The Power of the Meme

            Now that I am wrapping my Business of Social Media class, my Google search shows only minor differenced than it did earlier in the semester. I blame my initial care for how others see me on the Internet for that reason. The only thing lacking is all the photos I discovered from my early college career that I was not so fond of. Other than that, I am proud of my Google search!

            However, this concern of what your Google search says about me got me thinking of how early one most be concerned about what comes up when then Google their name. This is a popular discussion regarding children of reality stars. When parents put their children on the Internet, the child has no control over what their parents say or show. What if a viral photo of a child goes viral, only to haunt that child for years down the road? They have no control over that.

I’ve always thought about who ‘meme stars’ actually are in real life. For example, this photo of this young teenage boy has been broadcasted in nearly every corner of the Internet. 

Where did this boy come from and how did this image become so popular? I wonder if this will affect him later in life when searching for a job. After all, we do not know his name but we recognize him. Meme’s almost seem to never go away. With cameras attached to the majority of American’s hands via their smart phones, everyone is a snap shot away from becoming the next Internet sensation, whether they like it or not. It is an uncomfortable feeling, really. Much like Alex From Target. You never know how one Tweet from a pre-teen in Great Britain can land you a spot on The Ellen DeGeneres show later that week.

Positive Tweets Only!

Similarly to LinkedIn, I started my professional Twitter a little over a year ago. I was working in Public Relations and was in fear that the business I was working with would Google my name and views my weird sense of humor first thing. I then debuted my professional Twitter profile as a place where I could still feature bits of my odd humor while also still commenting on stories I see in the media, new movies I have seen, or anything I wouldn’t mind sharing with someone who could possibly be hiring me.

I do think that Twitter is a different sphere than, say LinkedIn. Popular Twitter pages are rarely strictly informational. Popular Twitter pages include interaction with their audience and humor in places you would normally not expect. For example, Taco Bell figured that since their main demographic is young adults and teenagers, they would make their name known in places where young adults and teens hang out- Twitter. Their Tweets are often engaging and bring up popular media stories. Their most popular tactic is going along with how people consider Taco Bell to be their ‘significant other’.  The more they play that up, the more popular they become!

I don’t think Twitter is necessarily a place where you should be completely serious all the time. Twitter is a chance for oneself to showcase their personality. LinkedIn is a place to be serious because that is how it is set up to be. As long as a keep a genuinely positive Twitter page, I will be satisfied with how people look at me. I want to use my Twitter to let people know what I care about in today’s popular media, what I thought about the latest movie or award show, and talk to businesses about my experiences at their store.

How The Internet Will Get You A Job

I have been a huge fan and supported of LinkedIn since I first joined some four years ago. Ever since I was first introduced to the Internet, I was always careful on how others perceived me. The act of ‘Googling’ myself because almost a hobby of mine. Typing the name Ellen Banach into Google made me excited for what would come up. As I was actively involved in theater in High School, I was always proud of what came up. ‘This is how I want to be known’, I thought to myself. So once I discovered LinkedIn, where I could show people what I was involved in and be known for doing what I do professionally, I was extremely intrigued.

After the LinkedIn lecture in class, I was still satisfied with how my profile looked, but I never digged into what LinkedIn could possibly do for me. Since I am graduating in less than a month, the only thing on my mind is what on earth I will be doing post graduation. Looking for jobs has become almost a full time job, and LinkedIn has been extremely useful. The website lists possible jobs I could be interested in, how many people have applied, and if I have any possible connections with someone working for the company. Although I personally enjoy person-to-person networking, this feature takes the anxiety of the networking sensation and makes it more tangible for those who may not be confident in networking socially. This is also a great feature because all of your information and connections are placed on your profile, so it reduces how many different applications you need to fill out providing all the same information. It is effective for both sides of the party. I have also noticed that some larger companies will allow you to import your LinkedIn profile to their application process to again speed up the process.

B2B YouTube Videos

The growth of YouTube over the last five years has been extremely rapid and extremely surprising to a lot of advertisers out there. I went in and discovered my top three most impressive YouTube channels for B2B marketing. 

The first most impressive YouTube channel was surprisingly Volvo Trucks. Their subscriber count tally's in at 102,726 and 361 videos. There are a variety of different videos all of which each have a considerable amount of views. The most popular video features Jean Claude Van Damme doing the splits in between two Volvo trucks as a part of their "Volvo Trucks Live Tests" playlist, which feature short (either about a minute, or less) to show off the technical features of the truck. Their page is overall extremely well kept although I would recommend cleaning up some of the playlists which have since been aged and could use a facelift.

The second channel I discovered is a channel I discovered a while ago. I once stumbled upon Internet Explorer's Vine account and was extremely entertained by not only their creativity and humor, but also the fact that it was Internet Explorer. I decided to see what their YouTube page had to offer, and I was not let down. Their subscriber count is 57,944 in total and their most popular video has surpass 48 million views. 48,896,082 million to be exact. Their playlists are simple and include the "Rethink Playlist", "Internet Explorer Playlist" and "Popular Uploads" Playlist. My favorite video, which is also their most popular, is called "Child of the 90's". When I think of Internet Explorer I think of Highlands Elementary school which is my elementary school I attended during the late part of the 90s. We always used Internet Explorer because there were no other options of web browsers given to us on our ginormous Dell cube desktop we had the pleasure to practice our typing on. Well Internet Explorer remembers those days and they are paying homage to those glory days in this video. Their message really struck my heart and got me all on board to start using Internet Explorer once again! 

The last channel I found is another that plays true in my 90's child heart. Microsoft blew me out of the water with their 216,006 subscriber count and their 186 videos. Their more popular videos are the commercials comparing the windows phone to the Apple iPhone. All the videos on that playlist have well surpassed the million dollar view mark, however there seems to be a substantial amount of 'dislikes'. The dislikes are not overtaking the 'likes', but there are still more than usual. Their playlists are not as organized as they could be. Perhaps they are, but I just do not understand their titles. The playlists were definitely not designed to be featured as a YouTube playlist. Overall, when the videos are good on this channel- their good. The views range from extremely low to extremely high. Overall- good job for Microsoft! 

The Starbucks Army

When it come to Business to Consumer Marketing there is no better company than Starbucks. I believe this consumer 'addiction' to the brand stems from the easy-to-use app Starbucks has created, their wonderful marketing team and their promise to shape each store as if it's your local coffee shop.

One of the campaigns Starbucks leads is their Frappacino Happy Hour each summer. During a specific time, a customer can buy any Frappacino for $2.00. Targeted to a younger crowd as you can see in this commercial, Starbucks is now making sure that their customers are not just business men and women going to work each morning. They are creating a new Starbucks customer base by creating more 'fluffy' drinks that are more keen to younger taste buds.
They also introduced text alerts with this campaign, and I personally had signed up this summer to see the creativity they would come up with. About a day before the Happy Hour would begin, Starbucks would send me a text with an animated picture of a Frappacino drink. They were bright, colorful, and made sure I remembered to go around the corner to participate in Happy Hour the following day.



Another way Starbucks excels in business to consumer marketing is their Starbucks app. This app is use as a way a customer can pay, save and learn more about their Starbucks. You may add a credit card (or multiple) to the app and easily add money to your Starbucks card by pressing 'reload'. The customer can also receive free drinks, free song and app downloads, and free add ons with their drink.


The most addicting part is the fact that you get a star with every purchase. The star is added to your virtual Starbucks cup, and you keep wanting to come back for more just so you can fill up your cup with stars. For those just getting the app, you start at the Green Level. Once enough stars are received, you are inducted to the Gold Card- something that I am a proud member of. This just means more fun and free opportunities for the consumer, and more money for Starbucks. .

Blog Review- "Think Like Me" by: Evan Trychta

Think Like Me, a blog by Evan Trychta, is a clever title for a blog dedicated to an active business of social media blogger. I believe that those who study media and communications do think differently than those who do not because it is such a complex world to understand. Evan's title is a perfect title for reporting social media stories.

Blog Design 

Although I love the title of Evan's blog, I don't enjoy the design. I wish he would make it more personal and upload either a photo of himself, or an unique background. Based on his previous posts, it seems as though he has developed a good web presence through soccer, and I would like to see that reflected onto his blog.
I also wish he payed more attention to his font. It is inconsistent throughout his blog posts, and would be more attractive if he kept with one consistent body font.

Blog Content 

The one thing that really stood out to me in terms of content was progression. From the first post to the most current one, there was definently improvement. It seems as though he is really grasping the concepts we are learning in class and listening to feedback either from our teacher, or our peers. I enjoyed his last post because I really felt I heard his voice throughout. His "Google Me" post was also very appealing and full of character.

Overall, I am very excited for what Evan comes up with next. Looking at how much he improves with each post, I can only imagine what he'll do by the time we get to blog 10!

College Administrators vs. Students

On September 30th, governor Jerry Brown is set to veto the bill which originally allowed school administrators to have access to college students social media passwords. They would use a third party software system that would search for keywords such as 'alcohol' 'weed' or other illegal / unapproved behavior. California ruled this unconstitutional as monitoring what their students do and say on social is considered to be overbearing. State Senator Leland Yee states, “California is set to end this unacceptable invasion of personal privacy, the practice of employers or colleges demanding social media passwords is entirely unnecessary and completely unrelated to someone’s performance or abilities." I agree with Yee's statement, seeing that if they don't trust their students enough, then maybe they should rethink why they accepted them into the University in the first place. 

I believe that this has been a hot topic ever since social media gained popularity.How is see this matter is simple. The internet is in ink, and if you're doing something you're not supposed to be doing and take a picture of it for all your friends to see, then you're just not being smart. Would you feel comfortable if your future employer or mother saw you passing a bong between you and your friends? Probably not. But I can't speak for everyone. Some people may feel that is okay to post and so be it! Every one is in charge of themselves. You decide what you want to do with that responsibility.



From the article, "Social Media Privacy For College Athletes? California Senate Says Yes" by Sam Laird

http://mashable.com/2012/08/21/social-media-privacy-for-college-athletes-california-senate-says-yes/