Dr. Kleppinger's Status Update

To support her claim, Twenge presents the outcome of her research depicting the older generation as much more active and the new generation has adopted an introverted lifestyle with only their phone and social media as entertainment and possible validation in their lives. Some, such as “Athena” tend to validate themselves on how many likes they receive on a photo and measure their self-worth based on social standing.

“People can take their time when posting information about themselves, carefully selecting what aspects they would like to emphasize (Gonzales 80).” By controlling what information and self-attributes to share with the online world, an individual may present an idealized version of self that would not align with societal perceptions in the face-to-face interactions. Furthermore, Gonzales notes that recent research in computer-mediated communications suggests that online self-presentations can alter self-perceptions (80). As Orenstein says, “I tweet, therefore I am.” The online presentations of self can become the reality, or idealized reality, of the

Social media has become an influential ground for consumers to share their opinions about a company’s brand and products. In addition, it helps in having a strong brand that produces positive relations and distinguish the brand from competitors, is a critical component for effective marketing. According to Dahlén and Lange (2009) “the quality of the product is not the evident factor when it comes to purchasing a product, the deciding factor depends on how the brand is perceived” (Para. 1). This demonstrates the importance of incorporating social media as a tool to promote brands, allow for interactions, and customer satisfaction by engaging with customers more frequently for feedbacks or reviews. Thus create an opportunity for the company to show its devotion to their customers, and initiate good reputation, which can increase sales. In other words, social media has the ability to upsurge the awareness for businesses as well as the brand.

Millenials enjoy having a good self image, but more importantly, being accepted by society. These people use Facebook, and other social media sites, to look important and gain self-esteem by getting as many likes as possible on a photo. These photos posted could create an unrealistic portrait of that person, argues Soraya Mehdizadeh, but could this also be a way for people to express their identity, counters Alex Lambert? Soraya Mehdizadeh and Alex Lambert argue their reasons for why or why not social media may be narcissistic. It is a controversial subject because it can be hard to tell if this so called narcissism is a social norm now or if it is simply narcissism in itself. It is under psychological discussion because some psychologists argue it could be a disorder due to the fact that some people may be obsessed with social media and promoting a positive self image, so others think highly of them. Throughout the articles, the pros and cons of social media are weighted, and it seems that social media facilitates narcissisms because millenial’s are so prone to using it and older people only use it to keep connections with friends.

Status Updates author Alice Marwick is an experienced academic observer of American online culture who subjectively weighs in on the new era of media and where this social media phenomenon is in this country let alone the world. This book takes you on a personal journey sheading light on old and new ideas such as, dot com era, Web 2.0, self- branding, Neoliberal capitalism, the up rise of micro celebrities, and online personas. Although precisely written and full of extensive qualitative research, this book is mostly over opinionated and anecdotal. A good amount of what Marwick is preaching isn’t necessarily true and full of negative rhetoric towards men such as Gary Vaynerchuk, a self-branding guru who she actually dedicates a part of her book too along with others. Most of the book is full of her first hand experiences in northern California tech start up hotbed areas where most of her work was done by good journalism.

Personal branding is a concept that is geared for all people.  It is not just for famous people. Suze Orman started off like a normal person, but now she carries a strong name brand.  A simple person who wants to be successful and start branding their name.  Years later, they  may become a normal brand name in someone household.   The high increase in online searches and social media platform, personal branding, is relevant. According to Cohen (2014), personal branding is a necessity and marketers need to learn to understand branding.   Cohen (2014) stated personal branding  is required to establishing a good reputation with the consumers, with a good reputation that will be credibility, and personal branding is about enhancing longevity.   This paper will discuss what is needed in personal branding to be successful and why personal branding is important.

What Rosendale is saying here is that companies are able to not only reach out and connect with their target audience but they are also able to create the brand in the consumer’s mind, while using social media. Rosendale feels as though “social media are revolutionary technologies with the potential to have a ma¬jor impact on the future of corporate brands. Today’s business marketplace requires every organization to re-evaluate their communication efforts, and in doing so, to effectively utilize social media in their corporate branding strategy” (2015, p. 55). This is because young consumers tend to use social media more than older consumers. The older consumers already have a brand image in mind, they have seen the brand and maybe even tried

After revisiting Connor’s Instagram, I notice that he attempts to sell other Instagram users his sense of self, his brand. Across all social media platforms users’ are wanting to advertise the prepackaged and marketable self/identity to other users(Deresiewicz). This observation holds true when looking Connor’s IG profile. Connor’s IG persona is a special case because he constructs his persona in a way that leaves his followers wanting more. Even though Connor frequently posts on IG he has this secrecy about him that makes his followers question which character is the true him. For example, he will post selfies of himself in Japan one day racing cars, New York the next at a fashion show and France on the weekend riding in a boat. All without posting a

Living in the 21st century requires one to stay current with latest technological advancements. Ever since the development of social networking sites, people are now able to create a carefully-crafted identity for themselves. This has led psychologists to question how well these online personalities match the person in front of the computer. The innovative branch of media psychology looks into how social networking portrays individuals and initiates human interactions within a society.

Advancement of Facebook Dramatically changing the scene of character development, Internet innovation has assembled individuals around the globe to re-conceptualize their picture. "We are moving from established characters taking into account place, and toward half breed and adaptable types of personality". Where character was once attributed by family name and notoriety, clients now apply the most extreme impact in forming their virtual picture to reflect both real and perfect personalities. Interpersonal communications form the development and impression of one 's logged off and online personality. Notwithstanding,

A social networking website is made popular by a technologically inclined culture which populates the website and has a need to be social online; although not everyone wants to jump on this platform of communication. As the amount of people using a particular social networking website increases, so too will the website's popularity and it’s value in the marketplace resulting in attracting a greater share of the population. Consequently utilizing a domino effect technique. The people who populate the site will become popular at greater levels as they increase their friend base due to the current way Facebook and now Google+ links friends that are a degree or two away. Facebook constantly reminds a user of “People You May Know” even if you don't, but maybe someone in your current circle or association of current friends do. The whole concept of a social networking website is based on popularity so it is no mystery as to why people who use it get the idea to do a “online self-presentation,”(Mehdizadeh 357). A presentation that can be totally honest only including their close friends and family(people who know them best) or one that can be narcissistic in nature where a

After this the advancement in mobile technology amplified the Internet 's effect on the expansion of a brand as consumers were empowered with all round access to the Internet through their devices. As well as the creation of mobile applications, again opening a new avenue of design for the creation of the interfaces of these products. Alongside both of these has been the rise of social media, which has become another major advance that has affected the way identities work and created new opportunities.

Shift from mass media to social media has brought a fundamental shift in the balance of power between the company and the consumer. Consumers now have the ability to create content and have it consumed by anyone on the planet via blogs, YouTube, twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. When consumers relate their brand experiences, they shape the perception of the brand for other consumers. If a company is not active on social media and does not make its opinion and viewpoint available, then consumers will rely on third parties and award them more

In recent years, social media has become the best available option for brands to communicate with prospective consumers. In other words, social media is an opportunity for brands to transcend the traditional middleman (Neti, 2011). One of the many positives is that companies can build their own brand communities easily on the social media. There are some obvious benefits of brand communities which are facilitating information sharing, spread the history and the culture of brands, providing help to customers, and positively influencing brand loyalty (Laroche, Habibi and Richard, 2013).

More recently than in years past, digital technology and social media have grown to become a part of our everyday lives. The recent rise in those who own smartphones allows this everyday use of digital technology and social networking to be easier than ever before. At any time and any place, we have the ability to “socialize” with nearly anyone—even celebrities who have no idea most of us even exist. The continuous consumption of digital media has altered once personal face-to-face communication to just that, digital. More and more people seem to be living in what Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon call “The Cloud”. “The Cloud” is a seemingly alternate universe of which communication is altered from personal to digital. This universe has led to debates over whether or not these online communities are real or whether social media is actually social. Various digital media sources also encourage users to create individual identities, of which may or may not actually be real. It seems as though our reliance on digital technology and social media have allowed the determination of certain aspects of our lives. Although social media allows us to connect with nearly anyone at any time, Americans have taken advantage of its use, and their attention has been drawn away from real life interactions to digital ones. The ramifications of such influences reflect the hidden insecurities of Americans and, ironically, emphasize our inclination to boast about ourselves by allowing others to see the