Sticky, spreadable....and contagious.
Why does some content attract attention? Why does some content get shared over and over again? Why does some content become contagious, almost like a virus? Students in Contemporary PR & Social Media at George Mason University are studying the science of sharing, learning how to strategically use social media for social good and, at the same time, develop and hone their personal online brand.
When we care, we share.
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Science of sharing: the brain processes visuals 64,000 times faster than text
The brain responds differently to text, visuals, and storytelling. Understanding that science helps social media strategists craft messaging that will be instantly processed and more deeply absorbed.
Social media manager for Mason, Kathy Dodd, served as the subject for an assignment for students to practice visual content creation and messaging. Following Dodd's presentation, students created a video and an original content visual, with some impressive results.
Social media manager for Mason, Kathy Dodd, served as the subject for an assignment for students to practice visual content creation and messaging. Following Dodd's presentation, students created a video and an original content visual, with some impressive results.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SOCIAL GOOD CAMPAIGNS
Students transition from examining content to creating content, from being a social media scientist to a social media strategist. After choosing a social issue, they collected secondary research. This helped form questions to ask of their peers through primary research. Based on what they learned, students then developed their message strategy. That strategy guided the development of the tool they would use to start a conversation about the social issue. Below are their video products.
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#WordsHurtThroughout 2016, students were exposed to the power of words...in a very negative way. Words were used to hurt people online and a plague of cyber bullying spread across the Internet. One team of students wanted to start a conversation about this social issue and created the #WordsHurt video. The video is the central tool for their social media campaign, using messaging across all platforms, to raise awareness of the simple message that "words hurt." Created by Jennifer Daniels, Josh Stickles, Bushra Ibrahim, Tatiana Peralta, , Dennix Averion and Antonnet Villarma.
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#DontBeAMeanGirl
The act of "body shaming" is not just the misguided work of 13-year olds. A team of students found that critical comments about appearance continue long after middle school and into the college years. It's mean and hurtful. They created this very personal message to help raise awareness about the pain that such comments cause and to urge Mason students to stay positive and "don't be a mean girl." Helen Row, Kira Wilson, Dana Faddoul, Brooke Finnicun, Rachel Cason and Tatiana Martinez shared their stories in the video and ask others to share theirs, using #DontBeAMeanGirl.
The act of "body shaming" is not just the misguided work of 13-year olds. A team of students found that critical comments about appearance continue long after middle school and into the college years. It's mean and hurtful. They created this very personal message to help raise awareness about the pain that such comments cause and to urge Mason students to stay positive and "don't be a mean girl." Helen Row, Kira Wilson, Dana Faddoul, Brooke Finnicun, Rachel Cason and Tatiana Martinez shared their stories in the video and ask others to share theirs, using #DontBeAMeanGirl.
Starting 1,000 conversations...
Social media is a fast paced, tactical game of posting, tweeting, liking, retweeting, connnecting, updating...I liken it to "feeding the beast." To help promote views of their video or posts about their issue, students crafted a social media relations tactical plan. This included Facebook posts, status updates and articles on LinkedIn, emails to influencers, news releases and other platforms like BuzzFeed Community. In addition, the videos were seen 100 times a day on the intracampus video ORCA network screens.
It's a wrap!
Creating a professional campaign report.
Students were required to create a professional business document that synthesized and analyzed all of the campaign elements. The report needed to be attractive, concise and an easy/quick-to-absorb review of the issue, secondary and primary research, message and creative strategy, the tactical campaign and results.