The Boston Marathon Tragedy Through The Eyes Of Social Media
It feels like every time I turn around there is a tragedy in the news. It’s no secret that social media is the new way of finding out about events in real time. The tragic events at the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, are no different.
If you were to ask someone how they found out about the two explosions, they would most likely say, “social media.” I, personally, found out on Facebook shortly after it happened and almost immediately every social platform feed I looked at from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Vine, were flooded with posts, photos and videos, detailing out the event. Within hours online communities rallied to show their support with hashtags, such as #prayforboston and #prayforbostonmarathon expressing condolences, support and love for all involved.
On Tuesday, Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick, and Boston Mayor, Tom Menino, announced the establishment of The One Fund Boston, Inc., an organization created “to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston.” Soon after the announcement Twitter established a promoted trend, #OneBoston, to aid the effort. This was a very generous donation of support, it is estimated that brands pay close to $200,000 per day for a promoted trend.
In these days that follow, the running community has been especially active on social by trending the hashtag #runforboston by posting photos from past marathons they have participated in and images of remembrance ribbons. The hashtag #wearpurpleforboston was created and many are wearing purple to show support for the city of Boston as the investigation continues. It has been said that police are looking to social media platforms such as, Vine and YouTube to piece together these tragic events.
On behalf of Firebelly, our thoughts and love go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy at the Boston Marathon.
Teens and Technology
Even though I am ‘technically’ not a teenager anymore I can still easily relate to the amount of mobile technology used among the teens.
I have been out of high school for a few years, but can easily remember most of my peers having cell phones. Most of us got our first cell phone around age 14-15, some a bit earlier, some a bit later. I know my first phone was a Nokia ‘Brick’ – as I like to call it – the basic, free cell phone that could knock someone out if it hit them on the head. I was always jealous of my friends who got the newest phones, which became smartphones the older we got. This seems to go right along with the Pew Life Report 2013, which found that 78% of teens (ages 12-17) now have a cell phone and about half of them (47%) have a smartphone.
I will admit the day I got my first smartphone, around age 17, my life changed for the better! The convince of always having the internet at my hands, always being able to look up something I was wondering, always being able to check my email, and always being able to catch up on my favorite blog! The Pew Internet Report found that mobile access to the internet is most common for teens – cells phones have become extremely important for this young group of individuals and how they receive information.
55% of older teen girls who are smartphone owners use the internet mostly from their phone, a decent percentage higher than older teen males. This could be because of the excessive computer use teen boys use playing online video games, which requires a laptop or desktop computer.
Cell phones are today’s point of access for teens and young adults. Internet use is most commonly used through mobile devices by teens because of the convenience, fast-results, and easily hide-able size from teachers in class – just kidding. As the generation grows older I am certain the trend of mobile access to the internet will continue, but with new branches of connections – higher tablet use for example. 23% of teens already own a tablet computer with that number increasing rapidly.
How To Use Vine For Business: 5 Must-Reads
Vine is an iPhone app that allows users to shoot short looping videos they can then share with their followers. What can your business do with six-second videos? Read this week’s 5 must-reads for ideas.
7 Surprising Ways to Grow Your Business on the Twitter Vine
By James T Noble It’s been hailed as Instagram for video – and that’s a pretty big accolade – so the big question is…can Twitter Vine be leveraged for business? Well if we’re going to find out, first of all we need to cut through the buzz and take a closer look at what Vine is really all about.
How 15 Real Businesses Are Getting Creative With Vine for Marketing
By Hannah Fleishman A lot can happen in six seconds. You can text your mom, read an email (or delete 20), or give an epic high five. But can you create a lasting impression within six seconds? Marketers seem to think so.
Bite-Sized Marketing: How Six-Second Vine Videos Can Build Your Brand
By Anna Pedersen While adding Vine to your company’s social media arsenal sounds like a cool idea, you’re likely wondering, “Does my business really need another social media channel to manage?” The answer is… well, possibly.
Vine: What A Six-Second Video Can Do For Business
By Rocky Walls Vine is great for telling short stories with a distinct beginning, middle and end. Whether you’re a regular Joe traipsing around social media outlets or you’re operating accounts for a company or business, apps such as Vine can provide you with the tools to be entertaining and creative with the content you’re sharing.
How Small Businesses can use Twitter’s New Vine App
By Jonathan Handy Go behind the scenes of your business. Social media has already done a great job of getting to know brands more personally, with Vine you can take that even farther and create videos demonstrating how a product is made.
How Millennial Are You?
From the left: Duncan (Millennial Score: 88), Charlotte (98), Stephanie (77), Chad (87), Kelly (87), and Jacquelyn (90)
There is a fun quiz offered by Pew Internet that gauges how millennial you are. I am a member of the millennial generation and got a pretty solid score of a 98! Duncan, who age wise does not qualify to be a millennial, got a score of 88 – not too far behind me!
Here are the scores of the rest of the team:
- Chad: 87
- Kelly: 87
- Jacquelyn: 90
- Stephanie: 77
It seems the Firebelly team is pretty millennial in general considering Jacquelyn and I are the only two who qualify age wise. Take the quiz and find out for yourself: http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/how-millennial-are-you/
The quiz asks questions about TV consumption, newspaper reading, and political views – all pretty easy to guess what makes you millennial or not. What the quiz did not touch on was how Millennials use the Internet and social networking sites to share their creativity. Personally, I believe the Internet has created amazing opportunities to share how creative human beings are and the Millennial generation really utilizes social networking as a resource.
1 in every 5 Millennials has posted a video of themselves online. I have a few friends that get real enjoyment out of creating witty videos and posting them on YouTube and Facebook. These videos can be anything from mock music videos to high quality mini-movies.
53% of bloggers are Millennials. It seems everyone has a blog today because everyone has something they want to share. From cooking, fashion, beauty, humor, or sports there is a way to express that interest creatively and share with those who share that interest. Millennials understand this and use blogs as a way to express their creativity and interests.
28% of Millennials use Instagram. This is a pretty high percentage regarding Instagram has only been around for a little over 2 years. While most Instagram users just take pictures of their food or friends and apply a filter there are some ‘professional’ users that post beautiful and unique photos.
Firebelly News: NFPT Best Workout Face Photo Contest
The National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT), a Lafayette, Indiana-based, organization that has been certifying fitness trainers since 1988, is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year! We’ve recently helped them launch its Best Workout Face Photo Contest on Facebook to celebrate.
NFPT is running a photo contest through April 28 for one winner to receive $500! Also, everyone who enters will receive 25% off any NFPT course now through the month of May. We will announce the winner on April 29.
Click here to enter: http://bit.ly/YNHQSc
Good luck to all who enter!! Let’s see your best workout face!
