#Ferguson - Social Media & Social Justice

#Ferguson

Hear No Evil

See No Evil

Speak No Evil

Is something “shared” really starting a conversation?

There are many ways to pull a part the situation in Ferguson and accumulation of racial tensions built up in America since the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Rather than using this entry to argue a “side” my hope is to look more specifically at the way in which social media is being used to organize protests, walkouts, and in time a movement.

Post Indictment Report

        Since the incident in Ferguson involving Michael Brown and Darren Wilson this past August there has been growing tension in the town as well as across the nation. With the decision made on November 25^th to not indict (now ex-officer) Darren Wilson there was a national response. Of course the first and hardest hit was social media. Primarily Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Instagram and YouTube served as a powerful tool for sharing images and video (as they are meant to do) but the sharing of articles, news clips, and opinion-based blogs has since seemed to dominated the “common man’s” discussion on the outcome on the grand jury’s decision.

Social Media Spreads the Words and Gets People on the Streets

Protests and walk outs have been organized in a matter of hours using social media outlets. Take for example in Worcester. There was a march to City Hall the night of the grand jury decision, the formal walkout proceeded the next day (after weeks of planning on a Facebook event), which covered the main streets of Worcester and the police station. There has also been organization and mass cover on Facebook for protests in Boston, New York, and many other cities and towns nationwide.

Facebook event

Twitter individuals are instantaneously sharing stories articles and live reports from Ferguson directly. And through Tumblr there is a string of comments on photo and video content that illustrates the back and forth between the different sides of the issue. I liked to focus more specifically on the use of Facebook as a tool and a method of organization among a mass group of individuals ranging in location and demographic.

        I realize that looking at this matter as social media “marketing” seems to dehumanize the issue at hand. However that is in no way my intention. I feel if we look at how activists use social media we can build off of the pre-existing strategy and use these platforms as effective planning and marketing tools for social justice activists.

Facebook event

        For instance activists and allies alike have utilized the Facebook events app to plan, update, and gain support for the ongoing marches/walkouts/protests going on across the nation. By having a common thread to communicate through these events can be clearer and better organized. Additionally word spread quicker by allowing the groundswell to “work its magic” and have individuals take ahold of information and spread it to others, turning dozens into thousands.

Can Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr Help Create a Dialogue?

        Social media provides networks where content can be shared on a large scale (nationally, sometimes internationally). But with all this sharing is there really any listening going on?

Looking at the titles and comments that go with Ferguson posts you would probably be compelled to say: No. No there is not.

In fact, there is not much real dialogue occurring but rather thousands upon thousands of monologues.

Everyone must speak, but no one is obligated to listen, take in new information, and attempt to view the topic from other perspectives.

It’s not that a conversation, a true dialogue, couldn’t happen online. But it is extremely difficult. People are very opinionated and quick to vilify and degrade those taking an opposing side when they’re acting behind a computer screen. This is also seen with major media outlets as well.

Listen & Respond

This blog entry really hits home the take on social media and dialogues:

Social Media & Ferguson

LISTENING NEEDS TO HAPPEN.

Or else all this “promotion” of a singular cause is does not seem based on fact or moral code, but rather bias instilled by upbringing, ethnocentrism, and good ol’ fashioned ignorance.

It has already been made clear that the many of the white population in America are not sure how to positively and effective contribute to easing racial tension (ultimately eliminating, if even possible). Posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr do create a conversation her and essentially market the concept of a “white ally.” The use of “market” in regards to “white ally” is not meant to imply a cynical tone when it comes to this term, but rather point out the benefits of marketing/outreach/promotion on social media in a time crisis. 

Promotion of text and visual content that creates an emotional connection to the events in Ferguson can help “recruit” more to the cause. Instructive blog articles invite other into the conversation. Also with an implemented social media strategy and an effective and appropriate response system on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr these social justice causes can be shared with the public and allow them to engage beyond just a screen.

By social media's impact on social justice is dependent on going beyond sharing and using each platforms unique features to EDUCATE and ORGANIZE. 

Activists can TAP and ENERGIZE the groundswell to help further their cause, but they also must LISTEN in order to articulate the importance of their actions and to persuade those on the opposing side. By sharing links to petitions, events, and news articles their are utilizing social media to further their cause and (perhaps unintentionally) developing a social media campaign/strategy for their group. 

Pro-Activist Article

"Turtle Boy Blog"

Overall...

In the case of social justice causes there will always be opposing sides. It's best to listen to both and work on how you can best make your voice heard, and speak to the people you are trying to reach. In the case of Ferguson and activists, that's the American public. Engage in a "appropriate" fashion, and keep the conversation going. 

Timberland Boot Company: Updates & Observations

Timberland Trending

        Since the past two weeks have gone by Timberland’s trending has stayed fairly consistent. Meaning the trend lines across various programs, such as SocialMention, IceRocket, and Google Trends, have consistent peaks. However on October 15^th there was a surge in popularity. This could be attributed to Timberland’s launch of The “Hazel Highway” campaign. Though I am still focusing on the “In My Element” campaign, the “Hazel Highway” campaign illustrates how Timberland is using a different brand identity (under “Timberland Boot Company”) to reach a new, younger crowd.

        I cover this more in the second section, for now, I’d like to look at the changes in trends, as well as specific key words and campaigns on Social Mention, Ice Rocket, and Google Trends.

Addictomatic:

 IceRocket:

SocialMention:

Timberland Company - 10/26

Timberland Company - 11/3

        As you can see, Social Mention shows that the “In My Element” campaign brings in more individual authors, as well as creates more sentimentality amongst Timberland followers.

In My Element - 11/2

Timberland “In A New Element”

        Through Timberland’s brand, the Timberland Boot Company, the company is creating a new brand identity with a different, specific target demographic. With this brand and campaign the company is targeting younger artists (music, television, crafters, etc.) to endorse their product and the ideology behind “In My Element,” namely to take on whatever life throws at you and embracing new adventures. Timberland has built up a loyal consumer base merely through word of mouth and the quality of their product. But celebrity/artist endorsement has also solidified their status in the outerwear niche.

Therefore Timberland must appeal to the younger crowd (through social media and endorsement in the entertainment industry) to keep a solid consumer base that can continue to grow with their brand for decades to come.

Blog responses have general positive (though there are still some insisting “Timberland’sDead”).

For instance, “It’s Nice That” blogs:

“[In My Element is] a neat reflection of Timberland’s Fall Winter collection, the versatility of which caters for discerning cultural consumers whose plans can change rapidly and totally, who thrive on the thrill of the new and have to be ready for anything.”

Brand Identity Tied Up in the “Young Crowd”

        Taking on campaigns like “Hazel Highway” and also “In My Element” the Timberland Boot Company is creating a different Brand image and identity. They have a new approach to how they define their products and new fall line… But how will their consumers and distributors define them?

Currently they have two challenges: Appealing to 2 different types of retailers and reaching a new audience.

They have solutions though:

1) Listening to Groundswell (offering variety and staying true the market needs): 

“By listening to retailers and going the extra mile to create their desired assets, Timberland made sure that the campaign was exciting and accessible to all of their retailers.” 

2) Exciting the Groundswell & Giving Incentives (aka mobile apps): 

“Not only do mobile ads attract new customers, they are proven to garner up to 3x for retailer engagement and 2x consumer engagement.”

Overall Observations & Suggestions Going Forward

Timberland has a quite a few brands and campaigns to keep track of, and while they are doing quite a few things right (energizing and engaging in the groundswell with events, contests, and frequent posts) they are going to need to more clearly define each of their brands. Either that, or there must be clear cohesion between the three. It seems that the Timberland Boot Company is taking over their brand image through their social media and marketing strategy. Maybe it would be best Timberland’s brand adapt this as their primary identity… since it’s clearly taken over their social media. 

“Yammer” On and Have a “HipChat”

“Yammer” On and Have a “HipChat”

Companies Using Social Media: Creating & Supporting Internal Groundswell

Li & Bernoff says that groundswell should also be present internally, within a company. When social media networks exist within a company then communication has a freer flow with more immediacy and urgency.

Social media is key to a company’s success through productivity and accomplishment, but also economic success. According to the online magazine, Entrepeneur “…lost productivity as a result of communication problems. A business with 100 employees, for instance, spends about 17 hours a week clarifying communication. That translates to an annual cost of more than $525,000.” If your company can communicate effectively and efficiently than it will show outside your company and others will believe in your company. 

Yammer & HipChat

       

Internal Groundswell is an important aspect of a company. “Going with the groundswell” (by energizing, supporting, engaging, tapping, etc.) also involves creating an internal support system using social media. This is achieved with blogging, posting, and messaging social media networks.

Yammer and HipChat are two services that provide free, private social networks to companies all over the globe. The biggest feature of these services is their messaging applications. They encourage “real time,” rapid, free-flowing conversations amongst any level employee.

Yammer has already established itself as one of the top internal social networks. Yammer has features for managing distribution lists, emails, employee polls and questions, and many other inner-workings of a business. This means coordinating and confirming on the various stages of one company objective, ongoing task, or event, through the different levels of company branches and employees. CEO of Yammer, David Sacks, ensures that with Yammer “employees that feel more engaged, they feel more connected to their coworkers, they feel more connected to the company’s mission,’ says Sacks. ‘As a result, you have less employee turnover.” 

Sacks has faith in his product and belief in the importance of encouraging and support internal groundswell (internal employee communication). 

        HipChat is in an app in the same vein as Yammer, with features including public and private chat rooms within the company, real time file sharing, and mobile compatibility. My mom actually just started working for a startup that uses HipChat. It’s nice to see that companies caring and maintaining the internal groundswell, and encouraging a consistent mode of communication. And with HipChat and Yammer they both offer free service packages, which makes the service ideal for smaller (perhaps non-profit) organization. Again, this encourages good business practices by cultivating the internal groundswell.

Timberland's Shoelaces 'Untied'? : A Look at Timberland's Social Media Presence and New Campaign

Timberland's Image

Boots. Celebrities. Service. The Timberland Company has many connotations. Timberland conjures up different experiences for many consumers aware of the brand.

The Timberland Company brand was founded in 1973. The company brand is known for its work boots and outdoor clothing line. It’s waterproof products has made it a favorite among outdoor adventurers and “blue collar” workers constantly on their feet.

Timberland has also formed a strong connection with the service group, City Year, since joining forces in 1989. Service has always been a main component to the company's mission and philosophy. 

But Timberland doesn’t hesitate to use their social media outlets to highlight the more adorable moments created with their brand.... 

Timberland Online Trending & Social Media

Timberland isn’t the trendiest of brands in the fashion world, given the purpose of the products’ design. However, it’s “made it” in the outdoor work and service world (even in the Hip Hop world… though that ship has pretty much sailed since JayZ bailed).  But even today most of Timberland's "buzz" comes from endorsement from the entertainment world. 

        By looking at the company and brand(s) through online monitoring tools, like Google Trends, it is interesting to see where Timberland lies in the groundswell.  It is interesting to see how much content is generated through visuals on their social media platforms.

   

Also, it should be noted that the interest in the brand spikes at November and December consistently (probably because of Christmas, but also possibly because of the their line of winter products).

A look at Timberland's presence on other social media monitoring sites...

Timberland Boot Company Brand & Campaign: “Untied”

        Most recently Timberland’s brand, Timberland Boot Company, has created a campaign called “Untied.” For this campaign they have engaged in the groundswell primarily through YouTube and Tumblr profiles. The campaign has it’s own site, but it could be more highly integrated on The Timberland company’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.  However, to the campaign’s credit, there has been crossover between Timberland’s main brand and the “Untied” campaign through the hashtag “inmyelement.”

This “In My Element” tag has inspired shared stories from several followers/Timberland consumers, but it is fairly new (it just began for the Fall 2014 season) and still has a way to go. But it is engaging and energizing the grounswell through contest and encouraging followers to share their stories and “In My Element” moments using “#inmyelement.”  

        My biggest setback with this campaign is that I don’t know if I could describe its meaning accurately or not. When I search for more details on the campaign I get a lot of engaging and well designed content, but not so much the message behind it. The only element (pun sort of intended) of this campaign that is sort of clear to me is the “Life Swap” stories. Timberland Boot Company has set up a “marathon” of sorts for four participants going to four different locations. 

A Look at the Untied Campaign 

  Going Forward…         

        I’m still “feeling out” this campaign and getting a sense of its impact on brand recognition and appeal, but they are doing most of the basics right. Timberland overall has been going through turbulence since it was sold to VF Corp in 2011 for $2 billion. Since the company has left the hands of founder Nathan Swartz it is harder to conceive Timberland as the company that once held the family and service values it had for the past 3 decades. I think that’s the biggest challenge facing the brand at the moment. I will be interested to further monitor the Untied campaign and investigate the Timberland brand and see what patterns become evident. 

Twitter is for the Night Owls

Twitter is for the Night Owls

source: http://the-weird-wide-web.tumblr.com/

Trending Topics Tonight

        Saturday Night Live alum, Jimmy Fallon, has inherited The Tonight Show from Jay Leno just this year. Fallon has brought over many of the traditions started when he took over the Late Night show after Conan O’Brien. This includes the segment “Hashtags.” This bit is a “prompt and response” where the show sets a hashtag for fans & followers of the show to compose a tweet related to that hashtag.

This not only energizes the groundswell, but is supporting and tapping into the groundswell as well. This is because with thousands of tweets being sent in each week these hashtags become contributions to the show’s content. Fallon also mentions in the segment that the particular hashtag for the week is a “worldwide trending topic,” which is just one more deliverable to add to the list that demonstrates support for the show (and the invitation to participate).   

While most of Fallon's segments are silly, embracing and tapping the groundswell using Twitter helps generate content and also brings awareness to what the people what on another larger media platform. This sheds light on a person's insight to the enviroment, interactions, and products that they valued as a consumer. 

The show pays homage to the Twitter’s use of tags, coined as “hashtags,” as well as the Twitter community. Fallon has made this commentary since 2013 with Justin Timberlake, but it doesn't stop there, and both the commentary and technology's pop culture significance is apparent. 

I would say it’s Twitter’s emphasis on tagging that help it to create and rally a community of people of all backgrounds behind a story, cause, or experience. 

We often mock the overuse and misuse of hashtags, but they are truly a powerful tool. When we look on late night TV they're everywhere and have a big influence on content. 

Tweets Can Hurt

        Jimmy Kimmel has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003. The show has stayed relevant through silly & irreverent “bits.” In 2012 Kimmel started the segment “Celebrities Read Mean Tweet,” which have had 7 sequences and some “music” and “sports” specials.

This is not just funny, but enlightening to the "reach" of the technology. It shows users that the information reaches real people "behind the handle." It also pays homage to the groundswell, even if it’s not in the most flattering light. But again, this is a case of a social media platform that has given people the tools to reach out to others, even of celebrity status. Twitter is highlighted on popular late night shows, like Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the Tonight Show, and therefore gives more publicity and appeal as a technology and service.

Twitter not only has an effective tagging tool, but it acts as a review forum for most. This gives a larger community for common people to voice their opinions on products and performances, and celebrities are not exempt from this. 


Even if they don't have a twitter handle that doesn't stop people from talking about what they want to take about. This is the same situation with the Streisand Effect.

 What’s On TV @midnight?

        The groundswell that exists in Twitter has made it the component of @midnight. It's just not a Twitter handle! Ok, well... it is. But it's also a new show on Comedy Central. It reaches out to its audience/followers through Twitter for responses to the “prompt” posted Monday - Thurday (when the show airs). Again, we see here how the show is generating content for itself by tapping into the groundswell. Not only that, but it's providing some instant gratification.  

Then the show incorporate comedians (often with upcoming performances or something current to promote) with a game show setting. This use of the technology with other pop culture references and figures. 

Celebrities + Twitter = groundswell reflection.

Take Away

        When it comes to Twitter, tagging and reviews make a brand. Celebrities get into the mix and it’s easy to poke fun at the ridiculousness that exists on Twitter (and other social media). But really Twitter has affected pop culture and the entertainment industry. Twitter has proven itself a power tool in generating content and jokes (often at the expense of people or products).