National Dog Day and Other Social Media Trends

So last Friday was National Dog Day, and my Instagram feed had cuteness overload. Not only were my family and friends posting adorable pictures of their dogs, but so were many companies and obviously UGA. #GoDawgs

Social media provided companies an easier outlet for two-way communication by posting relevant content and engaging with their customers. What exactly does it mean to have relevant content? Obviously, if you are a vacuum cleaner company, you won't just post information about your newest vacuum cleaner and all of its cool features; you'd post tips on keeping a clean house or how to make your carpet look like new again. This is because when people buy a vacuum cleaner, it's because they ultimately want to utilize it to keep their house clean, not just use one because they enjoy the motion of pushing and pulling the hefty thing across their floors.

Where the line gets a little blurry is when companies start posting things for all of these "national _________" days. There's National Dog Day, National Bourbon Day, and even National Corn Dog Day. There's a whole list of them, and boy do some of them get weird! I've seen some company's social media profiles post about these to keep up with all of the social trends that exist out there, and I guess because they think it's relevant. I understand why UGA or Petco would post about National Dog Day, but having Boeing post about it would be quite random in my opinion. These social media trends are pretty cool (and silly), and it's a good way for a company to post content that isn't directly about their product all of the time. However, I definitely think that it's about selecting what is directly relevant for the industry that your business is in because while content can be funny or interesting, it should still be relevant to your target market.

Baker's can post about National Bourbon Day, and Foster Farms can post about National Corn Dog Day, and it wouldn't be weird since it's still relevant to their industry and market segment. If Foster Farms posted about National Bourbon Day and vice versa? Not as much. With more of these "national _______" days coming up or being created, it's definitely important to keep in mind that most of them will be easy to post about on social media. However, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

How LinkedIn Changed My Life

If you're in college, especially in a business school, you probably know what LinkedIn is and have your own account. If you don't have an account yet, get to it! Now, when I say, "LinkedIn changed my life," let's not take that too literally. It's definitely benefited me in many ways and became one of my favorite online platforms, but it wasn't anything that changed my life's course of action.

I've got a list of 5 reasons why LinkedIn got me like:

1. There's no page limit

So we've all heard that our resume shouldn't be more than 1 page because we're all so young and inexperienced. True, but isn't it a little tear-jerker when you have to start removing things from your resume as you start gaining new experiences? With LinkedIn, you don't have to remove an experience or opportunity once you have another one, and I like how employers can see how you started off with these little roles or projects in certain clubs and organizations. We all had to start from somewhere (or multiple somewheres), and I think it helps create a story for yourself about how you got to where you are now. The one caveat I have here is that this doesn't mean you should be including every little position you had in that one organization for about 4 days.

2. Endorsements and Recommendations

I always get so excited when I get a notification that someone has endorsed me for a skill because I like to believe that someone genuinely believes you are good at that specific skill (unless your family member or best friend just starts endorsing you for everything). It showcases certain strengths you may have that you don't really put on a resume, and it can say a lot about your personality. The other part that I like is how you can get a recommendation from an employer or colleague. Employers are always trying to figure out what it was like for others to work with you, and these recommendations can provide them with that insight. It also helps me get a better sense of how others view me in a professional sense, and if there's anything I should work on.

3. Job search function

As a college student, I'm always looking for an opportunity to gain experience in the industry. Now that school has started again, it's time to start looking for summer internships. While I do use the platform UGA has us, I always like to look at other places too just in case. However, sites such as Indeed are overwhelming and not as aesthetically pleasing. In my opinion, LinkedIn has their job search function pretty organized, and it's easy for me to look at the job description and then learn more about their company's mission statement, what they do, the size of the company, and more.

4. Professional Groups

I started taking advantage of this to network with professionals in the industries that I am interested in entering. Whether or not I post anything in these groups, I am still able to benefit by reading any content that's posted and staying in tune with what's happening in various fields. While there are many social media platforms that allow for networking, LinkedIn (for the most part) is really focused on keeping this professional, and that means less clutter for me to have to sift through.

5. Projects

Many of the projects I've had to complete in my classes were real work that people in the advertising and marketing industry actually do. LinkedIn allows you to showcase those projects that you spent an entire semester pouring your heart into, and if are lacking relevant work experience, this gives you a chance to show to potential employers that you applied what you learned in those classes besides how to ace a teacher's exam.

For the other LinkedIn users reading this, what are some of your favorite parts of LinkedIn? What do you utilize LinkedIn for?