How Young is Too Young?

I was researching social networking for this weeks post and come upon this article about age restrictions for social media sites. 

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-11-02/tech/kids.social.networks_1_social-networking-sites-social-networking-facebook?_s=PM:TECH

 The articles talks about the age restrictions on sites like Facebook and Myspace.  The age limit is 13 years old for both Facebook and Myspace.  But, these sites do not have any way of checking the ages of the children to see if they really are of the “legal age” for the sites.

Now knowing that kids can have a social media account at who knows what age makes it kind of scary.  The Internet is a great device, but it is also filled with horrible websites and awful people.  I found several articles discussing cyber-bullying, which is harassment and directly attacking the person online.  One in five kids are bullied while online and teen suicide can be a direct result of the bullying.

My advice is to keep our younger brothers and sisters safe from dangerous sites online.  Be attentive of the social media they are involved in and what is being said on these sites.  Social media sites such as Facebook and Myspace are not always bad for kids, but they need to be using it properly.  Keep privacy settings updated, be their “friend” and know their passwords are little pieces of advice these websites were giving to keep parents and older siblings up to date.

Lastly, I saw a TV show the other day about a 14 or 15-year-old girl who killed herself because a “boy” she liked started bullying her on Myspace.  Come to find out the “boy” was a grown women whose daughter was being bullied by the young girl who killed herself.  The women made herself seem like a “cute boy” so she could get back at the girl for being mean to her daughter.  After seeing this show I was in complete shock.  I could not believe a grown woman would do such a thing. This example gives even more reason for parents to be aware of their child’s use of social media. 

Mariah's 1818 Social Media Campaign

I am currently employed as a server at Mariah’s 1818 restaurant in downtown Bowling Green.  My general manager Jodi Fleming has been on a social media kick for the past several months.  Her ultimate goal is to get 5,000 followers of Mariah’s on Facebook.  Currently she is at about 3,500, so her goal is not that far off. 

The purpose of this blog is not to promote Mariah’s and to get my fellow bloggers to follow Mariah’s on Facebook.  The purpose is to evaluate from my own personal experience if this has been a successful Marketing campaign for Mariah’s restaurant.

I want to start of by talking about how Jodi is using Facebook and Twitter to bring in customers.  She is posting coupons and specials on a daily basis for customers to see.  If you print off the coupon or show that you are a follower on Facebook/Twitter you automatically get 10% off for example, depending on the day. 

I have worked at Mariah’s for two years now.  November and December are usually the busiest months for the restaurant because of the holidays.  Last year, around this time the restaurant was not doing very well and weekends were even slow.  Since Jodi has been posting on Facebook/Twitter I have noticed an increase in business for even the slower months.  In my opinion Mariah’s social media campaign is definitely successful.  

"Building Brand Loyalty via Online Social Networking"

The first example of a successful social media marketing campaign that jumps out to me is the Nike+ iPod agreement.  This was established in May of 2006, which compacted a measuring device with Nike running shoes and Apple iPod’s.  This device measures how fast and how long you are running and update your iPod application so you can keep record of your workouts. 

As of 2008 there is not a sensory device needed as long as the gym equipment as a USB cord that can be attached to the iPod it will automatically update your application for each workout.  Our own school Western Kentucky University jumped on the bandwagon because all of our new gym equipment is equipped with the USB cords that are needed for the Nike+ iPod.

This has been a successful marketing campaigned because Nike teamed up with Apple/iPod and built an iPod/iPhone application for the devices.  In 2008 alone Nike grosses $56 million from the Nike+ products.  If Nike would have taken a different direction, I don’t know if it would have been as successful.  IPods and iPhones are the most popular music player and phones in the world. 

The link posted below is a business week article from 2008:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_46/b4108074443945.htm

SportsOneSource, a Princeton (N.J.) market research firm, says “Nike accounted for 48% of all running-shoe sales in the U.S in 2006. Today, its share is 61% (2008).”

After reading through the business week article it proved to me that Nike+ WAS and still Is a successful social media marketing campaign.  

Does social media help or hurt the job search process?

After reading the three articles that were assigned this week they all gave glory to social media with the job search process. 

Yes, I agree that social media sites such as Linkden can help employers find prospects and evaluate them even before an interview. This is because Linkden's main purpose is to connect job seekers with future employers.  

On the downfall, I think there are a lot of negative aspects that come along with social media sites and the job search process. 

Personal sites such as Facebook and Twitter could have an adverse effect on your reputation and the way employers view the job seeker.  Most people especially college students use Facebook and Twitter for personal reasons and catching up with friends and family.  They do not think about future employers looking at their pages.  College students do not filter their pictures and information as much as they should because they do not think about the future employers when updating personal sites.  This is how social media becomes a damaging aspect of the job search process for the future employee. 

My personal and business life are completely different and I do not want prospect employers judging me on what I did my freshman year of college.  That is why I took the advice from several different professionals to clean up my Facebook account. I updated my privacy settings and deleted past pictures that may not perceive me in the best light.

Overall, I do believe Linkden is a great social media site and a great way to connect with future employers.  I do not think personal sites such as Facebook and Twitter should be judged as harshly as some employers do, because they are used mostly for personal reasons. 

Social Media- Will it stay or will it go?

Is social media marketing a fad or is it here to stay? After watching the videos we were assigned the first week of class and reading the chapters in our books I definitely think social media marketing is here to STAY.  

Social media marketing is the easiest and cheapest way to market anything.  I was doing a little bit of research and found a website called mediapost.com.  There was an article about “social media moms”.  They polled 2,000 moms that were actively engaged in some sort of social media such as, Facebook, twitter or blogging.  Here are some results :

·      ONE in FOUR moms said they have purchased a children's product as a result of a recommendation from a social networking site or blog.

·      43% of active social media moms who use these sites ON A DAILY BASIS have purchased a children's product as the result of a recommendation from these sites.

·      40% of these moms made a purchase because of a Facebook recommendation

Link to website:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=143637

Like I said earlier, I do NOT think social media marketing is a fad, but I do believe some social media sites will come on strong then die out fast just like Myspace, when something better comes along (for example Facebook).  I think most of "us" being college students would have to agree.  Most of us probably had a Myspace when we were teenagers, then fell into the Facebook trap because it was the more popular site for older teenagers and adults.