The BUZZ: The Case of OrCom UPM Videos

OFFLINE + ONLINE = BUZZ

This is a simple formula that I made up just now. It simply says that what’s being talked about by people offline and offline create a buzz. Although, I’m not claiming that one (offline element) should co-exist with the other (online element, Emanuel Rosen took note in his Anatomy of Buzz Revisited the importance of both.

Rosen pointed out that a buzz starts with the word-of-mouth and is made more visible by technology. Thus, the trending topics on Twitter, those that we reblogged on Tumblr, the ones that got the most number of likes and comments on Facebook are just a few manifestations of the offline buzz. That is to say that these most talked about issues online are just extensions of the discussions offline.However, to someone like me who relies on social media in order to get information more than anything else, I see it as the other way around. I often get to know issues such as that of Chris Lao’s online before getting to know about it offline.

 

Why online meetings are NO-NO

We’ve gone so far. Congratulations to us! After four years of hard work, eight challenging yet exciting semesters (including our practicum) and 1234567 stressful yet rewarding days of being OrCom students, I’m sure, we’ve been properly equipped with skills that we’ll need for work. Perhaps, with our extensive training, we learned more than enough and I’m really thankful for this. But despite all of these, I somehow really hate the reality that we’ve mastered the art of cramming.

We’ve been given numerous group assignments and projects ahead of time yet we usually do them a day or two before the deadline. To add to this, we’re bombarded with sabay-sabay and sunud-sunod requirements. Of course, wanting to graduate on time, we have to do something just to finish all of them. Because of our oh-so-busy schedules, we can’t even manage to have regular face-to-face meetings and we always resort to online meetings which I believe is a no-no for us if we want to be really productive.

 

Forums or Tools for Getting to Know Your Market

Have you ever tried talking to a stranger? If your answer is no, then it’s just normal because we find it uncomfortable to open up a conversation with people whom we don’t know. Sometimes, the simple act of asking them for directions is quite difficult already. But with the social media, everything seems to be easier than they are. Even opening up a conversation with a group of people whom you don’t know is no sweat. With Facebook and Twitter, we can even like, retweet and make certain posts our favorite. However with this post, I want to talk about the most basic social platform we often neglect, that is the FORUM. 

A forum is basically a site where members discuss different issues ranging from the hardcore ones like current events, sciences, culture, education up to the lightest ones like show business, entertainment, hobbies, jokes, etc. They basically start conversations by posting random messages until it becomes a thread. The local forums that I’m most familiar with are the PinoyExchange and Mukamo!

 

Of Stories and Reputation

Stories, coming from people whom we know or at least those whom we think are credible, are powerful in subtle ways. Even if such stories circulating around seem like chismis or kwentong barbero, they tend to establish our mindsets and eventually influence our behavior especially if they’re told in a very believable way. Oh yes, this has something to do with the narrative paradigm.

The thing with the narrative paradigm is that it’s like an open book. It’s a collection of anecdotes about a particular person, group of people, brand, organization, etc. Such stories may come from anyone, preferably those who are directly related or affiliated with them. As they pile up, the reputation of person A, for example, is also established. But the thing is, the veracity of the stories may never be verified unless one will directly get to know this person or be assimilated with the organization. That’s why we need to be extra careful about how we behave online and offline.

 

#MyTwitterExperience

I’ve been tweeting for less than a month now. I created an account because I can’t seem to relate to what my classmates are talking about. Well, to tell you the truth, there was a certain event (that I wouldn’t want to talk about here) that triggered me to created a Twitter account. #MedyoChismosaLang.

To be honest, I already had a Twitter one or two years ago. I just did not enjoy it because I didn’t follow anyone as nobody followed me either. #LameAtThat. To make the story short, I forgot my log-in information and never ever attempted to retrieve it.#ISimplyDidntCare. But now that I learned how to use it properly, I just can’t help but TWEET all the way.

 

Hyper specialization, the way I see it

In a few months’ time, hopefully, I’ll be joining our country’s workforce. Although I haven’t made up my mind yet of what career I am going to pursue, one thing is for sure: I want to go back to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas  (BSP) where I had my internship.

My internship in a bureaucratic setting

As an on-the-job trainee at the Human Resource Development Department (HRDD), I was given various assignments that would assist their intervention programs for the employees, whether top down or bottom up. Once, as I was trying to read some files in the computer I was using, I stumbled upon a number of files that contained the job descriptions of the employees.

Presenting the new logo of BSP

 

The stalker in me :)

STALKER (n.)— Someone who literally follows a person’s every move, on Facebook or otherwise. From Urban Dictionary. (Only the highlighted parts are applicable.)

Whenever I have a crush, the most important thing I have to know is his name, not just the first name but if possible the full name with the middle name. Why, in the world, do I need his name? First of all, it’s a major turn off, at least for me, if his last name doesn’t sound good or too difficult to pronounce. Of course, I’m talking about the future. 😀 Just kidding! Secondly, with his name, I’d be able to get to know him better. I just need to type it and then click. Tada! His Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, Blogger, etc.

 

Computer-mediated VS. Face-to-face communication

My previous post On social media and relationships talks about how social media can help us (or probably do the otherwise) in managing our relationships in a very simple and basic way. It lacks examples and illustrations and so I felt the need to write another one.

Here, I’d like to talk about computer-mediated communication and how better it is than face-to-face communication.

Yes, admittedly, at times, computer-mediated communication can be better than face-to-face communication because of one reason: THERE IS NO BARRIER OTHER THAN OUR WILL TO EXPRESS WHATEVER WE WANT TO.

 

On social media and relationships

Relationships of any sort begin with a simple “Hi” or “Hello” (but of course, it’s not always the case). We get to know more about people around us by asking them questions and engaging them in short conversations and we gain friends out of it. We also get to solve our problems, which can strengthen the relationship, by talking about it, compromising or negotiating. The sad part is, we can always end a relationship by telling them that it’s over for whatever reason. Indeed, relationships require communication.

 

Be careful. Have a better discernment.

How much have you changed?

I never considered thinking about it until Sir Barry raised this question. No but seriously, how much have I changed?

Ever since I entered UP, I’ve been more discerning with the information that I get hold of. After taking my *Communication Skills I and II subjects, I’m better at judging what’s essential and helpful and what’s not. By just reading scanning some parts of an article, I know whether it’ll be useful or not.