Topic: Class Cloud Assignment

On Wednesday, I had the most interesting assignment for a class. We were to tweet at someone to join in on some discussion about social media using the #socmeddiscuss. I chose to tweet at my boss, Lance Lyons, Monumetrics, and the Tailwind App.

Here is me inviting my boss:

And here is my question for the discussion:

I had hopes, because I had tweeted at them, that they would participate. However, as the class discussion began and other tweets popped up on my feed, I noticed that a lot of people had used the words "class discussion" in their tweets, driving away potential discussion. I think that that alone shows why the discussion didn't go as planned. I felt jipped in this discussion because no one took it seriously or used the hashtags appropriately.

Here is one of my tweets that I made that day:

As you can see, I tried to get a conversation going between me and my class mate, but nothing past my reply. I think that a lot of people were more interested in the not-so-interesting love affair blossoming on Twitter through the hashtag. It really bothered me that that was what people were excited about. Here we had this great opportunity to learn how to manage a live Twitter-feed, a skill many of us will most likely need in the future, and all we were concerned about was "Are you single?" That's not how I choose to spend my tuition. 

I did enjoy, however, reading the +Wendy's tweets to users. It showed me how to have creativity on Twitter, something that I struggle with when dealing with company complaints. That alone saved the experience for me. I learned that it's ok to be a little casual on Twitter, for a food brand like Wendy's. They can do that without ruining their reputation. 

My biggest struggle when replying to peers' questions, was the limited characters. Because I have so much that I'd like to say about social media and the topics asked, I could have maybe linked out to longer blog posts that summarized what I wanted to say. 

I liked doing a live feed just to see how flexible social media can get. It's crazy to think about all the different directions and voices that can be a part of this conversation. 

After the class, the next day at work, I talked to my boss and asked why he hadn't joined in on the conversation. "I didn't get your tweet!" he said "Or I would have totally participated. From that, I learned that if you really want someone to be a part of your conversation, you need to more than just tweet at them. Really good preparation is required to have successful live Twitter discussion. 

Exercise Accountability

Accountability breeds success. I'm sure someone famous said that. But I feel like it applies for this.

I am trying to lose 15 lbs by my sister's wedding in 20 weeks.

Here's how I am motivating myself:

Every time I work out, I put a "dollar" in it - to use later.

I use resistance bands and a yoga mat every morning to do a few of these HIIT workouts. Once or twice a week I try and go run at the gym but I have terrible shoes right now so my feet hurt ... a lot. Any advice or tips would be welcomed!

Here are my favorite workouts: 

Case Lot and Food Storage (March 13-17)

If you have never shopped the Case Lot sale at Macey's, you are seriously missing out. This time of year is one of my favorites to stalk up on canned foods.

Here's what my storage room looks like:

We don't have a done of space, as you can see, but I try to stock up on essentials a few times a year, just to keep me from having to buy them later. It was something we both felt we could take out of savings for. The other nice part about Case Lot, is that it lasts two weeks. So if you plan carefully, you can really take advantage of some great deals.  I've got canned green beans, corn, black beans, oatmeal, cereal, ramen noodles, soups, and chicken broth. It's definitely good to have staples. Then, after a buy a few extra, I donate them to the Cache Community Food Pantry.

My menu for this week looks like this:

M- Skinny Burrito Bowls
T- Spaghetti
W- OYO (This has turned into just whatever leftovers, sandwiches, ramen we can find)
R-Brazilian Stroganoff - I don't have a solid recipe for this yet. S/O to Roxann
F-Burgers

Groceries: $65 this week, but that's because I bought a few things from Case Lot

cantaloupe
grapes
carrots
lettuce
tomatoes
onions
green onions
turkey steaks
ground beef
black beans
canned tomato sauce
table cream (for the Stroganoff)
shoe string chips
milk
frozen chicken breasts ketchup
pasta
marinara sauce
ramen noodles


Have a great week!

Garlic-Butter Seared Pork Chops

Spring Break was just too much fun.

You'd think that because we didn't go anywhere, I would have had more time to blog, but NOT TRUE! We were busy relaxing. Bummer we have to go back to school next week...

I'm going to try and blog at least three times a week. Will I actually do it? Who knows...

Part of our week was eating dinner together at Connor's work sites. I was tired of being home alone all the time so I brought picnic dinners to where he was working and we ate there. One of the nights I made these garlic-butter seared pork chops and WOW!

Ingredients

• 2-4 Tb butter
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic (I use the stuff pre-cut because I'm lazy)
• 4 pork chops, thin
• 1 Tb parsley
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and saute the garlic until you can smell it. Place the pork chops in pan and sprinkle parsley and salt and pepper over it. 

Cook until a golden brown color. Too much longer after that and it will get tough. 

Rice, pork chops, and cantaloupe

Just hanging out at work 

And THAT'S IT! 

Simple ingredients. No time at all. My kind of meal. 

Meatball Sandwich

This is my night right now: diet Coke, caffeine free, with lime & poetry homework.

Recently I discovered that Connor loves  meatball sandwiches. I made them for him once when we first got married and they turned out eh. But this time around, I decided to just go for it with my own recipe and man did it turn out great.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag frozen, cooked meatballs
• 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
• slices of cheddar jack cheese
• bread - I used Asiago bread from Macey's

Place frozen bag of meatballs and marinara sauce in crockpot on high for four hours (Don't go much longer)

Serve on bread with cheese!

Tah-dah! Best marinara subs ever. And WAAAAY cheaper than Subway. I have a 4:30-7:00 class on Wednesdays so it's nice to swing home between work, throw things in a crock-pot, then have it be ready when I get home. 

Don't you like how the marinara sauce matches my red counter?

So tasty!

Online Reputation

For an online reputation assignment, I have been asked to stalk Sadie Moffitt on social media and determine her trends on social media.

At first, I thought it would be an easy assignment because I found her so quickly on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. But, when she didn’t allow me to follow her on Instagram (for a week or so) or be her friend on Facebook (still pending), things became tough. I stalked her as best I could, considering her privacy settings.

One of the first things I noticed about Sadie, from her Facebook profile and cover photos, was that she loved her friends. Almost every one of her profile pictures (see below) has another woman in it. From this, I can infer that her friends are very important to her and that she likes being with people, especially girls that make her feel good. But honestly, who doesn’t love being around people. Real people, I’ll add, not just people on the Internet.

And people seem to really like her! She only has 3 posts on Instagram, but over 1200 followers and all her posted photos got over 100 likes. I couldn’t find much about her on Instagram and to me that says that she’s more focused on living life than capturing every single moment. (www.instagram.com/sadielynnmoff)

Another trend that I noticed in her photos was her love for adventure. A lot of her cover photos depict her outside doing something fun, and again, social. You can tell she’s not one for being bored. All her adventures make her look like someone who can have a good time, but not be too boastful about the places she’s been. And from the looks of some of her photos, she’s been to a lot of fun places.

I also read through her blog posts and this one talked about some of her favorite blogs to follow. In it she talks about travel blogs and vlogs and lifestyle blogs. Because those are what she chooses to read, I can use that to support the trend I’ve identified:  Sadie Moffitt is a girl that likes to travel.

In this same blog post that I mentioned above, she also mentions loving “cute moms’ blog links on Instagram, whose lives look like they are straight out of a magazine and read about what furniture they love to put in their living room.” Sadie Moffit likes interior design. The other thing I found to support this, is that the only two boards on her Pinterest page are “Wedding” and “home.” And her style is very cute, I might add. Sadie definitely has an eye for detail in the home.

I think there is something to be said about the mutual friends that she and I had. When looking through her list, I found that she was friends with my cousin and upstairs neighbor. If I had really wanted to go deeper into who she was, say I had been a potential employer, I would have reached out to them and see what they thought of her.

Continuing with that line of thought, if I was a potential employer, I would definitely hire Sadie Moffitt. She seems to be fun and outgoing, but not so self-absorbed that she posts every day. Her eye for details in the home and social attitude give her skills that could qualify her for a really good job. Her privacy settings also say a lot about her willingness to keep some things private. I hope she doesn’t mind how I have interpreted her information. She seems like a really fun-loving, social, person to be around.

Topic: Social Media Laws, Policies, and Ethics

Hospitals and healthcare clinics have entered a new stage in the media game.

With over 80% of hospitals using social media to communicate health information to patients, it's no wonder that public relations and marketing teams have had to think creatively to deal with patient reviews and messages.

According to HIPPA laws, an individual has the right to protected information regarding their health information and well-being.

Here is an example of HIPPA laws being violated on social media:

In an incident with particularly harsh repercussions, a student nurse moved by her three-year-old chemotherapy patient’s bravery took a photo of the boy and posted it on her Facebook page. Even though she had privacy settings in place, another nurse not among that student nurse’s Facebook friends came across the post and photo. This nurse informed the hospital. This HIPAA violation got the student nurse expelled from the nursing program and the nursing program bounced off of that hospital’s list of accepted schools from which to draw student nurses. Even when motivated by the best intentions, HIPAA violations can result in severe consequences.

Here are a guidelines or tips to keep in mind when dealing with HIPPA laws and social media:

• Never post a picture of a patient on a hospital page without permission
• When filming for social media uses, be sure that all participants sign a release form giving the hospital written permission to use his or her face or story. 
• Do not ask patients to take polls or fill out questionnaires online that could be traced back to them 
• Train employees on company policies
• If, as medicare professionals, you have private social media accounts, be careful not to "friend" patients and clients. 
•  If there is a security breach, report it immediately to appropriate managers. 
• A good rule of thumb is, if you wouldn't discuss it in the elevator, don't discuss online. 
• If speaking of a condition, don't say "I saw a patient that had xyz" instead say "Children with xyz usually..." to not link ANY patient information back to the post
• Don't mix professional and personal lives. Use a different account for the medical profile. 
• Last but not least, don't offer advice in comments, messages, or wall posts - meaning, don't practice medicine online, whether anonymous or not. 

Social media for hospitals is a great tool to use, as long as it is used effectively. 

Sources:
https://www.ncsbn.org/NCSBN_SocialMedia.pdf
https://www.hhs.gov/web/social-media/policies/
http://www.healthcarecompliancepros.com/blog/posting-with-caution-the-dos-and-donts-of-social-media-and-hipaa-compliance-2/https://www.law360.com/articles/743560/a-checklist-for-avoiding-hipaa-violations-on-social-media