Photography Final

My best pictures i've taken this semester. Thanks for looking!

Tweets Week of 4/3/14

Tweets Week of 3/28/14

Week of 3/17/14 (make-up)

Westercon Tweets- 3/13/14

Tweets for 3/6/14

I scheduled tweets on the hootsuite account before it got closed out. The tweets were about 1) online vs. paper resumes, 2) kids and their reading 3) a retweet from an author about a story.

Writing Excuses Podcast

Where do you go as an adult to get more education about writing?

• Writing and writing and writing (practice) is a good technique, but the best writers are those who practice the right techniques and perfect them.
• Be able to recognize your mistakes and improve it-writing workshops can help you with that!
• At any point in your career, you can still gain benefits from going to a teacher, writing workshop, or writing group.
• At these writing shops sometimes they articulate something you already know, but they take it from the known part of your brain to the verbal part of your brain so that you can then pass it on to someone else.

·      Valuable work shops:

•  Clarion and Clarion west—6 weeks long and each week you have a different guest instructor.
•  Literary Boot Camp
• Bible Paradise
• Norwestcon: professionals critique your story
• Writing Superstars: a lot of business related stuff
• Odyssey
• Towst Tool Box: deals with novel and short stories
• Launchpad: NASA funded
• Writing Excuses
• I Should Be Writing

·      Online resources:

•  SFWA.org-information center that has nuts and bolts of writing
• Turkey City Lexicon: the said-book-ism, where everything is ‘she said brightly’: a list of phrases that are talking about common mistakes. An enummarted list of writing pitfalls.
• Magicalwords: a group blog
• Book view cafe:

·      A word about workshops:

•   It takes a while to internalize the tools that you learn at workshops. If you go to one of these workshops, recognize that things will be hard because you have new tools.
• You will learn dozens of things, take 3 post-it notes and write three lessons that you have learned and focus on those things. Once you have mastered those things, you can pull it off and put on another one.
•  Start with what is most difficult for you and that is where you will make the most progress.

Blog Post Restoring American Communities

3. One form of social capital is official membership in volunteer organizations. According to Putnam, there are three main types of volunteer organizations in American society: (1) Community-based organizations, (2) church-based organizations and (3) work-based organizations. Which of these types of organizations do you get most involved with? 

Out of these types of organizations I get the most involved with 1) Community-based organizations and 2) church-based organizations.

My husband and I volunteer at an organization called IRC. We help tutor refugees for two hours on Saturdays. These refugees are taken from their war-torn countries and are relocated in Salt Lake City. We love being with the refugees and making new friends. We even share these fun times on Facebook and Instagram with our friends because they are so important to us.

We are also planning the World’s Largest Pillow Fight (I think I have mentioned this in class already). It is really cool how social media allows us to spread the word and gather donations. The IRC websites even lets people do their own DIY projects and make their own pages through their websites.

Community involvement has been able to grow quicker and farther because of social media. We are able to share our causes, ask for help and show progress. Social capital will continue to grow because of the web and social media. 

The second way I get involved with social capital is through church-based organizations. Growing up in the church we are always doing volunteer/service projects. One of the recent ways I have been able to do volunteer work (in the broad sense of the phrase) is through family search. My husband and I are taking a family search class at church and we are learning the skills to do genealogy and do ordinances for people. The church has been able to leverage the internet to for volunteer opportunities. 

I have been able to be involved in many volunteer opportunities and have been able to offer those same opportunities through others through the internet and social media. We have been given powerful tools and it is cool to see the opportunities that come from using them!

Alone Together Blog Post

1.     Could online interactions successfully replace in-person interactions?

No I don’t think that we as human beings, or our society could function if online interactions were to replace in-person interactions. I found an interesting study that describes how baby monkeys do without interaction:

“He happened upon the findings in the mid-fifties, when he decided to save money for his primate-research laboratory by breeding his own lab monkeys instead of importing them from India. Because he didn’t know how to raise infant monkeys, he cared for them the way hospitals of the era cared for human infants—in nurseries, with plenty of food, warm blankets, some toys, and in isolation from other infants to prevent the spread of infection. The monkeys grew up sturdy, disease-free, and larger than those from the wild. Yet they were also profoundly disturbed, given to staring blankly and rocking in place for long periods, circling their cages repetitively, and mutilating themselves.

In a later study on the effect of total isolation from birth, the researchers found that the test monkeys, upon being released into a group of ordinary monkeys, “usually go into a state of emotional shock, characterized by . . . autistic self-clutching and rocking.” Harlow noted, “One of six monkeys isolated for three months refused to eat after release and died five days later.” After several weeks in the company of other monkeys, most of them adjusted—but not those who had been isolated for longer periods. “Twelve months of isolation almost obliterated the animals socially,” Harlow wrote. They became permanently withdrawn, and they lived as outcasts—regularly set upon, as if inviting abuse.”

I think this study shows how dangerous life without human interaction can be. People can go crazy. I think making online interactions our top priority will be dangerous for us as people, and our society.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande

2.     Can robots/technology replace human interactions?

From the same study above, there was another great example that pertains to this question. At first, Harlow and his graduate students couldn’t figure out what the problem was. They considered factors such as diet, patterns of light exposure, even the antibiotics they used. Then, as Deborah Blum recounts in a fascinating biography of Harlow, “Love at Goon Park,” one of his researchers noticed how tightly the monkeys clung to their soft blankets. Harlow wondered whether what the monkeys were missing in their Isolettes was a mother. So, in an odd experiment, he gave them an artificial one.

In the studies, one artificial mother was a doll made of terry cloth; the other was made of wire. He placed a warming device inside the dolls to make them seem more comforting. The babies, Harlow discovered, largely ignored the wire mother. But they became deeply attached to the cloth mother. They caressed it. They slept curled up on it. They ran to it when frightened. They refused replacements: they wanted only “their” mother. If sharp spikes were made to randomly thrust out of the mother’s body when the rhesus babies held it, they waited patiently for the spikes to recede and returned to clutching it. No matter how tightly they clung to the surrogate mothers, however, the monkeys remained psychologically abnormal.

Even in this study it shows how the monkeys needed a mother-a personal interaction. The cloth dolls were better for the monkeys than the wire dolls. They felt the cloth and it felt more like a real interaction than the wire dolls. I think this is also true for us. Typing a status, getting likes on a photo, or tweeting out something witty will never replace the satisfaction that comes from other humans in in-person interaction: a kiss, a hug, a high five, a smile. Those interactions give us as human beings a deep sense of belonging.

3.     Are you in control of your electronics, or are they in control of you? Give some examples.

I feel like these days our electronics are in control of us. Every thing we do we do with a phone in our hands, headphones in our ears, or a laptop on our laps. We are always connected-sharing instagram pictures, updating our statuses, tweeting etc. The first thing I do every morning is check my email and get on instagram, and the same thing before I go to bed. It is that constant connectivity that controls our day, our habits and our lifestyle. How many times do we see people get up and leave class because they are getting a phone call? While yes that call may be very important, the buzzing device controls us and becomes more important that class-than school! Electronics are definitely controlling us.

4.     Do you prefer texting or calling?

I prefer different methods of communication depending on when and where I am. It is so convenient to send a text when we are in groups of people. Or when I don’t have time to make a phone-call. But when I need to catch up with someone or relay a lot of information I feel like a phone call is my preferred method of communication.

James Goldberg	A BYU English professor. Has a relatively small following on Twitter (113), but a large influence in the blog world-- Mormon Midrashim
Salman Rushdie	An extremely famous author who has connections with the writing world.
Margaret Blaire Young	A BYU professor, a Filmmaker, an author who has a lot of influence in the Mormon writing sphere.
Brandon Sanderson	60k twitter followers, writer
Eric James Stone	A Nebula Award winner and Hugo Award nominee, Eric James Stone has been published in Year's Best SF and Analog, among other venues. He has over 1,000 twitter followers and has influence in the professional writing community.
Jonathon penny
Steven peck
Mormon Lit Blitz	A Mormon Literature contest
Fire In the pasture	Blog for Mormon Poetry
By Common Consent	5,100 Twitter followers

Tweets & Facebook Posts

Our group was supposed to focus on professionals, who are interested in writing/becoming writers.

Here is the research I did on Goole Adwords.

Chelsee
Writing	282000000	49500	5696.96
Writing Prompts	15200000	40500	375
How to write a book	833000000	27100	30738
Freelance writing jobs	20600000	14800	1391
Creative Writing	269000000	9900	27171
Technical Writing	175000000	9900	1767
Writing Contests	542000000	8100	66913.6
Writing a book	1120000000	6600	16969
Freelance writing	29700000	4400	6750
writers workshop	28700000	4400	6522
writing tips	337000000	3600	93611
how to become a writer	594000000	2900	204827
writing conferences	88200000	480	183750

From this data, here are the tweets I would suggest tweeting at these professionals:

Interested in writing? Come learn from some of the best. @westercon67 #brandonsanderson 

Want to start writing but don't know where to start? Come listen to how Brandon Sanderson did it. @westercon67 #writersunite #writingconvention

Come learn about writing, editing, publishing and more at @westercon67. #writersunite @brandonsanderson 

Everything you need to know about writing in one place. Join us for @westercon67! #writingconvention #getinspired

Stop daydreaming and start doing with us @westercon67. #writing #editing #publishing

@westercon67 is the perfect place to brainstorm for your next novel. #writersunite #writingconvention 

Enter our fantasy fiction writing contest to win free tickets to @westercon67, a convention for writers like you! 

Itching to go to a writing convention and meet other aspiring and professional writers? @westercon67 is the place for you. #writing 

Ever feel like there isn't enough time in the day to write? Come make time at the @westercon67 writers convention. #writersunite #maketimeforwriting

Come learn from genius writers. They will inspire you for sure. @westercon67

Facebook Posts:

Sometimes you might feel like you are under appreciated as a fiction writer. Come meet and get inspired by others just like you at Westercon67. 

Here at @westercon67 are so excited for ComicConSLC this weekend! Comment your favorite thing about ComicConSLC and we will pick 2 lucky winners for free passes to @westercon67. Ready, GO!

Brandon Sanderson's new book is coming out this weekend (March 4th), go check it out and you can get an idea of what you'll be getting at the @westercon67 writers convention! http://brandonsanderson.com/books/the-stormlight-archive/words-of-radiance/

Today (March 6) is World Book Day! Read a book, get inspired, start writing your own, and then sign up for @westercon67 writing convention. http://www.worldbookday.com/

Happy birthday to Dr. Seuss today! Want to become a fantastic poet/writer? Sign up for @westercon67 today. Our guest speakers have what it takes to make you great!

Frozen & Doritos = The Art of Immersion

How have social media and the Internet changed the way businesses (and more specifically, the entertainment industry) approach marketing and advertising? In what ways has social media changes the way fans can interact or get involved with a television show or movie?

One of the best examples I have seen of this social media phenomenon is Frozen. First off, Frozen did a great job at making very catchy and memorable trailers. They made several different teasers for the Internet that drew a lot of attention to the up and coming movie. A lot of these trailers went viral. The Internet has allowed for businesses and movies to utilize their owned media a lot more than used to be available. With these different trailers, Disney then put them up on their social media accounts. This was a very cheap way for Disney to get their media/trailers/news out to their fans. These trailers spread because of fan-based spreading. Those who were excited would share them and soon enough there was a lot of hype about the movie Frozen. 

Social media has also made it a lot easier for fans to interact with movies--and in this case Frozen. There were a lot of very positive reviews about the music in Frozen. Then a few weeks after the movie came out with some exciting news:

Even more hype was drawn to the movie because of the announcement of a musical. Fans were really excited. 

Since the movie has come out, people have been inspired by the music and because of social media have been able to show off that inspiration. Youtube is full of Frozen Music covers. Social media has allowed people to create their own #frozenmusic and share it with the world and with Disney. 

How has social media allowed the entertainment industry to shift more of the load of advertising and marketing to the consumers?

This example has been used in class before, but it is perfect! Doritos really figured out how to make their consumers a direct part of their advertising--they had them make their advertisements! By having their own customers be their advertising creators they could spend significantly less time, energy and money on coming up with their own ideas for their superbowl commercials. The contest has been wildly successful and has a crazy number of participants every year. 

The creativity has been shifted from Doritos to their customers and fanatics. What a brilliant way to have customers show their brand loyalty. 

2014:

2013:

Hot or Not? Why Some Things Go Viral on Social Media.

1. Why does media spread?

      Virality on social media is an interesting topic and a difficult thing to achieve. What is it that make articles/videos/photos spreadable? Why does certain media reach that point of virality while other media doesn’t? While doing a project for The Foundation for a Better Life last semester we came up with these ideas:

HOW TO MAKE SOMETHING GO VIRAL:

One of the most important factors when trying to make something go viral is headline. Your headline has to have some type of curiousity gap that makes the reader or watcher interested to keep tuning in. Don’t give it all away in the headline. You must frame everything: the share image, the share text, the excerpt, and the headline. You have to be careful in the way you choose to word something. For example, the same story was shared with two different headlines and had totally different results. The video with the headline “Zach Walls Speaks About Family” reached 1 million views, while the same video with the headline “Two Lesbians Raised a Baby and This is What They Got” reached 17 million views. Frame things in a way that is interesting to the audience.

Talk about things that encourage desirable impressions. Making something go viral has nothing to do with the messenger, but with the message. Share original content. Everyone loves raw, human, honest moments. You can’t fake authenticity...people love and share it. Make sure your website shares properly to allow people to share from there. Use Google and Facebook analytics to see what people are interacting with the most. People share the most on Facebook. Even if you do it right on Twitter, you can only make a small dent. Optimize your content to be really clicky on Facebook.

The first ideas about having a catchy headline is SO important. This has been around since the beginning of media. Newspapers use this same technique—write a catchy headline that captures your readers attention so they keep reading. But it is so true! Here are a few examples I have seen recently on social media of catchy—even racy headlines that make you WANT to read/watch.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/02/divorce-story-_n_4509005.html

http://jarridwilson.com/why-im-getting-a-divorce-in-2014/

2.   How can media engagement be valuable?

When consumers feel like a company listens to them they are more willing to see them as a trustworthy source and as a valuable provider. In an article on clickz.com Shari Cleary VP of Viacom Entertainment Group gave this example concerning engagement:

 I asked Shari to bring it alive for the Pivotcon audience by giving us a real example of how fans engage today. She used Comedy Central's, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" to illustrate how fans get engaged in advance of a show by tweeting about guests who have been announced, then chatting on Twitter and Facebook during the airing of segments on TV. They can also catch full episodes using the app the next morning when going to work on the train. They can post online or on Facebook platforms after the show. Plus, there are the traditional Nielsen ratings.

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2302252/how-media-companies-are-learning-from-social-conversation-for-always-on-engagement

3.    What constitutes meaningful participation?

How do brands allow their consumers to become engaged in a meaningful way? Starbucks does a really great job of this! They have an incredible social media presence and fabulous brand loyalty because they have learned how to engage their consumers in a meaningful way.

Starbucks gave their keys to success in creating meaningful participation:

a.     It’s about relationships, not marketing.

                                               i.     April fools day

b.     Social media fits within a larger digital strategy

                                              

  http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/community/starbucks-red#/cd   

c.      Make it clear where to start

d.     Look around the corners

e.     Be authentic

f.      Build coalitions

g.     If it doesn’t maktter on twitter, it doesn’t matter.

h.     Focus on the four responses.

i.       Take chances, but be mostly right.

j.       An economic meltdown is a terrible thing to waste.

4.  What is the most effective way to spread media?

The most effective way to spread media is to have valuable content. I have seen several videos floating around my Facebook that have valuable and significant content. If you don’t have significant content then you can try to intrigue people with clever titles, pictures, or summaries of what your content is about. But, for media to be truly successful it needs to have meaningful content: stories of the underdog, stories of heroism, unbelievable acts of kindness, stories that restore our faith in humanity. All of these types of stories get posted and shared because they strike some of our human emotion chord. Here are a few examples from the past few weeks:

http://damn.com/p/this-video-my-beautiful-woman-will-touch-your-heart-like-never-before-must-watch/

5.   Is humor simply a matter of taste or is it a vehicle?

Humor can definitely be a vehicle. When someone finds something funny online and they want to share it they always write something along the lines of ‘this is so funny, you have to watch it!’. That right there is a vehicle The humor is carrying it farther and enticing people to share it.

Target—has 178,683 likes and 29,000 shares. The humor is the vehicle.

This meme has 179,000 likes and 29,000 shares. Why are people sharing this? Because they can relate to it and because they think it is funny. Humor is the vehicle for this particular meme and many more like it. 

About four years ago this news story went viral on social media. Shortly there after there were spoofs and remixes of this news story and today almost any body would understand the phrase 'hide yo kids hide yo wife' and they would know the source of it. Why did this particular news story go viral? Because of the humor (although it was unintended humor) in it. People were sharing it like crazy saying how funny and how hilarious it was. Everybody was watching it! The humor was the vehicle. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8u4BiKGNP0

6. How is timely controversy a factor in spreading media?

If something is timely, and it is a new hot topic, people are more willing to learn more and inform others of it. They want to read the hot news and share it with all of their friends so they look like the one of the first people to make something go viral. New topics spread like wildfire across the media especially when they are controversial.

For instance, last week on the biggest loser finale the winner ended up weighing only 105 pounds! She had lots way more than 50% of her former self. Many people were questioning whether or not her methods were safe and whether or not her body weight was healthy enough. Stories about her went viral in a controversial social media battle about weight. Only a few days later articles starting being shared defending the biggest loser winner. This article spread because it was a hot controversial issue. With out the former story, this story would have gone no where, it would have had no context. It is completely dependant upon the hot controversial issue for its viral success.