Thoughts On New Media
I was recently interviewed about my thoughts on new media…a topic of interest, one could say. Here are my musings:
“How does social media influence your international education job?”
As the New Media & Research Assoc. at API, social media plays an active role in my position. As many of us use social media as a main source of communication, research, etc., a significant portion of my time is dedicated to creating, managing and monitoring our online presences.
“How did you get into social media?”
In 1992, I created my first e-mail address, began blogging in 2001, created a Facebook profile in 2005 and signed up for Twitter in 2007. I studied advertising with a focus in new media, creative research and strategy. During this time, I spent a year researching social media infrastructures and developed a new social media model to support our converging online/offline communication behaviors. I’ve held various internships and jobs in the field and was one of the contributing authors to The Project 100 (a collaborative book on marketing in the era of social media). I suppose you classify me as a digital native, but the truth is, I’ve always been interested in the relationship between and convergence of humans and technology!
“What is one social media tool you cannot live without now?”
As there are so many social media tools with such different purposes, it really just depends on the end result I’m looking to achieve. With that said, one tool I’ve really found useful is Google Analytics. I’ve learned quite a bit about online behavior via analytics tools.
“What is one thing you wish you knew about social media that would have made getting involved with it easier?”
There are a handful of insights I’ve picked up over the years.
Authenticity: Be yourself, be genuine, be transparent, be interesting, be entertaining and if you do make a mistake, acknowledge it…we’re all human!
Collaborate/Connect: How can you collaborate with people in a meaningful way? How can you make it easier for people to communicate with one another?
Details: Don’t be hasty! Though the message may be brief, take time to think through what you are saying. Before publishing, take a breather. Read. Re-read. Then click send.
Measure: There is so much to learn by monitoring analytics. Quantitative results are important but don’t forget about qualitative results!
Research: Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, Digg, Skype, Blogspot, MySpace, WordPress, Flickr, Slideshare, Ning, Flickr, Delicious. Whew! Just because it’s available doesn’t mean it should be used! Make sure to research before diving in – watching, reading, listening, collecting, and conversing. What are people saying? What are people looking for?
Strategy: Of course it’s necessary to understand the functions of new media, but it’s just as important to understand people’s motives for using these platforms. New media will come and go, but human behaviors and patterns will always be around.
What do you think is social media’s biggest impact has been on international education?
The web was originally created to display static documents – more of a monologue model. However, the web has evolved into a dialog model, where social elements have been incorporated. Now, people are not just looking to “experts” for answers, but crowd sourcing their respective social networks for information.
It’s important to remember that social networks are not new. We’ve formed social circles for thousands of years. Social media merely adds an online element to our offline worlds.
With this said, I believe incorporating sociability into communication strategies has been the biggest impact social media has had on international education.
Why do you continue to use social media?
As long as the relationship between technology and people continues to evolve and my curiosity remains, I’ll continue to use social media. (:
Kim Karalekas is the New Media & Research Coordinator at Academic Programs International (API), specializing in online user experience, research, brand strategy, new media & web development. Away from work, she enjoys salsa dancing, playing the violin/piano, and geocaching. To connect with Kim: @API_KimK I http://www.linkedin.com/in/kimkaralekas Ikim.karalekas@apistudyabroad.com
Thoughts on Facebook
As of late, there’s been all sorts of stuff flying around the internet about Facebook. Some thought-provoking insights, some less thought-driven stuff.
My thoughts:
- FB is attempting to be everything to everyone. As not everyone wants/will want the same thing, there will always be someone(s) left unhappy.
- No matter how much people complain, user numbers continue to grow. If numbers are increasing for FB regardless of what it does/doesn’t do, who cares what people want? Especially if there is always going to be someone left unhappy, anyway?
- People complain about FB privacy, but what about all of those other terms of use we’ve all agreed to? Gmail, Yahoo, Target.com, Twitter, Flickr, online banking, amazon.com – why aren’t we all up in arms about all these other binding contracts we’ve committed ourselves to?
Preface: I Don’t Hate Social Media
I will make the following disclaimer before writing the rest of this post: I don’t hate social media. I do believe in the idea of “everything in moderation”. I also believe that “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” …which goes hand in hand with my “having a logical / strategic purpose behind every decision” theory. Social media has some some amazing things for our society. I also think it’s contributed & influenced some not so amazing things. However, if used correctly & responsibly, social media can be pretty freaking sweet.
I was at a book store last night & came across a few of my favorite sections: psychology & pop culture. Browsed through a handful of book ( Paradox of Choice, Sex Drugs & Cocoa Puffs, The Church of Facebook, The Culture of Excess) that got me thinking…
“We are all published now. We all have a presence. We all matter. Social media allows us to express ourselves, show our accomplishments, applaud ourselves. This is done in a relatively safe environment where we don’t risk negative feedback, unless of course you’ve allowed people into your network indiscriminately or just have really mean friends. We want to be known, and it’s easier to risk this online, somehow. To allow ourselves to be truly known is the biggest risk we take in friendships and romance, fearing that we will be rejected once people see who we really are. But we tell you, fearlessly, in our blogs, tweets, status updates and emails with an openness many of us do not practice in our offline relationships.” (excerpt from Val Brown)
Hmmmm.
Hyper Micro Thoughts
I’m in the process of making my way though Linchpin, a book by Seth Godin (a thought-leader and entrepreneur I have quite a bit of respect for).
SOOO anyway, I’ve had quite a few “a-ha!” moments throughout the book – felt compelled to share the latest. What say you?
I like the part about long-term results of hyper-micro decision making. We live in a world made for speed…attention to detail doesn’t seem to have much value to many in my generation and attention spans appear to be at an all-time low. What has been the root of this? Digital stuff? Social media? The Internet? Basic evolution? Is hyper-micro decision making good or bad? Neutral? Who cares? Will there be some sort of tipping point or will things just continue to evolve into who knows what?
So many thoughts sparked from such a small paragraph. Perhaps this is why I have trouble sleeping more than 4 hrs a night…
Throwing Brands Under The Bus
As a brand manager, what do you do when a completely irrational and out-of-place customer (tries to) throw your brand under the bus? Regardless of if the customer is justified or not, others out there in the digital world will be listening and your brand will most likely be effected.
How irritating.
There is good news though! Just as people can say malicious things about your brand…you can certainly leverage this content to your advantage to shed light on the situation in it’s entirety.
FTW!
With this said…whatever it is you put out there needs to be pretty darn strategic or else the whole thing might look like a giant childish ‘he said, she said’ finger pointing fiasco.
That is 100% not necessary. And probably even worse for your brand than one irrational customer saying crazy things.
So bringing things full circle, the inspiration for this post came from a video my co-worker, Chelsea, showed me. Apparently there was a girl who would not stop texting during a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse, so they kicked her out. (Good for them, movie texters are some of the most inconsiderate people).
Apparently the girl chose to keep fueling the fire (not sure why, she was wrong), but regardless, the Alamo had to deal with it (lucky them) and I think they handled it extremely well. Here’s what went down: