advertisements for Facebook, companies should take the time to use Facebook Targeting to ensure that their intended audiences are seeing their content. 

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Twitter: Your Not-So-Secret Diary

I found Chapter 3 of The Social Organization to be very intriguing. One part I found particularly interesting was the opening of the chapter. The chapter starts out by talking about a very possible situation that can happen in any workplace. In this workplace, an employee gets upset with their boss and uses Twitter as an outlet for their thoughts. This then snowballs into a much bigger deal involving termination of employment, and court cases. This short story reminded me about just how out in the open things are once they are posted to the internet.

 Although this may have not been the point the author was trying to make, it is still an important point to think about. It is common knowledge that employers search people’s social media accounts before hiring people, but I think a lot of people forget about that in the heat of the moment. Several times a day I will scroll through my Twitter timeline and see tweets from my peers and think, “I would never tweet that” because I don’t know who’s looking at my accounts. If it’s not something I would want to come up at a family dinner table, or in a job interview, I do not put it online. In current times, people’s personal thoughts are often just a click away. People should be more careful about the image of themselves they create through their online profiles. 

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Growing a Community

Recently I dug deeper into the world of growing an online community. Before, I didn’t really think much about all the work that actually goes into completing this task. I, much like many others, underestimated the strategic thought processes that go into building a loyal community of online followers.

Something I found interesting in my training is that Facebook Livestreams get more exposure than any other type of Facebook post. I had never thought about this before, but it makes sense. Facebook algorithms push Livestreams to the top of people’s timelines, so they are the first thing people see when they log in. The optimization of this feature causes people to naturally be drawn to clicking on the Livestream to watch. I know this has happened to me before, and I can’t be the only one. If I were trying to grow an online community, I would add at least one livestream a week to my content calendar. 

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Social Media Strategies

The lack of a solid social media strategy can result in a disconnect between a company’s online presence and their overarching brand. There are many steps to achieving a customized social media strategy that best fits each individual company. One of the most vital steps to creating an effective social media strategy comes right at the very beginning. 

Before a coach can put together a game plan, they have to know the type of team they are working with. The same goes for creating a social media strategy. The first step to creating an impactful social media strategy is conducting a social media audit. The results of this audit will tell you which platforms are thriving, and which platforms could use some work. Without conducting this audit, it is easy to put in effort to platforms that don’t necessarily need work done to them. 

Performing an audit is easy, but it takes significant attention to detail. A good place to start in the audit is going to each social media platform and seeing how many followers the accounts have. After that aspect is assessed, it is important to see how active the accounts are, and how many other people are being active with the account. These results provide the foundation for a proper social media strategy. 

Starting to create a social media strategy without doing a social media audit is like putting shoes on before socks. The audit tells account owners what they need to focus on when creating a strategy. This tool is useful because it helps put an emphasis on improvement, while maintaining what is already effective with existing accounts. 

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Beware of Big Data

At a first glance, the use of big data might not look like it has any negatives. Big data is a tool that reveals more about human interaction. It can help businesses respond to trends so they can create a stronger bond with consumers. This tool is so helpful to people that they may overlook potential consequences of using big data. Both businesses and consumers need to be aware of the opportunities and threats of big data usage.

One of the biggest issues that businesses and consumers need to realize is that big data is never truly secure. Any piece of information put out into the world can be collected by hackers. Popular stores like Target and Home Depot learned this lesson a few years ago when millions of their store credit card accounts were hacked. This news was devastating to consumers because their personal information was no longer safe. The scandal caused consumers to become less trusting of these stores, and which made them start considering the stores’ competitors. This was not an ideal situation for anyone involved. Consumers need to be cautious of the information they give out, because it cannot be taken back

The best way to balance opportunities and threats of using big data is to ensure proper legislation controls a misuse of the tool. Laws preventing misusing and hacking would make people feel as if big data comes with less of a threat. Big data can be helpful as long as the power it provides isn’t abused. When people give up their data, they should be able to feel as though it is completely safe. 

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Adventures in Live Tweeting

The point of live-tweeting an event is to provide content to those who cannot attend the event themselves. Although I was not able to participate in this year’s ERPsim event, I can imagine the strategic planning that is involved with following an event of this magnitude. ERPsim is an extremely important event for Central Michigan University’s College of Business, so it is important that the live-tweets about it reflect the university as well as the function itself in the best light. 

One cannot show up to an event and expect to flawlessly live-tweet what happens as they see it. It is important to research the event beforehand so you know what is relevant enough to tweet about. Twitter audiences will not care about tweets that are not relevant to the event. Another important tip to remember when live-tweeting is to mix up how you present the content. It is a good idea to use pictures, videos, and quotes from people at the event. A good way to engage the audience is by asking a question, or using the polling feature of Twitter to see what they think. Every tweet counts, so it is important to tweet with a purpose. Each tweet should be relevant to the event. A final, but very important, thing to remember is to use the hashtag assigned to the event while live-tweeting. If you do not use the hashtag, people will not be able to find the tweets associated with the event. 

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Know Your Platforms

The point of social media is to create content for your followers, so this leads people to believe that all platforms should be ran the same way. This is not the case at all. Each social media platform is unique, and should be treated differently. Knowing the difference between what works well with one platform as opposed to another helps create a stronger bond between followers and content creators. 

One of the things I found to be most interesting during my research of different platforms is that Facebook Live videos have more engagement than any other type of posting. Facebook Live gives audiences a chance to see what is happening in real time. If I were a social media consultant, I would be pushing businesses to take advantage of this free exposure. 

I also learned about the Twitter Lists feature. A Twitter List is an exclusive timeline of only people you have added to your list. This can help businesses stay organized, and only look at certain content when they are scrolling through. Now that I am more familiar with the advantages of Twitter Lists, I can use them properly and encourage others to use them properly as well. 

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A Professional Presence

Like most people my age, I use social media to connect with my friends. My personal Twitter account is filled with memes, and countless videos that have made me laugh until I cried. For this reason, it is important to also have professional social media accounts. In my opinion the first step to having a better professional presence on social media has nothing to do with the professional accounts themselves. If people want to have a more professional presence on social media, they should first set all their personal media accounts on private. 

The first thing people see about any social media account is the profile picture. It is important that professional social media accounts have a profile picture that reflects what they are trying to accomplish by having a professional account. A good profile picture for these types of account include people in professional attire, usually against a background that isn’t busy. 

Another step to having a professional social media account is to monitor the content the account is tagged in. The account should only be tagged in posts and photos that show the owner in the best possible light. If the post is something a person wouldn’t want to talk to their boss about, they shouldn’t be tagged in it. People are easily able to untag themselves in photos and posts, and they should not be afraid to do so in order to enhance their professional image. 

A third tip to having a good professional presence online is to be engaging with followers. People should be liking, commenting on, and sharing posts that are relevant to their business accounts. Being active on professional accounts shows audiences that account owners care. Making quality connections online can lead to face-to-face connections in the future. 

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The Essentials of Being a Social Media Consultant

In this day and age, it is extremely typical for companies to have some type of social media presence. People all around the world can interact with a company’s social media pages, so it is important that the pages represent the company in the best light-- this is where social media consultants come in. Social media consultants are responsible for helping businesses put out the best possible image on their social media websites. Just because someone gets over 10 likes on their personal Twitter account doesn’t mean they’re ready to dive into the world of social media consulting just yet. Social media consultants need to have excellent listening skills, an understanding of the tools they are using, and a strong connection with the business’ social media followers. 

If a social media consultant is unable to listen to the business they are consulting for, they will not be able to see the business’ entire vision. Companies must work with their social media consultants to make sure everyone is on the same page. If consultants do not know enough about the company, the message that the company is trying to convey will be completely lost. 

It is extremely important for social media consultants to be familiar with the social media platforms they are using. Each social media platform has a different vibe, so it is necessary that consultants understand the platform they are using, and the audience they are reaching on those platforms. Consultants should also be aware of any posting restrictions social media websites should have, such as character limits. 

Perhaps one of the most important elements of being a social media consultant is understanding the business’ audience. Understanding who a business is marketing to is imperative to connecting with them. Making a connection with people online will help people like the specific company more. If a social media consultant is able to create a connection with an audience by posting relatable, likable content, they have done a good job. 

Social media consulting is not for everyone, but it’s not a skill that people cannot be taught. With the ability to listen, understand tools they’re using, and a connection with followers, social media consultants can truly shine. 

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The Eyes of the Internet

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is watching you? Well if you’re reading this, they are. People cannot scroll through the internet without having billions of eyes watching the advertisements they interact with and the pages they frequently visit. This continuous surveillance has been influenced by internet data models, and it isn’t going to stop anytime soon. 

After people browse for things online, they often find advertisements for the same objects on other pages they view later. This is not a coincidence. Companies are taking your data, and using it to customize your advertisements. People aren’t going to make their jobs harder than they need to be. Why would businesses go out of their way to get information on a population when they can just look at how the they’re using the internet? People do not pay physical money to use the internet, because their data is the currency being used in exchange for web access. 

As unfair as it might sound to people, they only have themselves to blame. With every click, more information is relinquished to online content providers. The only way to have their online privacy fully protected is to not be online. 

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Big Concerns with Big Data

Everyday, people post countless pictures, put billions of items into online shopping carts, and click onto infinite webpages. Millions of people don’t realize just how much power they are relinquishing with these common actions. My eyes have recently been opened concerning the topic of Big Data. I never realized exactly how much I am being watched on the internet every single day. This powerful tool can be helpful if used in the correct way, but it is very easy for its use to spiral out of control. I think people would be shocked to know the degree of how much they are being tracked on the internet. 

With every click we make, a pair of eyes follows us. These metaphorical eyes track what we buy, the pages we browse, what we like, what we dislike and more. The more pages we visit, the more data is created. Big Data is powerful because it reveals statistics about the nation as a whole. This tool has very relevant uses, but it can also be quickly abused. Most people don’t realize that any information they put online, whether they think it is significant or not, is being used. Abusing Big Data can lead to people being less trusting of the internet, and companies overstepping privacy boundaries. While many people would like to blame content providers and big name companies for abusing Big Data, the truth is that people are the ones giving up their own private information. 

Plain and simple, the only way to stop Big Data is to not use the internet. I’m not crazy, so I realize that not using the internet is not an option most people would like to commit to. To limit Big Data, people would have to be more conscious about privacy policies, and what they’re agreeing to when they check that they’ve read the Terms & Conditions box (when in reality, they probably haven’t). In order to limit harm done by Big Data, legislation would have to be put into place to restrict how much data companies are allowed to collect, and what they are able to use it for. Internet users should not get upset about how their data is being used, because they are the ones giving their data out on a daily basis. 

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Experimenting with Social Media

Recently, I conducted an experiment about my own personal social media use. On the first day of my experiment, I tracked how often I used social media, and on the second day I did not use social media at all. The experiment was eye-opening and I learned things about myself that I didn’t expect to learn.

Day one of my experiment was easy, because I got to go about my day how I normally would. I tracked how long I spent on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, VSCO, Facebook, Safari, and iMessage. I feel like most people who do this experiment would be surprised by their screen-time amounts. I knew my screen-time would be high, but I didn’t think it would be as high as it ended up being. After looking at my grand total, I knew taking on the next day of the experiment would be interesting. 

Day two of my experiment proved to be slightly challenging. I didn’t realize how important social media was until I was forced to cut it out completely. It felt like everywhere I turned, not using social media was a road block in my life. I couldn’t communicate with people as easily as I was used to, and I couldn’t keep up with my favorite bands. I think the hardest part about not being able to open my social media apps was knowing someone DM’d me a tweet and not being able to check it. It was these instances when I really realized how much enjoyment I get from checking what funny tweets I am sent. Not being able to use social media made it extremely hard to connect with people in my personal and professional lives.

Overall, I think the experiment made me appreciate social media more. Cutting my screen-time down can be beneficial, but it is unrealistic to expect to be able to cut social media out completely. Social media is a positive thing, but it should not consume people’s lives. It isn’t wrong to use social media to communicate, but it shouldn’t be the only way people communicate.