Why I Social

On this week's episode, Amir and Chris avoid all things in the PR Disaster category - as best as they can at least. Also, a lot of people (still) copy Snapchat.  This week's Five Favorites:  1. The Samsung Galaxy S8 (Video) 2. The FTC Has A Reminder for Brands and Influencers (FTC) 3. Netflix Says It's Competing With Sleep, Not Amazon or Hulu (Fox News) 4. Snapchat Drops to One-Star On App Store (...

JMatt is a DJ at @ 1037KISSFM  . In addition to his work at the station as a weekend DJ, he's also a social media marketer who has a passion for social media.  Hear his story on this week's episode.  This Week on Why I Social, JMatt and I discuss: How to break into the radio business  The importance of mental health His dream job  And of course, Why Does He Social?!  Share  your thoughts on this w...

On this week's episode, Amir and Chris can't avoid making United jokes. Also, Amir broke his drone (again).  This week's Five Favorites:  1. Apple Rebrands iTunes Podcasts as Apple Podcasts (9to5Mac) 2. Multi-user Support Coming to Google Home (Business Insider) 3. Burger King's New Ad Will Hijack Your Voice-Activated Speaker (Buzzfeed) 4. Instagram Updates - New Stickers and More (Instagram Blog)...

This week's episode was recorded at the Kurogo Mobile Conference in Orlando Florida and features Damond Nollan. Damond is IT Director for Web Services at North Carolina Central University. He's also a (proud) father of three.  Hear his story on this week's episode.  This Week on Why I Social, Damond and I discuss: How he ended up working in IT Services  His role and methodologies as a manager His...

On this week's episode, Amir and Chris debate the value of a recent fortune cookie. Also, the importance of the Walking Dead to OTT is confirmed.  This week's Five Favorites:  1. The Mac Pro Lives (Daring Fireball)  2. YouTubers Will Need At Least 10,000 Views To Make Ad Money (Engadget)  3.  Twitter unveils a new API platform, roadmap and vision for its developer community (TechCrunch)  4. YouTub...

Chris Bryant is Creative Director at Empire Studios (formally, Bryant Productions). He is also one of the first persons to support the podcast and has been an ambassador for the show since it's inception.  Hear his story on this week's episode.  This Week on Why I Social, Chris and I discuss: Life working as a home theater designer  The start and evolution of Bryant Productions His process of work...

On this week's episode, the jokes are everywhere (because it's April Fools day). Also, leggings. Are they pants? Aren't they? You decide.  This week's Five Favorites:  1. Amazon quietly launches it's own social media influencer program (TechCrunch) 2. Google Pixel 3 is Coming Next Year (BGR) 3. SpaceX has proven it can reuse rockets - now what? (Popular Science)  4. A Social Update Twitter Egg No...

Thomas Mathew is Chief Product Officer at Zoomph. Thomas holds an MS in computational linguistics from Georgetown University and a BTech in electronics engineering from Cochin University. Hear his story on this week's episode.  This Week on Why I Social, Thomas and I discuss: His journey to Zoomph How he became interested in computational linguistics The difference between working with start-ups a...

On this week's episode, our co-hosts abide and make Brad's Wife the show's hot topic. Also, Chris can't read his own notes.  This week's Five Favorites:  1. Amazon's Ambitions Unboxed (New York Times) 2. Instagram Updates Instagram has 1 million advertisers (Marketingland)  Instagram Lets You Save Live Videos (The Verge)  3. Analyst says iPhone 8 will cause a 'paradigm shift' because of Apple's le...

In a break from the usual Why I Social format - I recorded live at CASE SMC (Social Media and Community) in Los Angeles. My guests this week are two persons whom are some of my (I admit my bias here) favorite people in higher education - but also two of the most accomplished.  This Week on Why I Social meet:  Nikki Sunstrum ( @NikkiSunstrum )  Tyler Thomas ( @TylerAThomas ) And of course, Why Does...

On this week's episode, our hosts debate whether or not they'd rather face an army of terminators or zombies (there's really no debate). Also, we discuss the value of jpegs being 35% smaller.  This week's Five Favorites:  1. 'iPad mini Pro' is reportedly one of the four new iPad Pros launching soon (BGR) 2. Google's new encoder makes JPEGs up to 35 percent smaller (The Verge) 3. Kurzweil Claims Th...

Elliot Volkman is a digital marketing manager at Blue Acorn. He also reports on technology for Tech. Co. In addition, he enjoys running and shares his story about running a half-marathon.  Hear his story on this week's episode.  This Week on Why I Social, Elliot and I discuss: How he decided to study journalism Why he enjoys covering technology news Why running is a big part of his life  And of co...

On this week's episode, Amir and Chris opt to find an alternative to drinking water during the show. Also, Pornhub makes it's first appearance on the show (don't worry, it's safe to listen to).  This week's Five Favorites:  1. Pinterest Acquires Jelly (Jelly Blog via Medium) 2. Diehard Coders Saved NASA's Earth Science Data (Wired) 3. Trump Related Videos Have Grown SNL's YouTube Channel by 48% (M...

Bryan Mapes is the winner of the XFinity Dream Job and the current Xfinity Sports Guy (tweeting from the Xfinity Sports account ). His journey to a career in social media isn't what you likely expected.  Hear his story on this week's episode.  This Week on Why I Social, Bryan and I discuss: Where did Bryan work before his time in sports? What was it like participating in the MLB Fan Cave tryouts?...

On this week's episode, Amir and Chris literally cheat the system to get in more than 5 stories. Also, Chris recaps his Social Media Week NYC experience while Zonozi gets featured on the BHPhoto Podcast. This week's Five Favorites:  1. How A Typo Took Down S3 - The Backbone of the Internet (The Verge) 2. Nintendo Switch Users Face Hardware Issues (Polygon)  3. Social Platform News Social Influence...

This week, I had the opportunity to be press at Social Media Week - NYC. I took the time while I was there to have a few conversations with some of the attendees. I also shared some quick thoughts on the event - which will be continued on next week's Five Favorites podcast. On this episode, you'll get to know:  Risa Xu (@RisaXu) Andrew Zolty  (@aszolty)  Amanda Dolan ( @apdolan ) Share  your thoug...

Sarah Rockholt ( @Sarahrockholt ) is an event planning associate at MentorMate (where alum Ryan Pena works at the time of this recording). Her career at MentorMate began as an intern and she has worked her way up through the ranks to her current role at the company.  Hear her story on this week's episode.  This Week on Why I Social, Sarah and I discuss: Why she didn't end up being a meteorologist...

Welcome to the sixth episode of Why I Social Sessions - where we bring you short discussions focused on one singular topic. This is not your standard Why I Social episode where we learn about a guest - but instead - we focus on important topics impacting the social media space today. Today, on Why I Social Sessions, Why I Social alum Casie Shimansky joins me to talk about the latest update to Inst...

On this week's episode, an old friend reappears in Amir's life. Also, our hosts discover that Alexa is now VERY skilled.  This week's Five Favorites:    1. For Generation Z, 'Live Chilling" replaces hanging out (WSJ) 2. Alexa Passes 10,000 Skills (VentureBeat) 3. Booming Android Revenue Shows Its No Longer the Poor Cousin (The Register) 4. Snapchat Faces Tough Questions With Insiders (Business Ins...

Matt Rappaport is a social media coordinator at B&H Photo Video. He has previously worked at Tech Times and the Huffington Post. He's also an actor with a passion for the industry and an experienced interviewer.  Hear his story on this week's episode.  This Week on Why I Social, Matt and I discuss: What was his first "social network"? Where did his interest technology come from? Why does he love a...

On this week's episode, both hosts have upgraded with some new technology in the past week. Also, drones, again. Deal with it.  This week's Five Favorites:  1. iPhone 8 To Feature 5.8 Inch OLED Display With 5.15-Inch Main Screen and Virtual Buttons Below (Mac Rumors)  2. Facebook swipes at LinkedIn by letting brands post job openings on Pages (VentureBeat)  3. More than 60 percent of Snapchat user...

Martin Dull ( @mgdull on Instagram ) is a painting technician at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture. He's also an artist operating his own studio in Jersey City. After attending school with Martin at Marywood University in Scranton, PA - we came to realize we both worked in NYC (thanks to Facebook) - opening the door to one of the most interesting conversations in the podc...

On this week's episode, Chris shares the story of how his son lost his first tooth. Also, the NBA pulls a page out of the NFL's social media book.  This week's Five Favorites:  1. Pinterest Introduces Lens, A Shazam for Objects (The Verge)  2. Grammy's Using Snapchat to Lure Younger Viewers (DigiDay) 3.  Shareholders Urge Company to Replace Zuckerberg w/ Independent Board Chair (VentureBeat) 4. Yo...

Katy Spencer Johnson is a Communications and Marketing Agent at Quincy College (working for alum Eric Clark at the time of this recording).  She is also the editor-in-Chief) of Wild Swimming New England. She spends some of her free time doing work for causes like breast cancer and volunteering at the Quincy Animal Shelter.  Hear her story on this week's episode.  This Week on Why I Social, Katy an...

On this week's episode, Chris and Amir recap their DJI/BHPhotoVideo experience in NYC. Also, listeners may find themselves wondering what Amir would look like as a soccer mom.  This week's Five Favorites:  1. Twitter's NFL Stream Averages 265k Viewer s (Marketingland)  2. LinkedIn Just Stole An Idea From Facebook - And It's Tremendous (Inc) Thanks to Katy Spencer Johnson for the suggestion using #...