​What is We Heart It?

We Heart It is another image-based social network, along the same lines as Pinterest. But, where Pinterest is mainly used for compiling wish-lists and sharing recipes and tutorials, We Heart It is primarily used as a platform for self-expression.  Users share inspirational quotes, pictures of celebrities and clothing, and other cutesy, arty things. In that respect, it’s similar to Tumblr. 

Who uses We Heart It?

We Heart It has around 25 million monthly users. More than 80% of them are under 24, and 70% of them are female. It’s growing at the rate of one million sign-ups per month, and two-thirds of those are accessing the platform from a mobile device. 

Why should you care?

For a start, it’s one of the few social networks that’s actually pretty safe for kids. Because users can’t comment on posts or send messages, there’s nowhere for cyber-bullying to take place. Users “heart” images they like, and these images appear on their page. It’s like social scrapbooking, and is a much safer way for teens to express themselves than Tumblr.

For marketers, We Heart It is difficult — but not impossible — to crack. The pros? Millennials. Millions of them. The cons? Users “heart” images that say something about who they are, what they like, and how they aspire to be. Fashion might fit into that, but a lot of things probably won’t. 

Is We Heart It good for marketing?

This really depends on your business. What are you selling? Will teenage girls identify with your brand? If so, you might have a chance. Spend some time browsing the images found on the site, and you’ll have an idea as to whether your business has a place there. 

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​We all have control over what we post online, whether that’s a single status update or an entire campaign. What we don’t have control over is how other people respond. This isn’t exclusively an online problem — it’s a problem that marketers have been facing since the beginning of marketing.

Of course, experience and market research can provide an indication as to how your audience will react, but sometimes, things just don’t go to plan. There are trolls to contend with. Hashtag hijackers. People who have completely misinterpreted your posts. And, because your posts are likely to be seen by people outside of your target audience, you’re bound to get some folk who just don’t like what you’re saying for whatever reason.

With all that, it’s not uncommon for really anything online to spin out of control - from a well thought-out campaign to an offhand reply to a tweet. And when the conversation around your brand - or your professional identity - is not going the way you planned, then you better be ready to handle the #SocialSpin. The purpose of this series is to make sure you’re equipped to deal with it, if and when it occurs. 

Here’s what we’ll be looking at over the next few months (this post will be updated to serve as an index):

• How it happens
• Preventative measures: Social media policies
• Catching the spin
• Damage control
• Moving forward

We’re not trying to make life any more difficult for you, so each section — and each post within that section — will be full of actionable, easy-to-implement information to either redirect that online conversation the way you want it go, or know when (and how) to cut and run. 

If you have any specific questions, ask us on Twitter using the hashtag #SocialSpin, and we’ll do our best to answer them.

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Image by Ealasaid.

​Around 1:00 a.m. on May 3, then recently-hired PayPal exec Rakesh Agrawal began tweeting from New Orleans Jazz Fest, hurling insults at various coworkers and higher-ups. Later, by the light of day, he tweeted an apology to just two of those colleagues, after blaming his phone’s interface, claiming the public tweets were meant to be direct messages. By later that afternoon PayPal had tweeted saying that Agrawal was “no longer with the company.”

That certainly could be open to interpretation, but admittedly it sounds as though he was fired for the tweets. Agrawal insists he quit.

But it actually doesn’t matter. Because he looks irresponsible and unstable either way. Even if the first tweet had been, “Just quit my job at PayPal—so long, suckers!” the subsequent drunken rants, specifically directed to former colleagues, paint the picture of a man who values his professional reputation far too little, and who – upon ingesting a little alcohol – wields social media like a battering ram, with no regard for the fallout.

In the days following the incident, Agrawal’s tweets have seesawed between angry and arrogant, with a dash of desperation as he drops hints about new enterprises that will, in a nutshell, make everyone “rue the day.” But it’s hard to tell what, if anything, his new venture actually is. 

And while there certainly has been some attention on him - due to the exposure that something like this happening with a company as large as PayPal can’t help but bring - it’s doubtful that any of it is going to do anything but hurt him. 

If you were the company who had hired him and been the catalyst for him “quitting” PayPal, would these tweets make you psyched to start working with him? If you were another company approached by him, would you even grant an interview?

Whatever Agrawal may have had to offer PayPal, or the next place he works, he’s put a pretty substantial black mark on his name for the moment. And in Cyberspace, a moment is all it takes to ruin a reputation.

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​What is Kik?

Kik is a free messaging application available for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry and Symbian. It allows users to send and receive messages (known as Kiks) using WiFi. 

iOS covers iPod Touch and iPads as well as iPhones, so if your child has any of these devices, you should probably read on.

Who uses Kik?

Despite its 17+ rating in the App Store, Kik is extremely popular with kids and younger teens. Unless you’ve restricted apps by rating on your child’s smartphone, they can download anything they want. 

Why should you care?

If Kik was just used to discuss homework and plans for the weekend, it wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, it’s frequently used for sexting, swapping nude pictures, and chatting with strangers. The reviews in the app store are all the evidence you need of this:

​In addition to the cushy, regular blogging gig every writer wants, there’s a lot of writing that happens around websites, both upon their creation, and when they are routinely redesigned or updated.

Who do you think writes the welcome message and initial site description on the home page? Who writes the “About” info? Who crafts the bios of dance teachers, musicians, carpenters, lawyers, and realtors? Magical elves and fairies called ghostwriters, that’s who.

What else might you be called to write for a newly designed or revamped website?

• Practice group descriptions for law firms
• Class descriptions for a community college
• General information pages for any number of local businesses, from dance studios to electricians to pest control

These types of assignments aren’t going to give you an author credit on the website, but depending on the business you may be allowed to use excerpts to get additional work.

Most webmasters only deal with the design end of things, and leave the writing to the business owner – who hopefully is smart enough to hire you.

Of course, we here at DMG can take care of both the design element and the writing side, so if you need a website of your very own, give us a shout. 
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