Assignment for 10/8/12

In chapter one and two of Heath and Heath Made to Stick, the things that stuck out to me the most was the idea that “simple messages are core and compact” (46). This point is extremely important because any type of message should have a core, something that is its foundation, something that the message can build on. For example, many stories that have a message have a foundation. For instance, the message in the Tortoise and the Hare was built off of the most important part of that story; therefore it was able to reach millions of people. This story is also appealing because it is simple and not complex. I like the example Heath and Heath used of the Commanders Intent. According to Heath and Heath, intent is the most important aspect when it comes to the army. Because people in the army do not know the enemies goal or essentially what they will do, the only thing they can focus on is their intent or their mission. Thus, they must have a simple plan that they can carry out when it comes to defeating the enemy. Simplicity is something that many people desire. For example, in Presidential debates, people want the candidates to keep their answers to questions simple. They do not want them to go in circles and fill their answers with things that do not pertain to the question. They want and desire that simplicity.

It is clear that simplicity and finding the core is very important in delivering messages. However, when delivering messages it is important to also keep in mind what it takes to get and keep people’s attention. According to chapter two Heath and Heath, surprise is what gets people’s attention and interest is what keeps people’s attention. If something is surprising to us, it will catch a person’s attention and more than likely pull them in to listen or read further; this is where the interest comes in. If we captivated by something that is surprising than it more than likely will draw a person’s interest and make them want to continue reading or listening. In chapter two, I related the use of surprise to Heath and Heath’s mentioning of the unexpected. If something is unexpected, I agree with Heath and Heath, that it will be “sticker” or more interesting and appealing. I liked the inclusion of the Enclave ad example in chapter two because I felt it more than emphasized the idea of the unexpected and surprise. Because this ad, according to Heath and Heath, violated a person’s idea of how a car commercial is supposed to be traditionally, it creates that vision of the unexpected and ultimately creates interest. 

Assignment for 11/12/12

Strategy is one of the most important aspects when it comes to being successful within a business or just life in general. According to Heath and Heath, Made to Stick, a strategy is essentially a guide to behavior. To me, a strategy defines how a person should act. In order for a strategy to be a good strategy, it must “drive action” (255). If a strategy does not drive action, according to Heath and Heath, then it is inert or simply irrelevant. To many people, it can be fairly simple to produce a strategy that will be successful; however, for many there are barriers that keep a strategy from being communicated effectively. Heath and Heath list three barriers that make communication of a strategy more difficult: Curse of Knowledge, Decision Paralysis and Lack of Common Language.  

Out of the three barriers, I think it is necessary to highlight Curse of Knowledge, which is the first barrier that inhibits strategic communication. This barrier is the one that I believe is used most commonly because people believe it is the best way to reach people. However, Talking about strategy in conceptual terms and using language that is on a higher-level than most people’s intelligence is not the best way to reach a target audience. To counteract the Curse of Knowledge it is better to implement stories into a strategy. Stories use concrete language instead of abstract; because of this, stories make it easier to guide behavior. Stories evoke emotion and are easily relatable; thus, driving people to want more.

All three of the barriers that inhibit strategic communication, can be avoided. Like the Curse of Knowledge, Decision Paralysis can be avoided by talking about strategy: “When people are able to talk about strategy, they’re more likely to make good decisions than when strategy exists only as a set of rules” (260). If strategy regulated, than people will be hindered from making good decisions; however when people are able to talk about strategy, it will lead them to make a better decision. Lastly, to avoid the last barrier, Lack of Common Language, Heath and Heath recommends that people use language that is essentially diverse so that it can be relatable to not only one group, but all groups. 

Assignment for 11/5/12

Because social media is such a huge part of this society, it is important for not only businesses to know how to approach social media, but it can also be beneficial for regular people who use social media. In chapter 10 of Gillin’s Secrets of Social Media Marketing, he discusses the basics for successfully using and creating social media sites. One of the first things Gillin mentions, that I found most important, was the idea that content is the most essential part to making a social media campaign or site successful. According to Gillin, businesses should focus more on writing and speaking content in a way that is original instead of rehearsed or cliché. Content should be distinct and unique so that you can make an effort to understand your target audience and build an honest relationship. 

Understanding your audience has a lot to do with what Gillin refers to as content strategies. For example, if you are a business who wants to use a blog, you can use it in a way to “create awareness or brand image, counteract negative publicity, or to deposition a competitor” (Gillin 182). This content strategy will obviously work for blogs, but may not work to make sales. This example shows how important it is to create strategies that work with the type of goal you want to achieve and audience you want to reach. According to Gillin, social media content should incorporate some sort of dialogue and should have a publishing aspect. One of the things that stood out to me when Gillin proposed this was the idea that social media campaigns should have a “distinctive voice about one or more topics that are compelling and of interest to a certain group” (Gillin 185).

When building a social media campaign, it is important to focus on the content and strategies, in order to use the content in a way that is appropriate and compelling to the target audience. In order to do this, the content should be written in a way that is conversational instead of robotic and controlled, so that the target audience can be engaged, interested, and open to building a personal relationship. 

Assignment for 10/29/12

Chapter 7 of Design to Thrive discusses how to build significance within an online community. Significance is an extremely important part of any online community. If a person feels as though there is significance within an online community, it is more likely that they will join that community, thus allowing it to thrive. One of the steps towards making an online community significant is exclusivity. If an online community is highly important and recognized, it is more likely that people will want to be a part of that community because they feel as though they are a part of the “in crowd”; according to Howard.

                Many online communities feel as though the way to become significant and exclusive is to have an open community; one where anybody can join. According to Howard, having a big community is not always the best thing to do to build significance. Making an online community private and allowing just a select group of people to join, allows people to feel significant and not just feel as though they are just another face in the crowd. I have to admit, when I read this, I felt as though it was better for online communities to allow anybody to join. However, I realized that doing this may bring down the value of the community. For example, Facebook was originally designed for just college student and only allowed college students to join, but when they decided to open the community up to younger and older people, it caused them to lose the “college-like” atmosphere, thus causing their value or significance to diminish.

                When building an online community it is more about quality rather than quantity. Starting with a private community, builds exclusivity and allows people to feel as though they are significant and that they belong. Making people feel as though they are the community rather than just a piece of the community is what makes an online community significant. 

Assignment for 10/1/12

A sense of belonging is one of the main things that a social media network our business needs to have. Belonging is very important for a social media site because it creates a community, which is what helps a social media site thrive. What is unique about creating a sense of belonging within social media communities, according to Howard, is the “brand Identity” which is celebrated through “rituals, shared values, shared commitments, and shared interpretation of a common history” (130). Rituals allow for a person to become better involved and initiated into a certain group. Howard used the example of hazing to illustrate how rituals create a community and a sense of belonging; knowing that each member of a group has to overcome these initiation challenges to become a part of the “community” helps people feel as though they belong in the group.

Stories of origin is another important part of belonging. According to Howard, “Leaders’ narratives about the origins of an organization, can give purpose and meaning to a members’ participation in the group” (165). Learning about the origin and history of the group a person wants to join creates a sense of understanding and significance within a person. If a person feels as though the organization they are joining has purpose and gives meaning to their lives, they are more likely to feel as though they belong.

I think belonging played a huge part in my group’s recommended solution. Because community is such an important part of Clemson, people who participate in Campus Recreation need to identify with the people who are also involved in campus rec. Our solution offered that chance for students to participate and form bonds with other students on campus, so that they can feel as though they are a part of not only the Clemson community but also the Campus Recreation community.   

Assignment for 9/24/12

According to Howard’s chapter on Remuneration, remuneration is the idea that people will become or remain a member of a social network site if there is a clear benefit for doing so. I definitely agree with this idea. When I decided to join LinkedIn, I knew I would receive some type of positive return from making the decision to join. However, I have discovered that some social media sites do not present some type of value in joining. It is possible that is why some social media sites and online communities have not been as successful as others. Many social networking sites are useful to employees when it comes to deciding who they want to hire. According to CIO Magazine, 1/5 of employers use certain social networking sites when it comes to hiring employees. This is easily seen and understandable because of the fact that so many businesses are involved in online communities; if they have a social media site, then it is important that a future employee also have one.

Howard explains that the idea of remuneration not only addresses what people get out of joining an online community; it also takes into account “what people give back to the community so that communication and interactions will occur” (57). In order for a social networking site to be successful, it not only needs to give something back to the people who are using it, it also needs to create some type of communication and interaction between the users so that they it can be popular and successful. In order for the people using the site to help in the remuneration process, it would be helpful for the social network to focus on the twelve techniques presented by Howard.

Remuneration is key when it comes to social media networks and building a successful online community. However, according to Howard remuneration is not the only thing needed to have a successful social networking site. Functionality and innovative business model are also important. While functionality and innovative business models are “necessary conditions”, according to Howard, “remuneration is the only sufficient condition” for continued success (77).

Assignment for 9/17/2012

I really enjoyed this reading from Howard for this week. It is interesting to see how someone views the future with respect to social media. I like how the chapter first presents the affects social media has had on us in the past and today. I agree that there is an unwritten rule on Twitter that people follow without even realizing it. When we read things on Twitter, we analyze it, and then retweet it if we think it is important or appealing. It also true that when someone does abuse this unwritten rule, that they may be shut out from tweeting and may feel as if they do not belong.

What I also found interesting about this chapter and what I definitely agree with is that technology changes continuously and quickly. Technology will always be evolving and changing and people seem to evolve with the technology. However, what is interesting about this is that even though technology changes rapidly, people seem to not change as quickly. When technology changes people have to essentially move away from the technology of the past to appreciate and understand the technology of the future; which in some cases, may take a while.

 Even though technology is changing, it still needs to provide people, according Howard, with the necessary tools to be successful. Technology needs to not only do that, but also needs to make sure it improves our intelligence. Some people believe that technology is essentially making us less intelligent because we are relying on it more and more. This can be a problem with some internet sites, such as Google, because it gives all the answers instead of helping people to get the answers on their own. In the future, social media and all technologies should focus on improving our intelligence instead hindering it.

This brings about the concept Howard provided of control vs. creativity. I agree with Howard that in the future, this could cause friction. It is becoming easier for people to post what they want on the internet and find what they want, without making much of an effort. Thus smart decision is becoming less important. In the future, social media should be a place where people can make smart decisions and think critically instead of letting social media control our decide our intelligence and creativity.