Getting to know all About.me

In an age where tweets and Facebook statuses rule the web, phones and general conversation, companies are finding new ways to use evolving forms of communication as an advantage.

Sergio Camacho just moved to Orlando to start his freshman year at UCF, but a whole slew of people he didn't know a month ago already recognize him from the Internet.

A pending advertising and public relations major, Camacho entered a contest on the site About.me that challenged him to accrue more votes on his profile than anyone else by Sept. 20. The contest has required him to get his name and face out there, and fast.

Camacho is currently in the top-5 percent of all contest participants.

If he wins, he'll be flown up to New York City where he'll get the opportunity to rub elbows with important names in advertising and watch the unveiling of an About.me billboard in Times Square that features a larger-than-life blowup of his likeness.

"I know that in the networking industry and social media in general, this would present a lot of great opportunities if I were to get that sort of coverage," Camacho said.

About.me is a customizable-profile site that acts as a hub for other forms of social media. Generally, the pages are simple, featuring a photo of the user, a description and buttons to browse the users' Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr profiles.

Jim Hobart, visiting instructor for the UCF advertising and public relations department, said that advertising contests such as the one Camacho is participating in are becoming an increasingly popular way for companies to get their name out there.

Hobart said that social media has drastically changed the face of advertising, and consumers no longer trust traditional forms of product promotion. Thus, companies, including websites, are coming up with ways to engage consumers in ways that captivate attention via networking.

According to a study cited in Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business by Erik Qualman, only 14 percent of present-day consumers trust traditional forms of advertisement such as banners and billboards; the remaining 78 percent make their economic decisions based on pure recommendation.

"We've become a very cynical and jaded audience," Hobart said. "Unless a friend or a colleague on Facebook tells us, ‘You should check this out,' we aren't going to listen."

Hobart said that the About.me profile contest gets the participants to do the promotional work for the company, which saves time and money for the advertising department.

As far as the actual prize, Hobart said that the advertising and public relations career benefits would lie within Camacho getting his name out there rather than the actual billboard.

"If he is able to acquire enough votes to win this, that will affect his future. It will prove his mastery of social media," Hobart said.

Amidst an artistic background photo of himself, Camacho's profile displays a headline that reads, "Networking is not a job. It is a lifestyle."

Camacho said that with a combination of his charisma and social media know-how, he can make his name known.

To promote himself for the contest, Camacho created a Facebook group page for himself that encourages his friends and other people who join the group to vote for him daily.

Camacho said that although the page aids his vote count, some people become overwhelmed with the constant feedback from members of the group.

"A lot of people are like, ‘Hey, I'll vote for you, but I'm going to get out of the page because I've gotten too many notifications,'" Camacho said.

For Camacho, the LEAD Scholars program has been a conduit for getting his name out there amongst potential voters and new friends. He tells fellow scholars of his participation in the contest and in turn, they spread the word to other well-connected students across campus.

Camacho has extended his networking beyond UCF. He asked his friend, an up-and-coming rapper at Santa Fe Community College, to promote his About.me profile and contest participation in Gainesville.

In turn, Camacho tells his friends on Facebook to check out the music page of Nicolas Delrosario, whose stage name is Nick D.

He said that since Camacho has begun promoting his music, he's seen spikes in his website traffic.