Organization Uses: Politics and Attacks

I found the topic of this week’s blog post and discussion to be very fitting with events that have occurred in the world today. This morning, Tuesday March 22, 2016, there were terrorist bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium. According to http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/22/471391497/what-we-know-terrorist-bombing-at-brussels-airport there were three major bomb that went off killing approximately thirty people, and injuring hundreds of others. Although these attacks are completely horrific, I am amazed at the part that social media plays in situations such as this one. I originally read about the incident on Facebook and quickly googled “Belgium bombings” to find out more information. The first link that popped up was http://www.cnet.com/news/belgian-capital-locks-down-after-explosions-at-airport-subwayfacebook-activates-safety-check-tool/. This articled discusses the activation of a Facebook safety tool that allows people in a disaster such as this one to communicate with people that they are okay. Facebook activated this tool after the bombings this morning, and it also played a huge role after the attacks on Paris, France just a couple of months ago. The article shares that Facebook is not the only company or tool like this, as the Red Cross also has an app with similar functions. We also had someone share in our class after the attacks that hashtags became very important and influential after the attacks in Paris. Another platform at https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/comments/4bgowb/brussel_attacks_megathread/ provided a live stream that was an ongoing thread of updates as to what was happening in Brussels. With this feed people all across the world could be informed with what was actually happening and the steps that were being taken to assist. This feed also included what several world leaders were saying about the attacks and sharing their words of support. This is truly incredible to me. With the development of social media we have so many ways of contacting those we love, and getting involved in situations where we just want to show love. I say this over and over in my blog posts, but social media does make our world a much smaller place. From sharing insignificant, funny images to saving lives, social media seems to cover just about every sphere of communication.

Social Media Case Reflection 2

"Stay out a trouble, listen to your parents, respect your elders, and you can be anything you want to be,'' are the words the former NBA super star Shaquille O’Neal according to, http://www.today.com/news/florida-basketball-cop-brings-shaquille-o-neal-backup-game-local-t68806 left with a group of teenagers a few weeks ago after playing with them and a group of police officers in a pickup game of basketball. This game came about in response to an officer who was called on a noise complaint, reacting by joining in and playing with the kids. As he was leaving the officer told the kids that he would be back and that he would bring back up the next time. The original video that was taken from the dashboard camera in the officer’s car was posted on Facebook, and almost immediately went viral. That is when Shaq saw the video and decided to get involved. He quickly contacted the Gainesville Police Department and flew in to meet the special officer and play with the kids. I have watched several video clips and read many articles about this situation, but the quote that stands out to me personally the very most, is that of the opening statement I shared. As they were finishing up their game of basketball, Shaq brought the kids around him and told them to stay out of trouble, as well as those other powerful things. 

I thought about this for a minute. How often do we see videos become viral just because of someone’s great intentions? Maybe those kids would have never heard a statement like that if Shaq hadn’t said it. Shaq would never have been able to be a part and touch the lives of those kids, had the video not been posted. And none of this would have happened if that officer didn’t react to the situation the way he did. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/newsletter/os-gainesville-cop-shaq-mike-bianchi-0128-20160127-column.html quoted Officer Bobby White saying, "I'm really having a hard time understanding why this video has gotten so big; it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. What I did is nothing extraordinary or innovative. It was ordinary, everyday police work that's happening all over the world." When he pulled up to the kids in the street that day, I don’t think it ever crossed his mind that anyone other than those kids and himself would know what he had done. He was just handling the situation the best way he knew how. Most viral videos that we see are hilarious or off the wall strange. I’m not saying that they all are, but I know in my own personal life it seems this way. How incredible would it be if everything that ever went viral had a positive message like this video does? How different do you think our world would be? With the technology that is available to every one of us, communication has become instantaneous. How many video clips or footage from racial issues have we seen recently? We have seen far more negative than we have seen positive. I believe that this video clip, and the action of the officer sets a very important example on many different levels. First, in a day when race is still a daunting issue, the white officer shows that there can be peace between himself and the black kids. Second, I think this video proves that we as a nation need to promote kids being kids. Although technology is so very important, it does effect the amount of time children spend outside being active. This video is a promotion of peace and wellbeing.

I think it also speaks volumes that an important role-model and icon like Shaquille O’Neal would choose to get involved. Celebrities like himself can be and are very influential. In my opinion most of the stars that seem to be getting involved in huge issues like race and/or families stir the pot even more. Their words are much more powerful than just a normal citizens. Shaq didn’t say anything too powerful other than the words of advice he shared with these kids, he simply reacted and continued to make a difference like Officer Bobby White had. Without the technology that we have today, this officer’s act of kindness may have gone unknown. His example of character would have only lived on with those kids that he stopped to play with that afternoon. Now his example has become a legacy as it has effected the lives of people everywhere. I wish we could fill the realm of viral videos with videos such as this one of the Basketball Cop.

Class Cloud

Our class on the cloud time that we as a class took part in two weeks ago was definitely the most unique class experience I have ever had. For those of you reading this that were not part of the class, I’ll explain the situation a little more. Before class we were asked to tweet two things, one was a question to anyone in the world by tagging someone or just leaving it up to our followers. The second thing was we had to tweet at someone else like a celebrity or athlete. Here are the two tweets that I initially shared: 

This initial question has been on my mind a lot lately, as I have talked about in the past, I work in social media marketing and I really wanted to know. The second tweet I tweeted at Tim Tebow about his incredible fundraiser he recently put on. I am a huge Tim Tebow fan, and I think that this would be an incredible night to be a part of.  Although neither of my questions we answered I learned several things.

During class we tweeted back and forth with each other in the class and even those outside our classroom joined in. There were two situations that occurred during this experience that I thought were just mind blowing. The first was that there was a girl missing from our class because she was out of town. Although she was not present in the class room she joined in for the tweeting discussions. This really got me thinking. How incredible is that, that she could be hundreds of miles from our classroom and still participate in the experience. I know that broadcasted classes are becoming part of the norm, and making the education world so much smaller, but I had never thought about it being expanded over social media.

The second situation that was really eye opening for me was when Sam Askerland tweeted at Al Fox and she tweeted back. Sam asked her a question about her speaking formats and within a few minutes Al had given her a response. I also tweeted at Al which you can see below, but did not receive an answer. Social media, and twitter specifically has completely changed communication. I thought it was very fitting for Al Fox to have responded, and gotten involved with our class discussion, as she has gained much of her fame over social media platforms. I really would like to someday be able to ask her or another person that has used social media platforms to be influential my question. Social media at times limits the word count we can share, but the crowd count is innumerable. I really enjoyed being part of our Class on the Cloud day. 

Online Reputation

I would like to introduce today my new friend Jared Carlson and tell you a little bit about him. The first thing you should know is that Jared probably has no idea that I exist. All of the information that I know about my new pal is what I have learned from the internet. Okay, okay before you get to creeped out by me you should know that Jared does know that someone in our class will be researching and writing about him, but he doesn’t know that that someone is me.

It is mind blowing to me to think that there is so much information about each of us that is easily accessible on the internet. All that aside, I am going to tell you about Jared Carlson by describing three trends that I found for his life.

Profile Picture Posted by Jared Carlson

Jared is from Cache Valley and attended Skyview High School. After graduation he attended BYU-I before making the obviously correct decision to transfer to Utah State University. It appeared to me that he is studying Neuroscience and working on his bachelor’s degree. He currently works as a CNA for Autumn Care Assisted Living in Hyde Park, Utah. Jared has made is whole work and education profile available at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-carlson-1a563b107. It was obvious to me that Jared is a hard worker and that his education is very important to him. He has worked in many different positions at various companies, but has always continued his education. His work ethic is commendable.

Jared has worked several jobs of all kinds, but he does also make time for fun. He is married to his beautiful wife Michelle who is from New York. She also studied and graduated from Utah State University. They have been together for several years now.  Jared is a very talented soccer player and for the 2013 season he played for the USU men’s soccer team. To find out a little more about this team checkout https://www.facebook.com/UtahStateMensSoccer/. Below I have included a picture of him playing in a game for Utah State. He and his wife also enjoy traveling and mountain biking.

  Photo posted on Facebook by USU men’s soccer

I was very impressed by the support Jared shows for his church group. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His Facebook profile was filled with church related pages and music, and I was also able to find record of him as a member of a specific group at https://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/elders-quorum/deck/7437304. It was obvious that his religion means a lot to him and that he takes an active role in living it.

I really enjoyed learning so much about Jared Carlson, although at times I was kind of freaked out about how much information I could really find on him. Jared had nothing on any of his profiles, or other links that he should be concerned about. He seems to be a hard working determined individual whom I am excited to get to know better, but maybe in person this time.

Legal, Policies, and Ethics

Do you read privacy policies? I know I sure don’t. There are way too many small printed words that I don’t think I have time to read. I now am starting to think that maybe, privacy policies are something that I should be making time for. I have heard over and over again that Snapchat has released a new “scary” privacy policy or threats that those pictures or snaps I am sending on a daily basis are not actually deleted after 10 seconds. I have finally heard enough and decided to check it out for myself.
As of October 28, 2015 in order to continue to use or sign up for Snapchat, users are required to agree to the terms and conditions of their new privacy policy. The full policy can be found at https://www.snapchat.com/privacy


This policy claims that there are 3 ways that Snapchat will collect information from its users. These include:
Information you choose to give us.
Information we get automatically when you use our services.
Information we get from third parties.


The policy then goes on to explain exactly what is meant by these three areas. I don’t want to pick apart the entire policy, because let’s be honest, that would be boring. Although I would like to make people aware of a few things that startled me. According to http://www.marketwatch.com/story/snapchats-new-scary-privacy-policy-has-left-users-outraged-2015-10-29, the terms of service state, “You grant Snapchat a world-wide, perpetual, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, create derivative works from, publicly perform, broadcast, distribute, syndicate, promote, exhibit, and publicly display that content in any form and in any and all media or distribution methods.” This means that after you agree to these terms, you give Snapchat the right to use your information, pictures and videos however they see fit. This can include selling this type of information to third party advertisers. The link I have sited also states that Snapchat gives more details as to what exactly is meant by this statement, but it isn’t obvious and requires some effort to find.

http://www.techinsider.io/snapchat-privacy-policy-update-explained-2015-10 claims, “Data gathering on users is a common practice for social networks — Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook all have similar condition for what you publicly share on their networks. “ It was really eye opening to me to read this statement and do some investigating for myself. As for me personally, I am going to continue to use these social media sites. I understand the sacrifices I am making by agreeing to their terms and conditions, but I feel that it is important for each user to explore and make the decision for themselves. Just like anything on the internet, once something is posted it is gone forever. So be aware of what you are posting and the ramifications that it could have in the future.

Collaborative and Distance Communication Platforms

I am just going to be honest, the fact that we can communicate with other people that aren’t anywhere around us with the use of a little device is amazing to me. That may seem so trivial and like duh, of course we can do that, but to me it’s incredible. I really don’t understand exactly how it all works, but I am really glad that it does. In this post I want to focus on one form of distance education that I think takes it to a whole new level, Skype.

Skype is owned by Microsoft and I figured what better way to define it than through its own personal site:

http://www.skype.com/en/about/

Skype is communication app that allows people to have practically face to face communication over video chat. Text messages and audio I files can also be sent over Skype, but it is most popular for video chat. Now not only can we communicate back and forth from any corner of the world, we can actually see each other while we are doing it.

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/skype/1

This site brings up another great feature of Skype, which is that it is free. It is one of very few sites that people can talk to each other from across the world for free. Long distance calls, or even the old school way of letters and packages can be very time consuming. These ways are more expensive and you also don’t have the privilege of actually looking at the person you want to communicate with. My friends and I have always joked that if one of our friends can’t make it to something we would just “Skype them in”. We were always referring to dances or parties, and we were always joking around, but it is pretty incredible that we actually could if we wanted to or actually need to. Skype is awesome for keeping in contact with friends and family, but can it be used for serious things?

http://blogs.skype.com/2012/05/24/5-real-benefits-of-using-skype/

This blog discusses the benefits of using Skype for business. Some of the benefits include spending less money on international conference calls and saving money on business trips that you won't actually have to go on. Skype is really just another incredible app that makes our world a little smaller.

Location Based Platforms

I work in marketing for a company out of Providence, Utah. We sell hair removal products from our website, and are in the process of expanding onto other great shopping sites such as Amazon and Zulily. Almost all of our website traction is based off of Ad campaigns we are running through Facebook, and we have had huge success with this, but as I am learning and exploring more and more into the world of social media and internet marketing, I have quickly learned something: Google owns it ALL. In order to be successful it appears to me that Google in some way or another must be involved, because it’s everyone’s go too. Today I want to talk about an important aspect of social media marketing associated with Google in Google Reviews. In a blog article posted on http://bit.ly/1Ns6Tzs three benefits of Google Reviews was listed. They included:


1. INCREASED BRAND TRUST THROUGH GOOGLE REVIEWS

2. INCREASE ONLINE EXPOSURE AND LOCAL SEO THROUGH GOOGLE REVIEWS

3. FEEDBACK LOOP AND CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE THROUGH GOOGLE REVIEWS


All three of these benefits could push a small business, like the one I work for, to a whole new level. As the first benefit states it also provides consumers, whether purchasing from a small startup or a large corporations such as Nike, to be more aware of the company and feel more confident in them. Google Reviews can be left by anyone who wants to share their opinions on a specific product or service. Specific instructions for writing and posting a Google Review can be found by checking out https://support.google.com/maps/answer/6230175?rd=1.


I have found that the older I get, the less I like to shop. Let me rephrase that, the older I get the less I like to actually go to stores to shop. It is much simpler for me to hop online, Google whatever I am looking for and have it shipped to my house in 3-5 days. As for me, I read the reviews. Most websites have some sort or review section located on their site. These include personal stories or even just star ratings 1-5. Google has taken this concept and simplified it for us all. I have been on both sides of these types of reviews, the producer and the consumer. Google Reviews are powerful, because they are from real people just like me and you. They are actual people sharing actual experiences with products or services. We received our first Facebook review on our products this last week; this is very similar to a Google review, just specific to Facebook. It was a positive comment with a high rating and this made a huge difference for us. Now when people have questions or concerns we can tell them to check out our recent review and see what an actual customer has to say about us. Our goal as a company is to help our customers and provide them with the best product and service possible. It makes all the difference when a happy customer takes a minute to express this through a Google Review for investigators to see.