Predicted Top Media Trends for 2016

Since it is almost the end of 2015 lets see what social media trends are predicted to dominate 2016. First, real time social media feed such as live video and live notifications which are common now at the end of 2015 but will become increasingly more popular in 2016. Second, the increase of mobile and e commerce via social media platforms will continue to grow. More and more sites are including a "Buy" button on social media platforms and this feature will continue to expand over the upcoming year. Third, Facebook will alter its product offering a more content based platform which allows content to be posted, such as news stories, that Facebook users can read without leaving the facebook site. Fourth, is the increase in data privacy issues because of the scandals for leaked personal information which is now going to hold social media sites accountable about sharing users personal information. And fifth, is that fewer social media platforms will emerge. There will be less opportunities for independently owned social media channels to exist. These are just some predicted trends for the upcoming year and I am interested to see if any of them hold true.

http://www.rokkmedia.co.uk/blog/5-social-media-trend-predictions-for-2016

Kardashians in our Everyday Lives

The Kardashians have one of the largest social media presences in the world. They all have a large following from their tv show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and they also each have their own followers on all their forms of social media and also from their recent app releases that i mentioned in a previous blog. See the more popular this family gets, the more that they are wanted for endorsements which is why we see their faces on so many products that we want for ourselves. This is how they work their influence into our lives and set trends that we the public are inclined to follow.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/seamuskirst/2015/12/17/the-kardashians-social-media-influence/

How Social Media Can Hurt Your Career

Once you post something on the internet it is hard to delete it because once you delete it it could still be out there. Social media is a great way to express yourself and to build relationships but what you post in your personal life can affect your professional life. Looking at a persons social media can show what kind of personality that they have and what their opinions are and if you aren't careful with what you share you could come off as a bad candidate for the job. Future employers can look at your collection of information on social media and they can judge you for it so just be careful about what you post.

http://www.seattletimes.com/nwshowcase/careers/3-ways-social-media-can-hurt-your-career/

Technical Communications

     Google defines Technical Communications as: Technical communication is a broad field and includes any form of communication that exhibits one or more of the following characteristics: Communicating about technical or specialized topics, such as computer applications, medical procedures, or environmental regulations. 
     Taking technical communications this year I learned a lot about media and the type of audiences that view different types of content. I also learned to evaluate content and to find ways to improve current media content as to increase the amount of users and to make the experiences on the site easier and more enjoyable. Learning about these things made me learn what kind of content is most important and effective.

Tweet Activity

Twitter now has come up with a new way to see how people interact with your tweets. It is really cool to see how many people have seen and interacted with your tweet. It is interesting to see just how many screens your tweet crosses and it makes you realize how fast things travel on the internet.

Along with likes and retweets you can see how many impressions, media views, and total engagements that your tweet has. Amazing to see how much of an impact your content has on the internet.

Twitter Polls Takeover

The newest thing on Twitter the the ability to vote and post polls. This is a brand new way for people to express their views is just another reason why Twitter is one of the site for people to share. It is a great way to engage with your Twitter audience. You are now able to post your questions and see how many people respond and the percentage of the winning option in the poll after 24 hours. Its a great way to share opinions and to get answers to whatever questions you can think of.

https://blog.twitter.com/2015/introducing-twitter-polls

Social Marketing Steps

In this day and age marketing strategies are very important especially those online. Social marketing is one of the biggest areas of marketing today. There are several steps to acquiring an audience and creating a community online. First thing that companies want to to do is acquire fans on their social sites. The next step is to engage with their users on social media such as responding to tweets or reposting some of their content. The next step is to amplify this content. Then the next step is to build a community of that is loyal to the company and that shares positive content about that company. The last step is to build brand strength by doing the previous steps and all of this will then increase in sales.

Companies with a Sense of Humor

What happens when companies start interacting with their users? Well recently it has become a popular and effective business strategy for companies to start interacting with consumers tweets or media content. Responding to tweets mostly has become kind of a playful back and forth between consumers and companies even between companies and celebrities. Responding to tweets is just one of the ways that companies get involved with their consumers and how they build their fan community. Some tweets like this one below are just examples of how these companies are stepping up their game with a sense of humor.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/06/10-actually-funny-companies-on-twitter.html

The Force is Taking Over the Internet

With the coming out of the newest Star Wars movie social media is blowing up and these big social sites are using the Star Wars theme. Spotify has a feature that allows you to use its online matching tool that determines who your "Star Wars Soulmate" is based on your taste in music.

Facebook has made it so that you can now add a light saber to your profile picture to get in character. They also added new Star Wars stickers to show your true dark side in a truly adorable fashion in your Facebook messages.

Google has also a little Star Wars flare to its products. You can now add a Star Wars theme to Google Maps, Gmail, Youtube, Waze, and other Google services. You can also get free Google virtual reality cardboard glasses with a Star Wars theme to them.

Last but not least, Twitter has started its own hashtag chains such as #StarWarsEmojis along with other hashtags of characters from the movies.

All these features on this site are give the new Star Wars movie great publicity and also allow for the social media users to personalize their accounts and really interact with the sites and with other users.

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/17/give-your-social-media-feed-a-star-wars-makeover.html 

Recently I did a content audit of LVC's social media presence to see what kind of views and media attention they get in the span of three weeks. I also analyzed what kind of content was posted and how followers reacted to that content. Analyzing the social media platforms of LVC which are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, was very interesting. The amount of content posted in the allotted time period was good and it gives LVC a very prominent social media presence.

1.    Audit of social media presence:

Lebanon Valley College has three social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Facebook:

Followers: 9,313

Visits: 27,946

Page Likes: 9,324

Likes on statues (11/1/15—11/14/15): 669

Comments (11/1/15—11/14/15): 21

Shares: 15

% Of comments replied to (11/1/15—11/14/15): 24%

Twitter:

Followers: 3,559

Total Tweets: 13.3K

Total Likes: 1,622

Likes (11/1/15—11/14/15): 131

Retweets:( 11/1/15—11/14/15): 103

Instagram:

Followers: 2,174

Total Posts: 1,065

Posts (11/1/15—11/14/15): 29

Likes (11/1/15—11/14/15): 2,208

Comments (11/1/15—11/14/15): 26

Social Media, a Big Player in the Rink

The NHL has now come up with a new system that gives rewards to fans just for using their social media. NHL teams have realized the power of social media presence. See the more good content is out on Twitter or other forms of social media, the better for the image of the NHL team. If fans post good or funny comments the social media management teams for the NHL respond, repost, or just share these posts on their official social media accounts. Now NHL management teams have added incentives to posting positive posts about their NHL teams. Not only would they get reposted by the individual teams but they also could win free tickets, apparel, and other prizes for being great social media fans! Some stadiums even have a "Social Media Suite" where loyal fans get to watch games. This tactic being used by a lot of NHL teams now gives "the little guy" (the fans) a chance to get their 15 seconds of fame and it also allows for great content to be published online about the individual teams which is a win for the NHL and a win for the fans.

http://www.si.com/nhl/2015/12/17/nhl-fans-social-media-content