Social Media reacts to Paris attacks

When the world goes into a mode of crisis, it is times like those when we see what we are truly made of. On Friday night, Paris, France was under a terrorist attack, led by members of the Islamic radical group, ISIS. The attacks occurred in a shop/market in downtown Paris and left 129 people dead and many more seriously injured. ISIS has been the talk of the world for the last year or so and I wonder why they keep getting more popular. The people who cause the chaos and turmoil amongst us get the most media attention and talk. I understand that in certain situations, it is necessary to have media time for issues such as ISIS and the war on terrorism. On Friday night however, the media was entirely focused on Paris.

When I say the media, I should say all forms of media. Television reporters swarmed the town, as well as journalists, civilians with cameras and social media users. If you were close to technology on Friday night, odds are that you heard about or saw the tragic events in France.

Social media took off after the reports of the attacks and it was just what social media does best. Gets the information out quickly and gets people talking. The trending hashtag, #Pray4Paris is the tag that has been used all across the world to show support the allied country. Channels such as Facebook, have made an option for users to make a filter of their profile picture by inserting the french flag colors across their image.

Other influential figures in the world took to social media as well to express their sympathy and prayers for Paris.

It is no question that social media has a grasp on our world today, but when it can show how much we care about each other and for those that are in a foreign country, it really opens your eyes to how benevolent the world can be.

The terrorist attacks on Paris are not going to be an easy wound to heal. Although, with the right support, precautionary actions and diplomatic solutions, there will be a brighter day ahead. The city of lights and its people are in a dark place, but as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that."

Impressions in SEO

This week in our class reading of "Measure What Matters", we have been reiterating the lesson of impressions. What types of impressions there are, how we can track our impressions, what to do with our impression data moving forward. One thing Dr.Agozziono stated in her notes is measuring is a constant thing. You are always looking to improve your measurement strategies and impressions.

The types of impressions can be differ in terms of how the impression was made. If the impression comes from a solely a search and a tag is matched, then it is considered an organic impression. Also if you are getting impressions from traditional media without paying for impressions or viewership, then it is organic as well. 

The counterpart of organic impressions are paid impressions. Paid impressions are simply paid advertising or product placement. It can be noticed deliberately and/or separately from the content that it is in. These impressions are not as rewarding or as concrete as the organic impressions because without the money, it is unknown if your product, (or organization, or service) would have been found. 

The best way to track the impressions for your website or your organizations social page is probably through Google Analytics. Google Analytics is way to transform the social media platform and how our content is truly perceived and not just going off of views or likes. Google Analytics is proven to be a productive tool for most organizations, but last week when a guest speaker came into our class, she she worked for the Hollister Co. and she spoke of her companies own way to track their impressions on all of their social channels. The system showed how each channel had a certain number of organic and paid impressions and what times the impressions were at a peak and at a low. Lindsey taught me some very valuable social media skills and tips going forward into my career. Although I don't have aspirations to be a social media manager or coordinator, I do know that social media is going to be around for awhile and will continue to change the communications landscape. 

Better Men Making Better Lives

This weekend I got to do something real cool. This weekend I got to make 10 young men's lives better. Not only in the facet of them joining a fraternity and broadening their horizon's, but because they had the tenacity to do what others couldn't. If joining a fraternity/sorority was easy, then everyone would do it. I am proud of the way these young me set themselves apart from others in their age group and took the Delta Sig challenge to become a better man.

The new guys all have special qualities about them that I like, but the one quality I like the most is they have become a unit. Their pledge class really rallied together and came close, despite their different backgrounds and interests, they became the best of friends and understand the true meaning of brotherhood. They are not the same at all, and yet they couldn't be closer.

The new initiates of Delta Sigma Phi will not only be better man, but they will be surrounded and influenced by better men and will put them in situations to succeed in life. Joining a fraternity is almost the sole reason I was offered my internship with FOX sports this summer in Los Angeles. Accepting the challenge to become a better man and balancing a varsity sport, a fraternity and school really taught me a lot about myself and what I am capable of and this capability was tapped into by the fraternity aspect of my freshman year of college. Watching these young men go through really made me reflect on my days as a freshman and what I want to tell them to avoid the same mistakes as me. Now I know how my dad feels...

Congrats Fall initiates of 2015 and welcome to the brotherhood.