Chapter 5 Review "Marketing with Instagram"

I don't know much about Instagram, so I'm not sure if I should be considered an expert. Even though I see Instagram reels/videos on Facebook, I still don't understand its overall purpose. What I do understand it is a combination of Facebook and TikTok. It has fancy video and imaging design tools and the ability to make frequent posts, however dwarfing Facebook by the number of words you can post. There is also the hashtagging, which I can see being useful to find other related topics, but overall unnecessary. 

That was my take on Instagram, as for my understanding of Chapter 5. I can understand how Instagram can be a valuable tool for marketing. The chapter starts off very well by discussing the backstory of Instagram and its original purpose. I was originally unsure of its creation date and was very surprised that it was created very recently. I was aware of the acquisition by Facebook, obvious when looking at Facebook regularly. When it comes to marketing businesses, I was also generally surprised that it was very late to the party. Only programming business profiles in 2016, several years after its creation. I believe the chapter provided very good data on why Instagram is a useful tool for marketing, many people use it almost daily. The chapter provided specific sets of data that stated when a post should be posted, what days work the best, and how many people have already interacted with these posts. The videos imbedded within the chapter were really useful in my opinion when giving real-life examples of people/businesses using the platform to benefit their businesses. The uniqueness of this chapter, however, just felt like a repeat of the Facebook section. Some of the steps, like setting up a profile, seemed redundant with the addition of aspects only found on Instagram. 

Where there are similarities, there are differences between the two platforms. I must admit there are some unique qualities that Instagram has over Facebook. In some regards, Instagram is simpler and more efficient than Facebook. It is more picture/video-based, rather than post after post. There is also the ability to manipulate photos and videos which benefit advertising. The chapter finishes off by continually supporting its claims that Instagram is a great platform for marketing with its testimonies and success stories from Instagram users. Describing how their businesses have greatly benefited from their association with Instagram. 

Would I ever you Instagram, probably not. In my defense, I believe it to be a waste of valuable time. On the other hand, if someone else wants to use it, let them go right ahead. Where there are difficulties understand it, some people have mastered it and greatly benefited from it. 

ONU Life Poem #6 "Sun and Moon"

When I look up in the sky, I just don't see blue or black, but I see something more. I see a universe that is so big and wonderful. The endless sky of endless possibilities. However, It does make you feel small and insignificant. Still, like the universe, our minds are full of endless possibilities. We must look to the universe and understand that just because we feel small and insignificant, we should give up on living our lives by not doing much. We must explore the world, let our minds be full of creativity, and build new societies and customs. We must not waste our lives by watching videos or posts on social media. Looking at other people living their lives. We must take action in our own lives, and read and follow the great works/experiences of others. 

When I look at the sun, I feel pain and have to blink several times to make sure that I haven't gone blind. Of course, I'm just kidding. Still, when I look at the sun, I see warmth and comfort. I see guidance and opportunity. The sun allows the Earth to support life, by supporting life, it gives humanity a chance to grow and live meaningful lives. We could have had any other star in the universe, but we happened to get lucky. Our sun has supported humanity by providing food, drinking water, friendship, warmth, weather, and most of all, light. A beacon of sorts, to see the world around us and all of its beauties. Where the sun provides warmth and comfort, it can also provide us with a warning. No matter how endless the world may be, the sun allows us to see the world's more dangerous sides as well. The sun can allow us to avoid physical dangers, like a dangerous predator or a monstrous storm. It can be a symbolic warning, not to over-extend or rush yourself in your goal of conquering the endless possibilities of the universe. It may be far from Earth, but the sun still is a massive ball of burning gases that could blind you and rays that could burn you. Know your limits, but still be adventurous. 

When I see the moon, on the other hand. I see tranquility, peace, reflection, companionship, and a door to the universe. The moon is the lone companion to the Earth with amazing powers that affect our lives here on the planet. The moon's gravity provides waves/tides, allowing for calm travels across the oceans and the movement of life under them. The moon gives humanity light, especially in the dark times. Despite it having light, reflected from the sun, it doesn't reflect all of it. This allows us to get a glimpse of the vast universe we call home. The moon allows us not to worry about harmful radiation from the sun or blinding light. It opens our eyes to the galaxy we live in, showing that we aren't the only beings in this universe. The moon provides enough light so we can still see, but phases in and out so we can see the entire universe from our little blue dot. 

Next time you see the sun or moon, please be grateful for them. One gives us the ability to live and grow and the other opens our eyes to see more possibilities so we can continue to grow and live. 

My eyes open to the morning sun

Knowing that my day has only begun

I never feel alone or cold

I feel empowered and bold

Knowing that this light of hope will never be done

As the evening heralds the eternal moon

I know that this day will be over soon

Though I never lose sight

From the moonlit night 

Feeling ever curious like a raccoon

Chapter 4 Review "Marketing with Facebook"

It honestly feels like Facebook has always been part of our lives in some way or another. I know growing up in the middle of nowhere, Facebook provided a gateway out of isolation. Still, with every new technology, there are downsides as well. Still, Chapter 4 offers excellent knowledge on how to create a Facebook account for businesses. First off, the chapter provides a good introduction to the history of Facebook and its overall growth in the past fifteen years. Starting off as a platform for college students to interact with each other to conquer the world. 

Regarding setting up a page, the chapter hits the most important criteria like inserting a profile picture, including contact information, location of the business, and how long the business is in operation during the week. This section was pretty similar to setting up a personal profile, minus the hours of operation. Still, I really enjoyed how the chapter provided video instructions from Meta itself on how businesses can set up their accounts. This, in my opinion, provides actual real-life connections and reactions instead of just a crude checklist of information. Furthermore, the chapter provides businesses with advanced functions to help businesses be able to effectively check their posting activity and organize future posts. 

The last part of the chapter was pretty long and, to be frank, tiring. Despite being long, however, it did provide information on how to attract an audience. Which, the chapter encourages businesses to use dynamic language and emojis. It also provides video/picture commentary from Meta to set up videos, reels, live, and messenger. Some of these I have experience with myself, so I can see how they are very valuable tools in creating a business presence. The final points the chapter brings up are how to properly use Facebook ads and Facebook Zero. These are functions that I am new to, so this was quite the learning experience. In this portion, the chapter explains how it can help businesses target certain audiences based on certain criteria (gender, age, location, etc). Facebook Zero, I believe I hit a wall for this chapter. I'm honestly still confused about what this program is all about. 

I believe that this chapter was very informative and guided me along. While there were a few challenging aspects, I agree with what the chapter said. I also would like to look more at the eroding trust portion at the very end of the chapter. It seems to be very intriguing that the book would cover that subject. 

ONU Life Poem #5 "The Unicorn in our Lives"

During my time at ONU, I have discovered many things I would not have experienced if I had chosen a different path in life. For instance, I wouldn't have experienced some of the most "unique" food in MacIntosh Cafeteria. Besides that, something more positive I would have to say is one of the most promising experiences that I've had is all the people I have met. Whether it be upperclassmen, lowerclassmen, the professors, the staff, the nature around, and the people of the village of Ada. All of which have made great impacts on my life. All of these have been there to help me through my educational journey, from making sure I have food in the morning, to making sure I'm succeeding in my assignments. This community is one, unique experience that I'm proud to be a part of. 

However, my life will not stop at ONU. I plan to move on from this part of my life soon and make new discoveries. I will attempt to make it my mission to experience everything I can, from traveling the world to making new connections. Still, my greatest goal is to find the "unicorn of experiences". What I mean by "unicorn of experiences", I'm referring to finding the most unique or rarest of experiences. This could be anything from finding true love, obtaining exponential wealth, discovering the secrets of the universe, and so on and so on. I don't know for certain what my "unicorn of experiences" is, but I know it is important that I find it while I'm still in this fascinating world of ours. I hope it has something to do with nature, it could be discovering a new bird species, helping a whale, or having tea with a squirrel. Who knows. However, for this experience to be unique and rare. It must be pure and graceful in some manner. It needs to be wholesome and true, not something that can easily be done. It has to be deep, with a clean heart, mind, and soul. When the time comes for such an experience, I hope I can recognize it. Before I finish this, I hope that one of you finds you're unique and pure life experience. Something that can make you proud of your life in this unique world of ours. Whatever your dream is, just live it and see where it takes you. 

Deep in the forest, I walk

Nothing in the trees, not even a hawk

Then in the bushes, I see

A calm white horse, it could be

A heavenly creature, trampling the hemlock

A white horse, standing in my sight

With a silver horn, gleaming in the moonlit night

My heart fills with grace and hope

A pure creature, it's hard to cope

My eternal future life now looks ever so bright

Chapter 3 Review "Social Media Marketing Strategy and Social Media Advertising"

When reading through Chapter 3 of Essentials of Social Media Marketing, this chapter was very informative on how to find your target audience and build off of that. As a political science major, I can how some of the marketing methods relate to politicians trying to sell themselves to the electorate. The first method of finding the target market and creating a customer persona seemed simple and straightforward. A company needs to sell its products/services, so discovering the right customer and creating a model based off of that is very beneficial and crucial. It then moves over to conducting an audit to see what social media platform to invest in and what times are the best to release advertisements. Furthermore, this very much leads to setting up goals and objectives for a company to reach. Also determining the metrics involved, how many people like, comment, share, and purchase from the social media site. The next step is obvious when it comes to setting up a strategy. A company needs to create and assign roles to each and every member of their staff, even outsourcing if need be. 

The next five steps are basically setting up an advertisement on a social media site, which is really fascinating and obvious at the same time. The sixth step is setting up a tone, what voice goes well with a specific item being sold, and the audience on the site. The next step after that is choosing the right platform that best suits the company. Whether it be Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or YouTube. A company needs to be very careful when it comes to which platform will give them the best chance to attract more customers and increase their profits. The next step is basically utilizing every aspect of the platform/site, which makes sense. The eighth step looks at how often a company should post new content, and what times work best based on the audit information. I know what it's like to be bombarded with constant advertisements from companies at certain periods. That's something that can't be stopped. The next step basically is a continuation of the last, by setting up a calendar to release certain content at a certain time. Finally, the last step is right after an advertisement has been posted. It is the tracking of it across cyberspace, collecting the data of how many times it has been seen, and how many people have interacted with it. All steps are pretty understandable for a non-media marketing expert like me. 

The last few sections in this chapter talk about how to use the data collected and how to properly use a social media site for advertising. Most of the information was pretty understandable, including how to find the right audience, refresh old or poor-performing ads, and continually monitor metrics and other data. I believe this a was suitable chapter and provided a great amount of useful information. Step-by-step instructions and being simple for beginners. 

ONU Life Poem #4 "Squirrels Galore"

 

Before you stop reading this post and start thinking I'm "squirrely", I'm not going to spend this blog explaining why squirrels are cute and fluffy. No, there is a lot more I wish to cover that doesn't relate to the many squirrels on campus. Still, the squirrels on campus are quite interesting. I'm sure many have seen and commented about the squirrels on campus. "Why are there so many squirrels" or "Why are they digging in the trash" are probably some of the questions being asked. However, the squirrels on campus and squirrels in general are fascinating creatures and should be considered in a different light. When I go on my morning walks around campus, I enjoy seeing the many aspects of nature. That includes the squirrels that jump around on the ground and scurry up the trees. It makes you wonder why they're here, to begin with. What makes them unique from the other creatures on campus. From a young age, I have always been intrigued by all kinds of creatures, whether they be the tree frogs in the Amazon or the mighty, gentle whale shark of the ocean. When I see squirrels, I just see another bit of creation that needs to be learned from and respected. 

Going back to my question, what makes squirrels unique. I believe what makes them unique is their curiosity and the many personalities they can take. I have seen many squirrels while on my walks, many of which are hesitant to be outside while others dare to brave the environment and travel for miles whether it be in the trees or on the ground. They made quite a staple on this campus, whether it be rooting around in the trash cans. Scavenging the waste of students, whose eyes are bigger than their stomachs. No offense. Also, the myth surrounding some of them. If you see a squirrel with a short tail before an exam, you will pass that exam. The opposite is if you see a short-tailed squirrel after an exam, you will most likely fail. However, that is just of superstitious campus legend that doesn't really affect your grade. Good grades come through studying and hard work preparing for the exam. Still, if you're a wee bit superstitious like me, I would go looking for a short-tailed squirrel the day before an exam. As I finish my piece, I just wanted to say that we need to look at the nature around us with a different light each time. Everything here was put here with a purpose, whether or not it was meant for humanity. Everything is connected in the great circle of life, we must learn to respect its processes. This includes respecting the squirrels on campus. They have a role and it's our job to let them complete that role. 

Jumping high in the tree

The squirrel lives happy and free

Collecting its sticks and nuts

Most likely acorns and walnuts

Living its life peacefully, wouldn't you agree

Small creatures, squirrels are

They still have a big impact, near and far

From planting more trees

To raking in autumn leaves

They are one of nature's all-stars

Podcast with a Social Media Expert

 

I never thought making a podcast would be easy, and apparently it is. It was a new experience, and I am hesitant to do another. Still, I rather enjoyed this podcast and the interview I conducted with an expert in the field of social media and communications. I was pleased that she was able to participate and explain her knowledge of social media to me and others who will be listening to the podcast. 

In the podcast, I introduce Hannah Brown, a director of media for a company called Oodle in Cincinnati. Before that, she was a graduate of Ohio Northern University, obtaining a degree in public relations and social media studies. As a political science major, I was very insightful to hear from a person who studied at another college. In the interview, I asked her what her definition of social media was. Her answer was the typical answer most people would say when to define social media. This answer is that it allows people to connect with one another over large distances, greatly benefiting society and facilitating the globalization of new beliefs and ideas. I agreed with her definition, even though not being an affluent user of social media. Facebook is where I draw the line. We continued by discussing what platforms she was well acquainted with. Instagram is her primary platform, because of the many ways it can be used and how it can be easily accessed. Still, she gives high marks to TikTok for its reach to a wider audience. We then discussed what are the good sides of social media, as well as the bad sides. She explained that it has become a useful tool to help people communicate, families in particular, over large distances. She also credited the usefulness of social media to spread new ideas/customs, like business advertisements. When it came to the negatives of social media, she leaned towards the harmfulness of opinions, and how they can negatively influence the minds. Especially when it comes to politics and the spread of false information. 

In the last few minutes, we discussed what she thought of new platforms arising and the fall of others. She explained that it is quite common for platforms to be taken over by larger and newer companies. MySpace, she brought up as an example from the past. She also brought up the political situation of TikTok being banned in the United States. How politics can affect the longevity of a platform's existence. Finally, we discussed the future of social media and the possibility of a world without social media. She explained that it would be nice to live in a world without social media (I would agree also) but it would be hard for the younger generations to adapt to such a society. Especially since this younger generation was raised with such modern technologies. In my opinion, I would have to agree with her statement on this topic. First-hand experience tells me that the younger population in the world today wouldn't be able to survive a minute without social media, let alone a decade. 

I really enjoyed this podcast interview. However, I don't think I will plan on making another one again for the rest of my life. Still, the future is unexpected, and new ideas may arise to give me the boost to make an official one. 

Here is the link to the podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2SI5y0xHVpIbD40Dre5euc?si=2Xjsfm9xRu6PC3SIYwIfSg 

ONU Life Poem #3 "The Land of Ice and Snow"

The first thing you probably think of when you hear the word snow or ice, your mind will go to think about slippery sidewalks, ice-covered roadways, stalling car batteries, heavy clothing, and so on and so on. Still, there is much more than the negatives to winter weather. The winter season provides many wonderful opportunities. Opportunities include exploring a new world with new understandings of the nature around you. The idea of a white winter may come only once a year or even once an hour depending on the weather pattern for that day. We must not always look at winter with such disgust or salty expressions. Like the other four, we must remember that this season can provide some benefits. The snow offers groundwater and streams with plenty of fresh water for the spring season, giving rise to the many flowers and crops that everyone relies on and cherishes. If you still don't like the cold and wandering through snow, just take comfort inside. One must always remember there are always chores to do, no matter what season. Furthermore, a nice cup of hot tea and chocolate around a warm (or digital) fireplace can bring people closer to loved ones or hobbies. If the weather was nicer, you probably would be out and about, but here you can relax and be yourself for a while. Wait, before you lift your phone or remote, think about the other things you could be doing. You could always be reading a book, playing a board game, crafting, or even cooking. Activities that could put the mind to good use, instead of always having it at rest. 

Still, there are plenty of activities one could be doing outside in the cold and unusual world brought by the winter season. One of the activities I do is to go outside after sunset on a clear day and just stargaze. No matter the season, the movement of stars and planets is always a constant reminder that we are on a small speck of dust somewhere in a vast universe. We must not take anything for granted, the winter season is a gift and probably a rare sight on other worlds out in the Milky Way. When it comes to why I still stargaze in the winter is that somehow, the sky looks a whole lot bigger when snow covers the ground. It almost feels like I am standing in a foreign world, with a new landscape surrounding me. All providing a unique view of the universe around me. However, the night sky is only one slice of why I believe winter is still a great season. The pure white color of the snow, the animals wandering through it, and the ability to have fun in it. We are given one Earth and aren't we all lucky that we have this planet to call home, providing a variety of reasons that are maybe one of a kind. Let's all remember that winter, even with its drawbacks, is still a wonder reminder of the beauty of our planet and we can find some enjoyment out of it. 

Cold the day may be

Anger is not the emotion to see

The snow-covered world can be fun

Your daily plans don't have to be done

Snow can provide entertainment for free

Winter is nature's gift for all

Whether it be eventful or dull

Look at the environment around

Whether it be in the sky or on the ground

Winter's gift will always be on-call