Unfiltered

          Our generation seems to have lost the common courtesy of tact. People have convinced themselves that it is ok to say exactly what you think exactly when you think it. We justify this lack of thoughtfulness by believing that “I’m just being honest” or “I have a ‘tell it like it is’ personality. Well, if I’m being “just honest” and “telling it like it is,” the unfiltered nonsense has got to stop. It is juvenile to believe that you can say whatever you’d like without repercussions, and even more juvenile to convince yourself that whatever repercussions come at the cost of your words are not worth your acknowledgement.

          We spend so much time filtering and tailoring our pictures to make ourselves appear in the best light, literally and figuratively, so why don’t we give just as much care to our words? Social media allows information to flow in real time. We are able to get the latest news updates, or converse with our network as fast and frequently as we’d like. I suppose this is what lead us to a place where we feel comfortable putting our “real time” thoughts and emotions out there as quickly as they come to mind. This is a dangerous minefield to maneuver. When emotions are running high, the basic human instinct is to suppress and try to not feel it, or express it as quickly as possible. Exciting news is always fun to share with others. Social media is a great outlet for good emotions. Social media is not the first place to turn, however, for negative emotions. It may be a platform to connect people to friends and family, but it also connects you to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the rest of the world may be less likely to be as caring and forgiving as friends and family. 

          For instance, say you got mad at your younger sibling and in your fury you called him or her a mean name. Now, if you two later calmed down and talked things over, you may be able to ask for her forgiveness and move forward. Or in another illustration, maybe you had a heated discussion about politics with your uncle over the Thanksgiving table. You two may be able to simmer down and agree to disagree by the time the pie is served. Now, let’s flip these instances to social media. Let’s say you were scrolling through Facebook and read a political post with which you disagree and so you decide to comment your opposing views. You and that person may be the kind of friends who are typically pretty upfront with each other on your views, but the second you hit “comment,” that opinionated post is out there for the friend’s friends’ friends to see. And this friend’s friends’ friends have a lot to say about what you had to say. Thus, you have begun a heated debate where no one is really communicating helpful information at all, but instead lashing out from anger.

          Also keep in mind that it is ok to see a post that you disagree with and not let that person know publicly. It would be much more beneficial to have that conversation in person. Who knows, maybe waiting to express yourself would give you time to research more behind what you think so that you have something beneficial to bring to the conversation rather than getting indignant and letting emotions run rampant.

You can comment below if you disagree with this post, but just remember to filter yourself.

Harnessing the Hashtag

How companies can use hashtags to become #instafamous

Recently, Instagram users have begun to post specific pictures on certain days of the week. For example, on Mermaid Monday Instagramers will post pictures of themselves dressed like a mermaid, or a drawing of their favorite mermaid character, or seashells, or anything pertaining to mermaids on a Monday. Then, by adding a hashtag to the picture, #mermaidmonday, these Instagramers are able to connect to the other Mermaid Monday fanatics who are likely to search that hashtag or be reminded to post their own artsy mermaid picture on that day. Another popular day is Throwback Thursday. For this day, users will reminisce on the past by posting either, that one amazing concert they went to a few years ago, or an embarrassing picture of when they were young. By simply adding "#throwbackthursday" (or "#tbt") before posting the picture, people can join in on the nostalgia. Certain themes for different days have gained and lost popularity, so it is important for Instagramers to keep up with what friends are posting. Companies can use this trend in social media to their benefit by monitoring and engaging in it.

(Permission was granted by the above Instagramer for use of this photo.)

If a company has their own Instagram account, they can involve themselves in the awareness of consumers by leveraging the hashtag to their benefit. A company could start a social media campaign to have consumers post a day-specific picture with that day’s hashtag and also tag the company’s name. They could provide an incentive to add the company’s tag on the picture by offering a small promotion. For instance, a certain company would promote that their “#WineWednesday is approaching! Don’t forget to post a picture of you enjoying that wonderful wine at the end of a long Wednesday…or at the beginning, we’re not judging… ;) Just post your wine pic with #winewednesday and @(insertcompanynamehere) and you’ll have a chance to win (insert applicable discount/deal here)!”

This strategy would successfully engage Instagram users to their brand because it is not asking much of them. The Instagramers are either already posting these pictures or would become excited for the excuse to post another cutesy picture. All that is being asked of them is to simply tag a company’s name for the chance to get a deal or discount. Thus, the company is meeting their target market at a place where the consumer already feels comfortable. People are more likely to engage in promotions if the action required of them is very minimal. This tactic uses a promotion on something that consumers are already doing rather than asking for a new action that would require them to have an extended evaluation of pros and cons. Therefore, companies can easily become #instafamous simply by appealing to their consumers through the hashtag of the day.