By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Remember AOL–the internet access, instant messaging and email service that ran rampant in the Internet’s earlier years?  Where have they been all these years?

AOL has turned to providing content rather than internet service in order to stay afloat.  With this change has come a new look and new logos.  Yes, logos, plural.  These new designs are creating quite a buzz in the social media world, as people gather together to either love it or hate it.

The new branding technique includes a new, lowercase version of their name, which now reads “Aol.”  This play with capitalization is reminiscent of  Apple’s “iPhone”, “iTunes,” etc and is meant to showcase AOL’s features, such as Aol.shopping and Aol.music.

However, the true story in Aol’s makeover are their logos: from a goldfish to what looks like a fluffy ball of cotton-candy, shaped like a human brain, Aol is truly moving in another direction, aesthetically.

What’s the lesson to be learned here?  Whether people like it or hate it, re-branding your business in this drastic matter will get them talking… a lot.  Now that their new look has gone viral, sparked controversy and spurned debate, Aol can be assured that their new brands and services will be noticed.  What a powerful internet marketing device… but I guess that’s just the power of social media people!  Harness it, or be swallowed up like a little orange goldfish.

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Peer pressure, bullies, nicknames, cafeteria food… these are some of the things I recall when thinking of the American high school experience.  Is it possible that this dynamic we experienced in adolescence has permeated our new online socializing method, social media?!

Think about it: every social network has a method for gauging popularity or success (Friends, Followers, Karma, etc).  It is plausible that those who have few friends or followers would feel less important than those who have these lackeys in abundance.  Another example of this is peer pressure.  How many people have “persuaded” their friends or family members to join Facebook or Twitter because “everyone is doing it”?

Here are a couple prominent examples of classic bullying and peer pressure in the media:

PEER PRESSURE:  Facebook’s Reconnect Strategy

Facebook is looking to get less active users to “reconnect” and become more active.  Seems like a pretty good idea for a site won’t be growing utah social media marketing like crazy forever, and will soon need to focus on keeping their existing accounts.  How are they trying to reconnect people?  By posting a picture of one of your less active Facebook friends under the “suggestions” box with a caption that says: “Help make Facebook better for ____.  Write on his/her wall!”

Hmm… so Facebook’s strategy is to get people’s friends to pressure them back into Facebook activity?  From a business view, this is great.  From a personal view, I don’t like this very much.

BULLYING:  Apple vs. Microsoft Ads and Controversy

Sure, we’ve all had a laugh at Apple’s smooth commercials with the bumbling, outdated PC guy.  However, does Apple know where the line is and how close they are to crossing it?

One of the “Laptop Hunter” ads that Microsoft ran to combat Apple’s commercials features a girl saying, “maybe I’m just not cool enough,” when looking at the selection of Mac computers.  This suggests that Apple’s exclusivity and smooth advertising have created a persona of arrogance around its product image.  Apple’s ads directly targeting the incompetence of Microsoft’s new Windows 7, therefore, can be seen as merciless bullying.  Especially since Windows 7 is being received very well.

In discovering these connections in utah social media, it appears that wherever people are, there will be bullying, peer pressure and other behaviors typical in high school students.  Are these social issues inescapable?  Will they infiltrate every aspect of our existence?  Probably not.  It’s just interesting to notice these similarities.