I think we are going down the wrong Path

Recently, I've really been getting into twitter. I follow my horoscope, CNN, Mashable, and a few of my friends. I like how this form of social media is kind of like a time line of what I am doing, and I especially like that I can get my news from this source as well. Why am I telling you why I like Twitter? Well, about a week ago Path was launched to compete with Twitter (Mashable). Path is a lot like Twitter in that you can micro-blog about your life, but the major difference is that Path will only allow you to follow 50 friends. They want to stick with the number 50 because of a psychological study that was conducted that proved that a person can handle only 150 relationships. Path wants to a more intimate setting that you can share more personal things with your friends, and they want you to be yourself. In every post you have to have a person, a place and a thing. The example they give in the article is in the picture below:

                      I really like how this is setup to include pictures with your text, but I don't know how they are going to get a lot of members since you can only have 50 friends. The reason Facebook and Twitter are so successful is because they started with a few people and they brought new people, and so on like the snowball effect. Also, this isn't on the internet, you can only access this through your IPhone. What do you think? Do you think this could be the next Twitter?

November 17th is National UnFriend Day on Facebook

"Jimmy Kimmel calls for National UnFriend Day" CNN

Jimmy Kimmel has a late night talk show called Jimmy Kimmel Live where he talks about things going on in the world and he puts his point of view on things. On Wednesday the 10th Jimmy Kimmel declared that November 17th is going to be National UnFriend Day on Facebook. Kimmel believes that Facebook is "cheapening the meaning of friendship" (CNN). I have to say that I agree with him. It feels like everytime I am on Facebook I have yet another friend request. Yes, I do add people from class that I talk to, but I really do not talk to them outside of class and then I forget to delete them after the semester is over. I know I am not the only one that does this. I will not, however, add complete strangers that creep on my Facebook and add me as a friend. I also have a very tight control on who can even search me.

I think National UnFriend Day should be targeted towards high-schoolers more than anyone just because I feel like they don't see the problems with adding a complete stranger. I know I am definitely take Jimmy's advice and cut some "friends" that I don't even know anymore. I have been at WKU for three and a half years now and I can guarantee that there are some people I am "friends" with on Facebook that I don't even talk to anymore. Happy National UnFriend Day!!

Its "Facebook Official" ...Breaking up on Facebook

Have you ever wondered when you were going to be dumped by your significant other? Well, thanks to David McCandless, a British journalist and graphic designer, you can better prepare yourself to be dumped. He has created a chart of when you are most likely to get kicked to the curb on Facebook.

The graph above is a visual representation of the most likely times of the year you will be left

I personally think this graph is hilarious, as well as fairly accurate. In my personal experience, I feel like a ton of people break up right after Valentine's Day because they don't want to spend it alone. This is good news for marketers! You have made us feel so bad about our lives that we feel obligated to find someone, anyone, and stay with them long enough to buy them something for this particular holiday. Good job! On the other hand, people break up right before Christmas. This could be due to the fact that prices are too high combined with the simple fact that this isn't exactly a holiday that revolves around love.

People love changing their relationship status on Facebook to reflect that they are taken or, to quote a fairly new term, "Facebook Official" which would make this chart pretty accurate. On the other hand, you also have those people who joke around and say that they are in a relationship with their roommate or best friend. What do you think? Do you think this is an accurate chart? Do you think that marketers could use this to their advantage? 

Winners never cheat and cheaters never win, especially on Foursquare

Mayor badge in Foursquare

Earlier in my blog I took my stance on location based forms of social media. Although I feel like they are unsafe, I also know that people are really into the gaming aspect of it. In Foursquare, if you check into a certain place more than anyone else, you become the mayor of that place. Earlier this month in my Social Media Marketing class we discussed how people could cheat the system and check into places from their couch and eventually become the mayor of that place. I also learned from an article on Mashable.com that people can also check into a place if they are near it instead of inside it. I bet you are thinking, "So what?" I would be thinking this too if I didn't fully understand the ramifications. The problem with this is that most businesses are starting to give mayoral discounts, and incentives to the mayor of their establishment so that more people will want to check into their location and cash in on the deals. Foursquare finally caught onto this and so they are putting the power of the highly sought after mayor badge into the hands of the store owners. Since Foursquare cannot fix this problem immediately, Foursquare knows that businesses using this social media platform know their regular customers. This means that business owners can now flag you on Foursquare and you can lose your mayorship. What do you think? Do you think this is taking it too far? Do businesses have the right to tamper with a social media game? I think they have every right to do this if others are exploiting this loophole to gain discounts and other incentives that they don't deserve at the companies expense.

Getting searched!!

With graduation so close by, our professors and advisors keep warning us about what to put on our Facebooks. I used to not listen to them until I started taking Social Network Marketing for my Social Media concentration. My professor gave our class numbers about how putting up bad pictures and statuses could really hurt us, and since stats and cold hard facts make me listen, I checked over my own site to make sure my grandmother, or a future employer, could see it. More recently than this lecture, I saw an article on CNN "Could Facebook be bluffing on search-engine plans?" that was talking about how Bing and Facebook may join forces so that you could search people more easily. The real reason behind this is because Facebook is such a huge force on the web that it is messing with Bing's search results. 

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I think it's pretty crazy, but not hard to believe, that Facebook is such a huge force on the internet that it is effecting how things are searched. I think that having a strictly social search would be a smart move for the companies with search engines and also a good way to creep on future employees. I know this is just another warning about what not to put on Facebook, but these guys are making it easier to find you. What are your thoughts? Do you think this will happen anytime soon, or do you think bigger companies are willing to finance something like this so that they can search future employees faster and more efficiently?

Location, Location, Location!!

Gowalla, Foursquare, and now Facebook Places, are all social media platforms that are location based. With these applications you can "check in" to different locations and at the same time see where your friends are. This tool comes in handy when you need something to do on a Saturday night, or if you are driving around town during the week looking for something to get into. These applications are all in good fun, awarding mayors to people that check in the most often to a certain location, or getting merit badges if you party hop a lot one night. There is even an article on CNN.com that talks about how NASA is getting involved with the location based social media platforms. Above you see a picture of what I am talking about. NASA has hidden virtual gifts around the country to gain more recognition for the space program. Another article on CNN.com reveals that even the good people at CNN got into the game by offering up a healthy eater badge on Foursquare to people that ate well and shopped at local farmer's markets.


At the other end of the spectrum, people are telling all of cyberspace where they are. Is this really the safest thing we can do? I have read local reports of people going out of town for the weekend and checking into various places out of town, which then resulted in their houses getting robbed.


What are your thoughts about location based social media platforms? Do you think they are dangerous? Or do you think they are all in good fun? I feel like it is a double edged sword that could go either way. I personally will not be using this technology anytime soon.

Things seem to catch on....viral marketing

I know you have recently seen women all around the world updating their Facebook status to say things like "I like in the chair" or "I like it on the door." Reading statuses like these cause people to take notice and start asking questions. When people start asking questions the knowledge of what's going on spreads like wildfire. I admit I was one of those people that were like "what are they doing?" Since then, I have jumped on the bandwagon. If you were curious, the question that these women were answering with their statuses is "Where do you like your purse" and it was supposed to generate awareness of breast cancer awareness month. This is cool and all, but if you are like me, you change your status twice a day or maybe more so this was a very short buzz.

My favorite viral marketing ploy of the month has been the "Count me out" social media campaign to support National Coming Out Day, which they have stretched to continue all week. What you do is go to the link above and follow the instructions on the site. I am an "Ally" because I support those coming out this week, and my friend Skylar's picture says "Out" because he is already out. We are both doing this to support equality in the community and to support the anti-bullying and anti-homophobic efforts. 

I think pictures give you the best way of being heard. People notice when your profile picture changes rather than a status, just because you don't change your picture several times a day. I have seen several pictures like the ones above and asked the same questions like I did for the breast cancer awareness. Those statuses never raised as many questions and confused messages as these pictures did, and once people found out, they started changing their pictures too. Story short, if you want to raise awareness, Facebook is the way to go!

I've seen the power of social media!!

Before I tell you about how social media has impacted my life recently, I have to give you the back story. About a week ago I ordered from a local place I like to eat at in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I was SO EXCITED to hear that they delivered! I placed my order for my favorite meal, a chicken salad sandwich and a salad with their mango pineapple vinaigrette. I was especially excited about the salad because this was a dressing I had never tried before and it sounded amazing! When I ordered my food they said it would take 60+ minutes for it to arrive, and I was okay with this. When I had gotten my food, I began to unpack the bag after the delivery guy left (first mistake) and I realized that he had forgotten my dressing! Oh no! I quickly called the restaurant and told them what had happened and they said they would "send it right out." Well about and hour later and still dressing-less I called back. They then passed me through the phone system and then rudely assured me that it was on its way. I gave up hope at 10pm when they close. 

I told my friends what had happened, but how can you get your friends to not eat at one of the best restaurants in town? It didn't hit me until today in my Social Media Marketing class what I had to do. Facebook! I would write on their wall and see what they do, either way a lot more people are going to see what I say on Facebook than if I talk to them. This is what happened:

They answered my wall post the same day! I did take Jodi up on this offer. I emailed her and told her what happened and then, like she asked, I gave her my campus address. Quickly after I read this I clicked onto their wall to see if this was visible to the public and was disappointed it was not. They could have taken this opportunity to put a positive spin on the situation, but little do they know that I am a marketing major with a concentration in social media. If they do keep their promise of the gift card I promise to re-post on their wall about the positive experience I received with their customer service. This just shows that if companies do have pages on social media sites, they do need to check them multiple times everyday so that problems like these can be resolved. Good Job to Mariah's for being prompt!!

Even as I am finishing up this blog post I got another comment on my Facebook comment from Jodi:

and yes, I am the one that liked her post.

I will keep you all up to date on the situation. : )

Facebook crashes!!

Okay, this is really weird!! My last post was about how a Northeastern school was going to block social media to see the impact on the students life. Thursday September, 23rd around 3pm Facebook was experiencing problems and I could not log on!! I first thought it was some joke, haha Facebook. Good one! It did not hit me until I got to work that day that I realized this was no joke!  I sat down at my desk and tried to load Facebook like I normally do. (I am just going to share my nerdness with you and admit that I am in love with Facebook games and if I don't get to play them at work I am not happy and I sit there and pout.)

I had just started this new game and I was about to level up and I had been waiting all day to play it at work and Facebook was officially not working!! So I tweeted about it, "Why is Facebook not working?!?!?!!!!!" (yes those were my exact words). As I sat there on twitter I decided that maybe I could follow Facebook to see what the deal was. Well, much to my amazement, the server was down and they were fixing the problem. I love how all social media works together for the common good!

This made me think about what I did before Facebook. I really can't remember, which is kind of sad. Facebook from a marketing standpoint is a goldmine!! It links ads to your particular interests and because of this feature alone I have learned about so many more products and have become a more informed consumer. I think all of this knowledge about products can be a double edged sword, but as long as companies positively endorse their brand without bashing anyone else I will still be looking at what they have to say. That is unless Facebook crashes again! 

University bans social media? What are they thinking?!

University bans Facebook, Twitter for a week (CNN)

In the link above you will find an article about how a Northeastern university is banning social media for a week. They are doing this because they want to teach their students about how much of an impact social media has on their lives. This made me think....."How much do I use social media in my life?" When I thought about the answer to the previous question, I was kind of disgusted with myself.

       

I come to work at the campus library about 3 times a week for about 5 hours a shift. Once I am at work, I sign into my computer and immediately check my Facebook. I then leave it up the ENTIRE time I am at the desk, which is the whole shift. I sit on Facebook for at least 15 hours a week, and this doesn't include the times I check it before class and while I am at home. The real total is probably around 20 hours a week.

I use Facebook for email, seeing what is going on around campus, if I lose my phone I can message someone to call me, I can instant message people, I can play games, I can look at pictures of an event I didn't go to, and the list can go on and on. If college students were forced to get off the social media sites, they would actually have to go outside and figure out what was going on for themselves. I remember when I was younger and I wanted something to do. I had to go outside, go to my friend's house and see what was going on. Now, I feel like today's youth is just getting on Facebook and seeing what is up before they move off the couch.

I would be completely lost and bored without social media in my life, especially Facebook. When I asked one of my friends what would happen if Facebook or any other social media was taken away from her, her response was one of horror. She said that she would be totally disconnected from the world and would not know what was going on or what had gone on in the past. She also brought up the point about not know what other people were doing and where they were in their lives. Why have we become so involved in other people's lives that we need to know what they are doing 24 hours of the day? What happened to privacy?

Now think about how this relates to product pages and marketing. We become so involved in people, is it true that we also become involved with product pages? I know it is for me and other people that I know. I wouldn't know half of what I do about new and existing products if it wasn't for Facebook and other forms of social media. Product pages allow you to learn more about a brand and compare it to other brands. I like how you can like different things and it will suggest new products for you to like. I think this is an amazing marketing tool because if someone likes your competitor you can get them on your page and try to hit them with your competitive advantage. I think since everyone is becoming more involved with social media, its only smart for other companies to create a fan page to get their customers more involved with their brand.

I just hope they don't start their Facebook fan page or Twitter accounts when campus' around the country start having social media blackouts.

Facebook in schools?

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2010/09/08/dnt.facebook.in.class.ketv

This video on CNN (in the link above) is a report about how a school is using Facebook to update parents about what is going on with their children. The teachers update their class's page with things they are teaching, and in some of the older classes the teachers let the children update the status. Their reasoning behind this is to help them learn sentence structure, as well as let their students know that social media can be a positive tool. But how positive is having Facebook in your classroom?

One may argue that this could be a very positive thing to have social media tools, such as Facebook, in schools because it lets the parents know what all is happening inside the classroom. Also, since teachers are letting their students use the status feature, many agree that they are learning correct punctuation and spelling. Being up on current trends could also make certain schools more marketable. Since parents always want to know what their children are up to, schools could use this to their advantage to attract more students. Facebook is giving schools a competitive advantage over other schools if they are willing to take it. Parents are willing to pay more for a safe environment, and in the future, status updates on how well their kids are doing in class.

On the other hand this could be a very negative influence on today's impressionable youth. One may pose the question, "Why spend time on Facebook updating the parents, when you could be teaching the children?" Whenever I am sitting in my 300 and 400 level college classes, my professors always tell us you can go an hour without Facebook. By updating Facebook pages in the middle of class, it is sending the message that you really cannot live without Facebook for a few hours every day. It may even send the message that this one website may be more important than your education.

My opinion about this is simple. From a marketing standpoint, this idea is genius! Some traditional schools are going to be harder to convince on the Facebook issue, but that just makes the schools that are willing to use social media more competitive in their market. Although people don't normally think about marketing schools, it happens a lot within the private school sector. Private schools could use this as something to have over the public schools. I think that although using Facebook in the classroom has some disadvantages, it definitely is a smart marketing move if used correctly.