Future of Communication

Communication like the majority of all other fields is dominated by men. There are very few female leaders and Sheryl Sandberg explained why in her Ted Talk segment , "Why we have too few women leaders". Sheryl believes boys are pressured more to succeed growing up than young girls are. There are numerous arguments as to why there are very few women leaders... some of the arguments include juggling being a mother and boss, others include women aren't willing to negotiate their salary and lastly women after childbirth lose their determination to set new goals in the workplace. I like that Sheryl posed these points but I believe that her views are ridiculous and only represent a small percent of women. As an African American woman I was happy to see that their are more African American women entrepreneurs than ever before, also in the year 2016 African American woman had the best year in startup businesses according to Forbes magazines. Women as a whole may not be dominating corporate businesses or Fortune 500 companies that are mostly ran by Caucasian men, but women are on the brink of creating new opportunities for other women. I believe it will be nearly impossible and unrealistic to think that a woman can step into a male dominated industry and receive a promotion over a man.... Here's why. Men rarely listen to women. We see this time and time again in all areas of life. Growing up in a hegemonic world, a man's masculinity is often feared and considered to be more powerful than a woman's female tracks. A man's posture, statute and voice commands respect. Since the beginning of time and for the few that have read biblical excerpts the woman has been believed to be the help mate. Since these beliefs have been passed on throughout generations, women are still looked at as a help mate and not a sole leader. This behavior and belief has transpired into the work force. There are still positions that are believed to be "womanly". Women can be secretaries, nurses and teachers but don't have the same presence as CEOs, Doctors, Principals and Administration.

Are you communicating effectively?

Effective communication is measured in numerous ways. Some of the most popular ways are metrics, relationships and revenue. These are a few popular ways that I would like to elaborate on because I have experience in PR and I can only write about my personal experience and what was effective for me. In digital PR metrics are everything. With the help of SEO (search engine optimization), Google Adworks and other online resources you can have a surplus of viewers on any social network and web platform of your choice. If your PR firm is helping build the brand with press releases, web copy, blog posts and social media channels, here are key ways to measure the outcome: 1.Web Traffic. For my website Vinkankel.com I measure the amount of traffic I receive on a day to day basis. I also look at the numbers my website receives throughout the week and month. Before I began using SEO my website received very little views. It was quite discouraging initially but after a little research I noticed my traffic began to skyrocket. I personally utilize social networks such as Tumblr and Twitter. On Tumblr and Twitter I can see what topics are trending. I then make my own post of trending topics. My blog lets me expand on topics briefly reached by other bloggers. If a particular client brings more traffic to your website that is a success, I conduct interviews with emerging acts. Emerging acts have their own following that are interested in learning more about them. Ultimately its great exposure for them and also for my website. This brings me to my next point referrals.  2.Referrals are anyone who credits their success to your website or encourages others to check it out will successful drive traffic to your website. Views count when trying to build a brand. Usually after I feature someone on my website they'll encourage their friends and family to check out the webstie. I receive alot of direct messages from people who are interested in being featured on my website. When people refer me I always encourage them to share my social networking pages. 3.Social Media Shares - The more views the better. If you are able to connect with people from different demographics and throughout the world you can offer your services to a bigger audience. On Facebook my friends range from the southeast United States all the way to Bangladesh. Another method is 4. Press Release Engagement. I personally dont do alot of press releases because I dont represent many clients. I use social media to simply give artist exposure.  Websites such as BusinessWire can help track the progress of your press release on all social media platforms. 5. Output and Outcomes such as Linkedln Sponsored Updates, Promoted Tweets and Google Adworks use leads to generate traffic.

Communication is also measured by the audiences response. Being able to actually help your audience and develop a relationship with them takes alot of practice. If you are a public speaker good body language and eye contact will encourage people to take you seriously and also become more intrigued. For example if you want to reach only 5 people but you want 80% of the audience to be convinced your product is worth buying, if 4 people purchase the product your communication was effective. Being able to convey a message and ultimately win over your audience takes building a relationship with the viewer or listener. In order to build a relationship the audience must feel some sort of trust. There are plenty of ways to build trust. Credibility can be won over by simply appearing to have knowledge. I find that companies with logos, great or catchy mottos and professionalism are often taken quite serious. A company that constantly updates their social network pages also appears to be credible as well. Companies that have a large following rather their following is paid or simply occurred over time makes people wonder how did they gain such a huge following and ultimately you might become a fan simply because someone you know is a fan.  The relationship between the communicator and the audience is very important. Getting an audience to respond in the manner you would like them to is the ultimate task. It can be very difficult. Especially now that more and more people are choosing to use paid social media Ads or promoted Ads in order to drive traffic to their websites and businesses. According to Tom Keheller and Barbara Miller real public relations is the process of engaging your constituent publics in a process of two-way symmetrical communication, designed to result in both sides reaching their objectives. … But in cyberspace, the requirement to be candid and forthright is doubly important. (p. 230) Lastly being able to make a profit from your services is a great sign youre doing something right. If people are interested enough to purchase your services, something youre doing seems believable. Many people in the PR profession or marketing profession arent successful. A few other pointers I found while conducting my own research are as follows:


“the state which exists between an organization and its key publics in which the actions of either entity impact the economic, social, political and/or cultural well-being of the other entity.” (Ledingham & Bruning, 1998, p. 62) This exert further supports my beliefs that effective communication is measured by metrics, building relationships and revenue.

“Relationships consist of the transactions that involve the exchange of resources between organizations.” (Broom, Casey, & Ritchie, 1997, p. 91) If the relationships that you build in the process are successful people will want to conduct business with you in the future. You will appear to be asset amongst your peers.

“routinized, sustained patterns of behavior by individuals related to their involvement with an organization. … Many online relationships operate in tandem with offline relationships and thus are part of a total organizational-public relationship.” (Hallahan, 2004, p. 775) Being able to successful. communicate will make you a public figure. The public will sought out for your services and you will be able to make a living off of your talents.

Burger King Be Your Way!

Burger King has been going through a communication crisis for quite some time. Burger King has pulled out every marketing strategy known to man to compete with its arch nemisis McDonalds. Despite its efforts to change its menu when ludicrous items such as Cheeto fries, red buns, fruit loop shakes, Big King (Big Mac competitor) and now its newest menu addition hot dogs, Burger King just cant seem to win. If you didnt know Burger King decided to change its infamous motto "Have it your way" to "Be Your Way". Personally Be Your Way sounds ridiculous but for some odd reason the people at Burger King's corporate office thought it would be best to change the motto in hopes that maybe just maybe thats all Burger King needed to revamp its image. So why bother changing the tagline? Fernando Machado, the chain's senior VP-global brand marketing, said that while "Have It Your Way" was more about the "functional side" of Burger King, letting customers know that customization was always an option. He said that Burger King is aiming to have the tagline become "much more than just a headline" in that the goal is to "create a much stronger emotional connection by talking to a behavior that already exists."

He added: "We're trying to elevate 'Have it Your Way' to a state that's much more emotional and centered on around self-expression." Burger King changed its motto in 2014. Have it Your Way is a 40 year old motto and truthfully I don’t believe Be Your Way has stuck or will stick with anyone. I got a kick out of reading a post from John Crudle with NY Post “I’m not sure how to “Be Your (or My) Way,” especially when I’m standing in line waiting for my shake to be shaken and my burger to be charbroiled. Burger King used to have a perfectly good slogan: “Have It Your Way.” Let me take that back: It was better than good. It was great. You knew exactly what it meant by “Have It Your Way.” You’d say, “No tomato, extra onions and please wear a hair net when you are plopping that beef on the bun.” That was a lot of people’s way. “Be Your Way” might work at Bible camp. And I’ve preached this sort of philosophy to my kids many times, although more eloquently. Do what you want to do. It’s your life. We’ve got bail ready if you need it.

“Be Your Way” is what they call in plain English a non sequitur. “Be Your Way” just doesn’t fit the meat-eating experience. (Okay, I know the phrase “non-sequitur” is Latin. I just gave you time to catch me in a mistake and feel superior.) Since Be Your Way was practically an epic fail but Burger King decided to stick with it. Burger King had to figure out another way to communicate with its faithful consumers. I personally only eat Burger King if Im in a rush or its dire straits, meaning I have to eat something to sustain life…. Burger King managed to take over the social media space and their approach was absolutely brilliant. Social media and millennials go hand and hand. Since millennials shape the culture and our the biggest consumers it was genius to tap into our world and somehow get a buzz online. Although going viral and having a lot of post seems to be easy nowadays, big brands often fail to get retweets and get a buzz from the youth. What better way to relate and gravitate to young people than incorporating entertainment. I love entertainment so Burger King’s approach was right up my alley. I especially love music and sports. Burger King’s marketing strategies changed in an attempt to take over the digital space. Under the Be your Way Campaign Burger King made its presence on Twitter more known. Im a habitual tweeter with over 60k tweets. I always notice when companies get creative a call their graphic design team for a little help. I also like when companies clearly have someone who understands and knows modern day culture. I think its pretty weird when it’s obviously an old person trying to be hip behind a company account, wasn’t the case for Burger King. It was almost as if one of my closet friends was running the account. Burger Kings knows all the current lingo, the latest music and although their food is still gross and weird I have a new found respect for the company. Burger King really cares about the public. Burger King tweets urban music and caters to the demographics of Twitter’s most frequent users. Burger King chose to use social media to cut down on advertising cost, absolutely brilliant. Now a days  no one listens to the radio and television Ads are often neglected. Tastemakers and critics started to take heed to Burger King’s strategic internet marketing schemes. Burger King’s smartest and most profitable marketing strategy occurred on May 2015. Burger King used a photo shopped picture of Burger King’s mascot “The King” alongside Floyd Mayweather and Justin Bieber during the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight and posted the photo to Twitter. Justin Bieber has a huge cult following. They call themselves “beliebers”. Also Floyd Mayweather is one of the most successful athletes millennials have ever witnessed. Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight took place at MGM studios in Las Vegas, Nevada and was the biggest boxing match in the past decade. The fight was commercial free. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight had a 4.4 million viewers, within hours the King, Mayweather and Justin Bieber were alongside each other and the picture was all over the internet. The King managed to be beside two of the most elite men in entertainment… Wow!  Burger King developed a knack for social media advertising and is known for its outlandish approach by millennials who heavily indulge in surfing the net. Be your way campaign is one of the best digital campaigns in its own right. 

Is Google Adsense ethical

Google AdSense may be considered unethical to some. I would like to say I believe Google AdSense is 100% ethical and beneficial to the consumer and Google's company. Google tracks consumers location and some consumers find that to be alarming. I have used Google AdSense for my personal website. Google AdSense has helped my website target audiences in my area. Since I have a small business this is extremely beneficial. I am able to sought out potential customers. My Google Ads appear at the top of search engines. My Google Ads are also available to people world wide. My website offers marketing services for entertainment. Through search engine optimization viewers are able to find out information about their favorite artist and also stumble upon my services. I am very thankful for Google AdSense because it is by far the cheapest Ad service. Google AdSense works with various budgets. Unlike other companies that try to literally charge their consumers an arm and a leg. I think Google has capitalized on the online Ad market because Google is the number one search engine. Also Google does not include bias news articles on its front page like its competitor Yahoo. Google also doesn't use the annoying pictures Bing uses. Google Ads include text, display, rich media, and more — are reviewed to ensure the content is family safe and appropriate for an audience like yours. Depending on how much you are willing to spend you can have a very small Ad or a huge banner. I have small banners at the top and bottom of my website. I also square Ads on the side of my website. Advertisers bid for Ad space.  Advertisers with the most money often win the best spots. In  a sense companies feel as if its unethical because businesses that cant afford Ads can put Ads and receive clicks. Millions of advertisers compete for ad space. That means more money, more relevant ads, and more ad spaces filled. Another perk for consumers is that companies ca block ads you don’t want, choose where ads appear, and change the look and feel of text ads to match your site. You can even control the categories of ads you allow. Your site. Your rules. The best perk of Google AdSense is that you can access your Ads for mobile devices. Most of my users come from Mobile devices. I don't a app currently but my viewers use their cellphone more than desktop. Mobile is built into AdSense. Responsive ad units automatically adapt to different screen sizes so you can create a great user experience and continue to earn revenue when people view your site on a smartphone or tablet. I also enjoy seeing the results of my Ads on the Google AdSense app. So far I have made approximately $6 dollars from my blog. I would also like to include a Google AdSense link on this blog to monetize my hard work. All in All I think that Google AdSense is a great invention. I think Google AdSense should be utilized by all companies. Its very simple and the coding literally takes less than 5 minutes.

Leadership in 2k17

There are a lot of differences between leadership and management. Leadership is about vision, management is about executing tasks. Leaders are strategic communicators. A leader is able to effectively communicate with others and provide results. Being a good leader is accomplished by the behavior an individual exhibits. Management deals with the well known processes every company has such as HR or staffing, accounting or budgeting, measuring performance and problem solving.

I researched a few companies that I believe have the best examples of leaders.

1. Facebook.

I believe Mark Zuckerberg is the best example of a leader. Mark Zuckerberg is a computer programmer and internet entrepreneur. According to one of the workers on Glassdoor Facebook benefits are the best in the business, including significant PTO, meals, equipment--phone, gear, etc. Our health insurance plans offer benefits to cover IVFand surrogacy, we get 4 months off for maternity/paternity and 6 weeks for bereavement. We also get 6 weeks off after working for 5 years. Facebook cares about their employees and understand what it means to be a millennial. Mark Zuckerberg is an effective leader because his employees dont feel pressured at work and also enjoy coming to work. Facebook also has a casual dress code. 

2. Google.

I have a friend who personally works for Google. Google is an amazing place to work with on site fitness, day care and nearly any other perk you can think of. Google's management allows their employees to feel entitled to making executive decisions. Google is also a fun place to work with a very laid back dress code and a strong social media presence.

Levels of communication Millenials must learn!

Every business has a hierarchy and a way in which communication travels. Businesses must effectively communicate on every level or they risk causing their revenue or productivity to decline. I created some communication internal and external practices I use for my own business. I have chosen to use these methods of communication because they are relevant and effective. I believe it is important that all millennials research effective communication platforms. Now that most millennials are technologically savvy some methods may not be utilized and are also often forgotten. Internal communication 

• Speech – Speaking engagements, host events. By doing speaking enagagements a company can reach a large amount of people through a tour or circuit. 

• Telephone – create text alerts, toll free number to promote user engagement. Now that everyone has a cellphone for the most part... it is a great idea to use text alerts to encourage consumers or customers to stay tuned for upcoming promotions and deals. 

• App – Apps are convieient. Instead of having to search for a company online an app lets users conveniently see updates, by simply clicking an icon on either a computer, cellphone or tablet. 

• Radio – broadcast upcoming events and also reach a larger audience: 

• Mail – send an annual newsletter and upcoming events tosubscribers via USPS

• Closed circuit television - inquire how much local ads will cost and reach viewers or customers who may not enjoy browsing the web. 

• Electronic mail – media blast for upcoming events, breaking news and posts with top hits

• Social Networks – create a Facebook fan page, gain bigger social media following for “credibility”

External communication

• Use celebrity endorsement to gain a larger following. 

• Contact publicist and tastemakers to encourage others to try a product. 

• Partner with other media outlets to promote a product. 

• Reach the target audience (ages 13-25) through psychological and strategic methods such as surveys, trending topics, observation

• Contact DJs, party promoters, IG chicks, politicians and business professionals and other tastemakers that have a large following. Ask or pay them to run business ads.

Here are a few apps I found on Business Insider that are handy as well  

Hipchat is our go-to tool. Beyond standard one-on-one messaging, Hipchat lets us build rooms around functional teams and bring people together for ad-hoc conversations. Our team has taken advantage of its API to automate tasks and build amazing things. We even have a bot integrated into Hipchat that sends out GIFs at a moment’s notice -- a high priority for any startup that's serious about their GIFs. – Emerson Spartz, Spartz

2. Slack

Our team switched from Hipchat to Slack in less than a day, and everyone loves it. It's really easy to learn, the integrations are fantastic, links and file uploads show up inline and all the conversations are searchable for later. Also, the ability to create a Google Hangout from inside a chat room is one of the coolest and most useful features I've ever seen. – Mattan Griffel, One Month 

3. Campfire

We use Campfire and it's awesome. It's great to have password-protected group chats, and since it's network agnostic, our team members can use it no matter what other chat network they're on. It's also got a great suite of add-ons and extras, many of which are free, so we can really customize what we get out of it for customer service, development and design. – Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff.com

4. Basecamp

At Ajax Union, we use Basecamp both for internal team communication and for bridging the gap between staff members and our clientele. Basecamp makes it easy for people in different positions at the company, especially those who wear many hats, to easily share files and stay in the loop on projects and client information. It's easy to use and a go-to for getting team communication up and running. – Joe Apfelbaum, Ajax Union

5. Redbooth

While technically a task tracking application, Redbooth has implemented a fantastic built-in chat software. This combines being able to assign tasks and using the same window to communicate with members about those tasks. It helps keep chat oriented to business communication, which maximizes productivity among the entire team. – Cody McLain, WireFuseMedia LLC

Millennials want to go viral

Millennials want their content to go viral. Millennials keep their phones with them at all times. Sometimes having your phone with you to capture acts of kindness, police brutality, criminal evidence, etc etc is great. Other times having your phone can be a complete distraction... like when you use Snapchat the entire night instead of actually enjoying your time out. After watching Kevin Allocca discuss why videos go viral on TED Talks I came up with my own criteria. Kevin explained that a viral video must have three things: tastemakers, communities of participation and unexpectedness. I think that's totally untrue. People often go viral that arent considered tastemakers.Tastemakers are usually respected or knowledgeable in some field. The first person that came to mind when I thought of viral was the young lady who appeared on Dr.Phil and coined the catch phrase "Cash Me Outside, How Bout Dat".

Since being scene on the Dr.Phil Danielle Brigolli has launched a T-Shirt line and has also been featured on rapper's Kodak Black's music video. Danielle managed to go viral by being disrespectful and speaking in a urban tone. Danielle wears gold hoop earrings and has red hair. Danielle went "viral" from portraying a hood persona and having an apperance that does not "match up" to her behavior. I believe in order to go viral you must do something 1. totally unorthodox, 2.be very talented, 3. be very attractive or 4. do something others want to do but are too afraid to do.

Now it seems to be very easy to go viral. In order for a video to considered viral by some it must have at least 5 million views. I disagree. I believe a viral video in your community could consist of maybe 500 shares depending on the population but if majority of the community has seen it, it is considered viral. I have a highschool classmate who has capitalized off of making provocative dancing videos. She goes by the name of Ghetto Barbie. Ghetto Barbie fits into category 3. her appearance is attractive or appealing to her huge audience. Ghetto Barbie has also been scene on the biggest urban entertainment site WSHH. 

I also gathered some more reasons why things go viral on Forbes.com . Forbes suggest that these 6 things make a video go viral...

Keep it Short

The Twitter generation only uses 140 characters to communicate. Our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, which means it’s time to tighten up your video content. A survey published in The New York Times found more than 19 percent of people had left a video after only 10 seconds. By a minute in, the video had lost a staggering 44 percent of viewers.

Since you’ll lose almost half of your audience by the end of minute one, put your most interesting, fascinating, funny, or surprising information first and foremost in your video. Creating viral video content is one place where you never want to save the best for last.

Be Upbeat

Jonah Berger, author of the book Contagious: Why Things Catch On, found the most highly sharable content tended to evoke strong emotions in the reader or viewer. And of those emotions, the most sharable content tended to be that which had a positive or upbeat note. Using empirical research, Berger and UPenn Professor Katherine Milkman found happy emotions tended to outperform sad emotions in the realm of sharability.

To be sharable, content needs to strike an emotional chord in viewers. These same viewers are more likely to share upbeat content, so if you want your videos to go viral, it’s important to strive for a positive spin.

Be Timely

If you want your videos to make the jump to virality, it might be time to brush up on your current events. By hooking into an existing Internet meme or popular topic, you increase the odds your content will be viewed and shared by those already interested in the topic.

This can be anything from a current event in the world, to a pop culture topic dominating the news. For example, just look at how many parodies of popular entertainment like Game of Thrones and Frozen exist on video channels. If you speak the same language as your target audience and present interest in the same topics, they’ll be more likely to share your content.

Be Involved

One of the keys to virality is engagement. Engaging with an audience can lead to loyalty and interest. After all, everyone likes to be heard. This is the approach taken by companies like Old Spice in several of advertising campaigns.

At one point, the Old Spice man, played by actor Isaiah Mustafa, answered fan questions on social media in short YouTube videos. Adding an engagement portion to your videos, like answering viewer questions, can give your content a boost and make it more sharable.

Be Informative

Your audience is always searching for new information and better ways to perform everyday tasks. If your video content is interesting and informative, it is also highly sharable. Everyone wants to learn something they didn’t already know, and videos can be a great tool for curating top-notch information.

At my company Pluto.TV, we curate the best videos for viewers, whether they’re looking for world news or cat videos. You need to take a similar approach to your videos, and curate the best and most informative content to surprise and inform your viewers.

Be Inspiring

By now, the incredible story of Upworthy’s success is old news. The site skyrocketed to more than six million unique page views per month in its first year, thanks in part to its famous (and infamous) headlines. Another reason is because the site looks to find inspiring stories to share with their large readership.

To get the viral edge you want, look for stories to inspire your readership, whether it’s a story of overcoming struggle, standing up in the face of adversity, or just finding success. Audiences love a good inspirational story, and the more inspirational it is, the more your audience will want to share it with others.

Creating viral videos isn’t easy -- if it was, every business would have a few viral hits. These six pieces of advice can help you improve your content’s sharability and quality, improving your odds at viral success.

Millenials are easily influenced

This week's topics were interesting. I noticed being on social media ALL of the time, that opinions are now easily swayed since everyone is looking at what others think. Content is being watched way more than it is being created. Influencers or opinion leaders are shaping the planet and honestly have no scientific reasoning or any formal training to support their wild beliefs or observations. For this particular blog I skimmed down my Twitter timeline to find a few post from opinion leaders. I personally think in order to be an opinion leader you should have a following of at least 10,000 people on  Twitter or at least 5,000 Facebook friends. I think its quite comical that the people many millenials are very opinionated, share sexualized content and are attractive. If you have Twitter feel free to look at a few of the tweets I looked at as well. The first Twitter account that I observed was a young lady @lipstickthvg, lipstickthvg has gained lots of social media exposure from having a cute face and voluptuous body. Lipstickthvg has 40k Twitter followers. Most of her following is men. Many of her post show off her nice figure and are simply funny Memes. A while back lipstickthvg had a thread about homosexuality that received alot of backlash and upset a few of her followers.  Because most of her following are heterosexual men, her followers were not offended enough to defriend her.  Another follower I observed is a close friend of mine, @iamsmokeybear Smokey is a rapper, who enjoys indulging in cannabis. His fan base are stoner teens across the US. Smokey has 10k followers. On his Twitter he promotes his music and talks about marijuana. Both lipstickthvg and iamsmokeybear have used their strengths to become social media success. Gaining their following may have been strategic or they may have simply gained fans over an a period of time. Since lipstickthvg and smokeybear have fans across the world their opinions reach people at recording breaking time. For instance if I share one of iamsmokeybears post my cousins in Detroit will be able to hear his music although he's a Georgia rapper. I believe most of the time we are being influenced by people and things with out consciously knowing it. I have also noticed that being able to identify with a person on one subject makes me more susceptible to their other beliefs and in return I press the retweet button, simply because I "like" them. I read some interesting facts on The Impact of the Internet. MIT conducted a study that suggests evidence shows that the Internet neither isolates people nor reduces their sociability; it actually increases sociability, civic engagement, and the intensity of family and friendship relationships, in all cultures.
MIT also stated: Globally, time spent on social networking sites surpassed time spent on e-mail in November 2007, and the number of social networking users surpassed the number of e-mail users in July 2009. Today, social networking sites are the preferred platforms for all kinds of activities, both business and personal, and sociability has dramatically increased — but it is a different kind of sociability. Most Facebook users visit the site daily, and they connect on multiple dimensions, but only on the dimensions they choose. I personally know that their research is true. I would much rather communicate on social networks with my friends about topics they have posted on their social media than via text. The internet is a one stop shop for everything entertainment. At night it's so easy to spend countless hours being influenced rather than actually going to sleep. Last week I noticed I had stop thinking solely on my own and decided to take a week long hiatus from social media. During my time away I found myself sneaking to check on some people via their social media sites, rather than  just calling them or meeting face to face. If you've ever found yourself spying or posting a picture in hopes of getting someones attention, you're easily influenced by social media.

Diffusion of Innovations

Hello my name is Kanise Wiggins. I am currently enrolled in my fourth term at Troy University. I attended the University of Alabama during my undergraduate years. At the University of Alabama I began as a broadcast journalism student and finished my degree in Communications studies and minored in African American studies. While at Alabama I discovered I was very interested in journalism and began working on my entertainment website vinkankel.com. I call myself a cultural tastemaker or cultural curator. I am always on the up and up on the latest entertainment news and what millennials enjoy. As a cultural tastemaker and millennial influencer I analyzed how I generated traffic to my own online business Vinkankel.com. Vinkankel.com initially averaged 1,000 views for the first three years it was ran. Vinkankel’s peak months were October through December. The fourth year Vinkankel averaged 200,000 views by examining the behavior of today’s millennials. Vinkankel.com reports entertainment news, particularly music. Vinkankel.com quality circle start studying the hour’s millennials were most active on social media to drive traffic to the site. My organization consists of 4 people who devise solutions for improvement. Vinkankel receives its most traffic between the hours of 4pm – 6pm. Vinkankel’s most popular videos feature artist Drake’s Apple Music commercial and Lil Yachty Sprite campaign. Drake’s Apple Music commercial increased Drake’s sales by 431% (Forbes). Drake is endorsed by T-Mobile, Apple Music and Nike. By posting entertainer Drake and his collaboration with big brands, my website and social media platforms received traffic and a greater following. My website post featuring Hennessey’s latest brand ambassador Nas, received over a thousand views as well. The internal communication used for Vinkankel is similar to the internal communication used within other businesses. Business partnering is imperative. I conduct freelance work with BET and VH1 because they have a larger audience and have dominated public communication. I also research analytic trends and incorporate what I have learned from websites such as Complex magazine and Buzzfeed.

My blog will focus on the diffusion of innovations and how millennials are apart of the theory. The diffusion of innovation explains how, why and at what rate new ideas and technology are spreading. By using analytics and my own research I personally know that the rate technology is being used is very difficult to calculate. New technology trends are being created rapidly.

Millenials are moving pass baby boomers as the largest age group. Millenials are changing the way things are being sold, due to internet sales skyrocketing. There are more 23 year olds than any other age on the planet, 4.7 million, according to a census report taken in June. Entertainment has influenced millennials more than their parent’s values. Businesses look for consumer’s satisfaction. Millennials don’t believe in doing things in a timely matter and believe more in social media and reality television than they believe in real life. The social hierarchy has been diminished because people are able to access what people everywhere are doing by simply engaging in social media online. The social network Linkedln, target audience is millennial business professionals. The informal communication approach connects qualified and creative professionals with some of the biggest brands in the world.

Our reading for this week, the Diffusion of innovations by Roger Everett shed light on some interesting topics and key facts. Roger stated that four main elements influence the spread of a new idea. The innovation itself, communication channels, time and social systems influence ideas. Entertainment is constantly being influenced. Since I’ll be talking about my favorite artist and what drove millennials to become consumers of their products, music and actions Ive included a few points from Everett Rogers theory below:

The Key Elements in diffusion research are:

Innovation Innovations are a broad category, relative to the current knowledge of the analyzed unit. Any idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption could be considered an innovation available for study.[14]

Adopters Adopters are the minimal unit of analysis. In most studies, adopters are individuals, but can also be organizations (businesses, schools, hospitals, etc.), clusters within social networks, or countries.[15]

Communication channels Diffusion, by definition, takes place among people or organizations. Communication channels allow the transfer of information from one unit to the other.[16] Communication patterns or capabilities must be established between parties as a minimum for diffusion to occur.[17]

Time The passage of time is necessary for innovations to be adopted; they are rarely adopted instantaneously. In fact, in the Ryan and Gross (1943) study on hybrid corn adoption, adoption occurred over more than ten years, and most farmers only dedicated a fraction on their fields to the new corn in the first years after adoption.[6][18]

Social system The social system is the combination of external influences (mass media, organizational or governmental mandates) and internal influences (strong and weak social relationships, distance from opinion leaders).[19] There are many roles in a social system, and their combination represents the total influences on a potential adopter.[20]

Five stages of the adoption process

Knowledge The individual is first exposed to an innovation, but lacks information about the innovation. During this stage the individual has not yet been inspired to find out more information about the innovation.

Persuasion The individual is interested in the innovation and actively seeks related information/details.

Decision The individual takes the concept of the change and weighs the advantages/disadvantages of using the innovation and decides whether to adopt or reject the innovation. Due to the individualistic nature of this stage, Rogers notes that it is the most difficult stage on which to acquire empirical evidence.[11]

Implementation The individual employs the innovation to a varying degree depending on the situation. During this stage the individual also determines the usefulness of the innovation and may search for further information about it.

Confirmation The individual finalizes his/her decision to continue using the innovation. This stage is both intrapersonal (may cause cognitive dissonance) and interpersonal, confirmation the group has made the right decision.

Theres no limits in Future Technology

The World Wide Web as we know it is only 5000 days old. That's roughly 15 years. I was born in 1991. The World Wide Web as we know it, is only about 10 years younger than me. I recall beepers and flip phones being quite popular when I was a child. Ya know the huge flip phones that were nearly the size of a brick and the beepers with a blurry LED light. Yep thats the era I grew up in. Kids today could not possibly manage living in such archaic times.

The Motorola Razr was ground breaking in 2005. I was around 13 years old, in the 7th grade and everyone I knew either had a Razr, Nokia  or Kyocera. Cellphones added convenience to my life. After practice I would call to make sure my ride was on the way. When I got home I would finish my homework then talk on the phone the entire night. The great thing about flip phones and small phones in the early 2000's was I did not have to charge my phone often, I could literally go 3 days without charging my phone and the battery would still be pretty full.

Then things began to change. I received my first smartphone in 2009. My smartphone allowed me to see my friends on an app called Tango and I also began using social media. Social media allowed me to communicate with more of my friends simultaneously instead of only being able to communicate with one person at a time. In 2009 Myspace was pretty popular. By 2012 not only did I have Myspace but also a Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram account.

Lets fast forward to 2017. Apps that make our lives convenient are at an all time high. I no longer have to call and make sure my ride is coming, luckily I now drive but if I didnt I can request an Uber ride, or track my parents location on my iPhone. I can Facetime whoever I please, without using an additional application like Skype or Tango. If Im hungry and I dont want the usual takeout or pizza, I can now use apps such as Uber Eats or Postmates. Oh and my phone uses my finger print to unlock it. At this point technology is moving so fast I am no longer surprised by its capabilities. I expect alot more virtual capabilities in the future. I suspect sooner or later our phones will be able to create whatever we ask, maybe my phone or tablet will be able to whip up an entire dish.

Tech babies: Kids are using technology more than ever before

Kids always want to use my phone. I once found it annoying, but now that all of my friends have children now, I just hand over my phone before they ask. Children are very inquisitive. They what to know how things work and why they work. This week’s topics on children and technology was very interesting to me. My best friend has a three year old daughter and her daughter loves technology. She has an iPad that she knows how to operate and she also knows how to find Youtube videos on the toys that she enjoys watching. She picked up on learning how to use a iPhone and iPad very quickly. I remember the first time seeing her operate the device. I was so blown away that she could fully function devices, I asked her mom if she was a child prodigy. Her mom explained that a lot of children her age have iPads and are very advance. I became so interested in her behavior, I headed over to Youtube to watch other children make toy tutorials, chat about their favorite games and television shows. Just like we love to watch DIY tutorials, they do too. They literally get a kick out of kids making things out of playdoh and legos.

According to theguardian.com

YouTube, in particular, has emerged as an alternative to traditional children’s TV – although it’s probably more accurate to say that the two are merging: plenty of popular children’s TV shows are now on YouTube in some form, while to young viewers – many on tablets – it’s all just “video”.

With the launch of its YouTube Kids app in the UK and Ireland, the company is hoping to capitalise, but this being YouTube – owned by Google – it’s also kicking up a debate about its motivations, as well as familiar arguments about children and screen time.

The 20 top children’s channels had more than 5.2bn views in October alone, from Little Baby Bum’s 428.5m to Toys and Funny Kids Surprise Eggs’ 164.7m

Youtube kids in the UK and Ireland also censors ads that are not kid friendly.

While searching for kids and technology. I found an article that said Steve Jobs did not want his children using the iPad and it was not allowed in his home.

 “Your kids must love the iPad?” He said “Actually we don’t allow the iPad in the home. We think it’s too dangerous for them in effect.” The reason why he said that was because he recognized just how addictive the iPad was as a vehicle for delivering things to people. That once you had the iPad in front of you, or when you took it away from the home with you, you’d always have access to these platforms that were very addictive. That were hard to resist.

So where his kids were very well adapted, well adjusted, may not have been prime targets for say substance abuse, they like everyone else, are susceptible to the charms of something like an iPad and what it delivers.

Which makes me wonder if children should be on the iPad as often as they are now. I think that all internet activity should be monitored by parents. I found some alarming facts about the internet and children. Of course parents want to censor their kids from the obvious harms of the internet such as violence and sex, but being on an electronic device too long can also encourage obesity, bad social skills and distract children from having an imagination.

Livestrong.com says that 1/3 of children are obese. An increase in exposure to technology goes hand in hand with a decrease in physical activity. As children spend more time sitting in front of the TV or computer, they spend less time outside running around and burning off calories -- and energy. Over time, combined with an increase in snacking, this can lead to significant weight gain. 9/10 food advertisements are shown during Saturday morning cartoons. Technology also increases snacking and mindless eating amongst children. A researcher found that children who spend time in front of a computer eat more snacks than children who use technology less frequently. Obsessive use of technology also interferes with sleep. A lack of sleep causes an increase in ghrelin, the hormone that signals you’re hungry, and a decrease in leptin, the hormone that tells you you’re full.

Kids do not know how to interact with other children. I have been in public places and seen everyone on their phone even if they are sitting with one another. I also notice people tell their feelings to a social network instead of actually calling or meeting up with a person they have an issue with. Young people under the age of 18 use text messaging as their primary way of communicating. According to a survey given to the study's participants, the kids spent an average of four-and-a-half hours texting, watching television and playing video games during a single typical school day. According to Uhls, this is on the low end--many children and teenagers spend more than seven-and-a-half-hours a day interacting with a screen of some sort. And when interacting with a screen, they aren't interacting with a human."You can’t learn non-verbal emotional cues from a screen in the way you can learn it from face-to-face communication," Uhls said.

Lastly children are attention is impossible, imagination is unnecessary, and memory is inhibited.. It is very difficult for some children to focus. Kids are now even having withdrawls from their cellphones. Some schools allow children to have a brief intermission throughout the day to check their phones. Kids are bombarded with updates from apps and online newsources. Now it seems as if it is impossible, to keep up with the latest trends if you are not connected at school during the day. By constantly watching the activity of others, it is difficult to think on your own. Although I am not a child I can agree, I feel detached when Im not on my phone.

Millenials, Branding and Social Media

This week's topic on the use of branding and social media was very interesting to me. I enjoyed reading Business Insider's Fundamentals of Personal Branding. I have my own website vinkankel.com and I believe all of the points addressed in the article were informative and will definitely help me in the future. This spoke volumes to me:

"What you mean must fulfill a specific unmet need in a well-defined target audience, AND be perceived as special and valuable." - Business Insider

I think it is especially hard to create a brand in 2017. In the past media had gatekeepers and used formal communication. Social media uses grapevine communication, through reposting, RSS feeds and the ability to share you see more brands than ever before. Since shared content is very popular, brands are distorting information by cramming their advertisements into 140 characters or less for their Twitter audiences. New media uses informal communication and has diminished what appeared to once be an elite hierarchy of journalists, new casters and commentators. Now media can be created by practically anyone. Most millennials cannot recall the last time they have read a newspaper or watched their local news station. According to journalism.org, the newspaper industry has dropped 20,000 positions or a thirty-nine percent decline in the last twenty years. Digital sales make up twenty-five percent of all advertising sales. Social media is at our fingertips twenty-four hours a day. Social media travels at record breaking speeds and is almost given to you simultaneously while browsing the internet if you subscribe to updates.

Millennials are under the influence of others 87% of the day and not being logged in to a social networking site can cause detachment issues. A survey from Ipsos OTX, stated that users feel as if they are missing out on coupons and discounts when they are not logged into a social network. Consumers follow their favorite brands on Facebook and Twitter to receive updates and alerts on the latest promotions companies are offering. Other reasons for staying connected included contests, interesting content, creating content that others will share, answering emails and messages and responding to content posted on their page. Twitter launched Twitter business to strategically drive traffic to users post. Facebook offers an ad service which guarantees a reached audience based on the amount of money you are willing to spend. Engaging with millennials over social media is lucrative.

In recent year’s brands have changed their approach and target audience to gain revenue. October 12, 2016 the Coca Cola Company’s Sprite brand, released the Lebron James #WannaSprite campaign. The #WannaSprite campaign latest viral commercial stars rapper Lil Yachty. Lil Yachty has red hair, wears gold teeth and emerged as an independent artist. The commercial features Lil Yachty rapping at a piano and explaining why he enjoys Sprite. Within a day the Lil Yachty commercial received 1 million YouTube views. Sprite also launched their limited edition hip-hop cans which featured lyrics from 2Pac, Missy Elliot and J.Cole. The cans also include a Twitter hashtag #Obeyyourthirst. Sprite is number ninety-eight on Forbes most valuable brands list and is valued at 6.2 billion dollars.

Burger King’s marketing strategies changed in an attempt to take over the digital space. Under the Be your Way Campaign Burger King made its presence on Twitter more known. Burger King tweets urban music and caters to the demographics of Twitter’s most frequent users. Burger King chose to use social media to cut down on advertising cost. Tastemakers and critics started to take heed to Burger King’s strategic internet marketing schemes. Burger King’s smartest and most profitable marketing strategy occurred on May 2015. Burger King used a photo shopped picture of Burger King’s mascot “The King” alongside Floyd Mayweather and Justin Bieber during the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight and posted the photo to Twitter. Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight took place at MGM studios in Las Vegas, Nevada and was the biggest boxing match in the past decade. The fight was commercial free. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight had a 4.4 million viewers, within hours the King, Mayweather and Justin Bieber were alongside each other and the picture was all over the internet. Burger King developed a knack for social media advertising and is known for its outlandish approach by millennials who heavily indulge in surfing the net. Be your way campaign is one of the best digital campaign’s in its own right.

Brands have been using celebrity endorsement for decades. Entertainment has always grabbed the attention of people from all social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. Yet modern day communication cannot be measured, labeled and classified easily. The way we communicate has changed throughout the years, communication can be viewed from a critical perspective.

Entertainment has also been used by brands on social media to push equality. Ben and Jerry’s ice cream latest flavor “Empowermint” was created in support of the black lives matter movement. The campaign was posted on all social platforms. Ben and Jerry’s website featured a press release explaining why Empowermint was created. According to Nielson Reviews African Americans ages 17-35 are Americas biggest consumers. Ben and Jerry’s may simply care about equality of all people but supporting racial minorities, an influx of women and people with vast sexual orientations has worked in their favor. Ben and Jerry’s icecream I dough I dough, received 27,691 likes and 12,354 shares. Corporations are attempting to bridge the digital gap by appeasing different demographics.  

General Mills, one of the country’s largest food companies, last year revamped its frozen pizza brand, Totino’s, with black packaging and spicy flavors in an effort to appeal to millennials. The new Totino’s Bold products are marketed with entertaining zombie videos on YouTube instead of the picture of the matronly chef Rose Totino clad in red-and-white checkered apron that was used on newspaper ads in the 1980s, when the target consumer was baby boomer mothers. (Searchy).

I think brands are using less slogans and more tactics. Some brands have solidified their target audience and their slogans are known everywhere. Some brands dont even use slogans. I believe branding is completely unorthodox and up to the company in 2017. I think that consistency is most important. Sticking to web videos, celebrity endorsements, or whatever works best for the company is the only tactic that will work. 

Crowdsouring... Everyones doing it!!!

I began to look through my emails and noticed companies bombarding me with advertisements. Most of the advertisements are actually things I would be interested in, but since I am an email hoarder and I have over 10,000 unread emails I tend to neglect every email that is not from a person.

Paypal recently sent me an email with the title "Fashion for everyone on your list". When I opened the email I noticed there were screenshots of shoes Ive purchased in the past and also a few pair of heels that I may like.

                                            
If I told my grandmother Paypal knew what sort of shoes I liked, I'm sure she'd say it was an act of big brother. But as a strategic communicator, I'm aware its simply crowdsourcing. I personally don't know if crowdsourcing is the most ethical thing to do, but if you're anything like me and don't like doing the dirty work of finding new things to purchase or even watch on Netflix, crowdsourcing is amazing.

Our wonderful friends at YouTube, have changed society by using crowdsouring. If you're familiar with internet coding, you would know that the feed YouTube uses is enabled by PHP coding. The most relevant videos appear on the front page of YouTube. If youre signed into your YouTube account videos you've watched or may be interested in watching will also appear throughout YouTube's feed. I watch YouTube for hours and stumble across tons of music videos that are pretty neat  and do it yourself tutorials, because that's what I'm into!
                                        
I cant imagine how life would be without my computer, cellphone and tablet keeping tabs on me and my interests. Honestly I hate the thought of having to remember web addresses. Since crowdsourcing is totally convieient, I can simply type in keywords and based on my interests many sites will pull up videos or sources that Ive seen before or are very similar to what  I am looking for.

Digital Democracy : Women dominate the internet

  Women are avid Internet users. Women are believed to use social media about 10 percent more than male users. Women occupy a larger proportion of time on the Internet and this is steadily increasing over time. Currently about three quarters of women (74%) use social networking sites. A growing proportion of older women are engaging in social activities on the Web. It seems that once they discover it, they embrace it quickly and their usage rivals that of younger women. This particular fact stood out to me because me mom and her friends love Facebook. Photo-sharing sites are most popular among younger women,but women of all ages have embraced it as a key component of the social networking experience. Women are believed to use Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram more than male users. Whilethis may seem like an unbelievable conclusion, since women have had online parity for the past ten years; many advertisers target women’s magazines, celebrity gossip and baby sites in order to gain revenue. This is very true because I use a lot of online magazines. My favorite online magazines for women are OnlineWeekly.com and Ebony.com. Women are actually more engaged than their male counterpart. I believe this too be very true since I always see women share more ideas on social networks. On Instagram women take “selfies” a lot more often than men do. I believe this is because women on the Internet want attention and the approval of their peers. 

As a woman I always feel empowered by being informed about impressive women. I often look at Forbes.com to find out about women who are contributing to society. I think social media and technology shed light on many issues that were once buried inside of magazines. I think that technology has also allowed women to express themselves like their male counterparts. 

Social media has done a lot for the sake of women’s rights. Women are still looked at as inferior throughout the world. Social media has made many issues pertaining to women’s rights widespread within a short period of time, which was hard before Internet access.  Our voices have been recognized through blogging and our contribution to some of the top web news articles. Since women, in my opinion, spend more time on social media their voices are hear around the world. This gives women the right to express their feelings about subjects that the male dominated world has expressed their concerns about. As apercentage of global Internet users, women are still slightly inthe minority but are catching up quickly due to their involvement and voicing their opinions on the web. Differences are most common in developing countries where were women are not allowed to voice their opinions, in many developed countries, the split is about equal. However, once online, women are more connected than men. 

Regardless of how much of an influence that you believethat women have on the internet, women are primarily today’scommunicators, networkers and facilitators, it is very clear that women are embracing social networking in a way that men havechosen not to. The rise of social networking has encouraged women to engage in many different online activities, such as photo sharing, gaming, video viewing and tutorials. All of these activities attract women users, despite the stereotypical beliefs that only males like gaming and sports. Social retail, in my opinion, is probably the biggest and may be a new revolution;many women have style blogs and also sale their own products online. Cell phones also allow women to buy things with just a click of their fingers.  Women tend to shop more online not asurprise. However, how and where they shop, as well as what they shop for, is notably different than men. Women drive adisproportionate amount of online spending. In the U.S.market,women makeup just under half of the Internet population but generate 58 percent of e-commerce dollars. 

​The U.S currently has the largest e-commerce market in theworld; you can find anything you can imagine online, big.cartel.com allows you to buy anything its members want to sale. Retail usage is category-specific and extends from sitevisitation to shopping to buying online. 

Savvy retailers are translating the social aspect of shopping tothe online world to capitalize on two key aspects of women’s Internet usage. There has been a rise in online boutiques because of the big.cartel website. Many women use Instagram to promote their big.cartel.com boutiques. The most common things sold on big.cartel.com are hair extensions, club wear and makeup. Women clearly shop more on the Internet than men do. Women spend more time on websites; I spend a lot of money on aliexpress.com and eBay.com. I think a lot of women like to keep up with trends and it is very hard to turn down a sale.Whenever I see an online sale or online discount I know that it will beat any in store promotion.

I stay update on trends by viewing what women are wearing all across the globe. I also use Google to search what to wear and what not to wear to any event. I searched in Google “should I wear a pants suit or a dress to a job interview” and different pictures came up with women who were wearing both, I also seen what was appropriate to where either article of clothing. Community and Lifestyle sites, traditionally aimed atwomen, continue to attract this audience, especially with parenting, food and home-related content. Health sites continue the trend of attracting primarily female audiences. Women havedifferent preferences when it comes to online search. Inparticular women like using Bing.

I have noticed women take part in sports discussions online as well. I always read my Twitter timeline to stay update on sporting events that are occurring. Just last week I saw that the World Cup was taking place. Many women commented on how cute the players were rather than really watching the sport itself but there are plenty of women who actually spectate the game. The Internet has allowed women to prove many social norms and stereotypes to be inaccurate. Women to can enjoy sporting events. The rise of online solitaire, card and board games hasgenerated a new audience of video gamers: women. Womentend to consume less video overall than men but show more of apropensity for YouTube. Topic areas that are male mainstays inthe offline world–automotive, sports and some aspects offinance are also male-heavy online. There are, however, some areas of finance where women outpace men. And, women are actively engaged in areas that are typically associated with males, such as adult content and gambling.