A thinker, blogger and a junior – who always seems to carry a smile wherever she goes. She’s from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and now studying advertising and information technology in Syracuse, New York.

Writing for The Social Sip (her own personal blog) she expresses her affection and wittiness for social media in this digital age.

Could you tell us something weird about yourself?
Something weird about myself, hmm. Well, I have a mild, or not so mild, obsession with the pre-Victorian and Victorian era. It’s not rare to find me watching a new BBC movie version of one of Jane Austen’s novels, enjoying the next season of Downton Abbey or reading a Bronte novel. It’s a secret, or I guess probably not so secret passion of mine.

What do you enjoy most about advertising?
What I enjoy most about good advertising is its ability to dramatically affect the way we see the world and its people. Great advertising can be so inspiring, enlightening and exciting when you’re able to witness and take part in a creative concept that has a purpose, provides value for people, and taps into common universal truths that you don’t necessarily consider day to day. Like P&G’s Mom commercials surrounding the Olympics – it tapped into an emotional place for all humans, which is the perfect way to bring together people from all over the world to rejoice in something we all share – love and appreciation for our mothers.

What’s your motivation behind The Social Sip?
My blog, The Social Sip, was motivated by pure curiosity and a desire to learn. It’s always been in my nature to want to learn more about the world, and more recently I’ve loved learning more about advertising, technology, social media and the psychology behind it all. All of those topics are completely fascinating to me, and since attending the Cannes Lions festival that desire to share those passions with other people has increased even more, which is why I still keep the blog going.

Is writing for everyone?
I think writing can be for everyone. It’s one of the simplest ways of expressing yourself and showing how you see the world. You don’t need a degree or a job title to write, you just need the passion and determination to do it and you can. Besides, I find something more interesting to read when it’s from a source that isn’t what you would expect. In other words, reading about law, for instance, from a psychology student would provide a different perspective than any lawyer could provide, which will only give you room to learn and expand your mind even further on the topic.

What is the online social world for you?
To me, “the online social world” is an extension of life. As a member of generation social (or millennials, as non-millennials like to call us), I’ve grown up using technology as a means of connecting with people, discovering new places and ideas, studying and researching history and topics of interest, and sharing my thoughts with the world. For the older generation, “doing social” is a common phrase, especially in business. For my generation, “doing social” is just called “life”. We don’t change who we are to fit the “social” mold, we just are naturally online social beings who find comfort in the idea of always being connected virtually to the people and world around us.

What are brands doing right on social media?
It’s very easy to tell if a brand is doing social media right or wrong. Social media is nothing but a conversation; normal conversations are ingrained with words of sympathy, empathy, joy, excitement, humor and wit (just to name a few). If a brand isn’t engaging their audience in the same way they would a normal conversation, then they’re not doing it right. A good brand engages in genuine, human conversations with its audience. If you can’t tell the difference between a conversation with a trusted friend in person, and a conversation with a favorite brand on social media – then that brand is doing social media the right way. Any other way, whether it’s using marketing jargon or spam messages, is the wrong way to approach social media. Overall, be human in your approach, engage with your audience, provide people with value – that’s the way brands should use social media.

Where do you think advertising will go to?
After listening to the best of the best in the advertising world at Cannes Lions, I think advertising is headed for an unforgettable golden age. I definitely see advertising becoming more creative, more meaningful, more digital, more valued, and more important in our everyday lives. The buzz word at Cannes Lions this year was providing “value” and creating smart solutions to human problems through advertising. In the future, advertising has the potential to redefine the way we see the world, ourselves, our problems and other people across borders and I’m really excited to become a part of it. Advertising will be less about creating noise in the future, and more about being an honest range of voices from across the world committed to finding solutions to problems we’ve faced for years (from global warming to economic issues). I wouldn’t be surprised to see genuinely smart solutions for global warming that are created as side effects to truly fantastic advertising campaigns. The potential for advertising is limitless, and that’s the most exciting thing to think about.