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DennisWang
Dr.DePiero
Writing2,Winter
17February2016
Howtobeaheadofthetrend?Thinkdigitally:
Ananalysisofthesocialmediastrategy.
Atthestartofthetwentyfirstcentury,therisingdominanceoftechnologyisslowly
becominganintegralpartofourdailylives.Indoingso,businessescansellproductsandalso
establishalineofcommunicationwithitscustomer.Throughsuchmedium,itprovidesboth
risksandopportunitiesfororganizationsasitdoes.Duetosuchmajorchanges,socialmediais
slowlybecomingamajorchannelforcommunicationsbetweenpeople,businesses,aswellas
suppliersandconsumers.Inthispaper,theusageofsocialmediawillbeexploredthrough
scholarlyarticlesTheSocialStrategycone:Towardsanewframeworkforevaluatingsocial
mediastrategies,(SocialStrategyCone)byRobertEffingandTonA.M.Spil,Butnotall
socialmediaarethesame:Analyzingorganizationssocialmediausagepatterns,(SocialMedia
Patterns)byEunGoandKyungHanYou,alongwith
NewYorkTimes
articleLuxuryBrands
andtheSocialCampaign,byMarkScottontheincreasepresenceofonlineadvertisement.By
comparingandcontrastingtheanalysisofeachpiece,throughlanguage,andstyle,onecansee
thatthesearticles,despitetalkingaboutsimilartopics,describetheeffectivenessofhowsocial
mediaisuseddifferentlyinmarketingthroughlogicalorempiricalevidence.
LikewhatJanetBoydinthearticleMurder!(RhetoricallySpeaking),said,indiscovery
ofonesobjective,onemustalsoconsiderobjectivefacts,logos,simmeringemotion,pathos,

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andcredibility,ethos(Boyd98).Intheperspectivesofmanypeople,companies,andother
organizations,definingtheobjectiveandgoalforusingsocialmediaisessential.Byidentifying
whocompaniesaresellingorcommunicatingtoandhowtodoit,itwillallowcompanies,as
wellasreaders,toincorporatewhatstrategiesormovestouseinordertobemosteffective.In
thescholarlyarticles,aclearobjective,thelogisticsofsocialmediausage,isdefined,makingthe
focusofitstargetaudience,communicationandbusinessanalysts,easiertoidentify.Becauseof
itsacademiclanguage,therearecertainmovesthatcanbeseeninthesescholarlyjournalsthat
clearlyprojectsaspecificclaimtheyaretryingtomake.InTheSocialStrategyconefor
example,itsaimistoexaminetheprofoundimpactandeffectvariousstagesofsocialmedia
awarenesshasformanyorganizationsintermsofitsgoals,sales,marketingandcustomer
feedbacks.Tobackupthisclaim,thearticlebyEffingandSpilestablishedthreestagesof
awareness:Initiationincludesthekeyelements:targetaudienceandchannelchoice
whileallcaseorganizationsstudiedpayedattentiontotheseelements.Diffusionincludesthe
elements:goals,resourcesandpolicies.Maturityaddstheelementsofmonitoringand
contentactivities(Effing&Spil).Indoingso,thearticlepresentednumerousexamplesfrom
differentcompaniessportsadvertisementtolocalrestaurantsthatexplainedtheirreasonsfor
usingsocialmediaandtherangeofspectrumaccountedfor.
Likewise,articleSocialMediaPatternsalsoemployedsimilarconceptbydefiningits
goalsfirst,usingthemovelisttointroducethetypologyofsocialmedia,suchasblogsand
socialnetworkingsitesandanalyzehoworganizationsutilizethemforadvertisementand
ecommercecommunicationbasedoncommunicationresearch.AccordingtoBunn,authorsuse
aparticularsetofmovescanbeseenasthechoicestheauthormadeandthetechniquesthat

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he/sheusedtoinitiatearesponsesasareader(Bunn,72).Beingfrankintone,inthisarticle,the
authorwantsthereadertounderstandclearlywhatthearticleistryingtoarguebyprovidinga
blueprint.Inacademicwriting,thismoveisverycommonastheauthorwantsthereadertoknow
itspurposerightawayinordertolayoutitslogicalexplanationlater.Throughthesereferences
thearticleshaveprovided,onecanseethatthroughresearch,contextandcontentanalysis,the
scholarlypiecesconsideredtheapplicationsofethosandlogos,bycollectingdatafromfive
credibledatabasessuchasWOMMAandKOCCAtoreinforcethecredibilityandprofessional
statusofaresearchpaper.Indoingso,itestablishedthecauseoftheresearchinitiation.For
example,SocialMediaPatternsmentionedbasedonaclusteranalysis,thesocialmediausage
patternsof317organizationswereanalyzed.Thetheoreticalandpracticalimplicationsofthese
findingsarediscussedinthispaper,basedonorganizationsuseofsocialmediaapplications
withtwowaycommunicationcapabilities(Go,You).Byprovidingahypothesistoitsresearch,
theauthorcanalsousethesecondportionofthemovewhocareswhichexpandsonthe
hypothesisbyprovidingempiricalexamplesduringitsmethods,results,anddiscussion.Forthis
article,thestudydeterminedthetypesofsocialmediaapplicationscurrentlyusedby
organizationsbasedonempiricaldata.Basedonthatinformation,thearticleconcludedthat
practitionersadoptedestablishedsocialmediaservicessuchasblogstopromoteitsproduct.
Whenwritinganarticle,itiscrucialtoconsiderhowthestructureoflanguageand
formattingstylewillappealtothereaders.Thescholarlyarticlesforexample,arewrittenmorein
technicallanguage.Incorporatingnumerousjargons,dataanalysis,anindexforthetableof
contents,andalsoreferencesattheend,thetwoarticlesdifferfrom
NewYorkTimes
articlein
thatitscontentfocusesonthestrategicalaspectandapplicationsofusingsocialmedia.Onthe

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otherhand,articleLuxuryBrandsandtheSocialCampaignappealstothemorepragmaticside
oftheconcept,identifyinghowcertainluxurybrandsareusingsocialmediainfluencesto
advertiseitsproductsforbettersales.Oncethegoalisestablished,itcanbeconnectedtothetwo
questionsBunnraisedlaterinthearticle:whatistheauthorspurposeforthispieceofwriting
andwhoistheintendedaudience(Bunn,79).Toanswerthisquestion,onecaneasilyfindthe
answerinthetitleofthesearticles,whichanswersthesowhatportionofthesowhatwho
caresdynamic.
Althoughallthreearticlesdoesanswerthepurposeofitstitle,thesubtledifferencein
lengthbetweenthethreearticletitlesdisplaythedepthinwhichthearticleswilldiveintothe
usageofsocialmedia.Thismoveisespeciallyimportantwhenconsideringtheaudiencefor
thesearticlesastitleisoneoftheimportantwaystocaptureareadersattention.Oftentimes,
shorttitlesareassociatedwithmanymagazineandnewspaperpublicationsduetothelimited
spacetheynormallyrunon.Duetolimitedspacing,ashorttitleforpublicationsmustbeableto
capturetheattentionofitsaudience.Inthetwoacademicarticles,itcontainsabouttento
fourteenwordsintheirtitlewhile
NewYorkTimes
articleissixwords.Drawingcomparisonsto
thecontentofthearticles,itseemsthatthelengthofthetitlealsocorrelatestotheamountof
analysisthateachpaperdoveinto.
InLuxuryBrandsandtheSocialCampaign,muchbreadthiscoveredregardingthe
basiccomponentsofsocialmedia,suchasadd(ing)extracredibilitytomarketingthrough
celebritiesandpopularsocialmediauserstosellluxuryproductslikeLancomeandYvesSaint
Laurent(Scott).Ontheotherhand,thetwoscholarlyarticlestookastepfurtherandexploredthe
moretechnicalaspectofthephenomenon.InTheSocialStrategyconeforexample,theauthor

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presentedaconemodel,separatedbyitsinitiation,diffusion,andmaturitystageofusingsocial
mediatomeasuretheeffectivenessandoverallconsiderationandperformanceithasforits
audience(Effing,Spil).Anexamplethatthearticlepresentedissportsbrandcompanies,who
monitorthesuccessoftheirsocialmediathroughincreasefannumbers,increasinginteractivity,
andincreasedreachofitsaudience.Indoingso,itreachesthematuritystageofsocialmedia
usageandapplicationbyconsideringthecontentactivities,andconstantlymeasuringfeedback
responsesthroughapplicationssuchasTwitter(Effing,Spil).Similartothestructureofacone,
oneendwillincreaseincircumference,representingthenumberoffactorsthateachstagesofthe
modelconsidersaspartofthesocialmediastrategy.Likewise,GoandYousarticlealso
approachedthetopicsimilarly,usingthetraditionalguidelinesofaboldtitle,headlinesforits
subsections,statisticaldatasamples,referencestocrediblesourcesandconclusiontosupportits
findings.
However,oneofthedrawbacksofscholarlyarticlesisthatitistooimpracticalfor
traditionaluseespeciallyforconsumers.Becauseofthehighrestrictivestatusthatisassociated
withjargonsmovecommonlyusedinscholarlyarticlesitwillbeharderforthegeneral
audiencetounderstandthesetermswhichhindersarticlesabilitytoconnectwithitsbroader
audience.Peopledonotjustpullupstatisticaldataorfindaspecificjargoninattemptto
understandacurrenttrendofsayanincreaseinpurchaseofLOrealsnewperfume(Go,You).
Forabetterunderstandingofsuchtrend,goingintotheFashionandStylesectionofacredible
newspaperormagazinesuchas
NewYorkTimes
tendstogivemoresatisfyinganswersthana
scholarlyarticle.

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Inparticular,articleLuxuryBrandsandtheSocialCampaigndidanexcellentjob
keepingitsgoalplainandsimple,explaininghowsocialmediahaschangedhowviewersshop
fornewclothing,sharelatestfashiontrends,andmoreimportantly,communicatewitheach
other.AsJosedeCaboofOlapicsaid,peoplearenowwiredinadifferentway.Theyareused
toseeingauthenticityonline.Byembracingthat,brandscanbuildastrongerconnectionwith
consumers(Scott).Unlikescholarlypieces,theseblogandnewspaperwritingstendtohavea
moreexpressionandsimplerchoiceoflanguage.Bydoingso,thesenonacademicwritingscan
connectwiththegeneralaudiencesinawaythatscholarlyarticlesareunabletoachieve.
New
YorkTimes
forexample,hasalayoutthatisplainandsimple,usingverybasic,butchiccolors
suchaswhitecoloredbackgroundthatcontrastsperfectlywiththeblackletteredwords.For
manypeople,itveryeasytoreadandeleganttolookat,amoveoftenusedamongmagazineand
newspaperpublicationstocaptureitsaestheticappeal.Inaddition,picturesoffashiontrends
suchasKatespadesInstagramphotofeaturingAnnaKendrickshoppingarealsoprovidedwithin
thepiece,givingreadersexcellentvisualaidstoconnecttoitsmessage(Scott).Otherthingsto
noticeinregardstothelayoutisthethesharesection,containingshortcutstoFacebook
sharing,tweeting,andevenpinit,keepingitverytwentyfirstcenturyandcurrentcompared
tothescholarlyarticlesthathasnoneofthefunctions.Inotherwords,dependingonthe
situationalandculturalcontext,therearetimeswhereusingscholarlyarticlesasreferenceswill
actuallydiminishonesintendedunderstandingforanewfashiontrendduetothecomplexityof
thepublishedarticles.
Socialmediaitself,isstillafairlynewconceptinourworld.Likeoneofthescholarly
articlesmentioned,thereisstillalackofsamplesandstudiestoclearlyestablishthemeaning

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andeffectsofthesocialmedia.Nonetheless,thesecurrentavailablearticlesdoveandexplored
thetopicofsocialmediaofitsusageandfunctionwithgreatclarity.Althoughthearticles
examineddifferentaspectsandeffectsofsocialmedia,suchasbecomingapartof
communicationbetweencustomersorproductplacementinsocialplatforms,theyallappliedit
tothepracticalityofthetrend.Whetheritisfromanacademicstandpoint,abusinessstandpoint,
orconsumerstandpoint,thedifferentapplicationsandwritingstrategiesemployedinthese
articleshelpclarifytheimportanceofthesocialmediaphenomenon,andapplieditsfunctionby
drawingcomparisonsbetweenusingitasaresearchsubjectorbrandmarketing.