https://youtu.be/0eUeL3n7fDs

Social Networks Central America and The Caribbean

...karol Alemán...

Interviews video

In this video we will show you how informed are people about social networks and some important people from our country.

We hope that you enjoy it! :)

Do you know what the web 2.0 is?

Have you ever listened about the Web 2.0? We asked some people about it and here we have their answers and also a little explanation about what it means. 

We hope you like it, and thanks for watching all our videos. 

Experiences working on this project =)

Hello everyone, in this post we would like to share our experience working in this amazing project. :)

I personally really enjoy working on this assignment, it was quite interesting found out that social networking is taking control of our lives in a negative way but also the useful tool that those ones can be in our daily activities for example learning processes, getting in touch with our loves ones and so forth. Besides and my favorite part of this project was work on the videos, we enjoyed it a lot and we got in contact with very nice and kind acquaintance  that I am very grateful with. =)
What I got as a conclusion is that even though it has a great deal of disadvantages that can damage us in different aspects, what we have to do is just to try to take advantage of them as much as we can and do it in a very responsible way.

-Emilia-

My point of view about this amazing project is that up-to-date Social Medial has become in one of the most important ways to get in contact, discover information, share memories, be updated about situations that are happening around the world and so forth, in an easy and fast way, so it makes our life easier than before... But we do not have to forget that Social Media brings negative aspects to our life, one of the principal ones is that sometimes we are so focus in our electronic devices and do to we do not pay attention to the simple, but at the same time to the important facts which are surrounding us, please never forget appreciate your loved ones, friends, the birdsong and a beautiful sunset, those daily situations are important that you take into account... 

For me it was a pleasure working with my pretty classmates Emi and Gaby, they never give up so it helps me to give my best.

-Karito-

Well, for me was a pleasure to work on this project. Almost all the people who are surrounding me know that I really love Social Media and all its aspects, so from this project I learn many important things. I have being involved on Social Media since I was a child but I had never seen it from the perspective of create a blog and write about it. There are many people interested on these topics and there are zillions of information about it. The part of create videos and go out and interview some people was an incredible experience. Just with the fact that people who do not speak English helped us it felt great. I want to thank them because without their help this blog wouldn't be the same. And finally I really love working with Karito and Emi, for me have worked with them is remarkable. They are the kind of classmates that evrybody wants to have. When you can work with people that really want to, and they give their best, you will see the best results. I hope you liked our posts and you had learn something new from them. 

-Gabi-

Facts about selfies

Up-to-date  people  usually take a picture, well thousands of pictures I mean, of themselves and as usual they immediately upload them to Social Networks accounts... This action is growing rapidly, but have you ever though about the negatives facts that it brings to our daily lives?

According to some studies, this action is the most annoying habit users because people do not realize  how horrible is this behavior if they do not do it moderately, at the same time it could alienating  family and friends.  

Instagram is the number one and the
principal selfie Social Networking site.

Selfie is a kind of narcissism.  First of all, just with the simple fact to have a Social Account is a narcissistic performance to do, but for users it is not enough and due to the lack of self esteem they will post a big quantity of pictures in many places with different behaviors and faces. 


There is a study reveled from three business schools in Europe which says that people who upload many photos on these virtual platforms will have a shallow relationships with other individuals at the same time intimacy is going to decrease. 


Individuals want to share photos in order to have as many likes as possible and receive a good feedback from others then, it becomes an addiction and people principally young people waste time doing this and avoiding daily duties; this new obsession's  generation has brought certain kind of actions or behaviors which the users to take a pic in every place they are, let say on the bed, in the mirror of the bathroom, in the beach, in the gym, when they are studying, with duck faces, but the worse part is that sometime those individuals do not realize how they are doing this action and they can come in a moment where upload photos with guns, alcohol, when they are smoking, in some incorrect places and for those reasons they will have a bad reputation and it is going to affect them at the moment to apply for a job or another important and professional situation; unfortunately, "selfie time" has been absorbing whole peoples's life until the moment that they are so focus on their electronic devices and do not pay attention to the family, friends and beautiful situations that are surrounding us... I am not saying that selfie is the worse action ever because you are able to share amazing memories, but if we do not have a balance it could show about us a bad background... 

We invite you to try new and interesting things to your valued time, selfie at the end could bring mental health problems specially in the self confidence and negative attitude toward themselves, it might happen when they do not receive all the likes they expect it finishes feeling dissatisfied with themselves or their body.

Principal apps to upload photos...

...karol Alemán...

Opinion from Leo Burnet's Digital Director

Leo Burnett is an international company which won the Costa Rica's agency of the year on 2014. It is the most internationally awarded agency, also it is one of the largest and best known group of creative advertising agencies in North America with more than 9,000 employees and its Digital Director, Carolina Ullua, from Leo Burnett Costa Rica shared her opinion about Social Media with us. They believe that creativity has the power to transform human behavior. 

Miss Ullua said that she considers Social Media is the present and the future, thanks this new format they have the opportunity to connect  with the community in a significant way. Besides, they can generate relevant content knowing the likes of their followers with detail. They can reach the client in the best way, at the best moment and in the best place.  She also said that Social Media is more than Facebook, it is a whole set of Social Media in which they can establish conversations with their public. 

-Gabi-

How to incorporate Social Media into your business.

Have you ever thought about incorporate Social Media into your business? Well, in this video you are going to watch some aspects that you might now before you do it.

-Gabi-

How has Social Media changed our lives?

Hello everyone, we are glad to greet you and at the same time show you our new video in which we request some people for their opinion. We want you to watch it and we hope it would be very interesting for you, besides we hope you to learn something new.

Teach kids be smart about Social Media

When we talk about Social Networks and kids, concern arrives.  It is because many parents are trying figure out how Social Media works, while eager children arise since they want to join the atmosphere of Social Media. When this happens hundreds of questions are so common for parents about how they can teach children use wisely this new virtual world.

Parents cannot forbid their children use these platforms because they are very important and essential in our nowadays communication. Some benefits are the follow ones:

• ·   Get to know people with the same interests.
• ·         Share music, ideas, art, etc, that will help them to improve their creativity.
• ·          Be in contact with loved ones and friends who are far away.
• ·       Obtain good values because they can be volunteers in campaigns with nonprofit and charity purposes.

    Furthermore, parental control and supervision are essential because children should not surf alone on internet. Training is so important; sometimes kids do not do the best choices at the moment of posting things on sites as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, so forth, consequently, they are expose to many potential dangers.  some of these ones are:

According to some studies 7 out of 10 children post the town where they life and school’s name. 9 out of 10 reveal their real names and parents’ names, and share their photos online with unknown people. 8 out of 10 divulge their birth-dates and post important information and interests.

So these behaviors allow predators predators take advantage about this information and cause harm to them.

Here we have important some statistics revealed by preteens:

39% confess that they have lied their age in order to access to websites.

30% have received inappropriate advertising for their age.

17% say they have been in contact with unknown people that make feel them scared and uncomfortable. 

Approach to children and try to be their friends is so important but it has to be measure. Parents have to be aware of what kinds are doing online nevertheless, do not respect their privacy might damage the trust and the relation with your daughter or son.

Because we are worried about this controversial topic, we have some pieces of advice that will help you take control of this in the correct way. 

KINDNESS: it means you can teach them encourage kindness and treat others with respect and politeness, and to under no circumstances upload uncomfortable or cruel information about others. It will help kids build good relations and avoid cyberbullying. And ask them tell you about any inappropriate messages that people post.

CAUTION: in this aspect is so important that parents inform children that they cannot upload personal information and try to do not say the places that they are located in your vacations and never tell their home address or their phone number, due to these information robbers will have the chance to commit kidnappings, suicides, robberies, etc… A real guide and supervision will help your kids be safe on social Networks. Explain to them to think twice before hitting “enter”.

REPUTATION: WWGS (what would grandma say). When we talk about reputation we mean that it is necessary that kids avoid upload any kind of information, images, photos, videos or songs with immoral and bad messages… it damages their reputation and perhaps teacher, partners, family could see it, furthermore it can affect in a bad way their future  because upcoming employers can see inadequate material.

DO NOT SHARE PRIVACY SETTINGS: boys and girls must know about the importance of never reveal their her or his password , anyone has to know it, it is with the purpose to protect themselves against some theft that can enter on your account and use your identity. 

DO NOT UNKNOWN PEOPLE: kids under no circumstances have to accept friend requests from people that they do not know besides, they should inform to their parents when someone that they do not know send invitations to participate in certain kind of events, activities or games.   

If you want to carry out this information you have to know and take care how to do it moreover, you need to have a noble and good communication with them and try to make a “social agreement” with your children, taking into account the significance that is keep their own privacy, do not share personal and important information and consider their reputation and never hurt anyone through this method.

Since they are little it is too necessity set rules on the use of technology, such as do not use cellphones at the dinner table, keep computer in public, avoid laptops and smartphones in bedrooms or in hiding areas.

Finally, pay attention the way you teach them, because you can lose the conviction and the friendship and you have to respect their virtual sites, personal information and chats. Setting a good example of you behavior through your own virtual accounts can benefit your kids use social media safely.

...karol Alemán...

Do you know the differences between Social Media and Social Networking?

In this video we are going to explain which are the differences between Social Media and Social Networking. We applied a survey to some people in order to know what they think about it. 

Successful marketing campaigns thank Social Media

There are amazing campaigns that were very successful thank Social Media, this is a perfect example of how Social Media can influenced in our lives and also how to take advantage of Social Networks in a very excellent way. Here are some of the best ones: 

TOYS”R”US – #PLAYITFORWARD

In 2014 Toys”R”Us put a hashtag for a good use. That year they partnered with Shaquille O'Neal and the Toys for Tots Foundation to raise money and distribute toys to kids in need. Customers were encouraged to take a selfie when they donated and use the hashtag #PlayItForward and Toys”R”Us would donate an additional toy to Toys for Tots. Since 2004, Toys”R”Us has raised over $35.5 million and collected more than 4 million toys for kids in need. 

AMAZON – SNAPCHAT DEALS

Amazon decided to take the hottest messaging app of 2014 around Black Friday and the shopping season by sending out daily deals via Snapchat that disappeared in 10 seconds. This campaign was a great effort to promote Amazon’s mobile sales and improve its sells. Using Snapchat for disappearing deals or to announce flash sales was a great use of the platform and it can be repeated again next years.

MICHAEL KORS – #INSTAKORS

Michael Kors was the latest retailer on 2014 to try and crack Instagram and make it shoppable through a new service called #Instakors.Michael Kors fans could sign up for the program and all they liked a #Instakors photo on Instagram they would be emailed with the product information. It is a great program for impulsive Michael Kors's fans to have the information and specifications. 

Lowes – FIX IN SIX VINES

Lowe’s innovate the use of Vine in 2014 with a 'Fix in Six' campaign with a super creative six second stop motion Vine videos of DIY tricks. Lowe’s campaign shows what is possible with Vine and using its six seconds format as a creative tool and not a limitation. The campaign was a massive success, with over 4.1 million people viewing the videos and cementing Lowe’s as one of the best brands to follow on Vine.

JUVENTUS – #LOVEJU

Italian soccer club, Juventus, gave their fans a ''once in a lifetime'' opportunity on 2014 which was to design the pregame card stunt choreography through a Social Media campaign. Fans were able to submit their choreography designs through a Facebook Application and share them with the hashtag #LoveJu. There were more than 3,000 submissions, one lucky fan who was 16 year old from Paris, had his design picked and turned into a massive choreography. 12,500 card stunt at a game against Inter Milan. This a great example of a Social Media campaign that can have a big impact online as well as offline. 

ALS – ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE

The movement that swept the entire world the 2014 summer had people dumping buckets of ice cold water on themselves. It was not to stay cool, it was to raise money and awareness for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The campaign was started by Pete Frates and his former baseball teammates and then spread the challenged to their friends on Social Media and donate money to the ALS Association. In just a few weeks the ALS Association received $100 million in donations.

-GABI-

Tips for job searchers on the social media

Hello readers today I am going to share with you some information about companies that are hiring employees trough social media, yes you read it well social media.

Maybe you are thinking but why? It does not seem to be serious, but believe it or not it is.

Nowadays companies worldwide prefer to look for future candidates trough social media because it helps to save time and to get to know the candidates better before the job interview. 
Maybe you think that you are an expert job searcher, and you have studied all the ways to have a very good CV and you have prepared yourself for a job interview but you might not be as familiar with the newest member of the job search family: social media. Yes almost everybody knows how to use social media in their personal lives but it actually has a lot of power to make you job search.
Here are two impportant facts to take into account for job searchers on social media.

Some studies have shown that the 92% of the companies are using social media for hiring.

And three out of four hiring managers will check out a candidate’s social profiles.







So, here we will give you some tips in order to avoid pitfalls and you will have all the knowledge necessary to be a good candidate for companies taking advantage of social media.

1. Get Everything Clean. 
I hope you have knowledge about this one, but I have to mention it because it is very important, this is not just to delete or avoid profanity and politic party publications, it also means articles that are politically divisive or could be considered offensive posts that are super random, long rants on a certain topic, etc.
2. Do Not Have an Account on Everything.
Being active on social media does not mean opening an account on every platform possible, please do not do it, it is better to have just one up-to-date account than have a lot without being feeded for a long time.
3. Use Your Real Name.
Even though a lot of people know you as your nick name please be professional and use your real name, companies wont be interested on "the swag princess" or "the rude guy".



4. Keep Your Image Professional and Consistent.
You should have a friendly, clear and appropriately professional photo for all your platforms, companies wont be interested on "the party guy".



5. Get Your Personal Branding Down.
In addition to a real name and an appropriately professional photo you should have a consistent brand across your social platforms.You want people to know who you are, what you do, and where you’re going.
6. Just Do Not Connect With the Hiring Manager.
At least not until a decision has been made.  And if you don’t get the job? Then it’s okay to connect with the interviewer (sending a nice, professional note, of course!)—you know, in case something comes up.
7.Look Like You Have Been Using It.
There is nothing worse than the hiring manager finds out that you have been without feeding your twitter for a long time and just because you expect them to check your profile, you feed it after 3 years. It looks unprofessional, it is better not to share this platform's link in your resume.
8. Be a Thought Leader.
While Linked In is a great place to show off your professional experience, Twitter is a great place to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. So, focus less on your personal accomplishments and more on sharing great articles about your field, commenting on news in your industry, and having a conversation with other major players.
9. Follow Job Search Experts.
Following job search experts is the obvious way to use Twitter for your job search and it is a good idea because it will keep your wall constantly updated with new advice and inspiration to help you to find that job of your dreams.
10. Follow Company Jobs Accounts.
On the other hand, following companies jobs accounts will  keep your wall constantly up-to-date with the available positions in the company.




11.Get Creative
Pinterest, Vine, or Instagram might not be the first platforms that come to your mind as helpful for the job search, but don’t discount their potential impact. You can take advantage of them and show off a little bit about your eye for design, photography and so on.







*And remember do not try to be someone else, be yourself all the time and be as honest as you can, hope you have learn something new from this tips that will help you to get a company interested on you.

-Emilia-

Positive and Negatives things about Social Networking

 

Business

Up-to-day Social Networks has caused a big and important impact for companies and business. Before, the principal method that they used to show their products and services had to be through some media such as television, radio, newspaper, printer and so forth, at the same time these process were very expensive.

Fortunately, Social Networks has changed those techniques because you as businessman have the opportunity to promote your business ideas, items or facilities via Social Networks Sites for free; simultaneously it help to know your audience likes, age and gender and receive their feedback.   Just to have an account you are able to target your customers in order that they can see and get your products easier and faster than long time ago.

Communication without barriers at the real time

When we mention communication without barriers we mean that in those sites you have the opportunity to talk any topic you want and express your thoughts receiving comments from others who are agree or disagree to you, learning other beliefs, points of view, even cultures and ways of living and meeting new people. Furthermore, many students, teachers and professionals use them in order to ask opinions on a particular subject.

What about the real time? Have you ever have had a love one or friend in another country? In the past people used to send and get letters and photos and it took around one month or more to receive it; nowadays it changed, you can share photos and chat with others who are far away in seconds, it does not matter the distance. That is great, right? =) 

Common interests

On those platforms you might find out people with same interests or someone who is reaching the same goal as you, it is call like-minded. So, it can increase the values, create something better and why not make something positive and bigger around the world uniting individuals with same objectives.

Be updated

Due to Social Media you will realize instantaneously significant and interesting things or situations that are happening around the world.

 Find a job

As a result of having an account on these places you might be a good candidate for many jobs; at the present time, many corporations instead of getting aspirants to their offices, they are saving time seeking people through these ways, in order to know behaviors and attitudes a head of time and then contact the best runner.

Addiction 

Because this an implement that form part of our existence many people could spend hours and hours using it, decreasing the motivational level principally of teenagers and students.

Bad reputation

Social networking could damage the behavior of kids and adolescents when users post photos with violence and sex messages; consequently, children and teens will learn some awful actions, after that, they are going to acquire some terrible characters affecting their reputation and others life.

Excess of information

Share too much information is big threat. Bad people might steal your personal information, photos and videos, then they have the facility to locate you so easy, going to your home and you can suffer assault or attack in your own home, or those bad people are looking children for humans and organs traffics. So take care with the information you post.

Face to face communication

We are so sorry to say this, but unfortunately nowadays people prefer talk through the cellphone as a replacement for having a real contact in person or confronting each other.  Because of this, we are losing real communication face to face with our relatives and friends.In some families even ours, we do not share beautiful moments or perhaps, we do not talk about the day that we had in the table when we are eating. So long ago, we did not have electronic devices as now, for that reason our communication skills were excellent, at the present you raise your head and see several people texting or checking Facebook or other SNS, as a substitute to exchange some words or to have a good eye contact or you are doing it with the purpose to ignore someone or something.

Cyber bullying or Trolling

A controversial topic too common in our days; teens from 12 to 18 or 20 years old have being affected in a negative way at the moment of talking about harassment and bullying, you can transmit some vulgar or aggressive messages, emails, phone call, pictures videos so forth, through Social Media. Those actions are very common in schools, high schools and in the work place.

karol Alemán Badilla 

How has Social Media changed our lives?

This is a topic which many people are talking about. Social Media now is in our daily routine, that is why we decided to share with you some of the aspects in which it has more impact. 
Social Media was not common in the past, so does it change our behaviors nowadays? The answer is yes; even if you are not a ''Social Media lover''.

Media

We were accustomed to just read the newspaper, and watch TV, and share the comments with our family but now we can go further than just comments in our houses. Now when we want to share an opinion we go to our Facebook or Twitter account and we can discuss with people from other countries and different thoughts. You can say whatever you want, Social Media is not going to restrict your mentality. Some people say ''Social Media holds whatever you add on it''. 

Relationships 

Relationships are changing, and media has being changing the way in which we used to get to know people. Now people meet each other by Social Networks. Besides it is very common that people start talking by Facebook's chat and they share their phone numbers and talk by Whatsapp. Friendships and relationships are not the same with Social Media, or do you think that in the past was too easy to send the photo of your boyfriend to your friend that is traveling? Or to take a screenshot and send it in seconds? Well, that daily activities were not part of old relationships. 

Studies 

Learning processes now are totally different, if you go to a school you are going to find out that they have computers for each student and they can access to internet, also most of them know more about technology than older people, Why? Well it is because if you travel to the past you are not going to see people learning how to use computers, on the other hand you are going to see people reading books and very big books. However it took a lot of time for students to finish each book, that means that now they have more opportunities to find information faster and specific topics. 


Photos

Do you remember when you were a child and your family used to get together in order to see the familiar album? Well, perhaps you have a lot of time without do that because with Social Media nowadays is more common to see the last photo of the new born of the family on Facebook or the wedding of your cousin, What a nice dress! Or, am I wrong? With technology we are missing that family reunion. However it is not bad at all, because now you have extra copies of all your photos and if someone is so far from you he is going to be able to see your baby in just seconds. 


There are more aspects in which Social Media has changed our lives, but for me those are the most common. If you think that there are more just give us your opinion. 

                                                  -Gaby-