Henry Fountain

Hey Kirsten,
I always find it weird when big fashion companies make ethical mistakes, it involves children. I remember when H&M had that scandal with the monkey shirt being put on the black child, while the white children in the ads didn’t have any animal clothes. I think Balenciaga’s choice to include children with teddy bears wearing their latest BDSM line is very weird. It’s a cross mix of two worlds that shouldn’t be colliding: BDSM (and possibly sex) and small children.

I’ve been seeing tweets online claiming the fashion company is condoning pedophila and is secretly involved with a child-eating cult. I think social listening and seeing how best they can move forward while taking responsibility will be important for Balenciaga. They need to show they are not aligned with the abuse and mistreatment of children. Claiming to not know about the set designer’s choice to include actual court documents that are obviously shown in ads that have to be approved is a bad statement. Suing the set designer is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done so children are put or portrayed in adult-themed situations. I will definitely be looking out to see what statement Balenciaga puts out next.

Hey Kirsten,

When I heard about the Balenciaga scandal, I couldn’t believe how something like that could happen when there are so many rounds of approval (or how it could even happen at all) for a launch like this – at least there should be.

Things spread so fast on the internet, especially when it involves a big-name designer brand that is already in the spotlight all the time and represented by the world’s biggest celebrities. 

I think a lot of the time, brands don’t address things fast enough because they have too many people involved, especially legal processes to make sure they’re not breaking any contracts or anything else that they need to protect themselves of. 

As a result, the responses from these brands always sound formulaic and inauthentic. Even so, I’m sure people will continue to support this brand and their atrociously expensive products!

Hey Arpana! This was such a comprehensive and interesting post. I completely agree that your organization doesn’t seem to need an app right now. I can’t think of a business or company I know well that doesn’t have an app off the top of my head. However, my current company does not have one and I think it’s the right choice. I work for a very small HR-based media company, so developing an app would require either new hires or outsourcing, just to start the process. We put out a lot of content, but it is all email or web-optimized, so there’s no real reason for us to have an app. Similar to your experience, my company’s demographic doesn’t quite fit: it’s mostly HR or company leaders that consume the content during work, not during their free time. Our website and magazine were recently mobile-optimized and email marketing can be consumed on their respective apps. An app for our business would further blur the line between work and personal life balance, I think. Great post!

Thanks for this post, Arpana — there is a temptation, I think, for every company to think they need an app — Even in the non-profit theater world, a few years ago, a conglomerate of Philadelphia theaters got together to create an app that they thought would drive revenue. After some significant expense, the result was low adoption. No one needed to app to purchase tickets or learn about shows, so the software was soon put to rest. As we’ve discussed in class, (and was captured in our reading) it’s essential to know the goal of tech adoption and that it will solve a problem and create enough impact for people to actually want to use it. Just you wait — soon every company will “NEED” augmented reality for something

I for one have a love/hate relationship with Uber. I prefer to use the ridesharing app way more than others, but I hate how shady it is so this is no surprise that they have eradicated their points system. I was not aware of this transition, nor did I even know how many points I racked up. Ultimately, I believe this was a good decision for Uber because I’m sure there was nothing to gain by giving customers points to use in leu of monetary transactions. However, it seems as if it has already angered their consumer base, something that might make some chose lyft the next time they need a ride. I for one swear by Philadelphia’s public transit system and would rather walk then pay 20 dollars for an 8 minute ride!

Hi Samara,

Thank you for sharing this because I didn’t even notice that I no longer have Uber rewards on my Uber account. Once I read this post, I went straight to my phone and checked on it and noticed that the rewards tab is now gone. I have the Uber one program, but I always ignored it. I had over 30,000 points so I am kind of upset about this! If I knew it was going away, I would of used those points! I am in a similar living situation as you. I use uber anywhere between 5-10 times a week. I am sure many other customers that are city living are also outraged by this news! Uber one seems like Uber’s way to still get us to get discounts (even though its $10 a month, so it is really discounted?”. I am interested to see how they will handle this backlash. I can see this decision hurting them in the future. Many people, myself included, used those rewards to cheapen our rides. Now if I want a discount, I have to pay $10 a month? That is a no from this customer.

I haven’t lived in the city since college, so I haven’t used Uber as frequently as I used to, so I wasn’t aware at all of this switch. I don’t like the subscription roads that so many companies and apps are taking. It actually makes me not want to use the app at all and just switch to Lyft. I was not aware of the shift, but I’m sure Uber handled the change well, but I just don’t think that people are taking the news well, and neither am I. I definitely think that the social media backlash is going to create some issues for Uber because when I am looking something up about a company I tend to turn to social media to learn about them, so I’m assuming that others do the same too. I think this subscription addition will ultimately hurt Uber, and drive users to other apps instead of Uber.

Interesting read, Samara! While not an avid UBER ride, I wasn’t aware of this (and, admittedly, have no clue how many points I have!). From your perspective, I would be frustrated. Instead of wiping those points, I think they should have at least allowed you to use what you’ve banked first. I’m also not fond of the paying for points model. Previously, you had an incentive to use UBER over other ride sharing app (you pay for your ride or order delivery through UBER Eats and, in turn, you earn points). Having to pay for this subscription on top of the transaction doesn’t appear fruitful for the customer.

Hey Samara, Great read.
I use uber a lot when I go on business trips but I was not aware of this change. I can imagine many users are upset and angry that they made changes. They handles their shift in business model poorly as they should had notified their consumers better. I do not think this change will affect them financial as I can assume they own the majority of market share but it is a bad example for smaller companies to follow.

Hi Samara, I hadn’t heard that they were getting rid of their rewards program either. I wouldn’t be surprised if they purposely didn’t market this as well as they could. Definitely would have been a down quarter had everyone used all their rewards.

Interesting topic Gabby!

I’m sure so many different points of views, as for me, I do not feel social media could be utilized in a classroom outside of a marketing degree program. We are all aware of how advanced social media platforms have become over the years, from which they were originally intended for-networking/connecting.

Except for Linked In, I don’t believe these channels could be utilized for a classroom environment, though the purpose is for networking and connecting, the content would be irrelevant on these channels. Personally speaking, I use these channels for fun and as an outlet, therefore I would not want to be reminded in this space of any content that is not relatable.

Hi Gabby,

Great post! I hugely support using social media creatively and for sure using them for academic purposes. TBH I am one of that person who still watches videos/reels about how to do fast calculations or excel shortcuts. I also know many teachers upload maths tutorials and history lessons in creative ways on Youtube, which gets a million views.
To answer one of your questions, I think social media can be very well used outside of a marketing degree as well, for courses where writing skills are essential, a degree where the requirements are slightly informal, and creativity has no boundaries.

What a thought-provoking post, Gabby! Social media can be an easy way to offer students additional expert perspectives–however it’s on the instructors to do appropriate vetting. Social media can also be a great way to infuse creativity. One of my favorite examples of this is a teacher who instructed students to present their history projects in the form of social media memes.

Hi Gabby,

As someone who grew up with technology evolving, I think technology and social media can be used just about anywhere. It is at the palm of our fingertips and so easy to use. Although we use social media a ton through our marketing degree, I think it is a good thing for it to be used outside of the classroom. For example, I have family that lives in California and they do not come home very often so we use social media to connect with them and share our photos and special moments in life. Social media doesn’t have to be a form of technology only used for education purposes. It is a way to connect with people all around the world and I think that is such a cool thing.

The notion of teaching kids about social media seemed trivial at first, but after reading upon this subject further, it does seem like a useful tool students can learn. I remember having to sift through online source after online source when I was younger, making sure it would be something that my teacher or professor would accept. There should be n difference in students having to learn how to sift through tweets and posts the same while trying to weed out biased and nonfactual information the see on social media. I could also see a class like this teaching behaviors and hardships one could develop if they were to get addicted to social media as well. Lastly, I believe it might be easier if students could use social media as references for information they might find and help stop the spread of misinformation. Or at least retweeting it!

Hi gabby!

This is an interesting post about social media and education. As someone who grew up in the social media era, I can see why some professionals are hesitate to use it in a classroom setting. Social media is informal and can sometimes be inappropriate. However, I think if it’s used in the right way, it can be a great way to get children to stay engaged in the classroom. With the evolution of TikTok throughout the pandemic, I have seen many teachers going viral on the app because of what they are doing with their students in the video.
I have a friend who is a teacher and I know she uses social media, specifically the trends and memes that go around social media, to engage her students. It’s a great way to connect with them and show them that you understand and can still have fun. It can also be used as a fun activity to learn and actually get them engaged in the material!

Gabby! Great post!

You can absolutely see the shift in the academic culture surrounding social media engagement. The amount of things I’ve learned on social media apps is hilarious. I learn something new every day in fact. I love to see educators utilizing every tool accessible to them. If Tik Tok happens to be one of them then so be it. It also says so much about the brand that education builds on these apps. That’s why you see colleges and universities with social media platforms. I would truly love to start seeing educators in academia inserting social posts and online content into their curriculums as we’ve done in this program.

Hey Gabby, great read. Even though their are many distractions when it comes to using social media as an academia tool., I am pretty sure somebody can find value in applying to a classroom. Maybe showing real world examples is a good idea. In my digital marketing classes in undergrad, we would use social media as part of our class all the time.

Hi Gabby, great post! I think it’s super interesting that some educational institutions and educators in general are reluctant to use social media in the classroom, especially when so many of them already incorporate YouTube videos into their lectures/lessons, which is not all that different of a concept. I actually feel like social media could be a more effective tool than YouTube that actually keeps students engaged. As long as educators do the work to make sure that the content and the creators behind it are spreading accurate information then I think it could be a great way to connect with and inform students in a way that is palatable to them. Personally, while I think YouTube can be a great resource for education, sometimes I find anything longer than 5-7 minutes to be a tedious watch if I’m not interested in the subject matter. With social media, the lesson is cut to 30-60 seconds and usually the delivery of the information is much more authentic and interactive.

Hi Gabby, definitely an interesting concept. For me, pushing students to use social media for education purposes is not something I would like. I already don’t like posting on my accounts for personal reasons. Wouldn’t mind if there was an app developed specifically for this though.

Hi Gabby,
Thanks for an interesting post.
I have had a lost/missed package twice in the last month all through FedEx. I was tossed around on customer service calls and asked to repeat my case even when I had the case open. The packages were international shipments that were insured through FedEx and no third party was involved. FedEx is one of the top shipment companies across the globe so you’d think they’ll have a better system in place to serve their customers.
FedEx’s main product is its shipping services so I think it would be beneficial for the company to invest in improving its customer service both virtually and in-store. Lately, I have seen a lot of brands add a mandatory .95 cents to shipping charges that unables customers to track through Route. I think this is a great tool because not only have I never lost a package through that it gives me the exact delivery time…compared to FedEx where the delivery date/time changes every day.

Shipping and handling must be some of the most annoying areas on a customer journey to deal with. I hate how much I spend on certain items, and then to see the additional costs of shipping and handling are always going to add insult to injury. Not to mention, depending on where someone might live, it is always scary getting a package delivered. When I went to Temple for my undergraduate degree, I often times would get a package shipped to my parent’s house instead of my home at Temple just to avoid the package getting stolen. Similarly, I would also only use companies I know that have a great shipping, handling, and return policies. Amazon for one, is incredibly smooth to deal with because their policies are in favor of the consumer when it comes to returns. This ultimately makes consumers shop with Amazon because if their policies for different areas are hassle free, it makes my customer journey map a lot easier without having to worry about stressful events such as this.

Hi Gabby,
I am glad to hear that you were able to get your keyboard replaced and it was such a seamless process. I had a similar with another company. This company was Adidas, They ship with FedEx and they lost my package TWICE. Yes TWICE. I am sure you can hear the frustration in my voice as I say twice. However, both times the customer service reps did everything in their power to help me with a smooth refund process and I am grateful for that. Both times, it seems as though FedEx lost my package mid transit. Adidas was able to see that and filed a with a report with FedEx and issues me my refund. However, because of the fact that this happened twice with the same company, I haven’t bought anything from Adidas.com since then. That has made me skeptical of buying anything from them again because of the shipping service they use. However, because of the great customer service and products, I look for other websites to buy this product now.

Parsec sounds amazing! Remote video postproduction definitely has its drawbacks, but a higher demand for remote work has forced editing applications to improve or completely add collaborative features. Just in the past few years Adobe Premiere Pro added Team projects to make collaborative video editing possible. More recently, Davinci Resolve added team sharing capabilities that seem to be some of the best out there. These do all require each worker to have an editing workstation, all the footage, and other required assets. Parsec seems to bypass all of that and make things much simpler. I’ll have to check it out and see if there is any way to make my workflow any easier.