UVa Today: Social Media Use Reflects Face-to-Face Interactions

From UVa Today:

Facebook or MySpace, Youths' Use Reflect Face-to-Face Interactions

January 25, 2010 — Though parents often have concerns about letting their teens use social media Web sites like Facebook and MySpace, a new study by University of Virginia psychologists suggests that well-adapted youth with positive friendships will use these sites to further enhance the positive relationships they already have.

However, they warn, teens who have behavioral problems and difficulty making friends, or who are depressed, may be more inclined to use social media in negative and sometimes aggressive ways, or not to use such sites at all.

The study appears in the January issue of the journal Developmental Psychology.

"We were interested to find that the best-adjusted young people were far more likely to use social media as an extension of their positive friendships, while less socially adept youth either did not have Facebook or MySpace pages, or, if they did, were more likely to use these sites in less-than-positive ways," said U.Va. psychology professor Amori Yee Mikami, the study's lead author.

Mikami and her colleagues assessed the friendship quality and popularity of 172 13- to 14-year-olds, and then, eight years later, "friended" the study participants on their Facebook and MySpace pages to examine their interactions and friendship quality in those domains.

"It was like being a fly on the wall at a slumber party," Mikami said.

She found that the youths who were better adjusted in their early teens were more likely to use social media in their early 20s, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or parental income, and that, overall, the patterns of friendship quality and behavioral adjustment as early teens continued into early adulthood.

"We're finding that the interactions young adults are having on their Facebook and MySpace pages are more similar to than different from the interactions they have in their face-to-face relationships," Mikami said. "So parents of well-adjusted teens may have little to worry about regarding the way their children behave when using social media. It's likely to be similar positive behavior."

However, Mikami warns, teens with behavioral problems or who have difficulty maintaining positive friendships may be more likely to use social media sites in negative ways, just as they may behave negatively in their face-to-face relationships. Negative use of the sites would include using excessive profanity, making hostile remarks or aggressive gestures, or posting nude photographs of themselves or others. They also have fewer supportive relationships with their Facebook and MySpace friends. But this group also is less inclined to use social media at all.

Overall, 86 percent of the youths in Mikami's study used the social media Web sites, which parallels the national average, she said.

"Use of Facebook and MySpace is really pervasive among this age group, so it's understandable that young people would want to be connected with their peers in this way; it's an extension of the relationships they already share," Mikami said. "So parents should try to stay involved with their children and make an attempt to understand their online world in the same way they would want to understand any other aspect of their lives.

"The key as a parent is to be supportive rather than intrusive and to keep an open dialogue with your children so you can know what they are up to and who their friends are, both online and in person."

— By Fariss Samarrai

Apple's Social Marketing #Fail: #iPad and #iTampon are Trending on Twitter

Almost instantly after Apple announced the much-hyped tablet device they call the iPad, #iPad naturally became a trending topic on Twitter. Makes sense, right?

Not long after the announcement, #iTampon also began trending. People have dirty, dirty minds...right?  Actually, #iTampon is a joke referencing a MadTV skit from 2007 in which advertised a femminine care product from Apple called...oh yeah that's right, the iPad.

Aside from this epic fail on Apple's part, I must say calling this new tablet device an iPad was a poor choice for the company. With some of the greatest marketing minds in the industry, we knew they wouldn't call the device an iTablet or anything too generic, but something more like the iSlate would have been much better than iPad...it just doesn't resonate with the company or its customers, and it sound too similar to iPod.  But, that's just my opinion ;-)

Why Drum Marketing Uses Twitter

Why does Drum Marketing use Twitter as a form of online social media marketing? Why does Drum seek to create and maintain useful and effective Twitter accounts for its clients?

The answer is simple: Because microblogging websites can be used to promote products and services, research consumer insights, improve customer service, converse with and engage customers, and allows group collaboration.

Through Twitter, Drum is able to acquire a wealth of followers that are interested in the products and services of its clients.  These followers are then able to interact directly, and instantly with Drum's clients in order to exchange thoughts and ideas, which can be translated into product and service improvements as well as future sales.  Twitter provides leads, feedback, and the ability to monitor what customers are saying in real time.  And, compared to traditional forms of marketing, Twitter is relatively cheap.  All it requires is time and the know-how.

If you are interested in promoting your brand through social media, feel free to contact Drum Marketing for assistance or advice.

Interact with Drum Marketing:

 

Or you can visit www.drumpr.com or e-mail Drum @ info@drumpr.com.

Pepsi Drops Super Bowl Ads in Favor of Online Social Media Marketing

The Super Bowl will be a little different this year as companies like FedEx, General Motors, and Pepsi are forgoing their past Super Bowl commercial model.  With the economy still in the toilet, the reported $3 million price tag for a 30 second spot is just too much.


Instead, Pepsi will opt for the much cheaper and steadily growing option: online marketing.  Pepsi plans to focus on cause marketing ads with their Refresh Project, which will address consumer's opinions on sustainability and environmental and social concerns.  The company will spend $20 million on this, accepting 1,000 new ideas every month (starting February 1) and allowing the public to vote for up to 10 ideas every day.  The winners of this contest will receive lofty sums.  Two will win $250,000 and 10 will get $50,000.


According to Pepsi spokesperson Nicole Bradley, the main goal of the project is to create an accessible discussion between loyal and prospective customers.  Bradley tells DMNews, “The Super Bowl broadcast can be an amazing stage for broadcasters, and [PepsiCo subsidiary] Frito Lay will be there in a big way.  But our beverage brands’ marketing strategy in 2010 [is] less about a singular event and more about a movement. We are always looking to further develop our two-way conversation with consumers.”


Way to employ social media Pepsi!  And, way to use social media to do some good in the world!

When Going Viral Goes Bad, Teens Learning to Choke Each Other for a High

With everyone using YouTube these days to get their name, their brand, or just their hilarious content out there for the world to see these days, it's like feeding time at the aquarium's shark tank as users vie for hits.  I mean, the ultimate goal of any video that is posted online is to go viral, right?  So if a video takes off and becomes a huge hit, all is well with the world...right?  Not so for those posting videos of a choking game played by teens looking for a high.

How terrible is that?  The newest viral craze on YouTube is a set of videos showing teens choking each other out!

According to an article on Newser (my favorite news compiler), "Videos showing teens strangling each other for fun have gone viral, offering young people step-by-step instructions on how to get high by squeezing the carotid artery to restrict the flow of oxygen to the bran."

Apparently it is called "the black out game" and can lead to brain damage and death.  The "game" is very popular among high-achieving teens that prefer do choke one another rather than get caught with drugs or alcohol.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is when social media goes bad.  Let's keep the messages positive and use social media as a tool to connect, interact, and entertain...not teach others how to harm themselves.

Here's an example of these "choking game" videos, but be warned this may be disturbing to some viewers:

Guest Post: Jenna Lebel on 2009’s Social Media Milestones

Guest Post by Jenna Lebel of Buzz Marketing Daily:

2009’s Social Media Milestones

As 2009 comes to an end, we reflect on all of the huge milestones that have taken place in social media over the course of the year. Obviously this is a mere snapshot and we realize there are many more accomplishments from this past year. What are some of your favorite social media moments of 2009? And what milestones do you expect to see in 2010?

Facebook

▪ If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s third most populated, behind China and India.

▪ Facebook registered its 350-millionth member in December, a phenomenal growth spurt considering the firm had 140 million members one year earlier.

▪ Some Facebook platform apps continued to flourish phenomenally–namely, games. Companies like Zynga and Playdom manufactured one “social game” after another, pulling in revenue that collectively may have surpassed Facebook’s own (Hello, Farmville!).

Twitter

▪ Some analysts estimate that there are more than 70 million Twitter users.

▪ Another measure of Twitter’s influence of world events came in June, when Twitter became a major conduit for the world’s news and communication from Iran as residents protested the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The U.S. State Department even asked Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance to make sure Iranians were able to tweet.

MySpace

▪ MySpace hired former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta to spearhead a turnaround for the News Corp.-owned social site as it saw its traffic increasingly eaten up by Facebook’s; at year’s end, it was still struggling to reinvent itself as a music and pop-culture powerhouse.

YouTube

▪ YouTube reached 100 million U.S. viewers in March as it lead the growth charge in online video viewing.

▪ In October, on the third anniversary of the acquisition by Google, YouTube announced that they were serving “well over a billion views a day” worldwide.

LinkedIn

▪ Likely a direct result of a struggling economy, LinkedIn’s popularity grew in 2009.  With more than 55 million users representing over 150 industries around the world, LinkedIn is the premiere destination for professional networking.

General

▪ More businesses continued adopt social media in 2009 and plan to get more involved in the new year.

▪ While the idea of running separate social networks on mobile phones was quashed long ago with the launch of Facebook’s slick mobile site and apps for handsets like the iPhone and BlackBerry, location-based networking apps like Foursquare,Brightkite, and Gowalla have started to break into the mainstream.

▪ Google and Bing incorporate live Twitter posts into search results (Twitter needed Google, and such a partnership was one of few revenue streams for Twitter this year.)


Jenna Lebel heads up the Boston office of theKbuzz. She loves pop culture and to-do lists more than anything in the world. Her “love of lists” is probably why you’ll see lots of great “top ten” or “top five” blog posts with her byline on it! When she’s not making notable lists, she’s managing clients like Uno Chicago Grill, Forward Management, and our agency partnership with Blitz Media. Find her on Twitter at @jennaL15.

According to Mashable, Web Video is Getting Bigger

Well, let me just start out by saying...duh!  Who living in 2010 hasn't heard of YouTube?


According to an article on Mashable 31 billion (billion!) web videos were viewed in November 2009 (remember way back then?  SMA was just getting started!).  Anyway, those 31 billion videos were viewed by 170 millions US internet users.  Crazy right?

So what do these numbers that remind us of bailout loans mean for social media?  It means that YouTube (serving 99% of Google's views) is the place on the internet to get your video noticed.  If you are going create do video content to increase your brand awareness or for SEO purposes, upload it and promote it via YouTube.  Web video is getting bigger and bigger, and continues to grow as more and more companies and attention-seeking, wannabe reality TV stars post videos in hopes of having their content go viral.  It is a great way to get noticed and to increase your online presence.

On that note, the greatest advice I could offer you is to keep it short and sweet, and the funnier the better!  Mashable's article also states: "The average video length -- four minutes -- is still quite low."

Of course it is!  And web videos will only get shorter because we are in the YouTube generation.  Thanks to the wonderful world of YouTube, our attention spans have gotten much shorter.  After 4-5 minutes, we are no longer entertained and we move on to the next video.  In another year or two, our attention spans will be so short, we will give a video 30 seconds and, unless it completely blows our mind, we will find something new to watch.

So I will say once again, keep your videos short and sweet.  Be entertain from the onset, or you will loose your viewer before you even get to the point.