Things: TweetDeck, A True Time Saver

At first when I was trying to come up with an idea for this blog, I kept drawing a blank. I've been so swamped with work that I haven't had much time to focus on my own social media presence. However, while working it came to me, so hopefully you'll find this thing as useful as I do!

TweetDeck

As a social media marketer, I find that I'm constantly on Facebook and Twitter for work, however, I also have my own personal Twitter and Facebook account. I found that constantly logging on and off or opening up a number of tabs was growing old. With so many social media accounts, it was becoming time consuming, frustrating  and a little confusing. I took a social media marketing class in college and I vaguely remembered the TA giving a presentation on something called TweetDeck. I decided to check it out. 

I became hooked immediately. I've been using it for about two weeks now and it has proven to be a valuable tool. So what is TweetDeck? TweetDeck is a organizational device for all things social media related. One can put all their social media platforms all on one page. One can connect their Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Google Buzz accounts so that they are easily accessible and all in one place. TweetDeck splits each account into clearly labeled columns. You can also tweet and update your Facebook status directly from TweetDeck, making it so that you never have to open a separate tab again! Unfortunately, Google+ hasn't gotten in on the action yet, but I'm sure they will.

If you aren't really into social media, than this probably isn't for you, but if you are, I would definitely check it out!

Song of the Month: Capital Cities--Safe and Sound

People: Malcolm McCann, Happy Father's Day!

So, this is the first post of my People, Places, Things blog, but before I begin let me explain what the deal is.

After blogging for the last 6 months I found that I was struggling to find my niche. For awhile I blogged about social media marketing which is something that I am interested in. Then for awhile I blogged about life after college since I'm a recent graduate of Clark University! Still, as much as I was passionate about these things, something just wasn't working. I knew that I didn't want to just blog about my day, having an online diary just isn't my thing (not that there is anything wrong with that). I love crafts and baking, so having a craft blog seemed interesting but I don't have the time or money to bake or craft something unique every week (although I wish I could!) Then it came to me...People, Places, Things. Bam! That's it.

Here's the plan: Every Wednesday I will blog about people, places or things that are of interest. Sounds lame? Well...it's not. I'm also open to suggestions, if you have a person, place or thing you'd like me to research and blog about it'd be my pleasure!

Now that that's out of the way, let's begin!

Malcolm McCann

Although he isn't famous, Malcolm McCann is a person to know. He is one of the kindest, funniest most genuine people I know and I am proud to call him my Dad. In honor of this past Father's Day I'd like to tell you a little bit about my own Father. 

McCann clan, Malcolm is the little one on his Dad's lap

Born on July 21, 1944 in Montreal, Canada, Malcolm was the baby of eleven! As one can imagine, with such a large family there was always something going on. Since Malcolm was the baby, he knew many of his younger siblings a little better than the older ones since many of the older ones were married and out of the house. The 10th child was David. David and Malcolm were incredibly close, however, being the baby Malcolm took his orders from David. As Malcolm tells it, David had a knack for finding trouble.

There is one story from my Dad's childhood that has stuck with me. Although he's not exactly proud of it, I find it absolutely hilarious and it gives a pretty good idea what Malcolm's childhood was like. Malcolm can tell this story much better than I can, but for this post I'll give it my best shot! 

When Malcolm was about 8 years old and his brother David was about 10 David and Malcolm decided it would be cool to build a clubhouse. Being the ring leader, David summoned the neighborhood kids and told them of their plan to build a boys only club house. Everyone was extremely excited, but being kids, and being from a poor neighborhood no one had any money for supplies. They had hammers but no wood so the boys set out to find some. After wandering the neighborhood they came across wooden crates behind a convent. Making sure no one was looking, the boys took the crates and ran to someones house to disassemble the crates in order to build their clubhouse. Finally, after lots of hard work the clubhouse was finished. For the next few days the boys would hold meetings.  One day there was a knock on the door of the McCann household. Malcolm's Mother Theresa opened the door and there stood a nun. The nun informed her that there wooden crates had recently gone missing and that they had received word that Malcolm and David were the culprits and that they would not get the boys in trouble as long as they returned the wood within the next day. That night David called a final meeting in the clubhouse. Before the meeting started, David told Malcolm something very ominous. David told Malcolm to sit right next to the door and that as soon as he blew the candle out to immediately run and don't stop until he got home. Malcolm knew something was up, but he just didn't know what. Later that night, once all the boys were in the clubhouse David began the meeting. He informed them that this would be there last meeting and that the next morning they would have to take the clubhouse apart and return  the wood. As the meeting began to wind down, David spontaneously blew out the candle, and on cue Malcolm jumped up and bolted out, all the way home hearing screams and protests emanating from the club house. 

The next day as Malcolm and David were taking apart the clubhouse, Malcolm asked his brother what had happened the night before. Apparently David suspected that one of the neighborhood boys had told his parents about the club house and the stolen wood and that is how the nuns found out. Furious, but not knowing who the snitch was, David decided to get back at all the boys. The reason he had wanted Malcolm to run away was because as soon as he blew out the candle he had then proceeded to pull down his pants and pee on everyone! 

Good ol' fashioned fun...you gotta love it!

When Malcolm was 14 his family moved to Santa Monica, California. Malcolm immediately discovered that sunny California was for him, submerging himself in the culture. The Beach Boys  could be described as the soundtrack to his life. A surfer by day and drummer by night (his stage name was Flash too...) Malcolm has always known how to have a good time and not to take anything too seriously. 

This blog is going on longer than expected, but with 67 years under his belt, there's quite a bit to say! If you are still reading this I'll cut this short by saying that Malcolm McCann

Dad and I

Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you!

Song of the week: The Beach Boys--Wouldn't It Be Nice (The Girls Can Hear Us Remix)

The Hunt

Graduation is a week away. With graduation so close, for the last few months the questions that I keep getting asked is "so what are your after graduation plans?" This is a great question, and the truth is, I don't know.

My plan has always been to go to Grad school. As a film major, my theory was that going to Grad school would not only provide me the opportunity to gain a wider skill set in regards to film production, but it would also be an excellent chance to network. However, after 4 years at college where I received good grades, did a number of extracurriculars, had a variety of jobs and internships Grad school does not seem to be in my future.  The first semester I spent every free minute I had working on applications but no matter how qualified I was I just didn't get in. So now the next logical step is to get a job and maybe revisit Grad school a few years from now.

Finding a job with a college degree shouldn't be too bad right? Even with the bad economy and unemployment the way it is...Wrong. Maybe for some college graduates finding a job isn't that hard, but if you are an arts major things don't fall into place that well.

Film is my passion. I always knew I wanted to do something in the arts from the time I was a little girl, and by the time I was a junior in high school I knew that I wanted a career in film.

Now that it's time to find a job I've been looking and looking for a job in either film and television production or as a social media marketer. Here is the problem I keep running into: every job that I'm applying to wants me have have at least 3-5 years experience in that particular field. This seems to be a Cath 22. How am I suppose to gain experience if all the jobs, even entry level, require me to have experience?

College is suppose to help us find our dream job. With a college degree comes success, or so we've been told. Now I'm not discounting college, I'm sure it is incredibly valuable and I know on a personal level it has been one of the best times of my life, however, I'm still waiting to reap the benefits from my higher education. Hopefully this little job hunt will prove fruitful soon!

Celilo Inn and Media Marketing

The Columbia River Gorge is one of the most beautiful places in America. The Dalles is located on the Oregon side of the Columbia River in the Gorge. When visiting The Dalles, one never has to wonder what they can do with activities ranging from hiking, visiting wineries and vineyards, windsurfing and kite boarding, to visiting museums and other historical spots. Lucky for the Celilo Inn, they are located in The Dalles. Furthermore, they are located on top of a hill, allowing for the rooms to have a beautiful scenic view of The Dalles Dam. Originally an old run down motel, now under new ownership, the motel got a makeover, transforming itself into the sleek Celilo Inn. Only around since 2009, the hotel is fairly new. Since it is so new, getting the Celilo name out there is crucial. In today's world, the best way to do this is through the Internet, specifically social media.Celilo Inn seems to realize this, as they have everything set up to have a successful social media presence. With a website, blog, Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor page, Celilo has what they need to succeed. However, the real question is whether or not they are utilizing these platforms to the best of their ability and the answer is no.
Online OverviewBefore analyzing the specific social media platforms that Celilo Inn utilizes, I thought it would be important to see what their online presence looks like so far. Using Social Mention and Google Insights I quickly realized that although Celilo has everything in place, they definitely are barely making a dent in the online world. With Social Mention I took two snapshots prior to my research. The snapshot on the left was taken on April 4th, 2011 and the snapshot on the right was taken April 9th, 2011. 

Snapshots taken from socialmention.com on April 4th and 9th

From these two snapshots it is painfully obvious that Celilo Inn is not doing nearly enough to create an online presence. However, the one very positive attribute to be taken from these snapshots is that when people actually do talk about Celilo Inn, they are incredibly passionate about it.

Since the hotel is relatively new, I decided to take a look at Google Insights to see how their online presence has been since the hotel opened.

Snapshot from Google Insights

What really struck me was how minimal the online presence is. However, I suspect that the huge spike that occurred  in 2010 can be attributed to the Ferrari Club of America. In mid July, 2010 the Washington Chapter of the Ferrari Club drove down to The Dalles and stated at the Celilo Inn. In the months leading up to this event Celilo Inn received press from news reporters, journalists, newspapers, and bloggers. I suspect that this is why there is such a large spike in online presence. However, rather than riding that buzz, Celilo let it die out!Celilo Inn's WebsiteAlthough not directly associated with social media, a companies website is crucial. Typically the official website is the first stop for a person searching a company. And from personal experience, if the official website does not look sleek and is difficult to navigate I automatically wonder about the validity of the company. Initially, at first the Celilo Inn website seems to be put together well. It looks sleek and professional. However, upon a closer look, it can be immensely improved. 

Snapshot of Celiloinn.com

The first thing that must be improved is their links. Some of their links do not stand out, thus going unnoticed. It is important that links, especially links for hotel reservations stand out. If people don't notice them they won't click on them!

Furthermore, once you look down past the masthead, the website becomes incredibly cluttered and wordy. "When designing [it is important to] consider such things as scrolling distance, and scrolling frequency" (Wodtke, 9). Chances are, people aren't scrolling to the bottom of the page. Additionally, just like the links, the events and special deals that are listed on their website all look the same so it is difficult to decipher what is important and what isn't.

Regarding social media, what is glaringly absent from the website is the lack of central links to their social media pages. At the top of the website there should be a central location for links to the Celilo blog, Facebook, Twitter and Trip Advisor page. However, these links are spread out throughout the page.

Celilo Inn's Blog


According to Blogging For Guests--a blog dedicated to blogging tips for hotels--it is important for hoteliers to remember that "[n]o blog is an island. [Hotel blogs must] leave their little world, and participate in online discussions if [they] want to increase interest in what [they] write." This is something that the Celilo Inn Blog does not do.

The most glaring mistake that the Celilo Inn blog makes is that the appearance is inconsistent with the website. The blogs appearance is incredibly amateurish. In no way does the blog look like a blog that belongs to a professional, official hotel.

Snapshot from Celiloinn.wordpress.com

In the blog post "14 Lessons About Blogging I've Learned in the Past Year" the number four tip states that blog design is important. If a blog's appearance is bland and unprofessional looking, people won't read it.

Furthermore, similar to the website, nowhere on the blog is there a central location with links to the rest of Celilo Inn's social media. Providing links to their website, Facebook, Twitter and Trip Advisor page is incredibly important. 

In addition, the blog posts themselves are relatively uninteresting. They tend to be very short blurbs about events the hotel has hosted or special deals. While having these posts is fine, including longer posts with pictures, videos and links would make the blog more interesting. Furthermore, having posts that are not always 100% about the hotel would not be a bad idea either. Some examples would be:

• A detailed post about how Celilo got its name and the history of the Celilo Indian tribe that the hotel is named after.
• Focusing on the environment and what the Celilo Inn is doing to be environmentally conscious
• A more detailed review of the events that they have hosted with pictures, links and videos if possible. 

Celilo Inn's Facebook

Facebook is universally popular. It seems that everyone has a Facebook nowadays regardless of age. This being said, having a company Facebook is a great way to reach your target market and help spread the word about your organization! Aware of this, Celilo Inn created their own Facebook Fan Page. However, just merely having a Facebook page isn't good enough, especially with so many pages out there!

The first thing I noticed about the Fan Page is that, just like their website and blog, they are not consistent or obvious with their links. On the Info tab they only have a link to their website. It is important that they include links to their blog, Twitter and Trip Advisor page.

Additionally, the Celilo posts are almost identical to the blog posts and posts on their website. When it comes to consistency, they are almost too consistent to a fault. By not having any variation between their sites, it does not provide any incentive for people to hop from one Celilo Inn site to another. The other posts involve contests for one free night at Celilo Inn or a discount. However, while people seem to respond well to these contests, there are so many contests that people have lost interest in them.

Snapshot of Celilo Inn's Facebook page

The independent hotel Humphrey's Half Moon Inn has a pretty decent Facebook Fan Page. While some of their posts are from their blog, many of their posts involve uploading photos that their guests have sent them from their stay, posting polls, or videos about events going on near or at the hotel.  They also post often,  thus giving visitors of the site something new to look at every time they visit the page!

Another thing that Celilo Inn should really improve upon is responding to fans comments. Already, commenting is minimal so it is important that when comments do occur that Celilo Inn responds to them. Furthermore, while most of the comments left on the page are positive, there are a few negative ones. These comments have never been addressed. Because of this, it appears that Celilo does not listen to their guests even if they do.  Responding to comments will let their guests and fans know that they are listening and are interested in what they have to say.

Celilo Inn's Twitter

Although it hasn't taken off quite the same way, Twitter is still incredibly popular and influential. "Some hotels are using their Twitter feeds to create a persona, essentially giving life to their hotel," states a BNET article "Hotels Are Jumping on the Social Media Bandwagon."

Celilo Inn must have realized this when they created their Twitter page. 

I found the Celilo Inn Twitter page by accident. I thought it surprising that they had not created a Twitter but there was no mention or link to a Twitter page anywhere on their website, blog or Facebook. Assuming that they didn't have a Twitter I decided to find out if anyone was tweeting about the hotel by doing an advanced search on Twitter. To my surprise what came up was the Celilo Twitter page. However, once I clicked on it, it made sense as to why there was no link to the page anywhere on their other sites. The last tweet had been on the 19th of August, 2009. 

Snapshot of Celilo Inn Twitter

As I see it, Celilo Inn has two options:

1. If they don't want to maintain their twitter, they should delete the account all together. While they don't have access to their Twitter readily available, people will still be able to find it. If potential guests see that the Celilo Twitter has been inactive for two years, they may judge the hotel based on this.
2. Sense they have a Twitter set up, use it!

I think it makes most sense, and would be beneficial to the hotel to go with the second option--go live with their Twitter once again! Even though it will take hard work and time, in the end it will only help them, provided they do a good job and maintain the site. 

Celilo Inn and TripAdvisor

In today's world, when it comes to booking hotels, reviews are everything. Most people read the reviews and the reviews that stick with them unfortunately are the negative ones. It doesn't matter how many positive reviews there are, people will find the one negative one and take this one into consideration when booking. This being said, review sites such as TripAdvisor are incredibly important. Even more important is addressing these comments. "Ignoring negative guest comments won't make them go away and your future guests are reading them," says Neil Salerno a blogger for EHotelier.com--a website dedicated to providing hoteliers with  online marketing strategies. 

If you go to Celilo Inn's TripAdvisor Page they already have 31 reviews. While most are favorable  the bad reviews are BAD. Unfortunately for Celilo Inn the first review that comes up is this one:

Snapshot from Tripadvisor.com

Since this the first review that people will see, it is important that Celilo respond to it to alleviate the customer as well as let people reading the review know that Celilo listens to their customers. Again, unfortunately for Celilo Inn, one must scroll back 3 average reviews before they get to this shining review:

Snapshot from Tripadvisor.com

People are talking about Celilo and are rating and reviewing it. Celilo Inn must get in there and begin responding to these reviews, otherwise regardless of the sentiment of the review, people will begin to think that their voice doesn't matter regardless.

Summary

As stated, Celilo Inn has set up everything they need to succeed. I believe that a combination of these suggestions, time, energy and hard work that Celilo Inn will increase their online presence and consequently their sales. 

For a short version of this blog, check out my PowerPoint. 

Celilo inn and social media marketing

View more presentations from Cassandra McCann

Resources:

Li, Charlene and Josh Bernoff. Groundswell. Harvard Business Press. 2008.

Wodtke, Christina and Austin Govella. Information Architecture. New Riders Press. 2009.

http://www.blogforguests.com/

http://www.bnet.com/blog/travel/hotels-are-jumping-on-the-social-media-bandwagon/2403

http://ehotelier.com/hospitality-news/item.php?id=D18953_0_11_0_M

Swan Dive Into The Viral Marketing Campaign Of Your Life

I began monitoring Old Spice's online media presence back in February and ever since then I have noticed a consistent influx in popularity.  As mentioned in my last blog, Old Spice took the internet by storm last February with their campaign “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.” Ever since then Old Spice has maintained a strong online presence. This past June, Old Spice and spokesperson Isaiah Mustafa took over social media again with their personal YouTube commercials that were addressed to individual Twitter followers and Facebook fans. After this marketing stunt, Old Spice gained even more fans. However, since June Old Spice and Isaiah Mustafa lied low. It was not until this past month that they released a new series of commercials for their new Fresh Collection. Since the release of their latest commercial “Scent Vacation,” buzz is growing once again for Old Spice. This being said, “Scent Vacation” has not yet transformed into the viral sensation that Old Spice’s original commercials were.


Changes In Online Presence 
 When I first reported Old Spice’s internet presence the commercial had only been online for about a month, it was not very prominent on television so anyone that knew about it had probably searched for or was already friends with Old Spice or Isaiah Mustafa. Throughout the social media project I checked Social Mention five different times between February 15^th and March 23^rd. The image below shows all five snapshots. The online buzz surrounding Old Spice has been slowly, yet steadily increasing since the start of the new Fresh Collection campaign. In the last two weeks, the Old Spice reach has drastically increased alongside the passion.

Information found on SocialMention.com

After watching the new commercials for the Fresh Collection, I personally still believe that Old Spice are still hilarious and incredibly effective. I believe one of the reasons why this campaign has not taken off as quickly is due to the lack of engagement Old Spice had with their fans between campaigns. Since the personalized YouTube videos back in July, Old Spice and Isaiah Mustafa have not done much, thus decreasing any buzz that they originally had cultivated. This is apparent in the graph from Google Insights.

Graph found on www.google.com/insights/search/#

As the graph shows, their online campaign this past summer was incredibly effective, however rather than riding that hype Old Spice let the buzz promptly die. I believe that the goal for Old Spice is to continue their campaign as well as to try and get back the popularity that they had in 2010.

Goals for Twitter and Facebook
There are a number of routes that Old Spice could take since they already have a strong fan base on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. The first thing I noticed about their Facebook and Twitter page is that other than the personal YouTube messages, they do not comment or tweet their fans and followers back. However, Isaiah Mustafa does tweet back occasionally. Although Old Spice’s tweets are hilarious, they need to do more than just tweet random hilarities. If they consistently tweet people back that will definitely increase their notoriety. This will also increase their online fan base since it will get out that Old Spice responds to as many of their fans as possible.

Furthermore, in regards to the periodic personalized messages on YouTube, while well received, the number one complaint is that the majority of responses were to celebrities and other well known persons. While targeting celebrities helps get the Old Spice message out since celebrities have thousands of followers, they also are simultaneously sending out a message to all their non-celebrity fans that their voice and opinion does not matter. If they included more videos to their “average” fans this would help reassure the public that Old Spice and Isaiah Mustafa care about them just as much as their celebrity counterparts.

Another thing I noticed when looking at some of the negative comments is that people still refer to the smell of Old Spice as smelling like old man. Although the commercials they currently have address how good their products smell, if they addressed the old man smell that would be a highly effective way to beat the negative press to the punch. The writers are highly talented at random, witty humor and I think that if done in the right way, having Isaiah Mustafa make a joke about the old man smell could not only help put an end to this criticism as well as maintain the viral popularity of their commercials.

One last recommendation I would have is to offer competitions for the “manliest man.” This could entail people tweeting or posting the most epic thing that they have done in the style of the Old Spice Guy. The winner could receive their own personalized YouTube video and Old Spice products.

Old Spice has started an internet campaign that is unlike any others. Now that they have so many people following them, it is time for them to keep the momentum going and really begin talking with their customers not just at them.        

On that note, I will leave you all with one of the newest commercials for the Old Spice Fresh Collection.

Egypt and the Social Media Revolution

As I'm sure many of you are aware, Egypt has been in a state of full fledged revolution the last few weeks and social media has been at the forefront of that revolution. Back in 2009 the world saw a similar social media effect when it came time for Iran's elections. During these elections, Twitter played a key role in not only promoting a revolution but also keeping the rest of the world informed as to what was truly going on. This was a case of freedom of speech and word-of-mouth at its finest. Throughout the Iranian campaign mass media took a back seat and information was spread not through CNN  or The New York Times but through individuals facing the difficulties in Iran first hand--through 140 characters or less. Despite the government restricting mass media, social networkings sites including Twitter and YouTube stepped up to the plate, providing the Iranian people with a format for their voices to be heard, providing them a way to revolutionize their country. At the time the world did not look to the news as their primary source of information, instead they turned to social networking sites and YouTube, proving that a tweet of a first hand account is more valuable than a news reporters outsiders point of view. Now in 2011 we see a similar thing happening with Egypt.

The people of Egypt have harnessed the influence of both Twitter and Facebook to help overthrow the government. While revolutions can occur and have occurred without the assistance of social media, it is now clear that in the 21st century, having a following and a voice on the web is just as crucial as having a following and a voice in "real life." Once again, through the use of social media, the people of Egypt were able to unite in a way that may not have been possible without the help of the Internet. Furthermore, through social media, the world has been able to keep up with the political happenings in real time and on a more personal level. Social media has provided a voice for the voiceless. Now anyone can speak their mind, now anyone has an opportunity to change their world.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/06/17/DI2009061702232.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20110211/ts_yblog_thecutline/social-media-plays-role-in-egypt-some-expected-in-iran

Reactions to Groundswell

This past summer I had an internship at a small, independent production company called Artigo/Ajemian Films. When I started the internship, we were in the midst of releasing their latest film BoyBand. One of the main things I was in charge of was social media marketing. After the premiere in June, the rest of my summer was spent keeping buzz going about the movie. The main way I attempted this was through BoyBand's Facebook fan page, Twitter account and Blog. However, this proved harder than I had originally thought it would be.

After reading the first six chapters of Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff's book Groundswell it has become very evident to me that not only garnering a presence on the internet but maintaining one as well is an endless job.

What struck me in chapter one was the story about the DVD code posted on Diggs.com. The fact that once something hits the internet that regardless of rules and regulations it truly belongs to the public is something that I was aware of but not to this magnitude. Although people can fight to have something removed, once something has gone viral there is no stopping it no matter what the law is.

Although I was familiar with some of the material in chapter two, it was nice to be reminded of the various social media outlets that can be used to market. Furthermore, being informed as to how certain social media elements can be used to market proves quite beneficial.

As an active participant in social media, it is often times hard to remember that different people associate with social media in different ways. Groundswell does a good job of breaking social media members into various categories: creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators, and inactives. In order to through a successful marketing campaign, one must keep all these categories in mind.

Reading chapter four would have been incredibly helpful this past summer in regards to promoting BoyBand online. Chapter four provides strategies for reaching your target market as well as reminding the reader of the pros and cons. It is good to be reminded that once something is on the internet it is on there for good and that there is no going back.

Both chapter five and six are helpful with providing detailed examples, reasons and strategies for listening as well as talking with one's target market. One thing that I really took away from these two chapters is that one should be open to change. For example, if a corporation starts up a blog with the intention of talking to the customers, they may find that the format is actually better suited for listening or vice versa, but if the company is unwilling to adapt then problems may arise.

Groundswell is an easy read, it is incredibly informative and helpful but since it is not a textbook it is easier to read and comprehend.

The Social Celebrity

The majority of the world has been infatuated with celebrity. However, our idea of what a constitutes a celebrity has--up until the advent of social media--been enforced through Hollywood and mass media broadcast. With the growing popularity of social media, celebrities no longer have to come from Blockbuster films or popular television shows. One case where an average person used social networking as a way to shoot themselves into stardom is Tila Tequila 

With the use of Myspace.com, Tila managed to obtain over 3 million friends with the help of her looks and mediocre singing ability. With fame on the internet she managed to score a deal with VH1 to be signed on for her very on dating show A Shot of Love. 

Not only is the internet used as a form of creating celebrities, it has also provided celebrities with a way to brand themselves. It is no longer good enough to be famous for the sake of being famous, now especially with Reality stars and socialites, social media is being used as a way to market one's self. Furthermore, social media has now become the primary way for young celebrities to do damage control on their reputations. With the use of Twitter celebrities can project an image that they want the world to see. Rather than watching E! or Entertainment Tonight, now the public can friend celebrities and go straight to the source. 

With social media, now everyone has their shot of 15 minutes of fame, and if they can use social media correctly they can market themselves extending their 15 minutes indefinitely.