The Dark Side of Twitter...Spoilers!

If I have any Game of Thrones fans reading this who have not seen "The Lion and the Rose" episode, you may want to stop reading now. This post is all about spoilers and you have been warned.

During this episode, the moment GOT fans have been waiting three seasons for happened. King Joffery was poisoned and died! The world rejoiced and this lead to the extremely excited fans to take to the internet and declare their excitement over the King's death. However, many fans of the show had not yet seen this episode or were a few seasons behind. People became outraged that fans would ruin this glorious moment. It was like the victory was taken from them.

Spoilers are a very real danger for TV show fans that are unable to watch the episode live. It's the dark side of Twitter. However, if you know that you are following people that watch this show and you don't want to know what happened, then don't get on social media! We really can't be blamed that we want to share our excitement with the rest of the world.

Specifically for the Game Of Thrones episode, Stephen King said it best in his Tweets following the episode.

People were so upset by the spoiler, but the books reveled this years and years ago. Even though people felt that their moment was ruined by their friends, it was still a very exciting moment. I'm sure they were just as happy about the news. In the age of social media, nothing stays secret for long.

Arby's Does Social Right

At the Grammy's the other night, artist Pharrell Williams wore a rather large hat that had the entire country buzzing. The best comment of the night went to Arby's though. Much like the Oreos Superbowl blackout, Arby's saw an opportunity and took it.





The social media team over at Arby's is paying attention at all times. Social media does not sleep. It is always happening, just because you're sleeping doesn't mean the world is. Had Arby's not been watching the Grammys or monitoring their mentions, they could have missed this golden opportunity. Even better, Pharrell tweeted them back! 

So lesson of the night, never stop paying attention to the world. You never know when the perfect opportunity will present itself. So hats off to Arby's for this one! 

PS here's the hat 

Kristen Williams 

Buzz Feed: My New Favorite App

If you're scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed I can almost guarantee you that one of your freinds will have posted a Buzz Feed link to somebody's wall. These short articles accompanied by pictures have titles reading "50 Things Every 90s Kid Misses" or "What J-Law said at the Golden Globes." 

Sometimes these stories are just fun and nostalgic. Other times they report on things really happening in the world. It's a great mix of entertainment and news (well kinda news). More than likely it can link you to a real news story. It's a website, but the mobile app is really top notch. I can search for keywords (like if I just want to read all about the Kardashians), I can search by category (like music, business, sports), and I can create my own personal buzz for things I'm interested in.

It is truly what it claims to be. It posts about things that are generating a lot of buzz. I feel like it keeps me a little more tuned into the different aspects of the world and I feel like if real news (FOX, ABC, CNN) had a set up like Buzz Feed it could really help hit a younger audience and keep people more informed. 

I don't have a lot of Apps on my phone so for this to be part of my mobile device is pretty impressive. If you haven't downloaded it already. Do. It. Now. 

I Don't Understand

Social Media is a place to connect with your friends.

Social Media is a place to connect with brands you love.

Social Media is a place to connect with celebrities you idolize.

These things all make sense to me. They are why I use Social Media. So this is what I don't understand:

I recently started following some celebrities in a band that has a fairly young fan base. I followed their personal accounts on Twitter and 60 seconds later I had six new followers from complete strangers. Why do they want to follow me?! It quite honestly makes no sense to me and it creeps me out a little. I know I can put my account on private, but then nobody could retweet me (which obvi happens SO often...).

I just don't understand the point. Do they think we're going to become best friends because we follow the same band? Do they think I have some connection to the band? Do they just want more followers? I'm honestly not sure. It's one of Social Media's mysteries for me. I'm really sorry, but I don't want to see what a 12 year old girl tweets on a daily basis.

Changing

As my internship comes to an end, I reflect on what I have done as a social media marketer. Plunging my company into social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn I have come to see that digital is ever changing and thus so must I be.

            My predecessor decided not to create a Pinterest account for the company because it seemed too young and not professional enough for their time. However, I have come to find it at great tool to get my company’s blog out there on the web. It’s also a great place for people to learn more about the owners of the company and what inspires them. Pinterest serves as a way for people to connect with the company on a more personal and creative side. This in turn will drive them to the site.

            I also discovered that Instagram is not a platform we need to invest our time in currently. While we do have an account form the intern that came before me, there isn’t a single post form us on it. Currently we just don’t have a need to post random pictures to our followers. However, in the future that could change as more business move onto this social network.

            Lastly, during the semester we have come to see that videos are very important to this generation and that having a YouTube account is beyond necessary. We now just need relevant and interesting videos to post to it. With these videos we will become more interactive and helpful to those seeking us out.

            Social and digital marketing are always changing. This time next year there could be a new platform that makes others obsolete. We are always improving on what those who came before us did. That’s what I love about this industry, there’s always something new on the horizon. Everything is always changing and we must find new and innovative ways to present the information and connect with our consumers. 

Gone

We’ve all been there before. We get super upset about something or about someone and we tweet something nasty or post an awful Facebook post and then feel guilty five seconds later. We then hastily delete the comment hoping that nobody saw it n the moments it was up. However, it’s time you heard the truth, nothing is ever really gone for good.  

Earlier this semester, a recent alumnus posted a comment in our private sorority Facebook group when she got angry about something. It was only up for about five minutes, but that’s all it took. This hateful post was screen-shotted by only 15 or so girls out of the 240 that were in the actual group. The post went viral, being texted to almost every girl in the chapter within the hour. She thought if she deleted it fast enough, nobody would see her hasty post made in anger, but she was wrong. Later that week, she needed a favor from the sorority for her work, but we all remember what she had posted and nobody wanted to help her because we were so hurt. In five minutes she ruined her trust with the organization.

This is just an example of the fact that we should all think twice before hitting that send button on anything we type. Even a text message could be incriminating. In today’s technological world, we can’t give our enemies or our friends any more ammo than they already have to bring us down. It’s so easy to be ruined over a post on Facebook, or a tweet, or a text or even an email. A rule of thumb I have heard many people use to keep their public information acceptable, is to ask yourself, “If my grandmother read this, would she be ashamed/embarrassed of me” if the answer is yes, then maybe you shouldn’t hit send.

In the end, nothing is ever gone, people will save what you put out there on the Internet and use it against you. The only ting we can do to prevent this, is to be weary of what we post on the Internet.  Nothing is ever truly gone. 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

There is not doubt that social media has helped us in many ways. The good thing about social is that we never have to be alone because someone is always listening. Just a few situations where social media is good:

1.     When we are the first person to get somewhere and don’t wan to look alone or awkward

2.     When we are unhappy about a product and want everyone to know, including the company

3.     When we need to remember someone’s birthday

4.     When we need to contact someone, but don’t have their number or a phonebook

5.     When we want to say Happy Birthday, but don’t really want to talk to that person

With every bit of good, comes some bad in the world of social media. The bad:

1.     When we don’t pay attention in class

2.     When we don’t pay attention while driving

3.     When we don’t pay attention with friends

4.     When we don’t pay attention at the dinner table

5.     When we care more about what’s on our phone and updating social media than we do about the real world

Then there’s the ugly. Social media has created some problems that just shouldn’t even be a thing. These make me worry about society. The ugly:

1.     Catfishing someone, basically pretending to someone else and having a relationship with a real person via social media

2.     Lying about where we are. This means we lie about being sick for work and then post pictures to Facebook of us with our friends and the boss or angry coworkers can see it

3.     Cheating on ones significant other. Social has allowed people to connect with exs and other people outside of their relationship and there have been some marriages that have ended because of it. Just because the guy can message the pretty girl, doesn’t mean he should

4.     Cyber bullying. Kids are mean, and the Internet allows them to reach more people. It also lasts longer on the internet because once it’s out there, we can’t take it back

5.     Self Incrimination. Employers will search your Facebook profile and hopefully they like what they see, but many times it can ruin the chance for a job. The same can be said for new relationships. People become Facebook friends and they might see something they don’t like on there before you even have a chance to explain why you’ve ‘liked’ the Justin Beiber fan page

With every social media network comes great responsibility to be a good person. With the world watching our every move, we have to be careful what we put out there and what we choose to do with that information.