Samara Grossel

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

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.

Hey Arpana!

This is such a cool post! I didn’t know about the Emirates commercials until your post, but they really are stunning. Showing everyone what it took to make this happen from behind the scenes gives customers such great insight and really makes them feel like they’re part of the process. I think it’s great they took that route, but it would’ve been interesting to see if they would’ve released that without customers asking for it. Personally, I think BTS content is so valuable and under-utilized as it can really make the consumer feel like they are part of the brand. It would be cool to see airlines utilize user-generated content, like GoPro, for great pictures/videos from the sky. This would give consumers an authentic look into the passenger’s experience. Great post!

Hi Arpana,
This is so interesting, Emirates is one of the top airlines and these videos show exactly why. They not only went an extra step with these ads but they showed their audience that they are a brand that is well prepared and trustworthy. I agree with Alexis, BTS content is a great opportunity for brands to connect with their audience. Companies like Lexus and Audi which have partnerships with Marvel studios have done a spectacular job of having creative ads that represent movie characters. With the new black panther movie coming out, Lexus very strategically displays movie characters in BTS content with their all-electric car. Not only does it work in the movie’s favor because it generates a buzz but it helps movie enthusiasts to connect with Lexus as well.

Talk about stopping the scroll! Content as presence meets content as window, here, with the complementary spots. Brilliant way to make an impression while sparking a conversation.

This ad is crazy! I even didn’t believe it was real until I watched the full clip showing the behind the scenes. It’s amazing when brands find new and crazy ways to get our attention. Stunts like this are definitely one way to keep their brand in our thoughts. Record breaking heights makes me think of another brand that loves to go to the extreme. Redbull is constantly endorsing thrill seekers. A few years ago, Redbull helped a sky diver jump from the stratosphere and broke the sound barrier during his fall back to Earth. These stunts are so memorable and it’s even better when they are genuine. And seeing the behind the scenes is always so fun.

As one who is terrified of heights, this is something that jumped out at me immediately. Not to mention, I’m sure there are a lot of others who will never forget this advertisement, including those who shot it. Being inside of a tall building gives me goosebumps, so I cannot imagine how brave those who helped shoot this video are. Something like this is what gains attention and attraction to a certain brand. If not an actual transaction, at least gained a lot of engagement, and put this company on the map to those who may not know Emirates. I honestly cannot think of another ad like this, other than the time when RedBull has someone free fall from outer space a while ago. These ads are what attracts attention and the good kind! Maybe I will think twice about Emirates the next time I have to fly!

Hi Arpana,

Thanks for sharing! This is definitely a stunning commercial and I also had to take a double take that this was real footage. I do have a fear of heights and was so nervous watching her standing there, so glad they took the necessary safety protocols. A commercial like this is memorable and makes me better understand why Emirates has such a great reputation as an airline. I have never flown them before, but I don’t recall seeing any other airlines have promotions as visually appealing at this one. Emirates usually gets positive media coverage, and this commercial is no exception. I want to take a trip to UAE eventually!

Hey Arpana!

Wow! I loved your post. What an incredibly cool video. It’s extremely impressive and I can understand why it gained so much attention! The commercial is mind blowing on its own but the behind the scenes content makes the commercial even better — it shows the hard work, logistics, and REAL humans behind the feat! Rising to an extreme challenge and showcasing world class talent is super memorable. That was a very smart move on their part!

Hi Morgan! Thanks for an interesting read it gets you thinking if each social media app has shelf life.
It’s not uncommon for social media apps to fizzle out and Facebook is one of the biggest examples of that. a decade ago Facebook was the most popular social media app and one of its kind. With Instagram’s rise, the app so decline among young users as they shifted platforms. I think Instagram is trying hard to replicate the TikTok experience with its reels feature. Instagram users have even compared the two apps and jokingly said that “Instagram is trying too hard to be like tiktok”. Banning TikTok has been in talks for a while and if it does happen I think Instagram might have a chance but it’s not guaranteed. The demographic that ig was popular among might still continue to use it but the newer generation has already moved to other social media apps. However, if they are able to engage that generation it’ll save them from going downhill.

Like Olivia, I can’t manage how many apps there are. The nature of these application is fleeting if they are only focus on younger users. They shouldn’t forget that there are other demographic still using these apps who might have the financial capabilities to respond to advertisements. Even Facebook, which seems like a dying social app is still being used by organizations and community groups because it is better equip for that purpose compared to other apps. The main focus should still be on current users and how they are still interacting and navigating the application.

The older I get the harder it is for me to keep up with all these social media apps, and if it wasn’t for this course and my colleagues, I probably would only know a few. The target audience for these platforms, tend to get younger and younger, as new generations are established.

I think it is only a matter of time before some of these go extinct.

Who remembers My Space? The failing of My Space can be contributed to increased competition, excessive spending, and continuous legal battles. Focusing on increased competition, your platform is only as robust as your user base, therefore if your user base isn’t growing neither is your platform. Though some challenges are out of some’s control, providers need to ensure they are consumer centric, innovative, and educated on competition, if they want to remain on the forefront.

What Happened To Myspace? And Why Did It Fail?

Hi Morgan,

You touched upon many facets of what’s happening in the social media world. As a user, I have reached a saturation point and can’t handle any more social media apps, but from a marketing perspective, I don’t see Meta losing much ground, at least shortly. I believe for so many brands, primarily where I work, Meta is where their audience and apps like TikTok are not even used. I understand it’s not true for all the brands. That’s why I believe it’s okay to have a few healthy functioning platforms rather than many average-performing platforms.

I also want to touch on the massive layoffs that took place not only in social media companies but other top technology companies. We hear a lot of negativity, especially around Twitter layoffs, because of how it was executed. I read yesterday that at least Meta paid their parting employees huge severance packages and an apology, while I didn’t understand the sudden firing and re-hire policy of Twitter.

Have to imagine it comes down to value: What value are these apps’ audiences getting from their experience? What value from the content (entertainment… education… distraction…) and what value from the community (friends… family…) When audiences cease to find value in the experience, they’ll move on.

Ultimately, I am someone who uses way too much social media. In fact, I dread every Sunday when my iPhone gives me an analysis on how much I am on my phone and what apps are taking over my life. I have always thought that I may need to put some restrictions on my own phone to help with such a soft addiction. Because of this, I do like to understand how these apps may survive if they are not properly employed and worked on. I feel that if companies can no longer track data habits as easily as they could before the IOS update, they may need to switch to a subscription based pricing model. One that would allow users to use their platforms but only if they pay for them. Something that may wean thousands if not 100’s of thousands of users (like myself) off of these platforms. These platforms themselves have a hard enough time staying relevant, where as facebook is dwindling and BeReal is picking up traction, so adding in the problem of revenue may just be the end for a lot f them.

Similar to Henry, I use social media way too often. I swear I pick up my phone for 3 minutes and scroll through 8 TikToks only for it to be 3 hours later and my eyeballs are burning from staring at my phone for so long. I remember a couple of weeks ago reading a similar article about the decline of social media, and I thought that man was crazy for writing that, but I feel like it’s starting to make sense. As for using the apps, mentioned above, I have heard of, or use, all but Gas (which I have never heard of). Personally, I’d like to believe that social media is not going downhill, because like what am I doing getting this degree? But, that’s for another discussion. I hope that social media is just going through a snafu right now and will return to being on the rise.

Hey Morgan!

Thanks for the great read! I’ve been an avid user of both Facebook + Instagram since the early days, but I barely use Facebook anymore. Watching them each evolve has been fun but also frustrating at times. I agree with Samara’s point about wishing each app still had a specific purpose. I miss that as well. I honestly find it a little overwhelming to spend significant amounts of time on multiple apps now! They all have too many components and features. It makes my brain hurt. I really just want to see what my friends are up to. Instagram has turned into a constant stream of marketing video content. It no longer feels authentic in my opinion! Everything is perfectly curated (I’m guilty of this as well) and it’s impossible to tell what is real. I don’t want to spend all my mental energy scrolling through sales pitches.

Hi Morgan!

I am on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat but feel like I rarely use them these days. I don’t know if there is much they could do to draw me back in. To me, the apps are so repetitive and I feel like I am seeing the same content across all of them. I am interested to see where Elon takes Twitter. Hearing about some of his ideas intrigues me.

Hey Morgan,
I always get wary of apps that are owned internationally because it’s hard to know what the intentions of foreign countries are. Especially when it comes to China, I think there has been an unspoken mistrust ever since the COVID pandemic, I personally have never used TikTok or BeReal but I’ve seen a lot of hype surrounding them in my friend groups. I think part of the success these apps have is because they appeal to the vanity and fame that comes with “going viral” which is the goal for a lot of Gen-Zers using social media. Microinfluencers and even casual users want that attention.

I think apps like Meta and Snapchat would benefit from leaning into that appeal, it’s a powerful motivator and does not die down, just changes form.