Tag Archives: social media

One Simple New Year’s Resolution for Social Media

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Last night I breezed through Facebook and Instagram and read many statuses from my friends summarizing 2013. First thing I noticed? I think more people should take up a blog like me! Numerous friends of mine composed novels about this past year on social media. Both Facebook and Instagram seemed to have never ending block paragraphs about 2013. The second thing I noticed? It seemed like a high percentage of the people I connect with on these social outlets had a pretty miserable year. Many friends shook their fists at 2013 and held nothing back regarding their joy that the end of the calendar year was very near.

With this last slew of negative posts and with 2014 now upon us, it has inspired me to offer a special new year’s resolution for all of us regarding social media: Be positive. In 2014, I think we should strive to post much more positively on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Let’s resist the urge to criticize, whine, complain, cry out, and hold pity parties.

First off and most importantly, this resolution is worth striving for on an individual basis. If we feel crummy and angry, I think posting about it on social media just magnifies these feelings. It makes us dwell on unpleasant circumstances. Now I know some might say that airing out your every emotion can serve a therapeutic purpose but I call hogwash on that theory when directly applying to social media. Using no filter to freely list our shortcomings, insecurities, and disappointments is very counterproductive. Not only does it drive home the bad feelings we are experiencing even more, it portrays us as unconfident and weak to others. I strongly encourage a journal or a trusting friend to serve as your venting outlet.

Secondly, this resolution is worth striving for on a communal basis as well. Let’s face it, when there is a negative person in a work place or on a team, it impacts everyone. Same goes for online groups as well. Many of us do so much to make sure our own personal psyche is right, the last thing we need is to let the outside negativity of others get in our heads. Even if we don’t directly notice it, depressing and angry posts can subconsciously sidetrack us. As a courtesy to others, we really should do all we can to cut down on producing negative social media content.

Just because I am challenging all of us to cut down on social media negativity, I am not advocating that everyone should post five overly happy Facebook posts and send out ten “high on life” tweets a day. Those people can be just as annoying as the negative users. I am just saying that if you want to post something and you can choose between a negative experience or a positive experience, go with the positive experience. If you only have a negative experience, refrain from posting.

Regarding daily life in general, we should all strive to be more positive in 2014. Obviously this will trickle down and reflect in our social media activity. But if we can’t reach that goal right away, let’s start small with social media. Let’s do ourselves and others a big favor and cut out the negativity when posting to our favorite social outlets. It will make a difference. Don’t Blink.

My Take on Bitstrips

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The past couple weeks I kept seeing simple cartoons featuring the comic book version of my friends popping up on my Facebook newsfeed. As these cartoons became more and more prevalent I started to get a little annoyed. In my hasty judgment I declared them as stupid. But I was reacting to these cartoons in the exact same way a person reacts to a joke that he does not get but everyone else is in on. My judgment came pretty much out of ignorance, I really had no idea how these cartoons were made and I had no idea why they were so popular. Last night after I saw a whole new slew of these comics I decided to educate myself on the movement instead of hating on it.

As I do many times when I want help, I reached out on Twitter. I asked that someone please fill me in on these comic scenes taking over Facebook. My answer came quickly as a few of my followers quickly informed me of the hottest new app: Bitstrips.

I immediately downloaded the app and started exploring. Still a little jaded at first, my initial thought playing around with Bitstrips was the exact same as what I had when I viewed everyone else’s comics…stupid. I think this was mostly because I hated the way the cartoon version of myself looked. I didn’t think it looked a thing like me. But I felt this way prior to when I discovered that there are several options you can utilize to make your cartoon avatar look a little more like your actual image. So after I messed around with my hair length, hair style, skin tone, and wardrobe I became a little more satisfied with my appearance. I then went ahead and created a “status cartoon” of me in the office. Even though pretty underwhelmed with the rather boring scene of me “seizing the day” I tried to upload it to Facebook. It didn’t work. Bitstrips was not off to a good start in Brent’s World.

This is what I came up with for the Bitstrip version of me.

This is what I came up with for the Bitstrip version of me.

However, I didn’t want to stick a fork in the app right away. Instead of deciding to produce content immediately I took a step back and decided to just investigate the various features of Bitstrip. My disdain for the service turned to joy when I looked at the avatars of all my friends who were already on the service. I scrolled down with a grin a mile wide as I looked at their depictions of themselves. Many of them were spot on! Some intentionally embellished certain physical traits that they hold and I couldn’t help but laugh. While I disliked what I produced for myself, I loved what others were able to come up with.

Then, instead of creating just a lame cartoon with myself in it I went to the option where I could create one with one of my Facebook friends in it. One thing you have to know: You can’t create your own comic. Bitstrips forces you to choose from one of their premade designs. With that said, they do offer some funny and cute options and you can change the captions. I had probably a too good of time creating some comics featuring my friends and I.

This is a Bitstrip I created of my cousin and I.

This is a Bitstrip I created of my cousin and I.

After getting a feel for the service and starting to have some fun, I went back to my avatar and continued to fine tune my appearance. Although I still am a little frustrated with how I look, I think I am starting to get to the perfected Bitstrip image of myself.

So while I do like some features of Bitstrips it has by no means won me over. I think it is lame that you can’t have more control over the content you create. Yes, the service does come up with some funny ideas but we all know we could do much better with placement control. We all have our own sense of humor and inside jokes that we could incorporate that would make for very funny comics. Also, you can only include one friend in each comic. Time to expand a little bit, we all know that the more the merrier.

This is a Bitstrip of my friend Amanda and I. This is one where I edited the caption.

This is a Bitstrip of my friend Amanda and I. This is one where I edited the caption.

The social engagement element of Bitstrips is lacking too. Through the actual application you can’t like or comment on comics. This is where the fun of social media is at! If we can’t make our own jokes within the actual comics, at least let us make them underneath it in a comment section. The potential for interaction with this service is high but right now Bitstrips has all options turned completely off.

Finally, it bugs me that I am having trouble posting to Facebook. Then again, I should maybe retract my words and take it as a blessing because I don’t think Bitstrips is a good thing for Facebook. I think the comics look out of place and tacky on a timeline or on a newsfeed. I think these comics belong housed inside their own application where people who appreciate this type of social expression can go and view several at a time while commenting and liking away. Of course this comes from a guy who believes that for the most part social media content should be as unique as possible and to accomplish this the wholesale sharing of pictures/statuses/video/etc across every single social network should be avoided with the exception for truly outstanding content.

I say go ahead and download Bitstrips. Give it a shot and see if it is something that you like. Even if you still hate it, at the very least it will educate you on one of the newest and hottest apps out there right now. What are you waiting for?! Go make the perfect cartoon version of yourself. Don’t Blink.

Keep It Classy, Denver: Social Media Arrogance

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On Monday, the Twitter account of the Denver Broncos made national news in the sporting world. The account rattled off many impressive stats of the prolific offense ran by Peyton Manning including this one:

The Broncos sent out this tweet.

The Broncos sent out this tweet.

In my opinion, the tweet standing alone is just a tad bit bush league. However, I don’t think it is totally out of bounds. That is not to say that I would ever tweet anything of that nature from our official Twitter account at Grizzly Athletics (@UMGRIZZLIES). I don’t disparage or call out opposing teams. I think it is in bad taste and I think it reflects poorly on our department. But again, I don’t think the tweet in and of itself constitutes a major social media no-no.

But there is something about the timing of the tweet that makes it bad, something that the person running that account should have either realized or respected…

The Broncos play the Jaguars this weekend.

Starting in high school it seems like every coaching staff uses bulletin board material to motivate players. Anything an opposing coach or player might say that can be twisted around to sound like a diss will be utilized to fire the other team up. Believe me, this type of motivation works. It has helped me play harder and, outside of the playing field, work harder.

What the staff member in charge of the Broncos’ Twitter account did was provide the Jaguars with bulletin board material. Now I know Jacksonville has a .000034% chance of beating Denver. I know they are the largest underdogs in NFL history. I also know that in all reality most of the grown men playing on the Jaguars couldn’t care less about the tweet. BUT, there is the possibility that maybe a few of the players might actually take it to heart and use it as motivation on Sunday. If this is the case and maybe just as little as one player exerts a little more energy than he normally would because he thought of that tweet for a split second, that staff member has done the Broncos terribly wrong.

Those of us who handle social media for college and pro teams have to be cautious and accountable. Many of us speak to large fan bases several times on a daily basis through multiple posts, tweets, pictures, etc. We carry the voice of the school/organization we represent and it only takes one instance of stupidity to make our program look bad. Out of the numerous different ways to do so, displaying arrogance regarding an opponent several days before playing them qualifies as one.

In any athletic department or professional organization, the main goal of the support staff is to never do anything that might decrease the chances of victory. That tweet by the Denver Broncos staff member definitely didn’t help to increase the chances of victory and like I said, if it only ends up resonating with just one athlete on the Jaguars, that staffer has done a disservice to his organization.

Jacksonville did respond with a tweet of its own:

This is how Jacksonville responded.

This is how Jacksonville responded.

Personally, I wouldn’t have gone that route either. I think by them mentioning Denver outright it gave the Broncos too much recognition and it displayed bitterness on the part of the Jaguars. I would have quoted the tweet and put something in front such as “Irrelevant”, “Motivation”, or “Doesn’t matter come Sunday.” The Broncos responded back to Jacksonville but it just gets stupid so I won’t even go there.

Many of us who have played sports remember these three words of advice: Respect your opponent. This wisdom should not be lost as we enter our professional careers but perhaps embraced even more….social media gurus included. Don’t Blink.

The Week I am a Dog Fan

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I admit it, I am not much of a dog guy. I grew up in a cat family. I also had a couple bad experiences with dogs when I was younger and I do get turned off by how some owners take care of (or don’t take care of) their hounds. That doesn’t mean I hate dogs or that I dislike living in a city where dogs are just about as numerous and carry as many rights as the people living it. It just means I am not going to go out of my way to pet the dog that someone decides to bring into the grocery store.

This week though I have become a dog fan. The people closest to me who just read that last sentence spit out their coffee. That’s right, this week I have definitely warmed up to dogs and have looked at many and thought “What a cute, nice looking dog.” Yes, I know, now I have to explain.

This week, believe it or not, I am a dog fan!!

This week, believe it or not, I am a dog fan!!

Remember last month how I talked about a company called Think Social and how we at Grizzly Athletics are partnering with them to introduce fun, organized, and branded social media contests? I wrote about the initial campaign we did with them. Just with Grizzly Athletics benefiting, we did a Griz Facebook fan photo contest. The week-long promotion was a great success and we experienced huge engagement numbers and a solid increase in likes to our page. After that initial run through we have done several other Think Social contests with our corporate sponsors. Basically I promote the sponsor’s contest on our Grizzly Athletics Facebook page and then our fans enter it by liking the Facebook page of the corporate sponsor. These have all proved successful as well.

However, this week a new contest has come to life that has set a whole new standard. Let me introduce to you the Grizzly Athletics/Holiday Inn World’s Best Dog contest. The rules are simple and rewards are great. Fans simply have to submit a picture of their dog and the canine that receives the most votes at the end of the week wins a pretty amazing prize package for its owner. In fact, the runner up and third place dog also win sweet prize packages for their owners as well.

This week we are running the Grizzly/Holiday Inn World's Best Dog Contest.

This week we are running the Grizzly/Holiday Inn World’s Best Dog Contest.

So while the prize packages and the contest itself are pretty cool, what has really set this thing apart has been the response. As I alluded to above, dogs pretty much run things in this town and you won’t find too many households that don’t have one or two of them so as you can imagine, many people were eligible to enter this contest. With the popular subject and with the power of Griz Social Media, this promotion has rocked thus far. With over 100 hounds entered, everyone has a horse (I mean dog) in the race.

As of right now, this is the first place dog, Jake.

As of right now, this is the first place dog, Jake.

By far my favorite part of this deal has been looking at the submissions. Some of the dogs are adorable. I think the maroon and silver that most of them are decked out in definitely adds a likeability factor to them. I am not kidding though, many of the owners who have submitted pictures have gone all out in dressing their dogs in Griz gear from nose to tail. Many have hats on, most are rocking Griz shirts, some are donning necklaces, and all have a unique trait that differentiates them from all the other dogs. Some owners have set up Griz themed backdrops around their dogs. All different breeds and sizes of dogs are represented and it just makes it a lot of fun.

So far this has been my favorite submission. This dog is named Aiden.

So far this has been my favorite submission. This dog is named Aiden.

This has been a fun contest to promote. Our fans have enjoyed it and it has given me a bunch of material to share with our audience. I am now able to post picture of a dog decked out in Griz gear for the next 100 days straight if I wanted to and I guarantee that our fans would continue to press that “like” button and comment on how cute the newest dog is.

This is Franklin and he is another one of my favorite submissions.

This is Franklin and he is another one of my favorite submissions.

Kudos to the Holiday Inn on pairing two things together that Missoulians might like more than anything: the Griz and dogs. This fantastic combination has made for a killer social media contest with a great level of engagement. I encourage you to check out all the submissions by clicking here. I will leave you with the question we ask whenever one of our players intercepts a pass inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium…WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?!?!!? Don’t Blink.

Resorting to Lows on Social Media

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You have to understand, my mom is a very novice Facebook user. She struggles to simply log in to the service. She doesn’t understand tagging, messaging, or sharing. She continually tells me that she declines to comment on anything on Facebook for fear that she will sound stupid. Every photo that has ever been posted on her account’s behalf was done by either my brother or me. Get the picture? My mom knows absolutely nothing about Facebook other than that it’s a place where she can go and see what her kids are up to.

But I lied. She actually knows one other thing about Facebook…

About a month ago I chatted with my mom and she told me about an observation she had. “You know Brent,” my mom started , “When I go on Facebook I notice people taking shots at each other, not directly, but I can just tell from reading their statuses that they are talking about the other person. It is pretty immature.”

My mom can’t detect emoticon meanings or birthday calendar invitations over social media but she sure as heck can detect bitterness, slights, and immaturity. Many of us think we are sly and cunning with our Facebook attacks but the truth is that everyone, including rookie Facebook users in their fifties, can see right through them.

I am not here tonight to go on a big rant about proper social media etiquette. I could go on forever about my personal code of conduct I follow while I navigate the enormous world of digital communication but I will save you all the agony. I will just say this broad statement about my major philosophy that I adhere to both personally and professionally when using social media. Be Positive. If you don’t have anything positive to say, just shut up and keep it to yourself….okay, enough about my own credo.

Indirect social media attacks are not something that is reserved for the younger generation. Sadly, it is probably more prevalent in people who should know better…like adults. It is prevalent in people who are my age. It is prevalent in people who are in their thirties and in their forties. It doesn’t matter the age, it is revolting in any case.

We all see it occur probably on a daily basis. It sticks out like a sore thumb. Someone writes a scathing status or shares one of those eye sore looking at your ex and seeing that he/she has downgraded memes. I know right after that sentence you probably had five Facebook friends who popped into your head who provide content like this consistently. You are probably asking yourself “why am I still friends with that person?”

With so much negativity in this world the last thing we need is to encounter it in such a shallow way over social media. This is a tough problem to fight but we can all take some steps. First off, if we find that we are guilty of such behavior we need to stop. Secondly, if we have a close friend who engages in passive-aggressive Facebook antics we might be in bounds to politely talk to the person and let him/her know how their social media habits make them look in front of hundreds and sometimes even thousands of people. Thirdly, if we have acquaintances who engage in such behavior we just need to de-friend them. Life is too short for such petty and immature negativity.

Across all social media outlets we need to hold ourselves to the highest standards. Social media is a terrible place to try to shame/embarrass others. Bottom line it is cowardly and selfish. Under no circumstances should we ever bring someone else down in front of a cyber audience. Again, no matter how we try to disguise it, it is always detectable. And because of that, we are actually the ones shaming/embarrassing ourselves. Don’t Blink.

A Stellar Social Media Promotion

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As social media keeps growing and growing, the pressure is on for companies, organizations, celebrities, and even athletic departments to step up their game and offer their fans fresh social content. Within Grizzly Athletics, this duty falls upon my shoulders. I make it one of my top priorities each and every day to make sure Griz Social Media leads the way in the FCS and that our program can hold its weight with the major schools in the BCS. To accomplish this priority, we try new things and take risks. Some of the social media ideas I have introduced have not always caught on. On the other hand, some of them have. I would briefly like to share a success story.

This social media success story has to do with Instagram.

This social media success story has to do with Instagram.

I depend on Kim Staninger from EPIO Solutions to offer me a second voice on social media. EPIO Solutions is a marketing/PR/social media consulting agency who we proudly work with. I directly work with Kim and we chat and brainstorm ideas to make Griz Social Media better. One idea she offered me was to institute a “Guest Instagrammer” during the football season. This person would get sole access to our Instagram account (@UMGRIZZLIES) and gain complete access to the Washington-Grizzly Stadium sidelines on Saturday. I was intrigued by the idea and decided to run with it.

At first I had to get past the idea that someone besides me would be posting to our social media accounts. I take great pride in posting about 95% of our content across our platforms so to give up the reins to someone not even within Grizzly Athletics made me just a tad bit uneasy. But it only took me a couple seconds to get over my control-fit because it wasn’t like I could do it myself during the games because of my responsibilities up in the press box. Also I knew we would capture a new perspective from our Instagram lens with someone else providing the content. I also knew it would give a loyal fan an ultimate Griz experience he/she would never forget. We were definitely doing this!

Make sure to follow @UMGRIZZLIES on Instagram.

Make sure to follow @UMGRIZZLIES on Instagram.

The week before our first home football game I wrote a story for our website and posted on our social media outlets the big announcement: We would debut our “Griz Guest Instagrammer” at the Appalachian State football game! I decided to choose our guest Instagrammer from an application process. I had interested parties e-mail me and provide me with the following: 200 words on why he/she loves the Griz, 200 words on why he/she loves Instagram, a copy of his/her best Instagram photo, and his/her Instagram handle. I knew this information would enable me to choose a person who would make this promotion a hit and who would improve our social media program.

I read through the roughly 20 applications I got and ended up choosing a girl named Christina. I looked through her materials and knew she was who I wanted for the first game. I notified her and she met with me on Friday before the game so I could give her the all-access photographer armband that would get her everywhere in the stadium. I also told her what I was looking for, showed her how to access the field, went over policies, and answered questions….oh yeah, I also gave her our Instagram password (the transfer of power!).

Griz Guest Instagrammer - Christina

Our first ever Griz Guest Instagrammer, Christina. This was her the day before the game when she picked up her credential.

On gameday Christina showed up an hour early and one of our marketing interns greeted her and once again confirmed that the whole field was available to her to take awesome Instagram photos. Once I saw from my vantage point in the press box that Christina was set I kind of forgot about the whole Griz Guest Instagrammer thing and went about doing my job. At halftime I was briefly reminded about the cool social media promotion we had going on when Christina showed up in the press box and informed me that her iPhone had died (I still laugh at this). We did some troubleshooting and got her a charger and after that I forgot once again.

It was not until after the game when I was walking to my car did I remember that we had someone else using our Instagram account for the past few hours. I pulled out my phone and looked at Instagram. My eyes lit up more than the fireworks that went off just 30 minutes prior.

Shots like this immediately jumped out at me.

Shots like this immediately jumped out at me.

The shots that Christina took were absolutely amazing. Not only were the pictures themselves just gorgeous but she managed to tell the whole story of the game. She had the skydivers, the band, the fireworks, the students, the mascot, the touchdowns, the crowd, and the jubilant joy of the players after the game. By Instagram standards it was absolutely beautiful.

She captured everything about the game so well.

She captured everything about the game so well.

Not only did she cover the game better than anything I could have imagined but she improved Griz Social Media. Over the weekend we gained 400 new followers! 400! We went from 1200 followers to over 1600 followers. You can’t ask for much better results than that, especially when all you are doing is giving a passionate Griz fan the opportunity to roam the sidelines and capture the game through her eyes.

I loved it how Christina had the presence of mind to run over to where the football team was singing the fight song and take a picture.

I loved it how Christina had the presence of mind to run over to where the football team was singing the fight song and take a picture.

I am excited for our future Griz Guest Instagrammers. Christina said she had a great experience and I am glad I am able to afford that to five more people this season. The bar has been set high and I will be happy if we get half the results over the next five games that we did with this first one. Go Griz Social Media and thanks Christina! Don’t Blink.

Enter the #GoGriz Photo Contest

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A little over a year ago, I participated in a social media contest that consumed my life and brought out my competitive juices. Northern Quest, a resort in my former home of Spokane, held a photo contest in honor of Mother’s Day. The resort asked its social media audience to submit a photo of themselves with their mom to the Northern Quest Facebook page. Once a photo was submitted, it was eligible to get likes and comments. At the end of the weeklong contest, the photo with the most combined likes and comments would get a spa package for their mom that included a night stay in the resort’s ultra fancy hotel.

I went absolutely nuts putting all of my energy into winning this contest. After much campaigning, pleading, and schmoozing with pretty much everyone I knew who had a Facebook account, I ultimately held off the large field and won the prize package for my mom.

This is the photo I submitted that won the prize package.

This is the photo I submitted that won the prize package.

So after having a great experience competing in a fan-voted social media picture contest, you can definitely bet that I am loving the fact that this week I get to run one! On Monday, Grizzly Athletics presented the #GoGriz Photo Contest. Our fans simply have to submit a photo that in some way incorporates our official hash tag, #GoGriz, and then hope that their photo garners the most votes possible. Sounds easy, right?

Well in theory running a contest like this sounds very simple but there actually is a lot of work on the backend that takes place. I am talking about behind the scenes type work such as making sure everyone follows the rules, offering a clear and functioning voting platform, crowning a legitimate champion, and compiling information from our Facebook fans that will in turn help us better serve them through Grizzly Athletics.

Enter a key player in this whole process…Think Social. Because of our contract with our third party rights holder (Grizzly Sports Properties) we have the luxury of teaming with some pretty cool partners. One of these partners is Think Social, a company that specializes in running Facebook contests for intercollegiate athletics departments. Along with our associate athletic director, the two of us sat down in a call with Think Social and we told them exactly what we wanted to accomplish with this contest. I wanted to continue to raise awareness for our hash tag, offer our fans another great social media promotion, and increase our like count on our main Facebook page. Our associate AD wanted to spread word that season tickets are still available, compile a database of some of our loyal fans, and see if this platform could help us in the future. Think Social designed the contest with our goals in mind and only two days into the contest I can proudly say that we have either already reached or are close to reaching them all (contest ends on Monday).

While Think Social facilitates the contest, I get to do all the marketing for it. This includes spreading the word throughout all of Griz Nation, generating enthusiasm for the campaign, coming up with creative ways to get people to submit photos, updating fans on a daily basis, and showcasing the great submissions that our fans turn in. Definitely a cool job.

This is currently the second place photo in the contest (122 votes).

This is currently the second place photo in the contest (122 votes).

But enough of this long story on how the contest came to be. What I really want to do in this blog post is tell you to enter the contest!! Why am I telling you to do this? One reason of course is because it is very simple. Another reason is because it is fun to submit a photo and see who will vote for it, closest friends and total strangers both included. A big reason is also because of the prize given to the person who submits the photo that gets the most votes: 2 Griz football season tickets (pretty much the most coveted thing in the state)!! But the main reason why you should enter is because you can WIN!

I am convinced that any of my Facebook contacts who have at least 500 friends on the network and who have half a brain about how social media works can pull this victory off. All it takes is hard work and some creativity. If you are reading this right now I have faith that you could submit a photo in the next two minutes and by 8 a.m. tomorrow morning you could pull into first place, right ahead of the person who has 140 or some odd votes right now. It just takes some drive and some innovativeness to do it. I know you all are capable of doing it.

This is currently the picture that is in first place (144 votes).

So what are you waiting for? Click here and submit your photo. Just make sure to incorporate the #GoGriz hash tag and remember that using babies or cute cats always seems to work best. Go Griz! Don’t Blink.

Three Social Media Trends That Drive Me Crazy

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As social media keeps evolving there will be certain practices that I love and that I hate. As long as this blog stays up and running, I will continue to write about them. Tonight I will focus on the latter, so as always I want to apologize for the negativity. I will make up for it in my next few posts.

In tonight’s edition of Don’t Blink I want to quickly highlight three somewhat trendy practices in social media that I am not so keen on. Each practice I am about to highlight comes from a different social service but each one I believe carries with it unoriginality and a degree of laziness. I love social media because of its ceiling for creativity so when I see an example of something on Instagram, Vine, or Facebook that I feel has very little uniqueness or thought from the user I get turned off.

Here is what I am currently burning on:

Throwback Thursday Pictures That Aren’t Really Throwbacks: I am still all about the Throwback Thursday idea. I love seeing people’s pictures from years ago when they were in diapers, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, or dressing up for Halloween for the first time. I also enjoy seeing people’s photos from maybe not all the way back in childhood but maybe from a time 10 years ago when they were at a different stage in their life and had a noticeable different style or appearance.

I don’t enjoy seeing someone’s Throwback Thursday picture from their spring break Vegas vacation four months ago.

I have seen plenty of Instagram users butcher the idea of Throwback Thursday and use photos that are just a year or two old and in many cases even more recent than that. If you post a TBT picture, it is a good rule of thumb to not post any pictures that you originally took on the iPhone that you are using at the present moment. To give a more straight-forward rule, make sure the picture is at least 4-5 years old before branding it a #TBT.

If you don’t have a good Throwback Thursday picture I just advise not using one for that particular Thursday. Don’t force one just to say that you posted a Throwback Thursday photo. If you didn’t go through photo albums or search way back on Facebook to get your photo, chances are it does not qualify for TBT. I think sometimes people use Throwback Thursday as an excuse to just post a photo where they think they look especially good in or one that shows them doing something really cool that happened in the very recent past. This misses the point.

The Revine: I want to give a lot of credit to Vine. With the introduction of Instagram Video, Vine has managed to stay relevant. It has kept its original fan base and continues to attract new users. The service has done all they can to maintain its status as a top app by introducing upgrades and new features. I applaud them for this but one of their new rollouts drives me crazy: The Revine.

Going along with the same concept as a retweet on Twitter, Vine users can now take a video that they like and “revine” it for all of their followers to see.

One day I was on Vine and it was completely normal as I viewed the content of the roughly 40 people I follow. The next day I looked at my feed and I was overwhelmed with weird people who I would never in my wildest dreams follow. Many of my followers had started to re-vine like complete randos and I no longer recognized my feed. I had no interest in the funny looking people doing bizarre things on my iPhone screen. It was actually a little scary.

I liked Vine because I got to see my friends showcase their lives and experiences in cool six second videos. I liked the connection that I felt. The introduction of revining has smashed that connection and brought in a lot of garbage that I have absolutely no interest in.

I propose that Vine just puts some limits on revining. I could live with it if the service limited users to one revine every 24 hours. While I would still get a little annoyed at stupid videos that I have no desire watching, it would prevent the people I follow from revining 10 random Vines in two minutes and totally taking over my feed.

The Facebook Share, Share, Share Technique: Now I can see sharing a quote or funny joke once in a while on Facebook but I become a little dumbfounded by the people who use their profile simply to post memes, shared photos, cartoons, sayings, and whatever crap they can steal that already has 1,529,045 shares one after the other on their wall. I am including this in my post because I seem to see it more and more often.

Don’t you get it? Your Facebook profile is there to market YOU. In that space you can let your personal brand come to life, you can showcase your individuality. Not only is seeing a junkyard of quotes and “first world problems” memes an eyesore, it shows that you have little to offer. I would honestly rather read long status rants and view low quality selfies on someone’s Facebook profile as opposed to recycled internet trash just because the former is an extension of the person, something of their creation. I am Facebook friends with you because I am interested, give me something to feed that interest.

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If you do use these practices on social media I don’t hate you. Chances are, I still follow you. I just think originality should always be strived for and social media is a great way to channel your creative juices. Show me what you got! Don’t Blink.

A Big Day in Social Media: Insta-Video

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Okay, okay, okay….the joke is definitely on me. Last night I pretty much got down on my knees and waved my arms up and down in a “We’re not worthy” motion and glorified Vine as the solution to coming up with unique content across all social media channels. If that display of admiration didn’t sell how all-in I was with Vine there was that other post I wrote a little over a month ago christening Vine as the future of social media.

Today, just about 12 hours after writing my last post, Instagram made an announcement. No, not just some minor release about privacy settings or the addition of a new picture filter but rather they made “The Announcement”. In a move that made the social media world go berserk, Instagram informed the public that the service was now video capable. Introducing 15 second videos with 13 different filters, Instagram pretty much crushed the current version of Vine in multiple ways. Basically, Instagram came through with a big time walk off homerun at Vine’s expense.

A few things…

1. Instagram is now more powerful than ever before. The service skyrocketed to stardom about a year and a half ago and stayed on top for about 12 months. Once Vine went mainstream and other social services started to emerge, Instagram lost a little bit of its luster. Not anymore. Instagram has reclaimed its supremacy as the #1 social media app. It now challenges Facebook for the most powerful social media service period.

2. Competition is wonderful in any industry and the same goes for social media. When apps and services continue to push out top notch and improved products in response to a competitor’s latest version, we as consumers win. This is a great day in social media even if it makes me look like a total moron.

3. Don’t count Vine out yet. Although it appears that Instagram could have delivered that knockout blow, let everything settle for a month. Let’s see how well Instagram’s video feature functions. Can it keep up? Will videos load quickly? Will it do anything to mess up the main photo feed? Also, let’s be fair to Vine and give them a chance to respond. What will they come out with to combat this significant move by Instagram? Will they do anything to try to keep the Vine loyalists sticking around? This will be interesting to observe and we do need to let it play out a little bit before we erect a Vine gravestone right next to the Myspace one.

4. Don’t get me started on the people who are resisting this move by Instagram. Can you believe that some folks are upset that IG would introduce video? There are Instagram purists out there who believe the service should for the next 100 years be devoted strictly to still photos. They are the same people who whine about every update Facebook makes and still detest the Timeline. Come on, social media sites evolve over time, change is a constant in this industry.

5. Finally, my point from last night still stands (about the functionality of Vine, not necessarily its supremacy). You can use many images from a Vine video to create unique content across all of your other social channels. The one advantage that Vine has over Instagram video: When you pause an IG video, the annoying pause icon comes up in the right hand corner. This of course makes cropping it out impossible if you want to save the integrity of the whole picture. Vine still allows its videos to be converted into flawless images without the necessity of cropping out an annoying icon. At least I saved a little face.

Historic day in social media! Let’s keep with the competing and evolving of social networks, it is just too fun…even if it makes me look like an idiot. Don’t Blink.