Business on Business

After completing modules three and four on Hootsuite, I learned what it takes to develop and share effective content. To my surprise, there is a lot that goes into social media content. Without effective content that will engage your audience, social media is pointless. The first thing an organization should do is create a content strategy. This will make sure that what you are posting is relevant and entertaining to your audience’s interests and goals. It gives your content a purpose and tells a story about your organization. 

After you have a clear strategy, Hootsuite suggests creating a content calendar. This is a weekly/monthly calendar detailing what you will be posting, when you will be posting it, and what time it should be posted. This will keep everything organized, and it will allow you to observe how your content is doing. Here is an example of a weekly calendar I made for my client, Boomerang Backpacks, a non-profit organization geared towards feeding hungry school children.

Another point Hootsuite makes is to know your platform. In the third module is goes through trending social media platforms and describes what effective content looks like on that app specifically. For example, Instagram thrives off visuals, while Twitter is based on shorter statements. 

You bring up a good point about Hootsuites module three. It shares knowledge about making sure you know your platform before posting and sharing content. It is important to know what each platforms advantages are, and it’s also important to make sure you use them. It discussed how to do things properly on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. This was a great thing to read and gain knowledge on how to relay information to our client. For me, I suggested to take advantage of Facebook’s live videos. For her, it would create a more personable approach to her audience and allow them to connect with her in a different way. Good post and thanks for sharing! 

After completing modules 3 and 4 of Hootsuite, I learned how effective content can be developed and shared. Module 3 stressed the importance of aligning your social media strategy with your organizational goals. This is how organizations make sure that their social media content is effective. For example, the company I am working on is an accounting firm. Their organizational goals revolve around gaining more clients. In order for their social media content to be effective, they must attempt to accomplish this goal through their social media posts.

Along with aligning overall strategies, content strategies are also important. Following a content strategy helps the organization keep a cohesive story behind their brand. With every post following the same strategy, consumers won’t get mixed ideas about your brand. This also helps the company focus on their specific target market and understand what is performing well.

Content calendars are another tool for developing and sharing effective content. These calendars make sure that your company is consistent with their posting schedule on different platforms. It also makes sure that your posts are well thought out and intentional. A helpful aspect of a content calendar is that you can keep track of which posts performed well and which didn’t. This helps your company tailor their content to be more engaging with their followers. 

The strategies that you mentioned are very helpful. The small business that I’ve been working with is wanting to gain more customers and as a local business become more well known in the community. Using social media would be very helpful using these strategies with less confusion and more direct to get the information to the community.

Great post!

The organization I worked with was a non-profit organization that wanted to gain more attention for surrounding areas and get more clients from those areas. Like you said, modules three and four stressed the importance of aligning you social media strategies with your organizational goals. Doing some sort of interactive posts with her followers/audience and advocating for her brand and making her content consistent with help her be proactive with her postings! Good post and thanks for sharing! 

Hello Everyone,

While completing chapters four and five in the Social Organization this week I was able to expand my knowledge on many concepts related to community building. I was able to take a deeper dive into how to form a vision for community collaboration and how to develop a strategic approach to community collaboration. I wasn’t aware of the importance of building your community and how it has such a significant impact on different organizations. Both chapters had tons of valuable and relevant information within them that will be able to apply to my client, Central Marketing Society.

After reading chapters four and five in the Social Organization I was able to learn more about effective principles on online community building with social media. It’s super important for organizations to interact and engage with their community as this helps their social media presence. My biggest takeaway from Chapter Four was the ‘Six F’ Model of Attitudes Toward Social Media. The six attitudes play a huge part in the success of your organization’s collaboration efforts. The ‘Six F’ model consists of folly, fearful, flippant, formulating, forging, and fusing. Each of these different attitudes has unique characteristics and can help organizations build their community and social media presence. My biggest takeaway from Chapter Five was the ‘No, Go, Grow’ model that is related to empowering community collaboration. The model is a way of systemically determining if and how a community collaboration effort should move forward. All three parts of the model help organizations have a deeper understanding of how their collaboration will work with the community.

After completing the Hootsuite/Podium module four I was able to learn more about concepts related to growing an online community. My biggest takeaway from the Hootsuite module this week was that it’s crucial to utilize different social media channels in different ways. All social media channels have different and unique ways for people to engage and interact with their community. It was awesome being able to take a deeper dive into the popular social media channels that are currently in our lives. I was able to apply what I’ve read and put that towards my recommendations that I have for Central Marketing Society. The main social media channels that Central Marketing Society uses consist of Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The Hootsuite module covered different features that can be used to interact and engage with your community and network. These principles apply to Central Marketing Society because I will be implementing all of these unique features within their social media channels. The organization hasn’t been utilizing all of these features which could help them with recruiting potential members and gaining traffic to their social media platform.

Thank you,

I liked that you brought up the six F’s model, it is a good way for organizations to kind of decipher the message they want from each post. Some may have more than one attribute they are trying to characterize, but I think it shows a larger idea on how social media content needs to have a goal and message to share. That message has to be consistent and concise to get the point they hope across, as social media is overall very useful messages can be taken the wrong way if not thought through. I think as far as our client project, though we know of some of these features we can use we don’t because it still may not be as popular among our age. If we utilize these features such as polls and lives more we can help our clients make a change that can only positively impact their engagement if done right.

After reading the assigned chapters from this week, I was able to learn some effective principles for online community building. From reading these chapters, I realized how important it is to have an effective strategy to building your online community and posting relevant, engaging content. Before you develop a strategy, you first need to come up with goals for what you want to achieve. From your goals, you can develop a roadmap for how you will achieve these goals. This is your strategy. For your goals and strategies, it is important to be really specific on what you want to accomplish and how you will accomplish it. If you are not specific, then you run the risk of your goals being thrown off course. Being specific will keep you accountable and on track. I find it best to use SMART goals in order to be sure that my goals are to the level that they should be. From the reading, I was also able to gather how important it is for a team to work together in order to enable a functional, productive social media collaboration. The book stresses that a broad team of professionals is important to get this off the ground and running. The IT team is likely to be needed as well as business leaders and experienced social media consultants. Without any of these, there may not be success.

From completing the Hootsuite module 4, I was able to learn about how to grow an online community. Hootsuite emphasizes how important the timing and quality of content is in order to grow and maintain an online community. I learned that it is often times useful to create a content calendar so that you can plan out when you will be posting different material. These help you so that you are being consistent, balanced, and relevant. Having a content strategy is also important as ensures that you are on the path that you have set out to reach your goals. It is important to be detailed with your content strategy so that you do not get off track with what you are trying to accomplish. Another thing that I found to be important was the distinction between content curation and creation. Content curation is when you repost content from other sources such as an article or a video. Content creation is when you internally generate content. Having the right mix of these two helps to have a variety in your posts as well as to save some time.

From reviewing Hootsuite module four, like you said, it taught me how important it is to plan posts, out and remain consistent. In chapter four, it discussed keeping a content calendar and creating an outline month to month for specific dates that would give you an advantage to post some content. For my non-profit organization, this would be super effective for Jeanette, who runs it all herself, to keep track of special dates coming up such as birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays. These give her a reason to post for that day and allow her content to be seen by her audience. There is always so much craziness going on, keeping a log within her calendar will be super beneficial. Good post and thanks for sharing! 

When I think of a social media consultant there are many factors that make up a good consultant to ensure a client is getting the best possible aid. The first of many requirements to properly consult a specific client would have to be the discipline to make yourself well informed and knowledgeable on the business/service you are trying to endorse. Your knowledge on your client’s service/product will help you better understand how to go about relaying information, also where and whom your strategies will be publicized to. The next qualities that are without a doubt a requirement are creativity and optimism. In the world of social media today creativity means more than it ever has. The new theme of all social media platforms is captivation. Without a creative and optimistic mind, a consultant may find it hard to capture the attention of their audience.

Despite having benefited society in many ways, the propagation of junk news is a major issue that has resulted from the widespread use of the Internet and social media platforms. The article, Three Reasons Junk News Spreads So Quickly Across Social Media, delved into three main reasons behind the limits on dissemination of transparent, truthful information. In this blog post, I will discuss my view on the key roles that algorithms, advertising, and selective exposure play in strategically promoting false or misleading information.

Algorithms act as mediators between consumers of social media and the massive collection of information available on the Internet. In this role, algorithms have been given the power to make decisions for the user, determining what content will be displayed based on calculations that use data gathered on every aspect of an individual’s online activity. To put it simply, all of the information shown on our timelines has been carefully selected through an algorithm’s processes, with the goal of keeping us happily looking at our screens for as long as possible. If functioning ethically, algorithms would, in theory, produce a fair representation of results, where information freely flows to users (Howard). However, in reality, common algorithms generate results that are limited based on the user’s individual interests and online activity, showing information that will best capture the viewer’s attention rather than fulfill their desire for accurate, unbiased answers. In this way, algorithms have made it more difficult to find opinions or ideas that do not align with an individual’s personal thoughts or preconceived biases, since these processes entire aim is to use the data collected about our behavior to predict our points of view. By filtering information to a maximum, algorithms act to impede and obstruct access to truthful, reliable search results, thereby promoting the spread of misinformation.

Advertising contributes to the spread of inaccurate information by promoting viral content, which is itself spurred by the use of clickbait. The article defines clickbait as “content designed to attract attention – often by stimulating outrage, curiosity, or both,” and can be found in written forms, such as misleading titles in the news, and visual forms, like provocative pictures in advertisements. In a general sense, clickbait encourages viewers to consume content through the use of exaggeration and deception.

As a regular YouTube user, I am highly familiar with seeing clickbait images in the thumbnails of videos, clearly fabricated in such a way to invoke intrigue and capture attention. More often than not, these thumbnail photos have little to nothing to do with the video, or are a small fraction of the content within, leaving the audience frustrated while the creators profit from their views. As an example, YouTube channel ‘The Ace Family’ (The Ace Family’s YouTube Channel) has been called out in the past for their use of clickbait images, such as a photo of Catherine McBroom, member of the Ace family, on an operating table with a liposuction tube in her arm, displayed above a video titled “REVEALING MY NEW BODY! (MOMMY MAKEOVER)”. If anyone is interested… which is the channel’s entire goal here, I must add… here is the link to the 30-minute video. I would like to save a half hour of your lives, though, by letting you know that only two minutes of the video actually contain footage of Catherine in the operating room. Classic clickbait.

In addition to outside forces mentioned, we, as consumers, also play a role in the filtration of information ultimately shown on our social media platforms and the Internet beyond through selective exposure. As described within the article, people tend to engage with and share content that “conforms to their pre-existing beliefs,” (Howard). By determining what sources are worthwhile based on compliance with one’s pre-conceived biases or discomfort with challenging one’s assumptions, we limit ourselves to a small subset of the vast amount of information available on the Internet. The fact that “voters tend not to change political parties or favored candidates,” because they engage with content that fits with their established preferences, is a great example of the impact of selective exposure discussed in the text (Howard). It is easy to imagine that agreeable information is much more palatable than conflicting ideas, but the consequences of avoiding differing opinions from one’s own must be considered. When disregard is given to content that does not support one’s personal thoughts, individuals act to limit themselves from receiving all-inclusive, accurate information.

In all, businesses and individuals must be aware of the impact that algorithms, advertising, and selective exposure can have on the widespread consumption of false information. Knowing that algorithms can produce skewed results, people should actively seek out multiple points of view from several sources to better inform themselves on subjects of interest. Mindful of the deception involved in clickbait, consumers and companies should avoid relying on content that uses tactics aimed at increasing virality and attention over promoting valid information. Finally, to avoid the effects of selective exposure, individuals should consume content that challenges their own beliefs, whether that contains new information or an opposing outlook. By making conscious choices in relation to algorithms, advertising, and exposure, businesses and individuals can avoid associated obstructions to access to fair, truthful information.

Works Cited

Howard, Philip, and Samantha Bradshaw. “Three Reasons Junk News Spreads So Quickly Across Social Media.” Oxford Internet Institute, 26 Mar. 2018, https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/blog/three-reasons-junk-news-spreads-so-quickly-across-social-media/.

“REVEALING MY NEW BODY! (MOMMY MAKEOVER).” YouTube, uploaded by The ACE Family, 12 Oct. 2021. [Screen capture by Kellie Sauve], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDZ7_PUKseA

Hello Everyone,

While watching the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma I was able to expand my knowledge on many concepts regarding social media companies. The Social Dilemma focuses on how big social media companies manipulate users by using different algorithms that encourage addiction to their platforms. The different platforms of social media that we have access to in our life have a significant negative impact on our lives. My biggest takeaway from the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma is that there are people who are tracking our engagement times on each post we come across. In the simplest way, this doesn’t sit well with me and I find this to be super scary to think about. People are sitting behind their screens keeping track of every single thing we do while we use our social media.

Big data is the collection and use of information from multiple sources to help companies make better decisions & projections. Big Data is such a powerful tool because it helps different companies generate valuable insights about their consumers. Algorithms are such a powerful tool when it comes to technology because they generate content that we enjoy the most. The different things that go into big data consist of our engagement times, which influencers we watch the most, how many friends we talk to on certain apps, etc. For example, on TikTok, if you’re obsessed with cooking videos there is a huge chance that you’re ‘for you page’ will have tons of cooking videos. The different algorithms that are behind the scenes of these social media companies are accurate and precise with what the consumers like and want.

The dangers of big data consist of companies having all of this information about our private lives and being able to use it any way they want. They have access to anything we post and lookup for a certain amount of time. With this being said, companies can use our information to manipulate our decisions and this is something that should be taken very seriously. Lastly, all of this information that is being stored about their consumers have the potential to be hacked and have a detrimental security breach. The dangers of algorithms are insanely frightening to think about because all of the actions that we take online are being analyzed heavily. The different dangers with algorithms are so exact that they can exploit weaknesses in human psychology.

These problems can be dealt with on a personal level by ensuring you’re aware of what is truly happening behind the scenes of these social media companies. Once you’re aware of what they have access to then I promise you will try to limit yourself from social media as much. One thing that people can do to deal with these problems is to be aware of what you’re posting on your social media accounts as well as others. This is super important to be aware of because a lot of these social media companies keep what we send on file for a certain period. People can deal with these problems on a professional level by ethically using our private information in the correct manner. Different professionals should only have access to certain data that will help them have better projects about their business, the rest should be deleted and thrown away. Lastly, these problems can be dealt with on a societal level because these social media companies can help sometimes prevent a major crime or terrorist attack that is going to take place. Furthermore, moving forward in life I am going to try and limit my social media usage so I never have to worry about any of the things that were discussed in my blog post.

Thank you,

From the documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’ we can see how harmful social media is in numerous ways. They explained how data, algorithms, and other tactics used by social media companies are continuing to become more and more accurate and how with more accuracy, they take more of our time. These social media platforms are not just for connecting with people. These companies are trying to get more of our time and data- which makes us the product being sold. The algorithms used are tailored to each individual which will make you see whatever you want to see on social media which gives you a false sense of harmony within your community. I think this is especially harmful because along with misinformation, this can lead to extremist groups to band together and cause harm. We know that diversity leads to growth and innovation, so a lack of diversity, or in this case- being surrounded by people that think exactly like you in social media communities- leads to a lack of innovation, growth, and learning.

I thought this photo was also interesting because it shows how much the amount of paid government commentators has risen over the past few years and as a result how much misinformation is circulating. 

The Social Dilemma & Our Mental Health (2018). Retrieved from:

This week’s video “We’ve Been Sneaking Into Your Brains” by Max Stossel was extremely eye-opening when considering the topic of social media use. As Stossel mentioned, social media platforms are businesses with entire teams behind them helping the app rise to the top by creating processes that attract and keep our attention for longer periods. When I spend hours scrolling through TikTok at night, I am doing exactly what the app’s owners want me to do, which is distract myself for as long as possible, giving them revenue through each ad I pass through. Throughout the video, Stossel touched on several of the negative aspects of the Internet that I relate to. First, he mentioned that much of what we see on social media comes from automated processes that “recommend” posts to users, without any human influence. This means that apps can push convincing, but false, information to the public that is readily consumed, even despite lacking a basis in reality, like the Flat Earth argument Stossel mentioned that had risen to popularity. Stossel also talked through another important aspect of social media use which is communication. When feelings or important information is involved, talking through the phone or computer can change an entire experience for both communicating parties as thoughts can easily be misinterpreted. A great example of the nuances of chatting with others through social media or via text that Stossel discussed was the use of periods and how some people see periods at the end of sentences as harsh, rather than as functioning punctuation marks. Above all, from Stossel’s video, I gained an understanding of how important it is to be intentional with regard to one’s use of social media because without intention, consumers can become a pawn in the game played by social media giants.

Emma Rathbone’s article “Before the Internet” was a perfect reminder of what it was like to be a child, living without Internet access and social media influence. Many of the examples Rathbone mentioned of activities one could do without the Internet are things I did throughout my childhood, such as drawing pictures and playing made-up games. As the article mentioned, I too asked my parents questions about concepts I did not understand, before I could head to Safari myself and ask, which at times led to some uncomfortable conversations about the meaning of words I had no business knowing or using. In all, Rathbone’s article helped remind me of what life was like before my phone was attached to my hand, almost, and before social media profiles had any impact on my life.

In my daily life, social media acts as both a distraction and a method of communication. I often catch myself spending hours scrolling through videos on TikTok at night, not even fully watching any of them, just to follow this with YouTube content. When I “can’t” study anymore, I turn to my phone and the endless timelines to take my mind off of reality. Once I’ve opened these apps, I find that can be extremely difficult to regain the motivation to finish my tasks. In this way, I often use social media to distract myself, or blame social media on being distracted, from other priorities, such as schoolwork, quality of sleep, and just generally not being behind a screen. Despite diverting my focus at times, social media allows me to communicate with friends and family members in different locations. For example, through Snapchat, I regularly talk with a friend living in California. On Instagram, I often interact with the posts of a friend who moved to Europe years ago. Of course, I could text or call these individuals to keep up to date with them, but social media allows us to more conveniently share quick thoughts, pictures, videos, and comments. While it can definitely be a distraction, social media also has a positive influence on my daily life by allowing me to connect with friends across the world.

Having the Internet constantly available has several positive and negative impacts on one’s life. First and foremost, access to the Internet means access to information, both factual and false. Using the web, important research can be gathered and used to make useful discoveries; however, in the same vein, I could spend five minutes researching a cold symptom and end up mistakenly concluding that I have a terminal illness. The Internet also allows us to communicate with others instantly, which can be good and can be bad. When thought isn’t put into what is being sent, instant reactions can be misinterpreted and cause drama. Finally, constantly having the Internet available makes it easy to compare oneself to others, comparing by physical looks, material possessions, and what the person posts on social media. I have found that these comparisons can be extremely toxic as it feels like chasing “perfection”, as these influencers edit their photos, videos, and lives to present only the best material. Overall, having the Internet available at all times has both negative and positive effects on my life, depending on how I use it and how much thought I put behind my actions.

Thinking of times when I haven’t had access to the Internet for an extended period of time, brings back incredible memories of camping and going on vacations. I actually did not purchase myself a phone until I was 17 years old, so I had an iPod, that used only Wi-Fi, before! During all of my adolescent trips, including a camping trip in Wyoming and a trip to visit my father in Europe, I did not have access to the Internet for the most part. With social media being newer and more exciting to me at the time of those vacations, I recall being upset before going that I would not be able to chat with my friends throughout my time away from home. However, when I got to the destinations, I don’t even remember thinking about social media, as my memory fades into beautiful recollections of time spent walking, talking, eating, taking pictures but not posting them, and just being with my family on these trips. Coming home always felt so refreshing, having been away from social media for a while and carrying with me experiences that make life worth living.

After watching the film, reading Rathbone’s article, and reflecting on my own social media use, I would like to make several improvements to my personal routine involving technology. First, I have noticed that I get on my phone right after I wake up, and I stay on my phone for a while before getting out of bed. As this immediate urge to check my phone feels unhealthy, I would like to instead check my phone only after I’ve left my bedroom and started my day, more officially. In addition, I would like to be more mindful about when I use my phone. Rather than checking my phone incessantly, waiting for a notification, I would like to only check my phone when I plan to use it or respond to someone. Finally, I have noticed how much of a negative impact being on one’s phone during times with friends and family can have, with conversations being missed and other people in the conversation feeling neglected. For this reason, I want to leave my phone aside, in my pocket or elsewhere out of sight, when I am spending time with family and friends. I have actually already been working on implementing this change within my life and have seen positive results, enjoying time with family and friends more and catching myself realizing I haven’t checked my phone in hours. Successfully executing each of the improvements I’ve described, including cutting down on time spent on my phone in the morning, when its unnecessary, and when I’m with other people, will allow me to be more intentional about my personal use of technology and will produce beneficial effects within my life.

Works Cited:

Alamy. Everywhere you look people are starting at their phones as if their lives depended upon it. 2017. The Scottish Sun, https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/387408/its-time-we-put-down-the-mobile-phones-and-started-paying-attention-to-each-other/

Rathbone, Emma. “Before The Internet.” The New Yorker, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/26/before-the-internet

In response to the Max Stossel video, something specific really stood out to me in my own personal life. It was when he was talking about the behind the scenes work of social media platforms. This specifically made me think about how whenever I talk about something, a few days later I’ll see an advertisement for it on a social media platform. These workers behind the scenes are purposely doing the work to continue to keep us engaged with their platform. Our phones can hear us and listen to us, which was also talked about in the video. This is something my roommates and I have been talking about for weeks prior to me enrolling in this class, and has been something I have always found equally scary and intriguing in learning more about.

In response to Emma Rathborne’s article, it made me reminisce a lot about my childhood. Before I was old enough to register for different social media accounts, I would do some of the things she mentioned in her article, such as drawing. My friends and I used to love drawing and storytelling to our families before social media was a thing. I really liked how she closed the article by saying you made your own fun.

I can’t imagine being a teenager or college student without social media, which is scary. Social media has an extremely high influence in my daily life. I can’t imagine going days without my phone being unable to contact anyone. I use my phone every single day to stay in touch with my friends and keep up on what they’re doing. Even to keep updated with the news going on in my town and in the world. I definitely see how this can have a negative impact, however, there are many positives as well. As a negative effect on my life, my phone is such a big distraction. Whenever I don’t feel like doing something, I go on my phone. Whenever I want to know something, I’m able to pick up my phone and find it. Social media also is full of drama and judgements. Text messages can be emotionally misinterpreted, which occurs a lot more than you’d assume. A lot of women specifically compare themselves to women on the internet based on their personality and body images, which is also toxic. However, social media can be used for the right reasons sometimes. One thing I love about the internet and social media is the ability to keep in touch with my friends from home while I’m at college. Having my family and friends just a phone call away is something I am extremely grateful for. Even things like the COVID-19 pandemic, and school being completely shifted online. I’m not sure what would’ve happened during the pandemic without advanced technology. Would we all have had to stay home and take a year off of school? Would we have gotten homework mailed to us? What if I had a question for my teacher? Thinking about what would have happened without access to the internet during the pandemic is extremely scary to think about.

I remember back in high school I went camping with my family, and there was no service in the area we went. I’m not a very outdoorsy girl, and I really don’t like camping that much. Getting there and finding out there was no service made me not want to be there even more. But my sister and I were in the same boat, and we had to find a way to entertain ourselves. So we explored, we went kayaking, we went swimming, we built fires, etc. We did a lot of things we probably wouldn’t have done as much (if not, at all) because there was no service.