Branding: A Day in the Life

            In my every day life, I use digital media on a daily basis. Every day, I’m always on wordpress.org. I have my own blog that I work on and put 100% of my time in. It’s self-hosted on wordpress.org instead of wordpress.com. I’m on it every day writing new blog posts, responding to comments, and updating my site. Wordpress.org is pretty much a self-hosted blog where you own your content entirely. You can edit the theme of your page to make it how you want it to look like. I have a fashion blog that’s growing every month and I’ve been making some steady income from it. I’m on my site every day, multiple times a day. Aside from my blog, I am always on Instagram and Facebook. Because I have a blog, I have to self-promote myself all the time. I have a Facebook page specifically for my blog where I let users who liked my page know that I have a new blog post up. I use Instagram as an extension of my blog where I’ll post a photo that has to do with my new blog post and let my followers know in the caption that there’s a new post up. I also use Pinterest where you can pin photos to your boards. I use Pinterest to promote my blog as some of my pins get noticed and repinned on a daily basis. I use Pinterest to pin my blog’s photo while also pinning photos from other users.
            When it comes to wordpress.org, I have never had a problem. All my content is 100% owned by me and have yet to have a real problem with wordpress.org. As for Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, I do have a positive reaction when using them. I love how I can self-promote myself on these three sites and garner more views for my blog. I love that I can connect with people who are interested in my content and meet others who are in the fashion blogging industry as well. What I don’t like about using these sites is that I’m opening myself up to criticism and “hate.” I’m putting myself out there to the public so anyone can easily “stalk” me and find things about myself. Of course, I can limit myself to what I can let others know about me but that won’t stop trolls from googling me and figuring out my life. I also don’t like how trolls can go on social media and make fun of you. Even when you block them, they can make a new account and continue to harass you. This is one of the downsides of having a public page – anyone with a public page on social media is opening themselves to criticism, hate, trolls, and even stalkers. I’ve had my fair share of followers who would comment nasty things on my Instagram photos and would make new accounts to harass me whenever I blocked them. The problem with having a public social media site is that you can’t block every hate account because more and more will just pop up. But if the small hate comments bothered me, one of the positive side of digital media is that I can temporarily put my site on private.            
            Although I love social media, I prefer using Pinterest over Instagram and Facebook. With Pinterest, when I pin a photo, my followers can see. Also, viewers who have the same interests as me can see it, too, so they don’t even have to follow me to see the pins that I pin. If I’m pinning a fashion photo from my blog, anyone who indicates to Pinterest that fashion is one of their interests can see my pin. I love that pins can be shown all around the world at any given time. I also like that you don’t necessarily have to follow a person to see their pins because if you have the same interests, eventually their pins will show up on your homepage. I personally prefer Pinterest over Instagram and Facebook because it’s easier to get more views on my blog and it’s easier for my pin “to go viral” than an Instagram of Facebook post.
              I receive emails from a ton of companies because I am either subscribed to their newsletter or they are reaching out to me for a collaboration. When it comes to newsletters from companies that I’m subscribed to, I’m more inclined to open it if they mention a sale that’s going on. If their subject line says, “60% off all weekend long,’ then I’m more inclined to open it. I look for emails that mention a big sale going on or a contest to win a shopping spree or gift card. Some of the emails I receive, most of the time, I don’t open them because they’re not interesting to me. If their subject line was mentioning a massive sale or a contest, then I’m more interested to open it. Also, I like subscribing to companies that offer helpful tips. For example, I’m subscribed to a couple makeup companies and I’ll usually open their emails if their subject mentions a tutorial or something that will benefit me. I’ll open an email that says, “10 tips on how to perfect your brows” versus “Check out the new products we have in store today!” If an email can help me or benefit me in any way, then I’ll open for it. If it’s an email about the different ways I can style a certain item, I’ll open it. If it’s an email about how the store adopted the newest trend and now they have new products in, I won’t open it. It all depends on the subject and how it can benefit me in the long run.
            When it comes to the use of digital media in marketing today, I noticed that companies have been paying for ads. Most digital media sites have an option where you can pay to get an ad seen by thousands of people. With Facebook, I noticed that companies have been giving in to this option and paying for ads to be seen by people who normally wouldn’t see or look at their content. Companies have also paid for ads from Instagram so that their shop or product can be seen all over the world by thousands of people. I noticed that in marketing, companies use hashtags in their digital media to get their content seen. They’ll post a product or link and add a few hashtags so that it can be seen from anyone who searches up that tag. More and more companies are using digital media to promote their products by paying for ads or promoting on social media with hashtags. Companies have all been contacting successful bloggers and influencers to pay them to promote their products. In marketing, companies use digital media to find those with a large following so that they can pay them to promote their product. I’ve noticed that these companies have been contacting not just celebrities but anyone with a large following. It’s a good way to market their products and get their company to be seen by thousands of people. Marketing teams have been getting smarter with using digital media.