Activity: Good or Bad Hashtags
The goal of this exercise is for you to begin to think about the implications of software in our world. Follow these instructions in sequence by capturing all your responses onto your own google doc (open one now to get ready). Wait for instructor before reading/moving on to the next step. Do not skip any steps.
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Choosing an awesome hashtag
Consider the situation where you are the marketing executive of an up-and-coming software company. Your small team has just received millions in funding from a Venture Capital firm who believes you have the talken to succeed. Your CEO (Chief Executive Officer) has charged you with coming up with a social media campaign to promote the company's first product. Thing is, the product requirements have yet to be determined but according to your boss, the campaign needs to start in a week so you can begin promoting now in anticipation for the launch at the end of the quarter. She makes it clear your job depends on it. You decide that the best way to do this is to create and promote a #hashtag and generate "buzz" on the web.
Recall your information is limited but the pressure is high to deliver something effective. Read through X's Hashtag Howto and explore a few options but don't delay..
[INDIVIDUALLY - Write down your rationale and your FINAL #hashtag into your doc - label as Step 1] .
As you complete your rationale write your #hashtag up on the board and/or share electronically if you are on the class Slack workspace.
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Not "buzzing"
After a week of actively trying to get your hashtag to trend, you have been unsuccessful. The CTO (Chief Technical Officer), who is a software expert, tells you that if you want the company's message to trend, all you have to do is help the algorithm notice. He gives you this article to consider and you quickly skim it (some of it doesn't seem relevant) but you zone in on Hack #1 (read upto Hack #1 in 6 Insider Hacks to Beat Twitter‘s Algorithm For More Retweets and Followers). After re-reading the article you decide that is the approach to follow but given that it will require much Tweeting you need help. Select a few of your nearest neighbors (up-to 4 members) and make a team. Discuss with your team the merits and choose a winning #hashtag from the ones you created in the previous step. Then have everyone produce at least 3 tweets to promote your cause. Remember to include the #hashtag and know that most common length tweets are 33 characters long.
[Capture your tweets into your own document - label as Step 2]
When done, let's read a few tweets out loud.
CLASS DISCUSSION: what "topics" are most popular?
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Yes, you are finally trending!
You are climbing a bit in popularity but your CEO still wants more. She is concerned that by the time the software is ready, there won't be enough clients and your sales will not meet the mark. You start to get worried and question whether or not it is reasonable for her to expect better results.
Then unbeknownst to you and his supervisor, one of the software geeks (who had been hearing about your efforts) snuck in and made a presentation this morning to the Board of Directors and a "lightbulb went OFF", the leaders decide to pivot and have the company focus on developing software that helps companies promote themselves on X (aka. Twitter). The software will have as primary purpose to make it easy for clients to generate tweets automatically and put stories together based on pre-fabricated narratives and selection of keywords. You feel somewhat relieved to finally have something concrete to talk about!
Have your team quickly review your previous tweets and vote the ones that can still be used as they are and which ones need to change.
[Each of you edit your own document but keep your original tweets and make a new list (copy/paste) where necessary. Prepend a "+" to the ones that were changed and - label as Step 3]
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Success or Failure
After many months of design, development and testing a relentless marketing campaign, the final blitz is scheduled for the launch of the product. Everyone is celebrating and there are already hundreds of pre-orders... Discuss among your team members what you think is the likely outcome of this story. Consider the following questions collectively:
- How would you rate the technical difficulty to implement the product? Why?
- Do you feel the company product will succeed or fail? Why?
- Are there any aspects of the story that make you un-easy? What are they?
[Summarize the points made by your team in one paragraph and add it to your document - label as Step 4]
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Conclusion
Finally in your own words write your answers to the following questions:
- Has the software contributed to the betterment of society?
- Do you see any possible misuse of the technology in the future?
- Are there any characters in the story that acted unethically? If so, how?
[Capture the questions above and answer in your document - label as Step 5 and SUBMIT the document in PDF format to the corresponding assignment folder]
CLASS DISCUSSION
CLASS DISCUSSION: sharing the hashtag