Olivia S. Yeadon

For Instagram sharing content you can use Instagram’s carousel feature to combine photos and videos from an event into one post. When developing your post experts say to make sure 20% of your content is promotional. The rest should tell a story about you or your brand. When posting, using hashtags are essential because they make your content discoverable.

 When talking about Facebook posts should be a maximum of 120 words. When developing your post Hootsuite says to “Make sure to craft your posts with clear language so when your followers click through, and make sure they receive the information they were promised”( chp 3). 

For effective social media content, the 3 main goals to keep in mind are to make sure you’re connecting with your audience, make sure all posts reflect the brand and its values, and to make sure you have a strong strategy. 

I think connecting with your audience on a human level is one of the most important aspects because they are your customers and the way they view the company is a major factor in their purchases. To connect in this way, its a good rule of thumb to keep content 40% created and 60% curated and to make sure self promotion is only 1/3 of content. This will ensure that your company has more human qualities that the audience can connect with. 

A strong strategy will be based on research and analysis of the current content. It will also include target audiences by platform and content specific goals. An example of a content specific goal would be to reach 30 more people on twitter within 1 week. A content calendar is a great way to keep track of goals, posting, research, etc. 

I thought this infographic perfectly tied in to what we learned about effective social media content. 

After watching “The Legal Side of Big Data” I think it is important for businesses to be aware of first, how likely they are to be hacked. In addition to that they should also consider what it would do to their business if they were hacked? What would it cost them? How will this affect your customers? It is also important for businesses to ensure that they own their data, because if they don’t then it is very likely it might get sold to a competitor. So, assure that contracts are in place that confirm confidentiality.

Consumers should be aware of the fact that we as citizens can’t do anything about these data records being hacked so we should be very mindful of the fact that it can happen and it does happen, more often than we think. Consumers should also be aware that it is possible they are being lied to about what their data is being used for by different companies.

The best way to balance the opportunities and threats presented by the development of big data is to first get ahead of the problem and spend the money to be preventative. Although big data does allow for making faster advances in many areas and in improving the profitability and success of many businesses through allowing a better analysis of the large volumes of data that have been made available. This amplifies the need for these businesses to clarify what is going to happen to your data in the event of bankruptcy. In addition to that there should be very strong security where the data is being housed.

After watching “The Legal Side of Big Data,” I’ve learned about some issues I was unaware of. Businesses specifically need to be aware of how likely it is for their “big data” to be hacked, or compromised. Of course it is important for businesses to try to ensure that they won’t be hacked, however, it happens more often than we think and it happens to companies we wouldn’t expect, such as Target and Home Depot. Following this, it is especially important for businesses to have a plan for what to do if they were to get hacked. Businesses have to address a poor risk assessment, and determine things such as how likely is the hack to happen, what would it cost, how would it hurt your company and consumers, and how that would affect your company on a competitive aspect. It is important for companies to be ahead of the problem, and spend money to prepare in case of a hack.

As consumers, it’s important to know that there is nothing we can really do to prevent this from happening. It was insane to me to read and hear about big data being sieged within big companies, such as Target, Neiman Marcus and Home Depot. The Target example shocked me, that there were 740 million data records exposed in 2013, because I shop at Target almost weekly. It is also important for consumers to know that there is a possibility that companies are not being reliable with what they are using their data for.

The best way to balance the opportunities and threats presented by the development of big data is to get ahead of the problem. It is possible to spend more money to ensure that your data is as safe as it can be, and it is stored correctly. If a hack were to occur, it would probably cost just as much money to fix as it would to ensure safety before the problem arises.

After reading “The Internet’s Original Sin,” and watching Maciej Ceglowski’s talk, I can confirm that the Internet business model wasn’t “supposed” to be used to influence and normalize surveillance. I really liked Ceglowski’s example about cars. He was discussing how cars were a great idea, however, now the entire country’s landscaping is built around the idea of cars. He said, “Now that everyone has a car, everyone needs a car.” which is true about the Internet too. The Internet used to be a source of freedom, and now, everyone’s on it. This can relate to the article, when it states, “The model that we acquired was analyzing user’s personal homepages so we could better target ads to them. Along the way, we ended up creating one of the most hated tools in the advertiser’s toolkit: the pop-up ad.” (The Internet’s Original Sin). The quote continues by stating, “I wrote the code to launch the window and run an ad in it. I’m sorry. Our intentions were good.” (The Internet’s Original Sin). What I got from both the talk and the article, is that this surveillance and data gathering and hacking was not expected, and was not supposed to be what came from the Internet. The creators of the Internet had good intentions, likewise the inventors of the car had great intentions. Both came with negative outcomes (accidentally). Now that we are here though with advertisements generating so much money for companies, there really is no going back to an Internet without surveillance. The article mentions that “the primary benefit of online advertising is the ability to see who’s looking at an ad. Simply paying for online advertising requires surveillance, if only to eliminate click fraud.” (The Internet’s Original Sin). When companies know who is looking at an advertisement, it is put into the algorithms and the people who looked at the ad longest will receive more ads based on that ad, and those who immediately clicked away from it will keep receiving different advertisements until there is one they look at for a long time. This is how companies can determine our likes and dislikes, and work us into the algorithms.

References

Ceglowski, M. (2021, November 23). Maciej Ceglowski – the internet with a human face – beyond tellerrand düsseldorf 2014. Vimeo. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://vimeo.com/102717446.

I think the most important qualities a social media consultant should have come down to three things: Social knowledge, adaptability, and a open mind. I believe that social knowledge is important because in order to be successful on and with social media you have to be able to know what is popular and what is not and then act on it. By doing this you are not only staying in the loop but are more likely to gain a following by staying with the trends. Adaptability in social media is what sets apart a short career or a long career, as well as short and long term success. If you are a one hit wonder or stay with your old ways when the times and trends are changing you will lose your following, you have to stay on top of your game and adapt with the media. Finally an open mind, if you go into social media and think that you way is the only way you will go no where you have to learn from others and from your success and failure and be open to change. 

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 experiment I implemented this week to alter my social media usage was three eight-hour periods with no social media.

1st Eight Hours: The first eight hours was a challenge for me to complete. I started at 6 a.m. and stopped at 2 pm. The number one difference I seen between this first six hours and previous days before this was my level of productivity. My productiveness increased dramatically, and it really showed, there was no denying it. I typically procrastinate on social media for probably an hour before I start doing homework/ studying each day. However, starting this social media free period in the morning helped eliminate that procrastination completely. This also allowed me to finish what was on my agenda earlier than usual in the day which allowed me to get a head start on the next day’s agenda. Although this first eight hours ended up successful it was extremely hard for me to resist picking up my phone and going on social media for eight hours. I may or may not have counted down the hours until I could get back on.

2nd Eight Hours: The second eight hours I did was from 3 pm to 11 pm. After allowing myself an hour on social media (that I may or may not have spent entirely on social media) the next eight hours was no easier for me. Aside from the fact that I fell asleep an hour before the eight hours was complete. Something I noticed in this second eight hours was I had more energy, I think not being on social media resulted in me feeling more productive with my day which in turn made me feel more accomplished and motivated to get more done in a way. I decided to take my dogs on an extra long walk compared to normal after dinner and it felt a lot more enjoyable. I was more relaxed and not thinking about everything I had to do when I got back to my apartment. I was able to just enjoy the fresh air with them for as long as I wanted.

3rd Eight Hours: The third eight-hour period I did was the next day from 6 am to 2 pm again. After previously already completing these same eight hours in the morning the day before I had high hopes for my productiveness. As I expected, it turned out even better than it did the day before. I started my day knowing I was going to get more done because of the no social media so I made it a challenge for myself to get even more done than the day before. I completed everything on my daily agenda and got a head start on the next day’s again. However, instead of checking everything off the next day’s agenda I decided to read a book that I haven’t been able to get back into since the semester started and I was able to finish it!

In my social media log, I realized I spend a lot of time on my phone. Time which could otherwise be spent being more productive or spending time with my friends and family and being present in what is happening. Instead, I am distracted almost all the time by my phone. I don’t even know why I spend so much time on my phone. Half the time I am not even doing something enjoyable, I am just aimlessly scrolling and going back and forth between apps. So, for this experiment I decided to do some social media/phone free times throughout the day.

I started on Wednesday 11/3/2021 around 7pm. Once I got home from class, I did one last check on my phone and then I put it on silent so I wouldn’t get any notifications. Then I worked on some homework and watched some TV. While I was watching TV, I worked on some crochet projects I needed to get done before my craft show this weekend. It was nice not checking my phone constantly because it made me be more productive in my other tasks. I didn’t check my phone until about 9:30pm so I went 2 and a half hours without my phone.

The next day, Thursday 11/4/2021 I woke up at 7am and checked my phone once before logging on to work for the day. I work from home so all I must do to get ready for work is just turn on my laptop and log on! I completed some of the things on my to do list and had one meeting that morning and the entire time I did not check my phone. I didn’t check it until about 11am so I went about 4 hours without checking it! I ate some lunch and finished a couple of things for work before logging off of for class at 1pm, and then I headed to Mt. Pleasant. During this time the only time I used my phone was to hook up the music to my car, and to text my fiancé that I made it to school safely. I didn’t use my phone again until after class at 3:15pm when I called my fiancé to tell him I was on my way home, and to hook up my music once again. I got home around 4pm and started finishing up some things for my craft show and didn’t look at my phone again until about 7:30pm. Then I put it back down at 8pm until I went to bed at 11pm. So, in total I went about 9 and a half hours without checking any social media.

Friday 11/5/2021 I woke up at 7am again and only checked my phone once, before logging on to work. I got some stuff done and had a meeting. I didn’t check my phone until noon! So, I went about 5 hours without checking anything. I ate lunch and was on my phone during this time before putting it back down again. I got off of work at 1pm and put my phone back down so I could do some schoolwork and work on some last-minute items for my craft show. I didn’t check my phone again until 6pm, so I went 5 hours without it. After taking an hour break of working on everything, I put my phone back down at 7pm and didn’t pick it back up until almost midnight. So in total I went about 12 hours without checking it Friday.