Blog #4 Social Media Rules for Teens

   The article I am blogging about is titled Social Media Rules for Teens written by Steven Petrow for the USA Today. The article starts out by displaying a post a mom in California wrote, about how her two sons desperately want to be on Facebook. She described that she forbid her children from going on Facebook until they are 13 and reached out to other parents to see what they think about children and teens on social media. Did you know that Facebook prohibits service to anyone under the age of 13 years old? I personally did not know that Facebook set those terms because I created my Facebook when I was 16.  It is also true for other social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and Kik. However it is no secret that kids and pre-teens are using all of these social media platforms and more. According to Children's Online Protection Act, it is a federal law that sits can not collect information from people under the age of 13. However, it is not difficult to put the wrong birthday to make yourself seem older even though you are not.


   Petrow then states that it is important to set rules for your children when dealing with the internet and social media. A mother of two pre-teens says that they do not allow Facebook for their children but do allow Instagram as long as the parents follow their account and know all of their friends' names. This is smart, it allows the teens to have their freedom and join such a huge social network while still having restrictions. to many times do you hear about teens being bullied through social media or being stalked by people they believe to be their age. Ana Homayoun, a preeminent expert says, "Unfortunately, many parents choose to overlook the rule, but they often don't realize the message they are sending. Inadvertently, parents who let their kids join online social media networks are sending the message that it is okay to pick and choose which rules to follow. That message can quickly become a slippery slope because these young people are at a formative age where they are developing their own moral compass and sense of values" (Social media Rules for Teens). Teens follow what their friends do for guidance. They follow what they think is cool regardless if it is good or bad for them. I do think social media can be a positive because of the social networking aspects but because it is so easy to be someone you're not, it also offers a scary unknown aspect.


Petrow and Homayoun recommend to allow these teens to use social media when they are of age but keep all of their information to log on and check up on them when necessary. This relates to our social media marketing class because it deals with a major percentage of people who use social media, the teens and pre-teens. Facebook, Instagram and Kik are full of thousands of teens who want to be part of the "big picture". They will be the social media users of the future and it is important to incorporate such a big part of the world but to make sure it is restricted and age appropriate.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/personal/2015/02/21/social-media-rules/23740935/

Blog #3 Social Media Is Making You Stupid

   The article that I am blogging about it titled "Social Media Is Making You Stupid" written by Inc, a partner of Time Magazine. The article begins by saying how social media makes us unproductive and can even complicate relationships, but it then goes into a thought, can social media make you dumb? Scientists created 5 virtual social networks made up of volunteers. They broke up these volunteers by grouping some in a tight cluster, others were in contact with everyone, and some were not in contact with anyone. After they grouped the volunteers they asked a set of brainteasers to see if those who are more socially connected could decide the right answer.  


   The research showed that volunteers that were in the tightly connected network gave the correct answer more times but also had more opportunities to steal the answer from their social media "friends". Phys,org states, "“This result showed that when the students had lots of connections to peers they could recognize where they had given a wrong answer and swap it for the right one" (Social Media Is Making You Stupid). However, when given a new question that their connections did not have the so called copycats did not preform any better than before they joined the social site. 

   The results offer benefits for both fans and critics of social media sites. If you look at things on the group level, there is a positive correlation for social media. "“Being able to copy from other people in vast networks means analytical responses rapidly spread, fulfilling their promise of improved decision-making for well-connected people,” says Phys.org "" (Social Media Is Making You Stupid). However, on the individual level social media sites are not making you noticeably smarter. 

  This relates to our class because it deals with the behind the scenes aspects of social media. It shows how it might affect productivity which is crucial in a business environment, and it shows that positives and negatives of  being a tight nit social networking sight. 

http://time.com/9207/social-media-is-making-you-stupid/

Blog #2 Harvard Social Media

   The article I am blogging about is titled, "Harvard uses social media to attract record 37,000 applicants" written by Janet Lorin. This article starts out be stating that due to the heightened social media presence including a $150 million financial aid gift, Harvard's applications for Fall 2015 has increased 9 percent to 37,305 applicants. Six of the eight ivy league schools also announce that their applicant numbers have increased. However, when there is an increase in applicants, there also is an increase in rejection letters, a positive, yet sad correlation. "Colleges say they are increasing marketing efforts to reach top students, especially those from underrepresented groups" (Harvard uses social media to attract record 37,000 applicants). With their financial prize in hand, people who might not have been able to look at Harvard because of the cost can now apply and hope they not only get accepted, but get that financial grant. 
   However, with the increase in applicants, people are becoming outraged because Harvard is known for only accepting a small percentage of applicants. Sue Biermert, a college counselor at Adlai E. Stevenson High School described that companies are just using social media to show how competitive they are and that they are very selective. Harvard stated that they believe that more applicants applied to Harvard because of their new website and improved social media presence. Harvard invites students to follow them on various social media platforms, including, Facebook. Twitter, and Instagram. Harvard is happy with the increased numbers that they have received so far. Columbia University, Brown University, Princeton University and The University of Pennsylvania also had an increase in applicants. Yale has taken a different approach to target their applicants, they are cutting back on the marketing to target suitable applicants. 
   This relates to out social media class because it shows that social media can have a positive effect on not only am image of a company or a school but can also increase the activity associated with the establishment. To read this article the link is posted below:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/02/06/harvard-hits-social-media-attract-record-applicants/pB5D18gq6aAtHpbwsyHPEJ/story.html

Blog #1 Social Media Super Bowl

   It is no secret that many people watch the Super Bowl. It is also no secret that people watch the Super bowl just for the half-time performance and the commercials. The commercials for this year's program where not only funny, serious, and adorable but some were just down right sad. 
   Funny commercials included the Fiat ingesting a Viagra pill, Doritos pigs fly commercial and plane commercial, and Geico. I must say that the Fiat commercial was by far my favorite of the entire night, and the Doritos commercial that I chose (Spelling Bee) did not get chosen for the "Crash the Super Bowl" ad. The serious commercials included the "Like a Girl" and 100 years Dodge. The adorable ones, (always including at least one puppy) come from Budweiser, Nationwide, and Microsoft, just to tickle our heart strings. The sad yet completely awe-shocking ads included the Nationwide Child commercial. 
   For those who do not watch the Super Bowl for football, social media is a major outlet to let others know what they liked and did not like. There was more than 28 million tweets using #SuperBowl" and "#SB49. Facebook reported that 65 million of its users were talking about the game and that is was trending. Companies not only get the millions of eyes watching their commercials but they also get the behind the scenes social media action to boost their presence. I mean for millions of dollars for 30 seconds, I hope companies get a little more out of it than their 30 -60 seconds time slot. Over all I think it was a huge success for Companies because of all the watchers tweeting and posting their thoughts. In my mind not publicity on social media is bad publicity and word of mouth, or in this case word of computer is the most powerful form of publicity. Katy Perry was also trending because of her half time performance which boosts her popularity and makes her social media accounts sky rocket with follower requests. 
   To watch all the Super Bowl commercials you can find the link here, and a grading scale of the commercials: 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2350082-super-bowl-commercials-2015-grading-the-best-worst-ads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd3dvQE4Jl4