The Four Power Kingdoms

On Friday, quest speaker Micheal Climek spoke to our class. 

The four power kingdoms are Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Google. Side note: Climek owns stock in every kingdom except for Apple. 

Recap of the semester

This semester I was enrolled in a social media class to help improve the effectiveness of how I use social media. Throughout the semester we had many assignments that forced me to leave my comfort zone. I loved that my teacher didn’t just tell us this is how you do it and stop there. She went beyond that to make us try it out for ourselves to show that it really works. These assignments gave me confidence that I can use social media sites to gather useful data.

For the video campaign we had to I decided to ask my followers what’s their favorite restaurant to eat at in Baton Rouge. I shared the video on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter everyday and after three day I measured the interactions I received each day. By comparing the analytics of each I learned the best times to tweet.

Why should professors use social media in classrooms

There are many benefits from using social media to enhance learning in classrooms. If you look around campus you will see many students busy multitasking between school work on laptops and socializing on their smart phones. Teachers should adapt their teaching styles in order to reach students more effectively. Social media sites allow for a quicker transfer of information. This real time response maybe be the biggest benefit of social media. Emails are chalked full of spam, advertisements, mass messages, and a ton of other information it is to miss something. All students do not constantly check their email, which may leave valuable or time sensitive information unread for hours. However, many social media sites notify you of interactions you receive while away and you change those settings as you see fit.

All social media sites offer ways to filter information and find only relevant topics to your search. Twitter and Instagram utilize hashtags for a quick search that pulls in only posts that include the particular hashtag. Websites like Storify would allow the teacher to pull content off of twitter, videos, images, or documents to tell a story of the lecture. The story would be sharable and customizable to include comments to expand on tweets included.

Facebook takes it a step further and gives an option to create a group where you can control the users. The teacher can filter the information to ensure only topics relevant to the class is being discussed.

The informal communication of social media encourages builds relationships between teacher and students. Some students feel intimidated when speaking to professor one-on-one, social media lessens that anxiety in a none traditional platform.

Video Campaign

For my video campaign, I decided to ask my followers what’s their favorite restaurant to eat at in Baton Rouge. I used Flipgram to make a nine second video with food and restaurant images to encourage my followers to tag #LSUeat in photos of food from their favorite restaurant. I shared the video on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter late Sunday night. I used TweetReach, Social Mention and other analytics to monitor exposure and some engagement.

Majority of my video campaign engagement came from Instagram, gathering five likes and seventeen comments in total. The video initially received two likes and seven comments on Instagram the night posted. On Monday, I tweeted out the link for my video at noon and received an additional ten comments and three likes. Tuesday I tweet the link once more this time a little after 1 p.m. receiving zero comments or likes. I concluded my followers are more active in the early lunch hour prior to returning to class or continuing their busy day.

My hashtag #LSUeat influence was extremely low with only two people using the hashtag on Instagram. Also, I discovered when I search my hashtag on Instagram to random post associated with #LSUeats appear. In the future, I would be more cautious when deciding on a hashtag.

My engagement on Twitter was almost non-existent. I received no retweets or mentions. My bitly link got eight clicks Monday, five at noon and three between 8:30-10 p.m. According to TweetReach, my hashtag #LSUeat reached thirteen accounts and made twenty-six impressions.  Next time, I will send more tweets without the link to see how that affects my interaction on Twitter.

Engagement from Facebook was lower than I originally expected.  My video post received ten likes, three comments and no shares. The three comments came from family members.  I believe if I would have posted the video earlier in the evening to Facebook instead of late at night the engagement could have been higher.

The Wrong Way to Engage Your Audience with Social Media

I currently live in University Edge apartments. For the past couple of months we have experienced recurring problems with garbage disposal, Internet service, and electricity outages. Like today are Internet began going in-and-out since 10 a.m. and around 4 p.m. it went out completely and did not return until 9 p.m.

During this case University Edge went to social media to explain the problem to residence and when it can expect to be resolved. However, they only came to twitter after multiple residents complained about how the outage was affecting them. They have not used social media effectively breaking numerous social media etiquette rules; in that they do not respond to all their residence inquiries and/or statements and even made a few unprofessional responds, which they later delete. The picture below shows how their response to residents appeared unbothered.

Scott Levy states in Tweet Naked, “…everything you put on social media gives an image of who you are, what you stand for, and what you are trying to communicate”. The image that University Edge is conveying appears thoughtless, uncaring, and rude. Another issue with the apartments Twitter account is how they react to situations and respond in an untimely matter. There was an seven hour delay between resident complaints on twitter and University Edge addressing the issue.We learn as public relations professionals that you should respond to all your mentions even the ones that put your company in a negative light. They ignored the one resident they choose to offer a solution, when the resident stated an error in the solution they did not follow up.

University Edge attempted two-way communication and did not follow through making some residents more frustrated. Just like the 73 non-profit organizations analyzed in the article “Engaging stakeholders through Twitter” the one-way communication did not foster positive relationships or build trust and loyalty.

To improve this University Edge should limit the access to their social media account to only one user. Having multiple personal with the login information becomes problematic since every tweet will have a different tone and personality. University Edge should also have more empathy to their residents and understand their frustration when responding to negative comments. Openly address the issue and discuss how they will work to solve it instead of passing the blame. It is the tone you address audience that can change to outlook of your business to the public.

Winter Break

Since the end of the semester is two weeks away, I figured I would put together a list of things I want to accomplish this winter break. It feels great checking things off a to-do list, and lately I have been feeling stagnant.  I will try to keep you all updated on my progress, as I check things off.

My Winter BreakTo-Do List

1. Lose 10lbs and exercise four times a week in preparation for Miami
2. Re-build my savings account 
3. Read a new book every two weeks 
4. Re-decorate my bathroom and bedroom
5. Learn to cook a new recipe once a week
6. Develop a better relationship with God
7. Start attending church every Sunday and Thursday, again

Winter Hair Care Tips

The winter can be harsh on natural hair.

During the winter, I avoid washing my hair and allowing it to air dry as much as possible. The cold air can cause the hair to freeze, which makes the hair shaft fragile. Instead I dry my hair with an old t-shirt or a blow-dryer, set on the cool, before going outdoors.  The less heat, the better.

Protective hairstyles such as twists and buns do wonders in the winter time.  The cold dry winter air is less likely to come in contact with your hair if it’s in these styles.  The less hair out equals less breakage.

Scarves and hats can also aid in protecting your hair from the harsh weather, but keep in mind of the type of material your hair comes in contact with.  Avoid wool or cotton materials because it will dry hair out, causing it to become rough and cause hair breakage.  Try lining the inside of hats with silk or satin, because these materials are gentle on hair.  If you choose to cover hair with wool scarves, make sure to wrap hair with silk or satin material underneath.

No matter how you wear your hair,   remember to deep condition your hair  regularly.  This will keep hair moisturized and healthy.  Don’t let the winter weather slow you down from having fabulous, shiny,  frizz-free hair.

Fall 2012 Move-in Day

Protein Treatments

Tags

natural hair, protein, protein treatment

Taking care of your hair is right up there with other basics like bathing and clipping your nails. Protein is very important for your hair.  With constant dying, heat, and chemical processing, your hair loses protein each time.  Protein is what gives hair its strength and elasticity.

 

 

The Science of Black Hair explains,

Protein is what gives the hair its strength and structure. Hair is about 70% keratin protein by nature. There are a wide variety of proteins that serve different functions and roles in hair care. Some enhance elasticity, while others reduce it. These proteins bind to the hair cuticle and help temporarily rebuild any weakened areas. Protein-based products reinforce the hair shaft, and help it remain strong enough to fight breakage.

Some proteins are stronger than others, but daily or even weekly use of even the milder protein treatments may result in an imbalance between the protein and moisture levels within the hair strands in some people. This is where product percent composition really plays an important role. For example, every product that contains keratin protein is not going to feel the same way across the board, and every product that contains glycerin or water is not going to feel the same either! The protein in question could make up 30% of the product or 0.3%! Who knows! You have to play around with different products to know how strong they are on your particular hair. Your hair protein tolerance will vary from product to product, not necessarily protein to protein.

There are several products on the market you can buy, but I chose to do my own homemade protein treatment. The main ingredient I use for my protein treatment is egg.  Since my hair is really thick, I used two eggs beaten really well then I added Main n Tail conditioner to the mix.  I precede to section my hair off and begin applying the mixture to my dry hair, beginning from the roots to the ends.  After my hair is completely saturated with the mixture, I add a plastic shower cap and let it sit for 30 minutes.  Make sure to not apply heat to your hair because it will cook the egg, making it hard to get out your hair.  I then rinse my hair out with cold water and begin to shampoo it with aloe vera juice and apple cider vinegar.  After shampooing my hair I add a deep-conditioner to my hair for 15 minutes with a plastic cap and set under a hair dryer.  This step is important because the conditioner adds back softness to your hair that the protein treatment took away.

To maintain healthy hair, protein treatments should be done every 4-6 weeks or as your hair dictates.

Walgreens

Tags

mobile, mobile app, walgreens

The Walgreens brand can be found on many social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest in addition to their official website and mobile app. Walgreens is currently rebranding their company….well more like updating their brand with a fresh look. The company is staying true to their original brand logo and principles just changing a few designs and how consumers receive their message.

Walgreens has begun a loyalty program for its customers called Balanced Rewards. The purpose of the program is to reinforce brand awareness and encourage customer loyalty. Walgreens has used social media to introduce the program and host giveaways through their Facebook page. They also allow customers to sign up for the program on www.walgreens.com or through the mobile app, as well as in store.

While Walgreens has a Pinterst it is not being utilized correctly. They have 228 followers that shows people are interested with zero pins; which means that no one is actively managing the page. I think Walgreens should begin to pin crafts and ideas that customers can pick up the needed items to complete at their local Walgreens.

You can check out all the cool things Walgreens is doing at their Facebook page by clicking here.