Social News

Newspapers are a thing of the past in my eyes, lets be honest there just sold to an ageing population. Social news has delivered the killer blow to print news, it’s simply not up to date quick enough. There is however scope for some unique papers to survive but in the next 30 years most will be dead and buried.

Even my own ways have changed in recent years due to advances in technology. The Star newspaper was a must every morning before i set off on my way to work. Along comes the IPhone and the Daily Star is down a regular customer. I just felt “why would I want to buy a paper on yesterdays news when I have today’s news in my hand”!! I’m sure this is the problem facing the print media with so many consumers.

Accessing social news websites has become so easy, with most sites now having an app available to download. My favored site is thejournal, which is Ireland’s most popular social news website. Similar sites that are popular with guys like myself are Joe.ie and the score.ie. Twitter is brilliant for following these sites through your feed as their stories are uploaded regularly. Reddit is a great site to see the ranking of journal pieces around many sites.

Social news is  here to stay and is taking over!!

Social Media as a Strategic Marketing Tool

Social media has change marketing of products forever and brought it to a whole new level. In the years gone by marketers had to find who there customers where and then try to a find to market them. Now through the detail analytics that is collected online through our online footprint markets know who has an interest in their products and where to find us. Them ads that follow us around are just a remember of how advance these marketing tools are.

Platforms across social media are now so advanced in there skills to track the right customer down for a business it has become a multi billion dollar business. Google page rank is just an example that is been used daily by businesses as it’s been reported Google rakes in close to €100 million a day.  This is obviously a huge figure but where was this money been spent before Google came along!!

Social media has helped bring more business into the international marketplace through the advantage of the internet being a worldwide marketplace. Businesses can now form a strategic plan which can change from country to country. One thing that spring to mind is the affect of viral ads that are becoming an objectives of marketing teams  as this brings some huge brand recognition. Cadbury’s have recently had an video advert with John Giles and Eamon Dunphy go viral through social media which resulted in more free advertising on radio station programmes.

Marketers also have an avenue to research how their competitors are acting online through their social media channels. Researching these channels can show  your competitors social media strategies .Following on from this companies can review if their own strategies are achieving the same level of results in terms of engagement. Social media marketing tools are there for every one to use but it about the person who delivers the strategy to deliver an successful outcome. Ultimately social media is a very cheap tool to use to improve on your business results. However time ,effort and imagination is something that will need to be set out from the start by managers.

 

My Experience in Maynooth University

Well there is a lot to say from a mature student who didn’t know what to expect from a life of education. It had been a long 12 years since those boring days of Dunshaughlin Community College. Having never been fond of school, it had always a race to get out and into the workforce. What a shock that was to a young boy who thought he knew it all but hey weren’t we all the same eh.

On came the recession and the idea of looking for a new career as the construction industry had disappeared before our very eyes. I’ll have to be honest it’s probably the best thing that happened to me in a way, it gave me an excuse to redirect my career. Maynooth University  was my only choice in my CAO application and thankfully I got accepted.

So off I go to Maynooth not knowing how to study or anything like that but it had to be given a lash. Luckily when I first sat down for a talk for mature students I sat beside a girl and got talking straight away . Thankfully we are still very good friends today even though were not even studying the same modules. Following on from that I’ve got friendly with most people in my class and always try to be as friendly to people as they are to me.

Group projects were the first assignments set out for students during first year and that is an experience like no other. Meeting group members that you didn’t know from adam was challenging, members were so diverse as some were hard workers, lazy, shy, or just never showed up. However there is a skill you develop  over time to cope with these different types of people. It certainty put pressure on individuals to get out of your comfort zone. Now been a level headed third year student this is something that is not so much a worry to you as you have dealt with all types of people in these situation previously. Furthermore it’s given me the experience of team work before going out to the workplace.

The social scene of Maynooth isn’t been something I’ve  seen much of, probably because of been a wee bit older than the younger students here. However it is worth noting Maynooth is a college with a large mature student population and the two groups mix pretty well. This is the main reason I enjoy my time at Maynooth as everyone gets on with each other no matter the age difference and this makes for a pretty engaging environment. Overall my time at Maynooth has been a pleasant experience as it’s given me the confidence to realise my true potential.