Apps

In the digital world that we live in, apps are a part of our daily lives. Whether it's facebook or pandora, or Pinterest, or Twitter, most people use apps every single day. Simply defined, an app is computer software designed to preform simple tasks, specifically on mobile devices. In 2008 Apple launched it’s App Store, and in the last 7 years apps have become increasingly more prevalent and useful. Other app stores have since been launched, including The Android Market, which was launched only three months after the App Store, and the Windows store, making apps available on virtually every mobile device.

By 2011 there were over 500,000 apps available in Apple’s App Store, which means there are even more available today. With so many different apps out there it is hard to know which ones are actually useful, which ones are a waste of time and/or money, and which ones we are overlooking. PC Mag created the following list of top ten apps for the iPhone:

1. Downcast- this is a great podcast player for those of you out there who enjoy listening to podcasts on the go

2. Easilydo- essentially a very high tech planner

3. Evernote- an app that allows you to take and share notes on your mobile device

4. Gmail- to have your email on the go

5. Google Maps- keeps you from getting lost 

6. Last Pass- an app that keeps track of your various account passwords

7. Mint- an app to help you budget and manage your money 

8. Monument Valley – a gaming app 

9. SwiftKey- this app allows iPhone users to use “sywpe” style texting that is typically only available on Android devices

10. Weather Underground- gives you specific weather details for your area. 

While there are certainly other apps out there that are arguably just as good as these, this is one organizations opinion on the best for Apple devices. 

Sources:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400522,00.asp

http://www.webpronews.com/the-history-of-the-mobile-app-marketplace-2012-02

Viral Videos

Viral videos- some of them are funny, some of them are musical, some are inspirational ,but they all have one thing in common; they have been circulated around the internet very quickly. This is a rather general definition of a viral video, but Social Times gives a more specific definition, saying “A video, I submit, is “viral” if it gets more than 5 million views in a 3-7 day period”. The Social Times also points out that this definition has changed over the course of the past couple of years; as the internet has expanded and gained more users, videos now require more viewers than they did two or three years ago to become viral. It seems that this definition is not accepted across all platforms or by all people, but Social Times makes the point that videos that only get a million, or 1.5 million views are not the videos that are going to be remembered over time. The videos that are going to be remembered are videos like Justin Bieber’s Baby, which has gotten 1,153,793,235 views since its release in 2010, or Daft Hands, which has gotten 60,696,907 views. Besides the number of views, the amount of discussion is what makes a video truly viral. A viral video will be talked about both on and off line, and will become common knowledge among most people. 

But what aspects of a video make it popular enough to become viral? Forbes magazine created the following list:

1. Be short and sweet

2. Be upbeat 

3. Be timely 

4. Be involved 

5. Be informative

6. Be inspirational

I think that all of the things in this list are very relevant, and will definitely add to the likelihood of a video becoming popular enough to become viral. The world is full of enough negativity that it seeks positive things, that are relevant, to consume in the media. 

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2014/08/07/6-qualities-to-make-your-videos-go-viral/

http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/what-makes-a-video-viral/62414

 

Arab Spring and Social Media

The Arab Spring was a wave of revolutions, demonstrations, protests, and civil wars going on in the Middle East and Northern Africa from late 2010 until 2012. This period of revolution began with the Tunisian Revolution that started on December 18th, 2010, and continued with revolutions in countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and other countries across the Arab League. Though the Arab Spring technically ended in 2012, many of the conflicts in the Middle East and northern Africa that are currently on going are considered to be an extension of this Arab Spring. While the Arab Spring might seem to be a typical revolution, similar to those that we have seen across the globe since the 1800’s, the extensive use of social media in this revolutionary movement classifies it as unique and different from those in the past.

Social media is certainly become a dominant part of our world; Time magazine even said that “Facebook is now the third largest country on earth and surely has more information about its citizens than any government”. As a result, Facebook and other social media platforms have become the best way to spread information quickly and efficiently, and there is no better example of this than the Arab Spring. We see this specifically through the example of Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor who publically lit himself on fire in 2011 in an effort to protest the intense corruption being found among the police. This act of defiance was video recorded on the cellphones of countless witnesses, who then chose to take this video and spread it via social media platforms, which in turn really ignited the revolutions of others. In an article featured in The Huffington Post titled “From Arab Spring to Autumn Rage: The Dark Power of Social Media” the author points out that this revolutionary action took the government by surprise, which is one of the beautiful parts of social media. People are allowed to share essentially anything they please, which can be in line with or completely against what their government is promoting. The things they are sharing have the potential to be spread all over the globe, depending on who is interested in their content and makes efforts to share it. The power of social media is incredible, it allowed the revolutionary ideas of people in many countries to spread, thus allowing them to make movements more quickly and accomplish their motives. Social media allows the people to have a voice; it’s not just the government and high up officials who direct history now, small people who have an idea they want to share are given the opportunity too, which is seen clearly throughout the events of the Arab Spring.

An article titled “Explaining the Role and Impact of Social Media in the Arab Spring”, statistics are given showing that there has been a huge increase in social media use and creation of Facebook profiles in recent years; in fact the number Facebook profiles created in the Arab World in 2011 had a 78% growth from 2010. This means that more people are using social media, because it has a reduced communication cost than other forms, another benefit of social media- it is available to so many people at such a low cost.  

While there are definitely benefits of social media, there are also its drawbacks. What about when social media allows for destruction and harmful violence or other negative outcomes to occur? Social media allows for a groups to be formed, that don’t always have a leader thus leading to chaos. Many groups of this variety were formed in the midst of the Arab Spring, which created an environment for the criticism of political leaders- both a positive and negative thing. On the one hand, it allowed for people to gather and discuss their feelings towards the government, and then make strides towards the changes they desired to accomplish. On the other hand, violence then ensued and some chaos.

Social media allows for everything to be shared at the click of a button, which has obvious benefits, but isn’t always ethical. In 2012 some video clips were released, by an American, that mocked the prophet Mohammed, which in turn led to much anger from the Arab world toward the United States and further fueled the actions of the Arab Spring. Freedom of speech is a constitutional right, but when it mocks the religion of another group of people (whose rights are also protected by the constitution) should it still be protected? This kind of media falls into the category of defamation, which is not protected by the constitution. The videos produced definitely were not done in good faith, and were intended to mock and harm the reputation and credibility of both the Islamic religion and the prophet Mohammed. This provides the perfect example of one of the negative sides of social media; it’s various platforms allows for defamation to be spread easily, and without the source being easily traceable.

The internet, technology, and social media had a definite and huge impact on the events of the Arab Spring, and this foreshadows the way it will affect all future conflicts in this world.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-lam/social-media-middle-east-protests-_b_1881827.html

http://www.academia.edu/2370755/Explaining_the_role_and_impact_of_social_media_in_the_Arab_Spring_

Search Engine Optimization

The Internet has become the most important way to create business in the last five years. Having a strong online presence increases customers/consumers and makes it easier for people to find your organization. This means that search engine optimization is a crucial part of your organization’s online presence. But what does that actually mean? Business Insider defined search engine optimization as “finding ways to increase your site’s appearance in web visitors’ search results”. Let me explain a little bit, when consumers want to find an organization or business that meets their needs, they turn to search engines such as Google or Bing to find what they are looking for. As the owner of an organization you want to ensure that your web page is one of the top five that shows up in a search result relating to the type of organization you own. The first five search results that show up are the ones that a consumer is most likely to look into further, which creates incentive to make your page one of those five. 

Some of the ways to search engine optimize are really pretty simple; monitor your pages rankings through tools like Google Tool Bar to keep track of how well you are doing, use keywords throughout your site (within reason) that would make your site easy to find. It is also important to have quality content that is regularly updated, that way people want to visit your site because it is obvious that the information is current and up to date. Another tip is to have a place within your website that show cases your most recent news. Think of this as a news center or a press room on your website that will make the most current and up to date news readily available to people. 

As you search engine optimize the amount of traffic to up your webpage will undoubtedly increase, thus leading to more involvement in your organization or customers for your business. 

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dansimon/2013/05/09/10-seo-tips-for-2013/

http://www.businessinsider.com/10-basic-seo-tips-everyone-should-know-2010-1?op=1

Hootsuite

It is obvious that technology and social media are a huge part of our world, and are one of the top sources of communication in our generation. Social media is especially important to businesses and organizations that are trying to get their start in the world, but some times it is hard to know exactly how to handle all aspects of social media. There are so many available and relevant platforms, how do you effectively address all of them? If I were attempting to promote an organization via social media, it would seem to be a very daunting task, which is where tools like social media aggregators come into play. 

Social media aggregators are tools that allow all of your feeds from your various social media platforms to be brought into one, easy to read, place. An example of one of these tools is Hootsuite. Hootsuite allows you to manage all of your social media accounts in one place, making it easier for you to improve the quantity and quality of your posts. Improving the quantity of your posts, and thus increasing your amount/level of exposure, can be done through scheduled posts. In Hootsuite you are able to create a post, then schedule a time for it to be posted to a specific social media platform. This would allow a person to spend one block of time in their week creating posts, scheduling when they will be posted, and then allowing them to focus on supplementing those posts, replying to comments and other social media interactions, and other aspects of the organization throughout the week. The quality of these posts can also be improved by utilizing Hootsuite’s function that allows multiple people to contribute to a social media account. Having multiple contributors increases the flow of ideas, and brings a different level of creativity to the board. One person might have a particularly amazing idea involving one part of the organization, but be at a loss as how to best promote another part of it. By having multiple people working on these social media accounts the work and stress load is lightened and many people’s ideas are bounced around, to then find the best one. Hootsuite is easy to use and will update you via email an analytical report each week. This allows you to see how many page views you are getting a week, your top referrers, and your top links. By being allowed to view these statistics you are able to more easily understand what aspects of your social media accounts are most effective and what you can improve on. 

Hootsuite is just one of many different social media aggregators, that is definetly effective and helpful in social media management. 

Sources:

http://iag.me/socialmedia/reviews/7-reasons-why-you-should-use-hootsuite/

http://www.inboun.com/social-media/98-top-5-benefits-of-hootsuite-for-small-business-social-media

Business and Social Media

We live in America; a country where innovation and success are encouraged and pursued constantly. People are continuously coming up with new ideas to introduce to the world, thus leading them to often times create their own businesses. While we do live in a country that encourages entrepreneurship, it is still a scary thing to start your own business; there are many unknowns and uncontrollable factors. Though it might not seem like a big deal, I really feel that Social Media is a huge part in getting small businesses up and running. 

An article titled “5 Benefits of Social Media Business Owners Need to Understand”, it is pointed out that social media allows you to increase the awareness of your business and brand. As you make a presence on social media people will start to recognize your brand, thus increasing their likelihood of doing business with you. The article also discusses how social media is a fantastic revenue for increasing your quality of customer service. By following frequent customers on various social media platforms you form a personal connection with them, which then increases their loyalty to your company. Having a presence on social media also allows customers to voice their complaints in a way that is easy to respond to; instead of being on the phone for half an hour before they can talk to a member of your company, they can post their complaint on social media and you can respond in a timely manner. 

A second article that I found discusses, titled “7 Steps to Productive Business Use of Social Media”  the proper steps to using social media in a beneficial manner. These steps coincide perfectly with achieving the benefits mentioned above and include things focusing on your desired outcomes first and incorporating brand personality and voice. By focusing on your desired outcomes first you are able to set a strong foundation on social media, thus making your efforts more effective by showing customers exactly what your company /business is about. This is also part of incorporating your brand’s personality and voice. By establishing what kind of customers and people you are aiming to bring to your company you are able to determine what kind of personality you need to have on social media. This voice can influence those that are interested in your company and more clearly illustrate the kind of business you are running. 

Sources:

http://www.inc.com/peter-roesler/5-benefits-of-social-media-business-owners-need-to-understand.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2013/08/17/7-steps-to-productive-business-use-of-social-media/

Class Cloud

When I was first introduced to the idea of the hashtag, it seemed kind of silly and pointless to me. From my (limited) experience there was really no rhyme or reason to using a hashtag, it was just a fun thing that people did. Then I had a few experiences where I realized that hashtags could be useful; about a year ago I attended General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon/LDS) in Salt Lake City, I posted a picture of my friends and I on instagram and used #ldsconf, a hashtag widely associated with this conference, which then led to another account finding my picture and using it in a huge collage/post they made about General Conference.  Slowly I was beginning to understand the power of the hashtag. Then I went to class on Tuesday and learned so much more. 

Before class we were asked to make two posts on twitter: The first would be asking a question about social media, the second would involve tagging someone, and we were instructed to use #socmeddiscuss in both tweets. Then, we were instructed to make a post during class, also using #socmeddiscuss. The goal of this was to start a discussion and see what kind of involvement we could get. Before class I made the two posts (see here and here), but I was very skeptical at how well this experiment was going to go; I didn't think my posts would make a difference. While sitting in class I watched as my classmates favorited and responded to each others tweets. Some people tagged others from outside of the class, including celebrities, in an attempt to get others to engage in the conversation. I favorited a few tweets, but I was really at a loss as to what I should post. I was trying to think of celebrities or friends I could tag, when I thought of tagging Fight the New Drug (FTND), an anti-pornography movement that I support (learn more about them here). I posted the following tweet:

Shortly after posting that, FTND responded to my tweet. I then took their response, quoted it, and added #socmeddiscuss. The really cool thing is that after that they followed the hashtag to my professors post:

After finding that post they responded explaining how social media has helped their movement grow and spread. Then shortly after that they tweeted, something completely unrelated to the post I had tagged them in and the response they made to my professor, using #socmeddiscuss. 

Side note: The couple in the picture is my best friend and her boyfriend and that’s pretty cool. 

This experiment was so much more than I thought it was going to be and it taught me so much about social media! First, hashtags are powerful and useful. With the use of #socmeddiscuss our class was able to get people involved in a discussion about social media and it’s usefulness; some of these people weren't even in Logan, let alone the state of Utah. I found it so amazing that we were able to involve people from such a far distance in our discussion. Second, social media is really powerful and, if used in the correct way, can be very beneficial. Many of my classmates asked questions involving how they can use social media to help them professionally, and got some really good responses. Fight the New Drug pointed out that social media is how they were able to grow and spread as a movement. Another thing that this experiment taught me, was the keys to reaching out to people and/or organizations you want to get involved with. I was able to interact with Fight the New Drug because I used #socmeddiscuss, even after my initial post. Using relevant and meaningful hashtags makes you stand out and helps people to notice who you are.  

Social media is a powerful tool, and the hashtag is a powerful element within that. I got really excited about my interaction with Fight the New Drug through this experience, but beyond that I realized the true power that social media holds.