Online Privacy and Security Practices and My Plan for Making Myself Safer Online

I consider myself to be very safe on the Internet. Scams are probably the biggest security problem we encounter and people should know that they aren’t going to get a free iPad for answer one question. Giving our names, emails, phone numbers and even credit card numbers is how people usually get into trouble. Places such as cafes or airports, anywhere where a person can access the Internet for free is a big place for people to spread infection among computers or devises. By opening up emails from an unknown sender can also expose your computer to a virus or Spyware. There are programs that can remember all that we write in like our credit card numbers and passwords that can get into our personal accounts and cause damage.

A few simple ways to stop this is to install virus protection software on your computer. Just make sure if you download it from an Internet source that it is not going to give you a virus and always be aware of who you are downloading it from. For my personal benefit I have already downloaded an anti-virus software that makes sure all the websites I go onto are safe and checked for bugs. But half of the problem is if I don’t continue to update it, something may break through. I try to make sure that I trust the website I am using and websites like Facebook have been helping people stay safe.

Questions about the Interent

1. List the major types of content on the Web?

There is plenty of different content on the Internet these days. One is the electric publishing that many magazines and newspapers are doing. They are posting their articles or pictures online. Some are even making a person pay a fee for different articles. Entertainment is another, where we can view our favorite shows and movies online. Plenty of online games are also a big part of the Internet content. The game World of Warcraft is big example that allows gamers to sign up online and play. The obvious answer to content on the Internet is search engines. We use Google’s search engine to fine videos on YouTube or articles on the New York Times.

2. What makes a good Web page design?

A good Web page design must have good background graphics so it’s attractive for the person to view it. In addition, the title of a Web page makes all the difference, a person is not going to create a small and unclear title, they want their customer to be able to see it. People posting content on their website may also make their articles or blogs smaller so a person doesn’t get overwhelmed with information. Framing is a big practice for people who are designing a website. With interactive programs it expands what we are used to so its new and exciting.

3. Who are the leading makers of computer software and hardware?

As anyone could have guessed it Apple is a major leader of computer hardware and software. Along with Apple, there is also IBM and Microsoft. Apple has great computers but where would we be if there were no such thing as Microsoft Word? There is also Dell and Hewlett-Packard among these companies. Not only do they make our computers but many of them make the software that we use too. MSN also known as Microsoft Network is used as a major email network. A big software company is Cisco Systems has recently become a big network equipment manufacture.

4. What is the difference between a content provider and an Internet service?

Internet service allows users to connect to the Internet and provide different communications such as email. A few companies that are big in Internet services are AT&T, Comcast and TimeWarner. They lease the connections to phone companies and allow customers their own personal service. Content providers are what you see on the website. It is what makes up the information and graphics most companies have graphic design departments that make up their own content. The main difference between the two is the Internet service gives you with the power to go onto the Internet while the content provider shows you information once you are already on the Internet.

5. Who runs the Internet?

I think anyone who has an influence runs the Internet. In recent years and with Facebook and other community sites it has helped people from around the world interact and rule the Internet. Professionals like to think they run the Internet because of the new advertisements they set use up with but I think people who going a the same website everyday and talk about it in their daily lives makes the Internet what it is. As new websites pop up like bloggers there are different communities on the Internet such as gamers or people interested in pop culture, either way we the public own the Internet.

What are the good things that advertising does for you and society?

A few good things that advertising does are it tries to connect people. On almost any website there is an advertisement that says, “Email to a friend.” By emailing or sending the post to different person we are communicating but also spreading the advertisement. New and easy ways that advertisements have been getting to college students and adults alike are sending text messages or emails about a special sale or hours for their favorite bar. By doing this it makes the consumer feel special, that they only know about it and that is more personal. Certain companies such as American Express make the promise to make things more personal. They promise in their marketing campaign to allow you to have special points. They do this by research and it shows what a person buys. For example, say you are a shopper who buys clothes every week, after a certain period of time maybe you will receive a savings from your rewards to will go specifically towards clothes.
I think also advertising new product can be good. It lets people know about something new. I think in some cases advertising can help bring a community together. For example, there are new commercials that Dove has done that show real women, not size zero models that are Photoshopped. These are real people who are insecure just like any young girl. It allows women and girls who are watching think that they are beautiful in their skin. By showing the good aspects of different products, it can do a lot for our society.


Check this clip out about Dove's Natural Beauty advertisement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah3kAlb5xvY

What Target Market Do I fit Into??

There are a few target markets that I fit into. One is the college student market, ranging from ages 18 to 24. In the book it says the groups favorite books are Harry Potter and the DaVinci Code, our favorite magazines are People and Cosmopolitan and that we would rather be on a social networking site then any website. If my case, I can answer that I read and do all of these things. Things that have to do with pop culture I read about and therefore will pick up a People. Advertisers will know that I am going to read that magazine so they will put in advertisements like energy drinks or discounts from Target. For certain magazines there is going to be specific advertisements and for television shows, for example Grey’s Anatomy, also have specfic commercials made for the demographic that is viewing it.
The second target market that I fall into is I am a girl. Obviously that determines what products I use. Products like Dove, which is focused more on women is specifically gets advertisements again in People or Cosmopolitan. In addition, not only being a girl, but a young adult so I do not want to see an advertisement about wrinkle cream when I am not at the age to be dealing with that. I may see advertisements for makeup or skin care, specifically for younger women. Another target market is where I live. I live in New York, so the products I see are going to be different then a person living in the Mid-West somewhere. Advertisers can easily put people into target markets to get their product sold.

Advertising Websites

Adweek.com has a cool vibe to it so I immediately checked it out. It makes advertising look hip. With simple things like writing an article about the new movie The Social Network and how it relates to advertising. The author, Barbara Lippet doesn’t like that the actual advertisements on Facebook are only tiny ads on the side, but she makes the point that those advertisements is what makes the most money. Websites like MySpace is dying out because consumers don’t want a lot of adverting text flashing at them all the time. Advertisement now gain more popularity when a person “Likes” a feature. I also like that the highlight fun and smart advertisement commercials. Many other articles like “Gap’s New Logo: a social media experiment” are very smart, it gets you thinking. The website is very trendy and cool, it has a way of being complex but not intimidating. I will defiantly be going back.

I looked up Advertising Age and at first I didn’t really like it. It was not as in your face as Adweek.com was, which I was expecting. However after clicking around I started to like it a little better. It actually has different categories that led to different websites such as Creativity, Ad Age China, Jobs, Ad Age Insights and Ad Age on Campus I stumbled on to the Creativity website which highlighted Google Slam, a new demo Google is testing out. It is advertising at it’s best. It is viewer friendly and shows how easy Google is to use. People vote on two videos, using Google’s new fun technology and then the viewer gets to vote which one was the best. Google Slam is a demo version of what may come out soon, so look out. I enjoyed an article written by Nat Ives about a style magazine that was geared towards affordable clothes. The article, People Stylewatch is Ad Age’s Magazine of the Year tells people how the editors of the magazine find affordable clothes to what celebrities are wearing. It says that the reason why they are able to be on top is because they understand the consumer and that’s the most important part. The website had some good points but it just didn’t reel me in like others.

I checked out mediabistro.com and found it was not as well developed as I thought the other two were. What it lacked in development it gained in what it showed. It had different articles on different topics, and a place where people who freelance can advertise their work. Along with that it had a place where there were a lot of job listings. They had plenty of articles but I was able to view someone them without signing up, which I did not feel comfortable doing. The articles had different topics ranging from advertising such as Behind the Swoosh, The Making of Nike’s Greatest Commercials, it had a background of Nike’s commercial making history and how they branded their sneakers and along with it Michael Jordan. Then they had a few articles such as 10 Tips For Pitching Multimedia Content. I found this article interesting, it said that a person does not do just one job anymore. A person needs different multimedia skills in order to succeed in this upcoming workplace. Their articles are great but it seems that their website is lacking when a viewer can’t see a few articles.

Mad Men Meets Adverting for Lincoln

AMC created this Emmy award winning show, Mad Men about men who work at an adverting company. John Slattery, an actor who portrays one of these men is the new spokesman for Lincoln cars. In this case it’s real life portraying art. I am a big fan of Mad Men, which is probably the reason why I chose this blog to review. And that’s why it’s a smart adverting move to make a popular actor on this popular show start to endorse this car. Now John Slattery plays one of the main adverting partners on Mad Men who is trying to gain companies so he can sell their advertisement so it’s rather ironic that he is the one being paid to sell this product. Mr. Slattery is not the only one who is now doing advertisements for products his co-stars Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks are also doing different advertisements. For both television and advertisement companies, working with television actors on popular shows are certainly going to create great business.
Mad Men is known for being pristine and glamorous, it brings back a time when life was simply and gorgeous, all the women have their hair done and wear these gorgeous clothes and men wore handsome suits with their hair slicked back. And for Lincoln Cars to ask one of these actors to sell their cars is genius. It reminds people of good times but with new-sophisticated style, which John Slattery is an example of. This is not the first time a television actor has been asked to sell a product and will most certainly not be the last, because this is a dream for both the show and the advertising company. Each get something out of this deal so who knows who will be next.



http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/lincoln-meets-mad-men-in-new-campaign/

If the conventional network TV model is dying out, what do you think should replace it?

If the conventional TV model means watching shows on television then I would say that it is dying out. Most people may not be able to watch shows at the primetimes of 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. They are busy so they catch it on their DVR or online at websites like Hulu.com and Fancast.com. Companies such as NBC and Fox are starting to realize the new age of things and stand behind Hulu, allowing their shows to be viewed without a problem. The Internet may one day, for all we know, kill the television, not the networks or the people working for these networks but the actually machine. We will simply be watching it on our computer, cell phone or iPod. Even now when we watch something on Hulu a commercial only last 30 seconds or a minute, each commercial break, that certainly beats the five minutes of commercial times we normally get.

The textbook keeps referring to the Big Three, CBS, NBC and ABC. Except now there are the Big Five, Time Warner, Viacom/CBS, Disney, NBC Universal and Fox. Because there are more channels and more things that people want to watch is the reason we have all of these companies. So either these companies will expand or a few will buy the others out and it’s only a matter of time before one or two of them becomes a big monopoly. The world of technology is obviously changing so it should not come to a surprise that the world of television is also changing.