Blog Post #9- Social Media Analytics Part 2

Here are my weekly statistics on Twitter. I am trying to be more active on Twitter since I don't have the time to blog much. I just changed my honors thesis, and now that I am writing for the Odyssey each week this semester, I am finding it hard to blog as much. My last entry was  published on February 13th. This week I tweeted about more things than just New England travel because I want my personality to be more prominent on Twitter. I normally use Twitter to share when I do a new blog post, but that can get annoying for followers to only see me post. 

I gained 1 follower this week, Salem Inn. 

https://twitter.com/danca_l/status/702320028612427776

Impressions:53, Total Engagements: 3, Detail Expands: 2, Likes:1.

https://twitter.com/danca_l/status/702472501511790592
Impressions: 37, Total Engagements: 1, Likes: 1.

https://twitter.com/danca_l/status/702617302672535553 

Impressions: 27.

https://twitter.com/danca_l/status/702861667990970368

Impressions: 44, Total Engagements: 3, Replies: 1, Likes:1, Link clicks:1.

https://twitter.com/danca_l/status/703355940372881409
Impressions: 15.

https://twitter.com/danca_l/status/703571344592658432

Impressions: 24, Total Engagements: 1, Likes: 1. 

https://twitter.com/danca_l/status/703618593355919361

Impressions: 36, Total Engagements: 7, Media Engagements: 3, Link Clicks: 2, Replies: 1, Likes: 1.

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MoreImpressions: 31, Total Engagements: 5, Media Engagements: 3, Replies: 1, Likes:1. 

https://twitter.com/danca_l/status/704069344725229568

Impressions: 23, Total Engagements: 1, Likes: 1. 

Blog Post #8- Odyssey Online

This semester I landed a position to write and edit content for Salem State's community on Odyssey Online. My roles include writing a piece once a week and editing other students' articles. Molly Cullen happens to be the Editor-in-Chief. This afternoon, I received an e-mail from the CEO,Evan Burns, with news. Burn said that last year the platform had 20 million readers and since 2016 has started they have gained a million readers each week.  That's 30 millions readers! Burns added Odyssey Online has more readers between the ages of 18 to 24 than the New York Times and the Rolling Stone.

Odyssey Online was launched to democratize news and content. Burns said he grew tired of reading content that wasn't relevant to him, with only a few people controlling what was and wasn't published. He founded the Odyssey to give a voice to thousands of people so they can share their story and unique perspective. Odyssey is kind of a hybrid between social media and a publisher.  Currently, there are more than 7000 creators from around the country (soon-to-be all around the world) sharing their ideas on Odyssey every week.

Right now Odyssey is in the process of adding new features to their growing platform. These features include allowing readers to follow their favorite writers and the ability to rate articles, like you can on Netflix, so the platform can find more articles you'll be interested in. 

Blog Post #7- Is Social Media Replacing Traditional Media?

Today my class watched a documentary on Netflix called Inside The Hunt For The Boston Bombers. The documentary dived into the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombings and how social media played a huge role in helping authorities find Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. I had no idea that it was the people on Reddit, not the FBI or detectives, who confirmed it was Tsarnaev. I actually never heard of Reddit until the past August when my boyfriend told me about it. He uses it quite frequently. 

Another surprising thing I learned in this documentary was more people turned to Buzzfeed to learn about the bombings than they did the New York Times!! The Boston Marathon Bombings was actually the first time Buzzfeed ever reported on a new story. Buzzfeed was founded in 2006. It was site centered on pop culture, personality quizzes, and silly, entertaining videos. Although Buzzfeed still delivers that content, after the bombings, they started delivering news updates on the biggest current events. 

I don't find it surprising that sites such as Reddit and Buzzfeed are becoming the place for people, primarily millennials, to learn about major new stories. These sites are among the most popular ones on the Web and people from my generation love convenience. We don't want to open another browser. In a poll conducted in October amongst 1,000 people, 60% of participants reported they don't trust mainstream media! I don't have a Reddit account and I hardly use Buzzfeed, but I do watch videos on YouTube every day, and credit many channels, including the Vlogbrothers and LastWeekTonight, with keeping me informed. 

There is no other relationship quite like the one millennials are developing these days with Internet personalities. For many users, their favorite stars can feel like their friend because they know so much about them. That enthusiasm can make them trust whatever the personality says. 

Blog Post #6- Social Media Analytics

As I stated in my previous blog post, when it comes to my blog's social media, I am not very active. After our class on February 16th, I decided that for the remainder of the semester I am going to engage on Twitter at least once a day. Maintaing a goal is never easy during the beginning because you have to work hard on implementing new changes into your routine, and we as humans are creatures of habits. This week, I only missed two days (17th and 21st). Here are my analytics. 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  Feb 16

wickedblogger20 Retweeted Angelina Wraith

It's good to see this sculpture still standing after last night's storm.

wickedblogger20 added,

Angelina Wraith @AngelinaWraith

Salem. Stickwork: Patrick Dougherty . . . 

@peabodyessex #peabodyessex #patrickdougherty … 

Impressions- 38 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  Feb 18

wickedblogger20 Retweeted Salem, Massachusetts

I love how youthful Salem is! #Salem #MA #NorthShore #PEM

wickedblogger20 added,

Salem, Massachusetts @Salem_ma

This Thursday night at Peabody Essex Museum! This is going to be wonderful and its free for residents!... http://fb.me/6UALyAU1b 

Impressions-34 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  Feb 18

wickedblogger20 Retweeted Visiting New England

Love the Union Oyster House and Woodman's!

wickedblogger20 added,

Visiting New England @NewEnglandInfo

New England restaurants that are over 100 years old! http://bit.ly/21aG7ot  #HistoricRestaurantsInNewEngland @FoodNetwork

Impressions- 54, Total Engagements- 2, Replies-1, Likes-1. 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  Feb 18

wickedblogger20 Retweeted Destination Salem MA

Will have to pick one up! Love finding new reasons to love #Salem

wickedblogger20 added,

Destination Salem MA @DestSalem

The 2016 Salem Guide is available! Request one at http://salem.org/guide  @VisitMA @NBCVB @BostonInsider #SalemMA

Impressions-45, Total Engagements-1, Likes-1. 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  Feb 18

I think I might have to go to the @SalemCheeseShop for wine. #NationalDrinkWineDay

Impressions- 34, Total Engagements-1, Likes-1. 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  Feb 19

RIP Harper Lee. What a sad year 2016 has been so far for iconic figures.

Impressions- 43 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  Feb 19

It's lunchtime and I wish I was eating the Artichoke dip from @HawthorneHotel I got there yesterday #Salem

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Impressions-49, Total Engagements-2, Media Engagements-2. 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  Feb 20

Heading to #Portland tonight! Can't wait

0 retweets0 likes

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MoreImpressions-18

Impressions-18 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  Feb 20

How is everyone on the rode not driving with their windows down?!

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Impressions-21 

wickedblogger20 ‏@danca_l  9h9 hours ago

Got to drink some tasty beers this weekend @AllagashBrewing and Rising Tide. #Portland #Maine

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MorImpressions-47, Total Engagements-1, Likes-1.  

Impressions- 48, Total Engagements-1, Likes-1. 


I didn't stick with any particular hashtag this week. I just hash-tagged anything I thought would attract people, so I hash-tagged what I normally do, cities and states. I find hashtags to be a great way for one to grow their account, but they aren't the only way to promote your business. The other ways to attract followers is to include pictures, tag other channels, and retweet tweets from major accounts. I notice when I use a combination of all four, I get the most attention. This week I gained one follower. 

Blog Post #5-Hootsuite + My Social Media Goal

Today in Social Media and Collabortive Writing, I learned Chelsea and Kinsey, the two sisters behind the travel blog, Travelin' Chicks, use Hootsuite to maintain their social media presence. This September I started working for Bruce Perry, who is the Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Life, as a social media assistant. I manage the Twitter Page, @LifeAtSSU; Salem State's official Instagram account, @SalemState; and the Facebook Page, SSU Parents and Family. I use Hootsuite to maintain these channels. Hootsuite is essentially a dashboard that supports social network integrations for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, MySpace, WordPress, TrendSpottr, and Mixi. While I think Hootsuite is a great tool, I wouldn't recommend it to people who don't make money off social media as you do have to pay for the service. 

I have never met Chelsea and Kinsey, but they do know of me as I happen to have a travel blog as well, though it is nowhere as big as theirs! 

Right now, my goal is to tweet at least once a day. I want to build my channel. Today I was prolific and I gained a couple new followers.

Blog Post #4- The Hashtag Challenge

For the hashtag challenge, I used the hashtag #OhSoSweet on both my blog’s Twitter and Instagram page. My blog is a New England travel blog and this past weekend I went  Downtown for Salem’s 14th annual, So Sweet Chocolate & Ice Sculpture Festival. I used this hashtag to promote the event and the related blog post I published on Sunday. I don’t have a ton of followers on both channels (Twitter-39 and Instagram-42), but one of my goals for this course is to learn how to utilize social media to gain more readers. 

Here are my Twitter analytics: 

Impressions-48, Total Engagements-2, Likes-1, Hashtags Click-1.

Impressions-32, Total Engagements-1, Link Clicks-1.

Impressions-38, Total Engagements-5, Detail Expands-5.

 

Impressions-282, Total Engagements-46, Media Engagements-38,  Likes-3,  Retweets-2,  Link Clicks-1, Detail Expands- 1, Profile Clicks-1.

Here are my Instagram analytics 

To me, hashtags have two purposes. They can be used to be ironic or they can be used to introduce people similar to you to your social media. I have used hashtags before this assignment to promote my blog. The common hashtags I use are #NewEngland and #travelblogger. I will also always hashtag the city I profile as well as the state. For this assignment, I only used one hashtag as opposed to several. 

I didn't gain any new followers this week and based on the statistics of my previous posts, I get more attention on social media, be it Twitter or Instagram, when I use more than one hashtag. My statistics also increase when much larger accounts retweet or re-gram me. I got a lot of attention for my Star Wars Twitter post because LifeAtSSU re-tweeted it and they have over 1000 followers. In the past, I have noticed that my followers and readership goes up when places I profile share the link of my blog to their followers. Additionally, my statistics increase when I include a picture in my tweets. 

All and all, I think the best way for me to increase my audience is to be more proactive on social media. In general, I only tweet and use Instagram when I publish new posts. I think if I reach out to more bloggers and tweet/Instagram on a consistent basis, I will get better results. I think hashtags are a great way to get attention, but you can’t rely on them solely to be seen.