READ ALL ABOUT IT (in 140 Characters or Less)

Twitter can be used for marketing in a number of ways. An organization or company can reach out to potential or current customers using Twitter as a platform. A company can use Twitter to highlight new releases and additions. An organization can use Twitter to broadcast what they are doing in the organization. Potential customers can see this and if the image is broadcasted correctly, agree with organization and company and buy into the product or ideal. Twitter can be used as a tactic to portray an image of a company through social media.

Twitter can also be used as a political tool. Just look at the current president, Donald Trump’s twitter page (@realDonaldTrump.) As ridiculous as it is, President Trump uses his twitter page as an uncensored platform to supposedly get his point across. His tweets certainly gain a lot of attention from the media due to how absolutely crazy they sound. President Trump tweets have also had a positive and negative affect on his campaign. Trump supporters look up to his tweets saying he is being honest and “speaking the truth.” Trump supporters believe that since the President cannot censer his tweets he is a more reliable president. On the other hand people who are not a fan of Trump believe he needs to control his twitter profile and learn how to tweet professionally. The president has made many contradictory tweets in the past that have negatively affected his campaign. Journalist can use twitter as a way to microblog. Journalists can quickly and effectively deliver news through the 140 character limit of a tweet. Journalists can gain a massive twitter following just by having one tweet become popular or being affiliated with a news outlet. Twitter is a fast and effective way to deliver news.

Events are communicated through twitter because it is the fastest way to communicate information. Hashtags are used to get information out there and organize where tweets can be found. Someone can click on a certain hashtag and find all the tweets that have been tweeted with the hashtag in the tweet. Examples of popular hashtags that have been used in the past twelve months are #PrayforEgypt, #SaveDinaAli, and #WomensMarch. #PrayforEgypt was a hashtag created after the terrorist bombing in an Egyptian church on Palm Sunday. The bombing killed at least thirteen people and injured many more. As soon as the news hit twitter the hashtag was created and dozens of tweets started rolling through. Since the attack was getting limited coverage on traditional news outlets journalists and civilians took it upon themselves to tweet updates using the hashtag #PrayforEgypt. This hashtag was widely used by people all over the world no matter race, color, or religion. This is just one of the examples of people being brought together through Twitter due to a tragedy. 

#SaveDinaAli is a less popular twitter hashtag that was formed to try to save a women that was held up in the Philippine airport. Dina Ali had been abused by family and government in Saudi Arabia, where it is illegal for a woman to travel without the permission of a male guardian. She planned on fleeing Saudi Arabia and seeking refuge in Australia. Her family quickly caught up with her plans and kidnapped her in the Philippine airport to take her back home against her will. This event happened two weeks ago and it is still unknown where Dina Ali is now. The hashtag was created to raise awareness to what happens to Saudi women if they try to leave the abusive lifestyle. Women all around the world were trying to get the media to notice what happened to Dina Ali so they can report on it. To this day no big media outlets have reported on Dina Ali.

The #WomensMarch hashtag was created to highlight the marches that were happening across the world to protest women’s right to freedom, equal wage, and healthcare. This march happened in Washington D.C. just a few days after the election. Women’s rights were threatened because of the new president and thus women marched. On twitter, you could find the location of marches all around the world just by searching the hashtag. You could find pictures and videos of what was happening and who was there. This is an example of twitter being effective on getting the message across that women deserve equal rights as men.

Twitter is a platform where a person can follow accounts that they are passionate about. Users can follow a page that represent their beliefs, hobbies, and interests. An example of that can be a makeup artist that is passionate about animal rights issues. The twitter accounts they can follow are Tarte Cosmetics (@tartecosmetics) since they are a cruelty free brand. Also they can follow accounts they do not agree with such as, Mac Cosmetics (@maccosmetics) who are not cruelty free. The reason for following the two brands is because of their differing beliefs. Since Tarte Cosmetics is cruelty free you can show support for the brand through twitter. You can learn more information about the brands beliefs. You can find out when new products are releasing and gain inspiration for new looks through their page. You can find out when they are having flash sales and learn new tips and tricks through the brands page. You can also ask questions about how and why the brand is cruelty free. On the other hand with Mac Cosmetics is not cruelty free and that is something that is not supported. Mac Cosmetics is one of the biggest makeup companies in the world and it is disheartening that they test on animals. Through twitter you can tweet at their account to raise awareness about their cruelty towards animals. You can also tag their account in tweets so followers can see exactly who you are tweeting about.  It’s also important to follow different accounts on twitter that you normally would not follow. An example of that is the Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills.) Even though you may not exactly be interested in the football team, the account still might tweet useful information. They may be tweeting out a giveaway where you can win free tickets or gear. You can get sports worthy information through that account to make you more knowledge on the topic.

Twitter is different than blogging or other social media because of the character limit. Twitter only allows you 140 characters per tweet, which means you have to be selective of your words to get your message across. This character limit is what makes Twitter so addicting. You can get a lot of content with very few words, which makes information flow much faster. Facebook is mostly a visual where people are posting videos, pictures, and linking articles. Twitter only allows you up to a minute of video and four pictures at a time. This makes it much faster to get the information you need and move along to the next tweet.

Turn on the Camera & Record!!!

A group can face struggles while shooting, editing, and posting a video on social media. Struggles while shooting can consist of not having enough time to shoot because of a busy schedule, not having sufficient lighting to shoot the video, or not having sufficient camera in order to shoot. College students are very busy due to school work, jobs, and personal life. It is hard to find time to shoot a video due to a busy schedule. It should not be too difficult to find time to shoot three minutes’ worth of video. A way you can find time to shoot the video is to film part of your routine. The video should be an extension of your life that shows who you are. This can be done by filming your routine, that way you are not spending extra time filming the video. 
When filming, make sure you have good lighting throughout the video or else it will not look professional and put together. Lighting is one of the most important factors to film production and can be the deciding factor on whether or not a video looks professional or amateur. Natural lighting is the best and cheapest lighting there is. Find time to film your video during the day outside or with the curtains open in front of a window. A camera is obviously an essential when shooting a video. Every college student should be able to operate a HD camera, especially if they are majoring in communications. You can find a pretty inexpensive camera at stores like Best Buy, Target, and even online stores like Amazon. If you do not have the funds to buy a new camera, you can rent equipment from your university’s media department.

There also may be some difficulties while editing a video. This is when working with other group members may become challenging. A group member may have different ideas than another group member and that can cause conflict. It is important to have a distinct idea and a plan before you start shooting and editing. Being unclear with your vision can cause delays in your project. Have a clear idea on how you want your video to be edited and share your idea with group members during the beginning of the process. Editing can really make or break a video. It is important to take your time while editing a video. This means you may have to watch and re-watch your video over and over to make sure the content you are creating shows your vision. Remember to make sure you are following certain guidelines like adding filters and transitions. These filters must be strategically placed and be tie in with your story line. Transitions are extremely important in a video. Make sure your transitions are fluid and pleasing to watch. If you feel like you are finally done with editing have another person outside of the group and ask for constructive criticism. Another person may catch something you may have missed. Again, editing will make or break your video so make sure to take your time and do this step thoroughly.

Posting a video on social media takes serious guts and confidence. This video that you have spent so much time on is now on the internet for everyone to see and criticize! Be confident in the content you have created before posting. If you feel something is missing maybe it is time to go back to the editing stage. When posting to YouTube be prepared that it may take some time for your video to upload. It may take between 15 minutes to an hour for a video to be uploaded on to YouTube. After uploading, pour yourself a big glass of wine because you are finally finished.

The public nature of this could affect the subject matter because since this video could offend certain people. This video could offend Buffalo State Police since the video is about the parking tickets Buffalo State Police hand out. Other people this video could offend are people who are sensitive to swearing and curse words. In this video the song “That’s When You Know” by Nico & Vinz is used. In that song they use the word “fucked” multiple times. In this video the actors also mouth curse words when they are being handed tickets. This could offend people that are not comfortable with swearing. More conservative people may not appreciate the constant swearing, but it works well in the video because it is expressing the rage of getting a parking ticket.

Video is a better communication tool than writing or photography. You can tell a story more fluidly with a video than with a photograph. A photograph is a frozen piece of time that shows one clip at a time. A video can be a continuation of a photograph that can go more in detail with a story. Videos are a visual while writing makes you use more imagination. The difference can be compared to a movie being made after a book. The book makes a person use their imagination, while you are reading you are looking at words and in your head you are coming up with a picture of how the story is unfolding. A movie physically shows you the story so you don’t have to use your imagination to see what is happening. This can make a video a better communication tool because it is directly communicating the picture the creator wants to viewer to see.

The self-portrait experience of a video should be the easiest part of the project. A self-portrait is a video done by the videographer filming themselves. There should not be many difficulties when making the self-portrait. It is important to hold your phone horizontally instead of vertically so it fits according to IMovie guidelines. Another important part of the self-portrait is finding where to place the camera so you do not have to hold it like a selfie for the entire video. This makes it more professional and aesthetically pleasing. The self-portrait should be a fun portion of the video that is a reflection of yourself.