Derek Kerner

Throughout this course I have taken a deep dive into a small hometown shop and their social media presence. They have a strong following across platforms, however they lack constant posting as well as consumer engagement. I believe that the biggest issue with my client moving forward will be most closely related to the following issue discussed in the Implementation lecture video: “Finally, they fail because the organization’s executives and managers lack the confidence to assign compelling purposes to communities and then allow the communities to find a way to fulfill their purposes.” Because the shop is owned and operated by those who did not grow up with technology, they are a bit behind on the social media curve. Although they are a small shop, I believe they could benefit greatly from an outside hire of an advertising consultant. Someone who knows media inside and out and can help them reach a larger audience with more engaging posts.

Becoming a Social Organization takes a lot of work and consistency from those involved to be successful. Constant posts and bits of information for the consumers is needed to stay relevant and in the minds of the customers. But not all social media sites are built the same. In fact, nearly every media outlet requires a different approach to posting and getting engagement. This can be tricky for many businesses, but there are a few simple guidelines that they can follow to put themselves in a position for success. Here is a few notes for different respective sites:

Facebook

Shorts posts, Max 120 Characters 

1-2 posts daily

Simple vocabulary

Check FB Insights

Instagram

Use multiple pictures per post

Short videos with post

1-2 posts daily

Hashtag relevant business/social terms

Snapchat

Show process pictures, ie. Beginning, Middle, End

Use filters and stickers 

Know your demographic (normally younger)

Building an online community as a business is different than what we would normally think of. Personally, online community refers to the people I interact with through various forms of social media, and not necessarily in person all the time. As a business, online community more closely refers to listening and interacting with their consumers on a much larger scale. The book suggests that online community should be used for much larger scale projects by businesses. They believe that online community is great for innovative ideas, as large masses of creative minds are at disposal all over the internet. This can be used in new marketing ideas, nicknames, or new products very easily. 

Using online community is much less optimal when used in smaller, more intimate settings. The book mentions that anything dealing with sensitive information or the interpreting of statistics should not be shared with the public as it is not beneficial, normally the opposite.

Big Data can be very useful for companies and consumers alike. It can be used to advertise products that may specifically relate to the consumer, and create sales for the company. However, Big Data can be very harmful, as all the information that can help recommend something, can also be used against you.

The problems with legality in Big Data arise immediately, as there is no agreed upon definition of big data in legal settings. This creates a lot of problems, especially with holding companies accountable for invasion of privacy issues, as well as data breaches and hacks.

As a corporation, the main concern is data breaches from hackers. Countless corporations, of all sizes, have experienced hacks within the past 10 years and it is only becoming more prevalent. As technology advances, so do the new methods of hacking. Tech Security needs to be growing at the same, or higher rate in order to keep consumers information safe.

Social Media Algorithms ensure that nearly everyone’s timeline is different based on their interests, and what they have looked into previously. This becomes a problem when large news sources and content creators begin to twist words and lie in their headlines or titles. People will often just see the headline, which is normally completely made up, and voice their outrage. It perpetuates until there is an entire community who are ill-advised and either never read the article or believed and obviously fake/exaggerated article. However, this all just means more money in the pocket for the creators. Everyone played right into their hand as expected.

Although these articles/videos can become very annoying as much of social media is over saturated with them, it is hard to argue against someones ability to create them. There will always be people ignorant to this “game” on social media to drive profits and keep these companies around.

I believe the most important qualities for a social media consultant to have begin with consistency. By this, I mean that the world of social media is continually changing, with trends being presented each day, then gone the next. To have a strong social media presence, one must be very active and engaging with their posts/shares. 

Big Data can be a very useful tool, if used with good intentions. It is a great tool for advertising as it can suggest similar products to those you have been searching for and even offer coupons to certain stores that you have been logging time on. However, there is a very fine line between what is welcomed and what is too invasive in not only how this data is taken, but what data is saved and used. 

Growing up with technology being a huge part of my life, I saw early on the targeted advertisements popping up. At first it was a bit surprising and even a bit invasive, but I hoped the intentions were in the right place. This has changed as now companies are beginning to invade our personal lives when we are not consenting to it. I understand that when I enter my info into a website, I am going to get put on about 5 different spam email lists that I will then be in a uphill battle to attempt to “unsubscribe” from their email list, never knowing if it works or not. But when I am not entering the information in manually, there is a breach of privacy. I have had my phone recommend some outlandish products/services that I never personally searched, however I did talk about them with a friend for a period of time. Our phones listen to us even when we are not using them and i find this to be very scary and invasive. 

Social Media has undoubtedly grown exponentially in the past 10 years or so, becoming a large part of nearly everyone’s lives. On the surface, social media is a great tool to help people connect and have a voice. But too often it becomes much worse as it begins to take over people’s lives. Like the example that nearly everyone has heard, and Max Stossel touches on it in the video, that people get addicted to receiving notifications. The little shot of dopamine that the brain releases when we get notifications takes over some peoples lives. People become addicted to the gratification and re-assurance that they receive. It can be a very dark path.

A few times this summer I have taken camping trips or went to friends cabins up north where we do not get service. This renders my phone nearly useless for the time being, and I was a bit unsure how I would react to this. I thought I was well prepared as when I compare myself to many of the people I know, I post much less and spend less time scrolling than many. I found these short getaways to be very calming. I would inform everyone close to me that I will not be using my phone for the length of the trip, then I put it away and just get immersed in the landscape and conversations. Emma Rathbone’s article “Before the Internet” similarly relates to this. Whereas my recent exposure has been based on being in the wilderness, Emma focuses heavier on just everyday life at home. Emma explains all the weird things that people would/will do when left to entertain themselves. It was funny to read the article and think back on some of the things I would do when left to my own devices, per se.

My name is Derek Kerner. I am entering my 5th year at CMU finishing up my double major in Finance and Accounting with a minor in Information Systems. Looking forward to my career aspirations, I plan on doing more with Finance than Accounting or IS. I hope to land a Financial Analyst job out of school and in a few years go back to school to pursue an MBA. I plan to use this blog as a way to keep updates on anything within my academic/professional career.