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Comment Log – Ashley Hutcherson

Mary J. Blige: More and More Drama by csquared on April 17, 2012 at 12:43 am

After watching the video I couldn’t help but think that Burger King was trying way too hard to be “hip”.

I believe that they missed the punch line. The younger generation doesn’t expect flashing things. The commercial was over thought and poorly researched.

What team was in charge of putting this together and why didn’t Mary J. Blige’s PR team stop her from making a fool out herself. Although she is secure in her field, it doesn’t make it OK to randomly throw herself into “half-assed” projects. I feel as though it can still tarnish reputations.

Google takes on Dropbox with cloud storage offering by Vinay Putta on  April 17, 2012 at 11:35 AM

I’m not sure how I feel about that… All these new forms of technology are amazing, yes, but are they truly necessary?

TruEMU by Alex on April 17, 2012 at 5:58 am

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I actually can relate to this… but from a different stand point. I live and work on campus, I paid the expensive parking pass and what not, but there are even fewer parking spaces for residence. We share are parking with commuters and staff.

I think that the situation Eastern has created isn’t fair and that’s something should be addressed.

I put $4.50 (in change) in a meter today. Unbelievable!

s between home and where ever you may be in a fast and easy way–with this new form of connection what’s the need for separate devices. That question will probably be answered in a couple of years… if that.

McDonald’s doing it wrong by carissa5252 on April 2, 2012 at 4:04 PM

It seems to me that McDonald’s is trying to show that they care, by publicly humiliating one group of people.

In order for use to be “united” and forget stereotypes then there has to be less separation and special attention to certain groups/races/etc. This was a form of segregation that shouldn’t have been allowed.

Is there a 365white, 365brown, 365yellow or 365mixed? Because this seems like an ongoing joke.

Instagram Journalism: Who’s Using It? by numerounoh on April 16, 2012 at 3:54 pm

I’m not sure if I am a fan… Just like blogs making everyone a “journalist”… Instagram made everyone photographers and with the support from major sources like NPR and CNN who knows what uproar this could cause….

I also can’t help but think of the disadvantages or sour factors that could come with something so public and permanent, let’s face it once its posted there’s no getting it back, some hacking or inappropriate photos uploaded. I see it happening.

But who knows, I might be wrong ans with everything transforming digitally the possibilities are endless. This might be the future for journalism (to connect with the public “live” and then do a write up… a behind the scenes feel).

Summer by tiny sartorialist on March 26, 2012 at 4:49 pm

I always look forward to your posts… It gives me the confidence to start styling my niece!

Hey Apple by Hannah Klomp on
March 26, 2012 at 6:25 am

After what I’ve learned about Apple (from their policies to their treatment of employees), I’m not sure I would/could buy an Apple product. Although the technology is amazing and the performance is grand… I just can’t bring myself to do it.

I appreciate your post, it cleared up some questions I had regarding Android.

It makes you wonder if Android is underrated and Apple is too “hyped” up! Either way, I don’t think you can compare an Android phone to the iPhone they are completely different.

Nice post!

The Legitimacy of #Kony2012 & Other Online Campaigns? by Global Wire Associates on March 26, 2012 at 2:04 am

His frustration is apparent… With this whole Kony 2012 spiel there has been a lot of misunderstanding. The message, in my opinion, is to bring this dark unfortunate situation into light.

In the US… We hear what we want to hear and we educate ourselves accordingly. I think that the campaign to find Kony was an attempt to remove that sheltered mindset.

I think that because of this movement–even through their latest misfortune– Invisible Children has opened the eyes of many, sparked a voice and created a community.

This could start a much needed change.

How Businesses Can Socialize in Micro-Size by csquared on February 21, 2012 at 12:29 am

You always seem to bring color and excitement into your analysis… I wish I had your structure Cher!

I feel as if you take a deeper meaning from the reading than I do. I tend to compare the reading and find the closest examples.

Magic in Words: A Fantastical Thought Experiment by One Last Sketch  on April 16, 2012 at 10:05 pm

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Although the idea came centuries ago and our understanding, expectations and interest has developed since then, I feel that the underline message of writings being secret and special/”magical” to be a fundamental for us to go off of.

I couldn’t help but think of all the pointless stories that are out there, it seems as though we took for granted the amazing gift we were given…

bill cosby on trayvon martin by what does all of this mean?? on April 17, 2012 at 10:27 am

I really am tired of racial issues… We’ve dealt with them for a long while and although they still exist, I feel that no matter how many times we talk about it in the “now” the problem will still be there tomorrow…

The older generations are stuck in their ways and their children are the same way, hopefully it will be less dramatic when they are gone, as for now let’s focus on the bigger issues (like Bill said).

The problem shouldn’t always be about racism, but why did the people commit these crimes, who taught them that it was OK to shoot someone because you felt uncomfortable, who gave you that gun and why shoot?

Facebook the Changes.by EyeDeeEyeYes on April 2, 2012 at 3:45 pm

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I can say that I’m happy those changes weren’t made… but who knows they might have been delayed. I find myself less and less on that side of the internet and more on the entertainment side.

As we get older the need to keep up through social sites will deplenish and we will seek out those friends for more face to face and personal interactions.

Side note: You, my friend, are thee only person I know that still likes myspace. Congrats hipster!

We never mixed business with pleasure… well until now

In the news we are hearing about a young man, Justin Bassett, who went on an interview… Nothing strange about that. So why is it news worthy??

After that interview, but before his lovely drug test, this young man was asked to sign into his facebook account and display it to his future/possible employers.

Bam! There it was, the news worthy situation… Not only did he have look professional and use social cues and say witty things as well as being overall sensational, but now he had to bring these strangers into his personal life. What could they possibly be looking for?

We were reading about brands in Engage, and two great (terrible for them, awesome examples for us) situations came about, Kony 2012 and The Bassett/Facebook debacle.

This company felt it important to check out their goods before continuing further, it’s almost as if they were protecting their brand before anything could/might possibly happen in the future.

Either way this company was wrong, not only does Facebook store a timeline of pictures and interactions but personal information that can be used to discriminate against an individual like religion or sexuality… To take it further, who your friends with could influence an employer as well.

“You are who you hang with,” but not in every case… And are Facebook friends all really personal friends or are some/most acquaintances.

Many people are against the company, saying that it’s going too far to demand passwords… Even Facebook is saying it’s a breech in confidentiality.

How far should a company go to protect its brand? Is this the type of censorship that can be compared with Apple and their bloggers?  Should it be required to show what pleases us outside the workplace in order to get the job? Thoughts?

Chapter 15/16 response

The rude awakening is apparent, Brian.

In this week’s chapters I found myself painfully aware of some of the things I do (rather often). Brian talks about the ways we use social media and how it defines us. Blogs, newfeeds, all these tools/attachments on social networking sites… they are all apart of a person and their brand.

Whether or not the person is a student or an established business person what they post can affect them. So post wisely.

Some of the networks allow you to specify on content (blogs, photo descriptions…) while others “get what you give”…

Maintaining an image, voice, idea or a persona goes hand in hand with posting wisely. Without consistency a brand can lose it’s credibility and the reputation won’t matter anymore.

Maybe social networks shouldn’t be the place for work and pleasure… you have to pick either or.

When reading these chapters I couldn’t help but think of Invisible Children and how that brand was ruined by a “foolish human act”…

On page 170 of Engage Brian Says,

Everything we do, online and offline, builds the public perception of not only our personal brand, but also that of the organization we represent. They must be symbiotic. And while many insist that a brand must “be human,” it must not act or interact as one…”

The founder of Invisible Children lost sight when it came to his actions… He let himself get in the way of a huge project that affected a lot of people. His credibility was then tested and more aspects of his company/organization were looked at. The organization lost donors and supporters alike.

I thought that me posting curse words and raunchy cartoons on my facebook was bad, but in some ways it still is.

I’m giving my peers an idea about me… And that may not be what I want people to see and it might not be who I really am, but you are what you post and you are what you do… And they have to be consistent.

A not so “mashable” merger…

In class we talked about the importance of branding… We were even given an example of a company who maintained their brand successfully even after they were sold.

The key is to be consistent and to think of your consumers as well as your employees. Many companies fail when it comes to employees, it’s not just costumers that you have to please and keep happy, but the people that work for you too…

Zappos had a fun work environment, offered their employees benefits and was a reliable source–if a customer didn’t like a product they could return it up to a year later–giving the phrase “the customer is always right” a new meaning.

After selling to Amazon for a hefty settlement, but not before the company’s owners made some demands. They wanted the company to be ran the same.

This morning, our board approved and we signed what’s known as a “definitive agreement”, in which all of the existing shareholders and investors of Zappos (there are over 100) will be exchanging their Zappos stock for Amazon stock. Once the exchange is done, Amazon will become the only shareholder of Zappos stock.

Over the next few days, you will probably read headlines that say “Amazon acquires Zappos” or “Zappos sells to Amazon”. While those headlines are technically correct, they don’t really properly convey the spirit of the transaction. (I personally would prefer the headline “Zappos and Amazon sitting in a tree…”)

We plan to continue to run Zappos the way we have always run Zappos — continuing to do what we believe is best for our brand, our culture, and our business. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are switching out our current shareholders and board of directors for a new one, even though the technical legal structure may be different.

Basically saying “just because we are gone out of town doesn’t mean we want you to feng shui our home…” Unlike many companies (Apple, Walmart, etc) this brand cares for it’s employees, is honest with their customers and overall a decent brand.

A solution Mashable should have looked to when selling their company to CNN. Although the company isn’t as well known as Zappos, Mashable has definitely made a dent in the “interwebs”, enough of a dent to attract the attention of a major news network.

The only problem with this… most of the employees might get screwed over. With the buy, CNN gets all Mashable employees but because there was no prementioned agreement, all their contracts can be changed, benefits altered and hours deducted.

When you create a brand you need to first think of your customers and employees, be consistent and have a plan… the money will come because if everyone’s happy their won’t be a problem.

Thoughts?

Response to Reading

Chapter 12 could definitely be read by companies to promote better  business.

I believe the problem with businesses today is that they are so focused on making the “picture perfect” brand, that they don’t realize how the company as a whole is perceived. In this Chapter, Brian talks about the importance of company awareness. You must know what you want for your company in order to market yourself, and only after that can you make promises to your public.

In Chapter 13 (I think I favored this chapter!), Brian talks about the shift in control. Corporations had control over the messages that went out and the stories that were told, but now… “Our” social media has changed everything. There is no big brother controlling and overseeing everything we do. Although there are still companies that try, the shift will soon get them too.

He also talks about the transition to how we get our “relative/hard-hitting” news.

Saying…

“Now and in the future, information will find you.”

I feel that in a way information has always found us. Either through gossip and “girl talk” over coffee or our mothers calling to make sure we knew about something or other…. The transition to everything digital is the thing that is affecting us. The time it takes for us to get that information instead of getting a cup of coffee with a friend and gabbing on, I’m reading about it on my phone (maybe as I stand in line for coffee!) because it’s trending…

Thoughts??

Trending Topics

 

In this weeks reading, SMO (Social Media Optimization) was the topic of discussion . After reading I couldn’t help but think about trending topics and how we use them as the “this just in” news.

In this generation it has become clear that not everyone is into broadcast news (channel 7/fox 2/etc) or even newspapers, most up-to-date information that is received is through social networking sites.

From little things like movie releases/reviews and sporting events to celebrity deaths and murder trial updates all that information can be found through trending topics or a quick keyword search.

 

Example?

Last night I was looking through trending topics and found Despicable Me 2, at first glance I assumed that people were talking about the possibility of a new movie, but the trailer for the second movie was released and it was awesome!

But not all the trending topics/searches are so passive and meaningless…

Some people use the network to find jobs, one user gave a kidney because of a tweet!

It’s all about how you search.

Reading Response #sm379

In chapters 10-11 of Brian Solis‘ Engage, we learn that social media sites are used as search engines more often than traditional search engines like Google or Bing.

Brian talks about the stages of the way we share and “search”… Using keywords and tags to generate views as well as keep up with certain topics. The stages he refers to are known as the SMO (social media optimization) and aggregating social objects.

SMO: Is the research. May it be traditional or through networking sites, a person is looking for information either through facts and data or conversations made relevant.

By using tags and descriptions it makes SMO easier to use and skim through and hopefully if the information was useful, then the person using would share with others.

It’s all about connection, really.

On page 116/117 of Engage, Brian illustrates a social feed, a network of friends/co-workers/common interest having people that share a large amount of information which can be linked out to other sites.

Further saying that it is important not to cross the links…

“… Tumblr might publish both the post and the tweet about the post, the Tumblr post about the post, and the Tumblr post with the aggregated tweet from the post,” said Solis.

Having a linked status to a tweet about a post could overwhelm and I think it would be easier to manually post things rather than “link” all the social networks together.

syndication

Status of a Tweet of the initial Post (Cross linking!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

These chapters have been insightful.

Gaming in Social Media…

At some point everyone gets sucked in…to Facebook games. We all have.

Companies have stepped it up. They are no longer getting their message out just by buying ads. They work with social networking sites and promise rewards to those who use their alternative.

Example:

One of my favorite games to play with friends is the Sims Social. You can interact, build a house, play silly little “quests” (it’s addictive).

When you play the game you have energy levels (that you pay SimCash to replenish), SimCash however can only be made up by spending real money, but there is another option.

Companies make special offers: from coupon codes to straight up deals…

Way to Earn “Credit” for Sims Game

Once you buy the product from whichever company you choose, you are rewarded with SimCash!

It’s almost like a win/win… Or that’s what they push anyway. You get your SimCash and whatever else you purchased and Facebook has pleased another client/company.

I never realized how much social media was being used… and the ways they do things now are so creative.

This reminds me of what we read in Chapter 8 of Engage… It is definitely a monetization trend!

#sm379 Response

Aside from making money on networks, Brian talks about the power of twitter and how to tame the tweeting beast! For all those business savvy wanna-be’s pages86-89 are key. Solis shares the that special offers are most effective through twitter… Giving the buyers a closer connection with sellers and a greater response for future product sales.

**Of course people would buy something if they could get a percentage off… and with that they’ll share the wealth (retweets) and thus gaining you, the company, more followers and business!**

Amazing and that’s only the first example.

Why all businesses don’t use social media? Is it because they feel it is to complex or is it that they think it is a fad… What ever the reason may be they are missing opportunities to grow and interact with consumers.

Oh widgets, you never fail! Solis talks about the use of these sometimes fun applications that can be interchangeable between certain websites. It is a way of sharing even more media. From surveys/polls and clocks/countdowns to twitter timeline and news feeds there is a widget for almost everything.  There were some interesting points made in chapters 8 and 9 of Engage. And I have to say the more I read the more I see things when I surf the web.