Something Interesting I noticed on Social Media

Lots of people watch TV shows. I watched Breaking Bad and The Sopranos all the way through and liked them a lot. I started both of these shows late (Breaking Bad before season 5 part 2, and Sopranos many years after the finale). I made it through Breaking Bad without having any of it spoiled. I knew the Sopranos ending before watching since I started it over the summer. I currently watch The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, both of which are also great shows, and both of which I have had to activley avoid spoilers for. The Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones "Red Wedding" was spoiled for me quite early which was disappointing because it was such a major event in the series.

One thing I always see, especially with The Walking Dead, is that people just love to post about it on social media. Many of these people give away spoilers too which I cannot stand. I really don't see why people do this. Are they just trying to fit in and tell other people that they watched the same thing others have watched? Since by posting spoilers from the show you are almost guarunteed to ruin it for someone,  I'd assume people would act like me and not spoil it. I guess I was wrong since people do it all the time.

Mentionmapp

Last week in class we learned about many tools on the web a person can use for research in social media. I found one more interesting than the others which is called Mentionmapp. Mentionmapp connects with Twitter to show a map of who connects with you and how. You can see the relation between yourself and other people through hashtags and mentions. The map is interactive and you can move it around and click on the links it provides. You can check out Mentionmapp for yourself here: http://mentionmapp.com/

Investing in stock. Twitter or Facebook?

 

If I were to invest in stock and had to choose between Facebook or Twitter stock, I would invest in
Facebook. Twitter is new to the market making it unpredictable. I recently watched a video from Fox Business about this very topic. Facebook and LinkedIn both sold stock. When Facebook began it flopped, but over time it has gotten better and is currently doing well. LinkedIn did very well from the get go, though they only sold 10% of their stock to the public. Twitter could go either way at this point. I'm not financially secure enough or bold enough to take a risk with Twitter so I'd go with Facebook stock.

                                                


 

Selective Exposure Theory

Of the 10 theories we discussed in class, I'd say the Selective Exposure Theory is the most relevant to social media. This theory says that people will choose to expose themselves to media that is in agreement with their own opinions. They will also block out those which are in opposition.

                                                              

I do this with my social media all the time. On Twitter I follow accounts of people I like and know, as well as famous people, joke accounts, and brands who go along with my views. I will unfollow or choose to ignore people and accounts that go against my views or make me unhappy. I don't want to deal with anything that makes me unhappy, so why would I expose myself to it if I have the choice not to? I wouldn't.

                                                              

How I got started with social media

My experience with social media began in elementary school with my first e-mail account. This was also when I started becoming familiarized with the internet  There came a period (mostly 8th-12th grade) where I barely used email. Since starting college though, I have begun using my email accounts quite frequently.


                       

The next big step in social media for me was the creation of my Facebook profile during my sophomore year of high school. I missed out on the MySpace craze that people were a part of during middle school, and to be honest I've never really looked into MySpace since then. I still use Facebook today, but in a much more limited fashion. I stopped posting statuses since creating my Twitter account though, which is the form of social media I am most involved with currently.

                                                    

I find as I pick up on new forms of social media I end up leaving older ones behind. Eventually I end up coming back to them for one reason or another though.

Do small businesses use social media effectively?

The question of the day is, do small businesses use social media effectively? My answer to this question is simply no, no they do not. Just think of how many small businesses surround us. There might be the many family owned business in your town, farms, your friends landscaping service, etc. Basically any business that is not a large chain with many other stores under the same name.

Are these businesses thriving in this day and age? The answer is no. There was a time when starting a business was safer and was something people looked to do much more frequently. Unfortunately with the economy we have today, creating and owning a small business presents a much larger risk than ever before. Sure, you could succeed and make a lot of money, but you could also fail and lose EVERYTHING.

                                     
People have become more reluctant to spend their money so businesses need to use every tool at their disposal to bring in customers. A crucial tool here is social media. One great thing about this tool; its completely FREE. That's right, free advertising. It seems like a no brainer, but the majority of small businesses choose not to use social media.

While most of us are used social media by now, and it has been relevant for 10+ years, compared to other methods of advertisement like newspaper and television which have each been on the scene for 50+ years, it is still quite new. Even so small businesses need to get past this and move into the present day where it is the BEST way to advertise your service and brand. There is Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and many more. The more a business joins and uses, the more people they can reach. The more people they can reach, the more money they can make. This is the point of business which is why small businesses need to use social media.

                                                   

Why the real villain in "The Social Network" is Mark Zuckerburg

After watching "The Social Network" I have decided the villain is none other than Mark Zuckerburg. All though the real life events portrayed in the film may be exaggerated, it appears here that he is the villain. One reason for this is him publicly humiliating his ex-girlfriend Erica Albright on the internet by making a long insulting blog post about her.  Another is him making The Facebook behind the Winklevoss twins backs after he agreed to help them as a programmer for their website called "The Harvard Connection" which was a dating website exclusively for Harvard students, and very similar to Mark's idea for "The Facebook". Mark also tricks Eduardo Saverin into signing away the majority of his share in the company by hiding in a contract he had him sign that wasn't explained completely basically exploiting Eduardo's trust . Zuckerburg comes across as emotionless and cold in the film which  makes it harder to empathize with him, and easier to place him in the role of the villain.

                                     

Social Media for the Emmy Award

I did not this year, nor do I usually tune in for the Emmy Awards. I make basically no effort to pay attention to it in fact. Even so I am still subjected to the mass of social media posting on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Everyone from professional critics and news sources to friends of mine were posting about it. I remember being happy to see Breaking Bad won best drama, and being disappointed to see Bryan Cranston lost for best actor. Other than that though nothing stuck for me.
                                           
                                              


Even though I may not have cared, a lot of people did, and if you did there was a great social media presence for the event. On a rating scale of 1-10 for how successful social media was  at covering the Emmy Awards I'd give it a 10 because of the fact that even if you had no access to a television  to watch you could still be filled in by social media and would not miss a thing.