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Facebook, Fake News, and Ad Censorship

1) What responsibilities do platform providers like Facebook have to ensure "fake" or "misleading" news and information is not shared on their platforms?

As a major site of information sharing Facebook (and sites like it) should monitor the news shared on their platforms and Facebook does have a feature that will tell you if news is ‘fake’. People will believe what they first read and often will not do their own research so these sorts of sites need to do their best to make sure false information is not widely spread. People remember what they read but often not where they read it so they’ll remember the false facts.  

2) Do providers like Facebook have any responsibility to prevent the amplification of racist or divisive content through their targeting tools?  If so, how should they respond?  

It’s Facebook’s tools that are allowing these sorts of messages to be targeted at specific people and allowing the messages to be spread at all and it is very much so their responsibility to monitor these processes. Racist and divisive content should be highly monitored and deleted or censored. 

3) Should there be greater regulation of social media sites to protect the privacy of personal habits or data?  What are the pros and cons of having an "opt in" approach vs an "opt out" approach to protect the privacy of behaviors and data?  

There should be greater regulations because many people do not actually know what parts of their information is getting shared with or without their consent. Opt-in approach gives people the express option to consent to their information being shared which is beneficial because it means they are more likely to be expressly aware of what they are agreeing to. In my opinion, the opt-in approach is the better choice between the two approaches. Opt-out approach means that people will automatically be signed up to give away their information. They would have to actively put effort in to decline the sharing of their information. In our world where people will rarely go out of their way to do things this is a bad idea. In opt-out approaches, it is also often a little difficult to find out where to opt-out. In my own experience, I’ve had newsletters and websites that make it almost impossible to get taken out of their database/mailing list. While there are situations to use opt-in and situations to use opt-out, any business that wishes to remain compliant with the law and appease their customers will need to use both methods. Also, wherever there’s an opt-in, there needs to be an opt-out, so users can withdraw their consent at any time.

4) What responsibility should providers like Facebook have in disclosing the purchasers of advertisements that may be in opposition to national interests or have more nefarious implications? 

Web-users/consumers should know who is advertising to them. Without this knowledge, they cannot make proper, educated opinions and decisions in regard to the content and advertisements presented to them. Also clearly if certain ad purchasers are groups that are already under suspicion it would be smart to disclose that kind of information otherwise sites like Facebook will just end up in trouble in the long run like they were with the Russians and the presidential election. 

5) What are the risks of imposing greater regulation of such advertisements?  

Greater regulations may lead to important messages not reaching the necessary audiences and a millionaire run campaign will garner the most attention. This could cut out large amounts of exposure for candidates and to potential voters that is needed. 

6) In the case of Facebook and the alleged purchase of advertising space by Russian agents, should Facebook make such ads public beyond disclosure to Congress? 

If the ads are done in a way to possibly sway and election or are done with some political agenda? No. 

7) Where does responsibility for policing such activity rest -- on the advertiser, on governments, or on the public?

I think the responsibility relies on a mix of all of these groups. There will always be a way to slip through the cracks of each group so if all groups put effort into it, with the majority of the responsibility falling to the advertiser and the government, then it’s more likely to cleanse the advertising world of these ‘bad sources’. 

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Emotional Tie-Ins and Marketing

Humans are social creatures and, at least for the majority, will often try to empathize with others. Not only that but emotional motivators drive consumer behavior. Emotional tie-ins in marketing are a key aspect of marketing. When you can get a consumer to have an emotional reaction/connection it will often make them better remember the brand/product and will possibly later lead to brand loyalty. The most effective way to maximize customer value is to move beyond just trying to get the most customer satisfaction and instead try to really connect with customers at an emotional level. Brands have to be able to tap into consumers’ fundamental motivations and try to fulfill their deep, often unspoken, emotional needs. When brands are able to do this they can connect on a deeper level and it allows consumers to feel as though the company/brand cares in some way. 

Failed attempts at emotional tie-ins include Pepsi’s commercial featuring Kendall Jenner that got a lot of backlash. This ad was Pepsi’s response to trying to represent the Black Lives Matter movement. They got it wrong. The creators of the ad were highly criticized online and by media outlets for attempting to capitalize on imagery imitating protests in the Black Lives Matter movement, including the iconic image Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge. 

An example of a successful emotional tie-in is when Budweiser produced the #FriendsAreWaiting ad with Momentum Worldwide as part of its "Global Be(er) Responsible" day against drunk driving. The commercial features a powerful, heartbreaking message about not drinking and driving. Their use of the human/dog relationship really called to audiences as that’s an aspect of life many don’t consider when they think of the possible consequences of drinking and driving. I had seen the ad before when I rewatched it and I still cried. Many people view their pets as part of their family and this ad drives the idea home that their pets will always be waiting for them to come home so make sure they stay safe and drink responsibly to make sure they make it home. 

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Faster, Smarter, Louder by Aaron Agius and Gián Clancey

In Aaron Agius and Gián Clancey’s book Faster, Smarter, Louder: Master Attention in a Noisy Digital Market, they discuss the modern ways of attracting customers to your products and services — combining technological planning and social strategies. Through their own personal experiences and the experiences of their friends and colleagues, they emphasize the need for a strong digital platform and demonstrate that getting that major client and gaining success and credibility is about more than just search engine optimization and social media. They provide guidance to help you to make sure you can make a splash, don’t waste time, money, and resources, and are able to provide value, be authentic, and make human connections.

This book is an easy read for those who know nothing about digital marketing and those who are well-versed in the topic. These days, digital marketing is no longer optional. It is necessary. Agius and Clancey argue this point throughout the book and use their own personal examples to expand on why this is true. The audience of the book really can be anyone even mildly interested in digital marketing, from generations young and old. They took a modern topic and explained it in a modern, easy to understand way. From starting with the basics and packing the book with step-by-step instructions, as well as real examples, this book was put together for the purpose of taking the uninitiated into the world of digital marketing in a way that only those like Agius and Clancey, who started from scratch and worked their way to success, can explain. 

In each chapter, the authors explain different aspects of digital marketing. Chapter one explores building a better brand. In this chapter, they discussed the importance of credibility and how who they talk to and work with can influence their customer market. They use an example of having guests talking about the exact same topic, but one of the speakers is a doctor. The weight that the doctor title carries gives both the speaker and that platform more credibility in comparison to a speaker being some average person. There was also the discussion of the three types of media — paid, owned, and earned — and need to make sure you balance your branding strategy. Each media type has its strengths and weaknesses, but the right blend can deliver some great results. Other topics discussed in chapter one are the benefits of social validation, branding beginning on day one, creating your own content, guest posting, editorial contributions, video, creating a good email signature, obtaining and doing speaking gigs, and contributing to/starting books and podcasts.

Chapter two then begins to talk about the numbers game and the importance of building traffic, how credibility matters every step of the way, the halo effect, inbound marketing, pain points, building an influencer network, etc. Chapters three, four, five, and six, later on, discuss the rules of engagement, the importance of inclusion for everyone, the total conversion of the mind, and how the best brands work to make their customers feel valued and important, even after the purchase. The authors back up their arguments in this book very well and have their own credibility builders through thought leaders Neil Patel, Ramit Sethi, and Gary Vaynerchuk. They use these three and their personal experiences with them as ways to show their own credibility and show how these three success stories used their knowledge of how credibility and social validation can help your brand to their advantage. 

While reading the book myself I believe that it does a good job at both going in-depth but also giving the beginning taste of what needs to be done to be successful in the digital marketing world. One quote I particularly appreciated, both in terms of digital marketing and regular marketing/research, was “Your content has to be readable. You can’t play word soup to try to get all the keywords in. Like any business, you must add value” (Agius & Clancey, 2019). This was relevant for multiple reasons. In digital marketing, it’s important to get your message across and to attract people to your site/product/service without being too much or too wordy. This general rule also applies to textbooks and other research material, even other author’s books about digital marketing, when you’re too wordy or have your content as unreadable to the common person it becomes inaccessible. Throughout the book, they discuss the general overall idea of this idea; of being informative in a short and sweet way that still allows your audience to get the information they need to make informed decisions but without them getting bored or bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information. 

In conclusion, this book was well done and definitely worth the read. As someone who often struggles to get through books read for anything other then pleasure I found myself interested in this book the entire time. It is written in simple terms that allow the common person to read and comprehend the information and knowledge the authors are providing. I agreed with the points the authors were making and feel like I learned a good bit from their experiences.  Overall it was an engaging and persuasive read that I would definitely recommend to others looking to gain more information about digital marketing in our current market.

Agius, A., & Clancey Gián. (2019). Faster, smarter, louder: master attention in a noisy digital market. United States: Lioncrest Publishing.

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The Lost Bros

The Lost Bros is a Disney-inspired clothing and accessory brand started in 2016 by brothers Cody and Colton Tapoler. The mission for their brand is to make unique and stylish Disney inspired clothing and accessories that match fans’ enthusiasm for the parks along with using their platform “to fill as many people's lives with as much magic as [they] can”. 

For a company that is run by four people total (Cody, Colton, Lex Gilman, Joey Spagnuolo) it is really no surprise that they have been able to keep their customer interaction pretty frequent and positive. They frequently have polls on their Instagram page asking what merchandise they should bring back and/or make new. They often toe the line between brand and social media influencers due to the fact that their company is so small and customers know who runs it and they often post about personal things along with the business. Their social media posts are written in a casual manner that sometimes looks more like something you’d post to your finsta than a post you’d find on a well-known brand’s official social media page. 

They keep their products, lingo, and social media posts all relevant and showing clear knowledge of current trends in how to act and ‘speak’ on social media. As a brand that is done by fans for fans, they started out already being a part of the community in which they planned to market to. Disney social media is full of influencers (who are sometimes invited to special, private promotional events by the Walt Disney Company itself) so by starting this company within this community they used their resources well. As fans of the Disney brand and streetwear and as young people themselves they understood what kind of products younger audiences wanted. While they are not an official Disney brand distributor they filled a market space that had not yet been filled. Not only that but as a smaller company/brand that is run by avid social media users they are savvy in their advertising. Their ‘ads’ are promotional images and teasers posted by the brand itself and sometimes other Disney ‘influencers’ that they have collaborated with. Their promo is often just another picture or video posted to their brand Instagram page which makes it feel just like another piece of content and less like an actual ‘ad’. 

They have built brand loyalty, even having some people buying their Disney-themed shirts mainly from them and excluding the Walt Disney Company from the transaction altogether. Their brand loyalty comes from their easy-going nature, constant updates and innovations, and continuous quality content. They also will sometimes have events partnering with local Florida companies and sell their products at these events. With these events, it brings the company/brand that originated online and, for the event attendees, provides an in-person ‘storefront’ experience. 

[ancient-hawaiians]

Hi!

Welcome to my side blog!

My name is Jess and the url ancient-hawaiians is a shoutout to a great show of my childhood, Rocket Power. I am a senior in college and, for the time being, this blog will be used to post blog posts for my digital marketing class. 

(Fun Fact: Digital marketing is the entire reason I picked up a marketing minor.)

Here we are starting this out and we shall see how it goes. In the meantime, stream All Time Low’s new single Some Kind Of Disaster.