Week #14 Social media and my other classes

Being a Comms major I am always using social media. There is not one project that I have done this semester that does not involve using social media. I am in a class called Media and Society. This class looks at social media and how people are easily deceived by things they see on social media. Many people look to social media to find current events. Lets use the recent hurricanes for example.

During the time of the hurricane Harvey people were tweeting out pictures of the damage, flooding and others being helped to safety. An example of this can be seen in the picture below.

There were also fake pictures people were tweeting as well. The pictures, in my opinion, looked real. It made me realize people are really good at photoshop. These pictures were more or less used as a joke but some of them looked totally believable. The picture below is an example I found.

I saw this picture and had to look at it for a few minutes because it looks so real. Obviously, the picture is not real but it looks so real. This picture was retweeted thousands of times on Twitter. Heck I even retweeted it too because I thought it was funny. But after reading the Twitter thread that followed this picture many people though it was real. 

The problem with social media is that people are so easily deceived. Many people look to social media because it is the fastest way information is spread. It's a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because we can get important information very fast, but its also a curse because false information can also be spread just as fast. This is one of the many things I have learned in my Media and Society class. My tip to you is to always fact check. If you see something that looks strange or doesn't sound right Google it. If you cannot find the information from a reliable source on Google then you will know it's fake. 

Week #13 What Color is Your Parachute?

I'm sure everyone has had the thought of changing careers before. I know I have. In chapter 11 of What Color is Your Parachute? I learned the five ways to choose / change careers. Before I go into the list of ways to change careers I would like to say that there is no problem with wanting to change careers after. It's not a big deal. Some of my friends have made such big deals about changing jobs because they thought people would look at them different. That should not matter. You do what makes you happy. Ok rant over, on to the list.

1. The internet
2. Tests
3. Using the flower exercise 
4. Changing a career in two steps
5. Finding out what the job market may need

The job market is always a good place to look for a job. The only problem with looking into the job market is, you may not find a job you want but you'll find a job the job market wants. That could be good and bad. Good because you may get to experience a job you never thought you would do and bad because you might end up doing a job you hate. In my personal opinion I think looking to see what the job market needs is a great place to dig into. You never know what you could find. Heck I would totally apply for a job that the job market needs just to get my foot in the door somewhere. It's good to get all kinds of experience. That is what most jobs look for when you apply, what kind of experience do you have. The more experience you have the better shot you have at getting a better job. So, there is no shame going out and finding a job you may not want to do, you could end up falling in love with it. No matter what it'll be a learning experience. I think thats what matters most. 

Week #11 Facebook ads pt 2

Facebook ads, love em or hate em they are here to stay. A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about Facebook ads discussing the pros and cons. This past week I had the chance to make a "mock" Facebook ad for my own Facebook page. Creating the ad was very simple. The first thing you need to do is brain storm what kind of ad you would like to create. Then once you have an idea of what type of ad you would like to make you click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/business/
This link will lead you to a page that will help you create your very own ad! The image blow is a "mock" ad I created.

I crated this ad to promote my Facebook page. The image above would typically appear on the right hand side of your newsfeed. One thing to note is that making a Facebook ad is not free. You can spend as much or as little money as you want of your ad. You do not need to pay for the ad until after you see what the ad you created looks like. 

There are also many different types of ads you can create. The one I chose was "engagement". Engagement helps promote your Facebook page to gain more likes. In the picture above you can see there are 11 types of ads you can create. Once you choose a type of ad Facebook guides you through the steps to creating your very on ad. I my opinion it was very simple to create an ad. As much as I think Facebook ads are a pain in the butt, they are very helpful. After doing this mini project I do not hate them as much as I used to. If you guys have a business or a Facebook page that you want to promote I suggest testing the waters and creating your own Facebook ad! Here's the link if any of you guys want to give it a try! https://www.facebook.com/business/

Week 10: More Hootsuite

Last week I talked about how Hootsuite and how it can be used as a tool to make posts and send them  to all forms of social media. This week I did a test post to get my feet wet. The first thing I did was make sure all my social media platforms were linked. As seen in the picture below.

After selecting which social media platforms you would like your content to be posted on click "send now" and your content will be posted! Below are some sample pictures of my test posts on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.

As you can see "testing Hootsuite" was posted to all three of my social media platforms at once! Say you did not want to post your content at this time. You can set a timer and have you content post whenever you want. That tool can be useful for time sensitive material. Last semester I took a public relations writing course. I wish I knew about Hootsuite while I was in that class. During that time was constantly posting to multiple social media platforms at once but I had to do each individually and all at different times. PR is a possibility for me in the future so I'm very fortunate to be learning how to use Hootsuite now. Can't wait to keep learning more!

Week 9: Hootsuite

This week in class we dove deeper into Hootsuite. Before I dive into my new discoveries I wanted to recap do a quick recap of what Hootsuite is. Hootsuite is a way to manage all your social media from one place. You are able to link you personal or business profiles to this site. For example, in the picture below you can see I linked my Facebook page, Twitter and LinkedIn. 

Linking all your social media networks to Hootsuite will make it easier to manage. Once you have linked all your social media you will be able to send posts to those networks from Hootsuite. In the picture below you can see that I am getting ready to send  a test post. This post will be sent to all three of my social media platforms. Not only can I send my post to multiple platforms at one time, I can also schedule when I want my post to be posted. Which I think is pretty cool.

I plan on using this wonderful tool for the rest of my career. I am a communications major and I know that this tool will make my life a lot easier. I plan on managing social media for a sports team in the future. When I land a social media job on a sports team you better believe I will be using Hootsuite. I can't wait to share the new skills I learn as I keep navigating through Hootsuite.

Week 7: Social analytics

This week in class we talked about how to better understand basic social analytics. In simpler terms this means I got a backstage pass to look closer at my Facebook page activity. As of right now I do not have many followers, you totally should go to Facebook right now and hit that "like" button, but that is okay. I have realized that the more content I post the more people will flock to my page.

After reading up on social analytics I decided to look into my own Facebook page to see what's happening behind the scenes. One cool thing I came across is the chart below. This chart tells me where in the world people are viewing my blog from, which age groups are looking at my posts, as well as the percent of men and women looking at my posts. This to me was super cool. Literally people from all over the world have viewed my page. It's also crazy that Facebook knows the location of these people LOL.

Knowing Facebook analytics can be very important, especially to those using Facebook for business purposes. As for me I think its cool to see to get a deeper look into what happening backstage. I plan on looking behind the scenes at the end of the semester to see how much has changed. Check back in a few weeks to see my update on who's been checking out my Facebook page! 

Week 6: What Color is Your Parachute?

Yet another great chapter from What Color is Your Parachute? This week I read about tips for interviews. I have never really been to an "official" interview before. All the jobs I have had thus far have not had a big interview process. The interviews I have experienced have not been longer than ten minutes and usually the person interviewing me made it seem like the job I was trying to get was not a big deal. With that being said I was happy to see a chapter dedicated to interviewing tips.

One thing that stood out to me was that you are also supposed to ask the interviewer questions. Before reading this chapter I knew I was going to have to ask the interviewer questions I was just not sure of what I was supposed to ask. This section gives example questions; "What does this job involve?" and "What are the skills a top employee in this job would have to have?". I think asking the person who is interviewing you questions is important because it makes it seem like you are more interested in the job, which you should be. After reading this section I plan on making a list of questions to ask during my next interview. I know it will play a big role in getting the job.

Week 6: Twitter

This week my social media marketing talked about Twitter. The chapter discusses things such as pros and cons, what to do and what not to do, and how to create a Twitter. Personally, I love Twitter I use it more than any other social media that I have. It's quick and easy. You can turn notifications on for someone you follow so you see everything they tweet as soon as they tweet it. Twitter is huge with us menials and will continue to grow. Here is a snap shot of my Twitter. Feel free to give me a follow I am always tweeting out the links to my blogs! 

Like I mentioned earlier I believe twitter will continue to grow. For example people can post a picture to Twitter and it can get hundreds of thousands of "likes" and "retweets" in a matter of minutes. For example, you can find out anything that's happening in the world instantaneously because of Twitter. A good way to see what's happening is to look at "trends for". Here you can find anything from news to the latest pregnant celebrity. I am a big Twitter advocate and I will choose Twitter over Facebook everyday.

Here is a screen shot of the "Trends for you" where you can find whats trending right now!

 

Week #5 - Facebook ads

Facebook ads are alllllll over the place. I am sure most of you guys have seen them, heck i'm sure some of you are seeing some as your scrolling through Facebook right now. Reading chapter 4 of my social media marketing book I came up with a list of pros and cons of Facebook ads. Pros: they get people to lure them in to look at a certain product or business, anyone can create a Facebook ad, they can be very beneficial to you if you are running a campaign, and they are not that hard ti create.
Cons: You need to pay for your ad to be on Facebook ( the price varies ) and the only other con I can come up with is that some people might think of these ads as annoying.

Personally, if I had a business I would totally create Facebook ads. A lot of people use Facebook it's a great way to expand marketing. For example, look at the screen shot I took from my personal Facebook. A clothing company, on the right side, is trying to lure us in by telling us they have free shipping and that their clothes start at $8.99. Free shipping drew me right in. Also pictured is a link to the Dollar Shave Club. That could also be seen as an ad. They are offering what seems to be a package deal for only a dollar?? Of course we have to "see more" to find out what the real deal it. All in all Facebook ads could be very useful. Sure, an over abundance of them may seem a little annoying but in reality they are very beneficial.   

Week 4: Chapter 3, Introduction to Social Media Marketing.

Last week in class we learned how to make our own Facebook page. Making my own Facebook page is something I never thought I would do. I honestly had no Idea how to create a Facebook page until learning in class as well as reading this chapter. I think the biggest challenge to me was figuring out how to create the page in general. I had no idea where to start, but thankfully with the aid of my professor as well as his book I was able to create my own page!

Creating your own Facebook page could be very useful. Especially if you have your own business and are looking for a way to promote it. Since creating my own page I was able to post these blogs and get feedback from friends and family. I think having this page will help my blog grow. If anyone would like to know how to create their own Facebook page feel free to shoot me a message. I would be more than happy to help!

Week 3: What Color is Your Parachute?

This week I began reading the book What Color is Your Parachute? At first glance I thought this book was going to be boring and uninteresting. But I was wrong. (Never judge a book by its cover. I know). To be completely honest I have not thought a lot about job hunting. That's mainly because I am so focused on school I haven't had to look for any "big girl" jobs yet. All the jobs I have applied for were little part time jobs that my friends have introduced me to. After reading the first chapter I realized I need to start preparing myself to look for jobs after college now.

The first chapter of the book talks about how finding jobs are getting harder and will continue to get harder as the time goes on. ( Yay for me). Bolles states in the book that 22.6% of people who are looking for a job are spending six months or longer looking for a job. That is very concerning. This is why I think it is important to start preparing myself now. Another thing that concerns me is that the length of how long a jobs lasts has decreased. This section talks about because of the dramatic decrease of how long a job lasts there has been an increase of part time jobs. I don't know about you but I am trying to find a full time job. Sure, it's nice having a little part time job while going to school but that is not going to cut it after I graduate.

I want to refer back to my AI blog for a second. The book mentions the future and how computers are going to continue to play a huge role in the job world. This is the second time I have came across this topic in a week. Bolles says, "...robots will take away a net of 5 million jobs by 2020." 2020 is not that far away people! We need to be prepared for things like this. As mentioned in my blog about AI I think it will be essential for people to learn things like coding. It could give us a huge advantage in the job field. I can't wait to share more tips I learn from this book.

Week 3: Chapter 2 Introduction to social media.

Welcome back to my blog. Recently I read chapter 2 of my social media marketing textbook, Introduction to Social Media Marketing. I really enjoyed this chapter. It touched on many different things such as creating your own blog, making YouTube videos, as well as editing your YouTube videos, and much more. In all honesty I have always wanted to start my own YouTube channel. I wanted to create my own vlogs. For those of you who don't know vlogs are like blogs just in video form, which I think is pretty cool. Vloggers post things like daily routines, reactions to an event they went to, and much more. 

Here is an example of a vlogger I follow on YouTube. You can see one of the videos she posted is called "Reacting to people reacting to out loud".

Vlogging can be anything you want it to be. If we were looking at it from a social media marketing stand point I think it would be best to vlog about new and upcoming products, sales, interviews, reviews on current products, and things like that. It would be more informative than a reaction video. 

I never really had the confidence to make my own videos because I was afraid they were just going to be terrible. The book mentions to start small. Make a small video and practice. I think that's an important thing to remember. What I got out of this chapter is that you have to start somewhere. You cannot be afraid to go out on a limb and try something like creating a YouTube video for example. I learned a lot from this chapter and can't wait to see what the rest of this book has to offer. You never know, you might see a vlog from me in the near future!

Week 2 AI article review

Hope everyone is having a good day. Today I wanted to talk about an article I just ready by Todd Kelsey. The article is called, Don't Delay, No One Can Say (How Soon AI Will Take Jobs Away). First off I would like to talk about my feelings towards the article. While reading this article I really thought about AI and it's purpose. In my personal opinion I think companies are switching over to AI because it's cheaper and faster than people who are trained to do the same job. In all honesty I think computers will eventually take over. Which leads to the problems of major job lose. It's not a guarantee but I think its a possibility. For example, my best friend works at a bank and her bank just got about 3 new ATM's. ATM's can do just about all your banking except create an account, but that could even be done online. If this keeps up she could eventually lose her job.

Something else I thought of while reading this article was the movie iRobot. That whole movie is based on how the world would be if AI took over. In the beginning of the movie everything seemed all fine and dandy but then things took a turn for the worse. With that being said I think there are major pros and cons to AI. Some may not be as bad as robots taking over the world but still we will run into problems with AI. Nothing is perfect, there will be errors.

Also mentioned in the article was coding. Coding plays an important role in just about every field. I am going into the communications field and I already can see how big of a role coding plays. I will be using the internet everyday for jobs in my field. I will be posting things on social media, sending emails, and much more on a day to day basis. These things would not be possible with out coding. As mentioned in the article, and because of my future profession, I think it would be smart to get my feet wet and learn a little bit of coding. I mean it couldn't hurt right? Hopefully I will be able to lean a small amount of coding before I find a job in my field.

Week #1 - Making a blog

Hi everyone,

My name is Gianna Toniolo. I am a transfer student from the University of Iowa. I transferred to Benedictine University about two years ago. I am supposed to be a senior but not all of my credits transferred over so credit wise I am a junior. I'm a communications major with hopes of obtaining a masters degree after I graduate from Benedictine.

This is my first blog post ever! I am very excited to be learning how to post blogs as well as more about Blogger. I am going to be using Blogger for my social media marketing class. I have never taken a marketing class before so I am looking foreword to seeing what this class has to offer. When I hear the words social media marketing I think of two things: ads that pop up while using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. And how almost every big company, like retailers for example, use things like Instagram to show things their company has to offer. These things could range from current sales the company is having to new merchandise being released.

I hope to dig deeper into this subject and explore all the aspects to social media marketing. I can't wait to learn more about this class!

Talk to you soon,
Gianna Toniolo