Who needs Black Friday when you have Cyber Monday! For all the people that decided they did not want to stand on long lines or deal with being pushed by crazy shopper’s cyber Monday was a peaceful heaven. But what stood out to me the most about Cyber Monday was the amount of media it received. Cyber Monday has only been in effect for a couple of years but people have really taken to it. More and more people are choosing to not take part in Black Friday festivities but instead to wait for the following Monday to enjoy sales... Continue reading

What I enjoy more than posting weekly blog updates is Shopping!!! Well recently Urban Outfitters released a new app that not only allows you to shop for their latest looks but the app also allows you to take pictures of yourself while wearing urban outfitters clothing. Talk about a great reason to take selfies. In an article titled "Urban Outfitters Gets a New App, and Its Own Town" by Zach Bergson for Digiday.com it explains the reason behind Urban Outfitters creating this app and what the company hopes to achieve by having a presence within the app world. "Urban Outfitters... Continue reading

For my New Media Newsroom class my professor recently introduced us to a new media platform called Storify. I bet you looked at the word Storify and wondered what exactly am I talking about. I know this because I did the same exact thing when he first mentioned the idea of Storify as a media platform to share information. I felt like we already have Twitter, Facebook and Instagram what was going to make Storify a different platform to share media on. I wondered why I even needed to create an account and get involved with another website. In asking... Continue reading

I turned my television on two days ago and caught the end of a Geico commercial. I found myself laughing at how hilarious the commercial was so I decided to go on YouTube and find the Geico channel. I wanted to watch the entire episode to get the full message the commercial was trying to get across to the public. In doing this I realized that I didn’t have to watch TV all day hoping that commercial would come on again instead all I had to do was go on YouTube and in an instant I was watching it. This... Continue reading

Working for free as an intern for many may seem like a waste of time but in the world of news it's a must if you plan on succeeding. In news or mainly journalism finding a steady job tends to be hard. Many journalist starts as freelance journalists while praying that they hopefully find a permanent job at any paper or magazine. As I approach the end of my college career I'm starting to hear that more and more. When I meet journalists that are in the field working many of them tend to tell me that they pick jobs... Continue reading

Do you ever wonder how some Blogs grow more popular than others? The world of sharing news and journalism has completely changed. We have gone from needing the radio or televison to keep up with the news to being able to access it on the internt. Well another feature that makes getting information easier are Blogs. Many people view Blogs as a form of Citizens Journalism. Anyone can create them and write about anything that's happening whether it deals with current news or simple celebrity gossip. These Blogs become more popular as people view them and interact on the websites.... Continue reading

Ever wonder how to create an effective Twitter account? By effective I mean an account that allows your followers and potential followers get an idea of exactly who you are just from the mini bio you put in your profile? Well in my media newsroom class I recently learned some great pointers that I applied to my Twitter account when creating it for class and thought I would share it with my fellow media communication lovers. Whether you have a twitter account that’s for business or personal use the goal is to get as many followers as possible and have... Continue reading

Do you ever wonder how some Blogs grow more popular than others? The world of sharing news and journalism has completely changed. We have gone from needing the radio or televison to keep up with the news to being able to access it on the internt. Well another feature that makes getting information easier are Blogs. Many people view Blogs as a form of Citizens Journalism. Anyone can create them and write about anything that's happening whether it deals with current news or simple celebrity gossip. These Blogs become more popular as people view them and interact on the websites.... Continue reading

About a week ago I was having a conversation with my friend about the site Pinterest. She was raving about how much she loved it because she was able to learn so much about people and their interests through pictures. She compared it to Instagram but called it a better version. Well that conversation lead to me researching different articles and creating a Pinterest account to get a better understanding of this new social media outlet. Pinterest started in 2012 and has been growing at a great rate says techcrunch.com in an article titled “This is Everything you Need to... Continue reading

To many of us Instagram is just an app we use to take silly pictures that we post for likes. It’s a way to show people what we are doing without having to use words. But what if Instagram could be used a platform to share the news? In an article by Meena Thiruvenqadam titled Instagram for newsrooms: A community tool, a reporting tool, a source of Web content for Poynter.org she highlights the different news outlets that use Instagram as a news platform. For example the Chicago Tribune uses Instagram as away to update their followers on what happens... Continue reading

I purchased a newspaper a few days ago and learned I only had to pay a dollar fifty for it. I was extremely shocked by this because I always thought it would cost more to purchase the paper. That moment made me realize I never purchased a newspaper before that day. I simply went online to read the news or used one of the many apps on my phone to find out what was going on globally. I believe my generation has really set the tone for the change in the way we receive our news. In an article titled... Continue reading

How it is that one form of media is able to promote another form of media? In this modern day most media professionals have found ways to use not one but two media platforms at once to interact with the public. Have you ever noticed that as you watch the news most news anchors are asking viewers to tweet them responses on news headlines or if your favorite TV program is on during commercials the network advertises the fact that people can tweet there favorite moments from the show ? As new forms of media grew such as Twitter and... Continue reading

When apple revealed to the world that the newest addition to their Apple products would be a Mini Ipad I was completely surprised. I could not figure out why? I mean the company already has three different versions of the Ipad so what was the point of creating a Mini Ipad? Yes the Mini Ipad resembles the original Ipad, has app capabilities and also a long lasting battery life just like the Ipad. So what’s the point of getting it right? Well in doing research I've learned that the Ipad Mini has a life of its own. In reading an... Continue reading

Growing up the idea of seeing 3D movies was fascinating. Nowadays it’s become a norm, with 3D movies released regularly and even video games are now 3D. But never did I expect even YouTube would be able to provide 3D videos also. In an article by Marty Katz titled YouTube Will Now ConvertVideos to 3D for the NewYorkTimes it focuses on the fact that YouTube users will now be able to make already existing uploads or new uploads 3D. The reason they choose to make this change is because of the rise in uploads from consumers that have 3D capable... Continue reading

There was a time in history when a person had to use the radio or watch television to hear the news. They had to stop what they were doing just to sit down for an hour to find out what was going on around the world.Well today in the 21st century we can simply do this through apps. As someone is taking the train into the City or waiting for their class to start they can simply open their smartphones or Ipads and click on a news app that gives them up to date information. News companies like CNN that... Continue reading

There was a time in history when a person had to use the radio or watch television to hear the news. They had to stop what they were doing just to sit down for an hour to find out what was going on around the world.Well today in the 21st century we can simply do this through apps. As someone is taking the train into the City or waiting for their class to start they can simply open their smartphones or Ipads and click on a news app that gives them up to date information. News companies like CNN that... Continue reading

The idea that the digital revolution plays a major role in the way in which we receive our news might have seemed like a foreign thought before Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast. The quote the calm before the storm comes to mind when I think of how everyone’s lives changed after the storm because this storm showed just how much outlets like Twitter, Facebook and even Instagram play a major role in how we receive our news. For example many people used Twitter as their new sources. With electricity out meaning they could not watch television they had to... Continue reading

Why do stores like H&M, Forever21, The Gap and even Pizza hut urge customers to download their free apps? Ever wondered about this? Ever wondered what benefits businesses are receiving by creating these free apps for their consumers? Do they create them for our convenience or is it a marketing tool they use to make us spend money? I believe it’s a little bit of both. I think businesses create apps to keep consumers up to date with new products and also to make sales. I think these apps are convenient because consumers can now instantly check a store’s inventory.... Continue reading

The idea of online stores tracking what consumers purchase and read about seems like an outrageous idea. It made me wonder why they choose to track the purchase of their customers and what benefits do they recieve from this? In an article for Bits by Saul Hansell titled "What online Stores Sell: Data About You" my questions were answered. I learned the reason why online stores track or collect information of what consumers buy and read about is to sell the information to company called Acerno. What Acerno does is it takes the information and places ads on hundreds of... Continue reading

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular as the use of the internet becomes the way of life. People are no longer going to different stores to buy what they need; instead they are using websites like EBay and Amazon to buy a range of items. So how do stores like Macy's, Best Buy, Nordstrom and Walmart just to name a few retain their costumers? In an article by Stephanie Clifford for the New York Times titled "Lurring Online Shoppers Offline" it explains how stores like WalMart, Macys, Best Buy, and etc are creating an online presence so that... Continue reading

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular as the use of the internet becomes the way of life. People are no longer going to different stores to buy what they need; instead they are using websites like EBay and Amazon to buy a range of items. So how do stores like Macy's, Best Buy, Nordstrom and Walmart just to name a few retain their costumers? In an article by Stephanie Clifford for the New York Times titled "Lurring Online Shoppers Offline" it explains how stores like WalMart, Macys, Best Buy, and etc are creating an online presence so that... Continue reading

Politicians are using data mining as a way to reach the right people when it comes to getting the platform of their campaign across to the public. The era of politicians using just the television to get through to the public is practically over. I can't recall the last time I watched an ad on television. It feels as though everything is on the internet. "The promise and beauty of it is that it's highly measurable -- it's easy to collect data and see what's resonating and not resonating with voters." said Adam Berk president of the digital retargeting company... Continue reading

What ever happened to having posters with politician faces and slogans taped to the side of a building? Now a day's more and more politicians are using the digital revolution as a way to campaign and reach the people. Instead of simply holding rally's to talk to the people and explain their points of views on pressing issues politicians now create Facebook and Twitter pages. Aside from creating Facebook and Twitter pages politicians also create specific online ads geared towards the people they would like to reach. One politician that made using the internet as a way to connect with... Continue reading

Is it okay for young children to use iPads? Nowadays more parent use iPads as a way to entertain their children instead of using books or toy cars. Can the exposure of modern technology between the ages of two and seven be a good or bad thing? I walked into Walmart two weeks ago and was completely blown away when I noticed a two year old using an iPad. She was playing this game where she had to identify different shapes that popped up on the screen. Astonished I stopped and told her parents how smart their daughter was. Her... Continue reading

It would seem that the advancement in technology would make communication a lot simpler between parents and children, but instead it seems to be creating a huge gap in the way parents and children now communicate with each other. In an article for the NewYork Times by Roni Caryn Rabin titled "What Cellphone Calls say about Parent-Teenager Relationships" it focuses on how the dynamic between a parent and teenager changes once a cellphone is added into the equation. By adding the cellphone a different form of communication is created called texting. While children born in the 21st century look at... Continue reading