Finals week. Something that all college students must endure during their undergraduate and graduate careers. In recent years however, finals week is becoming a shared phenomenon among collegiate students across the country.
Social media has allowed students to connect to others that are in the same situation. Now students can see what other students are doing during their finals week in real time, making the finals week experience about more than just the individual, but also those who are in the same situation.
Social media sites such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook are giving their users access to the finals week tribulations across the country. Snapchat created a live story that runs during finals week and gives students across the country the chance to share their finals week study habits and stories. Instagram and Facebook have hashtags that students can use in posts so that they can see what other students across the country are doing.
Technology is on the rise and one of the main platforms of communication that has been rising over the last decade is social media, with Facebook arising as one of the most popular social media sites. Facebook has constantly undergone changes since its introduction and one of the more recent changes involved sharing with users trending topics, via a sidebar on their homepage.
However, Facebook has recently been embroiled in controversy, as former Facebook employees claimed that they were regularly told to suppress conservative news in favor of liberal news on the trending topics sidebar. The sources spoke under anonymity to protect themselves from backlash from Facebook.
Inevitably, Facebook responded after the report created a media firestorm. The social media company claimed that there was no truth to the report and that the trending topics are selected via a computer generated list, with humans curating the list to remove and junk or spam topics.
Of course, this doesn’t stop people and analysts from arguing over the ramifications of such actions. If Facebook indeed told employees to suppress conservative news, then it is a violation of a user’s intellectual freedom because they are unable to see certain types of news. This would also follow along with the “leftist media agenda” that conservatives have so often complained of.
Right now Facebook does not look good because of this damaging report. Social media is playing a larger role in society today and news as well, which has led many people to worry about the power that those in Silicon Valley have over the technology that everyone uses. One can only hope that the powers that be are not abusing their power, and that everyone is getting the opportunity to view whatever news they wish.
One of the most important aspects of making a brand grow is storytelling. A brand that is able to tell a compelling story to its customers will gain greater loyalty and respect, along with a better chance at increased profits. The brand must tell this story while also being true to itself, otherwise the customers are going to recognize the deception from the brand and not respond to the story altogether.
Listed below are some examples of brands with great storytelling and the stories they have used to captivate viewers…
The infographic has proven to be a truly powerful tool for someone looking to give information on a product or brand. Infographics have been around a long time, but given the recent rise of the Internet and social media, they have become more prevalent because the seamless way it shows information.
Infographics intersect information, illustration and design to appeal to a viewer’s eye while also distributing the necessary facts. The visual aspect is important, since the human brain more easily retains information when it is processed visually. This makes infographics valuable to those attempting to make a statement or argument, because the info is more likely to be captured in the viewers mind.
Infographics are an extremely important for marketers and they would be wise to incorporate this dynamic into their campaigns. Infographics can be a good contrast to the normal print ads that consumers are used to seeing, which will help stimulate them to the information being shown.
So today I was sent a link by my girlfriend for a locket necklace that she finds appealing. It was a not so subtle hint at what I should get her for her birthday next week, but I’m already bad enough at gifts that I don’t mind being helped in my search. So I clicked on the link and it led me to the Kate Spade website. Now I’ve never really shopped online because I like to physically see and hold what I am about to purchase, but looking at the Kate Spade website I was impressed by the content and the ability of the site to pull me in for more. Soon enough, I was searching through the site looking for other things that would appeal to my girlfriend, when I realized something else. If this Kate Spade website can entice me, what could the websites of the actual stores I shop at do?
That is how I unearthed the indisputable glory that is online shopping. I never really was fascinated with online shopping before but now being able to see different products that I don’t see in stores, combined with brands that give you seemingly endless discounts, I have discovered shopping nirvana.
This whole experience showed me the huge positives of online marketing for brands. If a brand can construct a visually appealing website that can entice buyers, then the possibilities are endless. Clothing and apparel brands are so quick to give discounts to customers and that must only be because of the huge amount of online traffic to their sites. It can be reasoned that they make up the discount deficit simply by drawing in new customers like myself, or previous customers who buy more than they usually would.
Now please excuse me as I go buy myself a new pair of shoes and an iPhone case…
In the age of social media and sharing content online to millions of people at a time, John Oliver has proven himself adept at making himself appealing to a young adult audience. Oliver has a weekly news satire show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, that airs every Sunday on HBO. The show delves into important news stories that occurred during the previous week while satirizing the stories and the people involved.
The show stands out due to its format on HBO; with no commercials, Oliver is allowed extra run time, which he uses to do a deep dive into an important topic each week. This is where Oliver stands out amongst other satire and serious news shows. These segments are often entertaining and filled with information, making them appealing to all types of audiences. However, being on HBO, Oliver does not have a gigantic following because many Americans do not subscribe to HBO at home. So Oliver has needed to get creative, which is why he posts the deep dive segments onto Youtube each Monday morning, often getting serious publicity when the segments hits online.
The Last Week Tonight Youtube page is littered with the deep dive segments while also including a snippet or two of other segments on his shows, or a video that Oliver creates while his show is off the air for a week or two. There is no better indicator of his show’s online pull than his deep dive segment that aired two weeks ago. The segments focused solely on Donald Trump and his candidacy in the GOP primary. Oliver skewered the aspiring presidential candidate in his own unique way, creating a hashtag #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain, based on the information that an ancestor of The Donald changed their last name from Drumpf to Trump.
The hashtag was a hit across all social media platforms, trending for days as people watched Oliver’s video while subsequently posting on social media. This isn’t new for Oliver however, he regularly produces some kind of original content during these deep dive segments that catches on nationally. His videos are viewed millions of times on Youtube and he has gained a genuine following online. Oliver is a household name in comedy despite not having a high amount of viewers for his show. Instead, he is able to leverage online content to his advantage, posting his segments, creating hashtags or sharing viral content. Oliver has created a solid foundation of internet followers, and it only figures to expand as he continues with his show.
Now more than ever, the race for the presidential hot seat in 2016 is decided by social media platforms and those who use social media sites constantly. More and more, presidential candidates are relying on a social media presences to draw voters. This is especially true considering millennials will be an important segment of the voting population in the upcoming election.
Major uproar was caused this week when Jeb Bush tweeted a picture of his gun. The gun was emblazoned with “Gov. Jeb Bush” and he proudly used the caption “America” to describe his weapon. Many took exception to the tweet and reprimanded the presidential candidate for his lack of judgement when tweeting the photo. Yet, many agreed with the picture, which helped illustrate the current divide that is going on in the country because of this political election.
Further divide can arise anytime presidential elect Donald Trump sends out a tweet to his followers. The bombastic candidate frequently uses Twitter to tout his own poll numbers or to take down his opponents. However, the past week illustrated that Trump can create his own controversies on Twitter, whether it through his arguments with the Pope or his attacks on Jeb Bush.
Even on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders supporters take to social media to exemplify the positives of their chosen candidate. They tweet or Facebook meme’s that give examples of Bernie’s connection with the younger generation compared to Hillary Clinton.
While all these online social campaigns exist, one must ask what effect they have on the candidates. No actual numbers may be attributed until after specific dates and further more may be added on until the actual date so it would be inaccurate do describe the amount of supporters at the recent Equality Rally.
We live in a world where social media will play a considerable role in the presidential outcome. No matter who you vote for, the younger voter must understand the ramifications of their actions.
Super Bowl 50 was played on Sunday and as always, the advertising industry was on display as advertising agencies showed off their work with their clients with their Super Bowl ads. Super Bowl ads are rarely such anymore, with companies putting their ads online in the days and weeks before the game and often running entire campaigns around the ads. Now, there is more of a push to integrate the ad into multiple online platforms, which is what many companies chose to do by adding little things to their ads such as hashtags. In addition, there is a greater focus on the ads and how creative, funny and emotional they are, meaning ad agencies and companies need to bring their best work to the table.
The ads that run during the Super Bowl range from funny to serious, but there is no doubt the importance of getting your companies message across. These are high stakes for ad agencies, as their clients pour millions of dollars into :30 second ads. Therefore, the message that the product is attempting to send needs to be clear and it needs to resonate with the audience. This is why companies often put their ads out early, or pair the ad with a website or social media account. This gives the ad more exposure than just the :30 seconds, and it can lead to better interactions with the consumers. Companies need to get creative if they want their ad to stand out. For example, Doritos has been crowd-sourcing their Super Bowl ads for the past four years, although one of their ads this year started a conversation that didn’t involve their chips.
Personally, my favorite ad of the Super Bowl was T-Mobile’s ad featuring Steve Harvey. Verizon has run their “balls” ad over the past few months, demonstrating their superiority in the telecommunications market. However, T-Mobile turned the tables on them in this ad, claiming that Verizon was using last year’s data. Even better, they got Steve Harvey to re-enact his infamous Miss Universe blunder. It was a clever ad from T-Mobile and Steve Harvey comes out looking great, thanks to his ability to laugh at himself.
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