Tagged: social networking

Jan 30

Gang Members Keep in Touch With Social Media

by Bethaney Wallace

Growing up as a white girl in rural Kansas, my knowledge of gangs was very limited. Yes, I’m part Italian, but it’s not like we’re born with a copy of “Mobbing 101.” Somewhere down the line, I probably have a distant relative that slung handguns or laundered cash, a respectable living in the eyes of the mob. But seeing as they don’t like talking about their highly illegal professions, I got all of my drug trafficking facts from the media; rap songs and Hollywood literally taught me everything I knew about gangs.Screen shot 2012 01 30 at 3.29.05 PM1 300x296 Gang Members Keep in Touch With Social Media

From the section of Goodfellas I didn’t sleep through, I learned three distinct features about mob members: they had nervous habits, no qualms about cheating on their wives, and they are super organized. Extensive measures were taken to ensure fluidity and well-executed plans. There were calling trees (this was before email) to keep everyone informed, code words for security, driving routes. And most everyone had a specific job, like it was a union. If these men had been looking for a business front to exploit, they would have been great professional organizers.

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Posted in Business, social media

Dec 06

Social Media Brings Sports Fans Together

33330283 3b0fac2bb7 m Social Media Brings Sports Fans Togetherby Bethaney Wallace

For today’s blog, like usual, I had a specific topic planned out – to share information on a new piece of technology or website. But after logging into my Facebook and Twitter profiles, looking at the timeline, and seeing that they’d been blowing up with sports news for the past 32 hours, I went for a change of pace.

For those who aren’t familiar with my TV watching practices, I know minimal information about sports. I understand the theory of football – that placement of the ball makes all the difference in number of points scored – but it’s the stipulations that make it difficult. Collars aren’t to be grabbed, the clock only sometimes gets stopped, and the term “quarterback” has nothing to do with receiving change. I’ve angered my share of sports writers asking for the definition of “three and out”or a list of synonyms for “Heisman-worthy.” And I find the best part about College Game Day to be the clever signs in the background.

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Posted in Marketing, social media

Nov 30

Social Media Without Borders: UN Promotes Human Rights Day Online

5138832677 9e1cdec20b 300x199 Social Media Without Borders: UN Promotes Human Rights Day Onlineby Bethaney Wallace

Last week we discussed (yet again) the ever-growing popularity of all that is social media. First it was the presidential candidates wanting to get in on the action – they’ve seen what a frenzy teenagers with access to internet phones can cause. (Examples Rebecca Black, Angry Birds, and #BreakingDawn.) Why not politics as well, they thought. But, it seems as though it wasn’t just the Oval Office hopefuls that have seen the potential that social media can bring. In just a few weeks, the United Nations will join the list of government entities to join the social media trend.

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Posted in advertising, Business, social media

Nov 07

Using Twitter as a Press Release Outlet

3213679186 4678fd1bfc 202x300 Using Twitter as a Press Release Outletby Bethaney Wallace

Earlier this year, after logging into my Twitter account, I learned that Bin Laden had been killed. It was the highest-trending topic of the week. Just days ago I learned, yet again through Twitter, that Kim Kardashian was getting divorced. (Another No. 1 trend.) Both pieces of information were taking with a grain of salt, but they got my attention – enough so that I did some internet research for proof. And as any Washington, D.C. citizen would say, both were true facts. Twitter has outgrown its initial purpose of “What are you doing?” and grown into a much larger pair of shoes: acting as the future of the press release.

Have strangers’ hasty tweets also lead me to question whether or not Justin Bieber was starring in the debut season of Teen Dad? Or whether or not Katy Perry’s account was ran by an anti-marketing communist? Absolutely; it comes with the nature of the site. It’s not only news breaking nuggets that have been made via twitter, it’s in-the-moment statements as well. It’s also why Twitter has more than 175 million users. (How many of those users would sign up for a press release-only site? I’m guessing not many.) But despite any alleged content, Twitter has the ability to release and spread information faster than any other market.

Last week on Halloween, Jessica Simpson told the world she is expecting by tweeting a picture of herself as a very pregnant mummy. Of course, the internet isn’t the only way to spread the news. There’s still the old fashioned interview, whether it be on a talk show, in a magazine, or over the air waves – Jenna Fischer announced she was having a baby boy on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. And if you’re Beyonce, you announce a pregnancy by showing up to the VMAs while clutching your baby-filled belly for the cameras.

Will the future be press release-less?

For those of you in the sharing information field, you know what a watching-water-boil process receiving a press release can be. Press releases are meant to spread info on a wide basis. And because it comes from the source the news is about, you only hear what they want you to hear and when they want you to hear it. In my days as a college paper’s news editor, I would spend hours checking email for any new messages. There may have been a robbery on campus, or a wreck 20 feet away from the building I was working in, but until there was a press release, I couldn’t share a word. Police officers and dispatchers alike are trained to give the same “You’ll have to wait for the sergeant’s statement.”

However, with the ease of information sharing, it’s only a matter of time before celebrities aren’t the only one using Twitter for their press release needs; the rest of the world will be doing it as well. Whether hard-hitting or mundane, the use of online announcements allow for more internet hits, traffic, and user interaction. And because Twitter is one of the only social media sites to verify high-profile accounts, as far as the internet goes, it just may be the most reliable source of instant information.

This photo courtesy of Flickr.

 

 

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Posted in advertising, Business, Marketing, social media

Sep 20

Should you erase your social media history?

By Bethaney Wallace


53043kr9a2mm0kq 300x300 Should you erase your social media history?Throughout my years with a Facebook profile, I have seen it be used for many things. I’ve seen business pages achieve great success with many followers. I’ve seen college students sell their unwanted textbooks or furniture. And I’ve seen it used as a stockpile of photos, where users of all ages upload photos and tag any captured friends as soon as their internet connection is found. Are one of these tactics more acceptable or more widely used than another? Not necessarily. Facebook and other social media sites were meant to connect people, which all of these examples do. However, with the ever-spanning access to profiles and increased exposure, that also means that any decisions made via social media are likely to be permanent ones.

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Posted in Et cetera, social media

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