A little coffee with your social media?

I loooooovvvveeeee Dunkin Donuts.

I really and truly do. I am not a coffee person but when I roll through that drive through and order a number one combo, medium coffee (french vanilla creamer and sugar) and a pink sprinkles donut, you can bet that my day is going to be a good one after I finish that scrumptious little donut.

In class we have been talking about how businesses are trying to get the word spread on facebook by having special competitions and promotions to users. Well, DD is no exception. I don't think you can even imagine how excited I was when I saw this advertisement.

The prize for winning this silly little video contest??
Taken straight from their facebook page:

One (1) Grand Prize:

• A trip for two to Costa Rica, where you’ll visit a coffee farm and have some fun in the sun.
• A trip for two to meet our Coffee Excellence Team, tour our Coffee Lab and learn how we brew the perfect cup at our headquarters near Boston, MA.
• Sixty (60) months of free Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee delivered to your door.
• And of course…bragging rights!

Ten (10) First Prize(s):

• Twelve (12) months of free Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee delivered to your door

I'm really sorry if this sounds horrible to you. NOT!!! This contest rocks!!
All you have to do is submit a 60 second video of you at a DD location. Then people can vote for your video. Right there is a marketing ploy to not only encourage free advertising for DD but they also just politely tricked you into going into their shops for like the one billionth time. In addition to votes DD will rate you on creativity, video appeal, and overall DD passion. It started yesterday and it ends on October 30. So, that means I have exactly one month to get my video together and send it in. Here is a link if you would like to become my competition. But I have to warn you, I am in this one to win.

Dunkin Donuts Video Contest

Lady Gaga + Social Media = Political Influence?!?!

I love me some Bad Romance but I can honestly say that this above statement makes me very nervous. I don’t want some singer who wears lobsters as a hat having anything to do with my politics.  It’s just really weird.

But after I looked into it a little more, I started wondering why the other people weren’t wearing lobster hats and being more like her. Gaga knows whats up.

 

Earlier America was in a buzz about the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) drama going on. Some people agree and some people don’t; your opinion doesn’t matter in this blog post. Please don’t share with me.

What I DO agree with is the extent to which Lady Gaga used her social media resources to get her voice out there and heard. She did a live speech, constant facebook notes dedicated just to resources regarding DADT and frequent twitter updates. Girlfriend wanted to be heard and she was!

Here is a link to her DADT speech if you want to watch it…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG5VK2lquEc

While I like celebrity twitters because it can squash some silly gossip going around, I was really impressed by the way Gaga used hers to highlight something she felt very strongly about. Kinda makes my recent status update about how excited I am for the newest episode of Gossip Girl seem a little silly. Just more proof that social media is everywhere and can really be used as a powerful expression of the user. Whether that’s politics or Chuck and Blair’s relationship.

My Manager is my Facebook Friend

I know I complained in the previous quote about how EVERYONE has a Facebook but now I want to rant a little bit about how EVERYONE, including my manager, is checking them out.

I have worked at Dillards upstairs in the Ladies department for over a year now. My first manager, Tammy, was pretty cool. We would chat and what not, but she wasn't really my buddy so we never got to be too social with each other. The woman who later replaced Tammy, my current manager now, Wendy is a whole different story. She is only about 6 years older than me, very fun, personable, and hip with the times. She also sent me a friend request on Facebook the same week she was promoted to be my manager.

At first I struggled with whether to add her or not. Do I really want my manager knowing when I'm going out to Entourage or when my day completely sucks? I could see the negative side to adding her but I didn't want to be rude and press ignore. Then have that super awkward question about why I didn't add her later.
I decided to go on ahead and add her. But I have to be very careful what I do put on there.

A girl who works in the juniors department downstairs once called in late.  Her manager is also her friend on Facebook. While the reason she called in was because of traffic coming back from her parents house in Clarksville, her manager announced to everyone that she would be late probably because she was partying too hard the night before. Why would he say that? Her Facebook status was something along the lines of how much fun she was having in Nashville with all her girls. It could be a party status, but it also makes sense that she was maybe just hanging out at her mom's house with some high school friends, which she was.
While I think it was inappropriate for the manager to say anything at all, I still think he may not have been completely out of line. She accepted his friend request on Facebook, so technically it is public property right?

The whole moral to this is be very careful what you put on Facebook. Managers and potential employers are on these things and while you would think they would separate personal from work it still does not guarantee that they can't use it against you later or pass judgment.

A MOVIE?? Really?

Everyone uses facebook these days. And I don't think that is a generalization of the public either. You see my mom, aunt, cousins, brother, stepsister, and grandmother all have one. Whats worse is someone once suggested to me that I create a profile for my cat, Annie. I politely declined, I'm not that crazy...yet.  (I did think about it. She is really cute and I bet you would want to add her as a friend.)

But, even though facebook has taken over our lives and everyone and their mother has one, I was still pretty shocked when I found out there is a movie coming out about it. Not a history channel documentary, an actual motion picture sit-in-the-theater-and-eat-popcorn movie. What is going on here?

The Social Network

Its all about Mark Zuckerberg whose Harvard education clearly paid off the night he sat in his dorm and created this billion dollar social crutch. Watch this trailer please so you know what I am talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgSa2tghPaA

Am I going to see this movie? Yup. Is it going to be very good? Not likely considering Justin Timberlake is pretending to act in it. But as a whole, why wouldn't anyone want to see it? This little stalker website has taken over the freetime of so many people in the world, aren't you a little curious about how it all started out?

The whole thing from a marketing stand point is kinda clever. What is better advertisment than a movie? I'm sure brands are lining up to get their ads on facebook and in the previews before this movie comes out. Not to mention the media coverage and overall PR facebook is going to get from this. Good movie/Bad movie?  It is still going to be in the news and probably on People Magazine.

Still the idea that one website, which has already won the hearts of procrastinators everywhere, is now crossing into the movie theater is a little freaky for me. I almost want to scream "stop changing! Just be a website!" However, I am addicted to facebook so you can bet your farmville chickens that I will be in that theater watching this movie when it comes out October 1st. Don't worry I'll update my status and tell you how it is after.