Read It Then Delete It (The New Art Of Grassroots Campaigning)

                                      The New Art of Grassroots Campaigning

In the United States, the first use of the phrase "grassroots and boots" is thought to have been created by Senator Albert Jeremiah Beveridge of Indiana, who declared of the Progressive Party in 1912 that: "This party [the Progressive Party] has come from the grass roots. It has grown from the soil of people's hard necessities” (http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/Grassroots).  In an article for online readers, Ruth McCambridge (2012) wrote:

So...I can claim editorial prerogative to declare a word-of-the-day or even of the century for this sector it is grassroots.  The meaning of the term should be sacred to nonprofits and we should be crystal-clear about what it means. Grassroots groups are organizations that do not just reflect the voices of those people most affected by the issue being addressed but are responsive to and largely led by these constituencies. 

In the United States, candidates running for office use several combinations of grassroots campaigning to reach constituents.  Some include door to door solicitation, town hall meetings and mailings. Have you ever opened your mailbox and found it stuffed with flyers, post cards and generated letters from prospective local, state, or national officials running for office?  Have you ever noticed a candidate’s door hanger at your front door and wondered when did that get there?   So, now you have a handful of flyers and a door hanger to dispose of.  The next stop is the trash can, what a waste.  However I conclude that it would be simpler to not have to deal with all the ads, and be able to just read it then delete it.  Hopefully the information presented in this blog will help you come to the same conclusion.          

In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, the Obama campaign created a Social Network Site (SNS), my.barackobama.com, to successfully recruit thousands of campaign volunteers from across the country, and to sign them up for door-knocking and precinct-walking (Dickinson, 2008).  President Obama’s campaign proved that this new grassroots movement can lead to significant voter registration for a political party.  This style of campaigning provides evidence that SNS can be used in conjunction with traditional grassroots campaigning to become a very effective tool for reaching constituents.

Traditional media during campaigns such as posters, television advertising, press conferences and journalistic interviews continue to be important political functions.  Campaign television ads still remain a cornerstone for politicians.  However, in a website articletelevision ads are used to reach broad audiences. Ads can either be positive, supporting the views of the particular candidate buying the air time, or negative, deriding the candidate’s opponenttelevision ads are used to reach broad audiences. Ads can either be positive, supporting the views of the particular candidate buying the air time, or negative, deriding the candidate’s opponent. for the Local Victory called, “Using Social Media in Your Campaign” Joe Garecht (2010) stated that:

Political consultants and candidates touted the promise of the Internet and e-mail in changing the face of campaigns.  As with most innovations, proponents of web-based campaigning oversold the medium, suggesting that within a year or two, campaigns would raise most of their money and spend much of their time exclusively online.

 A new study indicates that social media is one of the best ways to get into office.  According to the study released by SocialVibe (2011), a digital advertising company, “social media creativity helps candidates stand out amidst the noise of campaign season.”  The results of this study also found that “engagement advertising” through social media yields increased financial return in political campaigns.  The main component for this very rapid growth is the “sharing” effect of digital content.  Sharing through Twitter can be done by simply re-tweeting the tweet.  Information obtained by email, blogs, Facebook and YouTube can be forwarded or shared as well.  This process is faster, and less labor intensive than door to door campaigning, and also more cost effective than flyers, postcards, and door hangers.

 A study conducted by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2010), reported that 97% of those polled used Facebook during the election. In addition, the report showed that a particular age group used social media to discuss the election, share content and take polls. The study also suggested that the 18-24 year old age group "receive most of their political information online and rarely read a printed newspaper or listened to radio for information."  Furthermore, in response to an article in Policy & Internet (2012); “The Case Against Mass Emails,” David Karpf (2012) tests those claims, relying on a combination of personal observation within the advocacy community and on a new quantitative dataset of advocacy group email activity to articulate three points. His first point is that emails are functionally equivalent to the photocopied, faxed petitions and postcards of ‘offline’ activism and represent a difference-of-degree rather than a difference-in-kind.  Secondly, such low-quality, high-volume actions are a single tactic in the strategic repertoire of advocacy groups, providing a reduced cause for concern about their limited effect in isolation. Finally, the empirical reality of email activation practices has little in common with the dire predictions offered by common critiques.

Look at it like this, in the 2008 Presidential election, then-Senator Obama and his campaign staff initiated a strong use of social media.  Doris Graber‘s book Mass Media and American Politics obtained and supplied statistics about President Obama‘s use of social media in the 2008 campaign, and the clearly visible discrepancies between Obama‘s use of social media and the social media use of his opponent, John McCain. Statistics like Obama having 2 million Facebook friends while McCain only had 600,000 proved that Obama used social media much more than McCain in the 2008 election (Graber 2010).  Facebook groups like “One Million Strong for Barack,” and “Students for Barack Obama” underlined user generated support for Obama during his 2008 campaign.

With this information it seems hard not to conclude that SNS played an influential part in the 2008 and 2012 Presidential elections, and has set the standard for future elections.  Will SNS eliminate television ads, journalistic interviews, and debates?  Probably not; in fact it should be used in conjunction with these grassroots styles of campaigning.  What this style of grassroots campaigning using SNS can do is, cut down on some of the mailings, flyers, and door-hangers constituents receive, and throw away.  Campaign funds can be generated and information can be transferred faster.  Social Network Sites allow constituents to simply read it then delete it.    

 

                                                                 Reference Page

Aregbe‘s, Farouk. Facebook group. One Million Strong for Barack. Retrieved  June 10, 2012.

             http:/www.facebook.com/group.php

Garecht, Joe. (2010)  Local Victory. Using Social Media In Your Campaign, Retrieved June 10, 2013.

             http://www.localvictory.com/communications/political-social-media

Graber, Doris. (2010). Mass Media and American Politics

Karpf, David. (2010). Policy & Internet, Vol. 2, No. 4, 7-41

Negroponte N. 1995. Being Digital. New York: Knopf

President‘s Obama‘s Facebook fan page. Retrieved  June 10, 2012. 

 http://www.facebook.com/#!/barackobama

Social Network Sites and Politics. (2012, March)   Pew Research Center.                          Retrieved June 10, 2013.                                                     

            http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/internet/research-internet-effects-        politics-key-studies

 

Effective Promotion of Events

Zack Crawford

            Advertising for events can be a tedious process. With hundreds, maybe even thousands, of billboards, commercials, and magazine ads battling for every consumer’s attention, trying to persuade people to attend an event can be not only difficult but down right impossible at times. Although it may seem gloomy for event coordinators and organizers across America and the world, there is a tool that is free to use and, if used properly, can be the most effective use of advertisement (Smith, 2012). This tool is none other than social networks.  Networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can and should be used to create an easily accessible and user-friendly advertising campaign to obtain the highest level of participation at your events. This blog will walk you through the different features that Facebook offers to maximize your social network propaganda. So sit back and enjoy the ride!

            We will start with Facebook because of its complexity and abilities. When trying to appeal to a large audience with an event, you have to first make all of the details easily found and shared. The “Groups” feature on Facebook is a prime example of establishing a community around a group or idea that can transmit essential information to a vast amount of people in short amount of time. To create a group on Facebook, you must first have a Facebook account. Assuming that you have an existing Facebook account we will skip to the group creation phase. If you navigate to the home page and look on the left sidebar, you will find the Groups panel.  Any groups that you are currently associated with will be located there. However, there will be an option for you to Create a Group. Click on that tab and a pop-up menu will display. The display will require you to name the group as well as invite any of your current friends to join the group. This is great for any smaller scale events that someone plans to host such as neighborhood barbeques or wedding showers.

            After you have named the group and invited all of the members, Facebook gives you the option to make the group Open, Closed, or Secret. Open makes your group open for all of the Facebook community to see who is in the group and what they post. Closed makes your open for anyone to see the group and who is in it, but not the posts. Secret makes the group completely private and only members can see the group, the other members in it, and the posts. The best way to decide how private you would like your group to be is to analyze the importance and exclusiveness of the event. If you are planning a wedding shower then you may want to set the privacy setting to Closed. If you were planning a surprise birthday party for a friend or family member, you would probably set the settings to Secret.

            Now that your Facebook group has been created to promote you events, the options are almost endless. You now have the ability to post statuses, pictures, videos, and poll questions, describe what your group is about under the About tab, and even invite new members. Facebook gives you the ability to create an entire community of people with just a few clicks of the mouse. However, since this is a blog giving you an advise on how to promote an event, we will start with the event feature.

When you navigate to the homepage of your group there will be tabs across the top of the window. Click on the Events tab. Once on the Events page, you can not only create a new event but also search through an archive of past events. Let’s create an example event. It will be a surprise birthday party for your father. Start by clicking on the Create Event button, which is located on the upper right side of the Event page. Once you have clicked on that button a pop-up menu will appear giving you a few boxes to fill out.

·      First you will want to name the event. The name of your event is a crucial part of promotion and can be the deciding factor for someone to attend. It should be detailed but not wordy, giving the reader enough information to understand what they would be going to. We will name our event My Father’s Surprise Birthday Party.

·      The second box to fill is titled Details. As the title states, in this section you will give details about the event and maybe a few reasons on why your invitees should attend this event. This should NOT be a three-page essay or a deeply written historical background on your dad’s birth. It should be concise and only prudent information about the event should be installed. Our detail will be described as this: I am hosting a surprise birthday party for my dad this Saturday June 22,at my house. The set-up and decorating will begin at 5pm and anyone who is available is welcomed to join me. Let’s make this a special event for my dad. He deserves it.

·      The next event option is Where. This box will let all of your invitees know where your event will be held. Since we stated in the Details section above that the surprise birthday party would be held at your house, we will insert the address to your house. With the Where box, Facebook takes the address that is inserted and creates a Google Maps pinpoint making it easier for the people you invited to get directions. Let’s insert the address: 51 Main Street Perkinston, MS 39573

·      The fourth box that needs to be fulfilled is the When option. Facebook makes it incredibly easy to adjust the date of the event by selecting a calendar on the right side of the text box. If you click on the calendar, a calendar will drop down making it simple for you to click the date of your event. Once you have selected the date, you then can type in the time of the event. This is prudent information for all prospective participants. They must know when an event is taking place to see if there is time available in their schedule to attend.

·      The final box to be filled out is the Privacy drop menu. In this section you can be specific on who all obtains this invitation.

o   The first option in the drop-down menu is Public. Public means that the entire public can see the event and will see all of the details of what you are planning. In the scenario of your father’s surprise birthday party, this would not be suitable.

o    The next option is Friends of Guests. If this feature is selected, anyone who is friends on Facebook with someone who will be attending the event will see the event. Again, this would not be suitable for a surprise party.

o   The third option for Privacy is Invite Only. Invite Only keeps your event highly exclusive by giving you the power to send invites only to people that you select. If this option is selected, a check box appears which asks if Guests of your event can invite their friends. This is a useful feature for semi formal events on a small scale like a jewelry party or neighborhood barbeque.

o   The final and most effective feature for our father’s surprise birthday party is the group title option. This means that only people who are already in the group will see the event. Since we already made the group Secret as discussed earlier, the event will be extremely exclusive and therefore keeping the party hidden from your father.

Once you have filled all the text boxes to your liking and are appropriate for your event, click the Create Event button. Congratulations, you have successfully created your first event on Facebook. It is that simple, quick, and easy.

            As you can see, with just one of the many features social networks offers, event promotion does not have to be a headache.  The days of mailing invitations and making phone calls is over. With the rapid spread of social communities and networks, what used to take days of preparation for a surprise birthday party now takes minutes. I encourage you to continue exploring different outlets and social network services to maximize your abilities and to increase the participation and attendance at your next event!

Works Cited

How to promote events via facebook. (2012, July 13). Retrieved

from http://performancing.com/how-to-promote-events-via-facebook/

Smith, M. (2011, March 22). Six ways to effectively promote events

on facebook. Retrieved from http://www.marismith.com/six-ways-effectively-promote-events-on-facebook-case-study/

Virtual Presentations: Advantages and a Look at Prezi

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By Sophie Molaison

            The Internet is becoming so popular that businesses, educators, and students are becoming more technologically inclined to use the World Wide Web for their presentation needs. To learn in a new way may be difficult for some, but for others the resources the Internet has given us are more beneficial. Virtual presentations are used to inform, demonstrate, or persuade the audience of the content in the presentation. Internet presentation sites such as Prezi.com can be useful for all types of wanting to effectively inform an audience in a technological way.

To effectively communicate through an online presentation the presenter must be willing to take a few things into consideration: the importance of learning, the different ways people learn, and that success is not determined by learning style. (Novak & Gowin, 1985) Because learning is varied in many ways, online presentations allow diversity in learning. Learning techniques are important to know so that you can effectively communicate with your audience. To learn, a person must possess three things: Material to be learned must be conceptually clear and presented with language and examples relatable to the learner’s prior knowledge, the learner must possess relevant prior knowledge, and the learner must choose to learn meaningfully. (Ausubel, 1960)

For you to decide if online presentations are wonderful, terrible, or build an opinion, you have to know what they are. Virtual presentations include technology, video recording, voice, and in different environments. (King, 2013) A presenter is able to communicate with an audience without physically being with them. This means that the convenience factor is highly liked by viewers and presenters. Yes, online presentations can be a pain to put together. Yes, there are problems with technology. But, all of the good attributes may outweigh the bad. Here are the benefits of using online presentations.

1.     People viewing your presentation will see exactly what you've created. You avoid problems of reproducing colors, patterns, and images on printers.

2.     Once you've created a presentation, you can use it immediately, without waiting for it to be processed.

3.     Virtual presentations are more accessible and interesting to watch.

4.     You are able to create more interesting presentations, providing: advanced art lines, graphics, and 3-D effects.

5.     Easy distribution of the presentation via printout or PDF file.

6.     Virtual presentations can allow the same communication opportunity with people who may not be able to attend.

These advantages have become more apparent to my peers and I as students. Online presentations in the academic world are nearing requirement for all presentations because professors are also becoming more technologically dependent. This could be good or bad because people are beginning to expect virtual presentations more than an original, old-style presentation; many people are turning their heads towards fairly new Internet software called “Prezi.” The software is a cloud-based presentation and story-telling tool created on a blank, white canvas. Users are able to zoom-in and out of specific clouds to navigate through the presentation.  Prezi was created to get past the flat, old organization of PowerPoint. You may be accustomed to using PowerPoint, and that’s okay. But you learn new things everyday, right? Prezi is being introduced to the modern world for many reasons. Prezi.com is helpful in the learning process.

To learn by using Prezi, you have to know a little about using how to use the software. Basically to get started in Prezi you sign up for a free account on their web site, logon, click on the “my” [account] tab at the top of their screen, and select “Create a new Prezi” orange colored link on the left panel. Next you title your presentation, choose a style, and press the create button. That’s all there is to it. Then you are presented with a “canvas” into which you can click and drag [mouse around] navigation features of the Prezi software. In the upper left hand portion of your screen there is series of small blue circles that contains the navigation/editing menu. Using these circles you can add text; place, position, and zoom objects; add pictures, sound and video; frame presentations [similar to PowerPoint screen templates]; draw lines between concepts [connect the dots]; specify the animation order of your Prezi; preview what you have created; and finally save the Prezi to workspace on the web.

The free Prezi account gives you 100MB of storage, while the other for fee plans allows for additional online storage space and offline desktop use of the software. To show your presentation using the free account you must log on to Prezi via the Internet. This is not a particular burden since in most cases you will have Internet access for presentations at most venues, however the for fee plan does allow you to store Prezi files on a your local hard drive.  Although it may take you a small amount of time to catch on, it could be worth preparing better presentations in the future.

Now that you know more about online presentations and how beneficial they can be to the learning process, I am hopeful that you will begin to develop new strategies in presenting, including Prezi. I also hope that the steps that I have listed to begin working more with Prezi are useful to you in your presenting endeavors. I am confident that you will succeed in presenting your material in a professional, fun way instead of the old, Power Point way.  

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Sources

Novak, J. D., & Gowin, D. B. (1985). Learning how to learn. NewYork, NY: Cambridge University. Press.

 Ausubel D.P. (1960) The use of advance organizers in the learning and retention of meaningful verbal material. Journal of Educational Psychology 51, 267–272. 

Retail Shopping through Social Media: Tips for the Best Experience

Shopping through Social Media: Tips to get the best shopping experience

Online shopping: two words that changed how many people in the world shop. This means no malls, no long lines, and no fighting over items when stores have big sales. Online shopping made its debut many years ago. But what has recently made its debut is the use of stores using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram to communicate to their customers. For customers, this is a great way for them to see what stores have to offer without ever going into the store. For those of you new to shopping through social media, or looking to expand your use of shopping through social media, these tips will help you get your best shopping experience.

Tip number one: “Follow,” “Like,” or “add” any store that interests you

This tip is very important. How else are you going to see what a store has to offer if it does not show up on your newsfeed? No matter where the store is located, if they interest you, add them. When stores add new items, update their status or photo album. It will show up on your newsfeed making it easier for you to see what they have to offer and if you are interested in their products. For the most part, all stores will gladly take your information over the phone and ship your purchases to you. This makes it easier for you to get the best deal. By adding different stores, you will be able to compare prices and products without ever leaving the computer.

            Tip number two: Look for prices and similarities throughout the different stores

For the most part, fashion trends throughout the United States are similar. Since most people are looking for similar items, most stores have those items in either the same or different colors. For some that are looking to stand out rather than blend in, this is probably frustrating. But for those that are interested in getting the newest fashion trend in their closet, this is helpful when shopping. Now, the main attribute to compare is the price. Is it worth paying forty dollars for the blouse at the local store or pay twenty dollars for the same blouse and five dollars for shipping? By looking at stores through social media, one can find the best prices. Before social media, this would mean that one would have to leave a store, go to another, compare items, and then make a decision. This process could take hours depending on where the locations of the stores were in comparison to one another. Now, this can be done with just a few clicks of the mouse. Looking for prices and similarities throughout many different stores is no longer a long hassle.

Tip number three: Remember sales tax & shipping

            Most of us are used to sales tax. However, it is important not to forget that sales tax changes from state to state. Sales tax can make or break a shopping experience. When shopping through social media, remember sales tax is a factor in the final price of the item. For example, sales tax in Mississippi is seven percent. However the neighboring state of Alabama only has a sales tax of four percent. This is something all customers should take into consideration. Shipping can also be expensive depending on how much one spends at a single store. Look for deals on free shipping or flat rate shipping prices. This will save you money and allow you to spend more in the future.  Stores that use social media often run more free shipping deals than those that don’t due to their audience being online and not particularly in the same state. Shopping through social media can help save money one would otherwise spend not realizing how much they could actually be saving.

Tip number four: Shop around before committing

I know some of you are thinking, “It’s just a top.” But this will save you money and allow you to get the most out of social media shopping. Options are literally one mouse click away. Successful stores that use social media update their new items almost immediately after they receive them. If you were looking for a certain top, whether it was in a certain color, style, or price, you will be able to find just what you are looking for. There is no shame in having ten website windows open comparing prices from ten different stores that you follow through social media. This way, you can look at all your options and find the one that best suits you.  

Tip number five: Look for sales

Who doesn’t love saving money when they find a good sale? Times are hard, but looking cute doesn’t have to be. Through social media, stores are able to run more sales through their store pages and to “fans” online. By accessing their page through social media, a customer can open the door to many sales that they would otherwise miss out on.  Many small businesses will send out specials through their Facebook pages, Instagram, or Twitter that only last that day. All it takes is a few minutes to shop around and make a call to the store. This makes shopping easier for the customer and makes selling easier for the store.

Tip number six: “Share” and “Retweet” the store page you like

Businesses love free advertisement. But now, businesses are rewarding customers that advertise their business for them.  Why not receive an award for what you would be doing anyway? Through social media, businesses are able to see who “likes,” “retweets” or “shares” a photo or status. This can help benefit the customer. When businesses give away free gift cards or items, they will give it away to those that support them through social media. This will help a customer build a relationship with a store as well as win free products.

Tip number seven: Use more than one social media outlet

How many social media sites does one need to use on a daily basis? For retail shopping, the more the better. Businesses are going to reach out to their customers through social media sites their customers use. In order to get the best deals and see everything a store has to offer, a customer needs to use all sources possible. Businesses are going to add certain items to certain social media sites to get their customers attention. For example, a store may use Instagram to star a certain outfit style they have in their store. This outfit may not be posted on Twitter. Customers could miss out on a great deal and outfit if they didn’t follow the business on certain social media sites. Pinterest is a very popular social media site that allows users to “pin” styles and items they like. This site will benefit a business and customers by allowing them to travel to the direct link where they can purchase the item.

Tip number eight: Jump on the bandwagon

What bandwagon should you jump on? Shopping through social media. Although people use social media daily to connect and reconnect, few are using it to shop. This new way of shopping has not grabbed the attention of everyone, but those that it has grabbed, hold on tight. However, those that haven’t used it will certainly use it soon. Shopping through social media is only going to increase, join now.

According to Jacinda Tutty(2013), more than fifty three percent of online shoppers search social media for fashion. It is important to use and get acquainted with social media and shopping now, rather than later. According to Petra Jung (2013), by 2014 sales through social media should rise by forty-four percent. Stores that show off their products have influenced their viewers. Studies show that this will result in half of the sales made in 2014 (Jung, 2013).  This is a huge increase and a positive impact on stores that use social media as an outlet to their customers. According to the article “Social Media Impact on Retailers’ sales uncertain”(2012), social media can be the first place someone hears about something. Also, social media is a way for customers to discover deals (“Social media impact,” 2012). Most deals are offered through social media. Facebook has one billion users, imagine if all of those users were shopping through social media. Shopping would be easier and less hassle than one can imagine.

Retail shopping through social media is not going anywhere. This form of shopping is going to grow and increase rapidly over the next few years. Shopping, as we once knew it has evolved. There is no need to travel to malls and use money getting there when shopping options can be done through the same source you connect with friends and family. Using social media is the newest form of shopping people are using, and businesses are realizing it. 

Shopping through social media can be a bit tricky and confusing sometimes. The options are unlimited. Sales and deals can be seen without ever leaving your home or computer screen. If you haven’t tried shopping through social media, I encourage you to try it out at least once.  Remember these eight tips. By following these eight tips, one can get the best social media shopping experience.

Works Cited

Tutty, J. (2013, June 15). Social media driving online fashion sales in brisbane as savvy shoppers tag a bargain. Courier Mail. Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/national-news/queensland/social-media-driving-online-fashion-sales-in-brisbane-as-savvy-shoppers-tag-a-bargain/story-fnii5v6w-1226663436035

Jung, P. (2013, June 16). Social media is a highly valuable tool for retailers. . Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network-partner-zone-ebay/social-media-retail-brands-ebay

Social media impact on retailers' uncertain. (2012, November 28). . Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2012/11/28/social-media-retailers-shopping-black-friday/1731745/