A Post in Transition
Here we are: my final required post for Mass Communication 495 at The University of Alabama. I truly want to continue writing each week, but I can’t promise it will happen as regular as life starts to change. Change is good though. It means life is progressing. It’s funny how God has a way of putting you back exactly where you wanted to be, just as soon as you’re ready to give up on it. For me, at-least in this instance, that meant a scholarship offer to Cumberland School of Law literally the day I convinced myself to admit defeat; it wasn’t going to happen. A career is law has been a dream of mine for along as I knew that it existed. I give that a disclaimer so you’ll be fully aware of the amount of relativity, forward looking...
Read MoreStormin’ Up Social Media
And so it begins… I’ve had a weird feeling about today. Thankfully, that’s not particularly revelevant because thus far today, the storms have been relatively calm. Still though, I think it is proper to spend some time talking about Social Media in the middle of a storm today. Afterall, I feel like if anybody gets to have that discussion its me. I don’t like talking about April 27. I feel like I spend a lot of my free thought blocking it out. Either way, I can’t say enough what I learned then about Social Media, Caring for Others and Life. What does social media in a storm tell you? 1.) People. Care. There’s no doubt that when you post something on Facebook/Twitter/Smoke Signals about an impending, current or past storm: people...
Read MoreIs Political coverage better with Twitter?
Last week, we talked about Twitter’s use in NASCAR. Today, let’s go to another place you wouldn’t expect social media to get a strong foothold: The Alabama State legislature. Yesterday, I watched via ALISON, the Alabama Leglislative Information service, as the State Senate exploded into what would normaly be considered unexpected chaos, but its Alabama and its already happened a couple times this year so maybe its not unexpected. Each time though, the chaos has moved more and more to social media. Here’s just a couple things (not in choronoglical order): Kay Ivey abusing Senate Rules Again we were suppose to start at 10 am! The GOP Super Maj have not shown up for work ! — Roger Bedford (@RogerBedford) March 12, 2013 Sen. Bedford...
Read MoreRubbin’ is Racin’… Does that mean Tweetin’ is Racin’?
The adage inNASCAR is that Rubbin’ is Racin’ but lately more and more NASCAR drivers, officials and personalities are using Twitter to connect with their fans, perhaps contrary to what you the stereotypical stock car racing fan would be. Late in the 2012 Season, NASCAR was the first professional sports league to purchase their hashag, #NASCAR, from Twitter to use for a curated content experience. This agreement lasted through the end of that season, including multiple live mentions of the hashtag during each race’s television broadcast, commercials during each race for the hashtag, and a team of moderators to continually monitor the brand to curate that field. Unfortunately, this curated content approach to #NASCAR left a lot of question marks...
Read MoreSocial Media with a Cold
So… the last couple days I’ve been fairly under the weather dealing with some bug, cold, flu… I don’t know what. Either way, I haven’t felt too well. That’s left me with lots of time to spend doing something, and, more often that not, that time was spent on Social Media. What did I gain from that? People on Twitter are mean. I don’t understand half the people on Facebook. Giving an unpopular unopinion on Reddit is akin to social suicide. What is the connection between all those? Social Media gives people a way to vent. Happy people don’t go seeking validation online; pissed people do. Okay, so maybe you call my data antidotical, and I’ll grant you that much, but if we can humor me for a little bit...
Read MoreLeaping Forward on Social Media
In honor of this (not) leap year, let’s talk about Leaping Forward on Social Media. See, look what I did there? I didn’t have a lede, so I made one up using something that doesn’t even happen this year. That’s pretty good? Right? Okay, let’s get down to business. Firms, Companies and Individuals spend way too much time trying to get a “grasp” of social media. They focus on the pieces so much that they forget the overall theme: be personable, be wrong, be yourself, and be genuine. Sure, it matters what the page’s description is, it matters what the profile picture is, they should even be the same across multiple networks, but focusing on those aux elements leads a person to fall into the age old adage that says...
Read MoreDoes Social Media Matter in a Crisis?
On Tuesday is my Mass Communication class on Social Media at UA, our guest speaker was Ellen East, Chief Communications Officer at Time Warner Cable. Ms East told her first hand experiences of directing Social Media in the middle of and following the Superstorm Sandy disaster in New York City last fall. I understood where she was coming from due to my experiences at 98 TXT following the April 27th Tornado in Tuscaloosa, but I was shocked by her overreaching point: Social Media Doesn’t Matter As Much As You Would Think After a Tragedy. In fact, they still saw greater growth of goodwill and recognition from traditional media buys than social media efforts. Now, before I go into much detail, I want to make sure I mention the rather large differences in our...
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