Using Social Media for a Fashion Brand

Hi everyone,
I am gonna talk a little bit about my internship and how we use social media. I am working for a lingerie brand named Kiki de Montparnasse, in the PR department. We use Twitter and Facebook everyday to communicate with our clients, fans, friends.... We let them know about our credits in magazines, about the latest celebrities wearing the brand, the latest partnerships, creations.... The president only want us to post once a day on both Twitter and Facebook. I have two opinion concerning that. Posting more could annoy people, which I understand. When you see on your facebook/twitter page 10 times a day the same person/brand, it starts being annoying. But, I also think that posting a little bit more (like 3 times/day) could made the brand better known as a lot of people have no idea what it is. I invite you to like Kiki de Montparnasse on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. ;)

The New Wave of Advertisers

With the age of tivo, people are not longer sitting in their homes watching television.  They are streaming all of their shows on the Internet.  Brands took notice to this and started posting ads online.  Now people are too busy watch programs over the computer.  Mobile is the new window for advertisers.  But with the monitor being so small, the ads will get lost on the pages.

Advertisers have been using social media as a new tool to promote their brand.  They are creating Facebook and Twitter accounts to post promotions.  You can also get promo codes on Foursquare.  Actually, with the use of Four Square, advertisers can use the public as virtual billboards.  When a person enters your store and promos the brand, they collect points for future rewards.  In exchange, you get free promotion from them to all of their friends.  QR Codes are definitely coming into the social media trend.  It allows non-Internet forms of advertisement to compete in the online world.

The biggest trend that social media is going to see in 2011 is the wave of new forms of advertisements.  Times are changing and in order for a brand to survive, it must enter the new wave of social media.

~ Michelle Martinez

Love It or Hate It..It's the new wave of Social Media..

Two years ago we saw exponential growth of social media, especially the development of social networking sites. According to Nielsen Online, Twitter's popularity spurted during the past 2 years.  Meanwhile, Facebook continued to outpace MySpace, who knew?. So I guess it goes to show that during the past 2 years we as social media consumers have certainly picked our prime sites we choose to socialize with the world. When Twitter first came out I thought who would want to use this? All you do is write what you are doing every second of the day. " I'm at the mall right now". " I'm watching the Oscars right now, OMG look at Natalie Portman's Dress!" For me I had thought that this website is a waste and is like the website Xanga that we used to post random thoughts and videos. Although, now Twitter is one of the main sites people use day-to-day and continues to add more people to their bandwagon. 


I knew I was out of the loop several months ago when I went on an interview with a big media company. The interviewer had asked me if I Twittered. I had replied no I don't have an account. The answer I got back in return was, "oh, really thats a problem because you have to know how to Twitter". After that interview ended I was completely stunned by the person's response and said to myself, "is this what the world is coming to?" Before enrolling in a Social Media class I still didn't want to partake in the Twitter frenzy because I honestly I don't care to have one nor have the urge to blog about my life every second of the day. Out of all the social media websites, I happen to go on FB the most, but it certainly took me a while to make a profile. Although, just like Myspace that lured thousands of people I wonder if FB will eventually crash and die like Myspace. Now when we hear the word Myspace we think of 13 year olds posting up childish pictures and comments. We forget though 3 to 4 years ago we were all glued to our computers when Myspace was "in". 


I personally think just like everything else, these media sites might loose some momentum and people will "be over" them. Just like clothing or the hot new lipstick of the season, they eventually die and then come back 3 years later. I think FB and Twitter may be in now but like Tim Gunn says, " one day your in the next day your out".


- @ Elisa Cervone

Relationships in the Virtual Space

The number of predictions in social media that were made for 2011 is outstanding. But who can really predict things in a field where the leading social networking site of today, may not even exist in three months. 

One trend I found went beyond the way businesses will use social media or what kinds of social media will be most popular. An article on ReadWriteWeb.com predicted the “10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2011.” The seventh prediction made by author Ravit Lichtenberg, was that “psychology is shifting.” People used to feel like they did not have the ability to influence personal and cultural injustices, but today social media has given them a tool to extend their voice to reach the masses, and actually effect them. 

Beyond this power to change, however, is how the constructs of relationships will evolve because of social media. Lichtenberg asks “how do we respond to the changing definition of relationships?” Behavioral cues are virtually gone, as interactions move behind a computer screen – or a smartphone, or an iPad. How will this impact our ability to connect? The number of people who rely on text messaging and Facebook updates to keep in touch with “friends” is far exceeding the number of coffee dates and even phone conversations.

Lichtenberg says “in the coming year, companies wishing to succeed should already start to set practices and create a charter to understand the intersection between technology and psychology. Focusing on behaviors is no longer sufficient.” 

If companies can no longer focus on behaviors, then what do they focus on? Keywords, search terms, likes and dislikes. That is how marketers will find their consumers, and how friendships are made in the virtual space.   

Lichtenberg asks “how does our need for emotional balance get addressed in the face of constant change?” And there is no doubt that this virtual space that is the center of worlds is constantly changing.

-Briana Samuels

Advice of the day about social media tools

In my opinion, I think social media can either be very interesting tools or very dangerous when it interferes with professional life. It is for sure a good way to connect with friends and it is wonderful if you try to find back your first high school love. But (cause yeah there is a huge “but” here), you have to be aware of the fact that absolutely everything you post on the web will stay on the web even if you think you deleted it.

Nowadays, companies employ a new kind of professionals. Their title? Headhunters.

Those people are experts in finding on the web all the information they need concerning actual or new employees. And don’t even wonder, they are able to find absolutely everything that refers to you. It could be a simple phone number but also this very one picture you posted and didn’t want to remember on which you appear drunk as hell and barely naked.

A French survey has been led about facebook. The goal was to understand better why people share that much information about their private life. To the following question : “Why do you post pictures of you and your friends on facebook?”, most of them answered it is to have memories. But why? Do memories need to appear on a public social tool to be remembered? If we are being honest here, it just seems to be an ego thing. We want to expose ourselves to receive good comments about how we look, how the party we threw was awesome, we want to make people react about our lives.

So, my advice would be : never post anything on a social media tool that could damage your image or your reputation in another context. Have you heard this story about that girl who told her boss she couldn’t go to work cause she was sick? Imagine his reaction when he found out pictures of her on facebook, laying by the pool cocktails in each hand. I let you guess who is still desperately looking for a job today…

Also, check how many friends you have on facebook and wonder : among them, who do I really consider as my real friends?

Alexia

Social Media: The Heartbeat of Advertising & Marketing

Honestly, I am a very private person.  I never understood social media users who post their entire lives on the internet for everyone to see, dissect, and analyze for their personal enjoyment.  There are too many malicious individuals out there to even be sharing the fact that you prefer mustard over ketchup on your burger to begin with, let alone posting relationship status' and restaurants that you have recently "checked into".  On the other hand, utilizing social media outlets such as; facebook, Twitter, and FourSquared to navigate your business and market is probably the most brilliant idea society has embraced in a very long time.  The fascination behind having everything at one's fingertips is not only shockingly convenient for the masses, but for the nature of a business, brand, and even a celebrity figure.  Advertisers and marketers have spent decades throwing their materials and ideas in consumers' faces; yet, they felt there was more to thirty foot billboards and stimulating press.  Why wait for the consumer to approach the brand, when the brand can target, approach, and devour the consumer all in a few seconds?  I know, sounds a little too rough around the edges, but that's the game marketers must play.  Now I believe it is our turn to squeeze as much juice out of these social media outlets as we can, because although some of us truly appreciate traditional television and press ads and messages, social media is in full bloom and has ultimately become our future.  The job market is tough right now; therefore, we as soon-to-be college graduates must take in everything that is being offered to us in order to go the distance in our field of interest.  Go-ahead sign up for twitter, FourSquared, LinkedIn, whatever you feel like doing in order to get your foot in the door, just remember; no one really cares about that AMAZING tunafish sandwich you're going to be eating for lunch later.

Social Media:A New Way to Interract

My way of social media has many interpretations. It's a way of stay connected with friends, networking, and staying updated to whatever your interests are. Twitter and Facebook are my daily usage. Twitter is a very handful tool that I use because it helps me to stay updated with my friends that I don't get to see on an everyday basis and it's also useful to me because the people or brands i follow allow me to keep up with whatever their new moves are. Twitter has been great to me I have met people on twitter through mutual friends and network with them which has been great because I landed a great internship, gone to some great events, and made new friends/contacts through it. Facebook allows me to stay connected with friends that I don't talk or see regularly. To be honest though I don't take Facebook seriously because I perceive it as an outlet to be yourself. I treat it as a blog. I post videos, pictures, links that I enjoy and hopefully my friends or people that are my friends find an interest in it. Sometimes FB can be too much! There are those few that don't agree with everything you say or sometimes get offended but really it's only FB life doesn't revolve around it. That being said people need to stop spending their leisure time by abusing social media and need to start using this as an outlet to accomplish their goals. I went to an event for Social Media Week which was 2 weeks ago and the event was at The Hearst Building which Cosomo Mag hosted and if was quite informative. The panel which included Bryanboy who is a fashion blogger that has been recognized by the fashion world is a great example of what his mission was. His way of starting to use social media was by blogging on this website. He said that he wanted to make a blog that shared his passion for fashion, experiences, and people he met to his readers. He then moved onto twitter and also facebook. He uses twitter to promote companies that offer him free clothing or pay him to promote it, he shares his trips,events, and ideas thru twitter. So to conclude this Bryanboy is making himself into a brand. A brand to his blog. By doing so he now is working on products such as makeup, clothes, and such. I think that is very smart of how he started it all. If he can do it so can anyone. Social Media is not a threat to expose your every move or be stalked it can be a way to build yourself up in an industry of your choice!



-John Morales

Social Media: There's no Turning Back

I have a love/hate relationship with social media, Facebook in particular. Back when Facebook started up, it was really cool to join and connect with all my friends, and looking for people I knew became a bit of an addiction. After awhile, this got old, and I actually went off Facebook for a long time, that is, until they opened it up so everyone and their mother could have an account, which I believe, may have been what caused everyone to leave Myspace.

A few years ago I also had a Myspace account, and that was the popular thing to do until all of a sudden Facebook just took over and everyone I knew deserted Myspace in a mass exodus. The cool thing about Myspace was that it was so much more private. You could have your own little slice of the Internet but not everyone had to know about it and it wasn’t under your real name.

The days of privacy and anonymity on the Internet are gone. No one uses Myspace anymore. Facebook is cool in a lot of ways—allowing people to keep in touch and share information very easily, but I personally feel that it has become far too invasive/pervasive. Sure, there are privacy settings, which I make use of as best as I can, but there is no way to prevent someone from posting an inappropriate comment on your wall or tagging you in an embarrassing photo for all to see. I love the networking aspect of Facebook—it’s like my own little database of pretty much everyone I know, but I don’t always want everyone to know every detail about my life.

I have lately been thinking of deleting my Facebook account and starting a new one. I recently found out that they store every action and piece of information that you have ever posted on the site—I discovered this unpleasant fact when a bunch of old messages appeared in my inbox that I had deleted long ago. This happened after switching over to Facebook’s new messaging system. Now they have it set up so you can’t delete messages or conversations at all.

Not cool.

However, I have amassed a great many contacts via Facebook and I don’t want to have to go through the process of trying to re-friend everyone again. I guess this is my dilemma. Silly, I know. No one ever used to have to worry about these kinds of things, but today your whole life is online and it’s not going to change. The virtual world and the physical world have become integrated and there is no turning back. I, for one, would like to stay connected, but not at the expense of my privacy. A lot of people seem to feel this way so it should be interesting to see if Facebook will remain so relevant over the next few years as it is today.

-Erika Hansen @erikathehansen

Interview with chinese associate director in NYIT alumni office

interview with Tonglei/Tony Tong (chinese associate director in NYIT alumni office)

1 Will NYIT Career Service offer any opportunity and resource to students who want to find jobs or internships?

NYIT’s Office of Career Services offers various tools for the students to find jobs or internships. John Hyde, dean of NYIT Careers Services and his team have done a great job assisting NYIT students get in touch with potential employers by incorporating different resources within and outside of NYIT. If you go to the career services’ website, you will find tons of information there. For instance, if you log on to NYIT’s CareerNet (a name of a popular database for job searching) web portal, you can find tons of job/internship opportunities there. Many of them are exclusively for our NYIT students thanks to NYIT’s Alumni connections and business partnerships.

2 will our university give us chances to work in other countries?

Yes. We encourage our students to work, get as many internship opportunities as they can before they graduate. We have campuses all over the world and it is a great advantage for our students as well. Our students can use these resources and connections worldwide. As the newly appointed associate director of Alumni and Employer Relations in China, I can closely reach out to our alumni networks in China and bring job information to our students directly from China.  Same with the other Associated Directors in Amman-Jordan and Bahrain – Our goal is to help students find global opportunities on the same NYIT platform.

3 How can we take full advantage of resources in NYIT, especially for international students?

I believe the most effective way would be accessing the NYIT website regularly. On Career Services’ Website from NYIT, you can find tons of information regarding job hunting, resume writing, career fairs as well as the information for events/activities held by NYIT. I attended this kind of events frequently when I was the NYIT student and they are all very informative for fresh graduates in my opinion. Also on the website, you are not only searching for job opportunities in the US – the database is global – which is helpful for international students searching global job opportunities. International students have certain visa restrictions so you also need to keep communication with the International Students’ office for application procedures of the US working visa.  

4 How to position us the best when we look for jobs or internships?

It is a tough question to answer. I will not go with details but here are some tips from my experience:

First, do a S.W.O.T (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis about yourself.

Second, a good job needs the Person/Job Fit (your skill sets fit your job well) and Person/Organization Fit (you fit into the organization structure well). Think more about Person/Job fit during your internship; Stick to Person/Organization fit when applying for real jobs.

Third, the best job you can find will always be the one where your passion belongs to.

5 why employers want to hire us, are there special policies for international students?

Employers want to hire an employee who can bring values to the company. Before we apply for any job, we need to think ahead – what is the company’s core value and can I bring values to them. Can I bring more values than other candidates also?  It makes no difference whether you are an international student or not. As an international student holding F-1 student visa – your valid status is a full time student. The purpose of CPT/OPT (Curriculum Practical Training/Occupational Practical Training) is to help you apply the knowledge you learned in school into practice. During your CPT/OPT period,  if you can prove yourself that you can bring more values to the US company (For instance your bilingual ability) than any other candidate, then you have the reason to stay and work for this company since the company needs your specialty/knowledge. And your status will be switched from F-1 Student Visa to H-1B Visa (or other type of working visa).

6 Are there policies which international student should concern?

The major concern would be the changes of the Immigration Policies in the US each year. Make sure your student status is valid all the time during your study, leave the US before the grace period expires (usually it is 2 months after graduation) and if you do find a company that can sponsor the working visa for you, then you should file your application (with the lawyer from your company’s HR department or a lawyer outside and paid by the company) as soon as possible.

The other thing I would recommend is to keep in touch with the international student’s office. They are representatives for us and have direct communication channels to the Bureau of Immigration. We can always get information and advice from them regarding issues and policies related to international students.

LOL,SMH,ROFL...SOCIAL MEDIA IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD :/

It’s really quite sad to see how our world has evolved. It seems that our country has become totally obsessed with social networks (ie: Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare). What did we ever do before these sites came out? Twiddle our thumbs on our stoops or chitchat on the phone for endless hours. Whatever we did before these sites were invented is not vital but how we interacted with one another is. The more I visit these sites, the more I am able to study people.

I come to conclusion that everyone has two different personalities: one for Facebook and one for the “real” world. When I’m looking to kill some time between classes, I “creep” on some of my co-workers pages. More than half the time I am in total disbelief of what I see and read. Half naked photos, provocative positions, and outrageous status updates. Then when the workweek starts up you see the conservative and “clothed” co-worker handling corporate calls in their cubicle.

It seems like everyone is airing out their dirty laundry and is eagerly waiting to see how many “likes” or “comments” they get on their photos. I have a friend who gets severely upset when particular people don’t “like” her status or don’t write happy birthday on her wall. It’s really amazing how people react to such minuet issues like this. It really makes you think how people react to bigger issues.

The main point I guess I am trying to say through this blog is that if your going to participate in this social media orgy, don’t get emotionally attached. The big question however is when these sites eventually fade (maybe the next decade or two), will we back go back square one again? If that happens, how will everyone react? Will we be able to communicate to each other in a normal old fashion way or will we crumble as a society? This is something educators, media professionals and the youth of America should think about before its too late.

@ Elisa Cervone

Extra Extra...Read All About It!!!

Social Media is the window to our souls.  Everything we think and feel is out there for the world to see.  "I'm tired." "I'm excited." "I'm going on vacation."  "It's snowing again."  "Ugh, my boyfriend is stupid."  Before social media, these were things that were said in person or over a telephone.  Now if we want to keep in touch with a friend or anyone, all we need to do is read their status updates.  I had a friend who was planning her wedding and the bridesmaids always had trouble getting in connect with her.  The only way they knew the progress of her wedding planning was because they read her Facebook wall.  Why call your friends to talk when you can talk to the whole world at once.

People have been complaining about privacy.  There have been stories about people lying about being too sick to go to work or bashing their boss on their wall and they loose their jobs because of what was said on Facebook.  These people blame the privacy settings on Facebook.  I say the only people to blame is themselves.  If you are faking being sick from work, do not post your location for their world to see.  Do we all really need to know that you are at the beach?  If you hate your boss, call a friend and vent.  Do you really have to tell us all about it?  Everyone is using some form of social media.  And even if your privacy setting are set up the way you want, why do you need to tell the world your problems?

I don't understand people's need to tell the world every single thought they had during the course of their day.  I was watching an episode on House where the patient was dying and had to pick between a heart transplant from a pig or a new heart valve.  She was given the pros and cons for the surgery, but before making a decision, she had to post the information on her blog and get the opinions of her followers before making her decision.

Don't get me wrong.  Social Media is a great tool to use to connect with friends.  It's also a great tool for networking and advertising.  But when it comes to the personal arena, people just go over board with the amount of information they provide to the world.  We can have all the privacy settings we want but it doesn't change the fact that we are giving out too much information about our lives.  There shouldn't be the need for privacy settings because if we decide to post something on the web, it is because we want the world to see.  If you do not want the world to see a posting, don't write it.  That's what dairies are for.

Social Media sites are nothing more but tools.  It is up to us to learn how to use them wisely.

~Michelle Martinez

I am Surviving My Layoff

In March 2008, I was hired by a media company to work in their online sales department.  The opportunity and job description was perfect for what I was looking for at the time and felt it would be a place I can grow and really contribute. In June 2010, that media company gave me a box to fill as they informed me my position was “eliminated”.

Initially, I was completed shocked and upset at the company as I was planning my summer vacation and I knew my income level would drastically change. However, I went ahead and book my flights and hotel as I was determined to make the best of the situation.

As I walked out of the building, I did feel a sense of defeat but at the same time I felt relieved it was over. Layoffs had occurred in various other media companies and I knew that I may someday have to experience my very first layoff. As I packed my box of items, all I kept thinking is this is the time I needed. It’s all good. I didn’t cry in front of my boss nor did I say anything unprofessional. Instead, I opted for a handshake and a “thank you for the opportunity” exit.

I must admit getting laid off is definitely a blow to your ego. Here I was someone with a number of years of experience, a college degree, great contacts and a positive personality and yet I was on the “chopping block”. I learned quickly that those people that say “don’t worry” really can’t do anything for you. Even another boss who was my confidant and mentor could not save my position or even give me a “heads up” on what was about to happen. Unfortunately, corporations need to make those unpopular and unpleasant decisions of letting people go.

So how have I survived my layoff emotionally and financially? Well after I signed up for unemployment benefits, I began my new life by taking a very nice (and inexpensive) long vacation and surrounded myself with loving and supportive family members and friends.  Upon my return home, I cut out any and all unnecessary expenses. I continued to wake up early, take a shower and dress up in my best summer outfits. Being laid off in the summer also has it benefits because I was able to enjoy the beautiful summer weather.  I would make daily list of all those things I hadn’t gotten around to do while working full time. Reading up on the latest media news also kept me up to date and informed as well as reconnecting with former bosses and coworkers via social network such as Facebook. I found great comfort in reconnecting with former coworkers who surprisingly were also out of work.  Reconnecting has helped me realized I am not in this alone. Stronger bonds were made as one of my former bosses expressed her interest in hiring me as soon as she became employed. A great boost to my ego!

Finding work is still part of my daily routine. However, because I have not been hired yet, I decided not to waste any time. I continue to pursue my Masters Degree and happily will be graduating in May of 2011. The time I have been laid off has served a great purpose as I have been able to gain get knowledge of new technologies and be able to compete in a savvier world.

Looking back to June of 2010, two quotes come to mind. One is “you are never too old to learn” as I have learned to get through this layoff and actually work towards another college degree. The second quote is “Everything happens for a reason”…although painful at first, my layoff has given me the opportunity to look further at other opportunities and learned how to deal with such a change in my life.

Yes World !... I am surviving my layoff..

-Adriana Muniz

Why do we use social media?

Personally, I am at the point where I think it would be best if I delete my Facebook account. I can't control who writes on my wall or the different photos that I am tagged in. Moreover, I definitely don't trust those privacy settings. But it would be a professional mistake to become an unsearchable person in the interconnected world in which we live right now.

That is why I am trying to learn everything I can about using social media for business. The younger generation is expected to lead this movement, and regardless of my personal feelings on the point of sites like FourSquare, I certainly need to be literate in any and all new media that is rapidly appearing on the Internet.

I am currently working in public relations and the most important advantage of social media is that we no longer need to rely as heavily on traditional media to get the word out, and share our stories with our audiences. Now, the channels are at our finger tips. In order to be most effective, we need to learn how to utilize these channels to serve organizations in the best possible way.

I am not entirely convinced that the majority of people have a clue of what those best practices are. In a way, this is refreshing, but also disappointing, because everyone is in this rapidly changing, learning process together.

To the next Zuckerberg, the latest Google feature, and Apple's new gadget of the week: Bring it on! We are all ready to learn.

- Briana Samuels