When Hurricane Sandy hit social media sites buzzed like crazy (at least for those who had power). On Facebook, there were thousands of pictures of the aftermath of the storm . Before the storm even hit there were several groups that anyone could join for constant updates on how to prepare and what areas would be hit the worst. Groups like this helped spread the word before some news sites even covered the information, and got everyone on the same page.
Once the storm was over the groups and pages became a way of showing the massive destruction caused by the storm from the everyday person's point of view. Also little by little once the rebuilding and damage control was taken care of, the groups became a way to try and get supplies and other necessities to those who needed them most. If someone had an extra mattress, they could go on the group page and find someone needing one. This way of connecting created a sense of community among group members and built up the trust and reliability of each other.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Groupon Improvements
The reason Groupon seems to be struggling is because they are a plan B. When a struggling business tries to make one last effort to get customers, they go to Groupon and give away free stuff to attract attention. But guess what? They wont be coming back to Groupon any time soon because they wont need to. Their strategy either worked and they are having some more success, or the idea was a failure and they lost more money than they made and had to shut down. Groupon will make a little money by selling the free coupons to the business, but in the long run they aren't getting anywhere.
A new and improved Groupon would need to have returning businesses coming back to Groupon to but more coupons for their customers.
Maybe if they reached out to successful businesses they could have more success. For example, if they contacted a business and offered to give them a deal on coupons that might help them get started. If the business likes what they see Groupon might have a long time customer. From that point they can post coupons on the businesses Facebook page or Twitter and more and more fans of the business will go to Groupon to get coupons.
Groupon could also advertise their product to the public on different social media sites. On blogs they can advertise specific coupons that they have based off what the blog topic was. If they found a really popular blog about pets, they could set up an advertisement telling about the deals they have on pets. It would be a good way to spread the word about Groupon to the public, and create business for the companies that they will be giving coupons out for.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Social Media in Elections
The rise of Facebook and Twitter has been impressive throughout the years. In 2008 when Obama and Mccain were vying for presidency it seemed like a no brainer to speak to the public through a booming source. Well at least it seemed like a no brainer for President Barack Obama who plastered "HOPE" and "CHANGE" on several social media sites. He had a Facebook group made in support of the election and he had his own Twitter (it was later found out his staff tweeted instead of him) and just like that he had millions of fans. He became the cool choice for President because of his choice to embrace the internet and technology while Mccain seemed out of date.
In the 2012 election, both candidates had pages on Facebook, and Obama started using his Twitter account in 2009 so he was the one tweeting to his followers. But Obama's previous term kept him far far in front of Mitt Romney in the fan count on social media sites even if the actual count of people was closer than it seemed.
In the end, the use of social media I won't say won the election, but it did create a huge fan base in the 2008 election and remained constant in the 2012 election. The use of social media helped Obama relay his messages to anyone who wanted to know. It was more then announcing it in a campaign because social media seems more individual. When Obama tweets, you can respond, and when the Obama posts something on Facebook, you can post something back. Social media, among other things, helped Obama earn himself two terms in office.
In the 2012 election, both candidates had pages on Facebook, and Obama started using his Twitter account in 2009 so he was the one tweeting to his followers. But Obama's previous term kept him far far in front of Mitt Romney in the fan count on social media sites even if the actual count of people was closer than it seemed.
In the end, the use of social media I won't say won the election, but it did create a huge fan base in the 2008 election and remained constant in the 2012 election. The use of social media helped Obama relay his messages to anyone who wanted to know. It was more then announcing it in a campaign because social media seems more individual. When Obama tweets, you can respond, and when the Obama posts something on Facebook, you can post something back. Social media, among other things, helped Obama earn himself two terms in office.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Online Dating
This was definitely my favorite thing we've had to do in this class so far. I really got a kick out of this experience, and never expected to ever be doing something like this. I signed up for Plenty of Fish to do this experiment because I had never heard of the site and wanted to try something totally different. After I signed up and saw how things worked I couldn't help but want to know about Ok Cupid. So I ended up making an account on both websites just for kicks.
I would have to say that I had more success as far as women talking to me, on Plenty of Fish, but the website I enjoyed more was Ok Cupid because of its layout. On POF I had 14 girls contact me compared to 6 on Ok Cupid. I responded to everyone who contacted me because I didn't feel the need to ignore anyone based on what I saw on their profile. Some of the conversations went a long way, and some of them only lasted a couple lines, but I at least gave them all a response. On POF I had 3 conversations in which I really got to know a little something about the person I was talking to, and in other circumstances, we may never have had the ability to talk. There was one girl in particular that I had a long conversation with that told me that she too joined the site for a class. The difference is that she stayed on after the class was over because she enjoyed meeting new people, I will be deleting both of my profiles.
My overall experience of dating websites was positive for what I was looking for. If I wanted to date, I might have said that this experience was unsuccessful, but that's not the case. It was easy to find interesting people on both sites, but neither site had a good way of bringing me similar people, I usually had to find them on my own. Just like the women in "Love at First Byte" the sites were sending me women who were bisexual when I said I wanted straight, as well as girls who had a 0% match rating. I couldn't see myself find a potential wife out of a site like this, but based on the messages I've received, I could probably squeeze out a date. And based on that, I guess it is possible for a user to find a match.
I would have to say that I had more success as far as women talking to me, on Plenty of Fish, but the website I enjoyed more was Ok Cupid because of its layout. On POF I had 14 girls contact me compared to 6 on Ok Cupid. I responded to everyone who contacted me because I didn't feel the need to ignore anyone based on what I saw on their profile. Some of the conversations went a long way, and some of them only lasted a couple lines, but I at least gave them all a response. On POF I had 3 conversations in which I really got to know a little something about the person I was talking to, and in other circumstances, we may never have had the ability to talk. There was one girl in particular that I had a long conversation with that told me that she too joined the site for a class. The difference is that she stayed on after the class was over because she enjoyed meeting new people, I will be deleting both of my profiles.
My overall experience of dating websites was positive for what I was looking for. If I wanted to date, I might have said that this experience was unsuccessful, but that's not the case. It was easy to find interesting people on both sites, but neither site had a good way of bringing me similar people, I usually had to find them on my own. Just like the women in "Love at First Byte" the sites were sending me women who were bisexual when I said I wanted straight, as well as girls who had a 0% match rating. I couldn't see myself find a potential wife out of a site like this, but based on the messages I've received, I could probably squeeze out a date. And based on that, I guess it is possible for a user to find a match.
Monday, March 4, 2013
When I joined Pinterest, I figured that I should try to enjoy the experience instead of bash it. The only problem was I couldn't get into it. You might say that I didn't give it time, but personally I think I gave it too much time. The site is definitely geared towards women, but there are enough topics that an average guy would be interested in as well. The site is a great way to find new ways to do things based on other peoples' ideas, and in simple terms all the site is, is a place where you share what you like and explore what other people like.
I think Pinterest is appealing to women because they tend to use the site for social matters and this website allows them to flourish. A particularly crafty women can get all of her ideas from exploring Pinterest, and repining things to her board. Also there is a category called health and fitness, and in class we talked about women looking for personal health matters online through social media.
The bottom line is Pinterest is a cool site, and it's ideal for a person who wants to create and share new ideas in the form of a pin.
I think Pinterest is appealing to women because they tend to use the site for social matters and this website allows them to flourish. A particularly crafty women can get all of her ideas from exploring Pinterest, and repining things to her board. Also there is a category called health and fitness, and in class we talked about women looking for personal health matters online through social media.
The bottom line is Pinterest is a cool site, and it's ideal for a person who wants to create and share new ideas in the form of a pin.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Support group
When I heard we were doing a support group blog, it caught me off guard. Immediately I wanted to do my support group on cancer. Just days ago we figured out that my 81 year old grandfather has tumors in his brain caused by cancer. It was incredibly painful and it's something that I've never had to deal with. I could see how it would be comforting to reach out in a support group and find hope in other people's words.
What I found when I looked at some of the support groups was that there were a lot of people sharing their experiences. When someone would tell their story another person would comment that they went through a similar experience and explain their story. I found it helpful because it is a lonely feeling when you are loosing a loved one or experiencing cancer and just knowing you aren't alone is a good feeling.
When someone tells you that they feel terrible or sorry it's not like when someone who is living with the same nightmare says it. You don't know what it's like unless you've lived through the pain, and I think that's what makes a support group a powerful tool.
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