ADV400 Social News Exercise

For this week's exercise I voted and commented on 10 links from Yahoo! Buzz.
Check out my profile at: http://buzz.yahoo.com/activity;_ylt=AgnLdPRUZ5u5nUiDOok_ZY1zfNdF

This was a whoooole new experience for me that I had never really thought I would get involved in. I frequently read all of these types of stories online, but never think to vote or comment on them. I've read plenty of other people's comments and after looking at what many of them are saying, I never really thought I would get involved.

That leads me to a weakness I see in social networks websites. I see a major weakness in the capability that users have to post comments on the 'buzzed' stories. Any person on the site can write absolutely anything they want on these sites for any reader to see. I understand the benefits of the user-generated content and automatic updates that these sites have to offer, but they run a huge risk by allowing people to comment however they'd like. I'd say that over 50% of the comments people leave are negative and completely inappropriate to be left up online. I was looking at the Archie Comics story that I 'Buzzed Up,' and there were TONS of ridiculously hurtful comments from people about the introduction of a gay character and negative opinions of homosexuality in general. I was seriously in shock about all the hurtful things I was reading, and didn't feel that it was a appropriate that most of it was posted online.

However again I'll mention the benefits of having such great user-generated content and quick-time updates. It's super nice that online users have such freedom in posting stories that they care about online and hearing what others have to say about it. Social news websites are just another platform for online users to instantly share information about what they care about. I think of it as similar to posting interesting stories on Twitter, but these sites allow for the content to be much more thorough. The other nice thing is that the content gets spread to a larger audience. On Twitter only people's followers can comment on their tweets, but with social news networks anyone can comment on their posted stories. This is just a much better platform for generating buzz and allowing users to easily find content that really matters to them.

I felt pretty awkward when I was writing comments on these stories because I didn't know what to say that would actually be worthwhile posting online. I really did enjoy using Yahoo! Buzz and exploring the benefits of a social news website. I definitely will continue using Yahoo! Buzz to read interesting stories all in one platform, but I don't think I'll use it to write comments on anything. Overall I'm really glad that I did this exercise and was able to see the benefits of what a social news website is all about!

RSS Exercise

Here is the RSS Exercise that I completed for this week's 400 assignment:

1. The RSS feed that I analyzed was for E!Online www.eonline.com. They had many different RSS feed options for their different pages, so more specifically I read the RSS feed for their Top Stories which is at http://feeds.eonline.com/eonline/topstories.
This RSS feed was really clean and organized which I liked. Each story has a big headline and then the first sentence of the story. The headline also has a link to the full story so that you can read it if it sounds interesting. I'm not sure if this is common of most website RSS feeds but there are only 20 stories available on the RSS feed, which keeps it clean and updated for subscribers who check up on the feed frequently.
Something I thought that was really surprising was that there was an advertisement underneath each headline in the RSS feed. The ads are much bigger than the story headlines in the RSS feed so they stand out alot. I understand the benefit of having ad space in the RSS feed, but I'm surprised that they would put so many of them in there.

2. I used feedburner to burn a feed of my blog and podcast. The link for that page is http://feeds.feedburner.com/MunchinWithMeg

3. I replaced my blog and podcast feed with the feedburner one. The RSS tab on the lefthand side of this blog goes to my feedburner page.

Simple Chili Queso Dip

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ADV400 Social Networks Exercise

Check out the AAF Illinois Community Outreach fan page! With volunteer event postings, promotions and lots of pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/AAF-Illinois-Community-Outreach/348847418547?v=app_2373072738#!/pages/AAF-Illinois-Community-Outreach/348847418547

Jeanie's Wienies

Here is my family's faaavorite appetizer! Our family friend Jeanie brought it to a party a few years ago, so we named them after her and have been bringing them to every get-together since! They're basically just little smokies wrapped in bacon and coated with brown sugar. Clearly they don't sound very healthy, but they do taste very delicious! I promise that if you try them just once you'll be making them for every occasion after and they will be the first thing gone on the table!

I made a video showing how to make them:



They're super easy and only need a few ingredients! Enjoy!

ADV400 Twitter Project

So this isn't food related but I had to do a Twitter project for my ADV400 course & here it is:
Oh and follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MeghanClinnin !

1. Tweet from a third party application:
About to hop into bed! Another night of staying in, but I'll totally take a good nights sleep over anything right now =) about 17 hours ago from Twitterrific

2. Participate in three or more trending topics:
#nowplaying totally want to see 'dear john' but thinking i should wait til it's out on DVD so i can watch at home with a box of kleenex! about 17 hours ago from web

can't wait for the Super Bowl on Sunday! looove having people over at the house... hopefully we don't have a fire on the porch this year! about 1 hour ago from web

#itkillsme that this stupid snow might keep me in the house yet anooother night! i hate winter =( 3 minutes ago from web

3. Analyze the content of any 5 of the top 100 Twitter accounts:

Kim Kardashian (ranked #9) | http://twitter.com/KimKardashian

Kim Kardashian is a famous socialite turned model and actress, and member of the fun-to-follow reality show family on E!’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians. She has over 2.9 million followers, and for the ten and a half months that she’s been on Twitter, Kim has updated her Twitter over 3,000 times. That means that she tweets about 10 times a day, which is really no surprise when you factor in the $10,000 she gets paid for each tweet about a product she endorses! FOX looked at all her tweets last week and found that she had tweets endorsing eight different brands (http://entertainment.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/02/01/if-kim-kardashian-gets-10000-a-tweet-last-week-she-made/ ). I personally think that her Twitter is a little too full of endorsements and could use some more of her own personality, but she’s obviously doing something right! Kim replies to her fans’ tweets, which I think gives her a ton of credibility and explains her large number of followers!

CNN Breaking News (ranked #10) | http://twitter.com/cnnbrk

CNN has a Twitter account to post breaking news for its followers. The tweets are very short messages about their breaking news stories plus a link to the full article on cnn.com. It’s a great way for Twitter followers to stay in the know and get news right on their Twitter home page without having to constantly check the CNN website. I personally think it’s the perfect solution to keeping up with the news because I can quickly get the important information and read the full article when I want to learn more. I don’t like having to browse through news websites for stories I missed throughout the day, so I find it much more convenient to catch the news right on Twitter!

People Magazine (ranked #36) | http://twitter.com/peoplemag

People Magazine also has a Twitter to post their breaking celebrity news stories. Similar to CNN Breaking News, People will tweet a quick headline and post a link to the full article on their website. I like following People on Twitter because it’s my favorite magazine but I don’t buy the print copy every week. By following People on Twitter I can still see what they’re reporting and read the stories I’m particularly interested in for no cost at all! I think People Magazine has a successful Twitter because of the fact that they tweet about celebrity gossip, which is half the reason why people (like me) created their Twitter in the first place.

Dr. Drew (ranked #38) | http://twitter.com/drdrew

Dr. Drew Pinsky is a board-certified addiction medicine specialist best known for the VH1 show he hosts and produces- Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. On the show Dr. Drew serves as the resident medical expert at Pasadena Recovery Center for a group of celebrities going through rehab for drug and alcohol addictions. Dr. Drew has been featured on various radio shows, talk shows and other reality shows to offer his expert advice on relationships, sex and addiction. Dr. Drew uses his Twitter to promote the different shows he’s on. What I like best about Dr. Drew’s Twitter is that he posts inspiring quotes and also gives feedback to followers, so it’s evident that he’s truly passionate about what he does and lives up to the personality we see on TV.

Katy Perry (ranked #50) | http://twitter.com/katyperry

Katy Perry is a famous singer-songwriter who made it big with her first single in 2008. She has a unique style and personality, which makes her so fun to follow on Twitter. Unlike a lot of other celebrities, Katy will tweet about anything random going on in her day so her followers can get real insights into her everyday life and personality. The other thing I like about Katy Perry’s Twitter is that she posts a lot of twitpics, and she’s friends with a lot of other celebrities who are often in her pictures as well! Her Twitter page definitely makes her seem like one of the most down-to-earth celebrities out there.

4. Integrate a Twitter widget into your blog:

Check it out on the left!

5. Identify a current marketing campaign utilizing Twitter as its primary channel:

Pepsi Refresh Project | http://twitter.com/pepsi

Pepsi is introducing its new Pepsi Refresh Project in which it pledges $20 million for projects that consumers choose to “refresh” their communities. In keeping with their “refresh” theme, Pepsi has chosen not to run a 30-second spot in this year’s Super Bowl because “the company is concerned that putting a lot of ad dollars behind the brand in the Super Bowl would not be in keeping with a marketing message that portrays Pepsi as socially responsible” (http://adage.com/superbowl10/article?article_id=141063). Instead PepsiCo might use the Super Bowl to promote their other products, Doritos and Gatorade, and has chosen to spend its ad money on digital and social media to promote the Refresh campaign. Pepsi plans on increasing digital spending by 60% in 2010 (http://econsultancy.com/blog/5391-pepsi-refresh-will-the-halo-extend-to-soda ). Pepsi is using their Twitter to completely promote the project. Every single tweet is related to the campaign in terms of promoting events, getting followers to vote, or re-tweeting people’s posts regarding Pepsi giving back to the community.