Week 16: Post 2: Course Review and Future Plans for Social Media Use

The single-most valuable part of this class was reading and discussing the textbook, Likeable Social Media. Although much of the book is becoming obsolete, Kerpen excels when he explains how the Internet, including wireless mobile internet, have transforms the paradigm of business public relations from broadcasting favorable messages to the public to focusing on developing multi-lateral relations with small sections of the public, and sometimes intentionally targeting individuals.

The aspect of the class that I anticipated most was the material on Instagram. I am been familiar with Instagram for many years; however, I still do not understand how "IG" can be used most effectively for promotion. At any rate, "IG" frustrates me because the interface still does not allow uploading content from a personal computer, especially since I have both good camera equipment and photo editing software. I only use the camera on my phone for "utility photographs," usually to help remember something, and not in any creative ways. There needs to be a platform that combines the PC-friendliness of Flickr with the social media features of Instagram. 

In future classes, I think the course (or new courses) should include the use of YouTube and other video platforms, as well as Patreon. YouTube, in particular, has developed an extensive range of methods for developing direct communications between video producers and their viewers. As a result, it is now possible for a video content creator to find an audience for very niche topics; one of my favorite producers, a English-speaking Austrian historian, has created a large series of video documentaries for history topics that are too specialized for even cable television, such as "Logistics of the German Army during the Invasion of Russia," or "How did the Roman Army fight battles?"

Not only does video present the opportunity to create content that is interesting in itself, it also allows businesses to directly show off their product to interested buyers. "Soundtraxx", for example, is a company that specializes in producing devices that allow model railroad locomotives to emit realistic sounds. A photograph does not do justice to their product: Video and sound allows Soundtraxx to show potential customers what their products can do, as well as how to install them, program them, and operate them. Here is just one example:

https://youtu.be/sUl4ZD8JYFo

The Soundtraxx website links to SoundCloud, which allows potential customers to listen to the actual sounds that their equipment produces. 

Print advertising, historically the most important advertising method for model railroading companies, cannot match the value of video distribution for a company that produces sound units. However, video also allows companies to display the visual aspects of their products as well. About the only senses that video cannot display well are touch, taste, and smell; however, we all know how appetizing the mere sight of food is, so video cannot be discounted here as well.

This summer, I intend to focus on producing video on a variety of topics, including California history and current events, to boost CALM-PAC and related organizations. I hope that this helps bring attention to my research and eventually advances my career; perhaps I will be offered a professorship someday. In Fall 2020, I will take only one class, and it will be on 2D Animation, because I want to be able to make maps to illustrate my videos, which I do not know how to do efficiently now.

Week 16: Post 1: Social Media strategy for CALM-PAC & Associates

As the business of CALM-PAC (California Liberation Movement PAC) is, fundamentally, disseminating information through social media, differentiating our "business" from our "social media strategy" is essentially impossible. The only real question is how many resources will CALM-PAC devote to promoting the content that it produces and distributes via its website.

Although Kerpen argues that Facebook posts are a superior method of disseminating messages than websites, that does not apply to CALM-PAC for two important reasons:

• CALM-PAC, through associated operations like YOUR CALIFORNIA TODAY, and FREE CALIFORNIA FOUNDATION, aims to attract views and achieve credibility as an information source in its own right. Our websites are our "bricks and mortar sites."
• Attracting viewers to these websites will eventually permit our organizations to produce significant revenue through advertising and cross-marketing opportunities, like CAL-PRIDE PRODUCTS, the merchandising wing.

In short, the primary way that CALM-PAC can use Facebook and other social media platforms is to draw traffic to its own sites, including YouTube pages. The main way to achieve that is through organic reach and conversions. Moreover, Facebook still hates me.

One of the first areas on which we will focus this summer is a campaign to revise the California History-Social Science standards to explain, for the first time, that since the United States INVADED California when she was already independent of Mexico in 1846, and the USA gave Californians no reasonable alternative to applying for statehood in 1849, the membership of California in the United States is VOIDABLE, and she is entitled to international recognition of her independence by all peaceful democratic states, including those of the European Union, Canada, and Japan.

This issue gained unprecedented significance when Professor Emmanuelle Perez Tisserant, at the University of Toulouse, published an article that reinforces the conclusions I reached last year: California was and is legally entitled to independence, whenever she declares it. 

https://www.cnrs-univ-arizona.net/menu-en/covid-am/is-california-a-nation-state/

Professor Tisserant was motivated to study this question of history and positive law because of the European eyebrows that have been raised by the penchant of Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) to repeatedly describe the State of California (our actual legal name) as a "nation-state."  Although "nation-state" is not a phrase often heard in the Americas, the term has a long and sometimes painful history in Europe over the last 200 years. Her conclusion is that, especially in the wake of the fissures opened as a consequence of the COVID-19 Pandemic, California independence is a possibility that will likely be reexamined in the foreseeable future.

Given the nature of CALM-PAC and its associated operations, and the bewilderingly fast-paced change of issues in our field, it is impossible to plan the publication of content over the next month or even this summer. All I can do is to treat the history of California independence like any other academic research topic, and propose to devote as much of the 30 weekly hours as I have available as a full-time volunteer (required to gain eligibility for student loan forgiveness) to engaging in research and writing on why California is entitled to declare her independence from the United States. 

Note, in addition, that all writing produced for the general public must be translated into Spanish (at least) and published in the second most-popular language in California, which will take additional time to do. Creating videos relating our research to the public will take additional time from engaging on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even the comment sections of news and commentary websites. I might even start turning my research into a book in 2020, and a screenplay for a feature film has been discussed; it is high time for men like Andrés Pico and José Castro to be recognized again.

Eventually, my work will have to generate revenue for me, but at this point, I can and must focus on gaining social media followers and concomitant influence. Perhaps my work will eventually lead to a career in journalism, a lucrative book deal, a professorship, or all three. That is all in the future, especially as long as my mother needs assistance all day long.

In conclusion, among CALM-PAC and associated operations, up to 90% of the time available must be devoted to generating English and Spanish-language content, optimized for social media sharing, during the foreseeable future. Approximately 10% of the available time must be devoted to administrative tasks, principally accounting, and website management. The principal activity that will cut into content-creation time will be designing, producing, and yes, marketing, "Cal-Pride Products" merchandise to support the California Liberation Movement politically and financially. 

The remaining seven months of 2020 stretch ahead like an uncharted sea, and it is impossible to say what lies upon the far shore. 

Week 15: Post 2: Reviewing Facebook analytical data

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Because Facebook still hates me, I will be reviewing data sent by Professor Faulk regarding a Facebook business page that she manages, over the last full week of available data. The last full day of data that she shared is for December 1, presumably in 2019. December 1, 2019 was a Sunday; therefore, the last full week of data begins on Monday, November 25.

The data includes the following:

• Total Page Followers
• Net Followers: Daily new followers, minus the number of unfollows.
• Total Page Likes
• Net Likes: Daily new likes, minus the number of unlikes.
• Daily Post Reach
• Daily Page Recommendations
• Daily Engagement: Reactions, comments, share, answers, claims, etc.
• Age, gender, geographic demographics for:
• Fans: People that saw any posts at least once.
• Reach: People who any content from or about the page enter their Facebook screen.
• Engagement: People who engaged with the page.

The demographic data is presumably over a particular period of time, and not over the entire lifetime of the page, although the exact period was not included in the data from Prof. Faulk.

Total and Net Page Followers: The data available, starting on November 5 and ending in the middle of December 2, shows that the total number of page followers rose slowly and steadily from about 11,450 to about 11,470, until it suddenly jumped to nearly 11,700 on December 1 and 11,896 on December 2. Strangely, the number of "Net Followers" on December 1 and 2 does not reflect the change in total page followers. One explanation is that the Facebook analytical data for "net followers" has not yet been updated. 

At any event, the page manager should seek to determine likely causes for this increased organic interest in the page. One possibility is that a particular article attracted an unusually large amount of interest, perhaps because it was shared or discussed by a more popular commentator. A paid advertising campaign is unlikely to be the reason for this surge in page follows, because all the new follows were "organic."

Total and Net Page Likes: The data available, starting on November 5 and ending during December 2, shows slow but steady growth in page likes from about 11,600 on November 5 to 11,623 on December 2. However, the statistics for "page follows," the data does not show any sizable increase during December 1 and 2. Over the seven day period being studied, the data shows a slight increase in net likes on Monday (+2) and Tuesday (+3), followed by four days of decline (-1 per day), before a spike of +5 net likes on Sunday, December 1. The reason for this increase in likes on Sunday, December 1 is likely to have been caused by the posting of popular content, since the growth in likes was all organic.

Post Reach: This data indicates that a paid "Promoted Post" campaign has been underway through most of the period studied. However, the data also indicates that the spike in page follows on December reflects an unusually-high success rate from post promotion, since other posts received much higher reach than posts on December 1 -- approximately 1,000 persons higher reach from November 14 to November 29 -- but that greater reach did not convert into more page follows. Once again, the page manager should review postings on December 1 to see what posts were most successful, especially among the promoted posts.

Recommendations: Nothing in the data indicates a particularly noticeable increase or decrease in recommendations on any day over the period studied.

Engagement: The most significant aspect of the engagement data is "Sharing," since that is the basis of organic growth. Here, the data indicates that a post published on or shortly before November 25 motivated a relatively large number of people, 18, to share that post. Even the successful sponsored post on or around December 1 motivated relatively little sharing.

Demographics: Overall, the page is most popular with San Diego residents. However, when the relative population of San Diego, Oceanside, Vista, and nearby communities is considered, the page is actually more popular with residents of those cities, along with surrounding communities from as far east as Escondido and as far south as Encinitias. In addition, the page is significantly more popular with men instead of women, by a different of approximately 20%. Finally, although people between age 25 and 44 see posts from the page more than any other age group, and a full 45% of all engagement with the page is among men and women between ages 25 and 44, the 45-54 age group has the highest rate of engagement, generating 25% of total engagements, despite receiving relatively few contacts from the page and its content. If that age group is a key market, the promoted post program should probably be adjusted to reach more people in the 45-54 years age bracket.

Week 15: Post 1: Using Google Analytics to develop California Liberation Movement PAC

As the COVID crisis continues to burn like a ruined building, the amount of curiosity about California becoming independent from the United States continually rises to greater levels. For example, Cenk Uygur, founder of the influential "The Young Turks" (TYT) Internet news network based in Los Angeles, recently mentioned that current events make him "daydream" about California becoming independent. Meanwhile, not only does Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) regularly describe California as a "nation-state," commentators both in and outside the United States are noticing this, and musing on his intentions. Suffice to say, events are moving faster than I am able to follow, and I look forward to being done with Spring semester so I can start writing regularly on behalf of the "California Liberation Movement PAC."

If I make a regular practice of examining Google Analytics metrics, my focus -- at this stage -- will be on total page views and page views by page. The first statistic is an index of the popularity of the site, and the second indicates which topics are most interesting to site visitors. Bounce Rate is also interesting, as it indicates how much the content of the site -- especially the landing page -- does not interest site visitors, or even offends them. 

Later on, indexes such as Average Session Duration and Pages per Session will be of greater concern, as they indicate how much users immerse themselves into the site. However, when there are few views, increasing total page views is the most important metric to track.

Week 14: Post 1: I told you Facebook locked my Ads Manager account

As the above image illustrates, I am not allowed to create or edit Facebook ads.

Fortunately, there are many alternatives for reaching Facebook users besides paid advertising, especially for a social movement organization like California Liberation Movement PAC. Organic reach is potentially much more cost-effective. It is also possible for CALM-PAC to "become news," in a way that a commercial business cannot. "Becoming news" leads to other people creating social media posts that are shared through social media without any money being paid to Facebook. The kind of Facebook users we want to reach are people interested in current affairs, and thus regular news and commentary channels are effective methods by which to reach them. 

Yesterday, for example, I devoted almost two hours to discussing a plan to get the California History-Social Science curriculum to be revised to better explain the history of California between 1834 and 1850, with special emphasis on the fact that the United States invaded "Las Californias" when she was in a state of de facto independence from Mexico, and that "Californios" fought bravely against U.S. troops, and even won some battles. Therefore, the general understanding that "Mexico gave California to the U.S." wrongly ignores the agency and determination of the Californios. This fact, besides its academic interest, buttresses the inalienable and perpetual right of the people of California to self-determination and to resume their state of independence from the United States, at any time. 

This campaign is an example of "becoming news," and any news stories this campaign generates will bring organic traffic to the California Liberation Movement PAC website, particularly because I will start creating web pages relating this history on the "Cal-Lib" site this summer.

The CALM-PAC website includes a timed pop-up that asks visitors to submit their e-mail address, and posts on the website are optimized for social media sharing. Therefore, CALM-PAC has  prepared the infrastructure necessary for achieving what a Facebook ad campaign could achieve, by alternative means.

Week 13: Post 3: Why Facebook Advertising hates ME and the feeling is Mutual.

First, it is very unlikely anything connected to me will ever be a Facebook ad, and the reason why illustrates how much Facebook is overdue for an anti-trust suit, and why the company should be broken up into so many companies that it can't abuse the public anymore. Facebook insists that I owe them money for an ad run almost a decade ago, and they insist that I tell the bank and/or credit card company -- they won't tell me which account was drawn upon, either -- that the charge made is o.k. and to pay Facebook the money. Facebook won't tell me how much they think I owe them, and they won't offer me another way to pay them. In other words, Facebook is literally holding a grudge against a potential customer, after at least eight years.

I all that wasn't bad enough, when I created a new email address, a new Facebook account, and then tried to buy ads, after a few days, Facebook detected my subterfuge and banned me from buying ads that way. I presume they connected my new account to me because I was using a credit card issued in my name. Of course, it is impossible to even get a pre-paid debit card for a trivial amount with a false name. So that option is impossible too.

Since Facebook owns Instagram, I cannot use that for paid advertising either.

Tell me that Facebook isn't a monopoly, and operates like an ordinary company that values ordinary customers. Screw Facebook!

I have concluded that the only way I will ever be able to speak to someone at Facebook and resolve this is to SUE the Company for anti-trust and unfair business practices, and either successfully break them up, or negotiate a settlement with their lawyer. Even though I am a lawyer, I am not in a hurry to file a lawsuit against a company as large as Facebook, or even spend time going to Court proceedings against them. I could also buy some Facebook shares and start annoying their top management until they settle with me. Basically, I can either make attacking Facebook into a business, or I can run businesses without Facebook. The latter choice seems much better to me.

Naturally, I would prefer not to think about Facebook ad options of any kind. However, according to my research, these options are currently the following:

Facebook Ad Objectives

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Conversions

Facebook Ad Formats

• Video
• Photo
• Slideshow
• Carousel
• Dynamic Product Ads
• Lead Form Ads

The most effective way I envision using my hypothetical Facebook ad is to promote sales of "Cal-Pride Products" merchandise. This would likely feature photos of merchandise for sale, and be targeted at people who like California. The budget would range up to whatever is necessary to saturate my market of the several million California Facebook users (I checked that before). My research suggests that 1% of earnings is an appropriate approximate spending level for advertising. The timing would be constant. Moreover, if I had thousands of dollars a month to invest in Facebook advertising, I would pay someone or some company to make the "buys" for me. However, other than using a paid social media influencer, I have many other alternatives to using paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Currently, earned media seems like the best choice, now and in the foreseeable future.