This weekend’s Fyre Festival went up in flames. Acts pulled out of the event last minute while Instagram influencers deleted all traces of the event from their feeds. A festival that gained fame from social media influencers had its demise well documented on the same channel. Fyre Festival’s appeal as being an exclusive culture and music festival attracted festival fanatics looking for a taste of the good life. Popular Instagram models promoted Fyre Festival for months leading up to this allegedly epic event they all planned to attend. When guests touched down at the exclusive event in the Bahamas, the whole event appeared to be a scam.
Continue reading →

At their annual F8 conference in San Jose, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook unveiled new projects that prove their innovative power. Facebook plans to enter technology fields that have previously been seen only in sci-fi movies. Zuckerberg and his teem look to bring concepts like brain-to-Facebook connectivity and augmented reality to our everyday lives. These once seemingly impossible technological ideas are becoming a reality.  Continue reading →

As of this week, steps are being taken to make sure there is no more fake news from Google and Facebook. These online giants took action to implement policies to put an end to the spread of fake news on their sites. Last year’s presidential brought fake news into the spotlight. Many voters fell victim to false information found on Google or their own Facebook news feed. By using third-party fact checkers, Google and Facebook look to put the truth out to the public. Continue reading →

Following Snap Inc.’s IPO last month, Facebook and Snapchat now compete on another level. Both companies rolled out new features this week to their apps to vie for the attention of their users. In a world where social media connects people to their friends, news, and entertainment, social platforms need to keep adding new features to stay alive. Continue reading →

Advertisers left the leading search engine this week. Google now faces major retaliation because of recent issues with advertisements on its sites. Carefully crafted ads are being linked with violent and inappropriate content on YouTube videos. Companies spend a lot of time and conduct extensive research to decide what ads to put on specific platforms. When that content is associated with something controversial like racism or terrorism, companies are bound to take notice. Continue reading →

Snapchat’s IPO this week leaves a lot of unanswered questions for the social media giant itself and the industry: will they grow and be bigger than ever or will they fizzle out like those that came before them? As social media companies go public or become acquired by other internet giants, some win by increasing followers and revenues and market share. Others lose by becoming obsolete and not growing with the changing interests and needs of its users. Only time will tell if Snapchat will be as successful as Facebook, or if their IPO will end in a flop like it did for Twitter.

Continue reading →

Award shows and social media engagement have not always gone together. But today as Twitter’s reactions to these classic award shows have become just as entertaining as the show itself, the public, pop culture icons, and companies are tuning in more. It’s currently award show season and tonight’s Academy Awards are the peak of Hollywood glitz and glamour. However, there is now far more to the show than just what is broadcasted on TV. Social media is as big of a star during award season as George Clooney and Brad Pitt are. Continue reading →

As advertisers and celebrities have flooded social media, users have lost an important connection online: their family and friends. Keeping up with people users actually know on social media has withered away as users turn to following bigger than life stars and economic powerhouses with prominent brands. Celebrities and company’s strategic advertisements peak more interests now than your cousin’s wedding pictures or high school teacher’s family reunion.  Continue reading →