The End

For someone who spends the bulk of her time on the Internet, I felt that I had sufficient knowledge about the Internet and what it has to offer. However, COM125 proved me wrong.

I learnt something new in every class. Even when I embarked on my research for my blog posts, I stumbled upon new terms and interesting features found on the Internet. Of course, reading my classmates' blogs too opened my eyes to information I never knew of. One example is Bitcoin, which I read about on Mandy's blog. A somewhat complicated but clever idea that I'm still trying to wrap my head around. 

I was especially intrigued by the lessons on augmented reality and the Ikea video shown in class. I had never actually heard of augmented reality before taking COM125, and was pretty fascinated by this invention. The same applies to Google Glass, which was featured quite a number of times in class too. I was embarrassed to find out that I had no idea of this invention, despite being a self-confessed Internet addict. It is like seeing your dreams become reality. 

When it came to selecting a topic for presentation, my group decided on the Internet of Things. Yet another term which I was completely clueless about. I later learnt that the Internet of Things was in the COM125 syllabus too, and was eager to hear more about this topic. Learning about the Internet of Things prepared me for the future ahead. I can now anticipate the exciting features that the Internet has in store for me (and also brag about it to my friends and family hehehe).

Learning about the Internet helped me to identify both the boon and bane of it. Undoubtedly, the Internet is a great help, a work in progress that is only going to enhance our lives even more. However, with this added convenience comes other problems such as privacy and security issues. Would it be too intrusive if we were to have the Internet monitor our movements 24/7? 

Now that COM125 has come to an end, I'm glad that it has enriched me with the little-known facts about the Internet. After learning so much, it is clear that the Internet is full of endless possibilities. If the future of the Internet is reflective of what was presented in class, I am definitely looking forward to its official arrival!

The Future of the Internet

It is very exciting to see what the future of the Internet has in store for us. I believe I mentioned in one of my earlier blogposts about how lucky I am to be an early 90's kid, being able to witness the rise of the Internet and how it has evolved from Web 1.0 to 2.0 and soon enough, 3.0.

The future of the Internet includes the "Internet of Things (IoT)", a term that has since made its way to the Oxford English dictionary.

Technology has spoilt us and being on the receiving end, our lives are only gonna get easier with IoT. In the very near future, the IoT will lessen our workload by helping us carry out our daily routines. In fact, devices such as SmartThings are already available in the market, so it won't be long till more people hop onto the IoT bandwagon.

Before introducing SmartThings, here's a video of Berkeley's Ridiculously Automated Dorm (BRAD), fully designed by a Singaporean student studying in UC Berkeley (yeahhh #Singaporepride). The features he used are very similar to that of SmartThings, except that he designed this whole program by himself :O This video never fails to impress me.

The first time I watched this video about a year ago, I dreamt of having something like this installed at home. Only after studying COM125 did I realise that this IS the Internet of Things, a work in progress, and I CAN eventually get my hands on one of these.

SmartThings is possibly my favourite IoT invention to date. Similar to the BRAD home automation system but a tad more detailed, SmartThings has the following features:

Ability to control lights and switches

Everytime we leave the house, my mom will ask me if I remembered to switch off the kitchen lights, iron, modem etc ONLY after I've locked the gate -_- This will result in me having to open the gate and door to check on these appliances. This is why I love this feature the most. It doesn't help that I've heard one too many horror stories about houses getting burned down because of electrical switches that were on for too long. I can also turn my switches on and off anytime I please by controlling it from my phone. This is especially useful when I leave something at home to charge (like my camera battery and Clarisonic) but do not want it to overcharge.

Ability to lock and unlock doors automatically

Perfect for when I arrive home with hands full of groceries (which happens a lot). My gate would be able to sense when I'm home, swing open for me and lock behind me after I've entered the house. This way, I would not have to fumble with my groceries while physically unlocking and locking the gate and door.

Alert in the case of dangers and damages

Here's a feature that every household needs – alerts should there be a flood or leaks, unexpected opening of windows and doors or suspicious movements in the house. This feature ensures that your properties are well protected. Take a peek at how it works!

Price at US$199-299, SmartThings is also surprisingly affordable and I can't wait for SmartThings to be brought to Singapore.

Google Glass

What IS in Singapore, though (physically, not in stores yet) is the amazing Google Glass, as seen on my friend, Sheena. I am so jealous.

credits to @myluckyboy

You're essentially wearing a computer on your face, how cool is that?!
The Google Glass allows you to take pictures/videos on command, set reminders, search for information on Google and a whole lot more (there are third party apps that facilitate this). Thank goodness they've done away with the face recognition feature (apparently) because that's a bit creepy.
Here's a video to illustrate life through Google Glass. Uber cool!

Internet & Journalism

The internet plays a huge part in the future of journalism. The internet is home to online news websites, online magazines, independent news websites and countless blogs. In the future, I'm certain that we will be seeing much more of these sites because, well, starting one is free (or a low yearly fee should you have your own domain). This is the future of journalism. But the million dollar question – is online journalism real journalism?

Because of its ubiquity, REAL traditional media journalists and educators have been asked if citizen journalists/participatory journalists/bloggers ARE journalists.

"I would trust citizen journalism as much as I would trust citizen surgery ... The blogosphere is no alternative, crammed as it is with ravings and manipulations of every nut with a keyboard." - Morley Safer, co-host of CBS's Sixty Minutes

More opinions by affluent journalists as we go along!

Many newspapers and magazines have online versions to complement their traditional, hard-copied counterparts and to facilitate features like video, audio and images to provide their readers with a more personal experience. Some examples are The Straits Times online and herworldplus. The journalists have been trained and require a certain qualification before being accepted into the company and there are editors who conduct fact checks before the news goes live. Therefore, I can say that such online news websites are credible.

However, this is not the case for most blogs. Blogs are usually run by an individual and are highly opinionated. Sure, some bloggers have connections to big brands and are constantly invited to attend media launches, the exact same ones that traditional media journalists attend. They receive the same press kits and take in the same information at the event. But bloggers are not journalists. Most bloggers are/were not even communication students and have never been trained in the field of journalism. Atrocious grammar and sentence structure aside, they are unaware of basic journalistic practices such as fact checking. 

Jack Kapica, a former reporter for Canada's Globe & Mail and writer and editorial advisor for DigitalJournalism.com, reiterates my point, "Much of the writing I’ve read, on most citizen journalism sites, shows little understanding of the process of gathering the news and writing it in a conventional form. Conventionality of presentation is important because it can give readers a recognizable framework to assess and understand what’s being written." "One of the critical things many citizen journalism writers do not understand is the necessity of interviewing people and quoting them. The value of original quotes cannot be overstated. Too frequently I see citizen journalists quoting the mainstream media stories and I can’t see how this differs from mainstream media."

Writer, communications coach, broadcast journalism trainer and filmmaker, Tim Knight agrees that bloggers are not journalists, "Bloggers are not by nature into accuracy, balance and fairness, the
hallmarks of good journalists" "And just so you know, before anything we write can go to print or on air, a senior journalist first checks and edits it for accuracy and grammar etc." "Bloggers' contributions can be extremely important to a news story. But before their information can be used it has to be checked by professionals. Only then, only if the information proves to be correct, can it be trusted and used."




Pakistani news executive, Talat Hussein does not think so either. He feels that unlike journalists, bloggers aren't backed by any sense of accountability or responsibility. This is true. Since they are individually run and do not represent any company which they can potentially ruin the reputation of, they are free to post their honest opinion and not get into trouble as long as it isn't against the law. Hussein also feels that there's too much idle talk and dumbed down content. This is especially true when they have to constrict the information to fit the character count on Twitter. Journalists are trained to report news straight to the point, eliminating unnecessary "fluff" but blogs on the other hand, have too much "fluff" distracting the readers from the main content. In addition, many are paid for their blog posts so it might be biased towards the brand they're advertising.

Well this guy got his facts AND grammar wrong #definitelynotajournalist

Bloggers are not true journalists, but this does not mean that other online news sites aren't as credible as The Straits Times online or herworldplus. There are some highly respected online magazines that function just like traditional media. One example is local pop-culture website, Popspoken.

Like traditional media companies, Popspoken has a department of editors and contributors (affectionately known as "curators"), so you can be assured that the news isn't just meaningless rambles. Their layout is impressive – polished and professional, with news that fall into a variety of categories. The contributors brave the crowds at events to interview affluent and high profile people. This dedication and meticulous behind-the-scenes fact-finding is something that sets these credible online news sites apart from your average blogger. They've even been quoted by The Straits Times – definitely legit!

A DigitalJournal article reports, "The problem is, veracity is deleted and placed in the trash bin. Unverified opinion is taking its place. Well-written, fact-checked opinion has a storied place in journalism history. But off-the-cuff, on-the-take opinion does not. Yet there is much more of the latter on the Internet than the former." And the number of independent, opinionated blogs will only increase.  Kapica believes that citizen journalism can be very powerful due to its speed and the fact that it can be reported anytime, anywhere, but the world of citizen journalism needs to be encouraged to hold high standards of itself and practice proper journalistic principles. This means that for more efficient news broadcasting, we'd need more websites like Popspoken, and blogs that strive to be like such respectable online sites instead of 16-year-old ramblings.

Sources: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/tim-knight/citizen-journalists_b_4045334.html 

http://digitaljournal.com/article/271696#ixzz2kJnvccvJ

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/271657#ixzz2kJpkpD7L

Internet & Politics

Are youth apathetic towards politics?
I would like to start this post with a video explaining why youth are in fact not uninterested in politics:

  

The conclusion that youth are apathetic towards politics was drawn from the fact that there is a small percentage of youth who participate in voting. In the video above, Jacob Helliwell says that politics is more than just checking off the box on a voting slip – something that isn't really an engaging form of participation.

In other words, it isn't a fair measure of the youth's engagement in politics. Statistics (I'm assuming US) show that 60% of youth engage in some form of non-voting political behaviour while only <38% of adults under the age of 50 do so. It is not that the youth are apathetic towards politics, but rather, they are shifting to different forms of participation. This, I agree.

News about the government are mostly reported in a section in The Straits Times, easily identifiable by the lengthy columns and lack of images. Since the youth largely consume digital media instead of getting their fingers blackened while flipping pages of newspapers, they feel like politics isn't targeted at them. In 2010, SDP secretary general Chee Soon Juan also mentioned that there were more young people participating in the election forums than older ones. I'm sure the figures will continue to increase as young people become increasingly reliant on social media as their source of information. This shows that social media is the way to go when it comes to engaging youth in politics.

During Singapore's election period, when candidates actively post on social media to garner votes (a relatively new strategy they have adopted), and Twitter becomes flooded with election-related tweets by peers and news accounts, youths become increasingly interested in politics. Some become so involved that strong opinions on the different parties are exchanged on these social media sites, with each of them imposing their beliefs on one another. These arguments sometimes get so heated that a Twitter war begins.

Speaking of the youth's engagement in politics via new media, RP's secretary general Kenneth Jeyaretnam too supports the use of online media because "there is a certain comfort of the anonymity online", for those who fear of using their identity to post something critical about the government. The option of anonymity can be both a power and limitation of internet campaigning. With anonymity, people are more likely to share their views, allowing the political parties to take in constructive criticism and improve themselves. This also allows for broader discussions with strangers in forums or a comment thread. However, it is also a limitation because anonymity could result in defamation and libel – nasty comments posted about the parties.

Apart from giving youth and other people the opportunity to interact with the political parties online, internet campaigning also allows these parties to post videos or information that might be censored by mainstream media, who tend to portray the parties in a certain light, leaving out some information deemed crucial by the parties. This is the power of internet campaigning because it allows people to take a closer look on the various aspects of the party's campaign involvement. RP's Jeyaretnam likens the (mainstream) media's report of their press releases to "reducing War and Peace to a 140-character tweet." I love this analogy! Haha I'm sure those of you who have done Journalism would understand the frustration. However, Jeyeretnam also feels that internet campaigning can portray "too rosy a picture and a false degree of comfort".

With the speed and ease of delivery that internet campaigning has to offer, I'm certain it is here to stay though the older generation might argue that traditional media provides better coverage. What's your take on this topic?

Reference: http://globalmediacabot.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/social-medias-impact-on-politics-in-singapore/

Entertainment & Multimedia on the Internet

Multimedia is a computer-based interactive communication process which incorporates various mediums – text, audio, images, animation, video and interactivity. Multimedia is commonly used to "sell" a product and to reach out to their audience. One example is the late Steve Jobs' famous keynote presentations during product launches as a form of advertisement (since Apple hardly does/hardly has to do any advertising). And I admit that I was one of the many Apple fans who stayed up to the wee hours of the night to catch the keynote speech. Multimedia as a means of marketing allows companies to experience highly-facilitated communication between business partners and existing and potential customers. The marriage of marketing and multimedia is one that is outstanding and impressive – 2 simple ideas fused together to create a whole new experience for marketers and consumers. As I reminisce about the times where communication existed at its most basic form, I discovered how far we have really come since then.  

Having been an Apple fan since the time Apple stepped into the market with their colourful iMac desktops (below is a picture to refresh your memory if you have forgotten. Look at the gorgeous colours!), I swore to never switch to an Android phone.

However, with new inventions such as the flexible displays by Nokia and Samsung, I AM SOLD. Well I wish I knew who was the genius who invented this amazing new technology first, but I don't and I am in no position to speculate.

These companies make use of multimedia to gain competitive edge as both of them make use of the same new technology – the OLED display.

Nokia's Flexible Kinetic Interface

The Nokia Kinetic Device

(credits: The Verge)

The Nokia Humanform

(credits: conversations.nokia.com)

Both these products have flexible OLED displays which allow users to twist to control (eg: zooming in/out, scrolling). I'm not too sure if the Kinetic Device has features that are the same as that of the Humanform , since the YouTube video above does not cover the full aspects of the phone. But the coolest parts of the Humanform is the fact that it allows you to FEEL images :O It also has mood recognition so users can no longer tell someone a lie over video call because the phone will show it. Hahaha I'm not too sure if I like that feature >.<

Here are some of the gestures of the phones (assuming that both the Kinetic Device and Humanform use the same gestures):

• - Twist forward to scroll files and twist action to control speed
• - Bend for action or to open items
• - Hold the device by the ear and squeeze to answer the ring
• - Twist, bend, and squeeze adds more to pinch and zoom on the touchscreen
• - Security recognition to the user's grip
• (source: http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/422506/20130110/samsung-youm-vs-nokia-kinetic-prototype-flexible.htm#.UnuorZQpZgI)

• Samsung Youm
  
  
  (credits: crn.com.au)
• (credits: stuffatfingers.com)
• (credits: eweek.com)

(credits: hardwarezone.com.sg)

Also using the OLED display, Samsung has created (prototypes of) a few different Youm devices as seen above. It doesn't seem to have squeeze or twist gestures like the Nokia phones but I'm still so blown away by it. Just watch how it works in the video below! 

If you watched this video till the end, you would've caught the trailer of one of Samsung's Youm phones that opens up to become a tablet – WOW I REALLY WANT THAT. Apparently Samsung's CEO promises to deliver Youm devices with "folding displays"in 2015, I can't wait!

Evidently, the use of multimedia to showcase multimedia allows consumers and marketers to have a deeper connection to the product. Competition is seen between these two brands who are obviously fighting to be the first to come up with the world's first flexible display.

Internet Security

A study done by Symantic Corporation in 2011 shows that 80% of the Internet users in Singapore have experienced cybercrimes – the 4th highest in the world. This is probably because Singapore is ranked as one of the most wired nations in the world
(Source: http://www.cybercrimejournal.com/Jiow2013janijcc.pdf).

In addition, these findings show why Singapore is prone to cybercrimes

  (Source: http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/about/presskits/b-norton-report-2013-singapore.pdf). 

The Computer Misuse Act (Chapter 50) of Singapore states that cybercrime can refer to:

Unauthorised access to computer material 

Access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of offence

Unauthorised modification of computer material

Unauthorised use or interception of computer service

Unauthorised obstruction of use of computer

Unauthorised disclosure of access code

Enhanced punishment for offences involving protected computers

Abetments and attempts punishable as offences

(The complete Computer Misuse Act can be found on: http://www.cybercrimelaw.net/Singapore.html)

A Case Study

An unfortunate cybercrime incident happened to Miss Bala, which started out as a seemingly harmless email sent to Miss Bala's personal account. Miss Bala was a teacher and the email she received mentioned that he had viewed her profile on the school's website and was "happy with what he saw'. Following this, online ads and fake profiles of Miss Bala were created. She then started receiving messages and phone calls with regards to her "sexual services" offered. These are some of the messages she received:



These men request for sexual favours in her home and in her school, and some have even made advanced deposits (to a bogus bank account presumably made by the creator of her fake profiles) for these "advertised" services and turned up at her house. Miss Bala was even stalked by some of these men, who send her messages detailing her immediate surroundings.
The result was a plunge in her reputation by her students who found her fake profiles online.
(Source: http://publichouse.sg/categories/focus/item/82-victim-of-cyber-harassment-left-to-fend-for-herself)

If you are already cautious about your online activity in terms of Internet security, and have firewalls and anti-virus softwares downloaded on your desktop or laptop, please do not neglect the security of your mobile devices.

A survey done by Norton in 2012 reported that about 1.4 million Singaporeans have fallen victim to cybercrime as "new" forms of cybercrime surface. It also shows that 20% of Singaporean adults have been victims of either social or mobile cybercrime. It seems like cybercriminals have resorted to using various other mobile platforms where users are less aware of security risks. These include phones, tablets and social media.

(Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/%E2%80%98new%E2%80%99-forms-of-cybercrime-rising-in-singapore--survey.html)

The good news? Cybercrime rates in Singapore have decreased from 48% to 37%.

The bad news? The cost per victim was the highest worldwide at US$1,158 (S$1,448) – almost four times the global average.

(source: The 2013 Norton Study, http://www.symantec.com/pop.jsp?popupid=norton-report-2013-country-reports)

So here's a gentle reminder to create a complicated, secure password for your devices and accounts, and change your passwords regularly. Protect yourselves by deleting suspicious emails and being cautious of the personal details you post online.

#vlog

A modern day advertisement aka advertorial, products courtesy of Sunsilk. Made possible by social media & social networking.

Internet tools have been very useful to many of us. For instance, it allowed me to precisely edit and upload this video. However, the technical jargons on the video settings are more or less Greek to me, hence the poor video quality (even though it appears to be HD on my compact SLR camera). I tried editing this video on both Final Cut Pro and iMovie but the quality remained poor after uploading to YouTube.

For tech rookies who are looking for a simple way to edit videos, iMovie is perfect. It's almost idiot proof, super user friendly and it has sufficient functions for video editing. For Windows users, I hear Windows Movie Maker is pretty decent as well (but of course, Apple FTW!).

I can't, for the life of me, figure out what's wrong, but I am suspecting that it is my YouTube settings or the incompatibility between my recording quality and YouTube's video quality requirements. So please bear with this video and it's poor quality :<

Well, I guess it's Technology - 1 Collette - 0
I've still got a long way to go when it comes to figuring out how to effectively use internet tools. All I can hope is for programs to be simplified in the future to cater to t3chn0l0gy n00bs like myself!

eLearning

Singapore had her first taste of eLearning back in 2003, during the SARS outbreak, where all students were all quarantined at home for a week. Subsequently, schools started implementing eLearning weeks to prepare students in the case of future emergencies, epidemics or...zombie apocalypses.

The "e" in "eLearning" doesn't stand for emergency, even though it was what seemed like eLearning started out as. Our generation is fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to grow academically with the aid of computers. Whether it is looking for information online or completing assignments, the Internet has been and will continue being a great help. Having said this, eLearning allows us to make use of the vast amount of information available on the Internet to help us with our assignments.

Educators have always put an emphasis on "understanding" and "applying". Since eLearning requires us to use the Internet, it forces us to open new tabs with the simple click of a button and do our research on the given topic. We can then understand the topic by reading the various perspectives that different studies have on it and apply it to our eLearning assignment. This is more useful than flipping the pages of a textbook, which results in students having the same answers. With textbooks, students also tend to apply less and "lift" more, overlooking the importance of "understanding" and "applying".

I attend Human Nutrition (NTR108) classes once a week, which seems insufficient should students want to clarify anything that they have learnt in a previous lesson (the previous week). When classes are held twice to thrice a week, it makes it easier because the content is still relevant the next lesson which is within the week. Because it makes it difficult for us to communicate face-to-face, my NTR108 instructor has started a discussion board where students are free to post or reply to any questions.

There are also folders where we can access videos and additional readings for better understanding. This also makes it easier in the case where she has to go for trainings and won't be able to make it for class. Even though this eLearning platform is not compulsory for all students to take part in, it certainly comes in handy when we are doing our revision (which I am going to start on after this post ends).

 

The future of eLearning shows that the online classroom will be an interactive one, like that of Second Life Education. There are both audio and visuals (in the form of avatars) to enable students and teachers to interact with each other. Students will be less apprehensive about asking or answering questions because they cannot be judged from behind the computer screen. However, this also means that teachers are not able to pick up on the students' non-verbal cues online, causing them to miss out on their uncertainty or doubts that require clarification. Teachers are also unable to keep track of the students' presence – he could be watching TV while in the virtual classroom and his absence would still go unnoticed! Although teachers have found the solution for that (eg: making students answer questions periodically), the system will be more efficient if the teachers and students get to see each other via webcam. I believe that such virtual classrooms are the future of eLearning.

Here's a video on the benefits of eLearning, chock full of little known facts that might intrigue you. So much time, effort and money is put into teaching in a physical classroom and we don't even realise it!

*the aforementioned situations are descriptive of students from Primary school all the way to University, with the emphasis placed on Primary and Secondary school students, who rarely use the Internet for research purposes. 

eCommerce: Lovemarks

Having made purchases online before (whether it is a product, a hotel room or an air ticket), we all know what draws us to visit an online store. We all have personal preferences and ideas of what we like about an online store, which is what keeps us coming back for more. For me, I like to visit online stores that have clean layouts, easy navigation, and good customer service, such as return policies or live chats where I can post my enquiries. To be a good eCommerce store, one has to fulfill all the aspects of the AIDA model – Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Let's analyse my favourite local online store, Zalora.

Attention

What is the first thing that catches your eye at an online store? Attention includes imagery and layout. The Zalora layout is minimalistic but we all know that less is more. Zalora makes use of black and white for its font and layout, so that the coloured images of models and other products can stand out against the white background. The colours of the images used are striking and attention grabbing. 

Now compare Zalora to Qoo10. Which would you enjoy browsing?

Even though there are plenty of products for sale at low prices, Qoo10's layout is a mess, and I never know where to begin. Hence, I usually find myself hitting the red button on the top left corner of the page even before I can start shopping.

Interest

The content on the online store must probe the user and make him/her want to find out more. The tricky part is drawing the user to aspects or features that he/she might like. On Zalora's website, we are greeted mainly by the male and female models, who direct us to different departments based on our gender. If not for this, male users (like my boyfriend) might have the misconception that Zalora only sells women's clothing. 

Desire

Desire is fulfilled when the online store is able to link the features and benefits. This seems to be absent in Zalora's home page. Perhaps, they could've added in a phrase that said "Style at a wallet-friendly price, without compromising on quality". Who could turn down cheap, high-quality trends?!

Action

What would lead customers to take action would be good customer service, perks and rewards. 

- Customer service 

1) Zalora has a hotline to call when in doubt 

2) They offer 30 days free return. This means that if you're unhappy with your purchase, you can return it and receive your refund, no-questions-asked.

Perks & Benefits: 

1) Free delivery above $30! Who doesn't love free deliveries? And with all that amazing, affordable clothes, it's not hard to spend $30 to enjoy that benefit.

2) Cash on delivery, which saves shoppers the hassle of having to do a fund transfer or having to rummage through their wallets to look for their credit cards, then keying in the never-ending digits.

3) $10 voucher just by signing up for a newsletter. How easy is that!

However, online stores have to go beyond the AIDA model to ensure customer satisfaction. When the markets get competitive, the AIDA model alone will not suffice. Zalora and ASOS, Amazon and eBay, Taobao and Qoo10 – they are all essentially built on the same ideas. What is important is to find something that sets your online store apart from others,

Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi Worldwide has found a formula for this. 

"Lovemarks" is the term coined to inspire "loyalty beyond reason". The strongest connections in life are built on love and we are all affected by emotions. Hence, the same theory is used to increase brand loyalty in customers.

The hallmarks of a lovemark are mystery, sensuality and intimacy. 

Mystery

Don't reveal everything down to the slightest detail. Leave room for imagination and make customers want to find out more. Take this old Apple II ad for instance.

Neither the appearance of the computer nor its features were revealed in this advertisement. This will leave customers craving for more information and anticipating the launch of the new product. However, if everything was blatantly stated in the advertisement or in the store, there will be no hype. 

In addition, ideas have to constantly be fresh or the relationship between the brand and its customers will become stale, just like in a relationship. How would you like it if your other half wears the same clothes, eats the same things and go to the same places everyday? Online stores have to constantly innovate to come up with not only new products but new marketing techniques as well. 

Sensuality

Sensuality makes use of the five senses.

In an interview with Roberts, he used America's best selling luxury car, the Lexus as an example. He mentioned that sensuality is the signature smell and feel of the buttery leather seats, which is unique to the Lexus. However, what's lacking would be a touch of personalisation in terms of the entertainment system. What should come on when the car's stereo is switched on should be a compilation of songs specially handpicked for the Lexus, not a radio station that is the same in every other car.  

Likewise, what's the image or feel of your online store? Is it interactive? Is there music playing in the background? 

Intimacy

Intimacy is vital to maintain good customer relations. Since eCommerce means that all transactions are done online and store owners are unable to know how customers feel about their product, it is important to keep in touch with the customer base by taking efforts to request for feedback on the products or arrange for a mass meet-up session to get to know your customers. One of my favourite local clothing retailers, Love, Bonito, has an excellent level of customer intimacy. Some events, like those that give highest spending customers a chance to view and purchase the latest collection before their launch dates, are by-invite-only. These events are smaller and more intimate, allowing the owners to speak to their loyal customers and get to know more about them. The owners will then be able to put a face to the people they have been corresponding with online for years.

Then there are larger events such as the annual/bi-annual mega sale (below), where customers can speak to the owners if they wish to. 

(photo credits to Love, Bonito)

Below is a video on the Lovemarks Effect. When a store encompasses mystery, sensuality and intimacy, it becomes irresistible. So what is your Lovemark, and why?

Social Networking

Social networking is essentially a network of people. After watching the "Social Networking in Plain English" video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc), it became clear to me as to why social networking sites are of value to each and every one of us. In a nutshell, the video explained that unlike in the real world, where we are unable to see connections between people, social networking sites allow us to see these hidden connections. Forming and maintaining relationships become increasingly easy too. This is especially valuable as I transition from being a student to becoming a working adult. "In life it's not what you know but who you know." A very cliche but true statement that was reiterated in class this week, with regards to social networking. Connections, connections, connections. Where better to seek than social networking sites?



Forgive the speaker's rather monotonous tone – I'm hoping his good points make up for it! Maintaining good relations with others is SO important because you never know where the relationship could take you. Person A's boss might have a job offer which he shares on his Facebook wall. Person B is seeking a job and sees the post. Person B contacts Person A to express his interest, and asks if Person A can link him up with his boss. TA-DAH! The wonders of social network.

From a different perspective, social network can help people look non-run-of-the-mill jobs too. Of course, the more "famous" people have it easier:

(Credits: xiaxue.blogspot.com)

Yes, you read right. Singapore's top blogger (one of my personal favourites too), Xiaxue has gotten herself a a year's usage of 3 rental cars just by blogging. Much of her house renovations were sponsored too (sorry to rub it in). Her job here is to write an advertorial in return. Would she have been able to enjoy these perks if not for social networking? No. Advertisers get through to her via her highly influential blog, Twitter and Instagram accounts. (Heck, if not for social media, she would not even have a blog to begin with!)

Social networking has allowed people to connect with "famous" people even though both parties do not know each other in real life. Here's another example:

(Credits: @mydreambag and @yankaykay)

Fans and readers actively patronise blogger KayKay's Instagram store, which sells brand new and pre-loved designer items. Because of the social network that she has formed with her readers, her business on her e-commerce platform has been booming. 

Where has social networking brought you? As for me, I'm lucky enough to have received job offers (albeit rather small-scale ones) thanks to the social network. I am confident that social networking will continue to help me in the future. I'm never giving up on social media!

Social Media

I admit, I cannot live without social media. I have been immersed in the world of social media ever since I created my first Friendster account. It was living proof of how small the world was, because you could see how you were connected to another person – are you guys 1st degree friends, 2nd degree friends or 3rd? Friendster was a place to "show-off" your popularity through the number of testimonials – not the best competition to have when you're a pre-teen struggling with self-esteem and longing for acceptance. My favourite part of it all? Finally a platform for me to post photos I've taken with my then-3.2megapixel-camera.

At about the same time, I created my first actual blog on Blogger, where I religiously blogged about my daily life in school and had a tag board where friends could talk to me and comment on my posts. Only when I received nasty comments on my tag board did I realise that there were other people, apart from my friends, who were reading my (admittedly, very boring) blog. Of course, 13 year old me was so affected and enraged that I might have had started a tag board war. Even though the internet was fairly new then, these keyboard warriors knew that the internet was a great way to speak their mind and put others down because computer-mediated communication (CMC) meant that their identities were protected (or so they thought, since IP addresses could be traced at that time when everyone was still using a desktop computer – tried and tested).

Along came Facebook and the early adopters hopped onto the new social media bandwagon. As for me, I grew so comfortable with Friendster that I refused to create a Facebook account – you could say that I was amongst one of the few laggards. Social media did not stop there. The novel idea of "micro-blogging" possessed me to create a Twitter account. Back then, our on-the-go-tweets had to be text messaged to a local @tweetSG number (I am SO thankful for internet data). Social media kept getting better. Instagram came about – also the reason why some people have abandoned Twitter, leaving the poor micro-blogging site solely for thoughts and rants. We all love looking at photos because words alone is never sufficient. Especially when it comes to food :P For example:

VS

Instavideos? Even better!

And the hashtags on Instagram help me find people who have same interests as me, allowing me to follow them so that my feed will be updated each time they upload a new photo

Even radio DJs make use of hashtags these days for song requests or to provide visual aid for a certain topic they're discussing on air.

However, with these social media sites, people have become more engrossed in the virtual world than in the real world. Social media has made us more social, yet less social. Using phones at mealtime is a common sight. Instead of talking to our friends when we're out with them, we're seen scrolling through our social media (guilty as charged). Solution:

The future of blogs... 

Over the years, I've witnessed the evolution of the blogosphere. Following that trend, I've moved to so many blogging platforms ever since I started blogging. And some of my blogs are still alive! TA-DAH:

With advertorials and sponsorships, blogs have become a money making platform, to the extent that many people have left their jobs and education to become full-time bloggers or blogshop owners. That is how much social media has changed our way of life. Even though I'm currently enjoying the perks of blogging (sponsorships, freebies), I believe that these benefits will be short-lived. In my opinion, the blogosphere is unsustainable. Their glory years have passed. Blogs will crumble, people will run out of jobs because they've been too reliant on them as a source of income. Now, much less people read blogs, let alone updating their own blogs.

Now let's see what's the next big thing the social media has in store for us.

An introduction to the Internet

I still remember my first encounter with the Internet – I was six, and my mom was starting her first ever email account with Pacific Net. We bought a spanking new computer system, which consisted of a monitor and CPU, both weighing twice as much as me at that time. It was the most exciting toy we've had in the house. To access the Internet, we got a modem that took an incredibly long time to dial up. It also kept me off the phone because making a call would terminate the Internet connection. It was frustrating, but the Internet was too intriguing to have me fuss over such technical glitches.

Less than a decade down the road, the Internet has evolved into our modern encyclopaedia, quenching our thirst for curiosity and helping us stay connected with people locally and globally. Computers are now a fraction of the size and weight it used to be. In fact, most people nowadays use laptops instead of PCs at home because of its convenience. 

Aww look how they've grown :') My memory of my first computer wasn't the machine on the left though (I'm not thatttt old).

My first computer looked something like this. Big-assed monitor, noisy CPU and springy keyboard keys ^^

I am fortunate to have been born in the 90's. The 90's was awesome because besides experiencing the boyband craze first hand, I witnessed the Internet evolved. I watched the transition from words on paper to text online. In school, we visited the computer labs to familiarise ourselves with these intelligent robots so often that tree huggers would've been proud of us. Teachers stopped using overhead projectors (or more commonly known as OHPs) and moved on to Powerpoint slides. We were no longer handed worksheets in the form of brown recycled paper whose words faded overtime (does anyone else remember this?), instead, work was distributed to us online. I no longer had to write out the lyrics of my favourite boyband song while it was playing in the background – I could simply google it. 

Google. What started out as a search engine company has now become a verb. We use the term so loosely in our everyday conversation that we forget to capitalise the "G" in Google. Google has evolved into so much more. It's a Cloud, a chatroom, an email host, a translator, a word processor and probably the world's best mapping service, just to name a few. With so much to boast about, it is safe to say that Google is the most amazing thing on the Internet today.

Haha. Found this on Google images but I think it's from PostSecret. I can definitely relate. My first browser was Netscape, then Internet Explorer after I upgraded to Windows 98, then Safari when I got my first Macbook in 2006 (I never looked back. Mac forever woohoo!). Betrayed Safari and hopped onto the Google Chrome bandwagon recently and I must say I'm really liking Chrome. 

Don't forget the other wonders that come with the Internet – social media, online shopping, instant messaging, e-learning (this one's not so wonderful to me TBH haha). More on that in the weeks to come ;)

Leaving you with a video by one of my favourite vloggers, Caspar Lee (vlogs, another great discovery!). Here, Caspar tests his mom (who's probably not as IT savvy as a 90's kid like himself) on the latest terms in technology. If you're reading this, you're probably familiar with them ;)