Social Media
Portfolio Samantha Rey Roper Produced for Internet Communications, a required, upper-division course for the Public Relations & Advertising program at Chapman University.
Introduction Chapman University’s course description defines Internet Communications as “An overview of the ways in which online communications tools have transformed the practice of public relations and advertising from using primarily mass media channels to a focus on a market sample of one. Hands on use of social media tools. Study and practice of Web site strategies in managing relationships with key target audiences in support of organizational goals and objectives.” In my experience of the course, I have encountered much more than that. In addition to evaluating the social media tools that professionals use to communicate with their constituents, we have been encouraged to start our own blogs as citizen journalists to address issues we care about and target people who can help use resolve those issues. Tools we used during the semester included Wordpress, Twitter and Tweetdeck.
As a young professional, I have been leveraging the use of social media since my freshman year of college, when I joined Twitter, started a personal blog for communication with friends and others with similar interests and connected with new friends over Facebook. However, I was interested in online media and communication tools from a young age. Check out the history of my online presence below.
Age: 19 Tool: Twitter
Samantha Roper’s Online Presence Professional Personal
Age: 12 Tool: AIM and MSN Messenger
Age: 15 Tool: Myspace
Age: 18 Tool: Facebook
Age: 19 Tool: Tumblr
Age: 20 Tool: Blogspot, Wordpress, Google Analytics, Facebook Ads
Age: 20 Tool: Foursquare, Get Glue, Quora
Online Code of Conduct In my nine years online, I’ve noticed there are a number of lessons to be learned from my own experience and the follies of others that resulted in my very own online code of ethics. These are the rules I follow with all of my communications, personal or professional.
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If you won’t say it in real life, don’t say it online. With every item you post, you should ensure you’re only Tweeting, blogging or communicating something you’d say to a person’s face, in real life, at the appropriate place.
Only post photos, statuses, or updates that you’d tell your parents, your grandma, AND your boss. The case studies of staff being fired due to unprofessional or illegal conduct in their personal lives and being discovered from a photo, Tweet, or Foursquare check-in, are endless. If you wouldn’t openly discuss an activity or show everyone a photo, don’t put it online.
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Have a purpose with every post. By presenting yourself as human online, you’ll be tempted to post photos of your dog, or how much you enjoyed your lunch. From time to time, that’s totally acceptable. However, only posting things that are relevant to your overall message of the profile will keep your readers and viewers focused.
Represent yourself online authentically. Online, sometimes people will overestimate what their skills are. If you once made a model of an atom for a science class, don’t pass yourself off as a physicist. Just be yourself, be frank about your strengths and weaknesses, and no confusion will arise.
Treat your online communications like a hidden resume. Interviews, Tweets, journal posts - it’s all there, and all an employer has to do is type your name into Google. From time to time, Googling your own name to see what shows up, and then controlling what you can, can help to ensure your “online resume” represents you appropriately.
My Blog As I developed my blog on the use of digital manipulation in advertising, I determined that there were certain factors that helped bloggers create an environment conducive to reader satisfaction. Through working with my own research, the evaluation of other blogs, and the comments I received from my peers, I determined there were four elements that made a blog especially effective. Key Insights for Effective Blogging 1. Passion For The Topic: Some people enjoy talking about celebrities. Others want to persuade readers to change their lifestyles to go green, go vegan, or other movements to change our modern world. The common characteristic of the effective blogger is a love for the topic that pervades every entry. If the blogger seems bored in his or her post, then the reader most certainly will be. 2. Basic Writing Skills: It’s true, the most effective bloggers start out being good writers. It’s not just about the persuasive nature of the speech; everything from grammar to spelling to punctuation and capitalization make an impact on the reader. If the sentence structure is confusing, if the spelling is distractingly poor, if the language is vulgar or offensive - the reader may already have clicked on to something else. 3. Citations, Citations, Citations. Just like in high school and college when you had to cite your sources on research papers, citations and research are paramount to a blog’s success. Bloggers shouldn’t send their readers on an endless Google search to see if the statistics match up or reference a specific item mentioned in the blog. Linking to other blogs and topics is especially helpful for readers wanting to learn more, or perhaps find a more comprehensible explanation for a topic. 4. Use of Different Media: Using videos, photos, Twitter, and more helped already-effective blogs become even more extensive on the topic. By linking to Twitter users or the blog’s own Tweets, or by sharing videos and photos to break up text in a post, the reader experience became much more enjoyable.
What’s this mean to you? Experience in blogging, navigation of blogs, evaluation of effectiveness of blogs and more makes me a valuable resource when it comes to monitoring a company’s reputation online and what opportunities and threats are being presented through blogs. I also am able to develop and execute a blog successfully on a number of topics.
Twitter According to Twitter’s “About Us” section, Twitter is “a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting.” In a deeper sense, my experience with Twitter has led me to believe that it is the ultimate networking tool that helps you connect in a variety of ways to people that, without which, you may not ever meet. Through “following” someone, you receive the information that they post at the moment they post it. When they follow you, they get the information that you post when you decide to “tweet” something.
About @SamanthaRoper
Having been a member of Twitter since November 2008, I have watched Twitter go from a largely unknown social networking tool to the cultural giant it has become. I choose to follow news sources such as @NYTimes and @CNNBrk, social media blogs such as @Mashable and @SMedio, public relations professionals and bloggers, brands I care about, friends and humorists. My Twitter feed is a stew of all of the elements of my life I take the most interest in. I use Twitter as an outlet for not only sharing PR, Social Media or other interests, but also as a social network with friends and a way to discuss my favorite topics. See some of my tweets below to get a feel for how I’ve been using Twitter. Hashtags and lists are two tools of Twitter I make use of often. Through hashtags such as #intcom (for this class) or #nsac (for the National Student Advertising Competition), I have been able to follow news, developments and thoughts of classmates and peers. Through the list feature, I have made lists of PR pros that tweet helpful links and hints, and often review this list for when I’m encountering a new project in class or at an internship for advice. I also have a list of professionals I have met through professional development clubs or through hashtag conversations to network with them.
Twitter My Twitter Insights -- Twitter is a great social tool and unlike LinkedIn or Facebook, doesn’t seem invasive when “friending” or “linking” to someone. Because most people set their accounts to public, you can follow them without having to ask their consent. This means that the information they’re disseminating is what they want you to know, and not something they consider to be private. -- Celebrities, public figures and highly-public brands on Twitter have learned to leverage mob mentality to help promote certain topics, especially using trending topics. -- Representing yourself on Twitter as you would in real life and keeping your internal filter on for private or irrelevant information are the best pieces of advice for new users.
Promoted Tweets & Topics Promoted tweets and topics, which are placed at the top of Twitter’s searches and trending sections, are often an effective way for businesses to dominate the Twitter feed on a certain topic. For example, communication company Verizon promoted the topic “#CyberMonday” on the Monday after Thanksgiving. While Twitter users across the world used “#CyberMonday and searched it, Verizon’s tweet appeared at the top of the column, which was updating every few seconds. This was an effective usage of a promoted topic because it was relevant to the market searching for deals online, and had high exposure levels because of the hashtag’s activity. TweetDeck This third-party application helps Twitter users link their Twitter account or accounts to a single source for updates and more. It allows users to sort and save columns. For example, I have a mentions column and an #intcom column (right) to help me follow a to-the-minute conversation without having to perform searches over and over again. TweetDeck is an organizational tool for Twitter.
Facebook My Facebook account is private, but not because of content. I know only to post what I wouldn’t be ashamed to show everyone, or show my parents (since my father is my friend on Facebook). However, I primarily use Facebook just to keep in touch with my friends and follow interests. I don’t often network on it, but I am friends with many of my ex-coworkers. I don’t accept friend requests from people I don’t know. I use Facebook as a social tool for events like birthday parties or celebrations. Through past internships, I have managed brand pages on Facebook for companies or entities of the company and am familiar with the professional requirements of using Facebook as a business tool.
My Facebook Insights -- Facebook is used primarily by the 18-24 demographic for social networking or keeping in touch with family. Older audiences have been expanding to Facebook to connect with children or ease of keeping up with others in their lives. -- Facebook has several options for businesses when it comes to promoting themselves. They can have their own page with tabs and the ability to be “Liked” by a consumer, or they can be a destination for people via Facebook Places. -- The privacy woes that Facebook has recently encountered is something professionals must take into account when expanding their business to Facebook. Because consumers on Facebook are more protective of their privacy, they are more likely to be resistant to invasive advertising on the site.
TOOLS As a young professional learning social media and online presence, there are some tools that are essential to know. Many of these tools are still up-and-coming. One such tool, Hunch, is a website that quizzes you on your likes, lifestyle and interests, then recommends different products, places, and other things to you. Based on the questions you answer, it can accurately tell you what you are currently using or better yet, what you SHOULD be using. It connects your interests with things you never knew you might like. Its relevancy to Marketing, PR and Advertising comes in the form of “crowdsourcing.” Hunch taps into the concept by employing user-created and computation data to refer you to products that you may like. In some cases, it will link you to the product’s website to purchase it.
This small insight into Hunch isn’t all I know, however. Here’s a list of my tool proficiencies for your perusal. Here are some featured tools I’ve used recently!
Quora -- As an early adopter of Quora, I’ve been able to watch it grow from a budding network of a few social media enthusiasts to a Q & A service that is thriving on most topics. LinkedIn -- Since my freshman year of college, LinkedIn has been my lifeblood for networking. I follow companies, apply to jobs, and network with recruiters. I am very comfortable on LinkedIn. Instagram -- Since getting an iPhone, Instagram has been my go-to photo app and one of my favorite social networks. It enables people to become amateur photographers and share bits of their lives. Some interaction with brands and Twitter make it even more fun! Reddit -- Redditors are very defensive of their community, but are surprisingly accepting of ads and promoted content. It’s an interesting community and very suceptible to conversation, which is a good gauge of how people feel about a brand.
Tool Proficiencies Blogspot -- Through my personal experience on this blog host, I have mastered the utility as part of a Google account, adding analytics, and preparing it for syndication in RSS feeds. Facebook Ads -- As part of an internship, I learned how to create Facebook Ads that effecitvely target audiences by age, location, similar interests and other demographic and psychographic information. Facebook -- My personal Facebook account has familiarized me with creating new tabs, linking Facebook to other social media applications, and contributed to my lessons for my code of conduct. Foursquare -- By following friends and brands alike, I’ve seen first-hand how Foursquare leverages location-based check-ins to monetize as well as connect people in the same vicinity. Get Glue -- This media consumption check-in site uses partnerships to promote popular new media (music, books, movies and television). For users, they are rewarded for checking in with stickers that can be translated into real stickers, unlike virtual-only Foursquare badges. This emerging service was recently named one of Mashable’s 6 Most Promising Companies of 2010. Google Alerts -- Using Google Alerts to track mentions in a variety of online publications is a convenience for not only school-related research, but also internship research. Google Docs -- Collaboration on school projects including research papers and presentations is made much easier by using Google Docs. Google Reader -- This RSS feed allows me to follow all of the blogs I read regularly and delivers them directly to my inbox for convenience. It also allows me to categorize blogs into different sections for convenience - I have mine segmented into professional and entertainment blogs. TweetDeck -- This third-party host for Twitter, Facebook and other social media is a convenient one-stop location for updating statuses as well as checking in on the statuses of others. While it helps to send one status out rather than visiting several different sites, I enjoy actually interacting with the host website over using TweetDeck. Twitter -- Microblogging on Twitter is a great way to share content with varieties of audiences and simplify searches. By using Twitter in Internet Communications, we were able to have class discussions in an open forum. Wordpress -- Not my favorite blog host, but Wordpress is a great tool for professional bloggers because it is equipped with pre-installed analytics and a variety of themes.
Analytics, Research & Measurement Google Analytics -- Google Analytics is a great resource to evaluate traffic to your website. This tool allows you to check vital information such as visits, bounce rates, the time spent on your site and what “tags” your site generates in search engines. -- Analytics are important to search engine optimization evaluation. Using Google Analytics, you can determine how your readers are reaching your site. For example, you can see how many views are coming from referring sites, how many come from organic search engine results and even what keywords readers searched to reach your site. -- The photograph below shows analytics for my personal Tumblr blog. I use analytics for my Tumblr mostly to see where the hits are coming from and how people are reaching my blog. Because I have set no goals with my personal Tumblr, I use it only for interesting information.
Wordpress Analytics -- Wordpress blogs are incompatible with Google Analytics. However, they have their own analytics widget that indicates page views, most popular posts and top searches. -- Wordpress’s analytics isn’t extremely user-friendly, but it is simple enough for the majority of its users to get the gist of analytics for their blog.
Original Case Study DealGooder: A Social Media-Based Business DealGooder is a social mediabased out of Orange County, California. This website partners with local businesses and negotiates deals that save the customer money and also donates profits to local charities. The company launched in November 2010; however, their online presence dates back to May 2010. As part of Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County & The Inland Empire, DealGooder contacted me on Twitter when they found out I worked for them and proposed a partnership. This is just one way they have used social media to reach out to consumers and nonprofits alike. Their Business Model: A Social Media Student’s Perspective 1. Website: The Main Hub. DealGooder’s website serves as a place for indirect contact with the business for consumers or nonprofits seeking more information. It’s not the ideal location for interaction with the business, but it does have FAQs and information about how to get signed up for the second element... 2. E-Blasts: Daily Reminders. DealGooder sends out an email each morning with “Today’s Goody” which details the deal for each week. By delivering this to subscribers’ emails every morning, not only are they setting up a familiarity with their subscribers, they’re also selling convenience: they come to you, not the other way around. 3. Twitter: A Place to Talk. Interns and staff who run the DealGooder account on Twitter don’t just tweet out the deals; they reach out to people they think are ideal customers. They talk to people involved with nonprofits. They present a human side of the business that isn’t an impersonal email or just a website. The Twitter account has played a huge role in the company’s building of their following. At over 400 followers, this young company is slowly making a dent in the Orange County Twitter user pool. 4. Facebook: Why? DealGooder’s Facebook account is the most puzzling element of their social media. The website, e-blasts and Twitter account each have a clearly defined role in their success. However, the Facebook account seems to offer nothing more than a support to these three elements. By adding photos of deals, customers or running more contests through their Facebook, DealGooder could leverage Facebook’s community and make their page a place for consumers to discuss deals amongst one another and provide transparent feedback - what deals they would like to see, any deals that went sour, etc.
Resources My Websites http://www.twitter.com/samantharoper http://www.facebook.com/samanthareyroper http://www.roperdoespr.blogspot.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/sroper http://www.getglue.com/SamanthaRoper http://www.quora.com/Samantha-Roper
More Info About Cory O’Connor http://ftv.chapman.edu/about/people/cory_oconnor/ About Chapman Ad Club http://www.chapmanadclub.com About Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County & The Inland Empire http://www.wishocie.org http://www.twitter.com/rideforwishes
Acknowledgements Thanks to Cory O’Connor, Loren Nason and the 11:30 Section of Internet Communications for contributing to this portfolio and my social media education.