Tweet Long and Prosper

The first thing I noticed when comparing the Westercon 67 Facebook page to the SLC Comic Con Facebook page is color. Westercon's page is black and white. There is no color and it's not captivating. SLC Comic Con's page not only has color in its cover and profile pictures, but the posts on its page include photos and memes that are engaging.

 

Apart from color,  one thing that stood out to me at first glance on SLC Comic Con's page is it tells me eight of my friends "like" the page and two of my friends have been to Comic Con in Salt Lake City before. Although this is a function of Facebook itself, it leverages the ties I have to those eight individuals. It goes back to that all too common thought, "Well if my friends are doing it, maybe I should too."

This element of the page draws upon weak ties to build new ties and strengthen existing relationships. This is something Westercon could improve--connect fans to people they know and help them recognize their common interests.

The next thing I noticed about the Comic Con Facebook page is the amount of images in the posts. Society is becoming increasingly visual, so content on social media needs to grab attention instantly to spark any kind of interaction.

This was one of my favorite images that Comic Con posted. Although it's not an original image that Comic Con's social media guru captured himself, it created a conversation. More than 1,200 people "liked" the image and more than 300 people left comments. Some of those comments included links to other websites or pictures to enhance the conversation.

This is just one example of an image someone posted as a comment. The point is that although the content Comic Con is putting out isn't 100 percent original, it's engaging and creating a conversation. Westercon needs to find a way to get people to talk about the same things. Westercon needs to be the bridge for communication among its fans and attendees.

Something that stood out to me on the Comic Con website is the number of contests it has:

 Comic Con rewards its Facebook fans and its Twitter and Pinterest followers. The convention gives away tickets to upcoming events in exchange for engagement. What a great way to encourage people to talk about you!

Ultimately, Comic Con doesn't do anything too out of the ordinary, but it capitalizes on its fan base and creates a bridge for people to find common interests and interact with one another. It is visually captivating on its Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages and asks its fans for interaction. These are all things that would be important to remember when doing Westercon's social media.

Selective Consumption

McLuhan's tetrad gives us a formula to analyze new forms of media. Rosenbaum used this tetrad to look at the ways in which the internet has changed the way we get news.

When I think about how I get my news, it's rarely from a print newspaper (getting the New York Times for free in the Brimhall is the only exception to me actually reading a physical paper). I usually get my news on Twitter.

This is just a screenshot of some of the news on my Twitter feed. I follow the New York Times, the Associated Press, CNN and other news sources. But I also follow sites like The Onion and Buzzfeed. With social media, I can pick and choose what kinds of things I want in my feed and whether or not I'm going to stop read them.

One thing Rosenbaum pointed out about blogs is that with blogs everyone has a news outlet. Anyone can start a blog and anyone can subscribe to blogs. With blogs, news is not only at your fingertips, but it is also in your hands and under your control.

Blogs offer a wide variety of topics. You can find extremely niche blogs about anything. I currently do a bit of freelance PR, where I build media lists for clients and find bloggers who might be willing to write about certain products.

I recently built a list for a client who was selling all-natural, Australian beef jerky. I was amazed at how many travel/adventure/camping/hiking blogs I was able to find with bloggers who might be willing to post about the product.

This is just one example of a blog that would be a good fit for the product. The breadth of topics for blogs is limitless, and there seems to be a blog for just about everything.

Visiting the tetrad, the internet gives people news faster, they are proactive about the news they consume and it requires active participation. Going beyond the internet as a source of news, we could look at social media and how it has impacted society.

Enhance: Connectivity, shared opinion, information transaction
Obselete: Physical interaction, formal conversation, accountability
Retrieve: Participation
Reverse: Responsibility, the way we build relationships

Rosenbaum concludes by saying because the internet has changed the way we get our news, marketers need to target their efforts so we will perceive their messages. Although this is the case, I think it applies to more than just marketers.

We all need to be aware of these changes in how we communicate. If we can understand how people are getting their news and how they are communicating with one another, we can start more conversations. We can build more connections and use those connections to improve our interactions and relationships as a whole.

Communities Are Not Dead--Even with Technology

Because of the growing nature of technology, people are more connected now than ever before. People have the ability to interact through social media accounts and online services, like Skype or Google Hangout.

With the increased use of technology as a form of social interaction in the U.S. and around the world, some argue that this dependence on technology actually deteriorates communities.

Jim Hightower said, “While all this razzle-dazzle connects us electronically, it disconnects us from each other, having us 'interfacing' more with computers and TV screens than looking at the face of our fellow human beings.”

In many ways, I see his point. Sometimes I find myself crawling into bed and spending an additional 30 minutes on my phone on social media before actually going to sleep.

Just looking around the room in my last class, I counted seven people within an arms-length away from me perusing Facebook or Pinterest.

Then you can factor in online games or video games that allow you to connect with people from across the country.

It is so easy to waste time on these online communities and justify it because we are connecting with our friends, or making new friends. Although I feel it is easy to waste time on social media, I do not necessarily agree that technology is completely tearing apart a sense of community.

The reading talks about how sociologists have worried about the persistence of community during every big shift in technology throughout history.

I agree that with the changes in technology, should come a new definition of the word "community." As technology helps people stay connected with one another, the word “community” shifts from being just a tightly-knit group of neighbors to a social network of people who may no longer live within close proximity of one another.

 Some may worry that staying connected online means disconnecting from the outside world. I think this is a possibility, but if used properly, social media and technology can help build communities through transitivity.

Social media communities allow us to not just connect with people we know directly, but to meet and interact with people through other people. 

Just over Christmas break, I was able to have an informational interview with a PR agency in New York. I made the connection through someone I met in person and then through social media. This connection was possible because of transitivity and technology. 

Furthermore, social media and technology allows people to meet others with similar interests from around the world. Doing a search in Twitter for "online communities," brings up several examples of groups of people with common interests that would have never been ale to meet without technology.

Here you can find the Twitter search results for an "online community."

Some of the results include: 

1. Gay Online Community

2. National Geographic Photography

3. Blacks in Technology

4. Serious Eats

5. Safety Community

So yes, it can be easy to get sucked into technology and forget to make connections in the real world. But it is also easier today to find people who are interested in the same things you are interested in. 

If you do it right, your social networks can grow through your individual connections and their connections. As your social networks grow, your own personal networks grow.

What Is Literature?

How can understanding what defines and comprises literature help us build better connections with the world? How can we build more networks by defining literature?

Literature creates a common language throughout the world. Think about the Bible. Here is an ancient text that has been translated into hundreds of languages and can be applied to almost any situation.

There are certain verses in the Bible that create a "foregrounding" of languages. These are verses that if you are given the first few words, you could come up with the remainder of the verse.

"For God so loved the world..."




 "...that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

I gave you the first six words, and I can imagine you came up with the rest of the verse. The verse is in the forefront of literature. And it's not just an LDS thing. You can find this verse printed on tattoos, in advertising and even on the bottom of Forever 21 shopping bags. 

"A two-edged sword"
"A drop in the bucket"
"A cross to bear"
"An eye for an eye"

All of these phrases are used commonly in the English language. This literature has created a conversation and has integrated into phrases we use everyday.

Culler helps us understand that literature can create conversation and it can infiltrate our daily jargon. The Bible is just one example of literature that brings people together and gives people a guide for shaping their lives.

So there we have it: literature is something that stands out. It creates conversation. It brings people together. It helps us build our networks as we find commonalities and ways to pattern our lives through the text.

Networks & Technology

Taking a stroll across campus will show a glimpse of the tech-dependent world today.  The sidewalks between buildings are always full of students listening to music on their phones, tweeting, texting or reading emails. Rising generations are frequently relying on technology to provide them quick and accurate information. From news applications to live Twitter feeds, people are looking to a variety of sources to find connections in the world around them.

Manuel Castells argues that this constant need for information is only met by a technological paradigm in society. Technology organizes the world and gives people the information they need to stay connected to each other, organizations, politics, pop culture and current events. These connections allow people to share experiences that provide more meaning in their lives.

The reading on how the Church was organized shows that people were connected and formed networks before a technological boom in society. It demonstrates how the early members of the church shared experiences. One line in the text says, "Belief in the Book of Mormon spread along family lines." In the 1800s, information spread much more slowly than it does today and it spread through first degree connections before it could reach others. Although this type of one-on-one communication worked for the people of Joseph Smith's day, it is not always realistic today.

Technology allows a speedy distribution of information that can reach first, second and third degree connections. Because the world is becoming increasingly chaotic, people need a structure that allows them to easily build and maintain their networks. They can find a structure through technology.