Understanding Social Media and Its Uses

Watching the lecture videos this week, there was a lot of content, but something that truly stuck with me is how John Goodman spoke about how people react the most to emotions. I studied journalism as an undergrad student and we learned the same thing then, the best sound bite is one that illicit some kind of emotion, good or bad, it doesn’t really matter as long as it gets a reaction. While I think that good reactions are a lot nicer to help with brand promotion than negative reactions, sometimes negative reactions illicit more of a response. What springs to mind about this is how people reacted to the Trayvon Martin case. While this case had a lot of angst over what occurred to begin with, one person Michael Baisden sent out a message to Twitter and Facebook which was seen by his own 65,000 Twitter followers and 585,000 Facebook fans and from there the story and the anger grew. Why is that? The truth is that for some people no matter what they felt, one way to feel heard is to shout it out through social media.

People who use Twitter or Facebook do so for many different reasons, one is to stay in touch with friends socially, another is to solidify a brand for themselves and reach out to professionally. No matter which way you do it, people want to be heard and to interact with each other. People who choose to keep their Facebook profiles private tend to choose to only interact with people they actually know, or acquaintances they have met. However, when someone is trying to build a brand the best way to do that is to try to grow your audience over a period of time through sharing things in order to gain their “likes”. Another social media site is LinkedIn, and this is still considered by far to be the most professional site, although for influence, sites like Google+ and Twitter are gaining ground rapidly.

As Professor Adam Bornstein explains, by using Google+ and using keywords that will be readily searched, an article can quickly jump to the top of the first page and gain influence. While Google+ may not be a lot of peoples favorite social media site yet, the people who do use it see themselves being rewarded and found more easily. Another site that should be mentioned is Pinterest. While it is mostly used by women, due to it being a largely home decorating, crafting, or decorating site, I will say that there are a lot of other ways to use it. For instance I started a board specifically for social media, and it includes different visuals and comments about branding and building a client base. While this does not get pinned as frequently as my board that consists of do it yourself crafts, I can see that over time as I find more compelling visuals other female business owners may decide to check out my boards and follow me as well. At this point I don’t think any social media site should be discounted since the goal is always the same, to get your name out there.

I think that is the end game of all of this. Find people who want to interact with you based on interests, reach out to them through emotional reactions and gain ground when it comes to becoming considered an influential person in what your focus is.

The Multiple Uses of Social Media – Week 2

Social media has changed so many different things in the business world. Not only do possible employers reach out to see exactly what you have posted in the past, and what social media sites you are listed on. Employers are now actively looking at what groups you belong to as well as when you have last posted and what kind of content is being posted. On one hand, this is very progressive since it allows companies to see who you are as a person, and to possibly connect with your personality on a deeper level. On the other hand, this means branding is even more important. I personally feel like any job interview is really an interview on both sides, just because something seems like a great fit for your goals, does not mean you will have a personality match which could be highly problematic in the long run. That is why I think it is great that job searches are becoming more transparent, but at the same time, people need to watch what they post and what is posted about them.

When it comes to branding, not only do you have to be yourself, you have to be your best self. However, that does not mean you should be fake. Just be you and tell a story. Talk about how your day went or how you are doing, truthfully. Gary Vaynerchuk says that companies should allow their employees to talk about work, which I do agree with, but he also mentions that people may get fired for what they say, which is something to keep in mind before you say whatever you want. I think anecdotes add to a persons brand and social media presence, but I would keep in mind that what you put out on the internet stays there before telling a story bashing a client. Being able to be the best you, while still keeping in mind who will be viewing it is the best way to connect and grow a brand but still maintain respectability that can lead to a new job or career path.

Besides branding and maintaining your persona while still being professional a strategy needs to be put in place so you can grow your social base. Unfortunately, it seems that this sometimes takes time to figure out. Especially when it comes to the give and take of posting. People want to hear from you, but not necessarily too often. The key is to not only find a happy medium but to create quality connections so that not only are you posting, but so that your community can respect your posts and reach out to you.

– How are you building your brand?

– Do you agree with Gary Vaynerchuk that employees should be able to say what they want about work?

– Do you think that potential employers should be reaching out to people based on their social media presence?

Chime in and let me know what you think!

My Plan & Goals

You may be wondering just what I am doing here. The truth is, I wonder that too. The reason I am going in this new direction, is the fact that I decided to change my life. I have always been in the communications field, working on a few morning shows with the college radio station, and interning at the Elvis Duran Morning Show.

I went to school for Broadcast Journalism & Political Science at Hofstra University. As much as I loved all I learned, and working with radio, I decided that I just didn’t want to go in that direction.

I worked in a couple of offices, and truly had no goals. At that point I decided to  take some time off of work to plan my wedding. While doing that I began to recognize that a growing field was social media marketing, and I actually had some knowledge in that field. That is when I started my own part time business, Social Solutions For You, I had some knowledge but there is so much more involved with social media marketing that I knew I wanted to go back to school to learn more. That is why I decided to go to graduate school for Mass Communication with a focus on Social Media. Right now I want to learn about my own personal branding as well as different ways to use different social platforms.

Now, I work full time at a synagogue doing administrative work, and work part time on my own business. I am hoping to learn more and grow my business while attending University of Florida. There are so many platforms that I use and also so many that I don’t. While I love some sites for personal and professional use, others I really need to learn more about to truly understand the value. There is a lot of hard work involved in learning about this field, especially since it is constantly changing and growing. Just when you think that you have become adept at a few sites, more come out. Which is why I am looking to become a professional in this field so that I can help others with their businesses.