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#MySocialLife : Final Social Media Thoughts

What I love about social media is connecting with friends.  Snapchat is my favorite because it helps me feel even closer with my friends because you get a glimpse into their everyday lives.  I usually carry on a conversation with friends through snapchat because its closer to actually being with the person.

I also love the creativity of social media, like on Instagram.  People get very artsy and creative with their pictures and it’s aesthetically pleasing to look at.  Social media has also become increasingly funny, especially on Facebook where people now tend to repost funny videos and quotes.  All platforms fulfill a different emotional need but all center around feeling connected to others.  

Five years from now I still see myself using social media a lot, but I don’t think I will post a lot as I do now.  I’m very interested to see how else social media will evolve, because it’s already changed so much in such a short amount of time. 

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#MySocialLife : Social Targeting

Social targeting is becoming increasingly important, as there are so many different platforms for companies to use to reach consumers.  I liked the image of social media as a tap on someone’s shoulder.  Targeting on social media should be exactly that- personal, gentle, and attention-getting.  Personally I’m ok with targeting online, as long as it’s not too much or often, or too obtrusive. Targeting is incredibly important today because there are so many companies and social media platforms, and brands need to make sure that they’re standing out among other companies and also reaching the right people.  There’s one brand that pops up on my Facebook all time- a company that I haven't bought from before but had looked at once.  At this point I’m getting annoyed with it, and keeping with the visual of tapping someone on the shoulder, this company is tapping my shoulder too often trying to get my attention to the point where I just ignore them.

Stonehill should target using the major social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. They do a good job of it now, with even different departments of Stonehill having their own profiles.  Stonehill should target potential students, and even alums.  And given that potential students are young, Stonehill needs to make sure they have a good social media presence because that’s where majority of their targets are. 

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#MySocialLife : Celebrities and Social Influencers

I think that we can learn a lot from 19 year-old beauty YouTuber James Charles.  He currently has 6.2 million YouTube subscribers, 1 million Twitter followers, and almost 4 million Instagram followers.  At just 19, James’s net worth is an estimated $2 million and will inevitably rise.  With each YouTube video, you’re greeted with a friendly “Hi Sisters!”  The term “sisters” has been used so much by James that it’s basically become his brand, and even has his own merchandise line called Sisters Apparel.  

One of the great things that James Charles does is connect with his followers.  James is interactive with the content that he creates, for example he has had polls on twitter that let followers have an influence on what he does in a video. A recent video he did was “My Followers Pick My Makeup”, so he put polls up on Twitter with different makeup products as options, then he filmed the look.  He also does a “sister shoutout” at the end of every video, and you could be the next “sister shoutout” by retweeting his video links when they go live.  This is a great business tactic because it gets his video link shared, and then the follower who gets picked is happy and benefits both by possibly gaining new followers, and then James Charles recognizing them as a fan and fellow “sister.”

James always posts creative and original content, especially on YouTube.  Some beauty YouTubers do too many product reviews and never switch it up.  James makes a conscious effort to be original, and prides himself on it.  One of his recent videos was “Makeup Artist Tries Drawing”, something that no one has done yet.  This is a key point that brands need to make sure they implement as well, because followers will never be bored by what they put out.

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#MySocialLife : Social Communities

One of the most important things for a brand to do to fully participate in social media is to engage with consumers and others within the social community.  You don’t want to merely speak atan audience on social media, but actually converse and interact in the community.  This can mean a few different things.  For example, brands should try to respond or “like” people’s comments on their content.  It would be very hard and unrealistic to reply to all if you have a large following, but it makes your brand seem friendly and accessible.  This can also help you in customer service/relationship management.  If someone comments that they had an issue with an order or anything along those lines, it would look good for the company to reply back with a solution or even an apology.  This doesn’t mean to say that the company should reply to every negative comment, they should keep it sparing and try to engage with the people who seem genuine and if there’s a solution that can be given.

        Another form of engagement that brands can utilize through social media is to repost pictures that happy consumers have tagged them in.  If you’re a makeup company and someone posts a really good picture using your products and tags you, then something fun and engaging to do is post it on your page.  If you do this there should be photo credits though.  But this form of engagement can show that your brand is really paying attention to their consumers and offer inspiration to your followers and be a form of promotion.  Fully interacting with your consumers can further make your brand seem like a person and friend, and not just a rigid company.  Social media is another large aspect of marketing and should therefore get a substantial portion of the budget.  Brands need to make sure that there are people designated solely to the brand’s social media, because it’s important to stay active and consistent on whichever platform(s).

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#MySocialLife : A Connected Generation Like

The documentary Generation Like was very interesting to watch, even more so because it came out a few years prior.  I related to a lot of what was discussed, but it’s interesting to see how much social media has grown in such a short span of time.  In the video they mentioned that YouTuber Shane Dawson had 5 million subscribers, and today he has about 17 million, so for me that showed a great passage of time.  I agreed with the documentary that we don’t really consider anyone to “sell out” anymore.  I love YouTube, and if someone has a sponsor or a code for a website, I don’t particularly care.  In my opinion it benefits both the YouTuber and the viewer, because the YouTuber gets paid and the viewer gets money off of their purchase on a given website.  The key thing is for you to trust that the YouTuber wouldn't work with a company that they don’t believe in.  Building that trust through social media is fascinating, and I agree with what Tyler Oakley said that when people come up to him they feel like they’re friends with them.  I feel similarly to the YouTubers that I watch like Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star.  I especially find Shane to be relatable and if I were to see him I’d be especially excited because I feel like I truly know him through his videos and feel a certain closeness (even loyalty) to him, which says a lot about both his personality and his content if I among others feel so close to him just through social media.  

The social consumer definitely poses some challenges for marketers.  They have to pay close attention to their followers/target market’s social brand.  They need to do this so they can more fully understand who their audience is, and what they like and dislike.  Marketers now have the difficult task of trying to emulate a certain kind of consumer, which is challenging given this ever changing market.  They have to be careful with every post they make because they want to make sure their image is perfectly crafted and in line with who responds positively to their brand.  Social identity data is especially key in learning more about their consumers.  

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#MySocialLife : People Follow People

Human connection is definitely special and cannot fully be replaced by social media.  Although, social media connection can definitely affect or mimic social relationships, but true human connection can’t fully be replaced.  Everyone totally seeks out human emotional aspects online through social media.  A huge component is the feeling of validation.  This can come in many forms, such as the validation of feeling attractive, but then other aspects such as being funny or interesting.  Instagram is a major outlet for getting the human feeling of attraction.  Many people post pictures online to receive the validation and subsequent love.  This way is not a substantial way of getting love though, because it’s superficial, and many people edit their pictures so it’s not truly authentic.  The reason a lot of people post the pictures they do is because the want to feel attractive and have the validation that other people think so as well, and this feeling may not be conscious but can definitely underly some social media behaviors.  But a want of attractiveness can effect the decision when it comes to following other people.  People often follow fitness Instagram accounts because the people running them are physically appealing and they aspire to be like them.

Other aspects of human relationships sought out through social media includes emotional connection.  Many people converse through messaging systems through many different platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. All of them provide the same thing though, which is emotional connection.  Personally, I find online relationships to be fulfilling to some aspect, but they’re just as complex as conventional emotional relationships.  You’re able to feel friendship or some sort of solidarity with those that either “like” or comment on your pictures.  Social media can definitely make your relationship either stronger or weaker.  Either social media can make your relationship stronger with a friend, by either liking, posting a picture of you two, or commenting on your pictures.  But your relationship with someone may suffer if you feel as though someone doesn't “like” your pictures enough or never posts a picture with you (if they’re one of your close friends).          

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#MySocialLife

Throughout my typical day, I use social media quite frequently.  As soon as I wake up in the morning I check Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook.  I particularly look at Snapchat because like to maintain the “streaks” I have with my friends.  I would say I use Snapchat the most because it’s a form of texting with the added bonus of a picture.  In my opinion it can be more personal than a simple text, because you get to see the person real-time and it’s a new way to connect with your friends through pictures along with a message.  Other platforms offer posting pictures, but I think the real-time aspect creates a more personal touch; especially since you choose more of who sees what image.

I don’t post too frequently.  I post on Instagram every few weeks or so on average, I don’t usually post impulsively.  I typically only post if I feel like it’s truly worth it, like if I did something special.  For example, my last Instagram post was a picture of me and my sister for her graduation.  On Snapchat, I also post infrequently, that is to say “My Story.”  I only “My Story” when I’m somewhere cool or interesting, or if I find something aesthetically pleasing.  But on the regular I use Snapchat all the time as a way of communicating with friends and I prefer it over texting because of the added aspects of communicating with pictures as well as text.  There are also cool filters, which in themselves could portray emotions and add a different dimension of interaction.  I post the most rarely on Facebook.  I mostly share funny or cute videos that I really like, or I post fairly recent pictures so extended family of mine can see.