Media Technology

Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram have become an important source of media technology for many companies. Updates allow companies to share make announcements, advertise sales and make finding company information easy for their customers. It is one of the easiest ways to stay relevant at little to no cost. Plus using the internet as opposed to traditional forms of advertising saves time. For instance, many small restaurants encourage patrons to “check-in” and receive a discount. By checking in, they are advertising their business to “friends or followers” of that patron. While social media may appear to be geared at a younger demographic, its demographics continue to grow to include other groups. Aside from social aspect of social media, there are also professional social media site that allow for networking and career growth such as Linked-In. With social media, the rule of thumb is not to post anything you would not want your parents or your boss to see. People often forget that once something has been posted online, it could potentially stay out there for a very long time and in extreme cases, ruin a person’s reputation.

Text messaging has become increasingly popular over the last several years as a form of media. Companies can now advertise themselves and promotions through a text message by obtaining a customer’s mobile number. In my opinion, text messages create a bigger sense of urgency since most people check their text immediately after receiving them as opposed to an email that may sit in an inbox and just get deleted before it is even read. The danger of using text as a form of media comes in the form of unexpected charges to the consumer. It is not uncommon for consumers to share their phone numbers and once. Parents could still be held financially responsible if their child unknowing responded back to a marketing scam via text message.

A Rich Site Summary (better known as an RSS Feed), allow for their audience, or subscribers, to stay updated through either their computer or Smartphone. The advantage of a RSS Fees is a subscriber stays current without a need to look for the updates on the newest news through a continuous stream of information... Since followers sign up for updates, their audiences tend to be people already interested in the site and its contents. RSS Feeds are available for almost any type of news you can imagine such as local, technology, business or entertainment. For the reader, it can save time from having to check out each of their favorite sites individually (Mossberg, 2005). RSS Feeds come with some disadvantages. As with any web site, the validity and trustworthiness of the creator should be researched. Sometime information can be skewed to the creator’s advantage. For instance, a blogger may fail to disclose he or she received a merchandise or monetary compensation for their reviews or portrayals (Lannon, 2008).

Web sites remain the most relevant and common of the different media technology sources. Web sites tend to be full of information and if created in a user-friendly form, they are the easiest way for potential customers to get the information they need. The beauty of websites is a business can use other forms of media such as radio or television to grab its audience attention and direct them to their website for further information. For a web site creator, it is vital that their site is trustworthy, easy to navigate and visually appealing to its readers. For web site users it important that they protect personal information, including credit card and bank information. Sites should be trusted site, free of viruses, and free of phishing information.

Reference

Lannon, J. M. (2008). Technical Communication (11th Ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Learning Solutions.

Mossberg, W. S. (2005, May). A Guide to Using RSS, Which Helps You Scan Vast Array of Web Sites. Retrieved from ProQuest: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=832738751&SrchMode=2&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1338263889&clientId=74379

The Power of Positivity

About once a decade I have what I like to call a major “Aha!” moment.  My last one was about six years ago when I was going through a difficult time financially.  My dad, who has gone through his share of ups and downs but has been overall successful and happy, gave me a book.  The book was about the power of thinking positive and within a few pages, I understood the message- good or bad, life is what you make of it.
Just like life, communications is what you make of it and attitude plays a major role on both ends of an interaction.  As the sender, you should be aware of how your message will be interrupted and you should have good intentions.  As the receiver, you interrupt the message in the way you choose to.  As a communicator, I like to be aware of other’s feelings.  As a receiver, I like to process the information and try to understand where the person is coming from before I jump to conclusions.
I know that everyone is different.  Some may say it takes too much time or work to put that much thought in to communication, but I believe it is worth it.  Not everyone will understand, but I will tell you this, in general, others respond well to my positive attitude.