Social Media Campaign

I am just about to finish my first semester on the Dixie Sun News staff, and I thought what better way to promote my articles than create a Facebook page?

My banner represents Dixie State University, so people will know which school I am affiliated with when they first access my page.

 Rather than post a selfie for my profile photo, I wanted to have a more professional looking picture to represent who I am.

I also shared the Dixie Sun News logo when I first created my page to establish which newspaper I was writing for specifically. 

When I first began posting, I wasn't really sure which times would reach the majority of my followers so at 11:46 p.m., my first article post was released. Being my first post, I reached over 100 people on Facebook. However, the next time I posted, I decided to share it at around 9 a.m. which produced a lower turnout. Things started to look up though after I posted 20 minutes later because that article reached almost 700 people, and it ended up being my highest rated writing piece. 

Every time after I decided to post about my articles between 9 a.m. to noon, and my numbers stayed pretty much the same. 

I also tried to provide a mix of photos and links for my articles so people know where to go to read it but also an inside look of what they should expect to see.

I tried incorporating hashtags like #DSU and #DixieStateUniversity to gain more traction but it appears the number of views weren't too different from those without the hashtag. I also tried sharing my articles on my personal Facebook page to get more views but pretty much my numbers stayed between 30-50 post clicks.

I started this Facebook page with 0 likes and 0 followers. Today, I have reached 47 likes and 47 followers on my page. While I did  invite a lot of friends and family to like my page, some views and additional likes resulted from my posts being shared. 

Aside from just promoting my articles on Facebook, I used Twitter to direct traffic towards my writing.  I really wish I had spent more time creating Facebook posts alluding to what my articles would be about like I did on Twitter. 

By doing this, it sparks your followers interest for what is to come later on. I also really wish I had taken into consideration working with fellow staff members to increase traffic to my page. We often link to other students' articles on Twitter, and I should've done the same thing for my Facebook page. 

I think one of the major reasons why particular articles gained more attention than others resulted from the connection a specific person had to that story. For example, my highest viewed article was about DSU's dental hygiene clinic, which was shared by a student involved in the program. From that single share, it reached several people who also in the program. In turn, it led them to share that article to reach over 600 Facebook users. Knowing this now, next time I post an article I plan to tag DSU students who may be interested or are invested in the subject matter I write about. I really think that may be the key to expand the number of post views and followers on my page because people may be more inclined to read something that their friends tag them in rather than just seeing a random post linking to an article. 

Overall, I am somewhat dissatisfied with the way my campaign turned out. I know social media management takes a lot of work, but I was hoping to at least gain 100 followers. Although I haven't reached that number, I still continue to market myself through this Facebook page because next semester I will continue to be on the Dixie Sun News staff as the feature editor.

OTM 3

For this week's On the Media, I listened to "We'll Always Have Paris."


It is interesting to hear two very different sides argue for or against the idea of millions of coal jobs. President Donald Trump stated by "canceling this plan" it will create millions of new jobs for Americans. However, energy and environment reporter, Timothy Cama, said the chances of the coal industry making a massive comeback after lifting this plan is very low. The reason for this is due to coal's major competition-- natural gas and other environmental regulations. It is also worth noting that most coal mining jobs were eliminated with the advancements of technology. Despite this, President Trump will still try to lead us to believe that he can and will "cancel the job killing ban."


Good luck with that Pres. Trump. I'll believe it when I see it.


It is quite obvious this decision to abandon the plan will not magically create millions of new jobs for coal miners, and even Robert Murray, founder and chief executive of Murray Energy, doesn't expect significant growth among these jobs either. Also, by leaving this plan, it shows our lack of accountability. More than 100 countries have agreed to follow this plan yet the U.S. is officially backing out. Trump's decision to do this makes our country appear as if we do not care about our world's future nor anyone else's who lives and breathes on Earth.

Sustainability

APP NAME: iVolunteer

Sustainability Definition: Maintain a balance between handling the needs of the less fortunate and those willing to offer assistance without depleting resources.

Needs & Interests:

By age, 35- to 44-year-olds and 45- to 54-year-olds were the most likely to
volunteer (28.9 percent and 28.0 percent, respectively). Volunteer rates were
lowest among 20- to 24-year-olds (18.4 percent).

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.htm

Pain: Without resources, nonprofits simply don’t have the capacity to effectively engage volunteers. Without volunteers, there is only so much a non-profit organization can do to help people. According to the 2015 report, 24.9% of the U.S. population over the age of 16 volunteered at least once in the past year. In 2011, this percentage was 26.8%, and in 2005 it was 28.8%.

http://blogs.volunteermatch.org/engagingvolunteers/2016/03/25/the-u-s-volunteer-rate-is-still-dropping-why/

Sustainable Location we’ve chosen: Salt Lake City, Utah

Do things in the valley/ downtown options; best friends (animal society), The Road Home, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah, Humane Society and many more place that are in need of volunteers.

SLCgreen is Salt Lake City planning their sustainability and trying to be “green.” It is comprised of award-winning environmental programs that continue to help us conserve resources, reduce pollution, slow climate change and ensure a healthy, sustainable future for Salt Lake City. http://www.slcgreen.com

Equitable Business

The app will give the ability to bring attention to the volunteer opportunities while being fair and not taking priority over anyone. All the events that are put in the app will be put into it correctly. There also will be an option for those who cannot spend time. There will be donation option where the money can get donated directly to the cause.

Reduce Waste

By enticing people to use this app to record their volunteer hours, this will reduce paper consumption. As a result, this app will promote low waste among users. This can especially be beneficial for students involved with clubs or other extracurriculars that require a documented report of volunteer hours. By integrating this app with schools, teachers and professors can keep updated records of every students’ volunteer hours without printing them out.  This feature would work by allowing the users you follow to share current updates of where the app checks them in for a particular volunteer event. The moment they check in at that specific location, a clock starts to to document how long they’re there. The moment they leave the event, the app’s location services will identify that the volunteer has left and end the timer. The number of hours will then be submitted to the volunteer’s page for their followers to see. By using this interactive feature, it allows people to keep updated on where others are volunteering.

Fuel Consumption

iVolunteer has the opportunity to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced and pumped into the atmosphere. By pinpointing the location of the volunteer and the event site, the app would be able to generate the necessary data to provide estimations for travel (mileage, time, etc.) and map out alternate routes. Whether the transportation involve bicycling, public buses, or carpooling, all will help decrease our carbon footprint. ”Public transportation with its overarching effects on land use, is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 37 million metric tons annually” http://www.apta.com/resources/reportsandpublications/documents/greenhouse_brochure.pdf

OTM 2

This week I listened to On the Media's "When the Press sues over fake news." I feel as if even before President Donald Trump took office, people were skeptical of the media, since every outlet contains its own agenda. That being said, people are throwing the F-word around as if all media outlets are promoting this idea of "fake" news.
After listening, I think this talk pinpoints the genuine fear that journalists, news reporters, radio show hosts and even regular, every day people are thinking about. Of course those in the media field are terrified because their careers are constantly put in jeopardy. Without faithful readers or viewers, there is no news network or newspaper. With that in mind, trying to claim that any reputable media outlet promotes "fake" news can be incredibly damaging. Jay Seaton, the Daily Sentinel publisher, said the newspaper he works for has suffered subscription losses after a senator deemed the paper "fake" news.
Although President Trump has his reasons for denying certain media outlets as credible (which became especially prevalent after BuzzFeed released the dossier and CNN briefly mentioned its existence) these hasty generalizations are affecting everyone's judgment.
Holding such a high position in the United States, President Trump's beliefs and statements will automatically influence his supporters. I am not saying all Trump supporters believe everything he says without questioning him. Of course, there are some individuals who do, but that is another issue entirely. However, those who question authority, even if they support individuals like Trump, still suffer from their own presumptions.
This is most famously represented by those who agree with Trump's famous tweet, "The fake news media is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people!" The major issue with this argument is that it places all of the focus on the media to diverge attention away from what is actually going on in the world. Rather than address what is newsworthy, these media outlets have to stress the importance of credibility or threaten to start suing those who defame the company.