Social Media in Business

After completing the Hootsuite modules and my reflection of this client project, and then watching the lecture video on implementation, I have gathered that the root cause of social media failures is the misconception of the use of social media. An organization's attitude toward social media ultimately plays a large role in their success or failure. When an organization views social media as a tool for community building and a way to give purpose to their brand, they are more likely to succeed. On the other hand, an organization that views social media in a shallow light, only focusing on its "technology" and not reflecting their true brand, is more likely to fail.

My client struggles to see the purpose of social media. He does not have any personal social media accounts, and often refers to all platforms with some variation of "FaceTwit," "InstaBook," etc. I hope that after reading my memos, he will understand the purpose and value it can bring to his business. Without an understanding of social media and the way it works, it would be hard to succeed, but I did explain in depth in my memos.

After doing the Chapter 3 & 4 Hootsuite modules, I have a better understanding of how to make content more accessible to everyone, how to create inclusive content, what it means to build a social media community, and the ways working with influencers can benefit a business. To develop effective content and thus build an effective community, accessibility along with Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) are very important.

A few simple yet effective ways to improve accessibility are:

Enable closed captioning on all videos posted

Provide descriptions of all photos posted, either using tools provided by the platform or in the caption

Make sure to use highly contrasting background & text combos when designing content (no light fonts on light backgrounds)

To find an example, I went on Instagram and scrolled to the first ad I saw to observe if they followed any of these measures. It was a video with music as the audio, and a demonstration of the product with clear, contrasting, large text! (see below)

When implementing measures to improve the DEI aspect of content, it is important to make these changes in all areas of business, not just social media. Doing so will create more organic content and ensure all perspectives are being heard, and of course, it is the right thing to do.

When it comes to sharing content, working with influencers / content creators is a great way (if done correctly) to expand your reach and increase engagement. Note that this is another area to incorporate DEI. There are different levels of influencers - nano, micro, macro, and mega - for a lot of businesses, it is oftentimes more beneficial to work with nano and/or micro influencers, as the cost is less and their reach and engagement tends to be greater than that of macro and mega influencers. A key takeaway from the Hootsuite module is that follower count does not indicate more engagement/reach!

The book "The Social Organization" discusses online community building in chapters 4 and 5. After reading, I understand that community collaboration is not as beneficial in some areas, while it can be extremely beneficial in others. This depends on the internal attitudes of the organization, the purpose and goals they have, the scope, the type of business, etc. Generally, the goal is to create brand loyalty through collaboration of customers - current and potential, therefore driving sales/engagement. The book outlines a "No, Go, Grow" method for deciding which purposes your brand wants to exude. It asks the questions "Is there a desirable purpose? Is mass collaboration suitable? Can grassroots efforts succeed? Does it merit corporate investment?" to guide decision-making regarding a company's collaboration portfolio. Smaller brands may use a scaled-down version of these questions to aid in their decision-making as well. The book also recognizes different attitudes businesses have about social media and the implications of these attitudes (ranging from thinking social media is a waste of time, to fully fusing efforts of the business through social media). Organizations that do not take social media efforts seriously will not be able to establish effective collaborative communities.

The internet can be a wonderful thing, connecting people and ideas in ways that were never possible before. However, although the main intention was this connection, the internet has become a domain for advertising and data collection. Businesses realize the massive reach of the internet and use it to their advantage by using this reach and customization to advertise. The way advertising is done has been completely transformed to fit the internet, including the extensive collection of data. When it became possible to store big data, the mindset morphed into collecting data on everything and keeping it forever. In Maciej Ceglowski's Ted Talk, he discusses that this habit arose from the beginning fears of losing data, and that computers were constructed to "remember" everything as humans cannot. According to him, data collection has become excessive and unfair, but he believes it can be fixed. Regulations about what data can be collected, how long it can be kept, and the option to opt-out of personal data being collected are ideas that Ceglowski stated will move us in the right direction.

According to an article in the Oxford Internet Institute, there are three main reasons that "junk news" is spread: algorithms, advertising, and exposure.

Algorithms, or programs that learn and make decisions, are the main reason you see what you see on your social media platforms, internet searches, etc. For example, a flat-Earther may come across pictures, videos, articles, etc. "proving" the Earth is flat, as the algorithm knows from their social media use that they engage in that content. Algorithms effect your exposure, but so do the choices you make while using the internet. They are very useful and smart, but can also be harmful when the spread of information (including misinformation) can be so exponential.

Advertising, both commercially and politically, is also responsible for the spread of junk news, especially if it is not carefully regulated. When being exposed to information through an advertisement, always be careful to look for signs of it being fake or a scam. Somewhat recently, I got an advertisement for a line of hair products and was very interested, so I clicked the website. I was ready to buy new shampoo and conditioner, but I decided to quickly research the brand before buying. There were countless stories of girls losing significant amounts of hair after using their products! I did not end up purchasing from that brand, and I took that as a lesson to research unknown advertisements before engaging.

Exposure is arguably the most impactful. Social media uniquely allows users to subscribe, follow, etc. the types of people or subjects or opinions they prefer. This filtering and personalization of the type of content you see blurs the diversity & difference you are exposed to. The article mentions that this is especially harmful when it comes to political elections - people gravitate toward things they already agree with or believe. Informed voting is crucial, and this targeted aspect of social media can interfere with people's ability to fully inform themselves. Constantly being fed targeted information can cause very strong opinions without ever learning about the "other side."

In the relatively new field of jobs surrounding social media, we find a position dedicated to helping organizations develop a social media presence that fits their needs, audience, and limitations: a social media consultant. As with any type of consultant, they also need to have expertise in the area they are consulting in. A strong knowledge of social media and its best practices is one of the main things a social media consultant should be equipped with. In addition to the technical skills, they will ideally be creative, personable, adaptable, and good at critical thinking and problem solving. Since social media is an ever-changing environment, adaptability and forward-thinking along with timely response can help set an organization apart from the rest.

As can be seen, the power of big data and its usage in social media is massive. Too much of anything is dangerous and potentially harmful, especially something that takes up so much of our time and energy and is so normalized. There are many ethical debates about the way our data is used "against" us, and it is important to be aware of your personal usage. On a personal level, shutting off most notifications or using a secured browser are steps that can be taken to protect yourself. When it comes to businesses and society as a whole, increasing the awareness of how and why our data is collected/used may be the first step. Guidelines regarding information privacy should be established and followed inside every business, and ethical considerations need to be discussed frequently. One of the most important things to consider as a business is how your actions will truly effect the real people you are going after.

I chose to go all day Friday, Jan 20, without accessing social media. It ended up being 16 hours. I woke up in the morning at 7:30 to my alarm, I called my mom, got ready, and she picked me up. We then picked up my grandma and cousin, and were on our way to Grand Rapids. My 15 y/o cousin has been at Devos Children's Hospital all week as his kidneys were starting to fail. He is doing dialysis and will be okay, but my mom and I brought his 12 y/o sister and my grandma to visit him. We stopped at Chick-fil-a to get lunch before going into the hospital because he was not done with dialysis yet. The whole ride and lunch time, I visited with my cousin and grandma and never picked my phone up, and I was surprisingly content.

We got to the hospital around noon and left around 3pm. I visited with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and I can honestly say I have not had conversations like that in a while. Even in moments of quiet, I did not have much desire to be "catching up" as I was content sitting there. It probably helped that I was watching this poor kid hooked up to machines and still being as positive as he could - it makes me think how often I take things for granted, including social media. It went by quite fast, and I almost accidentally went on Snapchat as we got into the car to go home but I caught myself. I was slightly disappointed remembering I had another car ride with no phone, but I ended up using it to talk to my grandma. We have had a complicated relationship, and while I would have usually been on my phone most of the ride, avoiding her, I made an effort to have a needed conversation. It went well, and I was able to be very thoughtful about everything I said - my mind felt clear and attentive. I could go in detail about the conversation, but this post would be much too long and I'm sure I would end up oversharing as well.

My mom dropped me off at my apartment around 5pm, and I again felt the urge to open social media. I felt nervous about what I was going to do now. Luckily, my roommates were there and we talked for almost 2 hours about our living situation for next year. During our conversations, they both had their phones and pulled them out a few times, and I found myself almost judging them a little for it. Even though that is me every other day! I decided to finally do some homework at 7:30pm, and ended up doing it until 11:30pm, willingly. I actually had a decent attitude about it too. After my homework, I got ready for bed and did go on my phone for about 30 minutes before bed. I should have waited until the morning, but I felt it would help me unwind (even though I learned that is bad for you).

Hello everyone! I am Aleisha and I will be using this blog to explore social media in business, a rapidly developing topic.

I am currently in my third year at CMU, majoring in Health Administration and minoring in Information Systems. I am from Beal City, only about 15 minutes from Mt. Pleasant, so this town is home for me. I am looking to do my internship for Health Administration in Grand Rapids or somewhere similar to experience a change of scene! I would like to work with health organizations or maybe in a medical school, focusing on this side of things instead of the care-providing side. I have worked as a student assistant in CMU's College of Medicine for two years now, and I enjoy it and am learning a lot.

After reading the first few chapters of The Social Organization, I have identified that an organization I believe does well with their social media is AirBnB. Something the book kept mentioning is that the key is to move past "one-off" successes and towards consistency, which they have done in my opinion as I search for places for spring break. They encourage action, which the book also mentions is highly important.