Reports on Social Media Activities

Wal-mart
(Large Business)
I have been following Wal-Mart on twitter for the past month and their posts have been pretty consistent so far. Wal-Mart makes in between four to ten posts a day and relatively all of them have been constructed to reach their consumers on a personal level. The majority of their posts provide tips that may lead consumers to purchase their products by addressing daily issues that their products can possibly solve. They also include some posts that may appeal to the emotional side of everyday consumers. These posts tend to have pictures of cats and dogs. To my surprise, Wal-Mart only has 312,303 followers. Initially, when looking for their official twitter page I thought that the page that I found was a hoax because this number seemed so low for such a large company. The number made more since after reading their posts. As I was reading I realized that the majority of their posts appeal to women and mothers more than men and youth. The tips that they give to their consumers are typically ones that would draw the attention of women. They give recipes and ideas for family meals, costume ideas for toddlers, and even snacks for toddlers. These are stereotypical tasks that mothers normally take care of and Wal-Mart needs to be careful of feeding into it. Wal-Marts twitter makes their store seem very bland for a store that is very versatile. Recently, Wal-Mart has been supporting Mark Burnetts new television series, The Bible, since March eighth. Two days before the premier of the new series, @Walmart opened their mailbox to allow people who planned to tune in to ask the producer questions. They allowed Mark to conduct their first @Walmart handle takeover and answer some of the questions on the night of the premier. @Walmart has been supporting the hit television show The Voice as well. In between all of the promotion, they have been building up for the Easter holiday. The majority of their Easter posts involved eggs, dyes, baskets, and fun ideas for the kids and family. @Walmart spent the majority of April talking about spring, the new Jackie Robinson movie 42, non-profit organizations, the fight against hunger, and their usual advertisement. Even though we are only six days into May, they havent done as much promotion as I thought they would have done for the new Iron Man 3 movie. It is also six days before mothers day and they have only mentioned it once. In between the time of my last report and now, the @Walmart page has only gained 9,866 followers placing them at a total of 322,169 followers.

Whole Foods
(Large Business)
Whole Foods had 3,255,774 followers as of March 8th on Twitter with almost half the tweets that Wal-Mart had. This number seemed to be more suitable for a large business to have. Unlike Wal-Mart, Whole Foods store focused on selling a specific genre of products, organic food products. Because of this, it was less likely for Whole Foods to have fallen short of intriguing a somewhat equal amount of males and females. They made in between five to twenty tweets a day. Whole Foods tended not to re tweet others very often. Once they started a topic they tended to stick to that topic all day and sometimes all week. They also repeated tweets several times. For the past couple of days they have posted quite a bit of tweets about cheese and Parmigiano Reggiano. Whole Foods really tries to encourage vegetables on their Twitter page. This is extremely attractive to vegans, vegetarians, or people looking to become one, but they kind of leave their organic meat and fruits out. They seem to be pretty constant with the way they run their Twitter page because they still stick to holding a topic all day or all week. Whole Foods also reposted quite a few tweets in the month of April. They also celebrated Earth Day throughout the whole month of April. They made Earth Month Tip posts and they also had prizes. Whole Foods have made posts about the holidays Cinco de Mayo and mothers day. They also continued to make posts for recipes, dinner ideas, and store openings. As of May 7, 2013, Whole Foods is up to 3,364,825 followers.

Dollar General
(Small Business)
I am following the small business Dollar General who only has 10,000 stores located in 38 states. Dollar General had 29,283 followers on Twitter and has only registered 1,302 tweets as of March 8th. Their store can be considered a much smaller version of Wal-Mart because they offer a decent amount of variety. Dollar General did not post tweets regularly or as often as the larger companies did. They tended to make two to three tweets a day and occasionally posted nothing for three to four days. Dollar General stuck more to advertising the deals that they have to offer more than their products. Dollar Generals Twitter page was very bland compared to its Facebook page. On their Facebook page they had over two million likes and their posts gave the consumers more room for interaction. As of May 7, 2013, Dollar Generals Twitter page has only gained 1,091. Nothing much has changed about the type of posts they make as well. The majority of their posts go towards advertising their store ads, sales, and coupons. They didnt promote the holidays as much as other store pages have. There were hardly any tweets per holiday; one for Easter, one for Cinco de Mayo, and as of right now only two for Mothers Day. Compared to their Facebook page, Dollar Generals Twitter page is lacking a lot of attention. Dollar Generals Twitter page only has 30,381 and their Facebook page has 2,163,776.

Downtown coffee cafe

(Small Business)
Downtown Coffee Caf is a local business in my home town. They do not have a Twitter, but they do have a Facebook page. Downtown Caf had 915 likes on their Facebook page as of March 8th. They did not post often, and when they did make posts they usually made one to five posts a day. The majority of their posts involved specials or deals that took place on the days that they were posted. Downtown Caf also made posts when they added something new to their menu. The Caf also provided live performances for their customers, so they also made announcements on the entertainment. The Downtown Coffee Caf Facebook page has only gained 30 followers since March 8th. Their page seems to be exactly the same since my last report. Even some of the daily specials are the same. They only make posts about their weekly specials, new dishes, and performances. I dont know if it was just my computer, but I couldnt see some of the pictures they posted on their page.

World wildlife Fund/ GOODWILL

(non-profit ) World Wildlife Fund
World Wildlife Fund had 231,729 followers and racked up 3,349 tweets as of March 8th. The Fund consistently posted roughly seven tweets per day and rarely re tweeted anyone. The tweets made by the Fund showed that their Twitter page was made primarily to inform people, make announcements, and build their team. They had a series of Did You Know and Do You Know tweets that informed the readers about animals who suffered from harmful actions humans made. World Wildlife Fund also reported newly found mishaps amongst wild animals. As of May 7, 2013, the World Wildlife Fund has 250,080 followers on their Twitter page and are up to 3,885 tweets. Their most recent tweets consist of facts about endangered animals that they try to save, new reservoirs for animals, and opportunities for followers to donate. The World Wildlife Fund also celebrated Earth Day in the month of April, tried to get people involved in conservation, and scarcely made Did You Know Posts.

Alicia Keys
(celebrity)
Singer Alicia Keys had 11,960,570 followers on Twitter with only a record of 3,516 posts as of March 8th. She also only followed 360 people. It is normal for celebrities not to follow nearly as many people who follow them. Even though she did not follow that many people back, she did re tweet her fans quite often. From the time that I first began following her, a large amount buzz on her page was about her most recent album Girl on Fire. Alicia Keys did a great job of involving her fans in her tweets. Many of her posts were personal and inspirational and were geared towards her fans. She talked about the events of her days just like any other person on Twitter would. Also, the type of pictures that Alicia added to some of her posts made her page seem more personal and real. From the time of my last report, she has been promoting her new Reebok shoes and giving shout outs to the cities she will be performing in on her Girl on Fire tour. Alicia re tweeted some of the posts made about her concert from each city and she thanked her fans for all of their support. Like last time, she made everyday posts about her day and where she was traveling to. She also took part in Keep a Child Alive. As of May 7th 2013, Alicia Keys has 13,368,143 followers and has made 3,751 posts.

Goodwill
Goodwill had 14,615 followers and posted 3,628 tweets as of March 8th. They tended to only make one to two posts a day and they were not very consistent. Some of their posts were quotes from employees or informed shoppers about new improvements to the stores. Goodwill also tried to encourage people to continue to donate and make smart decisions on where to donate to. Another thing that Goodwill emphasized on their twitter page was their fight against unemployment. They also tried to give people tips on taxes and job hunting. To appeal to the thrifty side of their business, they provided craft ideas for people. As of May 7, 2013, Goodwill has 15,323 followers and has posted 3,782 tweets. Their tweets are still very inconsistent, and the majority of their posts are about taxes, jobs, and saving money. A few of their posts are quotes made by employees as well.

Rev Run
(celebrity)
As of March 8th Rev Run Had 4,084,899 followers and he followed no one. He made it clear in his header that his twitter account was created just to give his followers words of wisdom. He also didnt favor or re tweet any of his followers post. Rev Run posted in between five to ten tweets a day. The words of wisdom and inspirational tweets were designed to be able to help a variety of people who were on different levels of life. Being that he is a reverend, some of his posts involved religious guides or references to the bible. Rev Run didnt fill his page with posts about God, so even people who didnt believe could still benefit from his posts. The majority of his posts were sayings to get people motivated for the day or stay motivated through the day. He also tried to help guide young males and females when it came to relationships. I believe that he had written a book called Manology and this is where he pulled some of his posts on relationships from. From the time of my last report, Rev Run has been posting more tweets about worrying and putting faith in God. He continues to give good daily tips for those who are in need of them. He also has been posting about some events that have been going on in his daily life. Runs posts seem to be consistent. Even though he may not make a lot of posts on some days, he has made at least two posts every day. He continues to make relationship posts as well. As of May 7, 2013 Rev Run still does not follow any and has 4,160,282 followers and has made14, 597 posts.

Barack Obama/ Joe Biden

(politicians) Barack Obama
President Obama had 28,108,485 followers with only 8,755 tweets as of March 8th. As president of the United States, it is obvious that he does not have the time to make tweets on a daily basis. The tweets that were posted also prove that the account was not personally run by the president himself. Obamas tweeting staff posted tweets in the form of third person. On average they posted about ten tweets a day consistently. They did a good job at appealing to the audience that has voted for Obama within the past elections. Within the months of February and March, there has been an abundance of tweets that dealt with congresses decision to put an end to the gun violence. They also tried to appeal the opinion of those who would suffer the most from budget cuts, teachers and students. Obamas tweeting staff included many quotes from Obama himself, others in politics, and citizens. The staff also tries to keep followers up to date on Obamas actions. The staff continued to make posts about gun control throughout the month of March. They also made posts stating facts about events that have occurred due to Obama. Some of these facts consist of foreign oil, renewable electricity, etc. The staff also continued to post Obama quotes and have began making posts that involved video. Some of their posts are also about congress, same sex marriage, and recent issues such as the Boston explosion. As of March 7, 2013, President Obamas Twitter page has 31,282,909 followers.

Joe Biden
Joe Biden has 429,152 followers and has only posted 991 tweets. I am pretty sure that Bidens page is controlled by a twitter staff as well. The staff has not made a post since January 24th and is not consistent at all with tweeting. There is barely one post a day on his twitter page. Joe Biden tends to back up the opinions of Obama and occasionally wishes people Happy Holidays. As of March 7, 2013, Vice President Joe Bidens Twitter page has 454,144 followers.

summary
Social media creates the perfect opportunity for you to create an image for yourself. The ten examples presented above all have different styles and purposes for their writing. This is made obvious by the content of the tweets and posts made on their Twitter and Facebook pages. If you are trying to sell yourself as a business, artists, or any profession the most important key in marketing yourself is to be honest. Starting a business or career based off of lies or over exaggeration may be enough to get you started, but may come back around sooner or later and cause severe damage. Depending on what you want to go into, make your page interesting, fun and unique. No one wants to follow someone or something that doesnt bring something new to the table. When trying to brand yourself you should know what type of audience you want to attract. Once you start something that makes you happy be consistent and dont change every little thing to please your audience. Those who truly support what you do will stick around.