Social Media Campaign Final

I took over my husband's FB page, "Rope Hog Track System."  I uploaded a different picture for the cover photo which showed the actual product better, (the lettering didn't cover it) but a month later he uploaded this one himself.  You have to pick your battles, so I let it stand.

Our main problem with marketing is our target market are the ones typically NOT on FB or social media in general.  Retired men who buy it for themselves, their wives or kids and grand-kids.  So we felt our FB presence needed to be targeted to young adults so they would tell their parents about the Rope Hog.  We  tried to use the younger generation as our word of mouth to the buyers who are not on Social Media.   Also, the FB Page was a landing page to send them to our website.  That in itself was another problem, because as we were gaining FB traffic being sent to our website, our website went down.  It is going to cost $1500 to build a new one.  So we've been doing damage control as far as that goes, until we are funded for our website.

The Rope Hog FB page started out with 3,376 likes on February 26, 2016.  I posted my first post on Feb. 27th. I tried to post 3 posts a week on FB and one ad on the weekends for $20.00.  By April 20th I ended with 3,978 likes, that's 602 likes within two months, just short of our goal of 4,000 likes

By far my most successful post was an ad I created from a followers picture from IG.  I used Pixlr on my phone to create this.  On my FB page, I did give Photo Cred. to the follower from IG.

The next photo is the stats of how well this particular ad copy did.

I spent $20.00 for a paid reach of 11,410 people, which resulted in 69 page likes and 175 post likes.  So I paid .29 cents per page like.

My earlier campaign blog I posted different personas  - people-types I wanted to target for successful clicking I think we hit 2 out of 3.  One were retired men (which almost impossible because they don't use the internet).  Two were women - we reached them through FB quite successfully, and 3 were teenage young adults and we reached them through Instagram.

As far as making my FB page compelling I re-posted from other business sites during the week, of what might interest people.  On the weekend I created ad content I felt explained having the benefits of the Rope Hog.  Paying $20 for ads over the weekend proved hugely successful for my ad campaign.   On Instagram I started out with zero followers.  I started posting videos of anybody but popular ropers.  Basically, all the ropers who didn't have a name.  They ate it up!  Using the Repost App, I just posted runs of kids all over the country and every once in awhile I would post a run of a well-known Pro.  But by far my most successful post on Instagram was when I did a re-post of a Rope Hog video.  It reached a whole new audience I hadn't reached with FB.  As of today I have 1857 followers on Instagram, and that isn't working that hard at it.  Just kind of doing it on my phone as I have time.  All in all I feel like my Instagram presence was a success because as a company we connected with a target market that other companies haven't.  In the roping world they repost runs of the pros, not the not so well known guys or kids.  So I feel like we hit a niche there.

This is the graph as far as our reach on FB.  As you can see, the spikes correspond with the weekends when I paid for ads.  People rarely respond to FB posts during the week.  But I'm still going to post during the week, because it just keeps your name in front of people.

While I was cruising through Instagram one day I saw this picture of the Hog and I saved it thinking I could do something with it.  Later I made ad copy of it and paid $20 of it for the weekend.  People loved it, so I contacted the kid on Instagram and asked if I could use it as our Mascot, and he gave his permission, so now we have a Mascot, kind of like the Geico's Gecko.  I haven't had time but I plan on using "Hugo Hog" a lot in the future!

And these are Hugo Hogs stats-

Hugo Hog resulted in 48 page likes and for $20 that's about .42 cents per like.  However, I deem it successful because I found a Mascot that people really reacted to.

As far as people stats there weren't any surprises there:

Our target market is not on FB, retired age men.  My proof that my cross-marketing campaign with Instagram is working - we had a potential customer call from Texas who said, "All my grandson talks about is the Rope Hog and since I don't have social media on my phone, I was hoping you would send me some videos."  Another reason we are marketing to a younger group is for the same reason, there are athletic programs in grade schools.  We want these kids roping at a young age, and they can do that on the Rope Hog.

As far as tactics that didn't work -- I posted the video of the comedian we saw in class the other day.  That got little to no traffic.  This semester I also wanted to get a Rope Hog Blog created but with time constraints I didn't get it done, the same with Pinterest.  There are 30 million users on Google Plus, that is a whole market I want to hit, but just didn't have time to do it.  As far as Pinterest, it is mostly used by women.  And who has to drive the 4-wheeler if their husbands don't have Rope Hogs?  Women.  SO that is the target we want to hit on Pinterest.

My house is 7 miles from town, out in a valley, kinda in a hole, we have terrible internet/phone reception.  I knew with this class I would want to be on the internet more than just the two days a week I'm at school, so we broke down and had Hughes Satellite installed.  It's terrible, I'm paying $80/month for slow speed and spotty service, so frustrating!  So should I choose a career in internet marketing I'm either going to have to move, or figure out a way to get faster service here at the house.  The reason I bring this up is because there were many a day I would like to post something on my FB, but was just irritated with the service that I didn't post like I should have.  If I had good internet service my Marketing Campaign would include scheduling FB posts every morning at 6 am and every evening at 6 pm.  Creating ad copy once a week for FB.  Running a blog and utilizing Google Plus.  These are all the things I would have done, had I good internet service at the house.

Overall I felt my FB campaign was somewhat successful.  I learned a lot.  Probably the biggest thing I learned is you can't let up, you have to keep posting, keep your name out there.  Social Media is not an over-night kinda deal, just keep plodding along, constantly keeping at it.  I've also learned that Social Media is an ever evolving process.  I really can learn something more everyday on marketing, what does/doesn't work on Social Media.    

Facebook Ad Progress

This is the response I got after making this ad, and advertising it over the week-end.  We also hit a huge milestone, we actually got two phone calls about the Rope Hog, strictly from our Instagram and Facebook activity. 

My Experience with Attitudinal Responses

I’ve graduated from the school of hard knocks when it comes to my attitudinal response and how I deal with it.  It would have been nice had I had this class twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have had the experiences to feel like a heel, make me look at myself and why I think this way.  So yes, I’m aware of my attitudinal response, and I’ve learned to let it simmer until I really find out what’s going on.

The first attitudinal response experience happened when I was just eight years old.  My Dad is a cowboy/team roper and all that entails.  Let’s just say he looks the part.  We were at a roping in northern California when this young kid (maybe 25ish?) showed up with longer blond curly hair, a Hawaiian shirt, and spurs on his tennis shoes.  My Dad said, “Are you kidding me?  Get that shiz outa here, this isn’t a hippie roping.”  This kid is what we in the roping world like to call a wolf.  He not only out roped them but out roped them all week-end and took everyone’s money, including my Dad’s.  Dad did give him a run for his money, but this kid as we would come to know as Tommy Flenniken, proved to us that how you are dressed is no indication of how good a roper you are.  And really in life.  While we'd like to think we can judge others aptitudes, and/or character by the way their dressed, I have been wrong way too many times.  My Dad still likes to tell that story to this day.  That was my first “drunk Mexican,” as it were. 

The second story is more of an attitudinal response in reverse, but a lesson all the same.  I would’ve been about 30 years old and my oldest son was 5, his sister 2 ½ and a brand new baby.  We would always stop at a gas station in Alpine on our way to Idaho Falls, top off, grab our bug juice and cheese sticks (Chance is Hypolgycemic so he had to have some protein with all that sugar) and we'd be on our way.  There was a young girl that reminds me of Johanna Mason on The Mockingjay played by Jena Malone, that was the cashier there.  She wore all black, different colored hair monthly, various body piercings etc...she was just a tough nut to crack.  But her and my Chance had this kind of funky endearing relationship.  She was kind of ornery to him, and he just thought she was funny.  He just found her being different, interesting I think.  You have to remember that this was 15 years ago, way before Hunger Games and this type of look was acceptable.  Anyway, I didn't know her name so we'll call her Johanna, was smoking outside when we pulled up to the station.  I proceeded to get the kids out, and Chance ran up to her, stood on the curb, his little hands were in fists and he yelled at her, "Smoking is bad, stop it!" and he ran into the store.  She looked at me and said, "Tell your self-righteous little brat that smoking isn't bad and he should keep his comments to himself."  I took a deep breath and said, "Well, that's one way to look at it.......Or........ his Grandpa just died of lung cancer after months of suffering, so maybe, Chance just likes you, and he doesn't want you to die." She glared at me and threw her cigarette down and walked in the store.  I got the baby out of her car seat and came upon this scene:  Chance was standing there with bug juice and cheese stick in hand, she was knelt down talking to him.  "So you had a rough week huh?" He just looked at the floor.  "I'll tell ya what, I won't quit, but I promise to cut back and only smoke if I absolutely have to."  His little tear stained cheeks looked up at her-  "Promise?" 

"I promise." He dropped his treats and grabbed her by the neck and hugged her as tight as he could.  At first her hands were straight at his side not touching him, she finally put her arms around him and they hugged.  That juxtaposition of my "self-righteous" five year old and this purple-haird, tatooed, pierced gal is forever burned into my brain.  We never saw Johanna again, but her and Chance's interaction forever changed me.  She had an attitudinal response toward him, and I was just privy to her changing and opening her heart.

My third experience with attitudinal response took place a couple of year's after Chance's experience with Johanna.  I had met this gal at a party and something told me she was struggling, and I thought I really needed to reach out to her in friendship.  So for a year, I'd go out of my way to say hi, tried to strike a conversation, suggest we might do something while the kids were in school.  I got no reciprocation out of this girl at all.  One day I was in the grocery store and she was ahead of me in the line.  So I smiled and said hi, and tried to make small talk.  She paid for her groceries, glared at me and ran out the door.  I thought to myself, "That's it!  I've had it.  I'm done making an effort with her, what a snot!"  So from then on I didn't really acknowledge her existence.  When I'm done, I'm done.  A couple month's later we got an invite to her yearly Christmas party.  I was shocked we got it and even considered not going, but we went.  An hour after the party started she pulled me aside and asked if we could talk.  She said, "Remember that day at the grocery store?"  Uh yeah, the day I wrote you off?  I thought to myself.  "Well, I have (a rare condition) and I barely made it to the car and threw up.  The kid who was gathering the carts said he'd be back with a hose.  I was so embarrassed.  I have been so sick for over a year, but I have since had surgery.  But I just wanted you to know, that I know I've been distant, but I just was so miserable, I couldn't do anything, even if I wanted to.  So yah, I'd love to do something now."  Oh my gosh, talk about making me feel three inches tall.  Here I had labeled this girl as a stuck up snot, written her out of my life when she was dealing with some pretty heavy stuff.  We ended up becoming pretty good friends.  That moment taught me that while things may look normal, we never really know what other people are going through.

These experiences and 30 years more have taught me that things aren't always what they seem.  Take a step back and as I like to say, just let things unfold.  I've learned to do it in all areas of my life.  And nowadays when I recognize I have an automatic response I am able to catch myself and ask why.  Some answers don't come overnight but they will come eventually.  Sometimes I feel like a real failure when they happen, but the only time you fail is if you don't learn.  So I learn and move on, and isn't that what life's all about?

OTM #3 Print is Back, Back Again

I was curious about this article for two reasons:  1-  I'm a self-confessed book nerd and pretty much love anything about literature and 2-  If Brooke Gladstone bothers to edit something, it's got to be interesting.

The article was not what I expected, it did talk about the possible death of books thanks to the ebook industry but, it also had other segments that were interesting, and about books but not related much to the title.  But that's OK, it was a fun podcast.

They started out under the age old premise, "movies murdered theater, TV murdered radio so naturally ebooks would murder hard copy."  False on all of these above.  Some data I thought was interesting, "The ebook industry has leveled at 25% of the market share, after a high of 40%."  As previously mentioned I am a book nerd.  If I have one resentment about college, it's because I'm doing so much homework it cuts into my leisure reading time.  And yes, I belong to Goodreads.com.  Yes, I have tried to keep track of how many books I've read and how I've rated them.  And yes, nothing is more endearing to me than a good friends book recommendation.  But this article asked and answered a question I have pondered often........"What's driving the sales of paper books and why?"  It's a simplistic answer really, books are physical, you can touch them vs. the alternative.  I wrote in a previous blog that if I am feeling mentally out of sorts I can usually attribute it to the fact I am spending too much time in my on-line world and not enough time in my physical world.  I had a professor ask me once what I held against on-line marketing, after all I seemed to have a knack for it.  Because it's in the virtual world and there's something about my biological makeup that does not dwell well in that world for very long.  I personally am a hands on person.  I like producing things, making things, seeing actual results from things.  When I start to feel down, I have to go outside, ride my horse, sew a quilt, get my fingers dirty in my garden, or read a book.  Yes, read a book.  Finishing a book is an accomplishment of the smallest sorts.  I may have not gotten anything done really, but by hell, I finished my book.  It's physical.  I can hold it, turn the pages, curl up with it on a couch in front of the fire on a rainy day.  One of my most fond memories; a dear friend of mine had lost a child.  Month's after the funeral she was needing comfort.  We thought we'd go shopping.  We ended up in Barnes & Noble, Mexican Hot Cocoa in hand curled up on an over-stuffed chair, reading our fave books for an hour.  Few words were spoken, but she needed it, I needed it, and we were perfectly content enjoying each other's silence as it were.  Books fulfill a physical requirement for "real-life" that ebooks in the virtual world never will, which is why theater is not dead.  There's nothing like partaking of "real-life."

The rest of the podcasts was about the fact that adult coloring books have been selling in the millions.  In the 60's it was about political satire, currently it's about letting go of stress.  Again, it's physical, you can't create an app that gives you the satisfaction of creating something physically, even something as simple as a picture with color pencils.

Another segment was on South Korea's quest for a Nobel prize.  Interesting.

Another segment was on a man who loved books too much.  He actually did research and stole valuable old books.  Been in prison several times in the process of amassing his sought after library but evidently he has received great satisfaction as well in his library.

Last but not least was the segment about Amazon opening a brick and mortar store, which seems like a total oxymoron for them, but when you look at the real reason why they are doing, it really has nothing to do with selling books.  They want to collect data about shoppers at brick and mortar stores and sell this data to other retailers.  They can collect this data online but previously they could not collect this data at a physical store.  When you go into a store, you're basically anonymous.  However, they have figured out how to not make that anonymous anymore.  It's all about the data.     

Nothing is quite what it seems anymore, so I think I'm just going to go home, draw a lavender bubble bath, make some peppermint tea, and read a book.  And doesn't Amazon wish they knew which one?   

Religion 3.0

After going through and reading everyone's posts on religion 3.0 I just wanted to say, "Yeah, what they said."  But that isn't the writing assignment, even though I wanted to take thoughts from each one of their blogs and integrate it into mine.  But Professor Young seems to have this notion that my work needs to be original, so here you go.

I was raised LDS; however, it was outside of the Mormon belt. (That little stretch that encompasses Utah, Idaho and Western Wyoming.)  We lived in Northern California when I was 7 and some friends of the family took me to a Stake Conference.  I had never been to anything like that before.  (My parents are converts so Stake Conference was the day we didn't go to church.)  Everyone stood and sang the closing hymn and as I stood there and looked around I remember what I felt, and I remember thinking, this is something I want to be a part of.  That being said I also agree with the last two sentences of Reggie Shaw's Religion 3.0 post.  Sharing sacred experiences is tricky and it seems like when you do, the experience really loses some of that spirit of sacredness.  So I will just say - that was basically my conversion story.  My parents being new to the church, didn't know a lot plus we were raised in nonmember communities so I don't know that I really knew a whole lot about Mormon culture growing up.  Mormon culture, is different from LDS religion, do not confuse the two.  Where there is a majority of LDS there grows a culture that is not necessarily found anywhere in Mormon doctrine.  I experienced this at my first year at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho.  Here I thought I was a member of the LDS church but I had never experienced this Mormon culture and it was a huge culture shock for me to say the least.  I wondered if the church I had been attending for the last 18 years was indeed the same church I experienced at Ricks.  Yes, it was really that different.  And the same is in reverse.  Don't think that whatever LDS religion (culture) you are experiencing here in Utah's Dixie will be the same in nonmember communities across the world.  The differences really are night and day.  I remember I would call home and tell my Dad, "You've never heard anything like it!  They talk about missionary farewells in the grocery stores!!  Right where everyone can hear them!  Religion is plastered on the front page, green jello salad with carrots is evidently a thing......, Professors talk about the church in Social Media class!!"  Haha just kidding, but we did talk about church in my Economics class at Ricks which totally floored me.   When my Dad came to visit, there was a story on the front page about whether Mormon farmers should sell barley to the beer company when they knew it was going to be made into beer and the big controversy that ensued.  You could have knocked my Dad over with a feather, I tried to warn him.  My parents moved a lot (I moved on an average of once a year) but not one of the places we lived was there an LDS majority, so even though we are LDS we didn't think about it much.  In Fossil, Oregon where I went to high school population 400, there were 11 different churches, and that did not include our LDS branch.  I remember thinking we were all different religions and who cared?  There were 10 girls and 4 boys in my class and I don't remember if I ever knew what religion the boys were.  I am LDS, my best friend was a baptist preachers daughter and other than that I have no idea what religion the other 8 girls were.  Didn't know, didn't care.  Which brings me to my last thought, to me religion is personal.  Do I love all of the social aspects of the LDS church?  I do.  Do I love the service opportunities?  Again, yes.  Have I made some life-long friends?  Absolutely.  But when it comes right down to it, these things are not the priority.  The priority is my relationship to God and Jesus Christ.  If I'm the only one in that pew on Sunday morning, well, that's OK.  I need it, and that's really the only thing that matters.  Me and them. 

Now I'd like to address how Social Media affects religion.  I read what Professor Young posted - interesting!  Instant Christ, interesting!  I also read a student's post about how he liked Instant Christ and really, that is what it is all about, if it works for you then by all means, do it.  If Instant Christ, or inspiring posts or scripture posts do it for you, then enjoy them!  I know at different times in my life I find different posts inspiring (whether LDS or not.)  And I seriously mean that.  I also believe in opposition in all things so while there is lots of inspiring stuff on-line when it comes to religion, there will also be lots of negative stuff as well.  And as with everything in my life including religion, I do not partake of the negative.  So honestly, I couldn't tell you what's out there when it comes to the negatives of social media and religion.

Another issue I'd like to address is Candy Roland's (sorry if I spelled your name wrong.) issues of anxiety when it comes to nonmember families etc.... My first husband and I were sealed in the temple and had three fabulous kids.  We have since divorced and our sealing has been cancelled (which now means we are not an eternal couple.) and he has since been sealed to someone else.  (I actually like her, but feel sorry for her as well.)  So here my kids are attending this "Families are Forever" church and their family is not so eternal anymore.  And Cassy I don't have the answers.  And neither does the church other than, "Have faith, it will all work out."  I hope my kids aren't feeling the anxiety you feel/felt.  But I make no apologies.  I make no judgements.  I don't know who's going to make it to the Celestial Kingdom and who's not.  My goal is to do the best I possibly can, and to learn to love EVERYONE unconditionally.  At this point the only person, I've met that I've deemed it impossible to love unconditionally is my ex-husband, but those are my demons.  Which brings me to another blog I've read and agree with.  I think religion is good (at least in my case) because I am naturally not a nice person.  I have to work at it.  And the more I attend and associate with those who are trying their best just like me, the more I learn.  If religion, whether LDS or not, inspires the human race to act better, serve, and love, than I believe it will always have a place.  But it is up to us to let everyone decide what works for them.  In conclusion, my views on religion is all about free agency.  I am a huge cheerleader of free agency.  I love my religion and it works for me.  If it doesn't work for you, it doesn't mean I'm going to love you any less.  In fact, I encourage you to believe and live whatever inspires you to be a better person.  And that is my take on Religion 3.0          

OTM 2 - The Accidental Outing of Rwanda's most Powerful Troll

I actually listened to half a dozen podcasts before I decided to write about this particular one.  What I found most intriguing about this article was the similarity between on-line and reality and sometimes how those lines get blurred or at the very least mimic eachother.

The article doesn't appear to be anything too newsworthy other than the fact of who the actors on the stage are, metaphorically speaking.

It's about how the Rwandan government is quite active on Social Media.  The President - Paul Kagame - has his own Twitter account etc..... The government also harasses and employs internet trolls.  While this may seem surprising in our culture the journalists who Tweet and/or have worked in Rwanda are not surprised because of the regular treatment of journalists in that country.  If a journalist writes something the Rwandan government doesn't like, they have killed and/or jailed them etc.....so for this government to employ trolls doesn't seem all that surprising considering the culture.

In listening to other OTM podcasts, there appears to be one prevailing theme, "DON'T FEED THE TROLLS," and while most agree, in every interesting podcast, the author always has that one troll that particularly stands out.  This story plays along as well.  There was a journalist who was tweeting, and a Rwandan government troll came along and harassed her, so a fellow journalist Steve Terrill basically stood up for his (girl) friend and told the troll there was no cause to act like that.  The troll of course came after him.  However, after doing some research and going as far back in the trolls history as he could Mr. Terrill discovered the troll was indeed a Rwandan government staffer.  So the troll and Mr. Terrill keep exchanging tweets until one fateful day the troll forgot to switch his account and he used the Rwandan Government tweet account to call Mr. Terrill out.  This of course was the smoking gun and Mr. Terrill knew for sure who the troll was.  But, what I find fascinating is the Rwandan government didn't apologize and fire their staff member, they stood behind their own and in turn made Mr. Terrill's life miserable for this accidental outing they claimed Mr. Terrill was responsible for.  This is where real-life mimics on-line, the government then blocked Mr. Terrill from ever entering the country again.  Just like on-line when you block someone from entering your personal internet space.  Mr. Terrill at this point regrets pursuing  the troll and the accidental outing which proved it was the government indeed who employs trolls, from his point of view it wasn't worth getting blocked from the country.

I believe this is another case of dirty politics, culture and technology clash.  The internet not only mimics reality but reality at times mimics the internet.  Power, corruption and politics live on.    

Democracy 2.0

2.0 Democracy

I loved this TED talk by Pia Mancini and found myself nodding in agreement pretty much the whole way through.  But I'd like to make some clarifications.  The United States is not a democracy, we are a republic.  Majority does not rule here, but supposedly we are represented.  That being said, I am one of those nut jobs that believes the Constitution is an inspired document.  I don't believe the Constitution is the problem with America today, I believe the problem is just how Pia described....it's the process of politics.  Politics in and of themselves have flat been outpaced by technology.  There are a few quotes in her talk that absolutely resonated with me - 1) "Politics is solving today's problems with yesterday's tools."  Boy, that hits the nail on the head doesn't it?  How is it that I can talk to my son in Brazil within a matter of seconds but my congressman is unavailable, or he doesn't know my position on issues here in Southern Utah?  I have a cell phone, I can text in milliseconds and yet the political decision making process is long, heavy and drawn out.  My congressman can't vote for what I want, because he has no idea what I want!  Why?  Because I don't have the time to use the archaic methods employed today to tell him.  2) "Conflict is bound to happen between a system that no longer represents nor has any dialogue capacity, and citizens that are increasingly used to representing themselves."  Bingo, yet again.  The Constitution is not the issue, it's the system and how we are communicating is the issue.  I love the thought of an app, that tells me in layman's terms what is on the agenda.  Everything that is voted on, is written by lawyers for lawyers.  How am I supposed to be educated in what's out there, if I have to go to law school to understand it?  Wouldn't that be fabulous if my Congressman posted something on the app, Yay or nay, I say nay?  Onward and upward!!  Furthermore, I love Mia Love's proposal on one bill at a time.....My biggest pet peeve, they try to sneak things under the radar in a bill that has nothing to do with the topic.  Irks me.  And last but not least 3) "But we must admit that we haven't been good at using those same networks and technologies to successfully articulate an alternative to what we're seeing and find the consensus and build the alliances that are needed to make it happen."  What she's referring to is the fact that we as a public have become quite astute at using technology to put protests together etc....but we have not used technology to come up with alternatives to what we don't want.  She has taken a step in the right direction by inventing the Democracy app - but I believe if our leaders were open to figuring out ways technology could help us communicate with them, more ideas would come about.  However, Pia makes an excellent point that politicians right now don't want to hear our voice.  It's not a "technology issue, it's a cultural issue."  They are completely comfortable running things themselves and have no desire to change.  Would they really vote for what the people truly wanted even if it was against their opinion?  I know that if I were a Congressman and let's say abortion was illegal.  If the majority of my constituents wanted it to be legal (and of course I would know this because I would have every single citizens opinion on the matter through technology) I would really struggle casting my vote for the legality of abortion.  And what about all the money?  What would a politician do if Monsanto's money played no roll in the decision making process?  The people don't want pesticides, the end.  If only life and the political process were that simple.  

I'm not involved with politics because I don't think it has anything to do with issues.  It's about money and power, two things of which I am running short on as of late.  And until they clear the playing field it's going to stay that way.  So I will go on with my life, doing the best I can with whatever the rich people shell out.   

    

Racism 2.0 - Late to the Party

I'm a little late to the party in completing my Racism 2.0 assignment, so I went ahead and read what everyone else wrote first.  I have to say, some really great topics were brought up, from a first-hand experience of being African-American and that perspective, to the Will Smith controversy, and another classmates perspective dealing with racism against him by blacks and whites alike - all very thought provoking for this assignment. 

I grew up in a very racist family, which is ironic because I have been told by doctors (and my grandfather's and brother's appearance) that there is African-American in my family.  I don't understand how you can hate one race and look in the mirror and not hate yourself?  But members of my family do it everyday.   

I would like to think over the last 44 years I have matured enough to believe that I am not racist.  Positively, or negatively.  I do try to accept people for who they are and not what they look like.  That being said, I have already admitted to being overly nice to my friends that are homosexuals because I figure their life is hard enough in society, they don't need any grief from me.

And while I would like to think I am not racist, there are parts of different cultures that I'm not fond of.  As I do expect there are parts of my culture that I don't expect everyone else to be fond of either.  But just because I don't embrace factions of different cultures, doesn't make me racist, I believe that anyway. 

Part of this assignment was not only to recognize the problem and delve a little deeper but to also offer up solutions.  And really, I believe part of the solution is a matter of awareness, evolution, love and effort.  Racism is a HUGE problem, in not only our country, but the world.  I learned this in my history class last semester.  I was so naive to think that we were the only country who brought slaves over from Africa, and that blacks are the only race of slaves.  I was surprised to find out there are Indian, Arab and Irish slaves (along with other races) !!!   Not to mention, Brazil alone took in millions of slaves from Africa alone.  Do they have the same dirty stain on their history as we do?  I believe Americans have admitted there is a problem and some have been active in trying to solve it, in implementing policy such as Affirmative Action etc....and although I don't believe in this policy, it was someone's answer to hopefully end racism.  But as hokey as it may sound the solution is effort and love.  There is no room for racism in true love, unconditional love.  And we cannot come to true and unconditional love without effort.  And although racism is a problem we want to solve nationally, it has to start on an individual basis.  If individually we can make the change, then collectively the change will manifest itself.  It starts with us.     

Social Media Campaign

I am going to promote my husband's business, The Rope Hog for my Social Media Campaign.  Here's the link, I will get more photos.

The Rope Hog







Byron Whitmore 46, school teacher and professional roper.  Works with other people's kids nine months out of the year and ropes with his own during the summer.  Byron is a professional team roper and family man, the best of both worlds.  He loves the Rope Hog to keep his high caliber horses calm and focused and his young horses learning proper position.  Because Byron's kids rope the Rope Hog nonstop it gives Byron the ability to coach them as they are learning as they are having fun.

Mackenzie Hewitt 12, student and lover of all things horses.  Started roping with her Dad in the 1st grade.  She hates losing to her older brothers and that's why she can't get enough of the Rope Hog.  She's busy practicing while they're out chasing girls.  The Rope Hog gives her consistent, slow, steady practice, run after run.  Mackenzie can practice for hours on the Rope Hog and still have enough horse at night for live cattle.  Her brother's won't be beating her for long.

Corrine Lewis 53, full-time mom and team-roper.  Gets in an hour of practice after work and before the evening rush.  Doesn't have to call the son-in-laws to run the chutes or the grand-kids to drive the 4-wheeler to pull the dummy.  The remote-controlled Rope Hog gives her the time and independence to practice solo.  It has given her the confidence to pull her slack and dally smoothly.  She can slow it down and get the basics mastered before adding speed in the roping pen tonight with the hubby.

My Campaign Plan
I plan on reaching my audience by following anyone related to team roping on FB, instagram, and twitter, and becoming aware of the current events in the world of roping.  I plan on making my posts compelling by finding the answers to why people care about team roping?  And keeping to what is relevant in the world of team roping today.  We currently have an employee with a Rope Hog Twitter account; however, I plan on taking that over as I cross-promote with Rope Hog's Facebook page and website.  I also plan on creating a blog especially just for Rope Hog as well.  I will post one blog a week on something informational about team roping, three pictures in the morning and afternoon on instagram, like and retweet as much as I can on twitter and post videos on FB after work and before bedtime once a day.  Hopefully these actions will build my city of influence on Social Media.     

 

OTM No. 1: Brooke on the Longform Podcast

This On the Media Podcast caught my attention because 1) Well, she's adorable 2) The tag-line piqued my curiosity as to how she "unconventionally got into journalism" and 3) I remember somewhere back in the far recesses of my grey-matter that our Professor considered her "Goddess material among journalists."  What kind of person could merit such status?  At any-rate, Mrs. Gladstone (technically Kaplan) did not disappoint.

I always find it interesting people who do not work in the career that they received their college diploma.  By her own admission she was a washed up theater graduate by age 23.  But she met a guy that for some reason or another thought she could write.  (I would actually like to hear an interview with him, what struck him about her to conjure such a suggestion?)  Since she had just recently been fired from a job, she figured she had nothing to lose, so she proceeded to write her first article about MX missiles.  One thing lead to another and the rest is history as they say.  She has now been in the field of journalism for over 20 years.  Her journey to journalism is only an interesting prelude about Brooke.  She not only doesn't work in the field she graduated in, she has been fired from every waitress job she's ever had, she self-sabotages herself when she gets bored at a job, she's terrible with money and her worst fear is (again) boredom, over and above living in poverty.  I feel this girl on a spiritual level, and not just because I've been fired from every waitress job I've ever had, but boredom is HELL for me, literally. 

This may be somewhat narcissistic, but I find people intriguing who are able to answer a somewhat elusive question I personally have, in simple terms.  This interview with Brooke did this for me.  I don't know about anyone else, but when Professor Young said that we needed to come up with three  "compelling Facebook posts," did anyone else ask, "How do I know if something is compelling?"  I am doing my Facebook page on my husband's invention The Rope Hog.  It is a training tool for anyone who would like to become better at their chosen past-time (team, calf, or breakaway roping.)  So of course, I have been asking myself for the last week, "What can I post that could possibly be compelling, that had anything to do with Rope Hog?"  Honestly, other than funny team-roping Memes I didn't even remotely have a place to start, until Brooke.  About halfway through the interview, Max Linsky asked her how she kept coming up with material after basically 21 years of journalism.  She ever so eloquently replied, "Whenever my staff and I write material, I keep two questions in my mind, 'Why should we care?' in combination with 'How do we make this truly relevant?' These require quite a bit of soul searching."  So she focuses, listens hard and holds fast to these two questions.  Answering these questions is how she makes any topic they decide to write about compelling.  Merry Christmas, and you're welcome.  That's how I felt anyway, that I'd been given a gift.  Thank you Brooke.

As Brooke has been writing about Media and its effects,  Max asked her several questions about this medium.  Max:  "What is Social Media?"
Brooke:  "Any way that people communicate with each other, from personal license plates to blogs."
Max: "Is Social Media a reflection of society or does it drive society?"
Brooke: "Reflection."
Haven't we heard this before when Professor Young asked us to monitor our Social Media feeds during the SOTU Address?  I think during that assignment he asked us to notice how our Social Media frames how we think.  I've thought a little bit about that assignment and well, I don't think my Facebook feed is a reflection of MY personal values but rather a reflection of my social circle of friends values.  And since It's been about 25 years since I was in High School, my circle of friends is rather varied not just the 30 people or so I was in contact with in my High School.  I am open to people's thoughts and opinions who don't necessarily think like me.  I have friends that we disagree on many things on many levels; however, we respect each others opinions.  So my Facebook feed is definitely a reflection of my many friends thoughts and values, not necessarily my own, and Brooke agrees.

One point that Brooke really hit home with me was about how she makes her work different, "Tons, tons, and tons of reading about the topic, and than hopefully I can come up with other questions other people haven't thought of, the other side."  Brooke has a real, sort-of laser focus to her work.  Her process:  there is a topic, she asks her self two important questions, she reads everything about the topic, asks her self more questions that maybe others haven't thought of and then she edits.  And then she edits again for clarity.

Brooke is a real respecter of other people's time.  There is no fluff to her work, she does not want to waste anyone's time that has made the effort to listen to her show.  Brooke has the self-awareness to acknowledge her biases, the experience to look outside herself, and the wherewithal to stand her ground.  Professor Young and I may actually agree on something this semester, Brooke Gladstone is probably the closest thing to a Goddess as it pertains to journalists.          

Social Media and Stabilization

According to an article by The New Internationalist, it cites how technology has actually stabilized countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

"Each element of the digital technology used in communication has a particular function.  The internet is useful for information dissemination and gathering social media for connecting and coordinating groups and individuals, mobile phones for taking pictures of what is happening and making it available to a wide global audience and satellite television for instant global reporting of events. For dissedents all of these digital tools allow them to bring together remote and often disparate groups, and give them channels to bypass conventional media which is usually state controlled and unwilling to broadcast any news of civil unrest and opposition to the government and help stabilize the Middle East and North Africa since 2010."

In summary of the video, the spokesman basically said if we are to stabilize this world we are going to have to catch these poverty stricken countries up to our economic level.  And we can do that through technology. We need to quit thinking Western Europeans are something special and start equalizing all people of this globe.

I did learn in History 1700 that countries that manufacture have strong economies. Nixon opened China for trade with the vision the US would be manufacturing for Chinese consumers. As it stands China turned the tables and we became consumers for their manufacturing. Our economy has struggled since we became a service oriented country. And as the video highlighted, Asia is now fast becoming a world power because of their economy.

We as a global community need to figure out how all countries can contribute economically.

In Response to In a Handbasket

About seven years ago I did have an "automatic attitudinal response that reared its rigid head when my values were challenged."  I have always been for gun-control.  And one fateful day I needed a gun and didn't have it.  Only through the grace of God was my life preserved.  Yes, it took a life-threatening experience to change this particular attitudinal response of mine.  I have since learned to recognize said responses and be able to, "stand outside myself," if you will, and be open to other perspectives.  Yes, I do have strong opinions about abortion, family, capital punishment, heaven, (especially gun rights!) God (yes, I capitalized it) and gay marriage.  Strangely enough I do not have a strong opinion about President Barrack Obama.  I am self-aware enough to know I do have an attitudinal response when his name is mentioned; however, it is one of indifference.  Maybe my Social Media Feed picked up on that because there was no rhetoric on my feed whatsoever concerning him and the #sotu.  This I'm aware of and have my own personal reasons why, but I don't believe anyone on this site cares, so onward.

You move straight from our attitudinal responses on different topics to "how they shape our reality, one in particular, that it's all going to shit."  Interesting, did you just make a generalization about "our" reality?  Whose reality?  Southern Utah?  The LDS Church?  Student's at Dixie State?  Student's in particular Comm 3480?  Muslims?  The FLDS Church?  Citizens of Hurricane?  I can confidently say this is NOT MY reality.  But then again, I wasn't raised in Southern Utah, or in a predominantly LDS Community, near preppers etc....Annnnnnnnd I didn't grow up with TV, and apparently didn't study the teachings of John the Revelator.  So my reality and culture is obviously different than one you apparently have lived in for the last 30 years.  I was taught to be self-sufficient, work hard, prepare for a rainy day, because living in this physical world there were times, things went "to shit," especially if you made a living off the land.  I have lived through a seven year drought in eastern Oregon; cows breaking down a fence and a train slaughtering 28 head of my parent's cows; they had to open the Malheur Dam one year and ruined all of our fields at the river bottoms, which resulted in devastating financial loss; my Dad and brothers had to sit in fields at dawn and shoot coyotes in the calving field, because the coyotes were eating the baby calves AS they were being born.  I myself was involved in three car accidents before I turned 18.  These were all major life-changing events during my growing up years.  All times where things, "went to shit."  But never did I hear of my parent's talking about the end of the world.  In fact, the first time the topic was brought up for discussion was after I was 40 years old and my Mother had "Tivo'd" The Walking Dead for my kids.  I had no idea what it was.  My kids then proceeded to tell me and then and only then was "The end of the world," ever discussed.  The Zombie Apocolypse - how would we ever survive?  All of a sudden I was a hero because I am (and readily admit) a food hoarder.  That stems from being in the Construction field where paychecks are not steady and sometimes seasonal.  So even if we couldn't pay the bills, I always made sure we could eat.

And again, "this attitude is in step with the notion of how terrible everything is."  Who said, everything is terrible?  Whose attitude?  Do I not know this because I don't watch the evening news?  Do we (My family) have our struggles?  Absolutely.  Personally, professionally, financially, emotionally......but even in my darkest hours I never felt life was terrible.  Am I missing out on something?  Is there some pandemic in the US I'm not aware of?

Yes, "We all have our own indicators that make up that dichotomy of how life is going." But really, if you're waiting for life to be going the way you want it to be going before you make the choice to be happy, you're going to wait awhile.  I know in my own life if I am not happy, I have to check my gratitude thermometer.  Those of us who have been on this earth, a few trips around the sun know, that external circumstances do not frame your happiness.  There are filthy rich people who are miserable and there are monetarily challenged people suffering the pangs of poverty that exude joy.  It is a conscious choice. 

One thing I will agree with you, "There's a correlation to the increase in the amount of folks who are online and the declining line on the z axis of those who are less happy."  Could that be because we are on-line comparing ourselves to our friends' perfect lives?  The lives of which they only choose to show us what they want to show us.  Personally for me, I know that the more active I am in my "Physical World," and I just "Check-in" to my "Online World," the happier I am.  When I feel particularly out of sorts is when I need to look at my on-line time and adjust accordingly.  If I am living in my "On-line World," and I'm just checking in to my "Physical World," it's obvious my happiness quotient is suffering.

So the end of the world may be in a billion years, or we as a human race will engage in "mutual destruction," as Dr. Klackle suggested,  or as I believe (Someday) the Second Coming will happen but when it does.....it will be a GREAT and dreadful Day.  I'm looking forward to the GREAT part. 

Until then, I hope I can remember to always be grateful no matter my circumstances.

My reaction to #SOTU

What Rhetoric stirred up things on Facebook?

Sometimes silence speaks louder than words.  I did not have one Facebook post about the #sotu on my feed.  I looked at the dates on the #sotu feed and my friends had posted quite a bit in previous years.  So why the indifference now?  Well, I can take a few guesses but can not speak for them in absolutes.  However, it reminds me of something my Dad used to say.  "Quit telling me what you're going to do and just get to work!" President Obama has been telling us for some time, what he's going to do and how great it will be.  This is his last SOTU so most surmised it would be a "tooting his own horn," session.  Really, I personally, don't want to hear his version of how supposedly wonderful his last 7 years in office have been.  And honestly there isn't much he can do from now until the elections.  So why comment?  Why blow up the Facebook feed with something I can't do anything about?

Where you affected by the rhetoric and/or your social media feed?

No, I wasn't.  I guess what affected me the most about the whole SOTU address was as he kept speaking about our world today, I kept wondering, "Do we share the same planet?"  Not once instance of what he spoke could be shared with my personal experience and reality.