Digital Communications: the melting pot of departments

Digital Communications: the melting pot of departments

            The digital communications major at Lebanon Valley College is one that not only is a major in itself but includes aspects from other majors as well. This unique combination of curriculum make the Digital Communications major one of a kind. The major has six concentrations overall: communications, user experience, videography, programming, design, and business technology. Not only do students have the opportunity to study specifically what they need to find the career they hope for but they will also learn other necessary skills that will set them higher than other majors. The unique combination of different departments as well as new ideas and curriculum make the digital communications department stand out against other schools.

            In the digital communications major students learn about business and marketing, things you could also learn as a business major but is incorporated into the curriculum to help students in the future. Students also learn about design, how to make webpages, how to make business plans and more. This not only prepares them for the future but also allows them to understand and work with other colleagues in their future place of employment. Having that sense of understanding the many parts that go into a project at work is very important to succeeding in the future.

            The major is built around three ideas that run through all aspects of digital communications: innovation, problem-solving, and human-centered design. These three ideas encompass all of the lessons learned in the major. Students are able to then apply these ideas in their future work and professions. Having an understanding of these ideas and the application of these ideas in the real world put digital communications majors above all others. Digital communications is in high demand everywhere and these students have no problem finding jobs with the skills taught in the major.

#PrivacyProbs

         There is a growing issue among social media sites such as instagram and twitter or any social media site that post pictures. Popular brands such as American Eagle or one particular, Crocs, have started to use other users pictures as part of their marketing strategies. They call this "consumer engagement" and they pull users photos that my have a hashtag for example #crocs or anything pertaining to the brand. Now usually permission is needed for a company to use someone else's picture in an ad.

          In a particular case Shereen Way posted a picture of her daughter with the hashtag #crocs. Crocs then proceeded to use this picture in an add without Mrs. Way's permission. This led to some controversy of wether it was okay to do this. Crocs came back saying it usually comments on someones picture asking for permission before they use it in an add, which in this case they did not. Users then can reply to that comment with a #CrocsOk and this is taken as consent. American Eagle had input on this saying that some users like the attention or extra likes they get from being reposted by their brand. Some people who do #AEOstyle or #ariereal hashtags do want to be reposted by the brand and American requests permission and does post the pictures because it is seen as some form of customer loyalty.

          In Mrs. Way's case she did not grant Crocs permission to post that picture even after they requested to post it at a later date. Instagram stated that they are just responsible for how a brand reuses a picture and in this case by allowing Crocs to post the picture, still did not violate the user agreement. This whole situation just makes us think are some of our pictures being used without our permission? And how private are our profiles really?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/business/media/retailers-use-of-their-fans-photos-draws-scrutiny.html

Kardashian's take over the world

          The Kardashian's have come up with yet another way to capture the attention of the internet world. They all recently teamed up with Apple where they each developed their own apps. Not only do they all have huge followings on other forms of social media such as instagram and snapchat, they have found another method to embed themselves in our social atmosphere. These apps will include "Q&As, livestreams and possible e-commerce platforms". Not only do fans have access to their personal lives through their popular TV show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" now we will be able to get up close and personal with style tips and other interesting tid-bits about the Kardashians.

          The most interesting part about this article was which Kardashian had the most downloads on their app? The answer is Kylie Jenner. Kylie is very sucessful for an 18 year old. While the world is focused on her plastic surgery, her famous boyfriend, or what color her hair is, Kylie is overtaking the fashion world with her and Kendall's clothing line and she has become quite successful in business as just a teenager. Now Kylie has created an app that will focus on beauty tips and it has become No.1 on iTunes' free application list. Kylie out ranked all of her sisters in downloads this week and her app continues to grow. This shows how much of an impact social media has on the public because without Kylie's huge fan base her app would not have become as popular as it has this past week.

http://mashable.com/2015/09/16/kylie-jenner-app-popular/#WLP8MHhFbSkk

Snapchat's Going Pro

          As of last week snapchat has announced that they will be teaming up with the NFL so that Snapchat users and football fans will now have access to highlights and behind the scenes footage available in the app's "live stories". Fans still will not be able to watch full length games but fans at home will be able to experience what it like behind the scenes in the locker rooms or the view from the nose bleed sections.
          The cool thing about this partnership is that Snapchat posts new stories weekly that correspond with the football games of that week. This continues throughout the season all the way until Superbowl 50. Fans worldwide will be able to follow their teams and reap the benefits that these live stories have to offer.
          Even though these live stories are free to users, Snapchat makes most of their money from their discover channel which features live stories from National Geographic, CNN, Food Network, ESPN, and other networks. The live story feature has generated around $16 billion and with new partners like the NFL they are predicted to make so much more.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/17/the-nfl-and-snapchat-partner-on-weekly-live-story-videos/