January 26th: Social Media Finding Their Niche

The ways in which we communicate continue to grow and develop as we not only create new and innovative ways to connect, but also advance the ways in which we use existing media.

In a recent report by the Pew Research Center, the 2014 report on social media usage revealed some very interesting insight into the most popular social networks and the demographics who use them most frequently.

Facebook was discovered to be the most “popular” social media site, with 71% of internet-using adults having accounts. At first glance, this appears to put Facebook at the forefront of the social media world, but, upon further inspection, this may not be the case. The 71% from 2014 is exactly the same as it was in 2013, which seems to indicate that there has been no growth in Facebook activity in the past year.

While Facebook remains consistently popular, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest all saw spikes in total percentage of use, with Pinterest seeing a heavily female bias. This seems to indicate that, while not matching the sheer numbers of Facebook, other social media are continuing to reach a meaningful audience and spread use of their applications.

Most interesting to me, though, was the proliferation of “multi-platform use,” which increased by ten percent from 42% to 52% this year. This means that more and more, users are choosing to diversity their content consumption and production to different platforms.

What this indicates is that there is a shift from the ideas of social media when they were first gaining traction to now. It used to be that the purpose of a social network was to house any and all elements of social life. Facebook was the home base for all chatting, photo and video sharing, networking, and resume building. Now, you have the opportunity to create a Facebook profile to house your “friends,” an Instagram account for photos, a LinkedIn for your professional growth, and Pintrest as your crafting showcase. Lest we forget Twitter as the place to engage with life’s daily activities, all of a sudden social media become less of a website to visit and spend time on, and instead turn into the outlet for which we share our lives, as well as consume the lives of those in our communities.

Some like to claim that Facebook is dying. I don’t really believe that to be the case. What we use Facebook for is changing, and Facebook has, since it’s inception, been fairly clear about their desire to keep up with the demands of its users. Facebook has turned into your homepage. We don’t consider the time we spend on Facebook because we are so often using it as a launching point for other websites. We click on videos that take us to YouTube. We click on articles that take us to blogs and news sites. We click on photos that take us to Instagram feeds. To say that Facebook is no  longer viable is to ignore the central purpose of Facebook, which is to catch the things that will be most especially interesting to you.

As these trends continue, we should expect to see continued push for specialized media that attempt to target a specific niche clientele. The expression “you can’t be everything to everybody” is proving especially true, and has created the opportunity for specialized networks, rather than catch-all social environments.

In the grand scheme of things, social media are still brand new. We are very much learning how to use them both to get our messages out, as well as to receive messages that we find personally meaningful. We will continue to see more and more people using multiple social media at the same time, while also seeing the prevalence of niche apps competing against “catch-alls” like Facebook. While none will match the sheer population of the Zuckerberg giant, each will have more impact within the specialized community that is more thoroughly engaged with the site.

February 9th - America the Beautiful

American politics are screwed up, and they aren’t getting better. Republicans don’t want to talk to Democrats, and, frankly, Democrats aren’t that interested in talking to Republicans. The government can’t seem to agree on anything, and it doesn’t look like the American people are getting along any better than their politicians.

On the other side of the world, though, something big is happening. 230 men and women are going to compete in the Olympic Games. They are doing so not as individuals, but as representatives of the United States of America.

This year’s games, taking place in Sochi, Russia, carry with them a significance far beyond simply athletic prowess. The post-USSR Russian government is not in a good place, using the guise of democracy to overshadow an inherently corrupt system. This might have gone unnoticed, until some logistical pieces of the games started to fall apart. Running “water” came out looking more like iced tea than anything else, doors wouldn’t open, rooms weren’t well put together. Overall, the accommodations were a mess.

That would have been bad enough, but things didn’t get any better when some reporters started doing some digging on other Russian behaviors. Like, the notion of putting men in jail for being homosexual. All of a sudden, protests were going up, calling for all sorts of action, from sanctions to boycotts, all attempting to boldly protest the crimes that Russia has committed against its people.

This isn’t the first time the Olympics have served as a staging ground for the world’s conflicts. The 1936 games were held in Berlin, Germany, at a time when Germany was well on its way to starting the most atrocious act of hate in recent history. The 1980 Olympics held in Lake Placid, New York featured the bitter rivalry between the United States and USSR, culminating in the “Miracle on Ice” hockey championship. In both cases, political situations almost led to boycotts of the games, and in both cases the Americans competed. The result? An African American man winning a gold medal in Hitler’s home and an band of Americans showing the Russians that they’re dominance will be short-lived.

For the next two weeks, Americans will once again be on foreign soil, competing for medals and the rights to claim athletic superiority. There is, though, so much more at stake than awards and accolades. The United States is defending a way of living, a freedom, and an idea. We are defending the right to freedom, the right to be a light unto the nations.

Americans are not unified. We don’t agree on a great many things. We don’t agree on the way we should run our government, or the line between where my liberties end and the liberties of another begin. We can’t seem to agree on much of anything. With one major exception: we live in a country that allows us to fight for what we believe. Our rights are defended, and there is a civilized way of fighting for what we want.

There are 230 Americans in Sochi. I don’t know what they believe about homosexuality, healthcare, government spending, or guns (well, maybe with the exception of the biathlon competitors). I don’t really care. What they’re doing there, what they’re saying by being there, is that America, the country they represent, is alive and well, and we are ready to be a presence on the global stage.

There is a difference between being an American and the idea of America. America is something we all believe in. America is an idea. And we have to come together, most especially for the next few weeks, to support America as it represents us, each and every one of us, on the world’s stage.

December 4th: Polar Pops

One of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time just got a whole lot bigger.

Introduced for the first time as early as the 1920s, the polar bear has been a mainstay in Coca-Cola’s advertising campaigns. The ads spun off into a campaign with the World Wildlife Fund to help protect the bears, creating something of a symbiotic relationship between the advertisers and the furry friends that have helped to launch the company into the hearts of billions of people around the globe. Through the over 80 years of polar bear-based Coke ads, the animation and characterization has changed and developed, advancing as technology allows. Now, they are ready to take yet another step forward in the hopes of selling their iconic brand.

A short, six minute movie has been produced, featuring the Coca-Cola polar bears. Yes, that is how they are introduced. At first glance, it would be totally reasonable to believe that it is simply a children’s movie with polar bears as the protagonist, but within moments, Coke removes all doubt of their stamp on the film.

This is a brilliant move on the part of the Coca-Cola Company for several reasons. The timing is also pretty well scripted. The film trailers were featured in new releases such as the Hunger Games, which hit theaters just a few days after Coke announced their intentions to donate their advertising budget for the coming period to disaster relief in the Philippines. While donating their money in such a public way is definitely doing good work for the world, it is also a form of free advertising. The money that Coke sent to the Philippines also helped to create a positive media buzz that can’t hurt Coke’s bottom line. Having a six minute advertising movie can’t hurt their case.

It is also interesting to note the target audience for the short film. The expectation is not that older media consumers will stumble upon this film. The most significant demographic for this movie is children, who will seek out some screen time with their new favorite white friends. I’m sure there will be stuffed animals, t-shirts, and other merchandise running in parallel to the movie and even further infiltration into our homes. What this does is get children hooked on a brand before they are trained to understand the complexity of advertising and how it affects them. By getting them while they’re young, Coke is maximizing their ad profits, because they have the potential to create a connection with the individuals who will be their target audience not only now, but for the rest of their lives.

As one of the most innovative advertising companies in the world, Coca-Cola continues to find new ways to get their names out there and into the homes of consumers. Without analysis or thought, it can leave consumers completely at the mercy of the corporation.