Social Media Usage

Image of social media apps on smartphone, showing mobile, social media usage dependency

Social media smartphone apps

Social media usage is higher now than ever before. Admit it, you check Facebook while you’re waiting for your fried to arrive. You see what’s trending on Twitter to see what’s happening now. Avoiding social media seems nearly impossible. Recent studies show an increase in social media usage since 2012. Widespread access to social media makes it easier to stay connected and essential to communicating and keeping in touch with modern society.  Continue reading

Watson Speech-Enabled Ads Benefit Both Consumers and Marketers

IBM’s augmented intelligence program, Watson, is now being used to create speech-enabled ads. These ads allow brands and consumers to communicate within an advertising experience.

Watson is similar to the Amazon Echo and Google Assistant in that it converses with users. But, it is a form of advertising. Campbell’s is one of the first to experiment with Watson speech-enabled ads. In Campbell’s Watson ads, the program becomes “Chef Watson.” Chef Watson combines users’ ingredients with its knowledge of cooking to deliver new recipes to the consumer.

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Facebook Trending Update Released to Prevent Fake News

This week, a Facebook trending update was released to improve the scope and quality of news on the site. Facebook introduced the update in response to the fake news stories that previously trended on the site.

Facebook trending updateFacebook Trending, a module on the News Feed, is one of the most controversial topics surrounding the social networking site. Gizmodo, a political site, was the first to accuse Facebook of sharing fake news. The site published an article in which former Facebook publishers stated that they downplayed conservative media sources when choosing which stories to trend.

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Customer Service Scam: Facebook

Hearing “Facebook fraud” will likely elicit thoughts of identity theft or catfishing. Facebook fraud goes beyond identity theft. A recent NPR story covered a Facebook customer service scam; the helpline at the top of a Google search directed callers to a scam. The scamming customer service agent at the other end of the line only wants your money. This Facebook customer service scam is another example warning you not to trust everything you find on the Internet.  Continue reading

News Consumption in Today’s Digital World

The average human attention span is roughly 8 seconds, according to a New York Times Source, so it seems logical that the mobile applications that have concise, bite-sized content are most popular. Two perfect examples are Snapchat and Instagram that both have content short enough to keep the users engaged and coming back for more. It would make sense, then, that news apps with short content would be preferred methods of consuming news, however a recent Pew Research study draws other conclusions. Pew Research discovered that long-form journalism will not go extinct despite society’s obsession with digital technology. Longer articles attract an equal number of mobile visitors as shorter news articles do, demonstrating that bite-sized news does not trump full-length articles. With that being said, Pew Research also reported that only 22 percent of Americans trust social media as an accurate news source.

Pew Research’s study is in line with a recent article by Business Insider that points to headlines involving Facebook’s fake news and how “messy” the digital world is. Situations like Facebook’s create additional trust issues among users who question the accuracy of the news they read. A very interesting statista chart included in the Business Insider article shows the percent of Americans who trust each news source. The data depicted in the chart should be a slight relief for print newspapers and broadcast TV who don’t have to be too threatened by social media entering their news landscape due to the fact that 59 percent of Americans trust broadcast tv over 15 percent who trust social media.  This is a chart depicting the percentages of Americans who trust news from different sources. It shows that 59 percent of Americans trust broadcast tv while 15 percent trust social media.

So even though we have shorter attention spans than goldfish (New York Times), we still prefer full-length articles from credible sources like news apps over finding news on our social media apps. This information is meaningful to almost anyone in the business world because of digital media’s relevancy in all facets of business. The knowledge that full-length articles and apps other than social media are preferred methods of getting news should influence  how businesses establish themselves in the digital space.

To read more about short attention spans click here .

To see Pew Research’s findings click here .

Messaging App Telegram One-Ups Facebook Messenger by Revealing New Gaming Features

messaging app telegram
Watch out, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Messaging App Telegram just raised the bar for social networking by adding games to its platform.
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Skinny Minnie: Not-So-Pretty

Kate Moss once said, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” This quote was one of the most popular memes of 2016. Young girls and women alike have posted and retweeted this as “fitness” inspiration. Unfortunately, this quote is not the only form of unwarranted, unhealthy physical propaganda; especially within the social media sphere. Continue reading

This Phone Will Self-Destruct in 3…2…1: Samsung’s Public Relations Nightmare

Samsung’s public relations team are banging their heads against a wall right now. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone has an exciting new feature: spontaneous combustion.Exploded Samsung Galaxy Note 7

 

Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone on August 19. Just five days later, the first phone exploded, thus launching Samsung’s public relations nightmare.

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So what are Twitter Moments?

Twitter is stepping up their game. Today they introduced a new feature for all users: Twitter Moments. Twitter calls Moments “The Best of Twitter in an Instant.”

 

Twitter MomentsYou can check out Twitter’s very own moment here that explains the new tool. Essentially Moments allow users to curate their own collection to showcase a “moment” in time. This collection can include tweets, GIFs, Vines, images, and videos.

 

 

 

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Spectacles by Snapchat, Take That Instagram

Yes. The rumors are true. According to Evan Spiegel, Snapchat’s beloved CEO, Snapsnapchat-spectacleschat has revealed its Snap Spectacles. The spectacles will be released in the fall of 2016 in three blooming colors: black, teal or coral. These snazzy new sunglasses aren’t just cool because of their futuristic design. Oh no. These spectacles take videotaping to a whole new level. Continue reading

Media: Combining Advertising and Public Relations

Although advertising and public relations both fall on the same side of clients’ balance sheets as staff functions, they have lived in separate offices for many years. Each of them produces media; however, they usually differ.

There are many differences between advertising and public relations that make them unique. A paid source of media is advertising. Advertising provides a guarantee that the client’s goods or services will be placed in the publics’ eye. Advertising’s complete creative control makes the messages targeted and purposeful. An earned source of media is public relations. The media and its viewers hold the lifespan of the organic content produced by public relations. Continue reading

Social Media Branding – Snapchat, Instagram or Both?

Back in 2005, Facebook introduced its own advertising option, and changed the advertising game from then on out. Reports showed social media advertising reaching an estimated $8.4 billion in 2015. So, what does this large number mean for communication professionals looking to be successful in advertising today? It simply means for communication professionals to stay up-to-date with changes in social media platforms to ensure growth and awareness in the company’s social media branding.

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Why You Want AppleTV

Apple TV was first released in 2007, and since then it has grown into a must-have item. Why you want AppleTV you may ask? Recently, AppleTV has not only allowed users to watch Netflix, HBO, iTunes and more, but now you can use your voice to command the device. AppleTV allows users to keep all their media in one place, making it easy to go back and forth between Hulu and Netflix, or YouTube and HBO. With let people buying cable AppleTV is helping those stay in-touch with all the television, videos, etc they want.

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