The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 410 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.
Photo Credits: kimberley.co.za
Hi there! How are you doing so far? I had a break and I’m back with my social media marketing post.
So, SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING. What does it really mean?
According to Search Engine Land, social media marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. In my opinion, I would say it’s somewhat similar to self-branding. You build your product (e.g. your image) online and sell it through the different social media platform. As much as it is very easy to be connected to one another on the web, there are a number of challenges that companies face in marketing themselves through the social web.
According to Jeff Bullas, some of such challenges include:
And the list goes on….
However, if social media marketing is really that tough, why do so many companies still uses social media as part of their marketing strategy? Check out this video below to know why.
With so much being said about social media marketing, then the question will be, is social media marketing still relevant for businesses in the near future?
My answer to that is yes. As social media is the fastest way to get to consumers and business partners, it is also cost-efficient for companies to see results quickly. For instance, if a consumer is unsatisfied with the company’s products and posted it to Twitter, the company can take immediate action to resolve the issue. Also, an article on the importance of social media to brand loyalty shared that the power of a brand’s social media presence can allow the business to grow both in size and scope. Also, social media allows interactions between the company and the customers regularly; this will benefit the company by increasing awareness of your company’s brand as they share about you in their network circles.
In conclusion, there could be tons of challenges behind social media marketing but it will definitely allow more conversions, customers and increase sales if done right. Last but not the least, Forbes shared that the sooner your start, the sooner you can grow that audience.
That’s all folks, thanks for dropping by and do leave a comment if you’ve got anything.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
References
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kimberley.co.za/wp-content/uploads/PL-SocialMediaMarketing.png. [Accessed 30 December 2014].
What Is Social Media Marketing?. 2014. What Is Social Media Marketing?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-social-media-marketing. [Accessed 30 December 2014].
15 Social Media Marketing Frustrations And Challenges: What Are Yours? – Jeffbullas’s Blog. 2014. 15 Social Media Marketing Frustrations And Challenges: What Are Yours? – Jeffbullas’s Blog. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/05/30/15-social-media-marketing-frustrations-and-challenges-what-are-yours/. [Accessed 30 December 2014].
5 Benefits of Social Media Marketing – YouTube. 2014. 5 Benefits of Social Media Marketing – YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbZklwzcR2w. [Accessed 30 December 2014].
Is Social Media Marketing Still Relevant?. 2014. Is Social Media Marketing Still Relevant?. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.findandconvert.com/2014/11/social-media-marketing-still-relevant. [Accessed 30 December 2014].
The Top 10 Benefits Of Social Media Marketing – Forbes. 2014. The Top 10 Benefits Of Social Media Marketing – Forbes. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/11/the-top-10-benefits-of-social-media-marketing/. [Accessed 30 December 2014].
Hello! For this final reflection post on MANG 2049, I have created a video. This is my first video-making so do go easy on me if you found mistakes. As usual, comments are very much welcome.
Currently, my professional profiles are Twitter and LinkedIn.
VIDEO CREDITS
Producer: Moovly
Screen recorder: freerecorders.com
PHOTO CREDITS
BLOGPOST CREDITS
Apart from my own findings on Open Access, I have discovered more interesting findings and receive further insight on Open Access. I personally like to thank Vanessa for her question on the credibility of an online degree as compared to traditional degree. It got me thinking about if open access allows us to receive all the education that we need, should we then still pursue after traditional college degree? My answer to that is still yes even though pursuing an online degree seems to have a lot more benefits as compared to traditional degree. There are still some variations between them and it depends on how you see them as well. My reasons for pursuing traditional degree is because
For more information, check out my reply to her. Apart from that, I think Ebrahim’s post about coursera is also a good example on online degree.
Also, the video Sylvia’s post on online content producer got me thinking about supporting them. Seriously, if not for open access, I guess I can’t even complete those questions. I think that’s why funding from all around the world started coming in to help authors produce open access journals as a support. When this happens, paywalls issues may still be unavoidable but there’s still a glimpse of hope that we can still do our research and get our answers through open access because someone is behind supporting it. So today, would you too play in a part in supporting open access? I will support open access as it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Credits: quotessays.com
Commented on Jeanne’s and Lucy’s blogposts.
References
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.happyologist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/reflection1.png. [Accessed 10 December 2014].
Advantages of Online vs. Traditional Universities | Best Online Universities. 2014. Advantages of Online vs. Traditional Universities | Best Online Universities. [ONLINE] Available at: http://bestonlineuniversities.com/5-advantages-of-online-universities-vs-traditional-universities/. [Accessed 10 December 2014].
Online vs. Traditional Education: The Answer You Never Expected. 2014.Online vs. Traditional Education: The Answer You Never Expected. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs/college-life/online-vs-traditional-education-answer-never-expected/. [Accessed 10 December 2014].
I got my degree for $0 | The thoughts of Mr Ebra. 2014. I got my degree for $0 | The thoughts of Mr Ebra. [ONLINE] Available at:https://ebrahimshakir.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/i-got-my-degree-for-0/. [Accessed 10 December 2014].
Topic 5: Advantages and disadvantages to a content producer of making their materials freely available online | Sylvia.. 2014. Topic 5: Advantages and disadvantages to a content producer of making their materials freely available online | Sylvia.. [ONLINE] Available at:http://sylviakangkang.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/topic-5-advantages-and-disadvantages-to-a-content-producer-of-making-their-materials-freely-available-online/. [Accessed 10 December 2014].
Give Image Quotation #1 – QuotesSays . COM. 2014. Give Image Quotation #1 – QuotesSays . COM. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.quotessays.com/gallery/give-quotes-1.jpg.html. [Accessed 10 December 2014].
Making materials freely available online? | jeanne. 2014. Making materials freely available online? | jeanne. [ONLINE] Available at:https://jeannechucy.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/making-materials-freely-available-online/#comments. [Accessed 10 December 2014].
Should Open Access be available for all? | lucyhewsy. 2014. Should Open Access be available for all? | lucyhewsy. [ONLINE] Available at:http://lucyhewsy.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/should-open-access-be-available-for-all/#comments. [Accessed 10 December 2014].
Ever encountered having to purchase an online article just for your research purposes on the Internet? Below is an example.
Ever wonder what is the cause of this? Well, the answer is simple; you are not accessing an open access file. Wait, do you mean not everything on the internet is freely accessible?
Yes, you got that right.
According to Open Access Blog, Open Access is a free and immediate online availability of research articles (Open Access Button). Presently, most of the scholarly research articles can only be accessible through expensive journal subscriptions known as ‘paywalls’ (Open Access Button). The purpose of Open Access is to provide everyone the advantage of accessible knowledge for free. (Open Access Button).
Watch this video to learn more about Open Access Button.
Since we are into this topic ‘Open Access’, let’s look at some of the pros and cons of freely accessible online articles.
Firstly, with the existence of open access, it creates a free access to learning (Francesca, 2014). Everyone has the ability to learn without having to pay those high fees in order to access these materials. Secondly, because it’s free, it allows anyone to access that material anytime, anywhere (Francesca, 2014). This is exceptionally true given the digital world we live in. Also, as the connections widens, this definitely helps to increase the number of readers of a specific author’s works (Francesca, 2014). The author is able to share its work with the ease of little to no cost as compared to traditional publication methods of expensive printing and distribution costs (Francesca, 2014).
However, Open Access still has its disadvantages. Firstly, when you produce an online article for free, it is difficult to sustain it without people paying you despite you may be credited for references (Francesca, 2014). As such, you may not want to publish your content for free. Secondly, if you produce an open access article, you might be criticised for being ‘low class’ because the revenue is obtained from you rather than the readers (Mark & Christopher, 2005). Therefore it may result in fewer selections and the lack of peer review (Open Access Working Group, 2012).
In conclusion, I think it really blot down to the objective of the content producer. If his motive is to make momentary profit and not for educational purposes, then open access will definitely not be one of his choices. However, if the content producer chooses to go open access, his return may not be all that painful after all.
Here are some readers who has benefited from the open access articles from Scholarly Publishing @ MIT Libraries.
References
Distributed cognition. 2014. Distributed cognition. [ONLINE] Available at:http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=353487. [Accessed 09 December 2014].
yeeeh on Make A Gif. 2014. yeeeh on Make A Gif. [ONLINE] Available at:http://makeagif.com/7kZVeN. [Accessed 09 December 2014].
FAQ | Open Access Button . 2014. FAQ | Open Access Button . [ONLINE] Available at: http://blog.openaccessbutton.org/faq/. [Accessed 09 December 2014].
Bringing the Open Access Button (2.0) to mobile | Jisc elevator. 2014.Bringing the Open Access Button (2.0) to mobile | Jisc elevator. [ONLINE] Available at: http://elevator.jisc.ac.uk/sosi14/ideas/bringing-open-access-button-20-mobile. [Accessed 09 December 2014].
Advantages and Disadvantages of Open Access to Online Materials Topic 5 #Uosm2008 | FrancescaGerard . 2014. Advantages and Disadvantages of Open Access to Online Materials Topic 5 #Uosm2008 | FrancescaGerard . [ONLINE] Available at:http://managingmydigitallife.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-open-access-to-online-materials-topic-5-uosm2008/. [Accessed 09 December 2014].
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://mccabe.people.si.umich.edu/McCabeSnyder.pdf. [Accessed 09 December 2014].
Open Access: Not just a matter for scientists | Open Access Working Group . 2014. Open Access: Not just a matter for scientists | Open Access Working Group . [ONLINE] Available at: http://access.okfn.org/2012/05/17/open-access-not-just-a-matter-for-scientists/. [Accessed 09 December 2014].
Scholarly Publishing – MIT Libraries | Readers Share Their Stories: Comments on Open Access Articles . 2014. Scholarly Publishing – MIT Libraries | Readers Share Their Stories: Comments on Open Access Articles . [ONLINE] Available at: http://libraries.mit.edu/scholarly/comments-on-open-access-articles/. [Accessed 09 December 2014].
Honestly speaking, in regards to my previous post, I think I have written out of scope because I could not specify more and relate social bashing towards the educational ethic measure. If you have better ideas of how I can relate my previous post to the educational measure, please comment and let me know 🙂
Coming back to the ethical issues of social media, social media has blurred the private/public boundaries when individuals’ personal information and opinions enter the public domain (Business Ethics Briefing). Facebook is one of the common social networks that people expresses themselves However, did you know that there are people who are fired after expressing themselves on Facebook? Read all of them here. Some of which are really surprising I must say.
After reading some of my classmates posts, I personally like what Evan has posted about the ethical issues from the education sector. He mentioned about the standard code of ethics which makes me think deeper about whether are we really being ethical on the internet when we voice out our opinions. This leads me to research more about the reasons why it is a must for organisation to instil a code of ethics if everyone knows what is right from what is wrong. According to SmallBusiness.chron.com, the code of ethics helps to set the minimum standards for business owners, managers and employees to monitor when completing various business functions (Osmond). It helps companies to improve business relationships, prohibit inappropriate behaviour, etc (Osmond).
In conclusion, I think the whole idea about being ethical on the social media is to be able to exercise self-control over our own emotions and being professional at what we do. Different countries may have different point of views due to its culture and environment aspects but what we post on the internet definitely speaks a lot about ourselves, won’t you agree?
Commented on Lingzi’s and Evan’s blogs.
References
Oops on Make A Gif. 2014. Oops on Make A Gif. [ONLINE] Available at:http://makeagif.com/_0KAy7. [Accessed 08 December 2014].
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ibe.org.uk/userassets/briefings/ibe_briefing_22_the_ethical_challenges_of_social_media.pdf. [Accessed 08 December 2014].
17 People Who Were Fired For Using Facebook – Business Insider. 2014.17 People Who Were Fired For Using Facebook – Business Insider. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-fired-2011-5?IR=T&op=1. [Accessed 08 December 2014].
Why Do Professional Organizations Have a Code of Ethics? | Chron.com. 2014. Why Do Professional Organizations Have a Code of Ethics? | Chron.com. [ONLINE] Available at:http://smallbusiness.chron.com/professional-organizations-code-ethics-1210.html. [Accessed 08 December 2014].
How Mean Girls taught me Ethics | Life as I see it.. 2014. How Mean Girls taught me Ethics | Life as I see it.. [ONLINE] Available at:https://evantangs.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/how-mean-girls-taught-me-about-ethics/. [Accessed 08 December 2014].
Topic 4: Ethics & Social Media | zling002. 2014. Topic 4: Ethics & Social Media | zling002. [ONLINE] Available at:http://zling002.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/topic-4-ethics-social-media/. [Accessed 08 December 2014].
Credits: maristpoll.marist.edu
In a world where we have the freedom of speech and the control over our own social networks, it is very easy for us to fall into the pit hole of living in the world of itself. Therefore, it is of great importance for us to know some of the ethical issues that are raised by the social media.
In my post, I will be focusing on the ethical issues raised by the educational use of social media. One of the ethical issues that has gotten my attention is social bashing. According to Clickworker.com, social bashing refers to an abusive verbal attack via social media activity (Clickworker, 2014).
Does anyone here still remember the case of a 14-year-old Singaporean girl who has slapped her mother twice and posting in public? That is an example of social bashing. The picture below shows her post in 2011 and comments that comes in after.
Credits: newnation.sg
How will you react after reading this? Her post has cause an uproar in Singapore and was reported in the local newspapers, Lianhe Wanbao and The New Paper (Lim Bei Ling, 2011). If you are interested, you can refer to the rest of the story here.
So, coming back to the topic on ethical behaviour, it sure pays big when we simply act in a freedom of our own will. We may think that everything will be okay because it has been kept private. However, there will always be people watching over us even if we may not like their existence, e.g. hackers, cyberbullies, etc.
So what should we do then? The answer is simple, do not post anything that will put your online identity much less your reputation at risk. If you do not have something nice to say, don’t say it. You never know who will be out to backfire you at the other end. Also, you might just want to seek other people’s opinion on the issue that you are trying to address across to the other party before posting it up. It may be an extra mile that you are making but I believe it sure speaks well of your heart’s motives.
I know in my previous post, I mention about being real, but that should not give anyone the intention to put others down despite you may disagree with the other party’s view. The bottom line is, treat others like how you want to be treated (Public Relations Sydney Blog, 2014) be it in public or online.
References
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/finger-on-keyboard-290.jpg. [Accessed 05 December 2014].
Social Bashing | clickworker.com. 2014. Social Bashing | clickworker.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.clickworker.com/en/crowdsourcing-glossar/social-bashing/. [Accessed 05 December 2014].
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://newnation.sg/wp-content/uploads/6304914707_1aef9dfc1b_z.jpg. [Accessed 05 December 2014].
Teenage ill behaviour on social media – Youth SG . 2014. Teenage ill behaviour on social media – Youth SG . [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.youth.sg/Our-Voice/Opinions/2011/11/Teenage-ill-behaviour-on-social-media. [Accessed 05 December 2014].
How to be ethical in social media – : Public Relations Sydney. 2014. How to be ethical in social media – : Public Relations Sydney. [ONLINE] Available at: https://publicrelationssydney.com.au/how-to-be-ethical-in-social-media/. [Accessed 05 December 2014].
Credits: multiflow.net
As compared to the previous two reflection summaries, this time I have taken more time to read through more classmates’ posts about online professional profiling. Quite a huge span of them has mentioned about the ways of developing professional online profile, mine was not an exception as well. Also, a number of them have actually mentioned about online profiles replacing resumes in the employer recruitment process. And I thought, will resumes still be necessary in the near future? And the short answer to that is, yes. Here’s why:
According to BusinessInsider.com, there is still a high possibility that our resumes are being reviewed by filtering software. And the key thing is, this software does not work on online profiles (Vivian, 2013) so bear this in mind. Coming from the same article, another reason is, if your employer happens to be someone from generation X or boomers, chances are they will still prefer hard-copies resumes. ‘If the resume is sitting on someone’s desk, they’ll pick it up.’- Terry Pile
In any case, I will still say both resume and online professional profiles have equal importance despite one could be losing out on another. However, I think it’s of relevant importance for us to know the key differences between a resume and a LinkedIn profile since we have been talking about LinkedIn and employment.
In conclusion, updating an online professional profile is easy but keeping it interesting to your viewers is challenging. Needless to say on portraying yourself as someone you are not (Novina’s blogpost, 2014). Here‘s a tip I found on Evelina’s blog about keeping authenticity in mind while improving your online profile. To end off, I think everything blot down to this two questions. Am I being real to myself? Is this what I really want? The answer(s) to them will drive us behind what we do.
Check out my comments on both Novina’s and Rachel’s blogs. Hope you have an interesting read. Stay tuned for upcoming posts! Thanks for your support! 🙂
References
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6wwDE7h-fX5rE2nEOw4uzZTRE6MHDF7ReTf2BbXSawD1AB7g_. [Accessed 04 December 2014].
5 Reasons Why Your Online Presence Will Replace Your Resume in 10 years – Forbes. 2014. 5 Reasons Why Your Online Presence Will Replace Your Resume in 10 years – Forbes. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2011/02/21/5-reasons-why-your-online-presence-will-replace-your-resume-in-10-years/. [Accessed 03 December 2014].
Just like a ‘PewDiePie’ – Building an authentic, online profile | ladyskorpios. 2014. Just like a ‘PewDiePie’ – Building an authentic, online profile | ladyskorpios. [ONLINE] Available at:http://ladyskorpios.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/just-like-a-pewdiepie-building-an-authentic-online-profile/#comments. [Accessed 03 December 2014].
Why The Paper Resume Isn’t Dying Any – Business Insider. 2014. Why The Paper Resume Isn’t Dying Any – Business Insider. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-paper-resume-isnt-dying-any-2013-9?IR=T&. [Accessed 03 December 2014].
7 Ways Your Résumé and LinkedIn Profile Should Differ – US News. 2014.7 Ways Your Résumé and LinkedIn Profile Should Differ – US News. [ONLINE] Available at: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/07/09/7-ways-your-resume-and-linkedin-profile-should-differ. [Accessed 03 December 2014].
Truth Will Out – Why Authenticity is the Key to Growing Your Business. 2014. Truth Will Out – Why Authenticity is the Key to Growing Your Business. [ONLINE] Available at: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/truth-will-out/. [Accessed 03 December 2014].
Topic 3: Discuss the ways in which an authentic online professional profile can be developed. | R A C H E L LIM. 2014. Topic 3: Discuss the ways in which an authentic online professional profile can be developed. | R A C H E L LIM. [ONLINE] Available at:http://rachelimrq.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/topic-3-discuss-the-ways-in-which-an-authentic-online-professional-profile-can-be-developed/. [Accessed 04 December 2014].
Credits: http://jazzcurzon.com/
As discussed in the previous post about having single or multiple digital identities, we all know that as long as we remain consistent with our online accounts, it doesn’t matter whether we have multiple digital identities or not. However, speaking of having an authentic online professional profile, I think it all blot down to this term called self-branding.
Self-branding is like a signal in the noise of the human capital (Tomas, ‘The Future of You’, 2013). The stronger your brand is, the stronger your signal will be to the rest of the world. The image that we portrait ourselves online speaks a lot about our self-branding. Why then is it so important for us to act professionally online as well?
Well, the reason is simply because in this fast-paced improving technology world, employers can just tap on the Internet to seek out information about their potential employees anytime, anywhere. Therefore, having an effective online presence is no longer an option; it’s a must (Member Blog, 2013). Continue reading
credits: pinimg.com, Isaac’s blog
After reading Isaac’s blogpost on Topic 2, I have gained further insight about major digital identities. Currently, I would consider myself to have both transactional and social digital identities. I presume that my transactional digital identity will be my Qoo10 (commonly called as ‘Gmarket’ in Singapore) account; it is an online shopping website. My social identity will definitely be my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. LinkedIn will be considered as our professional digital identity.
Prior to my comment on Isaac’s blogpost, I discovered the importance of owning our digital identities. ‘Nothing is definitely private online.’(Cristina, 2014, Google Hangout) If we do not own our digital identities, so what if it’s impressive outward-looking? Hackers could just intrude and mess things up. Therefore, we need to enforce on our security measures. This includes setting different passwords for different accounts or using the two-way authentication. Also, if you dislike your privacy being intruded, the best possible solution: do not publish anything that does not represent you well online (Cristina, 2014, Google Hangout). Similarly, we need to be sceptical whenever we are asked for our personal details online (Olja, 2014, Google Hangout). With that in mind, I will be more cautious with the next social network registration.
In conclusion, I’m glad to confirm that consistency across all our digital identities is essential no matter how many digital identities we have. If you find it difficult to maintain consistency across your digital identities, all you need to do is to link them all up. We can still choose to remain anonymous but remember, it will not be that forever. So why not be open about it? If you are afraid of being judged by others, I leave you with this quote.
Credits: pixgood.com
Thank you once again for reading my reflection; do share your thoughts if you have any. Stay tuned for more 🙂
Here’s the link for my comments on my classmates’ blogpost:
Lim Ming Ru – https://crossingthought.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/online-identity-one-or-more/#comments
References
isaaclye | One or more online identities? Which Is more suitable for you!. 2014. isaaclye | One or more online identities? Which Is more suitable for you!. [ONLINE] Available at: http://isaaclye.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/one-or-more-online-identities-which-is-more-suitable-for-you/. [Accessed 02 December 2014].
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a9/85/2d/a9852d4b1d7afe2bfe11ae937c2bde35.jpg. [Accessed 02 December 2014].
Google Hangout – . 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at:https://plus.google.com/events/cgqh8r8pfhcafcfana7mpo57m38. [Accessed 02 December 2014].
Last photo – . 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT5c8vdXqFgFj3lVilLox_S6LofFY4sjd0KdFfHgfRT3vLgYfOG. [Accessed 02 December 2014].
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