Final

Social media desensitizes us from being apart of human interaction, it brings us closer to people far from us but pulls us further from the ones who we are with at that moment in time. We are being desensitized to actual human communication be the means of social media. With the use of todays technology and social media sites, we are constantly in connection with the internet and we are receiving and putting out so much information that we don't think about what is really going out and coming in. Social media is second nature to this generation, it appears that most of the younger generations relate better with social media and todays technology then any other generation ever. This is allowing for a change in which we communicate the younger generation is so desensitized to social media that they consider that to be their first means in which they communicate. Human interaction which was always how one thought first to communicate is falling back and we are starting to lose the values of interpersonal communication.
Social media today is allowing cyber bullying to be at its all time high. With so many social media sites and ways to communicate through the internet it is allowing cyber bullying to reach new heights which yields very negative consequences. When I think about ways that we can over come this problem is to first trade compassion instead of judgment or negativity. I feel that this problem is honestly one that can be solved very easily. One must identify the ability to be kind and thoughtful instead of rude and judgmental. If instead of throwing salt we traded guidance the we wouldn't have this problem. Being empathetic towards someone will over come the negativity in their life. We can all be better friends and overall people in this world just by simply complimenting every now and then. When it comes to fixing this problem in social media start by finding someone who looks as if they need a boost and compliment on a picture or say something nice on their account anything to generate a smile or pass kindness along. This hopefully then will create a pattern and then that person will send a compliment down the line and so on. I am prepared to be someone who identifies the positives in social media and use it to connect with others as well as pass kindness and compassion to others who appear to need it.

Facebook Final

The page that I managed over the course of this semester was a community page called Southern Utah Adventures. This page was designed to inform people of the many unique features of the St. George area where people can share their adventures and be informed of the outdoor activities this community offers. This page was a new page therefore I had to formulate ways to generate followers (likes) and present media for individuals to relate with and hopefully have my followers share my posts to potentially reach a larger audience who this would appeal to so that I could collect more insights on the page and adjust posts and content when I felt was necessary. The number of likes that I was striving for coming into this campaign was anywhere from 50-100 likes.

For my Facebook campaign I used the ad manager to try to reach a larger audience. For the demographics that I choose I used a radius of 50 miles within Washington county to attract people to like my page as well as a 50-mile radius in the Moab area because much of what I post is in regards to national parks. I choose these two areas because I felt that these were appropriate to reach the largest number of people who would be interested in this type of page. I had the potential to reach around 90,000 people based on the information that my page provided which I felt was a really good potential number to reach. I set a budget over a week span that had an amount of $5.00 as the max spending amount. As I tracked this over the week I found that different days of the week used different amounts of money to reach an audience which I found interesting. The weekend spent more money than the weekday did, but it stayed within the budget distributing different amounts on different days. I ended up reaching a little over 400 people and accumulated 14 likes. I wasn’t disappointed with the response I got back, but at the same time would have liked to see more interest out of the potential audience. After analyzing the first add I was looking into ways to become more appealing to the potential audience and I adjust accordingly and planned to launch a new ad within the next week trying a different area. After the first ad was completed these are the results that I found and was able to work with to adjust for a new ad.

These screenshots shows the audience I reached, the days in which I generated the most interest, and how many likes I accumulated with this ad. This was very helpful in adjusting my second ad that I was planning on doing. When it came down to my budget I paid 35 cents per (like) which wasn't disappointing but I felt it could have been better.

The second ad I tried to reach a new area I extended my reach to Las Vegas as well as St. George and Moab. I felt these three areas would be the most appealing to this page. The age group I considered was all ages because this page is designed for anyone.

As this ad come to a conclusion this week I found that I generated roughly the same results as the first ad did. I accumulated 13 new likes and the reach was 447 which is almost identical to what the first ad generated. I was slightly disappointed I thought I would generate more interest with this ad because I had more content and I used a new area. Needless to say any click is a vote and I was satisfied with the insights I received. For this ad I paid 30 cents per like which was 5 cents less then the last ad which is good.

My plan throughout the semester was to post at least once a week about potential hikes and areas one could explore if they found interest in it. I did a fairly good job of keeping up on my content I found my posts were roughly a little over a week a part which was in my plan. I felt I could have tried a little harder to post more content regarding different things throughout this community but I did my best to keep on it and I was pleased with what I came up with I felt it was good information that I myself would have been pleased with seeing on my Facebook feed. As it show in this screenshot my post reached a much larger audience then my first posts did. I would imagine this was contributed to the ads that I ran at the time which boosted my reach and my engagement of my posts and content on my page. 

As I began to look through my insights and see the activity that my page received and the likes generated I found out who my biggest audience was in each location as well as the age of the people most interested in my page. Over the course of the semester with all the posts that I did and the two ads that I created I generated 47 likes which fell a couple short of my goal but I wasn't disappointed with the amount it received.

As I looked through this I found that roughly all of my likes came at the times when I was running ads. I didn't receive any new likes in the time frame of which I didn't run an ad which was the most disappointing thing I found while doing this page was that I had to run an ad to generate any new likes. One thing I would adjust would be to find ways to get new interest in the page without running an ad.

As for the posts and the shares I did generate a few shares from followers that weren't paid shares which I found to be helpful but I didn't receive any new likes from the shares by others but it was still satisfying to see people share your content because that means that you are putting things out there that people are interested in reading and sharing so I will continue to post and try to create content that people can relate with and share with there followers which ultimately will help my page.

As for the people that I reached I didn't have a preference on men or woman or really a specific age group. I felt the page is a very generic page that would be appealing to any age group male or female based on the content that I posted it is very gender neutral and non age discriminate. It is used to inform anybody interested in this type of activities so I didn't filter out anyone when promoting ads and posting content. As I looked through the people insights I found that it was fairly even in the male and female followers with a slight edge to males which didn't surprise me but I was pleased to see that this page appealed to both genders fairly evenly. The biggest age group that I reached was people ages 18-24 which wasn't surprising at all I invited many friends to like this page and a majority of them fall under this age group. The second largest was people 25-34 which wasn't surprising either considering this is an outdoor activities page and many people find that appealing within that age group. Overall I liked that I was able to get followers from all the age groups, that makes me feel that this page is appealing to all ages and that anyone would be willing to follow this.

Summary:

Overall I really liked doing this campaign it is something that I can relate with on a personal level due to the fact that these are things that I like to do when I have free time. I feel Southern Utah and the surrounding areas are some of the most unique in the world when it comes to outdoor activities as well as some of the world famous national parks that are in this area. The ultimate goal is to introduce what's available because I feel not everyone really knows what all there is to do around here. I hear things from peers like there is nothing to do in this town from a lot of people so providing something such as this page to open that door to new things that people can experience and share with friends and family. I felt that I put a good amount of time in tryin to promote this page and get people involved in the content. I do wish that I provided a little more variety of the content, I found it to contain similar types of posts but I also really enjoyed what I did post to the page and found the content very relevant to the subject matter of the Facebook page. One thing that was most successful about the page was that I was able to reach the entire target audience that I was intending to reach from the age groups to the types of people who followed the page. I looked through a few of the peoples pages that followed my page and found they were outdoorsy people such as myself living in this area which is what I was trying to target. One thing that was disappointing about the page was that it didn't receive more attention from the ads that were posted I really thought I would generate more interest with my ads. I will continue to look into ways to make my page more appealing to my audience. Even though the semester is almost over I plan to continue to manage my page and find ways to produce more interest in the content the page offers. If this page continues to be successful I plan to manage it for many years to come this is something that I am very intersested in as far as hobbies and lifestyle is concerned and I think it could be potentially one of the more popular Facebook pages unique to this area.

Recognizing Default Responses

How one reacts to a certain situation and or event is based from many factors, and learned experiences one embraces in life. Attitudinal responses are embedded within us without us really paying much attention to what that consists of, due to it being such a regular part of our thought process. We as human beings see and react to stimuli differently depending on what is being presented to the individual. Everyone’s first response to something is likely much different than the next person’s response. Though similar thinking may be present between two people the initial way one reacts and responds is unique to the individual’s attitudinal response. These attitudinal responses usually consist of a primary certitude, a hidden assumption, or an ethnocentric position mainly based from learned experiences or long term exposure to a certain kind of culture, or thinking that the person carries with them.

When I think about my initial default response, I like to think that I have a pretty unbiased and non-judgmental thinking when it comes to certain topics and individuals. I myself like to do my best to think critically about the situation and potential outcomes without offering to much of a bias. It’s in our human nature however to have a slight bias even when we think we don’t. As I looked through my posts within the on the media assignments I went into it thinking that I argued both sides fairly equally but as I read through I found that that wasn’t necisarilly the case. Many times throughout my writing I tend to choose a side that relates with my initial feelings regarding the matter. I did come to find in my latest post that my mindset initially going in changed after listening to the podcast. I saw the topic and immediately formed in opinion about the matter that I found consistent with my knowledge on the subject. It wasn’t until the podcast had finished did I sit there and realize that my initial thoughts regarding the topic had been changed for the most part. I still related with my initial thought process but the way that I viewed the topic and the situations within that topic had changed and I then formed a different opinion in which I wrote about in my post. I was able to adapt my thinking immediately after listening to what was being said. This thinking formulated some new thoughts that I portrayed that I originally wouldn’t have. Had I not opened my mind a little bit and allow for different opinions to cross the barriers of my initial attitudinal response on the matter I would have been stuck with this thought process which was one sided and lacked critical thinking to begin with.

I had come to find that in my first two on the media assignments I was very one-sided though at the time I was writing on the matter I felt I wasn’t. After reading the dangers of critical thinking I was able to find the primary certitudes that I demonstrated in my writing based on strong cultural context that have been influenced by in my life and I use this in my writing though I don’t necessarily mean to at the time. As for hidden presumptions in my writing I came to find that I wasn’t prejudice or intolerant to other ideas I just didn’t formulate that type of thinking in my writing I mainly wrote on what I knew but didn’t portray intolerant thoughts on the matter just spoke about how I felt. At times though I was slightly ethnocentric in giving the other side of the matter a real fighting chance to have the voice it deserved. Like I said the first two posts lacked a two-sided argument but in the third my thinking was changed and both sides were argued fairly and demonstrated more appropriately. It is safe to say that I need to be more open minded in my writings and portray better critical thinking on subject matters that deserves both sides having an equal voice for a better understanding.

Facebook Ad

Southern Utah Adventures
Facebook Ad Results

For my Facebook campaign which is a page called Southern Utah Adventures I used the ad manager to try to reach a larger audience. For the demographics that I choose I used a radius of 50 miles within Washington county to attract people to like my page as well as a 50-mile radius in the Moab area because much of what I post is in regards to national parks. I choose these two areas because I felt that these were appropriate to reach the largest number of people who would be interested in this type of page. I had the potential to reach around 90,000 people based on the information that my page provided which I felt was a really good potential number to reach. I set a budget over a week span that had an amount of $5.00 as the max spending amount. As I tracked this over the week I found that different days of the week used different amounts of money to reach an audience which I found interesting. The weekend spent more money than the week day did, but it stayed within the budget distributing different amounts on different days. I ended up reaching a little over 400 people and accumulated 14 likes. I wasn’t disappointed with the response I got back, but at the same time would have liked to see more interest out of the potential audience. I now am looking into ways to become more appealing to the potential audience and I will adjust accordingly and launch a new ad here in the next few days.  

OTM #3

In search of a new narrative. With this last terror attack that we unfortunately again had to witness in Brussels, Belgium it is becoming increasingly dangerous in our world that terror attacks can and will happen no matter how hard we try to stop them. We engage these war on terrorism statements and declarations of war against ISIS and its group members. But it wasn’t until hearing this and thinking about this a little deeper did I begin to agree strongly with what was being said, that this is exactly what they want us to do. They are looking for a fight they are looking for declarations of war so that they can continue to carry out these attacks against innocent people. We are essentially fueling the fire in which we are trying to put out. They play heavy into the publicity of the coverage that these attacks receive because their sole intention is to destroy the world in which innocent people are living in today. Using a militaristic vocabulary influences them to want to continue what they are doing because war is what they want. Once we begin to use these terms it is hard to turn back from that.

Nicolas Henin who was held captive by ISIS begins to comment on our misconceptions of how ISIS operates and I found it very interesting as to what he said. He starts with saying one of our main mistakes as a western continent has is that ‘ISIS is a problem” he states that “ISIS is the result of a problem.” Violence creates violence and hate feeds hate. These are the notions behind our thinking is what Nicolas Henin tells us about what they think about western populations. I found it interesting his comments about western media and our obsession with Jihadists. He goes into saying that as western media is influencing their success and reign of terror. We have put them on a pedestal as the worst “bad guys” in history and any young kid from a small village who wants to be a rebel will think about joining them because they’re the best and they get the most media coverage. This actually helps their recruiting process he states that the western media is helping to build ISIS and spread their messages because of the amount of coverage that they get from their attacks. He begins to talk about the best ways to stop them from doing what they are doing and I honestly have to agree after listening to this, but it is not by using bombs and guns but rather by killing the narrative. Countries are making big mistakes by giving them the media that they are receiving we can longer continue to use the media to spread their messages for them. This makes me think about an old saying that needs to be implemented into our thinking and that is “if it were an eye for an eye then we all would be blind by now.” This is how I feel, we are trying to fight fire with fire by implementing war on ISIS, and yes I agree that we need to find a way to stop these attacks. But rather we should try to look into ways to stop spreading their image and their attacks to the rest of the world, I feel we are only adding to the problem with the amount of media we use and not actually solving it.  

Religion 3.0

When it comes to my experience with religion in my own life I have had both positive and negative outcomes. I myself am not a very religious person I don’t practice or live my life by a particular religion on a daily basis. I do however find myself fairly educated about the history of a hand full of religions therefore I feel when I do talk and discuss religion I can identify certain aspects of some and hold a valid discussion. If someone was to ask me what my religion is I would respond with “I am a Christian but I don’t attend any church, I believe in a higher power but I don’t practice religion on a regular basis.” With this answer I have found that people accept this answer without trying to tap into much of what I believe they simply say okay and usually move on with the conversation. I typically try to avoid tenants that have religion at the base of it because with religion there can be strong convictions, and passions present that could have the potential to escalate into a much bigger argument and debate and I try to avoid those if I can help myself. I really like the idea of religion in people’s life I feel religion can bring a sense of purpose and belonging in people’s life. The idea of having a higher entity at the helm of one’s life is motivating for some to think that there is a master plan in place and everything will eventually come if one continues to follow the faith in which they practice. Like I said I really like the idea of religion in one’s life if that’s what they seek. Religion is great for guidance it can provide the words and provoke the thoughts to change one’s life for the better. For some people religion is all that they know, it’s what they were raised on, it influences them and it’s how they have lived their lives. I don’t feel that I have the means to argue or debate with someone about religious aspects or backgrounds and histories of religion. The way that I see it as I’m likely not going to change the others opinion and there not likely going to change mine. So what was really accomplished? Nothing in my opinion you have your beliefs and I have mine therefore I don’t see any validity in arguing religious tenants.

A problem that I have found in the media regarding religion is the notion behind the LDS church coming out and making a statement regarding the use of medical cannabis for the healing process of individuals with special symptoms. I work in the medical field and I plan to have a career in healthcare throughout the remainder of my life so I am a strong advocate for the idea behind using new methods of treatment for the healing process if those methods have been proved to yield results, which medicinal cannabis has done for many years in other states. The problem that I have with the church making this statement opposing the bill that is trying to allow for this use of medicine to be used is the notion behind separation of church and state. This is a complete violation of that notion, the LDS church has no authority in making this opposition go public. So I’m curious as to why they feel they need to make this claim? So the LDS church obviously opposes the use of cannabis for recreational purposes that’s fine, yes I agree its classified as a schedule 1 narcotic and its illegal in the state that’s not what I’m saying here. The point I want to make is that who are they as a non-profit organization to step out and say that they don’t support the use of any forms of cannabis for medical purposes even though there are patients here in Utah that have been witnessed to the positive effects of certain forms of cannabis extract that do indeed have legit medical purposes. With Utah being the LDS stronghold there is obviously members who sit in the senate or in the house of representatives that are likely going to be influenced by these statements of opposition from the church. LDS members tend to have a strong conviction for their religion and on a regular basis practice the words and teachings of their prophets fairly strictly from what I have seen. So when the church makes this statement the members who serve in government and have the power to essentially control this outcome are going to likely push in favor of what the church has expressed as where they stand regarding the matter. To me this is extremely unfair and an act of manipulation they are ignoring facts regarding medical use and implementing their doctrine to influence an outcome of a very apparent issue. What I would like to see is for all churches and religions in general to keep their opinions within their walls of their church not out in public because at times their can be unfair influences at hand that could allow for something great to not have a chance to succeed in a state for the people who really need it.

OTM #2 Zika Virus

While listening to this podcast on the Zika virus I had to begin by researching this virus because I wasn’t very familiar nor had I really even heard much about it until now. I come to find that it was a mosquito bourne illness which causes microcephaly in new born babies. Which helped me understand the podcast titled “Ignore That Thing About Zika and Pesticides” much better when they started talking about the implications of the virus and what its origin is. In 2014 there were 150 reported cases of microcephaly across all of Brazil, and in 2015 there were 3,893 cases reported. (Chelala, 2016)  However, Dr. Margaret Chan, director of the World Health Organization suggested much caution and responded with “Although a causal link between Zika infection in pregnancy and microcephaly has not, and I must emphasize, has not been established, the circumstantial evidence is suggestive and extremely worrisome,” (Chelala, 2016) The problem has been identified but not necessarily been credited to the Zika virus. There seems to be a lot of skepticism surrounding this virus and if it really is the cause of the birth defects found in children in this particular part of the world. Environmental activists have been calling the attention to not the Zika virus being the culprit but rather the role of pesticides as the possible cause of microcephaly in children. Many experts as well as environmental activists alerted on how some agricultural chemicals such as paraquat which is classified as highly poisonous is being extensively used in countries like northeast Brazil where almost a third of cases of microcephaly have occurred thus far. (Chelala, 2016)

This idea of not knowing where this problem is coming from is psychologically damaging to the people of this area as well as other countries who have seen a rise in this outbreak. It is terrifying to not know the source of something as terrible as this birth defect is. Is it the mosquitos or is it the pesticides used to keep the mosquitos away and produce their exports? This has a psychological effect on all involved in this because the proper safety measures haven’t been identified to take precaution against this. On the social level of this epidemic experts and civilians don’t necessarily know who to turn to in this matter for information. Some experts are saying it’s the pesticides while others are saying it’s from the mosquitos so socially who do we trust and turn to for information regarding this issue when the experts can’t agree on what the problem is. This situation poses the need to urgently investigate more thoroughly on both the Zika virus as well as the pesticides in causing microcephaly in children so that professionals and experts can collaborate with each other to come up with an appropriate solution to the matter. The not knowing and that lack of communication is effecting the culture negatively as well. Brazil is deemed as a fairly popular vacation destination and the culture could suffer due to these allegations of the Zika virus as well as the allegations of the pesticides. Both are harming the cultural and the people that live there. The lack of knowing I feel is the big issue I think more time needs to be spent on what the origin is in this birth defect and identify ways to proceed forward without there being a problem of not knowing the origin needs to be determined so that matters can be pressed on to finding a solution for all that are involved.