In DKNY PR Girl I Trust

My all-time favorite person on Twitter is DKNY PR Girl. She was one of the very first to revolutionize how brands use Twitter because she began tweeting more personal day-to-day insights into what a public relations person does, how the fashion world operates and general life observations. She started out doing it anonymously, and eventually, she revealed herself as Aliza Licht, the Donna Karan SVP of Global Communications. Thus, she has a lot of authority and experience in the fashion social media arena. So even though the Twitter handle itself is a corporation, the person I trust most on social media—specifically Twitter—is Aliza.

I trust her because she’s honest. Aliza runs a popular series called #ShowRequests, in which she reveals ridiculous e-mail requests from people who want to attend or are attending the DKNY and Donna Karan fashion week runway shows. It's hilarious, but it doesn't directly shame anyone either.

If have a product question, Aliza is fast and helpful. You can tell that she knows the products inside and out, as demonstrated by the tweet below, and she gives great advice and shopping encouragement when needed. I think I've asked her questions or answered her questions on many occasions, and she's incredibly responsive in both cases.

Additionally, she is able to create intimate conversations all day long with followers, all the while answering questions and furthering conversations.

Lastly, Aliza isn't over self-promotional. Sure, she shares her favorite DKNY and Donna Karan products, celebrity outfits and magazine editorials, but it feels more like a carefully curated selection of her favorite things. It helps that her tone is incredibly conversational, so you always feel like you're talking to one of your closest friends.

By gaining trust from users like me, Aliza has built a lot of brand loyalty. Not only that, she's built her own brand under her own name. Aliza gets invited to guest speak at educational and fashion events every year, and now, she has a book in the works called Leave Your Mark.

Snapchat's Terms and Conditions

Show of hands: How many people knew Snapkidz exists? Snapkidz is actually the underage version of Snapchat, which according to the network's terms, doesn't allow you to add friends or send snaps because you must be at least 18 to use certain functions. The experience exists locally on the device. I don't know about you, but 14-year-old Nhi would not have been deterred by these terms. For example, when I signed up for Neopets many, many years ago, I simply lied about my age. I suspect many youngsters, my sisters included, don't abide by this part of Snapchat's terms.

Perhaps the most important and interesting part of Snapchat's terms is its privacy policy. Anyone who's used the network knows that the best and worst part about Snapchat is the "deletion" of your snaps. It's great because your friends can only see what you send for a short amount of time, but the age-old question is where does all that content go? Does Snapchat keep it?

So, let's take a look: "Delete is our default. That means that most messages sent through our Services will be automatically deleted once they have been viewed or have expired. But—and this is important—you should understand that users who see your messages can always save them, either by taking a screenshot or by using some other image-capture technology."

Okay, that doesn't sound too bad... until you keep reading. "We can’t guarantee that messages will be deleted within a specific timeframe. And even after we’ve deleted message data from our servers, that same data may remain in backup for a limited period of time. We also sometimes receive requests from law enforcement requiring us by law to suspend our ordinary server-deletion practices for specific information. Finally, of course, as with any digital information, there may be ways to access messages while still in temporary storage on recipients’ devices or, forensically, even after they are deleted." Delete is not your default, Snapchat. Trash is your default, and it sounds like you can always restore files.

This is just one of many several points that I am uncomfortable with in the policy:

• "Snapchat does not transmit any funds and is not a money-services business." Then what is Snapcash, exactly? 
• You retain ownership of all content but by submitting content you give Snapchat "irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, promote, exhibit, and display such User Content in any and all media or distribution methods, now known or later developed (the “User Content License”), subject to any privacy settings you have set to control who can see your User Content." 
• Snapchat can't always detect when someone screenshots what you send. 

Of course, Snapchat does a decent job of covering its bases including not being liable or responsible for content, but it leaves much to be desired for users. I mean, the least the app can do is be honest and straightforward about how it works and how it stores data. 

MMC6936 Introductory Assignment

Hello, everyone!

My name is Nhi Hoang, pronounced Nee Hong. I grew up in Iowa and Michigan but currently reside in sunny Florida. An avid writer, I decided to pursue journalism at the University of Florida ("You'll never get a job!" my family cried.). My junior year I impulsively signed up for a social media course, and it helped me land my first social media gig at a Gainesville PR firm. I jumped from one opportunity to the next, including interning at Harper's Bazaar magazine in New York City. After discovering that the fashion industry was probably not for me, I returned to Florida to work for a luxury bridal magazine as their online editor and social media manager (Take that, family!). After two years, I took a leap of faith and received the opportunity to work for one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of bridal gowns. Thus, I am happily yet hectically juggling work, school and everything in between. In my "spare" time, I like to blog, travel and play copious amounts of Trivia Crack.

Social media has always fascinated me because of how psychological it is. You never really know how people are going to respond, and it's both exciting and scary. It's also, as Justin mentioned, very new and unpredictable. It's hard to determine concrete rights and wrongs when something is evolving so quickly, and thus, social media ethics fascinates me too. I'm very excited for the semester ahead, and I look forward to getting to know you all better!