Iran and Social Media

By: Aryan Javan

A nuclear deal between World Powers and Iran was tentatively agreed upon Thursday. This possibly will ease the economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for limited nuclear weapon development. The sanctions most-likely will be gradually lifted rather than all at once. The two sides have been marred by tension for years, as Iran claims to be in the developmental process of a nuclear weapon which most of the world is against.

(Picture of Tehran, Iran)

In relation to new media, many Iranian citizens took to social media to show their satisfaction. Over the past week many were tuned into social media, TV or whatever medium, to get the breaking news. The state TV broadcast even showed Obama's speech live on Thursday, which is very uncommon for the government funded news broadcast. People posted pictures of them celebrating, them watching the speeches, all sorts of happy images. There are of course still going to be protests, but for the most part people on both sides can take a sigh of relief.

Social media makes the world smaller. Thus, people can show what is happening across the world in a matter of seconds. In a place like Iran, people have a thirst for the western world. I have traveled there about 6 times on different occasions, different regimes, different political climates, and most every time the people are just curious. There is no hate among the citizens there. They asked me questions about the NBA, the movies, the girls, the food, stuff every foreigner would want to know. They let me join them in their soccer games and late-night gatherings. The media has perpetuated the axis of evil label and that is all people think about when they think Iran. Instead of the beautiful and rich culture of the ancient land.

Tying this back into social media, Iranians recently have been able to make connections to the rest of the world via social media. When the protests in 2011-12 happened, images where shown to the world via Facebook and Twitter. People were taking advantage to show the political climate during that time. The Iranian people do have a voice and it does need to be heard. My only hope is that one day all of this is to be solved diplomatically and Iran may once again open its doors to the west.

Social Media Threats

By: Aryan Javan

Social media gives people the freedom to post and say whatever they please. People can make profiles to act their alter-egos, troll others on the web, say what they truly feel, etc. In a sense they can be someone they are not. They could even say things they would not say in person to others. So when someone makes a threat on social media it has to be taken seriously, right? For example, if someone says, "I have a bomb" in person that is taken seriously. So why should it be different on social media?

Just recently, Princeton High School in North Texas, beefed up security in response to a social media threat made by a juvenile. The student used the application, Burnbook, to relay that they we're going to 'shoot up the school.' Police were tipped off about the threat from an organization that monitors the application. As a precaution kids had to walk through metal detectors and have their bags checked. Extra officers were also on staff.

(Photo: WFAA)

This brings to light the issue of what and what not to take seriously on social media. Personally, I think it is hard to monitor all threats made on the web and social media. There are so many ways to make different accounts and post whatever you wish. For example, John Smith makes a different account on Twitter called "The Man 14," and on that account he posts vile and horrible things. But it will never be traced to him because he has the ability to make more multiple accounts. People post horrible things on social media, but it is not practical to monitor them all. And the fact is some people just post horrible stuff to do it or to get a reaction. Like we talked about in class "feeding the troll."

My point with this article is to show that social media can be helpful in monitoring security. For example, Princeton High School was able to safely avert their threat. Yet, it can also hinder the process because there is just so much content from all corners of the Earth. It is hard to see what should be taken seriously and what should not. I do not believe this is an isolated incident, but this school did do a good job of nipping it in the butt. I still wonder though, all the extra time and resources wasted because a kid said something stupid. Of course better to be safe than sorry, but think if every kind of threat was looked into? We would need more policemen and women!

P.S.: The culprit was caught by police and is being charged with making terroristic threats.

Social Media and Business: Good or Bad

As we know in today's society social media has become an ever-growing presence. When it comes to business the two can now go hand-and-hand. According to Jason DeMers, of Entrepreneur, almost a third of all referral traffic for companies is because of social media. It can play a big role in gaining popularity and notoriety for whatever brand you are promoting. If used improperly social media can actually have a detrimental effect on your business.

According to DeMers, there are eight common mistakes by companies that use social media which leads to negative business. 

1.) You have the wrong people running and monitoring your account. Whether it is an inexperienced, untrained or poorly unsigned employee, this can lead to a lame account, long periods of inactivity or PR nightmares for your brand.

2.) You can not ignore or delete negative feedback. A good company will respond to negative feedback in a timely manner. It shows the company has good costumer service. Choosing to delete or ignore the feedback will lose you customers in the long run.

3.) You can not BUY likes. Buying likes makes your page look unprofessional and fishy. Think if someone on twitter has 54k followers and they only get 2 retweets, it looks sketchy. The fake followers and likers will not be able to interact with your page.

4.) Especially on social media, your brand can not look static or like it has not changed. Promoting the same product over and over will make the brand seem "boring" according to DeMers. It makes it look like the company does not really care what is posting as long as the brand is on there.

5.) On the flip side of rule number four, do not over-push your product! It becomes like another advertisement on the Internet to skip over. DeMars says that 80 percent of the time engaging content should be posted. Then use the other 20 percent of the time to promote the actual product.

6.) It is a general rule in life, be consistent. Do not post something now and then have your next post be posted seven months later. Keep coming up with fresh and engaging material to spread to the masses.

7.) When responding to customers via social media try not to give back generic answers. Make each post or comment seem personal and engaging with the individual.

8.) Do not bite off more than you can chew. You do not have to use every single social media site out there. Keeping up with all of them can be challenging and less effective in the long run.

Personally, I think these are excellent rules to go by especially with regards to running a business. DeMers is an experienced-professional businessman and has successfully integrated social media into his SEO agency based in Seattle. I connected these principles to people who promote music on twitter. The artist has over a 100k followers, so in my head I am like, "this person has got to be famous!" Yet when you go their profile it is the same post about the same album 100 times and each post has like 1 retweet and 2 likes. It just looks shady. I believe consistency, engaging material and honesty, are the three most important contributing factors when it comes to promoting a business through social media.

Jayson DeMers is founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, a Seattle-based SEO agency. He also started Crackerize.com, a lyrics-humor website. He's the author of the ebook, “The Definitive Guide to Marketing Your Business Online.”