Social Media Day

Intern Insights: Social Media Day

Social Media Day

As I embark on a dozen years of owning a social media account, it strikes me that I’ve been active online for more than half my two decades. That sounds petrifying – at least to me – yet the time has rushed by and I’ve come to terms with this being my normal way of life.

Social media is everywhere and in everything. Platforms push out advertisements, along with hugely influential input on trends, mental health, politics, and connectedness. People all around the world connect and live vicariously through the lenses of others, which has triggered many of us to almost constantly compare ourselves to strangers’ lives. When I signed up for an Instagram account at the ripe, old age of 8, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Curating and creating posts, and receiving feedback became a hobby to me. For better or worse, it’s a continuously vicious cycle. During high school, I ran an anonymous Instagram account, @RelatableMood5, that grew to have 25,000+ followers. It featured aesthetically pleasing images targeted towards trends connected to teenage girls. I found posting photos of other people was the most validating way to approach social media because the backlash was minimal. And the lack of complications related to this account enabled me to do something risky – post about politics.

I received a good bit of negative feedback and lost followers, which confirmed for me that social media is terribly inauthentic. It’s a performance. Ultimately, I was unphased by the negativity and even hate, largely because – since I’d shared neither my face nor name – none of it was truly directed at me, as a person.

Social media certainly has its pitfalls, but it also has enabled my peers and me to connect. Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and a few other platforms let me see what my friends are up to, while allowing me to disseminate private stories, as popularized by Snapchat. It’s this capability of social media that encourages others to, at a minimum, share select aspects of their lives.

Many teens are made apprehensive by watching other people’s experiences – it generates immediate FOMO (that’s fear of missing out for the uninitiated). We’re constantly updated on how others are spending their time. It’s a complex, fluid environment in which well-manicured personalities frequently replace genuineness, but social media is nonetheless a crucial tool for building connections and exchanging experiences within our globalized society.

Harley Rosenbaum is a rising junior at Tulane University and is interning this summer with SCG Advertising + Public Relations.

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SCG Trendwatch: Recruitment Industry News & Insights – July 2019

TrendwatchWelcome to your monthly round-up for busy HR professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the recruitment landscape. Check in each month for the latest updates from all over the web.  

Indeed announces acquisition of automated recruitment technology platform ClickIQ.

Indeed, the world’s #1 job site, announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire ClickIQ, an automated job advertising technology platform, based in the UK.  Read more…

Tech startup Appcast sold for $79 million.

A 5½-year-old Upper Valley digital startup that has become a major player in helping national employers find job candidates has sold a majority stake in the company to a German media giant for $79 million.  Read more…

2019 Study reveals new trends in trucking recruitment.

The trucking and logistics industries are the backbone of the U.S. economy. Naturally, as the economy flourishes, the need for trucks, and drivers, skyrockets. However, the high-volume, high-turnover nature of the industry makes recruiting truck drivers difficult. Research from a 2017 study shows that driver turnover is exceptionally high, reaching as high as 98 percent in 2017 with 70 percent of that turnover occurring in the first year of employment; this rate of turnover places an added layer of difficulty on driver recruitment.  Read more…

iCIMS acquires Jibe to expand engagement, recruitment marketing capabilities.

iCIMS acquired recruiting technology platform Jibe with an eye toward strengthening its offerings in employer branding, candidate engagement and tracking the return on recruiting investments.

Jibe will power iCIMS’ new recruitment marketing solution, Attract, which is available as either part of its core platform or as the front end of other, integrated ATS or HCM solutions.  Read more…

Disability Equality Index shows steady growth of inclusion.

A total of 156 out of the 180 organizations included in the Disability Equality Index received top scores for their inclusion of people with disabilities. The index is a collaboration between the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and Disability:IN, a nonprofit organization focused on disability inclusion in business.  Read more…

Oregon passes nation’s most generous paid family leave law.

Oregon lawmakers recently enacted the nation’s most generous paid leave program. Gov. Kate Brown signed a law into effect on July 1 that will provide 12 weeks of paid leave to just about every employee in the state (yes, even if you only have one employee), to be funded by a new payroll tax paid by both workers and employers with 25 or more employees. While the law doesn’t kick in until 2023, it’s never too early to learn about what’s around the corner and start to prepare.  Read more…