Killin' that Snapchat Game

Two weeks ago was spring break, and I was able to spend half of it in beautiful, warm Los Angeles; where even though it rained it was still a million times nicer than the frozen tundra of the East Coast. A little while after landing, I opened my Snapchat app and noticed a new story on my feed called 'LA Life.' I quickly realized that the story only appeared because I had my location services allowed, and was specific to the city of Los Angeles area. Even better, any snap I took I could upload to be considered for show in the story, for the entire city to see. I assume that some computer or team of people looks at all these snaps and picks the best for the story, so it was even cooler when my first snap actually appeared in the LA Life story about 30 minutes later. I had obviously picked something that I didn't mind everyone seeing, and it was cool to know that so many people were really going to see it. Snapchat has had these stories, native to a particular area or event for a few months now, but this LA Life story seemed to just exist there perpetually, as a place for all the 'Snapchatters' of LA to share their stories. I was disappointed (for many other reasons, too) to return to Philadelphia and find no such story for our area.

Snapchat has also introduced a new idea called geo-tags in the last few months, where they have preset filters that can be overlain on your pictures. Based on where you are, there are filters customized for that area. For Philadelphia, you can overlay the word 'Philly' in a bright, sparkly font. In Los Angeles, there were tons of different geo-tags, even for different districts of LA; there were two specific just to the Santa Monica Pier! They have also added ones that tell the time or temperature of where you are, as well as how fast you are moving. As a form of social media, Snapchat has rapidly become the most fun to use platform, as well as the most customizable. And, Snapchat has done it without really appearing to most people as a form of social media, but more as a means of communication, a means that is becoming integral to many people's daily lives. I know I always checking out all the Snapchat stories, from people I know to all the featured ones. There have been featured stories from the New York Fashion Week, from huge concerts and festivals like Tomorrowland, and just everyday life ones like the LA Life story. Snapchat has been doing everything right, and I believe will become the biggest social media platform.

Questions or comments about Snapchat? We would love to hear from you in the comments section!

This post was authored by Faiz Mandviwalla, a junior at Temple University and the Director of Finance for PRowl Public Relations. You can follow him on Twitter here or on Snapchat at bbqpringles. 

The Ice Bucket Challenge: What it Has Done for ALS?

Lately, it’s been virtually impossible to scroll through your newsfeed on any social media outlet without coming across at least a few clips of friends and celebs alike doing the Ice Bucket Challenge. The trend is so popular, in fact, that it now has its own Wikipedia page explaining the origins and unofficial rules. It even links to a separate Wikipedia page that lists all the notable people who have participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge. Although it has grown in popularity over the last few months, has this viral social media trend actually done anything to raise funds for ALS research or increase mainstream awareness of the debilitating disease?

(Source: Someecards)

Like any message that is spread via social media, the true nature of the Ice Bucket Challenge has gotten somewhat lost. There are several versions of the challenge, the most popular has participants both dump ice water on their heads AND donate to a charity of their choice but eventually evolved into donating specifically to ALS research. The ALS Association announced last Tuesday that they have received a total of $88.5 million in donations in connection with the vast participation in the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Despite the widespread attention the challenge seems to be getting, few participants actually know what ALS actually is. ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig’s Disease. According to the ALS Association, it is a “progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.” The Ice Bucket Challenge has received its fair share of criticism for helping to enable “slaktivism,” a combination of “slacker” and “activism” which describes the support of a cause without any actual effort. People simply pour a bucket of ice water over themselves and donate a few dollars to a cause they know little about.

Unfortunately, the Ice Bucket Challenge and the attention to ALS will likely fade into pop culture history as interests move on to the next big trend. But one thing is for sure, this is yet another example of the true power and connectivity of social media and its users.

Who Run the Social Media? Girls.

Social media sites are constantly changing and constantly growing. As new sites are developed, women set the pace for the popularity the site will gain. More women over men tend to not only try out new social media site, but also become regular visitors.

When it comes to the variety of social media sites, women claim to be more active on multiple outlets, but the men are not far behind.  The numbers are close but in the end, women lead men 30 percent to their 26 percent on the amount of channels women check per day. Facebook, which is considered the leading social media outlet, reports an attraction of higher females (76%) than males (66%) audience.

So, with the constant need for connection, what are the sites that command the most attention? Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter are the media outlets that command the women’s attention.  

These sites, however, are not only for interaction purposes but also informational needs. Fifty-eight percent of females use Facebook to receive their daily news, whereas, 42 percent of males use this site for news purposes.

Male presence may not be as high on leisure social media sites, but on LinkedIn, males have a more dominate attendance. The male population tends to utilize the resources on social media sites for particular reasons that will help in the long run. Women, however, exist on such sites for leisure and creative reasons. It is an escape to help pass the time or divert attention from every day experiences.

For more information on this interesting trend, check out the original article on PR Daily. 

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Alison Curran. 

What's Your Social Media Personality?

This is a little bit like the quizzes you find in the back of a Seventeen Magazine. What kind of social media personality are YOU? Check all that apply.

PR Daily posted this infographic that breaks down the type of people who are using social media, and it's pretty spot-on.

Most PR students and professionals (myself included) would most likely fall under the "Ultras" category.  We love our social media and we're proud of it and we might even find ourselves getting a little antsy when we can't check it several times a day.

However, there are definitely some classifications that aspiring PR pros don't want to fall under.

• The Peacocks

It's great to have a lot of followers, but social media isn't a popularity contest. If most of your audience is people that have no relevance to what you're saying, you might as well be talking to yourself

• The Ranters

Sometimes it's hard to contain our opinions, especially on hot-button issues. It's in our PR nature to want to respond right away. It's okay to speak your mind, as well as it's well thought out and appropriate. Ranting is never encouraged.

• The Ghosts

What good do anonymous or "fake" profiles do you? If no one knows who you are you can't gain much credibility. Online safety shouldn't be taken lightly but as long as you're smart about what you put out there, you can still be honest about who you are.

So, which social media personality are you? Are you a cross between a few or a completely new breed? We want to know!