Jing Reflection

Hey folks,

After revisiting my Jing video from earlier in the semester, I have a better understanding on how exactly I am being marketed to. I believe that there are two main goals that social media websites and their affiliates aim to achieve and that is to make a financial gain and increase user activity. As I witnessed on my Jing video, both Facebook and Twitter featured several ads and pages that presented content akin to what I had include among my interests and what I have been continuously posting and tweeting about. Many of these pages are promotions that offer deals or specials in an attempt to make sales. In addition, there were many pages that appeared on my feeds that weren’t asking for anything, but a simple click to their video or page. I see this type of use as the kind that is directed towards entertaining users so that they continue to come back to such pages. These included posts from Funny Vines, a Facebook page that specializes in uploading comical 6-second clips, and one that has successfully grabbed my interest considering that I frequent this page almost on a daily basis.

Apart from the business side of social media, I was and still am constantly being marketed to in regards to my own personal relationships. Facebook and Twitter include likes, favorite, retweet and comment features in order to fuel supplementary interactions that take place on their own respective platforms. We are given the ability to discuss and share individuals’ photos, videos and personal statements and by doing so we are essentially judging others. Of course there is the good and bad kind of judgment, but one thing that is certain is that it leads to online interaction that in turn keeps users online.

Initially, my understanding regarding social media was very basic, as I didn’t make much of how social media sites operate. After studying and seeing social media from a different perspective, I’ve learned that these sites are basically meant to serve as virtual marketing platforms. Whereas Facebook and Instagram can market themselves within their own programs, other companies and organizations are constantly looking for ways to elevate their brand through advertisement, which social media brings a unique twist to. We don’t see social media the same way we see commercials and that’s what gives it its marketing power. With social media we are not only becoming more engaged with our surroundings and those that we interact with, we are also becoming more actively marketed to, and sometimes it can even happen subconsciously. There’s no secret that social media is a very mighty tool, especially when it’s used in the right manner. 

Matt