Reading About the World of Social Media

Reading textbooks has never been my favorite thing to do. Four months ago if you had told me my social media principles class was going to have a textbook I would have called you crazy, LET ALONE TWO! Now these aren't your standard hard-cover textbooks but that is not the point.

Reading both Guy Kawasaki's The Art of Social Media and Karen Freberg's Social Media for Strategic Communication I learned way more to social media then I think I bargained for. The world of social media is ever changing as Kawasaki and Freberg continuously remind their readers.

Throughout the semester I have actually enjoyed readings about the growth of social media and how to creatively and effectively use it. Much of the millennial population and generation X,Y, and Z all use social media and some even think they are proficient at it. However many only see it as a constant stream of cat videos and keeping people up to date with their lives. Both of these books dive deeper into how to use social media and its benefits in the professional world.

This will be my final assigned post to this blog. This class has given me quite a bit, and that includes over 40 blog posts that at some points I have no idea where I came up with these topics. I enjoyed some of the writing, there were also times when I wanted to take a week off and that would have cost me points so that couldn't very well happen.

Social media principles gave me a look into social media like I had never thought of before. As the professional world continues to adapt to social media and social media continues to change. I am glad I took this class and I am continuing to learn about what social media can bring to the professional world.

The NFL Next Step

254 young men had their live's changed over the past weekend. Some of them were already nationally known sensations. Some were coming out of small towns in Wyoming. It doesn't matter, they are now employed by different teams in the National Football League.

Up until 1936 athletes who chose to play football as a profession were free to sign with any team of their choosing. Bert Bell, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles at the time came up with an idea that revolutionized sports forever. The concept was simple athletes coming out the college ranks would be drafted by NFL teams in the order opposite of how each team finished in the league the year prior.

This idea change the NFL and sports as a whole. The NFL draft has become a spectacle in its own. With over 600,000 people in attendance in Nashville this year and over 47 million viewers on TV. The NFL draft has become a must attend or watch event.

The NFL draft gives something to every NFL team, that many do not have, optimism. No matter how your team finished 3-4 months ago each team has the ability to select their future. No matter where the pick is in todays media each athlete has a back story and a reason for hope that they could be a star. Athlon sports even did a story about the best player to be selected in every pick of the NFL draft.

Players like Joe Montana, Brett Farve, Johnny Unitas, Mike Singletary, Chris Carter were all taken late in the draft and now sit in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Recently players like Tom Brady, Robert Mathis, Jared Allen, Antonio Brown, and Richard Sherman were all taken in the 4th round or later and have gone on to change franchises forever.

This year there were surprises and outcomes written in stone. One thing remains constant in 10-15 years someone no one expected will have made a name for themselves in the NFL.

Check out this years results and see if there is optimism for your teams future. 

The MLB Team Taking of Social Media

Professional sports teams are known for using any ploy possible for an increase in publicity. The Tampa Bay Rays are no exception. For years sports teams have looked to come up with clever themes or attitudes as a brand.

This year however the Rays have taken media by storm. The MLB's lowest payroll team by a long shot, along with averaging the lowest attendance to games in the league. The Rays normally feel like a team under the radar or out of the spotlight. Considering that even avid baseball fans know only one player on the roster. 

Even the team bio "tweets with a bit of citrus" is against the norm and eye catching. The goal behind the rays increase in twitter attitude has been a sight caught on by fans and MLB followers across the country. Possibly the best part about the Rays' social media team is the interaction with fans, responding with gifs and emojis even jarring back and fourth a bit gives the organization a more personable feel.

Helped by a good start to the season the Rays are one of the most popular teams in baseball partially due to the social media success they have gained in embracing the players own personalities.  One of the younger teams in baseball with an average age of 27 the rays embrace fun loving and easy going personalities of the teams most popular players. 

Partnered with team success the Rays increase in content while simultaneously increasing quality gives the brand and organization a whole new following. Read more about the Rays unexpected leap to social media stardom here.

Social Media of The Summer

Everything changes with seasons. Social media is no different. There are key trends that take place as we transition to the summer months. Certain things change in use of social media and what the important aspects of social media are. Here are 4 key trends in social media to keep an eye out for this summer.

1. Mobile is everything, over 80% of media use comes from mobile devices.

2. Location takes over.

3. Visual content becomes even more important with 63% of social media includes visuals.

4. Spread out your coverage, more platforms become more widely used in the summer months.

Year One the End is Near

As three weeks remain in the average college academic spring semester. College students minds can shift in many ways. Survival, checking out, locking down, giving up are all possibilities. The next challenge however is right around the corner. No longer can students take summers off. As the job market becomes more and more competitive every summer is the opportunity to set you up for life after the degree. Internships can come in all shapes and sizes. All types of opportunities.

CNBC did a study on the most popular and best set up internships for college students. 

10. Dell Tech

9. GE

8. L'Oreal

7. EY

6. Facebook

5. Google

4.Newell Brands

3. CohnReznick

2. Enterprise

1. Under Armour

Each are unique but their were a few key factors each have in common. They all lead towards full-time employment. Each involves a mentorship program to help develop students into well-rounded professionals. It still remains in hands of the intern however as to how well they will take advantage of the opportunities put in front of them.

Social Media Specialization

Social media has become such an integral part of society that branches have come off of it into forms of specialization. Platforms can be used in so many ways entertainment, sports, crisis communication, and journalism. Each specialization uses social media in different ways taking advantage of different tools in social media.

Entertainment:

• Regular updates 
• Strategic briefs 
• Influencer branding
• Graphics and visuals
• Videos
• Press releases

Sports:

• Game releases
• Game events
• Updates 
• Content and scheduling 
• Sponsorships 
• Graphics and visuals
• Videos
• Branding 
• Influencers

Crises:

• Crisis plans 
• Statements
• Exercises and training
• Backgrounds on key professionals
• Media monitoring and listening 
• Policies and guidelines
• Live video and news releases

Journalism:

• Stories
• Updates 
• Features
• Articles
• Exclusives
• Investigations
• Video

Social media is used in so many facets. It can effect so much of the life we live in so many different ways. These are a few ways that social media continues to grow and impact the world.

Measuring, Evaluating, Budgeting

Measuring and evaluating takes time. Resources to find measurements of data and analytics can not be scary. Creativity takes hold in all aspects of social media business. Without this input without insight there is not justification for actions on social media. To actively take advantage of measurements and evaluations here are some tips.

Use regular language don't over complicate or make it harder to find the real basis of the numbers or research.

Budgeting and numbers are okay. Know that you get what you pay for and plan out what you are willing to pay for in the most effective way.

Limitations are to be expected and find the differences in the data. Restrictions hit every brand or business. Know your own and embrace them.

Be up to date on research and data metrics know when you are getting them and know how consistent they are.

Always keep learning. No matter the part of your brand or business always develop and learn.

Have goals. Have a checklist of what needs to be accomplished and know how you want to get there.

The One Show Uniting the Age Brackets

There are certain events that is seems everyone tunes into watch. The Super Bowl, The World Series, The Oscars, The Grammys to name a few. Notice how these all begin with The. Well I have a new one for you all The Game of Thrones.

Based on two novels written by George R.R. Martin and A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones both published in the mid 1990s. Game of Thrones the TV series that has taken off over the past 9 years is being dubbed the greatest TV show ever. With a well planned 2 year break between season 7 and the final season, 8 the series brought in an audience of over 17 million Sunday night. 

The following of Game of Thrones reaches age brackets that no other TV series has touched from ages 13-65 all being well represented. The spectacle that was the premier took the world by storm and by world I mean social media. 

HBO's twitter was hit over 800 thousand mentions. People used the #GOT over 600 thousand times. According to Talkwalker the show created over 1.5 million social media posts.

Game of Thrones conquered ratings as expected with the season premier. The largest conquest however may have been its social media take over.

National Siblings Day: To be an Only Child

April 10th is a national holiday I will never celebrate technically. National Siblings Day is a holiday that 77% of US families and children celebrate. Both my parents have siblings of their own. I have multiple cousins on both sides of the family. Most of my friends have siblings.

And yes the "only child syndrome" jokes do get old! (although I strongly attempt to never allow people to have the ability to guess I am an only child).

Throughout my life, I have gone through different stages of how I feel about this fact of being an only child. A few times during my early childhood (ages 3-5) I asked for siblings to no success. As I aged it fell out of priority for me it just didn't matter. I began to develop friendships that became my brothers. As I got to high school sometimes I felt I missed out on the relationship I could have had with a sibling.

Until I realized that I had become someone who cherished friendships and close friendships maybe a bit more than most. I firmly believe this is because of how I grew up. It is something that I am proud of. The ability for those brothers and sisters that I developed such close friendships with to rely on me like we were our own little family.

With all this being said as I enter the next stages of my life I will continue to think how my life could have been different if my family had one more member.

But instead of wishing for a difference I find the benefits behind it. For all of you reading this with siblings, the bond you have with those siblings can not be replicated. However I received one benefit none of you got. I chose my brothers and sisters I chose those that I wanted to have the relationships with, something that I don't think I appreciated until recently.

One thing I know I never appreciated was the relationship it created between me and my parents. There were, and in all honesty are times where it is a negative, but an equal if not more times where it is a positive. My parents and I are close, has it been an easy road no. Were the screaming matches in the kitchen worth it? I think so. Have my parents adjusted to immediately becoming empty nesters? If this weekend was any indication, my father's quote "we are just getting used to doing dinners without you" should let you all know how they stand (I have been gone 9 months).

The family a person grows up in creates the person they become. Only children are given all the attention of their parental unit, ALL OF IT! Only children also benefit from being the only child that has to be spent on. Only children may sometimes feel more pressure than other children with siblings to lighten the load. However only children if given the right environment and freedom can become extremely independent people.

As I continue to get older the fact of being an only child will continue to have an impact on me. As my parents age I will be the only one to look after them. I will also be the single beneficiary of their will, I hope. For much of my life I have ridden an emotional roller coaster as to what it means to be an only child and I will continue it.

There are always multiple ways to look at a situation. This one however is an ever changing look.

Creating Content

As this piece of content is being written I sit here in week 11 of a 16 week semester. For one of my classes I was tasked with creating three pieces of content a week. My feeble inexperienced mind has begun to seriously struggle in the later weeks with what to write about. Enter chapter nine for this weeks reading. Based on, generating content. There are four key types of content on all forms of social media.

Written:
Often the first impression of a brand or company comes from writing. Writing tools are readily available it is good to write constantly on any ideas that come to mind. Connecting your ideas to your brand or your audience also adds to the ability of your writing.

Audio:
Audio is a powerful tool that connects to an audience. Podcasts have become increasingly more popular and with increasing audience for them their use has expanded. Interviews and talk shows are two audio mediums that have taken social media interest.

Visual:
Visual can take many forms. Reports, analytics, presentations, statistics all play a key role in grabbing attention and being keen content for a brand.

Graphic:
Perhaps the most popular of the options above graphic content is sexy. The key to graphic content is not losing sight of the whole picture. What do graphics achieve for a brand what do they give to an audience while they may grab attention sometimes they don't accomplish the intended needs.

Creating content is difficult. The keys behind content are what make it difficult. Using all of these forms adds to the diversity of a brand and its platforms. If a brand can lock down these and bring them all together into a constant diverse stream of content they are on their way to a well run social media campaign.

Social Media's Growth

Social media is ever changing. Part of why it is so popular is this ability. The idea that social media can be anything it is needed to be makes it a constant in society. With that being said since the beginning of social media in 1997 social media has become a vital part of today's society. I wanted to look into what is social media now.

Here are the top 8 uses of social media now

1. Staying connected


2. Sharing your thoughts


3. Showcasing talents and abilities


4. Marketing and promotional abilities


5. Brand awareness


6. Knowledge


7. Fastest news


8. Bringing people together

Social media will continue to change. Perhaps that is what makes it so necessary. It is what makes it so special and unique. The idea that a product can change so effortlessly just by the use of the user. This is what makes social media irreplaceable is the idea that the power is in the hand of the user. Social media of all platforms can become anything the audience wants it to be.

World Autism Awareness Day

1 in 59 children are diagnosed with a ASD (autism spectrum disorder). The month of April is autism awareness month. 1 in 37 boys will be diagnosed with autism while 1 in 151 girls will be. Autism effects all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. There is no medical dedication for ASD. one third of those with autism are nonverbal.

Autism can effect anyone and in the world we live in today it is difficult to find someone who doesn't know someone effected by this condition. ASD costs roughly $60,000 a year through childhood. In the next 10 years 500,000 teens with ASD will age out of school based services and enter adulthood. Many young adults with autism do not receive any healthcare for years after the stop seeing a pediatrician.

More than half of young adults with autism are unemployed or unenrolled in higher education. This is a lower than that of young adults with other disabilities, including learning disabilities, intellectual disability or speech-language issues.

Of the nearly 18,000 people with autism who used state-funded rehabilitation programs. 60 percent left the program with a job. 80 percent worked part-time at a median weekly rate of $160. Placing them below the poverty line.

Nearly half of 25-year-olds with autism have never held a paying job.

Research demonstrates that job activities along with schooling that encourages independence reduces autism symptoms and increases daily living skills. 

Who do you know that is effected by ASD? How can you help those less fortunate than you? 

The Happiest Place on Earth without me

"You just won the Super Bowl what are you going to do next?"

"I am going to Disney World"

One of the most well known advertisements that is almost not even an ad at this point. Growing up in Tampa exactly one hour and four minutes from the happiest place on earth I grew up a Disney kid. This was before everything was so technologically advanced and you could walk up to the front gate get tickets and have yourself a Disney day without much trouble.

For my spring break this year, I went home and worked as well as interviewing for summer jobs. My parents however took a trip to Disney. While in the beginning I was quite envious of the situation it became something that was more of a reminder. How one brand can have such an impact.

Disney is one of the most widely known brands in the world. Here are 15 facts that you may not know about the brand that can make anyone feel like a kid again.

1. Disney was founded in 1923

2. Disney's first film was Alice's Wonderland

3. The first Disney character was a rabbit

4. They produced the first ever feature animation film

5. Many of their films have reached over 1 billion dollars in revenue and are still growing to this day

6. They have twice made over 4 billion dollars in a calendar year in film

7. The first Disney resort was in California

8. Bob Iger is the current CEO and Chair

9. Headquarters are in California

10. They acquired Pixar in 2006

11. The acquired Marvel in 2009

12. They acquired LucasFilm in 2012

13. Walt Disney World in the largest resort/ park in the world

14. Admission prices to the parks have increased all but three years of existence
-1976
-1977
-1988

15. There are 5 Walt Disney Resorts and Parks around the Globe

Social Media Personalities

Throughout social media there are people and personalities that make the social media realm go round. Influencers, creators, and ambassadors are major personalities that leverage a following and voice to increase their brand and the brand they work for.

Influencer
A person or persons who are skilled and passionate in knowing how to communicate, engage, and create dialogue in the right way for the right reasons.
-Large Audience
-Paid Endorsements
-Access to brand and events
-The brand controls the relationship
-One-way Commitment
-Disclose agreement and identity

Creators
Similar to influencers but they tend to create more content while giving insights and strategy to their associated brands.
-Leverage opportunities for creativity
-Paid endorsements
-Partnership
-Creators are in control of creative execution
-Two-way commitment
-Disclose name or under nickname

Ambassadors
Working to promote your brand and and work but in their own personal interests effects. Leveraging loyalty to a brand as their currency. Loyal customers, alumni, current students, or fans all count as ambassadors.
-Leverage loyalty and commitment
-Exclusive access
-Ambassadors control their involvement
-Two-way commitment
-Disclose identity and connection

How many influencers do you follow on social media? What is the real stream of content on your pages and feeds?

These personalities have become so good that they barely have to work to do their job as they already have the following they need.