spring2018comm2311

[spring2018comm2311]

Jacob ESpinosa-Self Analysis

My class time was very important to me, and it made me make a lot of friends and get out of my comfort zone. Even though I didn’t agree with some things said, I did find it very educational to “see the other side” I sort of expected this at the first day, but it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it. I wanted to gain some valuable marketing information from this class as that is my field of focus. I wanted to know how companies can use to reach people on the internet and focus on the best and most effective ways to do so.

I consider myself relatively unchanged as a person, but my mind has learned so much from this class that I can use for my eventual career. so I in turn am changed in a way, perhaps not fundamentally, but through the knowledge I gained. I mastered the art of the deal, how to talk to people and how to appear appealing to the masses. I mastered the art of putting on a mask for your audience as to get their attention, and to quickly take off if the attention you are recieving is negative. However, what I had a deal of trouble dealing with was the more progressive side of the discussions and of the environment. I also had hard time perfecting the more social side of discussions (though I’ve always had some challenge dealing with this in general).

I will use this knowledge to progress through the communications field, building upon it with newer concepts and strategies to target the masses. I wish to further study the realm of social media and internet marketing as it is in boom right now.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - fw

Throughout my first weeks, I found solace in not knowing the crazy world of Tumblr. It is a dark little rabit hole, let me tell you. I have grown to like the mobile platform over the weeks, and as for the desktop version, no thanks. I am biased, but it pales in comparison to the organizational structure of Reddit. I suppose I am just too ocd. I assumed I would learn about social media, which did happen, but I don't think I would have learned about the conscienceless state of acceptance people are willing to forgo when utilizing these different platforms. Also, it shows a laterally joined effort of social media companies and adverts. I wouldn't say I'm a better version of myself. I think different is definitely applicable though. I had many changes occur during the semester in my life and because of the class. I look at social media a bit darker though, that is for sure. I learned extensively about speres of communication. Yes we taught that section, but it was interesting to see yet another spin on the types of dialog groups that occur online. Because of the frustration that monetization brought, it made it difficult to focus on the other things referred to in that section. I think an area of improvement would be to gain more knowledge of the operation and performance of a wider frame of social media sites/apps. I think finding out about the particular behaviors of users should benefit myself and others in gaining more followers. That shows business savvy. They take that into account now; social media is it's own type of resume now.

[spring2018comm2311]

self analysis

Throughout this semester I have gained a more clear understanding of the social media world. How much it impacts society and our daily choices.  My first day of class I was excited to learn yet unsure about what exactly was the class going to  cover. I wanted to accomplish to be a better observer and gain the proper knowledge of using social media the right way. As the classes went by I was shocked at how much goes into our social media platforms and our profiles. From what we decide to click, visit, and watch; every click is being saved for later usage. I am better version of myself, such as now as I use social media I think about more when I visit pages and how crazy it is that I help my favorite you tube family pay there bills. In addition, my way of thinking and researching about social media has improved. The class facilitation’s were a great asset to learning about social media and taking the class learning atmosphere into our very own creation. A concept that i mastered was thinking abstractly throughout the facilitation's. Concepts that were challenging for me were to communicate effectively through my blog posts and making sure I stated how i felt over the given topic. My plans for improvement are to blog more since it is always good to try new things and perhaps one day make it a hobby for me to blog. Overall, I enjoyed the class and it definitely is a mind blowing subject. 

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - w14

Wikipedia is a great source for gaining the cliff-notes of any given topic. Open source information, although usually uncredited/ unverified, can promote learning and productive behavior. The downfall is that many believe everything they believe online and real life or somewhere in between. It's hard to fact check. Most open source cites have links to content like datamation. But no one cares enough (or are not carng enough) to look further than surface information. The cliff notes are "good enough." Wrong answer.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - w13

By limiting the spread of that information, the government is tailoring the reach or specific information to the civilian majority. All governments do this. The uprise and panic of the citizenship is not good for the economy, amongst other things. This is when you get housing bubble crisises or crypto backing from fear if regulated market structure. This lowers government funding, who gets cut in government first? The people with the least time in service get released. These are usually the new thinkers and changing views needed to drive policy progression. Free speech is limited, regardless of government intervention because of the perception given to informant individuals. No one likes a rat. It doesn't matter if this "outstanding/or not" individual is doing good by the people. Self-censorship is a real thing. Public and private performance of self identity creates this boundary.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - w12

The usage of the KIK messaging app is varied as of late, but still remains a main telephone number replacement for contacting others. It was highly popular when phone companies banded together and raised phone line pricing. Now, it is the safe method of giving your number to potential friends and partners. It is safer to give them a user name than your telephone number, I suppose. But the gradual decline in popularity means that there are more streamline apps that act like a phone, like Google phone and others. What do we desire? Simplicity and useful products are what we desire! The easier something gets is usually where the majority of online media users will go. What is easier and more simplistic? Something that will be invented in a year, five years, and ten years from now because it is what we strive for with increasing integration of social technology into daily our lives.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - 11

If you couldn't tell with all the recent change in terms of service by the pending results of the Zuckerberg inquiries, data analysis is in full use for many of the social media outlets. The sale of online identity for business revenue and contact network development has been something I've been pondering the ethical state of since the beginning of the class. Self-surveillance (what I'm calling peer to peer surveillance) is an odd discussion topic. We gather to police the bad attitudes and bully the bullies, right? Well also we are, as a populous, growing more dependant on social stars everyday behavior. Our voyueristic tendencies need to be tended and watching others is the new reality television.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - w10

The social media under the scope of view for me was of course Twitter. I liked the way they have a wide variety of reviews for their sales department. For the most part, glass door made short work of the 401k deficiency that seems to be a recurring theme. They helped show the overall atmosphere of Twitter as well. It seems that they are a younger crowd of college-type individuals with an overall favorable outlook on their work experience. One review made me question the diversity of this department though.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - w8

When we think of violations that could be unknown from what we have at this point, one in particular comes to mind. The violation of time served in reference to viral popularity is an odd thing to explain, but I will try. When creators post content, they are doing it for some motivational force, be it popularity, entertainment, fortune, etc. Something creators like to harp on, but could be feeding their own bias with is the rate of popularity attained overtime. If someone gains popularity overnight, it is assumed they will fail. Online communities often see the fast and bright star burn out fast, and this changes over various genres and markets. There is almost a sense of entitlement or veteran status included with these social media entities. Its like they are saying, “Hey wait your turn.” and this is seen as standard. There is rivalry and camaraderie within the upper tiers and they hold their own glass ceiling for those trying to increase their own presence.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - w7

This meme deals with society and status. This individual is clearly excited about their collection of books and is showing off their collection of the Goosebumps series. When I say that it pertains to status, I mean that in the 1990s and early 2000s, this series was highly popular and people would hold them in high regard and potentially, the ownership of these books could elevate someones status. Supply and demand says that if there is enough of a want for a product, people will pay more for it. In communications, status is mainly about image and the portrayal of self. What does your possessions say about you as an individual and as a part of society as a whole? It could be easy to identify this individual as nerdy from the facial expression and clothes alone. When you add the importance of the books they hold, you begin to realize that other factors may change power dynamics entirely.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - w6

I just had to analyze the could-have-been-potus for the Republican Party in 2016. Chris Christie (first off, cool name) is the governor of New Jersey and former presidential candidate of the past election. So, one obvious fact you get is that he likes to address his governing status in third person, not his name, just an editorial styled statement added in with most things he says. Besides this, he congratulates service of other members of state and government office, recognizes military service, and even likes to talk about sports. It is also easily distinguishable his stance against drugs and youth using drugs. Drawing a comparison between his Twitter and Tom Hanks you can see varying stances and even by the usage of the platform itself. Tom uses pictures in almost all of his tweets. He uses this salesman pitch for lost and found as well as a lot of otherwise unimportant things that might get unnoticed by another passer-by. He doesn’t really ever get in with political movements or anything of the sort. Hanks uses this platform to inform of daily life and activities as well as subtly promoting his wares, if you will. Its kind of refreshing because it is not overly serious or involved but still inclusive. Oh, he does also respect military service on a side note.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - w5

I am member to a few social media groups on different platforms. I used to be heavy into a group dedicated to talking about tech stuff on linus tech tips forums. We would talk about different builds and problems we might have with them as well as post solutions to issues newer members might have. Another group I am involved with is a twitch subscribers group for a dungeons and dragons campaign online. Everyone goes back and fourth on episodes and talks about all of the fan fiction we love. Both of these examples have to be a community. There is a sense of camaraderie that you just get each time you announce your presence or post on the forums. There are structural rules so people don’t get out of line or be banned. Overall, it seems that these people care and you can tell by when you come back from hiatus and they ask where you’ve been and wish you the best on your projects. The experience of togetherness online is what creates the community in this regard.  

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson- w4

My favorite pre-web technology is a cassette tape I received as a young kid. It was from the band Everclear and it has a smiley face logo on the cardstock cover. I received it in my stocking one year and it saved me many times. When my parents would yell and fight, I’d put my tape player on max volume and play their song wonderful. It helped me understand my feelings when I had no one else to talk to. It even pushed me through my parents’ divorce to come out okay on the other side. It was my lullaby and my salvation. I still feel that lost little boy when I play that track. I can even remember what it was like to cry. Some things were simpler back then, but then again, no.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - week 3

Consumer research shows that a company cares about the opinions of its patrons. Measuring that social media component helps gauge where the market is headed, what is important, and how the company looks in the eyes of those consumers. It is obvious that anyone who cares about their content should have performance feedback. To better refine the product or service provided, it is necessary to all parties that the data be measured. The important thing to remember is that some data is unnecessary for analysis. Selling information about discoveries pertaining to those measurements are not properly regulated. When is data analysis going too far? What standard is set? Terms and conditions are often too lengthy to hold consumer’s attention. They are more likely to agree blindly or disagree and not have product access than to read terms and conditions.

[spring2018comm2311]

Andy Davidson - week 2

I’m posting this without watching anyone else’s reply because I didn’t want to be biased with my answer. I account social media to be any connection, digital or otherwise, between people in order to bond over common ground and differences alike. I find it fascinating how narrow our field of view is when it comes to social media and it’s impact on our daily lives. Powerful things are stated online; it can be powerful enough to change popular media. When something is trending, everyone is watching/ listening/ resharing because it means something to them in that moment. Sharing that meaning is social media. The collective of our minds and work “joining” together is how I’d describe it.

[spring2018comm2311]

Khalid Masih-Guerra - week 11

Based off our discussion on Facebook, the same parallels are on all the popular social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. We surveil each other by vicariously watching their videos on snapchat and instastory. We feel obligated as millennials to share our thoughts and surroundings to our friends and strangers. Even when we geotag our locations at that exact moment that plays a role in the surveillance as well. I’m a fan of posting the location I was at for lunch/dinner/club after I have left the establishment. We the people make it easy for the government to surveil us by doing sharing the information of our whereabouts above.

[spring2018comm2311]

Khalid Masih-Guerra - week 12

The social media technology that I chose this week is called ShearShare. It is the first B2B (Business 2 Business) mobile platform that lets stylist rent workspace daily in many cities. It was founded in 2015 and is based in McKinney, Texas. The users (licensed barbers and cosmetologist) are able to use this app to rent a chair/booth in a salon by the day around the world. This year it was awarded the Judge’s Favorite Award at Google Demo Day, which awarded them a $250,000 investment.