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International Media: French Climate Protests

This blog post is a little different from the content I normally post on Digital Media Savvy, but it is nonetheless related. As our world becomes increasingly connected, we must be weary of trapping ourselves in filter bubbles. This digital phenomenon occurs when we continue to view certain types of content online (such as content from a single political party or news from our home country) and feed an algorithm that continues to show us like content. We can get stuck in our own digital worlds we’ve created and become ignorant to what’s happening on the world wide web. This semester in college, I have been keeping up with French news in my Comparative International Media class to broaden my perspective. I have been passionate about climate change ever since taking an environmental science course in high school. Although I don’t have the scientific knowledge to create the next technology that will sustain us after our fossil fuels are depleted, I do believe I have the communi...
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Book Review #3: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook

Good things come in threes, so here we are with a third book review.  Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World  by entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck is a knockout of a social media strategy book. It is humorous, helpful and entertaining. The book is broken down into 12 rounds, which are the chapters. Boxing terminology is used throughout because as Gary says, boxing lingo is used in the business world more than any other sport. In the context of this book, a jab refers to lightweight content from a company that doesn’t try to sell anything, but rather builds relationships with customers, while a right hook is the next highly anticipated sale or campaign. Gary suggests that a mix of jabs and right hooks are crucial to a business’s success when marketing on social media. Vaynerchuck’s career began working at his father’s package store. He created Wine Library TV in 2006 to talk about his interests, including wine and the Jets. The Yo...

My First Time Using Twitter

For the better part of the past four months, I have been on Twitter. This was my first extensive experience on the social networking app. Prior to this year, I tweeted a few things out for my university's student-led TV news station, but I had never used Twitter personally before.  I thought Twitter was a place where people shared their witty thoughts, YouTube stars used it to connect with their audiences, and people got mad whenever Donald Trump tweeted. I have realized that Twitter is a place for all these things and more. Twitter is great to get tidbits of world news, keep up with industry trends and see great content from companies engaging with their audiences. Overall, I would say my experience on Twitter was great. The only time I felt unsure about using Twitter was after watching  The Facebook Dilemma and learning that Facebook keeps all of your data including their best prediction of your location. I got nervous about sharing content that traced me to being at...

Companies, You Too Can YouTube

We’ve all fallen into a YouTube black hole. First you’re watching a tutorial on how to clean white canvas shoes, and next thing you know, three hours later you’re watching a woman in Japan throw a birthday party for her five cats. How did this platform transform from videos like “ Me at the zoo ” to full-length productions ? Business News Daily gives some stats about the platform. YouTube was launched in 2005 and bought by Google in 2016, making it the world’s second largest search engine. Nearly 500 hours of video content are uploaded to YouTube every minute! YouTube has launched several peoples’ careers in music, makeup, fashion and other industries. Businesses can also use YouTube to grow their fan base, educate their consumers about how to use a product, keep them updated about the launch of new products, go viral with a funny commercial, or even give an inside scoop into company culture. Nonprofits can also make use of YouTube, creating educational videos in support of t...

Blog Review #2: Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines is continually ranked first-in-class in customer service and employee satisfaction, so I decided to review their community page / blog to see what the hype is all about (since I have never flown Southwest, much less been in an airplane before.) Going from the top down on the landing page, the Southwest logo in the top left takes you to the company’s main website to book flights. Tabs at the top right are also to book flights, hotels and cars and to find special offers. The second set of tabs are to navigate within the site, with tabs for the Community Homepage, Discussion Forum, Blog and Knowledge Base. A large search box makes finding information on the blog clear and simple. Below the search box is a large image and a featured blog post with other blog posts along the side and at the bottom of the page. When I did this review, the featured post was showcasing employee hometown destinations. It’s no secret that Southwest values its employees, a...

Corporate Social Responsibly on Social Media

Corporate Social Responsibly (CSR) has been attracting the attention of businesses since the 1960s. For those who haven’t heard, CSR is a business’s actions to operate ethically and sustainability and/or give back to the community. CSR takes many forms. This article on Erik Qualman's website Socialnomics lists several kinds of CSR including but not limited to environmentally sustainable operations, charitable donations, disaster relief and fair labor practices. A prominent example of CSR was Intercontinental Hotels Group’s (IHG) decision this past summer to move from travel size to bulk size amenities in all of their hotel rooms in order to reduce plastic waste. This was a huge PR opportunity and put IHG ahead of their competition. Marriott made the switch shortly after. In addition to great PR coverage, other benefits of CSR include more thoughtful and emotional engagement in consumer conversations surrounding the brand and converting people who think neutrally about a co...

Book Review #2: Digital Leader

I have been going through Erik Qualman’s book Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success and Influence which means it’s time for another book review. Qualman is also the author of Socialnomics , a keynote speaker and a YouTube content creator, with one his videos grossing over 1,300,000 views. His book Digital Leader reads like a self-help book for companies and individuals. He says we are all leaders who leave behind a digital STAMP in relation to what we accomplish and how we interact with others. STAMP is the acronym that makes up the five simple keys to success and influence, and the letters stand for: Simple: success is the result of simplification and focus True: be true to your passion Act: nothing happens without action–take the first step Map: goals and visions are needed to get where you want to be People: success doesn’t happen alone Once you get past the cheesy poem in Chapter 1, you’ll find some great life advice backed by quotes and examples ...