A Look at Social Media Tools

Twitter and Facebook are my main social media tools.  Those are the central places that I can keep in touch with people and also share thoughts, jokes or pictures.  Today in class, I was introduced to about 30 more social sites that I didn’t even know existed. From specific uses (like Vine’s six-second looping videos) to creative outlets (like Instagram’s photo-editing app), lesser known social media sites can open up different applications of the social/technological world to their followers.

When looking at these social media tools, there were three that I decided to look at for a short analysis on their usefulness to the business or the personal world: Foursquare, Google+ and Vine.

Foursquare is a location-based social media site that allows users to check-in at places (mapped by GPS in a smart mobile device) that earns them points or badges. My guess is that this tool would be most beneficial to restaurants (like cute coffee shops – my favorite) so businesses could offer discounts to people that check in more often. This would be basically free advertising as foursquare users would post the business’s name on their personal website.  Because of the promoting aspect to the business as well as the usefulness of giving out discounts, I would not recommend a paid option for this tool.

Google+ seems to be a kind of combination of Facebook and Skype – it is a social-networking website that includes profiles as well as hangouts, where people are able to actually interact with each other in groups via the Internet.  I think this tool would be most beneficial to international companies, as it makes it easy to conference around the world and share information. I’m guessing Google could get away with charging for the tool in professional use, but not for personal use – especially when its benefits are offered for free in other medias.

Vine is a tool that’s able to take looping videos that are six seconds or less on a mobile device and tweet them – kind of like moving tweets. I think organizations in the music industry could use this tool to tease about releasing songs, respond to fans or introduce new music.  I wouldn’t recommend a paid option because, although these are videos are entertaining, they are not particularly necessary or beneficial to a company. However, I would recommend Vine for personal use because it looks like fun and is what a lot of people use social media for: entertainment.

After discovering all of these new social media tools, I’m excited to dive deeper and figure out how to use them in the most beneficial way. And also just take a lot of looping videos of me singing (crazy good…) to send to my friends.

From Film to Facebook

Social Media class is introducing yet another thing on the interweb that I was completely unaware of until today: coporations’ social media policies.  Who knew that the rise of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn would pose such a problem for a company’s image that it needs a policy about what its employees can and can’t do?  Each corporation is different, using social media in diverse ways and restricting or encouraging their employees on how they can use the sites.

For a class project, I was assigned to evaluate a company’s social media policy and share what I learned.  For this exercise I chose Kodak, a film and printing company that used to be one of the biggest names in cameras before the digital age.  Here are my oh-so-fabulous findings:

Kodak’s official policy is actually only two pages out of a 16 page packet filled with what social media is, how to use it, and tips about making it successful.  The pages of advice serve as an effective introduction in approaching the policy by showing the benefits of the new media as a whole.  At the beginning of the packet is a letter from Kodak’s director of Interactive Marketing – Thomas Hoehn – covering how social media will be used to create a conversation with the customers and promote Kodak’s brand, all while maintaining their values of respectful expression.

Kodak’s policy definitely encourages social media use through the full introduction as well as convincing employees to “be themselves”.  By showing how to use social media as well as the benefits of being yourself (with a few rules, just to keep everything in check), Kodak shows that they want their employees to utilize the new media for the personal and corporative benefits.

Out of the 10 key points in Kodak’s policy, one one starts with a “don’t”.  Instead of using that negative language, the company changes possibly negative subjects to things like “disable dangerous privileges”, “heed security warnings”, or “stay timely”.  This shines a much more positive light on the policy than say “don’t follow bad links” or “don’t post late”.

There is not a conclusion about consequences of disobeying the policy, as it is mostly guidelines about how to use social media than it is completely regulating the use.

The language of the policy is definitely readable, split into bullet points with pictures.  The actual policy is two pages long with 10 points of what employees can and can’t do.  It does not refer to other companies’ procedures, it simply makes sure Kodak employees do not mix professional brands with their own personal sites and posts.

In order to make the policy more enforceable, I think it would be smart of Kodak to add a section of consequences for disobeying the rules.  Although its positive outlook on the benefits of social media is a great introduction and way to look at how to use the media, the policy is nothing more than a few suggestions without a conclusion of procedures if they go un-followed.

180 Miles, One Click Away

My boyfriend and I met when we were fourteen years old.  He had just won freshman-year homecoming royalty, and I thought his crown would be just the best conversation topic. He obviously did not find me too socially awkward because almost 6 years later, he’s still the name on my oh-so-important Facebook relationship status.

Here’s us. Adorable, right?

High school was easy.  Uncomfortable (because you know, high school), but it was so easy to hang out and spend time with each other.  College, however, posed a challenge.  He is a great cross-country and track runner and decided to go to Augustana in Sioux Falls, SD for the scholarships and the running program.  I decided to go to Creighton in Omaha, NE because… well, it’s just great!

A snapchat day-brightener!

After quite a bit of advice from people saying long distance relationships never work, we decided to give it a try anyway (y’know, love and everything).  Two years later, we’re approaching the end of our sophomore year and happier than ever.  There has never been a time either of us doubted our decision to try to make this work and, luckily, it has.

I was recently thinking about why we’ve made it work for this long – when we only get to physically see each other for a few days each month – and I landed something consistent: social media.  Really and truly, I think the way we are able to communicate is what keeps our relationship alive and well.

Not only can we talk on the phone or text about our day-to-day lives and thoughts, I can read what other things he’s interested in by the links he tweets, I see pictures of him on his own campus with his own friends via Facebook, and we are able to video-chat and actually see each other over Skype every so often.

Reading what I’ve just typed makes me sound like a minor stalker, but that’s not how I think it’s worked at all.  We text every day and call each other a few times a week.  We directly interact basically all the time.  Social media tools are just an added bonus, giving me a deeper insight into his life and interests that I wouldn’t have had otherwise because of the distance between us.

We have both talked about this before and agreed that it’s just so convenient to be able to share things over Facebook that we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.  I can’t make it to a lot of his track meets, so I can see pictures other runners have posted online.  He doesn’t have greek life at Augustana, so he’s able to understand it a little better by seeing posts and pictures of my Kappa sisters.  Social media is a great tool for being able to keep up with other people’s lives and keep relationships alive.

Creighton’s wi-fi is just fabulous…

This doesn’t have to simply apply to romantic relationships either.  When my friends from home meet up, we don’t spend the first hour or so catching each other up on everything that’s changed since the last time we were together.  My sisters and I stay in touch by posting on each other’s walls with updates or funny links.  My dad likes stalking my Twitter.  Yeah, that’s about the extent of that… But really, I am a big fan of social media’s ability to keep people together that would otherwise have been split apart by the distance between them.

A lot of people would say communication over social media is shallow and impersonal.  Although I would agree slightly, I’d pose this question to them: what is the alternative?  I am not going to call my friends from home every week simply to get the updates on their lives. My family lives six hours away, making it possible to see them only every few months.  I do not have a car and can’t drive up to Sioux Falls whenever I want.  Yes, of course I would always choose seeing all of these people in person, but when it’s not possible to do so, what’s the Plan B?

Being able to stay up to date on the lives of the important people in my life and to interact with them whenever I want is just so convenient.  Social media has been such a positive in my relationships with my friends, family, and boyfriend, and I think its existence is what keeps a lot of my relationships alive.