Match.com to Screen for Sexual Predators

Match.com has announced that they are going to begin screening all of their users against the national sex offender registry.  The reason for this new cause is because they are being sued after a woman claims she was raped by a man she met on their site.  The woman claims that the man raped her on the second date, but the man is pleading not guilty because he says it was consensual.  

I find it interesting that Match.com has agreed to start implementing this process, but they seem very nonchalant about the case and even hesitant to screen users.  The article on Mashable.com said, "although the site’s officials still don’t think that screening is the best option to prevent cases such as this one.  We want to stress that while these checks may help in certain instances, they remain highly flawed, and it is critical that this effort does not provide a false sense of security to our members."  It seems as though they are making excuses for future incidents.  As if they are saying, "We will implement this process, but if it happens again it's not our fault because we're doing what you wanted."  

I understand that Match.com wants it's users to understand that screening won't prevent everything that could ever happen.  However, I feel that screening users will make those who were hesitant to join before comfortable with joining, and even make current users feel more comfortable.  It could even increase their traffic on their website and usage - which is beneficial for Match.com.

My question is: do you think it's a good idea for dating sites to screen their users?  And although we understand it might not prevent all incidents, would it make you more comfortable about joining a dating site knowing they screen for sexual predators?

Viral Video

A few months ago I received an email from my dad and the title had something to do with "You have to watch this video!"  I'm not to into the Youtube craze and rarely watch many videos online so I put it off for a while.  Well, finally the other day I was emptying out my Inbox and saw the email so I decided to finally open it up and watch the video.  Along with the link came an article discussing these twin babies having their own conversation in their own language.  In the video it is clear that these two toddlers are discussing something in their own "baby talk" language.  They giggle at each other and give hand signals just like an adult would do to interact during a typical conversation.

My thoughts after watching this video, and now while taking our Social Media Marketing class, is how often do we or our close family members participate in viral marketing or making videos go viral and not even realize it?  Many people have a bad connotation associated with the word "marketing" or "advertising" and claim not to fall for the "scams" laid out by these people.  However, when they forward emails containing videos associated with a brand or product they are doing exactly what marketers wanted to happen with that video.  I just find it interesting that marketing has such a bad rep when millions of people participate in it daily without even knowing it.

ABC News: Viral Video

Facebook Places

For those of you who have an iPhone I'm sure you have the Facebook App.  Well today Facebook updated their Iphone App with some changes made to Facebook Places.  Now instead of just checking in to where you are at you can actually check into events or check in to what you are doing at certain place.  You can check into parties so that people can see who's there and check into events like trivia at restaurants.  The other new feature is viewing a map and all of the people who have checked in around you show up on the map.  Apparently, there are some issues with the map feature and certain events showing up in the middle of the ocean, but those will be fixed in time.

But think about how beneficial this can be for marketers to see, not only everyone who was potentially invited to an event but also see who actually showed up.  This will give them age ranges, interests, and other useful information for marketers to more accurately define their target market.  I think Facebook has the upper-hand on the new fad of "checking in."  Most people use Facebook anyways making checking in very convenient as opposed to having a separate account with something like FourSquare.  Although you don't get the perks from Facebook Places like you do with FourSquare, checking in on Facebook does let all of your friends know what you are doing and where you are.

The question comes to mind after reading more about the details of Facebook Places: "are we giving marketers too much information and making it too easy for them to "sucker" consumers into making purchases?"

Wheat Thins Rewarding Its Tweeting Customers

I went to the movie this past weekend and one of the commercials beforehand was one that many of you I'm sure you have already seen on TV or somewhere else.  It's basically just the Wheat Thins Company rewarding it's consumers for giving it publicity.  @CHRISMACHO is the one who tweeted about them and said, "Had a hunch today would be good but didn't think it would be THIS good....Wheat Thins is now following me on Twitter." Then Wheat Thins shows up and shows him the traveling billboard that says, "Follow @CHRISMACHO on Twitter. He's awesome."

I found it interesting how companies are actually showing their presence on Twitter and giving back to their customers who give them publicity.  Wheat Thins realizes how much "free" publicity they get when their customers tweet about them and are trying to give back and get them more followers as well.  I just thought it was interesting how companies were beginning to take advantage of social media sites and maybe are starting to see the real benefits of using social networks.  As we have said before, social media as a marketing tool is a great and nearly free way of getting publicity for your business.  Although some of the publicity might be negative most customers talk about their good experiences and a lot of people like to see some negative reviews just to see the company has some flaws and it doesn't seem like the reviews are put on by the company to make themselves sound good.

Video of "Follow @CHRISMACHO"

LinkedIn's Popularity

Last week I blogged about why paying for LinkedIn might pay off for some people.  This week I want to talk about how popular LinkedIn is becoming and has become since it's launch in May of 2003.  LinkedIn announced that it has finally surpassed 100 million users!  It was founded in 2002 and launched in 2003, but took six years to reach 50 million users. Six years to reach 50 million users seems pretty fast, they have really seen their increase the past two years.  In October 2010 they reached 85 million users and at the beginning of this year when they decided to go public they were at 90 million users.  That is quite an increase in just 3-4 months which goes to show how popular LinkedIn is becoming and why it is so important to maintain a professional image so you can continue to build your personal brand.  In their latest research, LinkedIn has found they are adding one new member per second!!!

To celebrate this accomplishment, LinkedIn has done some research on it's users - who uses and when they use - and has published it for others to see. Some of the facts they have found are:

• LinkedIn has experienced most of it's growth internationally - 56% of it's users are outside the U.S.
• It's fastest three growing countries are: Brazil, Mexico, India, and France.
• Most users get on LinkedIn during the workday - around noon.  However, mobile usage shows around 8pm.
• 1 million users are teachers; 20% work in the service sector; 9% work in finance; and another 9% in high-tech industries.

The article really shows us a lot.  It reminds us how popular any type of social media is becoming because even though Facebook might not be the biggest thing in a few years, there are hundreds of other types of social networks that are breaking through and on the rise.  Once again, I have discussed this previously quite a bit, it is a continuous reminder of why is it so important that we maintain our LinkedIn pages and keep a professional and updated profile.  More and more employers and recruiters are adding LinkedIn to their horizon when searching for potential employees so there is no telling how many times our pages are viewed or when our experiences and education will be wanted by a hiring manager.

"LinkedIn Surpasses 100 Million Users"

Perks of Paying for LinkedIn

I found an article today titled, "10 Reasons Why You Should Upgrade Your LinkedIn Account."  Although most of us in our social media class only have a LinkedIn account because it is a course requirement, we should keep in mind that it could be potentially helping us for our future - since a majority of us are graduating in May.  And although we probably aren't to the point where we use LinkedIn enough to find it beneficial to pay for its use the article did bring up a few good points.

The first major point was about the use of InMail.  InMail is just like email but it sends messages via LinkedIn.  Studies found that InMail is actually 30% more effective than regular email because the receiver of the message immediately knows you are part of the LinkedIn community and also can view your profile instantly to find out more information about you rather than just being a name on an email.

For those who use LinkedIn a lot to recruit and find potential employers, the paid version could definitely be beneficial to them because of the search filters that are offered to paying customers.  On the free version of LinkedIn, you are very limited to who you can find and you must put a lot more effort into searching for others.  With the paid version, recruiters are offered many different types of search criteria to filter their results which keeps search times to a minimum.

Another great tool with the LinkedIn paid version is being able to see who has viewed your profile and what keywords people are searching that brings them to your page.  This allows you to edit some of your information to reach more of your targeted audience.

There were other reasons mentioned for upgrading your LinkedIn account and there is no doubt that it can be beneficial to many.  As an individual it is your job to determine if upgrading is worth it to you or if the free version is taking care of your basic needs.  All in all, LinkedIn is a powerful recruiting tool and social media tool that should not be brushed under the rug and I think it is very important that we keep them neat and professional because you never know who will look at it and see you as a potential employer.


"10 Reasons Why You Should Upgrade Your LinkedIn Account"

Facebook - Creating Relationships or Causing Breakups

All I simply had to type into Google was "social networking" and two articles just posted today popped up linking Facebook and relationships.  One of the articles was a story of personal experience of how a relationship found its ending when the boyfriend started a Facebook page.  He connected with old friends (and girlfriends), created a Farmville and became consumed with chatting, updating, and feeding his new obsession.  The relationship began to plummet because most of his free time was spent on social networks, but the relationship ultimately ended when he connected with an ex-girlfriend and decided to visit her one night when she "supposedly" kissed him first.  He claimed he didn't cheat because he didn't initiate the kiss but he knew she still liked him and still decided to go.  Obviously there are other ways that Facebook or other social networking sites can cause turmoil in relationships. Status updates that claim a significant other is doing something other than what they said they would, "incriminating" pictures, and simply messaging or chatting with others we know we shouldn't can get us all in trouble.  

The other article claims that Facebook is the cause of 1 in 5 divorces that was discovered in a survey done by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Also, out of all the other social networking sites, Facebook is the leader for online evidence causing divorce at 66%.  Although Facebook does not claim to be a dating site, there is plenty of evidence showing that Facebook is in fact used by many to meet new people and start potential relationships.  For those of us in the situation where any social network could harm our current relationship, we need to remind ourselves frequently what we are using Facebook for and keep our minds in check.  The purpose is to keep in contact, updated, and update others on our lives - not to create emotional relationships that could turn physical or turn our attention away from the one we love.

"Facebook to blame of 1 in 5 divorces in US"
"Blame Networking Sites For Your Breakup"

How Social Media Can Flourish or Fail Your Company....

"Where the Hell is Matt?" - I won't venture out and say that everyone who will read this has heard or seen this video, but I would assume that many have.  I didn't know about this video until last semester when someone from WKU came and spoke to my ENT Marketing class about the up-and-coming "social media marketing."  The video struck me, first of all, as really interesting - seeing someone who traveled around to so many places all over the world dancing with people from many different cultures; because although values, morals, and languages might be different around the world - everyone can dance; and dancing was Matt's way of making a small connection with strangers.  At the very end of the almost-four and a half minute video, Stride posts their advertisement for all of 3 seconds, and that's when I realized how effective "silly" videos on the internet can be.  Matt didn't attend college and his life ambition was to sit on his couch and slay over beating the latest video game. However, in 2003 he realized that he needed to do something with his life and that's when he saved up his money in order to travel all over Asia.  While taking a picture one day, one of his traveling friends suggested he do "his dance" in the picture.  And to quote directly from Matt's personal website, 

     "A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as 'That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I'll send you the link. It's funny.'
     The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he'd be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they'd be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea."

From there, it seems, the rest is history. Matt did travel again and made another video, and yet another year later traveled back to Asia to record a third video that would include others dancing with him this time.  


Stride saw an opportunity and jumped on it immediately.  They realized how many people were viewing this video and seized a perfect opportunity to gain brand recognition from millions of viewers who would eventually see the video.  All they had to do was pay for Matt's trip expenses, although the trip expenses may have been costly, they realized their return would be much greater.  


Stride Gum is an excellent example of how social media can help your company flourish - don't be hesitant to try to something new.  


While poking around the internet while doing this research, I found one article on how social media can FAIL, rather than help, a company.


Back in 2009, Pizza Hut announced it was searching for a summer intern to manage their Twitter presence.  However, apparently whoever posted the job announcement had not yet been "schooled" in a professional social media presence -

 "A representative for the company stated that 'The successful applicant will speak fluent OMG and LOL and correctly use the terms DM (direct message), RT (retweet) and # (hashtag).'"  

Clearly, as a professional and global organization, announcing a job in such casual and "dumbed-down" format makes applicants hesitant to apply for the job because it belittles their importance and also educational level.  Also, Twitter is a VERY PUBLIC social networking site so why would Pizza Hut want an intern who knows nothing about the core values of the company posting tweets for the world to see??  It's obvious the announcement was meant to be quirky and fit the job-description; however, there is a fine line between being professional and witty, and just not consider the possible outcomes of the situation. 


"Where the Hell is Matt?" Video
Matt's Personal Website
Pizza Hut Article

How Social Media Helps or Hinders Job Searches...

We have seen how social media has begun to infiltrate our society through all of the social networking sites that are popping up everyday.  Since this new phenomenon there has been quite a lot of chatter about how social networks can help job-seekers or cause problems.  


It seems a couple of times a year we hear news reports and stories about teens and college-aged students posting pictures or writing comments on Facebook, Twitter, etc. that have caused problems.  We are constantly warned to be extremely cautious in what we put out there for our friends to see because one you enter the job market business professionals can easily search for and see everything that has been put out there. It is scary to think that once something goes on the web, it is there forever - there is no getting it back.  And once something gets passed on to one person - it's like a virus because that person passes it on to five people and those five people pass it on to another five people and before you know it millions of people have viewed it.  We hear stories on the news about celebrities who have tweeted ill-feelings about another person or made threats or seen how tweets can just be misconstrued and come across in a negative light.  


Having said all of that, it is hard to only argue the negative side of social media because it's positive side has so many things to offer.  First of all, social media is free! (unless of course, you opt to use the paid version). You can completely build an entire profile and "resume" online all for free.  In the past you had to seek out specific jobs and apply to each one individually.  Although this method should not be completely neglected, social media should be your main focus because now hundreds of business professionals who work for hundreds of different companies can see who you are, your experiences, and skills without you having to specifically hand-pick them and send them out individually.  It was interesting to me, in the articles we read online, how the author stated more than once that you need to "build a brand for yourself."  Building a brand for yourself based on your strengths, and then "decide on a personal brand statement" which could be a picture or some sort of avatar representing who you are.  As a marketing major, I am so used to hearing about the best ways to market certain items and categories - choosing the right target market and using the correct distribution channel, that I never even thought about how that could apply to marketing yourself.  But this only makes sense.  We build our brand based on who we are, our strengths, what we're interested in and passionate about, and what experiences we have had and then we build off of that.  We want to appeal to business professionals and companies that might be a good fit for us where we know we will be able to contribute, and we also want to use the right "distribution channel" to do that - social media.  


It's hard for me to believe that business professionals have time to spend on looking for new-hires and job applicants online and social media sites, but I keep hearing over and over again that this is the way to do it now so some of it has got to be true.  I believe that social media is great way to search for jobs and just get your name out there.  Even if professionals don't end up contacting you after you posted "laid off - looking for a job," some of your friends might see it and mention it to one of their friends and then you can start networking.  We just need to keep in mind that whatever we choose to put on the Internet has the possibility to be seen by some people we might not want it to be seen by. But I'd rather be cautious and keep my name out of trouble, than to neglect social media all together and perhaps miss out on the best way to find a job.

Social Media: Fad or Fake??

I guess a lot of traditional marketers are beginning to ask themselves this question more and more as social media "infects" our culture on a daily basis.  I remember when Myspace gained popularity and if you didn't have one the only reason was because you didn't have a computer.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flikr, Smugmug, Youtube, and so many more social websites come to mind when I think of social media or places for people to go online and share memories, stories, interests about themselves and connect with other people who have similar interests.  Marketers who still believe that traditional marketing is the only way to go and social media will begin to fade obviously have not done the research on how effective social media marketing is.  The book, "Secrets of Social Media Marketing," written by Paul Gillin, lists several different facts about how often these "social places" are visited daily and monthly: "The average Youtube visitor watched 41.6 videos in a month", "Emory University...found that 97 percent of the students had Facebook accounts and 24 percent logged onto Facebook 18 or more times a day."  These 2 facts themselves are staggering because it shows us that people are no longer spending time watching tv, reading, or spending time on other forms of entertainment to relax - people are spending their extra time online.  Yes, social media marketing is very new and a sort of scary, unknown territory for most companies who are used to using traditional media forms as their way of marketing.  However, my belief is that this so called "trend" is here to stay.  Ten years from now social media will no longer be a trend but absolutely imperative if companies want to survive.  Technology has and will continue to evolve tremendously for us to just ignore social media as a great marketing tool.  Cell phones, Ipod, Ipad, Kindle, and the next new gadget to hit the market will replace television time and the times when reading the newspaper was the way to get the latest news.  We will be bombarded with new links, advertisement listings on the sidebar of websites, popups, "groups" that share a common interest in a certain store, restaurant, or hobby, all because this is where our audience will be.  Why waste millions of dollars on a television commercial when our target audience will only be exposed to it 1/3 of the time??  And our other marketing option is social media that will expose them to our marketing efforts 2/3 of the time for a fraction of the price because social media is CHEAP! So, to all those marketers out there who believe social media is just a fad, I gotta tell ya' - I think it's the real thing.