I'm going to be honest, if you had asked me what an aggregator was up until twenty minutes ago, I probably would have responded with something like, "Um...it's like a character from a storyline right? Like you have the protagonist, the antagonist and an aggregator...who is aggravating to the protagonist...Probably. IDK IDK IDK."
I had never heard of the word in relation to technology. So I looked it up. According to TechTarget, a content aggregator is an individual or organization that gathers Web content (and/or sometimes applications) from different online sources for reuse or resale. There are two kinds of content aggregators: (1) those who simply gather material from various sources for their Web sites, and (2) those who gather and distribute content to suit their customer's needs. The latter process is called syndication. ScreamingMedia, Moreover, and iSyndicate are among the increasing number of companies offering aggregated content for resale.
According to what I learned in class before social media really became the hot thing, organizations would update all of their social media platforms from aggregators, they wouldn't actually go to Facebook or Twitter to write out their post. Nope. They would write them out from the aggregator and the aggregator itself would post to all their social media platforms. It was a quick and easy way to get a point across through social media without having to make multiple posts.
The Wall Street Journal came out with an article on the lack of privacy that aggregators have.
"Security and privacy are a concern because users must reveal their account numbers and passwords to the banks doing the aggregation, in most cases. Banks say the service is as secure as online banking -- but even online banking customers may think twice about having all their access codes in one place. While banks often provide aggregation services to clients free of charge, it is vital to determine whether the bank assumes liability for any mistakes or security breaches, as each aggregator has its own terms and conditions. Otherwise, the risk could fall to you."
So I got to thinking, what is the best aggregator out there? What's the worst? The rest of this blog post will be dedicated to weighing the pros and cons (with the help of outside sources) of three different aggregators to decide who is deserving of the title: The World Wide Web's Most Aggravating Aggregator!! (*applause*)
ScreamingMedia:
In 1996, while developing a site for the 1996 summer Olympics, Alan Ellman learned how difficult and expensive it is to get content. He developed ScreamingMedia as a way to deliver, filter, back content and efficiently integrate it into websites. ScreamingMedia got off to a very quick and efficient start, ramping up over 530 customers and 119 providers supplying content to 390 publications by January 2000.
Pros: large user base, generally simple/easy to use, well-known/trusted, and it allows the designer to create their own filters which is useful.
Cons: has multiple complaints about quality of streaming videos and the cost is rather high: web clients can spend upwards of 1500$ per month.
iSyndicate:
iSyndicate has managed to distribute both for large companies and content providers, but also reaches smaller sites that pertain to electronic commerce and hobbies. An invaluable resource for content providers, iSyndicate also offers individuals a way to distribute their work across the Internet.
Pros: large user base: 795 content providers use iSyndicate to reach 170,000 Web sites, it also covers a very large array of categories such as business, entertainment, finance, sports, and politics.
Cons: It is easy to use, but you first have to cut through a lot of jargon, and there is also a 300 dollar set up fee which can deter many potential clients.
Moreover:
"Moreover.com allows people to search the Web," says co-founder David Galbraith in London. "We have a headline service and are focused on being the biggest and best aggregator of headlines."
Pros: uses proprietary software to produce the Web-style news feeds it calls Webfeeds. It aggregates news and information from 1500 Web sources in near real time and then assembles the Webfeeds in more than 200 categories. No content or licensing fees which help people who are new to the world of aggregators and aren't sure where to start.
Cons: Its basic filtering is free, but if you're serious about getting into the world of aggregators it's going to cost you much more on Moreover.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Utilizing Humor in Organization's Social Media
Personally, I am a large fan of comedy. It's one of my favorite genres, who doesn't love to laugh?? Humor is one of the most powerful tools one can use, especially in marketing. I love it when companies use humor in their tweets and posts, the ability to make your product relatable through humor is something that is extremely valuable. It makes a brand "followable," for me. Just think about the things people "like" or share on their social media sites; it's either educational, valuable, appeals to your interests and needs, or it's just seriously funny. Humor can do four things for your brand, creates unity, triggers an emotional response, makes your brand memorable and provides audience insights.
When you know your audience, you'll know what makes them smile. You should use that to your advantage. Using your knowledge and paying attention to news, current events, and pop culture can give you material to comment on in your social media posts. Knowing where to draw the line with humor is a skill that may take some time, trial and error, but I believe that it is one that can endear your to your target audience and make you unforgettable. Even though it might seem like extra work to figure it out, I think humor is a marketing technique all its own.
For example, I think Charmin toilet paper has a hilarious twitter account. I follow it and regularly laugh out loud because of it. The other day I had to go buy toilet paper for my apartment, as I was in the aisle looking around, I saw Charmin and proceeded to buy it even though there was cheaper toilet paper nearby. I follow Charmin for its hilarious tweets, but I also see all of its other tweets about the excellent quality of toilet paper Charmin has. So even though it was more expensive, Charmin was still able to have my service simply based on the fact that whoever writes their tweets, is someone who I consider humorous.
When you know your audience, you'll know what makes them smile. You should use that to your advantage. Using your knowledge and paying attention to news, current events, and pop culture can give you material to comment on in your social media posts. Knowing where to draw the line with humor is a skill that may take some time, trial and error, but I believe that it is one that can endear your to your target audience and make you unforgettable. Even though it might seem like extra work to figure it out, I think humor is a marketing technique all its own.
For example, I think Charmin toilet paper has a hilarious twitter account. I follow it and regularly laugh out loud because of it. The other day I had to go buy toilet paper for my apartment, as I was in the aisle looking around, I saw Charmin and proceeded to buy it even though there was cheaper toilet paper nearby. I follow Charmin for its hilarious tweets, but I also see all of its other tweets about the excellent quality of toilet paper Charmin has. So even though it was more expensive, Charmin was still able to have my service simply based on the fact that whoever writes their tweets, is someone who I consider humorous.
There is a balance organizations must strike between personality and professionalism. Many companies are still navigating the world of digital marketing and social media, and many are making social media a cornerstone of their digital strategy. When social media becomes one of the main ways your business reaches its followers, leads, and customers, your social media image becomes all the more important. Your social media becomes your brand image. The most successful companies at finding the right mix of personality and professionalism in social media will be able to both gain trust and seem “human” to their followers. Making this a goal for your business will give you a competitive edge when web searchers look to social media for a solution like yours.
I attached some pictures below of some of my favorite tweets from businesses and organizations that use humor effectively.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
#HoopsNotCrime: a Response to "Basketball Cop"
On January 15th, Officer White responded to a 911 call that there were boys playing basketball "too loudly" in the street. Officer White arrived at the scene and started asking the boys if they knew who called the cops, they said they didn't know. After a small exchange Off. White said, "I don't know who called it in, but obviously, I ain't got no problem with it" (FoxNews). He then began to play some basketball with them, there were some shots fired, but not from a gun. Officer White played basketball with the boys for few minutes more before some other children joined in, to which he joked that they had "brought backup." After a few more minutes playing around, he told the boys that he had to go now, but he would return later tomorrow with some backup of his own to get a real game going. He also asked them to keep playing as long as they want but try not to be too loud. The boys agreed and the officer and the players parted ways.
This was all caught by the dashcam in Officer White's police car, the Gainesville PD later released the video with the hashtag, #HoopsNotCrime, it soon went viral gaining more than 4 million views in 24 hours. One of the viewers was Shaquille O'Neal, NBA legend. Shaq saw the video and wanted to help, he dropped by the police station the next day and surprised Officer White. Shaq expressed his thanks to White for his actions towards the kids playing basketball. Later that day, White did return to the place where the boys were playing with backup, as promised, including Shaq. The kids went nuts when they saw Shaq. The rest of the video shows the kids, police officers, and Shaq all playing a pickup game against each other. At the end, Shaq lines up all the boys and tells them that if they can make a shot from a certain point in two tries that he'll give them 100 dollars. All of the boys, some with a little more leniency and help, make their shots. All of them looked very excited as Shaq gathers them around before he gives each of them 100 dollars he talks to them about the importance of staying in school, respect, and staying away from drugs. He makes them recite this, "I will become whatever I want to be. I will be a leader, not a follower. I will respect my peers, my elders and especially my parents."
I searched the hashtag (HoopsNotCrime) on twitter and found a YouTube video from the Gainesville PD. It's a series that the Gainesville PD runs called, Gainesville PD: On Duty. It give a behind the scenes look at most of the big stories that the Gainsville police are associated with. In it, they interviewed Officer White and when asked how in all of the interviews he conducted with the various news sites, they kept reporting on his "extraordinary response" and his take on that. Officer White responded saying that what he found most disheartening was that it was considered an extraordinary response in the first place, he was "just doing his job, and it is sad to see that the perception of cops around the world is so negative that this instance was seen as surprising at all." I'd like to focus on this point as well because I agree with Officer White. It is extremely disheartening that in today's world, a video like this seems out of the ordinary. That a cop stopping to be kind and play basketball with a bunch of kids is out of character. It seems that all we hear about in the news today is "cop killers," and mostly their African American victims. This is a tough subject to approach because of all the contention surrounding it. However, there is the fact that the incarceration rate of black people is much higher than any other race, and the sentences that a black person receives are often more extreme than that of a white person for the same crime. And dashcam videos do show, in my opinion, many cops being overly-aggressive and overly-eager to use their guns. Unfortunately, this has created the idea that all cops are bad. While I 100% believe that there are bad cops, and some police departments are more corrupt, the idea that all cops are bad has permeated through our society. That is why this video of Officer White's actions was seen as so out of the ordinary.
Having positive public relations is important with any type of business or corporation, but it is perhaps even more important for Police Inc. (lolz) to have the best public relations espeically in times like these. The Department of Justice would agree with me, in fact in 2014 the Department of Justice released a resource guide to help law enforcement strengthen relationships with communities. “Law enforcement officers are stewards of the peace and protectors of the people, but above all else, they are custodians of the public trust,” said COPS Office Director Ron Davis. When public trust is violated, it takes twice as much effort to gain back that trust. You've heard the saying, two wrongs do not make a right, well I believe that it takes at least two rights to repair a wrong. “It is vital to engage in planning and preparation, from evaluating protocols and training to choosing the appropriate equipment and uniforms. This is the hard work that is necessary to preserve the peace and maintain the public trust at all times—particularly in moments of heightened community tension.” Today's society definitely has had its fair share of heightened community tension. Many Black Lives Matter activist are extremely upset at the justice system today. In my opinion, the best way to help de escalate tensions is not to ignore or defend actions of past injustice, but to openly admit that there are problems. Validating people's feelings is incredibly powerful. And the feelings of many activists are true and need to be addressed, brushing them aside or permeating hashtags such as #BlueLivesMatter or #AllLivesMatter is not helping. Of course all lives matter, but we have to realize that there is a specific community of people who are being mistreated more than everyone else. Saying that Black Lives Matter is not a direct attack at all lives not mattering, it would behoove the police departments to start looking at it in this light. Bringing attention to one group does not threaten the wellbeing of every other group - or at least, it shouldn't.
I also found a GoFundMe page that is dedicated to Officer White gaining the funds to help him start a program for children to help keep out of trouble and get into basketball. The Basketball Cop Foundation is helping kids to achieve that. You can donate here.
This was all caught by the dashcam in Officer White's police car, the Gainesville PD later released the video with the hashtag, #HoopsNotCrime, it soon went viral gaining more than 4 million views in 24 hours. One of the viewers was Shaquille O'Neal, NBA legend. Shaq saw the video and wanted to help, he dropped by the police station the next day and surprised Officer White. Shaq expressed his thanks to White for his actions towards the kids playing basketball. Later that day, White did return to the place where the boys were playing with backup, as promised, including Shaq. The kids went nuts when they saw Shaq. The rest of the video shows the kids, police officers, and Shaq all playing a pickup game against each other. At the end, Shaq lines up all the boys and tells them that if they can make a shot from a certain point in two tries that he'll give them 100 dollars. All of the boys, some with a little more leniency and help, make their shots. All of them looked very excited as Shaq gathers them around before he gives each of them 100 dollars he talks to them about the importance of staying in school, respect, and staying away from drugs. He makes them recite this, "I will become whatever I want to be. I will be a leader, not a follower. I will respect my peers, my elders and especially my parents."
I searched the hashtag (HoopsNotCrime) on twitter and found a YouTube video from the Gainesville PD. It's a series that the Gainesville PD runs called, Gainesville PD: On Duty. It give a behind the scenes look at most of the big stories that the Gainsville police are associated with. In it, they interviewed Officer White and when asked how in all of the interviews he conducted with the various news sites, they kept reporting on his "extraordinary response" and his take on that. Officer White responded saying that what he found most disheartening was that it was considered an extraordinary response in the first place, he was "just doing his job, and it is sad to see that the perception of cops around the world is so negative that this instance was seen as surprising at all." I'd like to focus on this point as well because I agree with Officer White. It is extremely disheartening that in today's world, a video like this seems out of the ordinary. That a cop stopping to be kind and play basketball with a bunch of kids is out of character. It seems that all we hear about in the news today is "cop killers," and mostly their African American victims. This is a tough subject to approach because of all the contention surrounding it. However, there is the fact that the incarceration rate of black people is much higher than any other race, and the sentences that a black person receives are often more extreme than that of a white person for the same crime. And dashcam videos do show, in my opinion, many cops being overly-aggressive and overly-eager to use their guns. Unfortunately, this has created the idea that all cops are bad. While I 100% believe that there are bad cops, and some police departments are more corrupt, the idea that all cops are bad has permeated through our society. That is why this video of Officer White's actions was seen as so out of the ordinary.
Having positive public relations is important with any type of business or corporation, but it is perhaps even more important for Police Inc. (lolz) to have the best public relations espeically in times like these. The Department of Justice would agree with me, in fact in 2014 the Department of Justice released a resource guide to help law enforcement strengthen relationships with communities. “Law enforcement officers are stewards of the peace and protectors of the people, but above all else, they are custodians of the public trust,” said COPS Office Director Ron Davis. When public trust is violated, it takes twice as much effort to gain back that trust. You've heard the saying, two wrongs do not make a right, well I believe that it takes at least two rights to repair a wrong. “It is vital to engage in planning and preparation, from evaluating protocols and training to choosing the appropriate equipment and uniforms. This is the hard work that is necessary to preserve the peace and maintain the public trust at all times—particularly in moments of heightened community tension.” Today's society definitely has had its fair share of heightened community tension. Many Black Lives Matter activist are extremely upset at the justice system today. In my opinion, the best way to help de escalate tensions is not to ignore or defend actions of past injustice, but to openly admit that there are problems. Validating people's feelings is incredibly powerful. And the feelings of many activists are true and need to be addressed, brushing them aside or permeating hashtags such as #BlueLivesMatter or #AllLivesMatter is not helping. Of course all lives matter, but we have to realize that there is a specific community of people who are being mistreated more than everyone else. Saying that Black Lives Matter is not a direct attack at all lives not mattering, it would behoove the police departments to start looking at it in this light. Bringing attention to one group does not threaten the wellbeing of every other group - or at least, it shouldn't.
I also found a GoFundMe page that is dedicated to Officer White gaining the funds to help him start a program for children to help keep out of trouble and get into basketball. The Basketball Cop Foundation is helping kids to achieve that. You can donate here.
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