Posts in COM 655
Digital Media Literacy: Understanding Self-Presentation & Self-Disclosure in Influencer Culture (COM 655)

Participatory platforms like Instagram and Twitter have given way to the rise of influencer culture and marketing, with the preverbal “everyman” rising as opinion leaders in growing industries. “Influencer marketing involves marketing products and services to those who have a sway over the things other people buy (Kádeková and Holienčinová, p. 91).” As influencer culture grows, the understanding of what influencers can do but the advantage of leveraging those recourses is more important than ever to those in the marketing industry.

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COM 655Maggie Pendergrass
"Always On" Book Review (COM 655)

In the digital age, it’s almost unheard of to go a day without non-digital or mobile communication. As technology has evolved, so has the way we communicate in this new digital age, especially when it comes to language. Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World by Naomi S. Baron addresses just that, focusing on not only the platforms we use to stay connected but the evolution of digital language. “With more than one-third of the world’s population using mobile phones, it’s hardly surprising that researchers of all sorts… have been studying the ways in which young and old, rich and poor, have been using these devices (Baron, p. 120).” Baron walks through platforms like Facebook and AIM to discuss how we have changed as a culture in the way we communicate, using empirical and observational data to illustrate the importance and impact language has in “an online and mobile world.”

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COM 655Maggie Pendergrass