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.