ASL?

I would never call myself a ‘gamer’. I have owned a Nintendo, and N64, a couple Gameboys and a Playstation, but these were all things I played for a couple months and got bored with. I’m not a very competitive person, but it does frustrate me to lose, so I tend to stay away from video games and such. What I have always been a fan of though is virtual world games.

My first love, and I promise if I could find the CD I would still play it daily, was The Sims. There was nothing more fun to me than creating little virtual family, and building them a ridiculously ginormous house with gaudy furniture, and make them fall in love, yell at each other, throw up, pee on the floor, or have babies. I always found it so cool that you could customize an entire world to be entirely your own. I had all The Sims versions as well – the original, the second one, all the expansion packs (Sims Dating, Sims Vacation and Sims Pets were my favs!) and of course, the best of them all, The Sims 3. As I got older The Sims seemed to grow with me. I could mimic relationships I was having in real life on The Sims, but make them play out better in my virtual world than in real life, or be really lame and create a fake family with a Sim named Ryan Gosling.

Literally the all time best game. Ever. No question.

When the CD was out of my reach, I world have to result to finding my virtual world fill on the Internet. I began with an account on Habbo Hotel, which allowed you to create an avatar, a room with furniture and even pets, and interact online with other users. You had to earn Habbo points in order to buy new furniture, or you could purchase Habbo credits with real life money (I had no money so this was never an option). What appealed to me about Habbo Hotel was that, unlike the Sims, it was online and you could interact with other people who were playing around the world. That was enjoyable for a while, until it became infested with creepos asking an 11 year-old me how old I was, and if I wanted to ‘cyber’ (cringe). 

A/S/L???

Then there was Coke Studios, or known as Coke Music, which was basically the same thing as Habbo Hotel, but a game that was basically used to promote Coca Cola products. It was almost the exact same as Habbo Hotel, but you could create your own music to share with friends, or play at your parties on the site. Like Habbo, you created an avatar that you could customize and dress up, and the ability to create a room with furniture. On this gaming site, users earned decibels by performing their music and receiving thumbs up from other players, by playing games on the website, drinking virtual cokes found in crates, vending machines and refrigerators, and by filling out surveys. The decibels allowed the player to purchase furniture and other nice things to make their virtual rooms more attractive.

Although the site shut down in 2004, I think Coke was genius for using a virtual world to promote their company, brand and products. Coke was able to look at the success of Habbo Hotel, and create an almost identical game that allowed them to push their products, and collect valuable demographic information by rewarding users with the site’s currency. What I think was more appealing about Coke Studios than Habbo Hotel was that Coke Studios appeared to have a purpose. On Habbo Hotel you seemed to be wandering the virtual world aimlessly, talking to randoms, and begging your parents to buy you Habbo credits. On Coke Studios, you were playing games, and creating your own music in order to earn decibels.

Because who wouldn't want a room decked out in all Coca-Cola branded furniture????

I think this was a genius idea, and it is clear that even today companies are taking advantage of games in order to promote their brand. McDonalds has their Monopoly promotion, Tim Hortons has Roll Up the Rim etc. I know that as a child I was enticed by this gaming process, and I know that I was a loyal Coke fan the whole time. There was nothing like sitting in your bedroom at your computer on a beautiful summer day playing Coke Studios, drinking a virtual Coke, with a real glass of Coke by your side (#winning #healthiestkid #childhoodobesity). 

Dooced.

Ah, the Internet. A place in which people can gather, share opinions, comment on others’ ideas, and all be one big, merry, happy online community. Social media has allowed for us all to believe that we now have the ability to talk about whatever we want, whenever we want online – hey, the internet is after all a democratic forum in which people can share their thoughts and ideas, right?

WRONG. That sounds wonderful, but what many of us have learned, or have yet to learn (HURRY UP) is that what one posts online can have serious, detrimental consequences. I, unfortunately, have learned this the hard way. Without going into much detail, a comment I made on a photo on Facebook led to me getting suspended during my second week of ninth grade – yes, a fabulous way to begin high school. The issue wasn’t necessarily what I wrote, although I continue to cringe whenever I picture my mother, father, and myself sitting in the principles office whilst she read what I had posted aloud, but it was the fact that I had my school’s name associated with my profile. It did not matter that the person who the comments were directed at did not have an account, or that these pictures and comments were posted before I had even begun to attend the school. The issue was that when my profile came up it said my high schools name in big fat letters, and that what I had posted was therefore associated with my high school. Since then I have cleaned up my act. I am very aware of what I am posting and how it can affect me in my academic, professional and personal life. This is something that applies to people young and old as well – once in the business world, you must be careful to monitor what you post in order that you don’t get ‘dooced’.

Now I know what you’re thinking: what in the world is “dooced”? Well my fellow Internet uses, this funny sounding word is Internet slang for getting fired because of something you have posted on the web. Shockingly, this happens quite often! Who would have thought that a simple Facebook comment, or blog post could mean the end of your career? Pretty frightening! There have been numerous stories in he media about people being fired as result of Facebook photos and comments, or information they share in blog posts. In a blog appropriately called Dooce, the blogger shares that she herself was fired from her job for sharing less than flattering information about her boss online. She advises “Never write about work on the internet unless your boss knows and sanctions the fact that YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT WORK ON THE INTERNET”, and she’s right! Even something as innocent s “ugh my boss was such a jackass at work today” can, and probably will, get you canned if it is seen by the wrong set of eyes. And even if you don’t get fired, the things you put on the Internet can also lead to a bad rep. My sister, for example, is a high school teacher, and some of her lovely students stumbled upon a bikini pic on her Facebook account. My sister is now formally known as “Ms. Big Boobs”. We all need to be wary of what it is we are posting!

Employees should pay attention to their place of work’s social media policy. Chances are they have one, and chances are it lays out the rules of what one should and should not do when it comes to social media. For example, in the Mashable article titled “10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy”, two really great ones they have included are: 1) Be Responsible For What You Write, and 2) Exercise Good Judgment. Perhaps talking about how you stole paper from the office supply cupboard may not be the best idea, or going on a rant about your boss or coworker. Be smart about what it is you are posting out there! Or else you may end up a sniffling, grade nine girl, on lockdown in her bedroom with no phone or computer access out of a job.

Check out WikiHow’s steps to avoid being dooced.

Sucks to be you.

Taking It Mobile - Written For My iPhone

Smartphones have really changed the way people operate on a daily basis. Right now, I am sitting on the bus on the way to school typing out this blog post, something that would have been impossible only a few years ago! Having access to the World Wide Web on this little device that I can easily store in your pocket is quite amazing if you think about it! So how can we really benefit from going mobile? What are some of the opportunities businesses can garner from this new world filled with iPhones, Blackberrys and androids?

As the summer approaches I have begun tirelessly searching for a job. I've done the internship thing and this summer if I am going to make it to Europe (which is my ultimate plan) I've got to make some a ton of money. So I have applied to several jobs (many over my phone on the mobile site for Indeed) that interest me. This weekend I travelled to Toronto to interview for a summer sales position for a company called D1 Mobile , a small company run by two young guys. What they have done is created this super cool app called Appetite. It's an app that links customers up to super cool, independent restaurants and allows them to check out the menu, look at photos of the dishes and for many of the restaurants, place an order for pick up. What's amazing about this app is not only is really simple and easy for the customer to use, but it also great exposure for the restaurant. There are many other websites that allow you to place orders online, but what's different about Appetite is that it focuses on smaller independent restaurants that the people working at D1 Mobile know are good and know that customers want to have access too, as opposed to a site having a ridiculous amount of restaurants regardless of the quality of their food. The app also allows customers to vote for a restaurant to offer app ordering if they don't yet and have them rate the restaurant. It therefore provides valuable feedback to the restaurant about their customers. All in all this is a really awesome app and I think everyone should take a second and check it out!

This is just an example of how going mobile can be a real advantage for businesses. Having apps or mobile sites really allows a business to get exposure that isn't possible simply over the web. I know that I have several big company apps on my phone, like Starbucks, Freshii, LCBO, etc. The ease of use of these apps is what drives me to use them and therefore makes me more loyal to these companies over others that may not offer apps. 

Anyways, I am almost at campus and my thumbs are cramping from typing this all out, but this has definitely been a mobile experience that I will never do again forget. 

For The Delicious Love of Tags

If any of you were to take a look at my bookmark bar on my Google Chrome, you would see that it is absolute chaos. I mainly bookmark three different types of websites: recipes I like, fitness and workout regimes I want to try, and fashion based sites. But, navigating through these bookmarks is an utter disaster. Everything is all mixed together, I can never find the specific site I am looking for, or I simply forget that I have bookmarked a site all together, and forever it sits in my bookmark bar, unloved by the click of my mouse. Therefore, I end up making the same salmon recipe every night for dinner, or doing the sam ab routine at the gym, when I could be using some of the awesome sites I have come across and bookmarked for later use. If any of you want to see what I am talking about, here:

They're all shouting "click me! click me!" - sorry guys, you're too hard to find!

Since I am officially sick of salmon (and terrified of mercury poisoning) , and have accepted my lack of abdominal muscles, I decided to register for Delicious (shout out to Kadie for bringing this site to my attention). What Delicious allows me to do is organize my bookmarks on the web, and tag them for ease of use. What this means is that rather then just having lists and lists of bookmarks on my one computers, I can access my bookmarks from anywhere through my Delicious account, and organize them through tags. I now have tags for everything! Recipes can be categorized into "breakfast", "lunch", "dinner", "dessert", while fitness sites can be organized by "cardio" and "strength training". Now whenever I am looking for something, lets say, a good dinner recipe, all I need to do is simply sign onto my Delicious account and click the "dinner" tag, and all my favourite bookmarked recipes that fit into that tag will pop up, nice and easily for me! It really simplifies navigating the web and makes organizing my favourite sites a lot easier. Tonight I am making an eggplant lasagna recipe I found, yum!

This got me thinking about how else I can use tags. Voila - this blog is a perfect example of a place to utilize tagging! By tagging each of my blog posts with specific words, it makes it way easier for a user to stumble upon my little 'ol blog. By tagging this very post with the words: tag, tagging, bookmarks, delicious.com etc. anyone who searches for those key words, or anyone who uses Blogger and is looking for something to do with one of those tags has a better chance of coming across this blog! So let us begin this tagging journey, and see how it goes. It will be interesting to see if my page views go up, which would look good on my analytics assignment  make me feel so loved!

What’s Worth Tweeting About?

It has taken me a while to jump on the Twitter train. What do I have worth tweeting about? What do I have to share that others need to hear from me? To me, Twitter has always seemed like a pretty useless social media app. Tweeting out to people to tell them what I’m eating, or let them know I bought a new shirt, or show them a picture of my cat seemed a little silly. Nobody wants to know what I am doing! I understand celebrities having Twitter accounts, because perhaps someone is actually interested in the fact that Justin Bieber had cereal for breakfast, or that Kim Kardashian loves her new lipstick. But how does little ‘ol me benefit by tweeting?

Would I get 91,061 retweets with a simple "hi"?????

So, I did some research. I read the Twitter help page and learned a little bit about how I, a person who really has not much to share, can benefit from having a Twitter account. As I do not belong to any clubs or do not currently have a job (#poorstudentproblems) for right now, Twitter can benefit me by being like my own personal newspaper. I can decide whom to follow, and whose information I find valuable. I then can scroll through my Twitter feed and see only that information I want to see. I can get my city’s traffic reports as they’re happening on my twitter feed, the celebrity gossip I crave, as well as anything else I may be interested in. The value of this first occurred to me a few weeks ago when I put on my snow boots, hats and mittens and made my trek to the gym one snowy morning. It wasn’t an easy trek, as I was quite tired (it was a Friday morning, and everyone knows how crazy Thursday nights can be). I made it all the way to the gym, and as I approached the door I noticed a sign saying “GYM IS CLOSED”. I was furious! And as I posted an Instagram of me looking like a sad puppy in front of the sign, I started receiving several comments from friends saying “You should have checked the gym’s twitter!” Apparently, my not having Twitter meant that I wasn’t receiving information that could be very vital to my day.

From that day forward I cr3ated a Twitter account, and have begun following others’ accounts I think may be beneficial for me. Since I am not a very involved student, and I don’t at this point work or belong to any businesses, I still have not figured out what is worth tweeting about. I know that as I continue on this twitter journey I will figure out how to effectively use twitter to promote myself, or my interests and gain some valuable followers. Until then, I will continue to follow my favourite celebrities, news sources, and businesses in order to stay current. Hopefully, in the meantime everyone will just enjoy my “Just tried a coconut Lara bar #yummers” tweets.