Monica Lewinsky- The Price of Shame

This TED Talk was incredible, especially coming from a public figure like Monica Lewinsky. 

Social media has desensitized us because it is so available, frames what we look at and filters we are able to know. As Monica Lewinsky said, “I was seen by many, but actually known by few.” There is no such thing as a privacy anymore because you are seen on a worldwide scale. With cruel stories such as scandals, affairs, and slut shaming a commodity to our public, we begin to see this as the norm rather than a rare incident. The media feeds off of what we as a society pay attention to the most and when millions of people habitually click on cruel and humiliating stories not only does that individual’s reputation become more and more in danger, but the media will consistently report this stories in order to make money.  

Compassion can displace shame in social media by understanding that everyone is going to have an opinion and that you don’t have to fight fire with fire. You can take the initiative to post something positive and not allow your anonymity make you into something that you’re not. Instead of jumping to conclusions or judging others by their comments, listen and try to understand where they are coming from to gain perspective before just speaking your two-sense.

I am prepared to actually pay attention to incivility online. I am an outsider when I comes to reading comments or even posting regularly. I want to understand why people say what they say and not make snap judgments based on their post. I want to make a more positive appearance on other’s posts because every kind word or comment can make a difference for someone, even make their day just a little bit happier. Also, reporting cyber bullying can help someone too. To know that the power of anonymity can destroy or hurt someone’s feelings to a breaking point should not go unnoticed or unattended. Being positive as possible can do wonders for someone. I want to be that person. 

Facebook Campaign Analysis

Semester Facebook Analysis 

I’ve taken over the Dixie State Softball page since February and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it! I do think that this was a successful campaign and I look forward to continuing to manage this page until I graduate next spring.

Likes

One of my goals was to boost the amount of likes to our page. The page started with 917 followers from my first post on February 3 and as of today we have reached 1,004. It was tough to promote a page that already had a solid following behind it, but I think through word of mouth and shares of our posts, people from everywhere have gained interest in our program through Facebook. 

Reach

The reach depended on what type of post. Videos and team activities definitely reached more people because of the attraction and tagging of others to view it as well.  The links to our game summaries and conference announcements reached our loyal fan base or what seemed like the same people who pay attention to our updates on a regular basis. Simple posts like on game days or weather delays were the least successful and I’m trying to think of more ways to make them more engaging. It was interesting because depending on what time of day I posted, would determine how big our reach would be. Posting during the afternoon or late at night was more successful than the mornings which was evident in the reach numbers.

Reaction, Comments and Shares

I was blessed to have a lot of positive reactions and comments on my posts. The support that our program receives is incredible and makes me want to do more creative things for this page now and in the future.  I would like to see more shares, but at the same time, our page is to inform. Shares consisted of us players and mostly family members wanting to brag about their niece or granddaughter to the world which is understandable J  

Page Views

I can see why our page views is very sporadic and tough to predict because there is a lot of down time and not every day is there something to post about. I wish I could go back to last year and compare the traffic, but overall I feel like we get a lot of interest from our followers consistently. 

Post Breakdown

Videos and team activity photos definitely have the most views, likes and reach among all posts. I think having a visual is much better than just words. I think that this is an area that I could definitely improve on- more substance. Before, each post was just the link, but what I have realized is that adding a personal touch can get people’s attention. For example, a simple hashtag got people using them on their shares or comments. I think that I did a sub-par job at giving our audience a behind-the-scene look at what being a student-athlete is. I share articles written by the DSU Athletics department and recognize conference accolades, but those are just highlights of our program. Although that is what followers want to read and respond well to, I think videos of games and players on a regular basis is just more entertaining and keeps our audience engaged and gets our name out to the masses as much as possible. There is so much more that goes into being a student-athlete especially off the field, so I plan on capturing the team at community service events or study hall just to give a different perspective.

Audience

I like how our fan base is fairly balanced between genders at 56% women and 43% men. The most popular age group was 18-24 women as well as a huge following from people 35-54 years old. I would like to appeal better to the younger population, but I realize that D I programs would most likely get more attention and interest than a small university in Utah like Dixie State. Based on my Facebook ad that I created, the cities and locations where almost identical. The majority of our audience is in Utah, but interest is scattered along the west coast and growing. Until our program gets more recognition nationally, I think this is the perfect audience that fits our program. 

Summary, Thoughts and Reflection

This page was a success, but as I continue to manage this page, I think there is a lot of work that can be done for better results. I was unable to get an Instagram account set up for this season, so I believe that cross promotion in the future will be a handy tool to help increase some traffic for our program on all social media accounts. We did share a couple of posts from Twitter that got decent acknowledgement, so I want to make cross promoting a priority and more evident in the future. I also was unable to do player profiles on our team this season which I am disappointed about, but I am assigned to do the end of the year wrap-up video which will be bittersweet. Also, I think that two of the three personas were met. I believe that the younger audience will come in time as our program gets more and more national recognition, but family members and community supporters definitely play a big part in the popularity of our page and we are grateful for their constant support through our season. 

DSU Softball Facebook Ad

My Facebook ad that I created to promote the Dixie State Softball page would potential reach 3.4 million people. I know that my audience was going to be broad because I want to reach people not only in-state, but throughout the west coast due to potential athletes interested in being recruited as well as parents of current teammates. I had no desire to alter the image due to the new branding of the university. Changes in the future may occur just for a fresh look :)

My Automatic Attitudinal Response

I can honestly say that I have struggled to write every Well Informed and OTM post this semester. When talking about racism, democracy, or religion, I kind of just shrug these issues off because I was stubborn to express my opinions or had a tough time identifying what my standpoint was to begin with. I’m pretty sure I am the definition of a naïve citizen in this world but, if this class has taught me anything it’s that I need to be more engaged with what is going in society, be informed about all the factual aspects pertaining to these topics, and know myself well enough to be able to know where I stand.

Looking back on my posts, I feel like I’m just generalizing the situation and implying psychological, social or cultural context through research and vaguely through my own perspective. This sounds terrible, but I feel numb to all of these topics when in reality I should be educating myself especially when I’m uncertain about something. I observe Candy, who sits next to me, during class and she is always prepared to look up what we are talking about or anything she is unsure of. I feel I need to take the initiative to be better informed in order to break these cognitive barriers about controversial issues. I need to gain knowledge in all areas of society and if I’m not familiar I need to know reliable resources that will give me the facts.

I believe this fault of mine is a result of my reliance on social media as my main news source. This quote by Professor Young opened my eyes to how easily we can be persuaded to think a certain way without even knowing it, “When our own opinions and positions are bolstered by what can appear to be a majority of others, we can easily become entrenched in a skewed perspective of reality.” I clearly need to expand my resources. I am a victim of framing my perspective on society through social media when I need to be able to see past the biases that they threw at me. I have to research both sides and be neutral in order to overcome hidden assumptions, ethnocentrism, and primary certitudes.

I’m not by any mean saying that I’m not bias or prejudice in certain situations, but I think I’m naïve to it because I keep everything to myself so I’m not sure how people will react. I don’t have much feedback to fall back on, but I try my best to fight just expressing my own opinions no matter what. I respect people’s points of views, backgrounds, and cultures and allow them to be free about it too. I will say I joke a lot about stereotypes in the kindest way possible without offending anyone, but I think I do a good job of playing devil’s advocate in a discussion. The barrier that I most need to work on is be more educated and have valid reasoning behind my views while still being open to others.

OTM #3- Who Are Trump Supporters?

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to me is unorthodox and full of questionable tactics, but it seems to be working. What started as a potential political satire has turned Trump into the front runner of the Republican Party. How is this happening and what is the makeup of his fan base? Racists, the working class, impatient citizens in need for change?

The Atlantic’s national correspondent James Fallows believes this is a complex contradictory movement. We are constantly going back and forth of who his followers actually are without coming to any permanent conclusions. Fallows illustrated the feedback of a variety of public opinions that included vile remarks about Trump or that the media doesn’t know what goes on in real America, but then he get those who understand and try to sympathize with Trump.

Fallow’s describes the “normal” person as those who stick to their political ideology and do not seem like creatures of the extreme, who like Trump’s rashness and are not that afraid of what he would do in office.

One of Fallow’ theory of Trump’s success is that main media narrative of this movement represents racial tension, economic exclusion, and inpatients with politics along with Trump himself. People don’t care about his unique performance or background, but have more of the psychological disposition with trump than probably anyone else.

Fallow’s solution for the media coverage is to ,”try to recognize number one that this is a complicated fast moving situation that we aren’t going to understand in real time. Economic realities, what are racial dimensions, do as much explanatory work on hydraulic of America 2016 and less rally coverage but more talking about the country that is making the decision and the person about whom they are choosing.” The media must focus on the task at hand which the presidential primaries rather than just the next Trump fiasco in order to give people an honest perspective on who is fit for president. 

This becomes an interesting cultural matter in politics with the identity of the Republican Party. There is an alliance of modern Republican Party between economic royalists and cultural conservatives that are having racial or religious resentment. This can cause a shift in the face of the party with Trump and those in the future.

I agree with Fallow’s when he said, “Trump expresses the views of those who feel the object of that scorn then that would be true.” Trump represents those who feel victim of what is going on in the world. This political dilemma is presumably tainted by money, biased toward privilege or welded to the status quo is unknown for now, but has the possibility of become a reality sooner rather than later. 

Democracy 2.0

The 2016 primaries have literally left me speechless and it’s easy to say that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is one for the books.  If we can barely come to terms with Trump potentially becoming president, could you imagine the rumors about Kanye West’s run in 2020?

I’ve had a chance to watch the debates and rallies leading up to the biggest day of the primaries, Super Tuesday. 13 states will hold their elections tomorrow and Trump seems to be in control. How? The media is eating out of the palm of Trump’s hands with all the publicity his campaign has been getting. An analyst referred to Trump as a trailblazer for politics even though he has no political background. I feel like Trump’s absurd tactic and comments are meant to distract us from the real issues. If you listened to his speeches Trump just bashes other candidates, countries or people to please the crowd and then briefly goes over important issues like foreign policy or health care.

Many of my friends have expressed their opinion on social media about Trump and how this ridiculous joke has the potential to become a reality within months. 

I come across a post about Trump on my Facebook and Twitter feeds daily and with these videos or memes being constantly viewed and shared only makes Trump’s stock go up. The fact that we as a society devote some much effort to criticize or critique Trump over all the other candidates is the attention Trump has lived for his whole life, especially now on the biggest stage of them all. The funny thing is Trump degraded the media, in particular the New York Times, in his rally in Texas Friday morning. Trump wants to change laws so that the media can’t say negative things about him… ironic since they are a major factor in his success.  Also, on Friday before the announcement of the Chris Christie endorsement, Marco Rubio mocked Trump’s tweets and tried to “fight fire with fire”. I just thought to myself, “Is this what our country has come too? Who can talk sh*t the best?” I’ve gained the mindset of voting for the candidate that is going to the least amount of damage to our country for the next four years, but yet I am still dumbfounded.

Any individual who thinks they are qualified to be the most powerful person in the world should be required to have political background of some sort. I think that every candidates should hold office of an applicable political position for at least one full term before even be eligible to run for president. To me experience is essential to everything in life. You don’t get hire to become a CEO of a company with no job experience, so why are we letting a power thirsty businessman or a mediocre rapper even be in the conversation of politics let alone being the leader of the free world? There need to be stricter requirements for this office because it is so important to our nation’s future. I’ve come to idea that we have lost sight of good leaders who want the best for the American people and instead accept those politicians who say what we want to hear to get elected and then pursue their own self-interests. Was Christie’s endorsement in spite of Hilary Clinton or just to get a seat in the White House? Politics are complex and apart of the foundation of this country was built on, therefore we can’t just let anyone be president. We should have higher standards for a position of such powerful representation of the citizen of the United States.

  

Religion 3.0

Religion is can be very influential depending on your background, surroundings and lifestyle. I did not grow up going to church or practice a specific religion, but occasionally I do go to a service for my friends. I respect people who are religious and believe in a God, but I would consider myself an agnostic, or a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God (Google). 

Religion never played a significant role in my upbringing, but as I’ve gotten older I see the effect it can have depending on where you live. I was born and raised in Southern California where religion was quite diverse. I would say half of my peers growing up were religious and the others were not. California’s breakdown of religion goes as followed: “45.00% of the people in California, California are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion. 27.89% are Catholic; 2.07% are LDS; 5.28% are another Christian faith; 0.58% in California, California are Jewish; 1.18% are an eastern faith; 0.73% affiliates with Islam” (BestPlace). With such an assorted group of religions around, there was no pressure to be affiliated with any of them.

I spent my first two years of college in New York. This is the melting pot of the world, so of course I witnessed a variety of religious representation almost every time I was in NYC. New York’s religion breakdown goes as followed: “51.21% of the people in New York, New York are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion. 33.17% are Catholic; 0.41% are LDS; 3.10% are another Christian faith; 4.05% in New York, New York are Jewish; 0.62% are an eastern faith; 2.03% affiliates with Islam” (BestPlace). I’ve been fortunate to live in arguably the most diverse states in the nation where the acceptance of varied religions is reasonable.

I must admit that transferring to Dixie has been an adjustment due to the religious dominance of LDS. Utah’s religion breakdown goes as followed: “79.11% of the people in Utah, Utah are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion. 6.01% are Catholic; 69.14% are LDS; 0.83% are another Christian faith; 0.06% in Utah, Utah are Jewish; 0.39% are an eastern faith; 0.18% affiliates with Islam” (BestPlace). I grew up with some Mormon friends so I wasn’t completely oblivious to the practice, but the fact that one religion is dominate is new to me based on my previous and current living experience. 

Today, I see many of my friends posting on social media to express themselves religiously. In a World Religion News article “5 Ways Social Media Connects Religion to Young Generations” it talks about how learning or practicing a religion has become more accessible through apps and how apps like Instagram or Twitter are platforms for more expression. There probably isn’t a day I could recall where I didn’t see at least one post about a specific bible scripture, a religion or even God and that’s perfectly okay with me.

I have complete respect and appreciation for anyone who devotes their time, effort and energy to practicing a religion. My one rule is to not influence me to join or judge me because I have no religious affiliation. I will respect your way of life as long as you respect mine.

http://www.bestplaces.net/  

http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/christianity/5-ways-social-media-connects-religion-to-younger-generations