My Social Media Journey

by Ana Murphy

14 minutes ago

My Social Media journey this far

by Ana Murphy Social Media student and IT professional

1. Background 

   This Storify describes my experience during class COMI 650 which is part of my Masters in Integrate Marketing Communications at Marist. 

   
   

   I will be sharing my overall experience with Social Media tools as well as how I used Blogger, Twitter and Pinterest to bust my brand new blog:  http://anamurphycomi610.blogspot.com

   
   
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   ANAMURPHY149

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   19 HOURS AGO
   
3. Introduction 

   I confess that I was very nervous about creating a blog and also not having enough followers to keep an interesting discussion flowing. I was also concerned that I was not familiar enough with some of Social Media tools such as Twitter and Pinterest.

   My classmates have been very accommodating and have helped me by posting comments and by asking great questions. I have also been trying to post as many comments as possible on my classmates blogs to support them.  We have learned that  Social Media tools are here to help improve two way communication.  According to Qualman: 

   
   

                      Social media is global in nature; one of the biggest benefits is enabling users to stay connected with friends and family who are geographically separated. This global connectivity extends to positive and negative messages. (Qualman, 2013, p. 2) 

   
   

   My strategy with my Social Media tools was simple.  To post interesting and honest content and to try to personalize it as much as possible so people learned a little bit more about who I was. My goal was to reach about 10 followers per week and also generate over 10 comments per post. 

   
   

   Plans & Policies 

   To help set the tone for my blog I posted the following site policy: Site Policy  The site policy ensures users are aware that I have to rights to remove any content I deem inappropriate. I kept my blog public so I wanted to make sure the content was following set guidelines. 
4. Ana Murphy's COMI610 Blog
   

   Ana's Blog Policies My blog was created for discussions about social media under the IMC Marist programs. I welcome feedback, questions and comments. Please ensure that comments respect others and remain ethical by avoiding: vulgar language. personal attacks or inappropriate remarks against a person or group.

   

   BLOGSPOT
5. My plan was to use as many Social Media tools as possible to help boost the page views and also the amount of comments to my blog. The primary tools used were Blogger,  Twitter and Pinterest. The secondary tools used were Google Plus and Facebook. 

   
   

   Activities

         Blogger

   I started my blog with an introduction so users could get to know me a little bit better. I shared my professional background to help establish where my expertise's are. I used as many personal touches as possible to help differentiate my blog.

   
   

   Every weekly blog included an example from my experience and even a personal picture when appropriate. 

   Below is a picture of me "spying" on my neighboor to help illustrate the article from Qualman: I care more about what my neighboor thinks than what Google thinks. 
6. Ana Murphy's COMI610 Blog
   

   Let's face it! Most of us care about what others are doing and we look for advice and recommendations from the people we know to improve our own lives. Perhaps we don't stare at our neighboor's house like I am doing in the picture but we certainly look at their social media updates.

   

   ANA PAULA MURPHY
7. I also used interesting videos, links and pictures to help bring the blog to life. I invited all of the classmates in my groups to help author my blog so they could easily find it in their Blogger.
   

   
   

   I also made it easier for all users to subscribe to my blog by adding a subscribe widget to it. Every blog was published with the support of Twitter, Pinterest and a Facebook post. 

   
   

      Twitter

   I used Twitter to communicate to my classmates when a new post was available and then once more during the week to ask for their comments. I avoided overloading my classmates with too many messages. 
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   Ana Murphy@murphy_ana

   Hi Teams, would love to hear from. Txs! http://anamurphycomi610.blogspot.com  @Marist610@MaristCOM610

   5 DAYS AGO
   
9. I used key words and group Twitters to ask for comments. 
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    Ana Murphy@murphy_ana

     http://anamurphycomi610.blogspot.com/2014/02/our-life-is-open-book.html?m=1@sanchastic17 … @IsaacIMC@MaristCOM610 @BRendine_Marist @Sauravghosh1984@markavandyke #marist610

    7 DAYS AGO
    
11. Pinterest
    

    Pinterest was used on a regular basis to find important social media content as well as to share information from my research and to share my blog. I observed that Pinterest helped increase the traffic to my blog. 
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    ANAMURPHY149

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    19 HOURS AGO
    
13.   Analysis

    I measured the success of my blog by the number of page views and comments. Based on these criteria I met the overall objective to reach at least 10 page views and 10 comments per post. I also targeted to increase the number of interactions by 5% per week. 

     My last post reached 83 views and 17 comments  and the previous one reached 45 views and 12 Comments. 
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    ANAMURPHY149

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    19 HOURS AGO
    
15. I observed that the number of page views increased every time I used a tool to help advertise my blog. 
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    ANAMURPHY149

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    19 HOURS AGO
    
17. The following tools regenerated the most page views based on the analysis: 

    Twitter, followed by Facebook, Google Plus and Pinterest. 

    Audience: 

    It does not surprise me that 100% of my audience was in the US. 

    
    

    Conclusion
    

    While working with my blog I understood the practical reasons for metrics. While monitoring the page views during the week I would take action to help boost comments when I noticed page views were weak. When businesses invest in Social Media, they need to spend as much time and energy on monitoring their posts to ensure they are reaching their return on investment. Many businesses fail to change their online strategy because they are not monitoring success on a regular basis. 

    
    

    The integration of Twitter, Pinterest and Blogger helped me reach the overall goals of my blog. I posted comments at different times of the day using different tools to help boost page views and that proved to work. 

    
    

    I could have improved the Social Media interaction by using Google Plus and also by using Facebook more frequently. I noticed that a large number of users accessed my blog from Facebook yet I only posted one comment a week on it. 

    
    

    As for the fear of using Social Media tools, that is no longer an issue. I learned from Qualman that we all have unique access to something or to someone: leverage yours. (Qualman, 2013, p.225)

    
    

    Thank You

    Thank You so much to  everyone who  took the time to read and to comment on my blog posts. You have really helped me overcome the fear of blogging! 

    
    
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    ANAMURPHY149

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    19 HOURS AGO
    
19. Let's continue our learning journey together!!!!! Thank You!
    

    
    

    Reference

    Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business, 2nd edition. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.

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Our life is an open book

This week's topic is a great reminder of some silly mistakes we can all make in the name of our vanity.  Who does not love to share about something fun they are doing. Or somewhere nice they visited.  There are so many reasons why we share. According to McMillan, Over-sharing on social media sends positive waves to the brain just like eating chocolate experts say. (McMillan, 2012, p.1)  

This is a great article about why we love to share. Do not feel so bad if you have over shared. Most people have: 

Facebook, Twitter, other social media are brain candy, study says

Most people would not leave their house unlocked yet they tend to neglect to be careful about their online persona. Social Media Network Security exists to prevent us from falling pray to the following dangers: 

According to 5 Threats To Your Security When Using Social Media:

Having our identify stolen
Getting your computer hacked
Allowing strangers to locate you
Letting burglars know your whereabouts 
Being overconfident about being safe

Hence the importance of establishing Social Media Policies and guidelines to guard your your personal information while still having fun online. 

The following checklist will ensure you use social media safely: 

• Create a list of all social media tools used
• You want to ensure you are making changes to all of the tools you use and not just the most frequently used ones. If you no longer use a tool delete your account.

• Update Passwords
• Ensure all passwords are at least 8 characters long and with symbols. All of your tools need to be secure. Ensure your password is changed every 90 days

• Use a lock password tool to store multiple passwords
• With more complex password it is important to not write the new password on pieces of paper or on files in the computer. Use a secure tool to store passwords

• Check the privacy setting in all tools
• Protect your data by ensuring your data is not visible to all
• Check for tighter than usual settings and evaluate each post before posting

• Search your name on a regular basis online
• To ensure nobody is impersonating you and also to ensure nobody posted anything inappropriate about you

• Teach your kids and family members to follow the same guidelines
• Just as you would in your company

• Think before posting
• Do not post anything you think you might regret in the future

Lock your house and your online life: 

References

5 Threats To Your Security When Using Social Media - AllTwitter. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, from https://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/5-social-media-threats_b51841

Over-sharing on social media is just like sex, experts say | Digital Trends. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/over-sharing-on-social-media-is-just-like-sex-experts-say/

Study helps explain why we over-share on Facebook, Twitter - Los Angeles Times. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/08/business/la-fi-tn-self-disclosure-study-

Who care about what others think?

 Let's face it! Most of us care about what others are doing and we look for advice and recommendations from the people we know to improve our own lives. Perhaps we don't stare at our neighboor's house like I am doing in the picture but we certainly look at their social media updates. According to Qualman the most popular feature of Facebook and LinkedlIn is the status update. (Qualman, 2013, p.73) People love to share what they are doing online and that can be helpful to someone looking for advice from peers.

Qualman provides many great examples of how people are influenced by their friend's experiences when they are making a decision and how social media expedites that transfer of information. Social Media facilitates the reuse of data.

 I was considering putting my daughter in Karate when I happen to check my Facebook account and saw that my neighbor chose the Karate school down the street and was bragging about how great the place was. Guess what school my daughter goes to now? The same as my neighbors. Why research schools if I can learn from a friend?

I am not along in following the lead of friends and neighbors when making a purchase decision. According to the Nielsen reports 90 percent of people trust their peer's opinions. (Qualman, 2013, p.72)

In Socialnomics Chapter 5: I care more about what my neighbor thinks than what Google thinks, Qualman refers to the fact that search engines are moving to a social commerce model where  searches become "referral on steroids." Where we can easily find information about our peers purchase behaviors and their opinion.

 

TripAdvisor incorporated Facebook Connect into its site. Now we can see hotel reviews from your friends via TripAdvisor's connections on Facebook. (Qualman, p77)

Many online businesses trying o capitalize on Social Commerce. Here is one example:

More: 

• Social Media and Social Commerce have not reached its full potential and will continue to evolve
• Social Media can prevent us from making the same mistakes that our friends make: data reuse
• More and more people are willing to share both good and bad experiences online
• Mobile devices helps enable Social Commerce

Thank You for stopping by!
Ana

Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Welcome to Week 3 -Let the blogging begin

I am looking forward to leading the digital discussion this week. I am also nervous to be following Isaac's footsteps as he did a great job last week. 

I have summarized the guidance for this week's forum discussions below: 

Please follow the following line items: 

1) Review the discussion question under Week Three Blog Discussion in iLearn

2) Then  go to your blog and publish an initial response to the discussion question (Please do not post a response in iLearn) 

3) Follow four blogs ( two from members of our team and two from outside of our team but within group B for team 6)

Here is a link to student lists and their groups 

Here is the link to our team's media sites 

4) Reply to initial response posts published by the blog authors that you follow: offer comments just as you would in the iLearn Forum discussions. 

• Note: as the leader for the week I am going to be following your blogs but I am not required to follow comments you make to teammates outside of our team. 

I kindly invite you to also follow my Blog  

If you have any question please contact me at napaula122@gmail.com. 

Best of luck! Hope you all have a great week! 

Best Regards, 

Ana

Intro

My name is Ana Paula Murphy, I was born and raised in Brazil, graduated from Northeastern University- Boston and have been working for IBM for 13 years. My last assignment was managing 30 IT Technical Engineers in support of 12000 servers spread across many countries.  I took a leave of absence from IBM to be able to focus on my studies and also to be able to spend more time with my family. I went from working countless hours with very well trained professionals to doing volunteer work at my kids schools. I now work with people with no training but filled of great intentions. I learned that stay home moms are really never at home: they are working in community food banks, working the school kitchen and adding value to our community in ways that most people do not realize. I feel blessed to have this opportunity to take part in the Marist Integrated Marketing Communications program while spending more time with my family and while doing volunteer work.