Twitter Tutorial Screencast

Here's a Twitter tutorial I created explaining how to use the basics of Twitter. I thought I would share with the rest of the class and anyone that is interested!  

7-2 Final Project Milestone Three: Blog Group 2, Two-Way Communication

Among the many changes that technology has brought upon society's expectations of mass media and culture is that of a two-way communication. As I previously wrote, social media has led to an expectation of immediate and constant communication from mass media and culture to its audiences. Furthermore, there is now a greater expectation that this communication is not only constant, but that it goes two ways. 

Before the advent of social media, there was very limited "conversations" or two-way communications between mass media and its consumers. That has clearly changed thanks to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, that allow and encourage comments and responses. A Facebook post from Fox 11 Los Angeles regarding coyote trapping received 580 comments in just one day. Mass media puts out its stories and people are now able to respond and comment instantly.  

People also now expect responses to their comments and questions from those who are providing the content on social media. Below you can see a Facebook post by Running Warehouse with a link to a video product review about a new running shoe. A concerned customer comments, and then within an hour Running Warehouse responds to the concern. This is a theme and a very normal occurrence on the Running Warehouse Facebook page. While Facebook has given Running Warehouse a great avenue to provide excellent and immediate customer service, it is also now an expectation of its customers that did not exist prior to social media. The problem is not for Running Warehouse in this example, it's for other companies who don't have the staff, ability, or sense to interact with its customers on this level. Because a company can and does do this for its customers, can often mean an expectation is not being met by others that can not.

The following video discusses how businesses can interact with their customers and what to expect from this new form of expected two-way communication.



The following graphic illustrates the difference between the percentage of comments that Facebook and Twitter receives from consumers, and the difference response rate and engagement with consumers on the two sites.

7-2 Final Project Milestone Three: Blog Group 2, Mobile Apps

Americans are increasingly consuming their news digitally thanks to advances in technology, and this has led to a change in societal expectations. Approximately 50 percent of Americans use a digital platform to read or watch the news (Beaujon, 2012). While newspapers are a declining outlet for news consumers, the smartphone is rapidly increasing in growth. Smartphone ownership grew 30% in 2012 to surpass the 50% mark of units owned (Beaujon, 2012). Americans also own 50 million tablets — a penetration in three years that took a decade for smartphones. With the rapid expansion of technology in the form of smart phones, computers, and other digital devices, it becomes crucial that mass media outlets deliver their news to these sources in addition to any of their traditional papers or news broadcasts.

Mobile apps is another digital medium news outlets have increasingly turned to disseminate their news, and one that many consumers now also expect from media outlets. Joseph Walker says that since the invention of Apple’s Iphone in 2007, thousands of developers have created mobile apps, many of which have been created for mass media organizations. “As of June, consumers had downloaded 30 billion apps from the Apple App Store where more than 650,000 apps are available. Google Play, which sells Android apps, is reported to have had 15 billion downloads from its selection of 500,000 apps,” according to Walker (Walker, 2012).

The following video explains the growth of mobile apps and why so many businesses are utilizing them.

Andrew, B. (2012).  Pew: Half of Americans get news digitally, topping newspapers, radio. Poytner. http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/189819/pew-tv-viewing-habit-grays-as-digital-news-consumption-tops-print-radio/

Jordan, W. (2014). The decline of newspapers hit  stunning milestone. Slate.com.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/04/28/decline_of_newspapers_hits_a_milestone_print_revenue_is_lowest_since_1950.html

7-2 Final Project Milestone Three: Blog Group 2, Social Media

Technology has definitely changed society's expectations of mass media and culture. With the advances in technology has come the advent of social media. The recent social media explosion has definitely had a significant impact on what society expects from mass media in particular. People now expect immediate communication that is frequent and constant. If a media outlet is slow to a story, consumers will simply move on to the next media outlet. People expect mass media to be continuously updating them throughout the entire day.

Before social media, the expectations were far less. For newspapers it was once a day, maybe twice with a late-afternoon edition. For television news, it was mostly the evening and late news. This is clearly no longer the case. The video below shows how people are currently using social media and some of the trends and reasons for their selections. It's a great illustration of not only the power and reach of social media, but how society engages with it.



Another great example of the growth of social media thanks to technology, is the following infographic. With all these available social media sites and networks, people expect a constant flow of communication.

4-3 Final Project Milestone Two: Blog Group 1, Immediacy

Another major impact technology has had on communicators is the speed and immediacy in which information and can be released and shared. It's crucial for the communicators of today to utilize these newer and faster avenues such as social media. For news organizations, and the public in general, it's no longer waiting for the evening news. Information is being disseminated instantaneously all throughout the day. Communicators must keep up with this new speed via technology. 

One way for communicators to keep up with their information stream, and to maintain a flow of speed and rhythm, is to schedule posts. This is a very effective technique to allow your posts to hit when their is the most traffic online. For instance, you may be working on your social media aspects of your job at noon, but that's not the most effective time to make posts because fewer users are online. Instead, you can schedule the post for a higher traffic time. Keeping up and posting in a timely manner is key for communicators, as is having a steady flow of content. Below is a video tutorial on how to schedule posts on Facebook. 

  

4-3 Final Project Milestone Two: Blog Group 1, Social Media

Technology has led to one of the biggest changes in communication thanks to the advent of social media. Facebook only has more than 1 billion active monthly users and counting. Social media has had a significant impact on how communicators work, and has provided a great opportunity for communicators. I can recall a time about ten years ago when I was a television reporter and my colleagues and I weren't given access to social media sites on our work computers. It was considered a time waster. Fast forward a couple of years, and having at least one social media account was mandatory, and you had to post and use social media several times a day while working. It's now crucial that journalists, and communicators in general know how to utilize social media.

I started my Twitter page about eight years or so ago when I was reporting at the aforementioned news station. Twitter provides a great way for reporters to stay in touch with their local community, and to seek out sources.

Reporters and news stations will often use tweets and Facebook posts when reporting as a part of their story. Sometimes people will have videos or photos of breaking news that the news station wasn't able to capture. Often times, news stations will use social media postings to gather the emotions or feelings from the community on a particular story. Below is an interesting video in this regard, which speaks to how journalists use tweets and videos while reporting on disasters.

4-3 Final Project Milestone Two: Blog Group 1, Utilizing Video

Technology has definitely impacted how communicators send their messages, and there are several tools that they should know or learn that can be very beneficial. Adding multimedia to a blog or article can significantly enhance its effectiveness and how the story connects with the reader. As Zachary Snideman puts it, "A website without multimedia is like a cupcake without icing: Functional but lacking," (Sniderman 2010). I couldn't agree more. You can still get your point across, but why not add some frosting to hammer it home? 

Multimedia such as photos, video, audio, and graphs, can have a tremendous impact on readers, especially those who learn more efficiently with visual tools. For example, when talking about the power and enormous reach social media has, I could simply write that social media is now the number 1 activity on the web! Or I could tell you that 14.4 million people used social media last year to find a job, and that one million new blogs come online every month, (social media Revolution 2014). But, these numbers and dramatic stats may come across more clearly and pronounced in a fast paced graphical video. See below!  Knowing how to embed and utilize video is a key tool that communicators can use to their advantage to provide more engagement, and a better way to show or demonstrate information. 

Zachary Sniderman (2010). How to: Add multimedia to your blog. Mashable.
http://mashable.com/2010/07/28/add-multimedia-to-blog/