Facebook Advertisements

Facebook customizes its ads based on what you want to see. Advertising accounts for the majority of Facebook’s revenue. It’s controversial to some, because people don’t think that they should be paying to advertise on Facebook. But the ads are what keep Facebook as we know it free.

Advertising on Facebook, using Facebook on websites (like button), using Facebook to access social graphs on mobile apps (less usernames and passwords) and building apps on Facebook. Facebook makes most of its money off ads, and in turn these ads keep Facebook free.

Paying to promote these services not only helps to keep Facebook free but also helps you reach people who aren’t connected to your page yet. You can choose how much you want to pay and how many users you will reach. You can decide which posts to promote. It helps users increase their reach.

Many people are opposed to paying for adds and posts on Facebook. But many users don’t know the benefits of it.

Alex Holmes

A Beastly Affair

Movie Review on Beastly and links to social media

There are many ways to inject a contemporary twist on a story as old as age.  Unfortunately, Beastly fell short on this venture on so many counts. What was meant to be an “edgy teen” take on Beauty and the Beast soon turned into a laughable and embarrassing attempt at cinematographic magic.

To expound, Kyle Kingson played by Alex Pettyfer, our beast in question has had it all, looks, intelligence, wealth and apparently, as marketed by CBS, a “wicked cruel streak”. However, all the viewers actually end up witnessing of this “wicked cruel streak” is a joke played on Kingson’s unattractive and weird classmate Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen).

His crime? Inviting Kendra to the school’s environmental bash and then dissing her, which to me is hardly an action to validate Kingson’s wicked and cruel behavior. Sure, he’s quite the douche but wicked and cruel? Hardly.

As expected, Kendra is magically pegged a witch just because she’s perceived “weird” by the rest of society. An idea that Hollywood constantly impresses on young indelible minds that being different and wearing thick eye make up constitutes a Witches’ uniform.

Hence, catalyzing the notion that if people think you’re weird, you probably are a witch.

Ridiculous.

Or should I say Ridikulus, a spell from Harry Potter, cast three folds more convincing than Kendra’s “diabolical audio-tuned curse chanting voice” which eventually turns Kingson into the “beast”.

Perhaps this is the most embarrassing part of the film; the viewer’s realization that the producers are all complete idiots and that their idea of a “Beast” or a person so ugly that none can bear to see him and be unafraid, takes its form in a bald, lean teenager with six pack abs and a few scars and tattoos on his face and back. We quickly recognize that the producers have never taken a walk through reality and are completely unaware that their idea of “beastly” is highly skewed from the rest of us.

The Beast in Beastly looks neither scary nor un-human like. He just looks, in Hollywood’s terms, bad-ass. The fact that the Beast fails to look the least beastly makes the whole story fall apart as the premise just ceases to pull any weight henceforth. Had I not been on a plane with a shared TV, I would have just turned off the movie immediately. Highly awake and stuck watching it, I braved my way through the rest of the movie. Slowly but surely, ploughing my way through the bad acting, courtesy of Vanessa Hudgens who unfortunately for the audience plays “the beauty”, also known as Lindy.

Anyhow, the story continues where Kingson is banished to Brooklyn (because surely, that’s the modern day deserted castle) by his father who thinks his son is too ugly…to…be seen? And given a blind tutor and an arbitrary housekeeper (LisaGay Hamilton) for goodwill. Surely no self-loving person could type this and not face palm herself a few times. Wait a minute; let’s back up here. His father felt he was too ugly so he sent him to Brooklyn to be taught by a blind tutor. And that makes sense, why? Because he’s blind and won’t judge his son? Is it just me, or is this shallowness really paving the way for this obvious blockbuster of the century? Oh silly me! The producers made Neil Patrick Harris the blind tutor, people love him. Therefore, this role must not be doubted.

A few scenes later, -Insert sappy montage of Kingson trying to woo Lindy’s heart after she is forced to live with them- Don’t even get me started on this. They fall in love, Lindy doesn’t kiss him to break the curse, something about the airport, They kiss. End of story.

Towards the end of the movie, my mind was just drifting off at the obvious lack of intellect being put into the production of the film. The only saving grace of this film would possibly be the direction of photography. It was mostly shot with rather classy composition, unlike the many “plot thin, bad acting” films I’d previously screened.

Thankfully, Beastly only garnered a 19% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. There is hope for society yet. I can’t say the same for producers Susan Cartsonis, Roz Weisberg and Michael Flynn though.

            They’re just, ridikulus. 

Here is the trailer from Beastly: 

Having read my movie review on abysmal film, Beastly, one can only imagine what a flop it must have been at the box office. Unfortunately, this film went on to make 29 million dollars and cementing my thoughts on how Social Media can indeed sway a sinking ship. (They utilized Youtube and Facebook to promote their film)

Written by: Lois Goh

Social Media: More Than "Farmville" and "Words With Friends"

"All these whippersnappers playing around on their MyFace and Tweetering what they had for dessert is just a waste of time!  Their social networking shenanigans are just a passing fad, and shouldn't be taken seriously in the workforce!"

No, that isn't your grandmother prattling away with her girlfriends while playing Bingo, but rather the overall opinion of several U.S. businesses, according to a recent article from UPI.com.

The issue is that many businesses just don't understand how to take advantage of social media, and therefore don't know how to develop clear corporate strategies for this valuable tool.  The article goes on to say that the main concern of businesses, regarding social media sites, is the "lack of data tied to return of investment."

The challenge with gauging success is that the communication forum of social media sites take businesses to an uncharted territory full of new opportunities that aren't available with traditional communication methods.

Although the waters may appear murky, the article concludes that businesses should simply take a deep breath and dive in, as the ocean of social media offers almost limitless possibilities.

What can Social Media Do for You?

For starters, social media allows for optimized word-of-mouth recommendations, and the forum for such discussion is a lot broader than merely tweeting about a company.  YouTube videos, blog posts and Facebook campaigns are just a handful of potential conversation starters.

Once the word gets out, your company's message doesn't end there.  Now the user shares their opinion and experiences with their friends, who in turn share it with their friends and so on and so forth.  What better way to advertise your brand than by having your audience plug your company on their own?

You Still Don't Want to Go Social, huh?

Well, no one can make you join social networking sites and participate in this open forum for transparency and discussion, but that doesn't mean your competitors want to miss out.  Social media isn't merely a passing fad, but like it or not, it's a forum of communication that is here to stay. 

So, why fight it? Your audience is out there right now, looking for outlets to communicate with their peers and more importantly, you.  So if you aren't up to date with how they want to communicate, they'll look elsewhere.

Even if your audience isn't completely complimentary of your company, you can still take that knowledge and use it to your company's advantage.  Just like in real life, it takes time and effort to build meaningful relationships with your audience, but social media is a great start as it shows your audience that you are there and listening.

Measuring Return on Investment

As pointed out earlier, this is a valid concern of many businesses.  After all, you are putting not only your time and money on the line, but most importantly, your company's brand.  Fortunately, there are many programs both free and subscription based, that are designed to show you the your social media ventures are effecting your company's success.

A popular free site is Social Mention, which tracks what your audience is saying about your company, and makes it easy to see what they like and don't like.  TrackUr is another valuable tool, that can help monitor your social media efforts.  There are also similar programs like Tweet Effect, which gauges the success of your company's tweets, and Facebook Insights, which is available on the Facebook page and visible by the page's administrator.

In today's ever-evolving world of communication it is crucial for your business to actively participate in social media.  The key to business success is to establish and nurture relationships via the forum of your audience's choosing.

There is so much more to social media than simply posting photos of cats and writing snarky status updates.  It is vital you to appreciate this valuable tool, and to know how to use it to benefit your company, and establish it as an industry leader.

By: Laura Modrall