“Generation Like” Discussion Questions:

1.  “Engagement” is observing or reading content on social media. You are not just passively scrolling through but you are engaging with it.

“Interaction” is the act of sharing, liking, or commenting on a piece of content on social media. It’s a step beyond “engagement” you are not just reading the content and being engaged you are interacting with it through commenting, liking, and sharing.

“Reach” is how many users were exposed to a certain piece of content. For example, if you post an Instagram it probably will "reach" a good number of your followers, if your friends liked it and other people looked at what they liked then it “reached” those people as well. If you also choose to post that Instagram on your Facebook and Twitter than your content will "reach" your followers on those sites as well. When it comes to advertising companies will pay more money for sites that have the best “reach”.

“Target” is who you want to see your content (what is the audience you are aiming for). For example, Taco Bell’s “target” audience is teens and young adults. That’s why they chose Tyler Oakley to advertise their company because the vast majority of his followers are teens.

2.  To me “Like”ing someone’s post on Facebook means I identify, enjoy, or admire the content they posted and I want them as well as others to know it.  

3.  Knowing others “like” what I “like” does defiantly influence me. It validates that what I like is important or worthy or “liking”. Also, it means I’m “friends” with people who share common interests, values, humor, and taste as me.

4.    An “influencer” is a person or brand that has a lot of followers or influence on social media and they encourage others to “like” something because they like it and they have a high status which validates their opinions and likes.

5.  When Oreos chose to activate for gay rights in their advertisements they did so strategically. Activating for a good cause makes Oreos look good while also shedding light on an important social issue. However, beyond that it also encourages consumers who support gay rights to also support Oreos by buy their product. Oreos is saying to consumers look we have this common ground join with us to fight the cause. The marketing is strategic, because by using their ads as a PSA of sorts they make themselves look charitable but in reality they are profiting from it greatly.

6.   Companies use social media to advertise by encouraging the consumer to also be the marketer/ advertisers. They want people, particularity teens, to talk about their product. They also use social media in the hopes of forming a brand loyalty with teens.

7.   Marketers are using social media to form brand trust by using celebrities, Youtubers such as Tyler, or other people who are rich in the currency of likes, to talk about their products and encourage their followers to buy their products.

8.   Celebrities use social media to advertise by sharing with their followers brands/products/companies that they think are cool or they like to use. They tell their followers why they like it or why it’s cool; this is a not so subtle way of saying “hey, go buy this product because then you will be cool like me.” Often times the celebrity is being paid by the company they are advertising for; so whether they actually like the product or have ever even used the product is questionable, some maybe have, and some maybe haven’t.

9.  Corporate Sponsorship is when companies support you (through money or goods) to promote them. People who are sponsored by corporations usually have the ear of a large audience, like Steven the skateboarder who is very popular on YouTube and is sponsored by several companies who want him to wear their clothes in his videos or talk about them in his videos.

10.  Marketers work very hard to look like they aren’t trying at all. The point of social media advertising is for it to not look like advertising at all. They want to disguise their advertising as genuine interest, like, or support for their product/company. They use people who have a lot of followers to express their “like” of a product/company in hopes it catches on.

11.  The plot in Hunger Games is similar to advertising using social media in that the Hunger Games is about teen, forced by adults, to battle each other in a fictional world as a form of entertainment. Advertising using social media is often done by encouraging the consumer (teens) to also be the marketer/ advertisers. They want teens to talk about their product in this made up world that is social media. Social media is supposed to be a form of entertainment or past time but it often turns into a place of validation and competition for the most likes, because for many teens their worth is wrapped up in the amount of “likes” they get.