Our team here at the Clemson SMLC is proud to share we’ve just finished our first-ever Social Media Week event! This event was the first conference in our new facility, which just opened last August, and we enjoyed the opportunity to host so many industry experts and Clemson students with a wide range of majors and interests.
Below, we’ll recap the panels we hosted and let you know how to find our incredible guest speakers on social media!
Customer and Fan Engagement – Kyle Coulter
Clemson Athletics’ own Kyle Coulter helped us kick off the inaugural Social Media Week by hosting our first panel, focusing on customer and fan engagement. If you’ve ever seen content from Clemson Football, it was probably Kyle’s brainchild!
Kyle spoke to students about his experiences working with the Clemson Football brand and how to reinvigorate a brand to resonate most with audiences. Not only are athletes and employees extensions of a brand, but everyone should be working together to reach the same “North Star” through a unifying, guiding vision.
Wes Gay is an expert in storytelling and the power of narratives, sharing the StoryBrand technique with his own agency, Wayfinder Agency. The StoryBrand technique provides a roadmap of marketing principles: just like the archetypical Hero’s Journey, consumers follow a certain path during their purchasing journeys. By paralleling this plot line, social media experts and marketers can more genuinely reach users and meet their needs.
Most importantly, “if you confuse, you’ll lose.” Make sure your story is clear and straightforward and makes sense to your followers, and be sure you’re acting as a guide to help those followers solve problems.
You can follow Wes on Twitter at @wesgay and the StoryBrand organization at @storybrand!
Measuring Social Media Success – Chas Williams
Clemson University’s executive director of social media, Chas Williams, was the first member of his team to join us here at the SMLC. Chas discussed ways to measure and understand social media success, which goes beyond simply evaluating metrics.
Whether it’s for an organizational brand or individual brand, make sure you start by understanding your “why” – what motivates you and what are you trying to achieve, day in and day out? If you’re working constantly to meet that “why” and stay in line with your values and image, you’re contributing to your brand success. Strategy is key!
Sports and Social Media – Kaley Humphrey & Teri Johnson
We had a full house for our sports session, featuring Kaley Humphrey of the Greenville Triumph and Teri Johnson of the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Students had an opportunity to engage in a more panel-like discussion and ask the two experts about their experiences as women working in sports, the rigors of the industry, and the best ways to break into such a competitive field.
Both reiterated the importance of knowing your audience and your market – as Teri said, it can be difficult to market minor-league hockey in a Southern city! – and reaching fans online with content they really want to engage with.
Kaley was only the first of three students who earned their M.A. in Communication here at Clemson to re-join us this week: Raine Riley was another one! She returned to the SMLC to share her knowledge on influencer marketing. While maintaining strong relationships with a brand’s audience is important to a brand’s ongoing success, it’s also incredibly important to keep relationships with influencers tight.
Raine helps her public relations firm and its clients work with influencers within their industries, which in turn helps bring awareness and new fans to the clients’ brands. There’s no one-size-fits-all marketing strategy for every organization, but Raine thinks influencer marketing is here to stay, and brands that are getting in on the ground floor today may be better set up for success tomorrow.
You can follow Raine on Twitter at @RaineTRiley and her PR firm, Jeff Dezen PR, at @jeffdezenPR!
Building Social Networks – Nicole Day
Another member of Clemson’s social media team, Nicole Day, joined us to kick off our third and final day of Social Media Week. Nicole taught students about the importance of building networks via social media, and how those networks can pay off during your job hunt.
You may be surprised to know that LinkedIn is not the only approach you can take to social media networking! Depending on your industry, other social media platforms, like Twitter, may be more appropriate to build connections with others and share your professional accomplishments. It all depends on what you’re trying to achieve and who you’re hoping to connect with.
If you’ve ever watched WYFF News 4 in Greenville, you might be familiar with Nigel Robertson! Nigel has been with the network since 1999, and he visited us to share his insights on the changing media landscape and how one’s personal brand can fit into that.
By walking students through the timeline of mass media from the early days of a few newspaper conglomerates to our modern world of information overload, Nigel explained how it’s important to create a brand that will stand out from this saturated landscape and make you a unique commodity. He also discussed the democratization of news, and how we’re in a unique time when anyone can be a creator and share content in real time. Where will the media world go next?!
Social Media Listening & Market Research – Agassy Rodriguez
We closed the week out with a great session from our third and final Clemson MAC alum, Agassy Rodriguez. Agassy graduated with his M.A. in Communication last spring and now works with Campus Sonar. Agassy explained the differences between social media monitoring and social listening to students, as well as the importance for all brands, not just universities, to keep an eye on conversations surrounding them on social media.
A majority of all the mentions of your brand are going to be earned – that is, people will just discuss your brand on their own rather than you, as a brand representative, pushing out owned media. Consumers are also more likely to trust this earned media as they trust their peers more than a company, so it’s important to not try to talk over the social discussion: work alongside it to meet your goals and guide your business strategy.
Thank you to all our fantastic speakers for sharing your expertise with us, and thank you to our Tiger community for attending and making our first Social Media Week a great success!
The nation reels in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Nashville, TN that left 3 children and 3 adults dead as well as the shooter themselves, who was killed by police.
Globally, the terms “Nashville shooting” or “shooter” were mentioned 1.2 million times in the first 24 hours after the incident, with over 469 thousand of those mentions coming from within the United States. As usual in the aftermath of a mass shooting, the conversation on social media centered in part around the need for reform in gun ownership laws.
As you process the devastating news that another tragic school shooting took the lives of three innocent children in Nashville, Tennessee, today…
Remember the school shooter didn't act alone.
He was assisted by 222 House members, 49 Senators, and the NRA.
Comparisons between the incident in Nashville and previous school shootings constituted another large portion of the conversation, with Uvalde ranking as Tuesday’s number one trending topic on Twitter. Other trending topics on Tuesday included AR-15 (number 3) and Columbine (number 26).
Nationally, many conservative figureheads honed in on the identity of the shooter: Audrey Hale, a 28 year old former student, who identified as transgender and used he/him pronouns on social media. Conservatives were quick to connect the shooting to Hale’s gender identity in Tweets that many considered offensive and worrying for others in the trans community. As usual, Marjorie Taylor Greene helped lead the charge.
How much hormones like testosterone and medications for mental illness was the transgender Nashville school shooter taking?
Everyone can stop blaming guns now.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) March 27, 2023
Scapegoating Trans identity is certainly a choice considering when it’s a cis straight white boy, it’s because they were “bullied.” When it’s a racist with clear motivations they were “mentally unstable.” When it’s a cop doing it to an unarmed Black person it’s “fear for my life” https://t.co/gBJko00mOF
More locally, many users in Tennessee called the attack a hate crime against Christians due to the fact that the shooting took place at the Covenant School, a private elementary school on the grounds of Covenant Presbyterian Church. This effect was compounded after it was revealed that one of the lives lost was that of 9 year old Hallie Scruggs, daughter of a local pastor.
The media stopped caring about the shooting in Nashville when they found out it was a target on Christians. A 9 year old girl was killed by a transgender that was dissatisfied with the politics in Nashville.
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) March 28, 2023
Other users in Tennessee challenged this narrative, instead arguing that gun culture and congressional impotence were to blame for the violence.
LEFT: A child crying on a school bus in Nashville today after a school shooting
RIGHT: A “Christmas card” posted by the congressman who represents that child’s district pic.twitter.com/ZL7BLLBmMr
— Brad Batt for TN State Sanity ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾 (@bradbatt) March 27, 2023
As police released more information about the shooter, the term ‘manifesto’ began to occupy space in the Twitter conversation, with over 10 thousand users asserting that the FBI should make the shooter’s writings public. Some insist on conspiracy, alleging that the FBI is covering up the shooter’s manifesto to avoid perception of the shooting as a hate crime. Most of these Tweets attached a video of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, whose influence on social media, while regrettable, remains considerable:
TUCKER: FBI in full-coverup of Nashville church shooter's manifesto
"Monday's victims were murdered because they were Christians. It's that simple."
Those murdered in the tragedy were Evelyn Dieckhaus, age 9; Mike Hill, age 61; Katherine Koonce, age 60; Cynthia Peak, age 61; Hallie Scruggs, age 9; and William Kinney, age 9. The SMLC and the rest of the nation mourn their senseless deaths.
Earlier this week we took a brief look at the social media traffic surrounding 2023 Oscars awards, which took place Sunday night. Now, we’re looking into a deep dive of what people were talking about regarding one of the most star-studded ceremonies in the world.
From March 10 (the Friday before the show) through March 16, the Oscars (“Oscars” OR “Oscar Awards” OR “2023 Oscars”) were mentioned a stunning 11.23 million times around the world, with 1.34 million of those mentions coming from the United States. Another top traffic contributor was India, thanks to the Indian film “RRR” making waves and its original song “Naatu Naatu” winning the Oscar for Best Original Song as well as being performed live. India contributed 921.7K mentions to the global discussion of the awards show.
For once, sentiment was largely positive: 83.9% of all mentions were coded as positive. Some of the most-used words and phrases within these positives mentioned included “Congratulations,” “won,” and “winner,” indicating that users were congratulating both the nominees and winners. Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis were also frequently mentioned positively for their performances in “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” as well as both praise for and critiques of the increased diversity of nominees and winners.
Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan make #Oscars history as the first two Asian actors to win in the same year. pic.twitter.com/i0EXTr1wIv
Yeoh would ultimately win Best Actress, Quan would win Best Supporting Actor, and Curtis would win Best Supporting Actress, all for their roles in that film. Brendan Fraser joined the winning coterie with the Best Actor award for his emotional performance in “The Whale.”
Despite all the positive sentiment, though, there were still some controversies around the evening. While nothing quite reached the virality level of “The Slap” last year, it wouldn’t be a Hollywood awards show without a little chaos.
Hugh Grant was immediately called out for seemingly being rude to Ashley Graham while she was interviewing him on the red carpet. Discussion online ranged from praising Graham for how she responded, arguing that she just missed the joke Grant was trying to make, and maligning Grant for how he was acting. Of course, many have also asked the real question:
Grant’s name was mentioned 59.8K times in the same time window, with a spike on March 13 as people began to share the interview and discuss their interpretations. Sentiment is split nearly perfectly in half – 49.1% positive and 50.9% negative – indicating that people truly cannot decide who was in the wrong, or if there was even any wrong done.
Other headlines from the night included Ke Huy Quan and Harrison Ford reuniting on stage for the first time in decades, especially since Quan had retired from acting until “Everything Everywhere All At Once” came calling. The heartwarming moment brought back memories of their (literally also heartwarming?) movie together, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
Additionally, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” editor Paul Rogers discussed his white male privilege when he accepted the award, especially resonant as the film focused on an Asian-American immigrant family and most of its actors were Asian or Asian-American. Many fans praised this transparency and acknowledgement, especially in contrast to how Harry Styles accepted his Album of the Year Grammy several weeks ago.
When you thought you couldn’t love Everything Everywhere’s hot editor Paul Rogers more he goes and says this:
“This kind of thing unfortunately does happen to guys like me a lot… too much.” pic.twitter.com/2WElLxK7QO
Ultimately, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” ended the night with seven wins out of its 11 nominations while Netflix’s German-language epic remake of “All Quiet on the Western Front” followed closely with four wins out of its nine nominations.
With last week’s verdict and sentencing, a case that has lasted several years and ensnared the minds of not only South Carolinians but people all across America has come to an end. Alex Murdaugh was found guilty on all counts last Thursday for murdering his son, Paul, and wife, Maggie, in 2021. On Friday, he was sentenced to two life sentences without parole.
WATCH: Moment Alex Murdaugh is found guilty in the murders of his wife and sonpic.twitter.com/mFlftl1Pmi
With this case so close to home, it’s no wonder that so many people in the Clemson area were following it closely. To give you an idea, a woman sitting in front of me at a Clemson baseball game was watching the trial on her phone on Opening Day, while I was asked to pause the bar trivia I was leading on Thursday to announce the verdict. It’s no wonder that Murdaugh’s name has been mentioned in media, social or otherwise, 818.9K times since the start of the year (460.9K mentions specifically fromTwitter), with 27.8K of those coming from South Carolina Twitter users alone. Just since this article draft was started, there have been approximately 3,000 more posts, indicating people are still actively discussing the verdict and case.
In case you aren’t familiar with the case, it’s full of twists and turns that ultimately ended the more than a century-long hegemony of the Murdaugh family. Things began when the Murdaughs’ younger son, Paul, was involved with a boat crash in 2019 that killed a friend, 19-year-old Mallory Beach, and was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Investigations for Paul’s case led to inspections into Alex’s finances, which had been padded for years by fraudulent practices, including stealing money from the clients he would represent as a prominent lawyer.
Alex then arranged for a suicide-for-hire plot, attempting to distract from the crash. However, it was unsuccessful, and he survived, sparking distrust from lawyers. As suspicion built up, Alex’s wife, Maggie, and Paul were killed violently near the family’s kennels. The murders occurred just days before the original trial was meant to begin, and essentially ended that prosecution in its tracks.
In the end, though, Alex’s story he told investigators rapidly unwound, and he became the top suspect in the case. Not only did he seemingly kill his wife and younger son, but a variety of other unsavory activities came to light: the death of the family’s housekeeper several years ago, legal manipulations around the boat crash trial, fraud and embezzlement, and Alex’s addiction to opioid painkillers.
The sordid drama captivated the nation as this local scion’s story collapsed with every new twist and turn. Like with many other violent crimes, people were shocked how someone could do such heinous things. Buzzfeed News wrote about the psychiatric term “family annihilator,” and how it applied to Murdaugh and his sense of ownership over family members. The entire ordeal became an example of privilege and entitlement.
As the trial was ongoing, Netflix also made headlines for releasing a docu-series about “The Murdaugh Murders,” which was a top trend in social media discussions. Some top responses by users who watched the show discussed how they knew many people like the Murdaughs who used their privilege and money corruptly, as well as offering their condolences for the lives lost, including Mallory Beach, whose unfortunate death essentially kicked off the entire chain of events. A podcast of the same name has also gained popularity during the trial, and one of the hosts, Mandy Matney, shared a tribute to Beach.
The murdaugh murders on Netflix is a masterclass on intergenerational trauma and the ripple effect of tragedy and destruction it creates. pic.twitter.com/HMXX757r8p
Today marks four years since Mallory Beach lost her life in a boat crash that changed so many. I just want to say that her family and Mark Tinsley should get A LOT more credit for the tidal wave of justice that occurred in the Lowcountry after she died. Sending love 🤍🤍 pic.twitter.com/e8VaaQgbsi
While the sentiment surrounding Murdaugh’s name is overwhelmingly negative – 84.7% – there is relief that justice has been served to a man who, for so long, considered himself above justice. People are praising the prosecution, including lead prosecutor Creighton Waters, for their excellent work turning largely circumstantial evidence into a strong case about which the jurors needed only three hours to debate.
Alex Murdaugh juror Craig Moyer says it took the jury just 45 minutes to reach a unanimous guilty verdict, and the video of Murdaugh’s voice at the murder scene sealed his fate. pic.twitter.com/sFxkWYrRas
An overwhelming sense of pride in the underdog came through in news stories and social media posts alike. The jurors were praised for being able to halt what was a multi-generational legal dynasty before it exercised its power any further:
"But in the end, the powerful Murdaugh political machine was no match for a jury of ordinary citizens fearlessly carrying out their sacred constitutional duty," writes @CharlesHurt. https://t.co/EkrLUidiC4
— Washington Times Opinion (@WashTimesOpEd) March 8, 2023
It will be many years before their community heals from the damage caused by Murdaugh’s actions, but at least we in South Carolina, and around the U.S., can rest assured that justice was served.
