#gcweb18

When we read Groundswell, I was so taken by Dell’s messy transition into groundswell thinking that I decided to check out its corporate blog for myself.

When I ran a search for “dell’s corporate blog,” one of the first hits led me to a page that displayed four possibly categories I could read into, all for separate purposes. I chose Direct2Dell, because it seemed to be the most generalized category and I wasn’t looking to get wildly specific.

Direct2Dell instantly lost some points from me for its layout. While it isn’t user-unfriendly, it doesn’t strike my brain as neat and clean. Here’s what the page looks like as of today, July 5, 2018:

My brain’s need for organization was bothered by the variously sized articles. They are at least sized consistently though, which makes it still visually pleasing. The bar across the top follows users as they scroll down, making it impossible to lose. That’s not such a bad thing, though I prefer when bars are static at the top of the screen. It was a nice touch, however, to color the Subscribe button differently than anything else on the page, making it stand out amongst the clutter of articles.

The articles above are highlights from the previous month, and when you scroll down, the most recent posts are visible.

After I was done criticizing its layout, I looked into an article to see the content Dell’s bloggers write. Naturally, I clicked the biggest one: Annual Update on Dell’s 2020 Legacy of Good. It’s a well-written blog about Dell’s progress and plans for their project “Legacy of Good,” which lends the aid of technology and education to impoverished countries. It was well thought out and definitely something that, if I were a Dell user, I’d want to know about. Even as a Mac-user, I was delighted to see what Dell has been up to and the progress it has made!

I skimmed a few other articles and found topics ranging from Pride Month, to Environmental Revolution, to Feminism. All interesting, conversational topics, though some didn’t seem very Dell-related. But they were intriguing and well-organized.

Overall, Dell’s corporate blogging might have pulled them out of Dell Hell, and some of them may be interesting...but they don’t strike my personal fancy. It’s undeniable fact that their blogging is what pulled them forward as a company though, so clearly, it has an audience that enjoys it, and that’s what matters.

Here’s my breakdown: Layout: 5/10. It’s not good, nor is it bad. The white bar labelled “Direct2Dell” follows you no matter where you scroll, and when you click on a blog, a smaller bar appears below the white one with options to share. Invasive and distracting, did not encourage me to share. 4 of my 5 points though go to the fact Dell made its biggest story the biggest thing on the page, which automatically drove me to click it. Well played, Dell. Content: 8/10. Some of it seemed unrelated, but it was fairly interesting. Information: 7/10. There wasn’t much product-related information on the first page, but there were a tabs on the white bar that led to information (e.g. Products tab; Solutions and Services). Business Skill: 7/10. There wasn’t enough pertaining to business in my opinion--there was some, but not enough. Engagement: 7/10. Not the most engaging, but definitely not the least. The blogs are interesting enough in some cases that I would even think about sharing them for the content alone. Eloquence: 9/10. The blogs were well-written!

What do you guys think? Do you agree or disagree? If you have a kinder opinion, please share it! I’m open to have my opinion of Dell’s blogs softened!

Is there a corporate blog you follow that you enjoy? Tell me what it is in the comments below!

Until next time,

-miyabee0805

Peter is another filmmaker that I follow on YouTube. He has a different story that I find fascinating. He started in commercial filmmaking and then after a few years, he moved to YouTube. He has amassed a massive following his YouTube debut back in 2016. He now has 2.2 million subscribers, and each video has about 4 million views.

He usually produces education videos on filmmaking. He shows his perspective on how he would approach a certain challenge or obstacle. His take on filmmaking is a different one; many times, he shows us the best way to get the best shots with only what we have. Other times, he shows us what the power of friendships and money can get you. He often collaborates with other filmmakers to create films, or he works with sponsors.

His personality is very interesting to me too. He is a very outgoing and a loving person. Many times, when he is walking through a town or city he is visiting, he will say hello to strangers, or he will strike up conversations with anyone. He loves coffee almost more than he loves his family. He is reluctant to show his family on his vlogs. He likes to keep work and personal separate. I have a lot of respect for him because of that. I do not like to combine work and personal life.

One of my favorite videos was when Peter met up with another YouTuber I follow, MKBHD. They collaborated, answered questions and showed off their gear. It was a fun video and one that I have watched a few times. Peter has such a strong camera presence, and he is a force to be reckoned within the industry.

Here are some of my favorite videos from his YouTube channel. Check them out.

The bowel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HetzwxXCO4E

How I make a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blzp1mJffEU

Getting schooled my MKBHD:

I’m not gonna lie, I used to hate Twitter. I hated it when it first came out. I hated it still when I revisited years later. I hated it even still when I revisited for academic purposes in 2016. And I hated it at the beginning of this class.

At first I was miffed that I was being made to use a platform I despised, but I sucked it up because it was part of the class. Soon I found that it was actually kind of helpful...I was interacting more with my classmates on Twitter than I would have in a face-to-face class. I was voicing my thoughts and ideas about the content we read. I was sharing things relevant to our class. It was helping me to process and solidify the ideas presented in our readings.

By week 3, my heart was completely softened. I no longer hated Twitter, but had come to appreciate and even enjoy it. Throughout the class I learned it has more features than I thought, and that they were helpful. I learned that I can interact not only with my classmates, but with brands I like. Sometimes brands even respond! For example, I tweeted a picture of my Platform Training certificate from Hootsuite Academy, tagged Hootsuite, and they responded!

How cool is that?!

Thus, my opinion of Twitter has transformed. No longer is it an annoying, seemingly useless platform. Now I see how it’s unique, incredibly useful, and even fun! Needless to say, it’s likely I’ll maintain my Twitter account now.

Did anyone else dislike Twitter before and change their mind? Did you not change your mind, and if so, why? Tell me in the comments below!

Thanks as always, sunshines, and happy Thursday!

Until next time!

-miyabee0805

Last week my teammates and I read Jonah Berger’s book “Contagious: Why Things Catch On.” The book describes in six chapters how and why certain media content goes viral.

The chapter I covered was chapter five, titled “Practical Value.” It begins with the example of Ken Craig, an 86-year-old farmer *whose video about shucking corn quickly and easily went viral. Berger used this example because Craig is not a typical candidate for creating viral content. So why did his video take off? Because it had practical value.

Practical value is found in any content that shares useful information, or otherwise improves a person’s quality of life.

Here are my three highlights from this chapter:

1. Practical value is easy to find. Saving people time or money, improving their health or happiness, or educating them on a topic all counts as practical value. It’s everywhere! That’s the catch; when sharing your own content with practical value, it’s important to make it stand out in a sea of similar information. Give people a reason to share your idea or product with their friends!

2. Phrasing is important. In marketing, understanding how to frame a deal can make or break it. For example, is it better to present customers with a relative discount (percentages) or an absolute discount (definite dollar amount)? It all depends on the size of the original price! Consider these two examples:

20% off $25 sounds like a better deal than $5 off $25.

$200 off $2000 sounds like a better deal than 10% off $2000.

Wording is very important in making a money-saving deal stand out. If the phrasing is poor, then the deal won’t reach its potential sales. Good deals are not only about giving customers the best price break, but knowing how to highlight just how much of a break they’re getting.

3. Everyone’s reference point is different. Reference points are relative to age, location, and other economic factors. The elderly think $11 movie tickets are way too expensive because they remember when tickets only cost 40 cents. Paying 50 cents for coffee in New York City is awesome and would sell, but 50 cents for coffee in rural India would be outrageous and would never sell. Different people have different reference points, so a deal that looks good to one person may not look good to the next. The reference point in sales is a products market value, but if a deal goes on for too long, people’s reference points shift to the sale price and it’s likely they will no longer think they’re getting a deal at all. The sale price can become the norm, because it, rather than market value, can become the reference point.

--

The whole book is full of excellent advice about making your idea or product stand out from the crowd. There are examples of how others have done it and how effective (or ineffective) their strategies were, and Berger makes a slightly boring topic fun and interesting to read about. If you’re interested in marketing, I would recommend this book.

What are your thoughts? Do you have experiences similar to what I’ve discussed? Have you ever seen content that went viral and wondered why it was viral? Tell me in your comments!

Until next time!

-miyabee0805

Our team chose the book “Contagious: Why Things Catch On” by Jonah Berger. I was pretty interested to read this book because of the title. It caught my attention because I was curious why things catch on the way they do. After starting to read the introduction, I knew that there would be topics described that I have never heard of. This made me more curious. The topics described in this book are social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories. By reading the chapter names, I had no clue what some of them were going to talk about. I have heard of some but I didn’t know how some could relate to why things catch on. While reading the chapters, I liked how the author used examples to help illustrate the concepts he was describing. It really helped me put the word to the action.

In chapter one, he described social currency. I had heard of this but I didn’t know much about this topic. The examples he used to help understand this were very beneficial. My favorite example was making people feel like they are insiders. If a business makes their customers feel “exclusive”, they feel very special and high-class. The example he used was a man had a discount store that sold clothing and accessories. The business was not doing the best, so he opened a new store that was invite only. You had to be a member to shop there. Both sold about the same products, but one was more exclusive, so members felt high-class. This business succeeded far more than the other store. I thought this was a great, relatable example.

Overall, this book was very informative on how things catch on the way they do. The author didn’t just write about the obvious topics that people already knew, but he dug deeper into some areas that are also a factor. I would recommend this book to anyone who is as curious as I was to find out the factors.

Twitter was just another app I signed up for to scroll through the feed of people I follow. I followed the news, sports, film topics, and friends. I never paid too much attention to Twitter because I thought it was kind of annoying at times. This class has changed my perspective about the app because Twitter can do so much more than I ever knew. I never paid attention to it nor did I understand what Twitter was capable of. I have realized that it can be used to reach so many people and also different kinds of people. It is an app that has only grown in popularity since its launch. And I feel it will only continue to grow with our society.

Twitter is the app of choice for many people and celebrities. The use of hashtags and the mention tools are powerful features that have become a part of society and everyday life. Any user can use the “@” symbol then type in a user’s name to tag them in a post. This is especially useful when trying to make sure that a company sees a comment that you have made whether it be good or bad. This is how businesses on Twitter communicate with their customers when they are mentioned. The hashtags are also great to use so many other people can see posts with the same hashtag. If a user is interested in a certain topic, celebrity, company, or event, they can search the hashtag to see what is happening around.

The ability for individuals to interact online without sacrificing their personal privacy is a vital part of the Internet’s value and is closely related to its trustworthiness.

Internet privacy is the privacy and security level of personal data published via the Internet. It is a broad term that refers to a variety of factors, techniques, and technologies used to protect sensitive and private data, communications, and preferences. Privacy is very important and here is why. 

Online identity theft is a vast and growing problem mainly because scammers are getting better at tricking people into giving over their information. With phishing scams, thieves use fake emails and websites to impersonate legitimate organizations.

To Spot Identity Theft:

Closely monitor your bank accounts, credit reports and any other financial accounts you may have.

Pay attention to your regular utility bills and bank statements.

Suddenly receiving credit cards in the mail that you did not apply for.

Receiving calls from debt collectors for goods and services you did not sign up for.

Being unable to log into a website using your normal password.

There are as many threats on the mobile landscape as there are with computers. With the popularity of smartphones and tablets on the rise, they are becoming more of a target to cybercriminals. Since we are starting to use our smaller devices as we would a desktop or laptop computer, more of our personal data is stored on these devices and thieves are taking notice.

2 steps to take to secure your information on your cell phone:

Set strong passwords- use complex passwords

Use security features like “Find My iPhone” to locate your phone if missing to erase the data

Tips for a strong password: 

Never give out your password to anyone.

Don’t just use one password.

Make the password at least 12 characters long.

Include numbers, capital letters, and symbols.

For the full list, click here.

People need to be aware of mobile scams like social media scams, SMS phishing, and vishing.

Common types of social media scams:

"Friends" urgently requesting money

Requests to click on links supposedly containing something related to you

Quizzes asking for your name and phone number that end up charging you monthly

Requests to click on shortened URLs that install malware on your device

Chain letters

Voice phishing, or vishing, has a human element, and it takes many forms. A scammer might call pretending to be your bank, ask for your security details and pin number, and inform you that your card has been compromised. The same is true of the IRS. Anyone calling you and saying they are an IRS agent and you must pay taxes is a scam. The agency will always send you a letter regarding audits, tax issues, or any problems.

Using passwords is very beneficial to protect your personal data, but it needs to be complex so people cannot guess it easily. You never want to use your name or birthday.

More tips for protecting yourself:

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Look for poor grammar and misspellings in messages.

Avoid monetary promises for little to no effort.

Call your financial institutions about supposed account suspensions and closings.

Keep up with privacy settings on all social media accounts.

Refrain from using social media sites on public WiFi networks.

Change passwords regularly.