OTM #1 (Future Tense)

I'm definitely not an avid reporter who is out to get the latest scoop on the news; however, with my phone I don't really need to.

This On the Media podcast episode focused a lot on how the news is going to be portrayed now that Trump is in office. There seems to be a lot of talk about the press corps and whether they will be staying in the White House. I've been thinking about the press corps situation as well as President Trump's twitter usage in regards to the future of news and journalism. 

First, I want to discuss a little bit about the press corps. While listening to this podcast, I realized that I didn't have any idea what the press corps was. Thanks to the internet thought, I was able to learn more about the press corps, the history behind it, as well as the current situation with Trump. The press corps are the ones who get the news scoop right at the White House. They meet in a small room and then listen and ask questions for the purpose of receiving information. Trump wanted to move the press corps out of the White House and into the Eisenhower building next door, which the press didn't like. According to U.S. News, it was decided that the press would still meet in the White House, on the condition that Trump and his association would decide who would be in the room for the meeting.

When I read this, I couldn't help but think of when Trump refused to answer a question from CNN because he decide they were fake news. If Trump is able to pick and choose which reporters are getting briefed, who is to say that he will only choose those who he likes? Will he be able to kick out those who he considers to be threatening and/or "fake" in their possible news reports? The power to choose those who report at the White House could be a big problem Of course, this is under the stipulation that being at the White House and getting briefed day to day is a main form of receiving important information. 

Trump being President could be a big factor in changing how we get news. Trump has been using social media, specifically twitter, as a means of directly reaching out to millions of Americans. Trump seems to be accepting and utilizing technology as a way to communicate to the general public. Using the latest advancements of technology has been seen with many Presidents. NPR published an article back in November that discusses Trump's usage of utilizing twitter as a way of mimicking past presidents and their technological uses. FDR used radio to give his fireside chats. Eisenhower was the first to broadcast news conferences on tv. Ronald Reagan used primetime live tv. Even Obama used social media and various talk shows to communicate with more audiences. The fact is, Presidents have used different technology to reach out and connect with the general public to set new standards of how the news gets portrayed. The question to ask is this: will social media become a standard news source for people that diminishes or replaces the way journalists gather news through press conferences and briefings?

Trump has no problem using twitter, and other social media platforms, as a way to communicate exactly what he wants to his millions of viewers. In an interview on 60 minutes, Trump discusses how he shouldn't be ashamed in using his social media because it's a great form of communication. While being in the role of President of the United States will make Trump be "restrained" in his Twitter usage, but It doesn't look like it will stop him from using it. The question to ponder is if social media truly is a great for of communication. I, personally, think that social media sites are a great way for people to communicate their ideas and instantaneously connect with millions, even billions of people. The problem that social media brings is that anyone can publish anything. There's a reason that there is so much problems in society today dealing with fake news stories. The vast amount of these fake news stories creates a big problem for social media to be an accurate form of getting the news. Regardless of the fake news stories, social media will revolutionize the way that the world will receive the news, especially considering that social media, according to BBC, reaches more young people as a news source than tv. More and more people are turning to social media as a way to stay updated on current events. Using social media as a news source is going to be interesting to watch during the Trump presidency, as well as in decades to come when it become more integrated in the general populations culture. 

The Best Pizza in Town! (Social Media Campaign)

If you have never eaten at Roy's Pizza & Pasta, then you are definitely missing out. Roy's has been one of my favorite places to eat. Like ever. I talked with the manager of the local store about possibility of taking over the social media accounts as part of my social media campaign assignment for this class. Things just worked out and I'm now going to be in charge of the social media for the restaurant!

While Roy's puts a lot of effort into making good food, their effort into keeping up their social media isn't really there. The only thing that has been posted is a weekly post that discusses their lunch special. The manager pays a company to post the same post each week. Besides this weekly post, there isn't much original content on their Facebook page. The image below show the 5 most recent Facebook posts (the same 5 posts just a week apart) and the statistics for each post. One of the goals that I have is to not only post more unique posts, but to have those posts reach more people.

The Facebook page has an about section that discusses a little bit about what Roy's wants to provide (mission). The mission (in the image below) isn't really concise and is surrounded by various menu items that the restaurant provides. I'm currently working on making an actual mission statement that is shorter in length and addresses the specifics as to what Roy's wants to provide. There is already a menu tab on the Facebook site so getting rid of the menu items in the mission statement wouldn't be a big loss. 

While discussing the different social media sites, I was talking with the manager about who their target markets are. The manager has noticed that the majority of people who come in and eat at Roy's are older people and families. Even though I would like to direct the social media content that I am going to post towards older people (60+), the manager and myself feel like they wouldn't really be the ones who are following the social media feeds. The manager told me that he hopes that the social media for the restaurant will be directed towards people who are 40-45 years of age or younger. We are really hoping to reach out to the younger generation of people, such as high school students and college students, as well as reaching out to small families. Because of these remarks, here are the three different market personas for this blog:

Jared - Jared is a high school student who is local to St. George. He enjoys spending time with his friends as well as supporting his school by attending the various football games and basketball games. Jared lives for the weekend as the rest of the week he is occupied by schoolwork, homework, and abiding by rules to keep his parents happy. 

Caleb - Caleb is a college student attending DSU. He studies constantly to keep up his gpa and work towards getting his bachelors degree. Working as well as being a full time student puts a lot of stress upon Caleb, but he still makes time to enjoy some hobbies such as hiking, hanging out with friends, or relaxing while binge-watching Netflix. 

Sarah - Sarah has one of the most difficult jobs in the world. She is a full time Mom! Sarah spends most of her time picking up the house and doing all she can for her 3 kids and husband. Her husband spends most of the day working, so Sarah usually has some time in the early afternoon to get things done before her kids come home from school. While she definitely enjoys spending time with her kids and husband, she also enjoys spending some time alone reading some of her favorite books. 

*These are not actual individuals that I know or who I am specifically trying to market, but rather just personas to think about while figuring out different social media strategies. 

One aspect that I need to think about while managing the social media for Roy's is content. While coming up with original content shouldn't be difficult to do (especially compared to the amount of content that Roy's currently has), maintaining constant activity across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is what I really need to focus on. One suggestion that I had to the Roy's manager to try and promote the various social media outlets is to have a flier/message on every table that showcases the different social media. He like the idea and so I designed this:

It's nothing really fancy, but it shows the different social media usernames for the restaurant. Hopefully this will get people who are sitting down at the restaurant to use their phones (which they probably already are using) and give Roy's a follow or a like. Some content ideas that I am thinking about are having random pizza/pasta facts, interesting information about the Roy's restaurant, and of course some great pictures of some delicious food! 

#inauguration

Friday was definitely a day to put down in the history books. Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States of America. I didn't have the chance to sit down and watch the entire inauguration, but I did follow the main events through my twitter feed. Periodically I would look up the #inauguration and look at all of the different tweets that were being posted. I saw many different types of posts. Some tweets were based on actual information that was given during the inauguration, like quotes from Trump's speech. Most tweets, however, were people just giving their opinions over social media. Some people posted praise and gratitude that Trump is now President and not Obama while other people wrote how the rainy weather was God crying that Obama has left. I wasn't really impressed with the tweets that were kind of depressing and/or complaining how Trump is the new President. I was impressed though with the amount of tweets that I saw hoping that Trump will be a good President for this country, regardless of whether that individual voted for him or not. Inspired by these tweets, I decided to tweet something on my own twitter feed.

I wanted to make it a little humorous, but at the same time expressing my desire for Trump to be a good President. To be honest, I didn't vote for him; however, I really do hope that he can be a good President and "make America great again" like millions of people want him to. After looking over the many tweets that I saw, I was reaffirmed on how amazing social media can be. Just through searching the hashtag inauguration, I got to read people's opinions about the inauguration from all over the world. Social media is amazing in the fact that it is able to unite people in ways that haven't been possible in years past. I'm hopeful for great things dealing with the United States of America as well as social media in the years to come. 

Introduction

I'm amazed that I still haven't quite mastered the art of introductions after years and years of meeting new people. While every new person I meet perceives me in a different way, I always seem to present the same routine information of introductions.

My full name is Joshua Wesley Barney, but I prefer to go by Josh. I'm 23 years old with a birthday coming up in May. I was married to my beautiful wife Kelsi on May 21, 2016 and we've been happy ever since! I am a student at Dixie State University getting my degree in communications, minoring in management, and also getting my general marketing certificate. I currently work at the front desk at a local motel and I love it! After I graduate, I am hoping to further my career and get into a management position at a hotel. While I want to work in management after I complete my undergraduate degree, I also want to further my education by continuing to pursue a Master's degree in the communication field. I hope to one day make it back to the college classroom as a professor teaching communications. I enjoy playing video games, watching movies, making puzzles with my wife, and reading books in Romanian to keep up the second language that I learned on an LDS mission.

Since this class is all about social media, I thought it would be fitting to include my various social media profiles on this blog.

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn

Just click the links to go to my profiles! If you follow me I'll be sure to follow you back.