Month: March 2017

Many online video games users utilize the live chat feature daily in order to interact with other members. Aside from video games businesses also utilize live chats to interact with customers or visitors to a website. Live chat is very similar to instant messenger and Facebook messenger in that they both allow customers to interact with businesses however there are some distinct benefits to utilizing live chat. Below is a list of some of the biggest benefits of live chat:

1. Reduce Expenses
2. Increase Sales
3. Improved Customer Service and Loyalty
4. Discover Customer Pain Points
5. Faster Problem Resolution
6. Customer Convenience
7. Competitive Advantages
8. Expand Market Reach
9. Proactive Outreach
10. Reports and Analytics

If you are interested in reading more about the benefits of live chatting, click on the link below.

Sources:

Gao, K. (2017, March 22). Top 10 Live Chat Benefits You Need to Know – Comm100. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from https://www.comm100.com/blog/live-chat-benefits.html#improve

 

Following the topic of video games, this blog focuses on video games in the world of academia. One school in New York, Quest to Learn, use video games and design them as part of their classes. The students learn how the game works inside and out, from the design and creation of the game to how the game is played and the strategy of the game. By playing the game, students learn how to solve problems, how to communicate, how to use data, and how to predict things that may happen in the future. One of the students said that in math they travel the world and in one of the cities called Creepytown where the class learns math and english, the students play travel agents, convert currencies, and keep blogs about their travel experiences and budget trips. In some cases, students learn how a derivatives trader in Hong Kong affects housing prices in Florida. The students still have to take standardized test just like other schools throughout the country.

Sources:

Chaplin, H. (2010, June 28). School Uses Video Games To Teach Thinking Skills. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128081896

As with the assignment we had weeks ago, I decided to take a look at what the benefits of using infographics are and how to be successfully using them. An infographic is a visual image such as a chart or graph used to represent data or information. A business may use an infographic to talk about the average healthcare costs by state or mobile app trends for a certain occupation. How does an organization create a successful infographic? Below is a list of a few tips for creating a successful infographic:

1. Know the right information that is going into the infographic: it is crucial that the most important information is included in the design and that the wording is minimal. Use colors that stand out and pictures that reflect the information.
2. Turn your infographic into a video: by turning the infographic into a video, you draw in a new audience and brings the data to life. In some cases makes the information easier to understand and more appealing.
3. Infographic outreach is key: once you have successfully created the infographic, you need it to be shared with the world. You need to market your infographic so it is easily accessible which can be done by posting on social media sites.

Source:

Johnson, Z. (2016, June 24). How Your Brand Can Benefit From Using Infographics. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2016/06/24/how-your-brand-can-benefit-from-using-infographics/#65e83e3c5176

With the focus of this weeks discussions being on video games, I decided to take it a step further and found an article illustrating the pros and cons of gaming. Video games just like junk food, alcohol, and fast food, they need to be kept in moderation in order to be healthy. If any of the aforementioned items begin to consume ones life, negative consequences are sure to follow. With all individuals being different, video games affect people differently which means the pros and cons may not be the same for everyone. Below is a list of the pros and cons associated with video games:

Pros:

1. Improved coordination: You have to watching a screen while using a controller and more than likely try to move as fast as possible.
2. Promotes puzzel solving skills and logical thinking: Many games require players to go through a determined puzzle to advance in the game.
3. Increases social interaction: multiplayer games improve teamwork, cooperation, and in some cases are a great way for social interaction. With the goal to win the game, the players need to communicate with each other in order to win.

Cons:

1. Can become addictive: There is a big level of addictiveness in certain games and people who are unable to deal with their problems might resort to video games in order to escape their problems.
2. Promotes violence: Many games nowadays include violence and it is believed to desensitizes children from real life violence, increasing the chances of violent behavior in them.
3. Promotes poor health: we need sunlight for some vitamins to work on our body, and while we play video games, we are not getting a lot of sunlight.

Source: Video Games Pros and Cons List. (2015, April 14). Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://occupytheory.org/video-games-pros-and-cons-list/

Most students in both high school and college know and utilize Google Docs because many people have a Gmail account and using Google Docs makes it easy to collaborate on projects. With Google Docs you can use Docs, Slides, and Sheets which is similar to that of Microsoft Office. If you are working in a group you can easily share any document by sharing the document via email. By sharing the document, you are giving that person the ability to edit the document or you can limit the ability to only view it. Another software that is similar to Google Docs is Zoho. Zoho is an online presentation software that has three different accounts: free, standard ($5/month), and premium ($8/month). Zoho also has Writer, Sheet, and Show which are the equivalent to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in Microsoft Office or Docs, Slides, and Sheets in Google Docs. You can share the document with other people however the limit for free is 25 users. After you have created a document, Zoho saves it on a secure server. One of the downsides to Zoho is that if you use the free version you are limited to 5GB of storage per user which is immensely smaller than the amount users of Google Docs have. The other downside is that you are limited to 25 users. Zoho is mainly targeted towards businesses and the business atmosphere however it is not limited to businesses. This 2 minute video is not the best tutorial however it provides an example of how the Slide portion of Zoho works and what can you can do on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF5152yYROk. I added Zoho’s website below which brings you to their homepage. The Writer, Sheet, and Show portion of Zoho is located under the Email and Collaboration tab.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF5152yYROk

Zoho Website: https://www.zoho.com

Emaze is a free presentation software that is similar to PowerPoint in the sense that it allows you to create slides and add transitions. The major difference is that Emaze has a plethora of customization features such as adding clipart anywhere on the page and add transitions similar to Prezi. You can also add 3D zoom and video backgrounds both allowing for exceptional presentations. Aside from the features of Emaze, users can share their presentations by either emailing a link or allowing you to copy and paste a link. I am unfamiliar site so I am not sure what this site all entails however there looks to be many more features available. This 2 minute video is a basic tutorial on how to use Emaze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-9nHq9ld6Q.

Website: https://www.emaze.com

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-9nHq9ld6Q

Another option of presentation software that students can use for their presentation is SlideShare. SlideShare is a free program that is accessible not only in an app but also on the Internet. This program is very similar to PowerPoint in that you add information, pictures, or videos on one slide and then move to the next. You can add transitions from one slide to the next however unlike Prezi there is no zoom-in feature. You can also change the color or the text and the actual slide. There are also templates that you can choose from which have certain color schemes. The benefit with using SlideShare is its ability to be shared to other people which is important for this course because we have to share the presentation with our classmates. Here is a five minute video tutorial on how to use SlideShare however it is very monotonous but has good content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL9wi1xnTFE. Also you can use the following link to go directly to the SlideShare website where they have roughly 10 examples you can view: https://www.slideshare.net

Video Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL9wi1xnTFE

SlideShare Website: https://www.slideshare.net

Being that we have to create a presentation for our online class, I decided to look into the presentation software Prezi. Prezi is an online presentation software that allows individuals to create a visual with storytelling ability on an open canvas. The user is able to place a clipart, pictures, text, video, etc. any where on the canvas. Then the user add transitions from one section to another. However the user can also zoom in on a certain area were more text or information can be found. It is similar to PowerPoint on the Microsoft Office software however Prezi is equipped with more editing and customization software than PowerPoint. An example of a Prezi that utilizes different transitioning and zooming, clipart, and text can be found at this link: https://prezi.com/koluwfk7mcq_/climb-to-success-prezi-template/ . For those of you who are considering using Prezi for the presentation watch this 1 minute and 30 second video which is a basic tutorial on how to use Prezi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5vivOb4Fuo.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5vivOb4Fuo

Prezi Example: https://prezi.com/koluwfk7mcq_/climb-to-success-prezi-template/

Prezi Website: https://prezi.com

Aside from looking at social media in the business world, I wanted to look at the global issue of World Hunger and how social media plays a part in it. One blog I found is from the Borgen Project blog and is titled Mealmatch: Social Media fighting World Hunger. This project was founded by two young entrepreneurs in Arizona and is an app restaurant download to their phones and when eating out at participating restaurants, they check in and the restaurant donates $0.30 per meal to charity.

This project is a very large step in the right direction for helping stop World Hunger because it takes little effort on the part of the customers. Unlike donating online, this allows individuals to enjoy a meal or drink and know that some of that cost is going to help individuals in Africa or other countries. The only problem with this project is that it is currently limited Arizona only. If this would get expand into other states, the amount of money that would go to charity’s would increase significantly. Social media can help spread the awareness of mealmatch because if enough people talk about it, it may start to trend and people who have never heard about it before may participate.

Source:

Kloeppel, A. (2016, April 15). Mealmatch: Social Media Fighting World Hunger. Retrieved March 08, 2017, from: https://borgenproject.org/mealmatch-social-media-fighting-world-hunger/

Previously, I posted about the general use of social media marketing in which I covered sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. However these are not the only social media sites available for marketing. Instagram is another social media site in which businesses can perform marketing tasks. This video illustrates 10 marketing strategies for Instagram.