There is no doubt that social media and the internet are affecting the way we communicate, interact, learn and behave. What was once considered a younger generation’s fad, or way for introverts to finally socialize on their terms, has now crossed all boundaries from great-grandmothers on iPhones to four-year-olds uploading Youtube videos. The internet and social media are now a part of everyday people’s lives across the world. Thousands are signing up minute-to-minute on multiple platforms and instantly sharing conversations, photos and stories within their created networks. However, those that are engaged socially online are not the only ones affected by this newer form of interactive media.

In a recent article by Daniel Gulati, Facebook Is Making Us Miserable, on the Harvard Business Review he writes, “Gone are the days where Facebook merely complemented our real-life relationships. Now, Facebook is actually winning share of our core, off-line interactions.” So, for those who aren’t entrenched within the digital chat space, are now walking aimlessly through empty streets and coffee houses searching for physical attention that once graced metropolitans everywhere. Are those who are not incorporating social media into their daily lives losing relationships, and how else are they being affected? It seems those affected the most by social media are the ones who are not using it all.

 
The obvious affect it is having on the anti-digitized is the inability to stay in the loop with close friends and family. The often confused look of a coworker, who believes you actually went and watered a farm or witnessed a cat play a keyboard, can be seen near water-coolers daily. As more relationships grow and reconnect online, those who aren’t participating in social media seem to be unaware of the possibilities it holds. Although it is easy to say those who aren’t engaging online with others are out of loop, I think the public as a whole is affected by social media whether they’re on it or not.

 
Social Media have greatly affected our news organizations, magazines and print media. They have often depreciated journalism professionalism and changed the way people receive their news daily. Some may argue that it is the internet as a whole that has negatively affected the industry, however, for many of us we now “follow,” or “like” the same organizations that we once subscribed to. Demanding our information for free doesn’t necessarily destroy the industry; in fact there are new ways to advertise in this medium. News organizations and print media are either declining in existence or moving digital for new revenue, those who are not online or involved with social media are greatly affected by the change of platforms.

 
For many of us, the way we get our news and updates revolves around a constant check from smart-phones, laptops, or tablets. More importantly, social media can also be how we are quickly alerted in emergency situations. Universities, schools, utility companies, police, fire departments, and other public services can now connect with thousands of people in seconds. An instant update of severe weather, road closure, or shooting in progress can save lives by Facebook shares and Twitter retweets. Those not connected can lose out on the opportunity to avoid these emergency situations, but they can also lose the chance to alert others.

 
Technological progress in recent years has allowed humans to expand relationships and communication on platforms that didn’t seem possible 20 years ago. This new media has affected the world substantially; it has given power to the people to overthrow authoritarian governments, saved lives during disasters, and brought people together who may never have met without the ability to share online. We can understand that social media are affecting public opinion, forcing old media to change to new platforms, and at times widening a gap between generations; but for centuries humans have evolved in forms of communication, and it is up to new generations to understand that it is not the platform that affects society, it is the people within those platforms that affect society.

 
Of course we live in a democratic society, free to make choices, and we may choose not to be a part of an online social gathering. However, I think those who are not connected to social media are greatly affected by not being aware of the community, friends, and world that are a swipe, click, and upload away from discovery.

Wait, so you’re telling me there is actually a game taking place between the $425 million dollar blitz that is the Super Bowl commercials? News to me…

It’s no question that Super Bowl commercials have taken on a life of their own as they serve as a form of entertainment that many look forward to more than the actual game itself. Recent trends have allowed for the lines between television and online viewing to blur more than ever before. Kiss traditional approaches goodbye because it’s no longer about advertisers simply paying 3.5 million for a 30-second spot during the big game. Rather, it’s how they capitalize beyond the commercial that makes the difference between a super bowl commercial stud or a stuck-in-prehistoric-times dud.

Ads are now distributed beyond TV and extend across any and all available online platforms including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and even Foursquare. Advertisers are challenged to take unconventional approaches and get creative because ads are getting dissected up and down and across numerous channels more than ever before.

This year the pressure was on for advertisers to differentiate their ads from the competition in order to not only become the talk of the Monday water cooler huddle but also the topic of conversation on everyone’s Facebook News feed. Consider this: two moments of this year’s big game including Madonna’s sensational halftime performance and the end of the Super Bowl were two of the most heavily tweeted moments in the history of the internet!

Advertisers aimed to create build-up by releasing highly-anticipated Super Bowl ads online ahead of the game in order to gain the best viral response. To see what brands created the best online buzz before and after the Super Bowl commercials check out the highlights below:

Facebook

• Doritos’ – This always entertaining favorite put some crunch in the game with their user-generated “Crash The Super Bowl” initiative using Facebook as a hub for the integration. The brand, which has 2.2 million fans/likes on the Facebook, created a”Doritos CTSB Voting” tab app to its Facebook page to showcase the contest. http://www.facebook.com/DoritosUSA

Twitter

• M&M’s- Is your milk chocolate showing?! This ad recorded the highest number of tweets, according to BrandBowl 2012.

Foursquare

• Pizza Hut- Pepperoni pizza for the big game? Yes please! Pizza Hut used the classic combination of pizza and the Super Bowl to their advantage with their Foursquare promotion. People who checked in on Foursquare to the big game unlocked a ‘Super Swarm Sunday’ badge. This gave users the ability to receive the Super Swarm Sunday badge and a “spend $10, get $5 off” deal at Pizza Hut when paying with their American Express card . By the time the badge closed, a total of 303,445 people had checked in using the pizza deal. A+ to pizza hut for their creativity and collaboration with American Express.

• You Tube- Matthew’s Day Off: Playing off of one of my all time favorite 80’s classics Honda used it’s already robust social networks; (Facebook-1.5 million likes/fans and Twitter 35,000 followers) to leverage the brand’s popularity and repeatedly push the video across its different media outlets. . Matthew’s Day Off” has produced some 26,000 YouTube likes and millions of views.

To quote Ferris Bueller himself; “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, it may pass you by.”

The same can be said for big brands trying to keep their heads in the always changing advertising game…if you aren’t fostering innovation and becoming a visionary you just may get left in the dust.

As children, whether we dreamed of becoming a firefighter or a princess, we all aspired to be something when we grow up. My dream changed almost every month from mail carrier to astronaut to professional basketball player. Unfortunately, mail carriers have to be good drivers, astronauts have to be able to keep down their lunch when they blast off into space, and basketball players need to be more than 5’ 5. Although the little kid in my heart begged me to live out my childhood dreams, the adult that is me turned out fine…a bit successful even!  The path there was never straight, always challenging and a little exciting.

The same can be said for GannettLocal. When this company started more than two years ago, it was merely a vision, a dream. But like technology and Social Media, the vision quickly changed and evolved into something different. A change in path lead GannettLocal to be on the forefront of digital marketing. Today, GannettLocal looks different than it did at its birth and it is only continuing to grow and evolve. Yes, it had a different ideal in mind than what it now is, but over the last couple of years that original dream and vision evolved into what we are experiencing today.

Working on the ground level with the #gannettfamily, I can tell you there is never a dull moment here. Like most dreams,  the curvy path is what has gotten us here. Going into our third year, we are blazing our own path of growth, education, and innovation. Are there growing pains? Sure, but it is those growing pains that will set GannettLocal apart – some of which are ironically fun.

So the question becomes, how do you go from start-up to big business? If you can keep up, GannettLocal can show you.

The lesson: Yes, you can be a grown up and have some fun, too – even if you aren’t a princess.

Good Night iPad

When you typically walk into an office space, you have a pretty good idea of what you are going to see; rows of cubicle, computers, printers, and a little bit of personality scattered throughout. When you walk into GannettLocal’s offices, you never know what you are going to find.

Not only do we love to infuse our work spaces with our own personality, as evidenced by these pictures…. But you may also see things we have received from clients and the small little touches that convey our personality, typically in a fun, and sometimes geeky fashion.

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock

A quick trip down “Social Row” reveals that in addition to family photos, the cubicles are decorated with dolls, books, and some fun, geeky posters reminding us of some common writing mistakes that we might come across as well as the rules to Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock (which everyone needs to be reminded of now and then!)

Correct Semi Colon Use

Not only do these small touches showcase our personality, but also contribute to the over arching culture of GannettLocal. We are not a company that demands everyone to march to the same corporate drummer, but instead celebrates the individuality in each of us.

In the spirit of the GannettLocal Culture, your challenge, should you chose to accept it, is to figure out whose cubicle each of the items pictured today are found!

Team Edward

For more insight into GannettLocal culture, check out our Green Eyed Girl. She’s all over the web, and she has plenty of secrets to share! Catch her on:

- Facebook

- Pinterest

- Instagram

- Twitter

- Foursquare

Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. But, regardless of your political affiliation or views on President Obama, it’s hard to deny his accessibility and apparent understanding of how to connect with the socially savvy. He doesn’t seem stuffy or old-fashioned and he understands the importance and power of social media, unlike many other politicians who seem like they would probably have a hard time checking their own email.

With the State of the Union speech approaching, the Obama administration has announced yesterday that the President himself will be hosting a Google+ Hangout on January 30, giving us regular folks the opportunity to submit our very own questions to the president. A select few lucky people will get the chance to actually partake in the live hangout.

In a day and age where user-generated content is king and people have unparalleled access to personally engage with brands and companies using social media, it seems only fitting that we should be able to engage with the CEO of the United States this way, too. By giving the public an opportunity to interact with the president in a more casual and personal way, we feel a sense of community and camaraderie – our voices are being heard.

As someone who makes a living off of social media, it’s refreshing to see politicians, who usually seem so disconnected, tapping into the outlets that actually matter to my generation. The Obama administration appears to understand the importance of this as in recent months the president’s presence on social networking sites has blown up—creating accounts on Tumblr, Instagram, and Google+. Next thing you know, Obama will be pinning pictures of his favorite cupcakes.

By amping up these social efforts, Mr. President has presented himself as not only current and relatable, but also as the kind of guy we would actually want to hang out with (pun intended). To take part in Google+/YouTube’s “Your Interview with the President,” submit your questions on the White House’s You Tube page.

If you follow me on Twitter (@mariakonopken), Facebook postings, or simply talk to me in my offline life, it is no secret I am a huge sports fan especially when it come to the Arizona Cardinals. And while my team will not be making the trip to Indianapolis for the big game, nearly 150,000 people will be descending on the city to see the New York Giants take on the New England Patriots.

It can almost go without saying of those 150,000, most have never been to Indianapolis, let alone a Super Bowl. And while this chaos is nothing new to the NFL, this year they are taking a different approach by creating a Social Media Command Center. In short, the purpose of the Social Media Command Center is a group of Social Media Strategists in Indianapolis who, through Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms will respond to fans with questions on events, directions parking, tourism information, and other inquires. The patron doesn’t need to say “Hey I need help parking,” but will search for keywords and phrases. The Command Center is launching today and will run through Super Bowl Sunday.

In my opinion, I think this is an amazing idea. Not only could it help people stay safe and lower frustrations during Super Bowl week, but also helps in promoting a city more than any book might. From restaurants to attractions, one can explore a city they may have otherwise missed.  I recently tweeted asking what there is to do in Indianapolis to test out their response time, so we will see how it goes.

To measure the strengths and weaknesses of the Command Center, researchers from Ball State University will be conducting a study. In an e-mail to Mashable.com, Michael Holmes, director of the center’s Insight & Research Unit, stated the Command Center is an example of the “the ubiquity of social media and the absolute necessity for companies, organizations and communities to use these tools to improve their relations with their customers, audience and citizens.”

If this new Command Center is as successful as planners are hoping, it could change the future of Social Media for major events, and could help better inform the general public if anything were to occur.

How do you think this will change future major events?

The dawn of the internet removed the barriers of information seeking, uniting global commerce, and leveling the playing field for many small businesses.  While these aspects thrived, I believe personalized customer service took a backseat – trading handshakes and business cards for form fills and call centers.

The social network Google+ is all the rage in tech news currently gaining a 90 million user base and incorporating the product into Google’s search engine and product suite.  While adoption of the network is slow, finding only whispers and rare glimmers of social sharing, the opportunity in this space is very exciting for businesses.

Smart businesses will utilize Google+ hangouts as a way to better connect to potential and current customers, forging meaningful relationships.  Imagine the comfort you will feel as a customer when you can bypass a phone directory and speak to a live representative.

Hangouts give a voice and personality to a brand where a static website might lack. Knowing there is an actual person on the other side of the business who cares about your experience and values you as a customer helps build meaningful relationships.

I urge businesses to use this technology to bring the personalized thank you card into the 21^st century.

The Color Run started in 2009 and has been running strong ever since. This isn’t your typical 5K run. This will be the most colorful run of your life, happening on Saturday, January 28 at Tempe Beach Park. The event is for all ages, no matter what speed you run at. The Color Run supports different local charities depending on the location of the run and for the run here in Arizona they have teamed up with Banner Health’s Cardon Children’s Medical Center.

I signed up for the run because I could use the exercise and the event supports a great charity. I didn’t know that several members from my team also did the same thing! There are four of us running this year and we are very excited for the event. We won’t be hard to find, our color will be GREEN!
@Broser9381
@LindsayGulisano
@MariaKonopken
@PaulEscobedo

Saturday, January 28th
6am – Venue Set Up
7am – Venue Opens for Color Runners
8:30am – Athletes begin lining up at the start line
9:00am – The Color Run Starts!
9:30am-12:00pm – Finish Line Festival
12pm-12am – Bask in the glory of your Color Run!

You still have time to register so what are you waiting for!

When Twitter really started to take off, I was like everybody else who found themselves extremely hesitant to use the social network. I recall telling my MySpace friends that Twitter was a series of Facebook updates so nominal that I wasn’t about to inject the interwebs with musings of personal bowel movements.

Like most non-believers at the time, I felt as though the minutia of my everyday life needn’t be necessary for public consumption. It wasn’t until one of my friends told me that Twitter was more than “updating” a status—although I still consider most social networks to be about updating statuses to this day.  She opened my mind to a whole new way of connecting with my fans other than using e-mail or a telephone. While I wasn’t completely sold on the idea, I had decided that I would experiment with Twitter for twelve days nearly four years ago.

Less than a week into my experiment, I was hooked onto the social network and found myself struggling to divide my time up between Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.  Naturally a social butterfly, I wanted to interact with fans of the radio station and prove to them that I wasn’t a typical disc jockey that wanted fans to bow down to him. Rather, I wanted to stand side-by-side with the fans and feel what they felt when it came to the power of music.

The way I perceived it, the social network made the world much smaller and created pockets of communities where everyone could be a resource to each other.  From this inception, I sought out other professionals in my field to gauge their thoughts and opinions on the same type of news that I was consuming, but there was one problem: very few people in my profession were doing it.  At the time I only knew of one person in my field that embraced social media on a daily basis.

Dean DeMilio, of the Tom Leykis Radio Show—and my long-time friend from my days at 93.3 KDKB—continued to reinforce the idea of gaining leverage against the competition by creating connections with the bands and artists that were embracing Twitter and Facebook. I can’t tell you how many times Dino and I sat outside at a Dunkin Donuts to discuss the importance of social networking with everyone on the internet. Thus, I took heed in a lot of what Dino had told me and I began to tweet more. I even updated my statuses on Facebook more—a lot more. I posted pictures of being at those Dunkin Donuts meetings with Dino just so I could sensationalize the idea that I owned a smart phone and utilized the technology on the same playing field they were standing on.

I made it a point to actively interact with KUPD fans and even interact with highly-publicized entities (bands) regardless if they responded back to me.  I knew this not only allowed me to get my name out there as a trusted resource in my genre of music, but my chances of having a band or rock star tweeting directly to me made me a certified entity—in a sense.  I could gain the leverage that I needed to land the interaction I needed for my job when it came to meeting them at shows. Furthermore, I know it made other disc jockeys around the nation say, “Hey, how the hell did he do that?” I’m not bragging, but the proof is in the connections I’ve made with those colleagues around the country.

So, the question asked is: Do I really have more leverage than other announcers who don’t really use social media?

You bet your boots.

The advent of the smart phone allowed any person to have the news come to them rather than having to search it out at length. If listeners in Phoenix want to know the answer to the rumor about a band breaking up, they don’t have to wait until I get on the air nightly—they can just ask me via Twitter or Facebook with the expectation that I will answer back within a few minutes.  Plus, the listener gets bonus points when they do listen to me at night and I mention our exchange—along with their online handle—on the air.  To me, it proves to the rest of the audience that I pay attention to questions and concerns regarding my job and the radio station.

Social networking as a member of the media is unavoidable. Where being a part of the media made a person “exclusive” now challenges every member to be more creative in their exclusivity.  I mean, why would you be a member of the “media” when you’re not even participating in this century’s biggest networking event?  I suppose social networking is more intimidating than interviewing Paul McCartney because that makes so much sense.

   Shan Man – Rock DJ from Phoenix, Social Media Connector, Freelance Voiceover and Video Editing Guru – I work in magical circles that involve molding music news and laughs into dreams of grandeur. It’s true. I’m pretty good at doing it. Prices may vary. Inquire within.

Today, as we mark the anniversary of January 10, 2011 I think it’s appropriate to bring a little bit of cultural academia into the picture. In a class titled “Multi-cultural Communications,” which ironically enough was an internet course, I learned about the difference between a high-context culture and a low-context culture. Though seemingly insignificant to me at the time, that bit of knowledge has proved to be an essential component of my ability to relate to individuals and groups of varying backgrounds. As such, it seems highly applicable when writing on the subject of online communities.

To begin, let’s define each of the concepts and give examples. Keep in mind that the focus here will be how these cultural concepts apply to communication. There is much more to be said about what defines each type of culture in terms of collectivism and individualism, but … another day …

High-Context Cultures

The defining characteristic here is the importance placed on interpersonal relationships. In a high-context culture, a great majority of the communication is implicit and is best understood by those familiar with the culture. An inside joke is a great example of a high-context situation. For those that understand the joke, very few words are needed to re-state the joke. The slightest gesture, glance or phrase will often remind a person of the joke and communicate the message.

Similarly, outsiders will often find it difficult to communicate within a high-context culture simply because they have no context (hence “high-context) for the implicit messages that are constantly being sent and received.

As the name implies, high-context cultures rely heavily on the context of a situation when deciding how to interpret any form of communication. Body language, hand gestures, facial expressions, vocal tone, volume and many others are melded together and ultimately understood by the recipient of the message.

Low-Context Cultures

On the flip side we have a form of communication that relies heavily on stated, written and explicitly obvious facts. In a low-context culture, if it wasn’t stated, it probably wasn’t meant. Because communication is so literal and precise, more words are used to communicate a given message and less emphasis is given to gestures, expressions, vocal tones and body language.

A person who originates from a high-context culture will may have trouble communicating within a low-context culture simply because they may be receiving messages that don’t exist. Instead of exclusively listening to the words being spoken, a high-context communicator will pay attention (and may take offense) to every ingredient of communication to which they are accustomed.

The cultural differences between a stereotypical Texan and a stereotypical New Yorker can also serve as examples of how things can go wrong very quickly. The New Yorker may become frustrated with the Texan very quickly because of the Texan’s appreciation for silence and his use of few words to explain a point.   Conversely, to the Texan, volume might be an indication of anger or highly charged emotion. So when the Texan observes the New Yorker shouting everything he says, he may grossly misinterpret what the New Yorker is trying to say.

Of course, the application is clear to social media (make sure you find out whether you’re talking to a high or low-context culture) but feel like there is one more point to be made.

As my class studied this topic, and even in my attempts to provide examples in this very article, I have noticed that whole populations are often characterized and labeled either way.  Unless you’re speaking of gravity, absolute statements are almost always flawed by several exceptions. While it may be true that the culture of Texas is more “high-context” than New York’s, you will inevitably find very “low-context” communicators in Texas.

In marketing, we’re rarely targeting specific regions exclusively, so culture most-often is defined by industry, brand or even product.

For example, the social media manager for a ski resort must be careful not to alienate the snowboarders as they interact with the skiers (assuming the highest possible volume of ticket sales is the goal). To add to the complexity of the ski resort scenario, regional consumers only comprise a small part of the target market. The market for a ski resort is often global and so brand communication should be very well thought-out tested.

For those of you that are wondering, I consider myself a low-context communicator. My need to explicitly define the social media application of this concept should have demonstrated that I leave very little up to interpretation.

And, no … nothing happened on January 10, 2011. I just felt (since I didn’t add any pictures to jazz up the text) that might hold some people in suspense for the duration of the article. Consider yourself experimented upon. Did any of you Google “What happened on Jan 10, 2011?” after reading that first line?

Related articles

• How Culture Controls Communication (forbes.com)
• Does open source exclude high context cultures? (stormyscorner.com)