Week 8: The Final Post

Wow, the weeks have flown by.

For our final week, we were to watch the video lecture concerning implementation of social media strategies to create a social organization. With that knowledge, to then predict what issues our clients would encounter incorporating our advice and memos.

For my client, the Central Michigan University Classic Board Game Club, I think the implementation that will give them the most trouble will be managing the social media platforms I recommended (Instagram, Tiktok) and populating them with curated/created content. This is not to say they aren't capable--the executive board of the club are very creative and familiar with both platforms. However, trying to balance the workload of running both accounts along with what else they may have going on in life may be too much, and will likely be the first thing that gets set aside in rough times.

And that's okay in this case! Always put your studies first!

Still, I think they can manage it if they tackle the plan as a team . While the executive board has non-essential roles still vacant, rotating out who posts on the accounts (and verifying the content before posting with the rest of the board) can ease the burden of maintaining the accounts. Additionally, if they recruit someone with film/content creation experience for their Social Media/PR lead, it would make the implementation easier. Like I said, as long as they work as a team with good communication, I think the club can create, maintain, and utilize their social media presence to not only bolster their numbers, but to also run the club more efficiently in the future.

Week 7 Blog Post

yes, I can count I promise

Effective content is both developed and shared by creating content that is inclusive while developing an active online community around said content. This would be better explained with an example. For this, I'm bringing attention back to Beyond the Brick!

On their Instagram page, https://www.instagram.com/beyondthebricktv/?hl=en , they showcase not only new Lego products, but community builds and recordings from Lego conventions. While these posts are inclusive by including content from a range of viewers, it's still lacking the community interaction between commenters and the account/organization itself.

In a similar vein, Lego's own page has interactive content and also replies to comments (https://www.instagram.com/lego/?hl=en). While some of these comments are things like "wow, you know your stuff!", they still provide a level of interactivity between viewers and the Lego brand. Their posts also cater to a wide variety of topics, from interviews to builds to events and more!

Being a social organization helps create an inclusive space by making viewers/commenters feel welcome and positive, like meeting at a convention. On the other hand, a non-social account may give the feeling of walking through an art gallery of posts--flashy, nice, but rather empty and quiet. While there's certainly a time and place for both, social organizations can benefit greatly by maintaining positive lines of communication and avoiding anti-inclusive content.

Week 5 Blog Post

Big Data, Big Problems, and Big Business

Let's start with the "Legal Site of Big Data", which went over what happens with data after a business goes out of business. While I knew selling data was always a thing, I had never considered what happened when a company who collects data went under. I'm glad to hear the outcome of the case they examined in the video, especially the conditions of what Wonderland Investment could do with the info. It was likely Wonderland would immediately start selling the data to whoever was interested, be it rival companies or groups with malicious intent. With the agreement, they were unable to sell the data for 2 years as well as only receiving email addresses, to which those emails were notified in advance. This change in the deal drastically reduced the damage the loose data could do, and kept those affected notified of the change.

After watching Maciej Cegalowski pop off about the intentional and unintentional developments of the internet, but a lot of his side topics also really, really stuck with me. One of the ones was the joke about "permanent records", and how it scared us as kids until we learned it was BS. But now, it really isn't. It's absolutely a real thing since the internet got to where it is, and even today I'm affected by it like others. I used to post a bunch on my Instagram account, mainly things about the clubs I was in or (harmless) jokes here and there. Now though, I have to think about what my future employers will think if they comb through all my social media platforms. Am I gonna lose a job opportunity because I made a lighthearted political joke? A post about a new lego I bought? It's most likely an overreaction, but it's the kind of thing that really stuck with me after the video. Similarly, the part about small scale government officials utilizing data collection to strike at small scale things is unsettling. Imagine if you posted a joke about a politician, and the next day at work you get a call from your roommate or partner that officers are tearing the apartment apart for your phone. I want to put more here, but this post is getting long. To summarize on this part: I hadn't considered data collection letting data have a lifespan, I like how he used cute photos of animals to balance things out, and I like how he ended on a positive note that we have the ability to change things. Also the hyacinth files should be deleted in public, and tracked on the web to be destroyed. I agree, there is no good that would come of that data collection.

Lastly, the article about "The Internet's Original Sin". First and foremost, this website prompted me to make an account to finish reading the article. There's something ironic about this, an article about internet data collection and needing to give information to make an account to read it.

Week 4 Blog Post 2

I Can't Believe It's Not Junk!

The article this week, "Three Reasons Junk News Spreads So Quickly Across Social Media", goes over why things that could be potentially dangerous spread so fast over media: Algorithms, Advertising, and Exposure. After reading it, it confirmed a lot of concepts I already had concerning the spread of internet junk and was in line with our previous look into online algorithms and advertisements. In summary, most algorithms are based off popularity. And popularity/visibility is very, very easy to gain through controversy or baiting. Like a destructive spiral, a user's feed can easily become filled with targeted ads and news for a particular group.

I've experienced a similar situation on Instagram, where a friend had send me a post concerning two fictional characters playing roles in a meme. These two are often paired or "shipped" by the fandom. Afterwards, my feed began to fill with posts concerning LGBQT+ issues around the country. It had gone from posts concerning my hobbies to nothing but LGBQT+ due to the sheer amount of comments on each post (some more volatile than others).

DISCLAIMER: I am supportive of the LGBQT+, this anecdote is just to show how fast you can end up in a social media spiral due to algorithms.

People both in personal and business circles should be aware of how algorithms work, and adjust social media use accordingly. For example on a personal level, one should try to stay aware of their recommended or suggested posts. Recognizing your feed has become a spiral of a particular hot topic (such as politics) should be viewed carefully to avoid false news or baiting comments. In a business sphere, a business should identify what their ideal clients are and aim to get advertisements in those algorithm loops.

Week 4 Blog Post 1

What Makes a Social Media Consultant?

For me, one of the most important components of a great social media consultant is the ability to keep an open, flowing mind. When working with clients, it is likely that they won't see your vision precisely like your own.

And that's okay!

As a consultant, your job is to be a bundle of experience to help refine and collaborate to make a social media presence rather than create one. We'll have some amazing ideas, but they may not be what the client is looking for. However if the client is rooting for an idea that you, as an experienced consultant, can identify as a horrible idea, you should absolutely make your voice heard.

If I ever decided to join the Social Media field of work as a consultant, I would try to stay up to date on the culture around the world. Not just what's new and hip, but what people are saying and posting online. The issue is that data algorithms could make that difficult, if I can only find media for a specific group instead of multiple. Additionally, cultural knowledge from a global standpoint can help prevent mistakes or accidental disrespect while cultivating a social media image.

Something that's both important to the field and something I would want to work on is not being afraid to say something, even if it's not the popular opinion.

To clarify: sometimes I have great ideas or opinions on things that I don't verbalize due to fear of being waved off due to inexperience in that field. Recently, I've noticed that I've been right to some degree in those situations and had I spoke up, confusion may have been avoided. On a small scale, this is something I can work on to prevent issues on a big scale if I ever became a social media consultant.

"Violated" is a great way to put it. While there's always been a disconnect between large corporations and their (current and possible) clients, it feels like recent advancements with data tracking has only made it worse.

I think you've got the right idea about tapering down the social media usage. I've been debating about uninstalling some apps on my phone recently, and the more we've learned about data tracking I'm getting closer and closer to doing so.

The fake news thing is really screwy, it feels like improper use of data collection. They've prioritized getting clicks over the moral use of their data. It reminds me of that time Google pulled the "Do No Evil" clause out of their mission statement.

Week 3 Blog Post

After watching Netflix’s “The Social Dilemma”, I feel violated. I understood that my information was most likely being tracked and processed in every way, but I didn’t realize how much actually went into it. The use of social media algorithms and just the impact social media has in general is astronomical. The ability to change what my feed looks like based on how long I watch videos, where I comment, who I am friends with, and which pages I’m looking at.  It can be used to sway what we do, buy, like, believe in, and who we vote for. These problems with fake news, and how fast information spreads through all aspects of social media scares me, and it should make us all very nervous.  Personally I am going to be slowing down my social media usage and taper down an hour a day until its a  much healthier level. Professionally, I know that when I am doing homework or in the office, my phone needs to be away from me to actually stop me from scrolling. Societally, I know that everything I see online I cannot trust right away, and I will not post news without seeing it is actually factual or not. 

BIS315 - Week 3 Post

After reviewing the materials for this week, my opinions on data collection remain largely unchanged, though I can see why many corporations are pushing for it.

After watching the Lecture video, It helped me understand what data collecting programs are after. Some things make sense, like recent purchases and views to send more personalized advertisements. However, some data collection services double down and collect as much as they can to sell to business later. For example, it would be strange for a website that doesn't sell computer parts to want to know my device specs. On the other hand, I'm far more accepting of a game service such as Steam or Microsoft to ask for that information, especially if sending a report after an app/software crashed.

I'm not opposed to data collection, unless it's done in an underhand or secretive way. Companies can make well-informed decision off of data from it's clients, but should be upfront and honest with their data collection. Things like terms of service should outline the reason why someone/something is requesting the data, and what it intends on doing with it. Additionally, selling data feels very wrong but I can't quite make an argument against it other than I don't like the concept. Data collection should be more like a survey rather than a secret investigation.

BIS315 WK 2 - SM Experiment

The Great Social Media Experiment

For this week, I tried setting a better time for gaming at night as well as staying off my phone during work and an hour after work. For gaming, I decided to set the time from 10pm to 1:30am, with 2am being my absolute cutoff date. For phone use, my average shift starts at 1pm and ends at 5pm, with the additional hour afterwards being a total of 5 hours for 4 days. Here's how it went;

Monday: Stuck to the plan like a fly on a glue trap. Thankfully no one was trying to contact me during work, and I stopped gaming at 1:24am. The no-phone thing at work wasn't too bad, as I had co-workers to talk to.

Tuesday: Still on schedule! The day was busy at work, so I didn't have time to check my phone as much as usual. As for gaming, I ended up pushing the time to 1:48am to wrap up a gaming session with some friends. All in all, not too bad though I got a bit fidgety at work.

Wednesday: Oops. Work was slow, and I ended up going on my phone for an hour. There wasn't much to talk about or work on, and looking at the clock is an awful way to pass time. Even worse, I spent a lot of time gaming after work and broke the schedule. Afterwards, I had a rough time trying to fall asleep and just felt awful all night.

Thursday: Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions. Not only was I late to work due to the previous night, but I found myself scrolling through a lot of social media apps to pass the time. I still took the break after work from my phone, though it was to take a nap. The planned nap was for an hour, but it ended up going a lot further than that. As for gaming later in the night, it ended around 3am.

The takeaway from all this? Yikes, I think I have a problem. I think the trick here is to avoid taking large times away from social media and instead start with smaller ones. For example, using my phone sparingly but not completely cutting out. Additionally, keeping a more strict end-time for gaming is essential to not getting fired, but also to prevent myself from feeling like garbage due to poor sleep.

BIS315 WK2 POST

Before reviewing the content for this week, I knew I spent too much time online or checking my phone. However, after both logging my time for a day and watching the video/reading the article, I feel like I'm online far too much.

Something that caught my attention was Max's introduction. He opens by saying that he's help develop some of the strategies that he talks about later on, and why they're destructive. It must be difficult to put time and effort into projects that help the business, only to realize how it affects society afterwards. When he mentioned the perspective of how a social media business views it's clients, the purpose of the apps and their strategies became clear.

With the article, Emma reminded me of when I was younger. Back when I was unsure what the computer really was, and when I broke some fiber optic cables because the popping noise was fun. A lot of times I'd end up just playing with Legos in my room or dig a hole outside, but boredom resulted in activity of some kind. Nowadays, I end up doom scrolling on reddit or watching something on Youtube. It's not the worst change, some days I just want to lounge around and do nothing but it's certainly a noticeable change.

To say the internet is an integral part of my adult life is an understatement. I use it at work to help my clients, I use it on the go to look up information, and I use it far too much at night to play games. Some days it really sinks in, and I feel like garbage. When I'm away from the internet, such as on camping trips, I feel like it's an internal reset. No notifications, no flood of irrelevant news -- just me, the forest, and those darn mosquitos that won't leave me alone.

With all this being said, I think I want to fix my internet usage to a degree so I can try doing other things. Setting a more defined time for gaming would be the biggest start, as opening up time for some level of exercise could help make improvements in my overall health. It would also help if I put my phone further away from my bed at night so I'm less tempted to watch videos at night (or hit the snooze button).

BIS315 WK1 POST

Hello everyone! I'm Andrew Severinski, an Information and Technology major studying here at CMU. This is my last semester before I graduate, and I'm very excited to get out into the field after I graduate! The bigger issue is that I'm still trying to line up a job for after I finish this degree.

In this blog, I want to examine different media strategies and trends from businesses and learn how to improve them, like reverse engineering. Or, at the very least, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of said strategies.

For this week, I wanted to examine an organization based on a favorite hobby of mine: legos! Beyond The Brick is an organization focused on creating an online community centered around everyone's favorite building toy. They do so by attending large events where they can show off the builds people make, as well as interview them. The reason why I chose them for this week is because of how much outreach they have. Beyond The Brick has a social media page on most major sites, such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. More importantly, the content they post varies depending on the platform to utilize the expectations of posts on those sites. For example, large/long interviews get posted on YouTube and Facebook. Shorter reviews and interviews get posted on Instagram and Twitter. With this being said, I believe they have a great social media presence across multiple platforms.