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TL;DR!!!!!

I remember our first PUBLISH class. We were asked if we knew the meaning of TL;DR. 

TL;DR: Too Long; Didn’t Read. 

I realized that this is sort of the motto or rather the inspiration of an effective and efficient digital publishing. We face most of our screens scrolling, stopping whenever we see something interesting, captivating perhaps. And if I were to scroll my digital notes today, the following are the things that made me pause and immerse in it. 

HERE ARE THE THINGS I HAVE LEARNED IN MY PUBLISH CLASS:

GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT!

1. Yes, CONTENT IS EVERYTHING, and so is CONSTRUCTION.

In digital publishing, one must adhere to the audience of choice. And mostly, digital readers are lazy people (to be honest). So, I have to know how to get their attention (given the fact that they have short attention span). 

CONSTRUCTION is indeed the key -- from the title to the actual content of the article. HEADINGS, LISTS, and SHORT PARAGRAPHS are indeed necessary. Write as if you are writing to the world (but also keep in mind your particular audience).

2. No, it is NOT ENOUGH TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE, you also have to BUILD A RELATIONSHIP with them.

It is very obvious that as media practitioners, we must uphold dignity in the society. Same goes to digital publishing: one must be worthy of respect for engagement. Taking care of the audience is important as loyalty abounds and engagement increases. 

3. ENJOY and LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES.

BASIC. VERY BASIC. But then I was reminded of this basic fact in my publish class. Enjoying brings positive output.

Learning does not end in the discussion during class. Sometimes, it actually starts from our mistakes and shortcomings. With the activities that we had, I actually learned more with the critique of our professor. He was directly telling me of what I could have done to improve my work. So, I know what I was lacking and what I was good at. 

Things to improve

We all need improvement, and here are the points for improvement for this class: 

1. A short recap of the may be necessary. 

Giving a brief summary of the previous discussions may actually give the students a better picture of what PUBLISH encapsulates. We may actually grasp the connections and the relationship of the lessons we had. The Saturday discussion actually felt like more of a weekly seminar. Thus, I think a recap is necessary. 

2. Comments regarding the works/activities should be “timely”.

The comments could have been more useful if our professor critiqued our works before the next activity. With this, we could have known our weaknesses and improved our work in the next activities. 

3. Also, being STRICT on time is important.

Students may have taken you for granted since you were lenient in regards to time. We could have maximized the time we had in class with both discussions and activities. 

Read more to know the best project we had for this class... 

Last Word on the Best Exercise

Since we had a 4.0 in our midterm project, well then that project is our best exercise. I actually had no idea on what the project should be since the instructions were vague. 

We were so stressed out since we had a few days left before the deadline, and ...

- We still did not know what to do.

- we have not yet conducted any interview.

- IT WAS SO DIFFICULT TO CONTACT THE INTERVIEWEES.

We had a day left and there was really no one replying to our messages. WHAT A BLESSING FROM THE LORD when one of the personalities in GMA News replied to us and asked if we could meet her the next day. We cancelled all our plans and went to GMA Studio. OH GOSH, IT WAS SO FUN! We actually entered their news coverage studio. We felt the pressure and the excitement for our future work! THOUGH IT WAS TIRING SINCE WE WAITED FOR HOURSSS, UGH! 

If I were to do the same project again, I could have done a video report on this so that the information would be more accurate. We could also have talked to more personalities to see the difference of their POVs. If we were also given enough time, I think it’s interesting to know the viewpoint of ABS-CBN Online -- the actual rival of GMA News Online -- regarding digital success.

In digital publishing, TL;DR is an insult. You may have a good content, but who cares? IT IS TOO LONG FOR LAZY PEOPLE TO READ. As I have said, digital readers are lazy people! So, we MUST make it a point that people would not have the motive to say such! 

NOTE TO SELF AS I PUBLISH SOMETHING DIGITALLY:

- BE CONCISE

- But sometimes, long articles are worth the read. So write something INTERESTING; and

- To be Literate, Do Recognize your audience.

THANK YOU PUBLISH. CIAO. 

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#DearDarling

Kwentong pag-ibig mula sa iba’t ibang henerasyon.

Dear Darling is all about the meaning of LOVE by different generations.

Our goal is to let the people know the perceptions of people on love from different generations particularly from the Baby Boomers generation, the X, Y, and Z Generation.

We consider this page successful since we had built our audience and had an engagement with them.

The term Dear Darling is inspired by the famous line from a local television series - Maalala Mo Kaya - which tells true stories on television by starting with the line, Dear Charo. Darling, on the other hand, came from the BUZZFEED post regarding the endearments used by Filipinos.

Goal and Social Media Platforms

The goal of our page is to bridge the gap between generations when it comes to love. We want to share the perceptions of people on different aspects of love from the Baby Boomers generation, the X, Y, and Z Generation through photos and videos. Ultimately, our goal is to show that true love still exists.

At first, our target for the Facebook page was to get 500 likes and 1000 engagement. On Twitter and Instagram, we wanted to have at least 100 followers. As of 8th of April, 2:50 PM, we have 287 likes and 702 followers in Facebook, 80 followers on Twitter, and 28 followers on Instagram. Though we have exceeded our target number of audience on Facebook, it became difficult for us to reach our goal on the other two platforms.

Content and Results

On March 25 at 9:30 pm, we officially launched our Facebook page. The day after, we had a change of profile pictures in our respective Facebook accounts.

Our caption was:

In love? Hinahanap si "the one"? Nanliligaw? O nililigawan?

Pakinggan ang mga kuwentong pag-ibig mula sa iba’t-ibang henerasyon.

I-kwento mo na rin ang iyong istorya!

April 1 & 4 | 9:30 pm

Connect with us through:

Facebook: facebook.com/DearDarling2017

Twitter: @DearDarling2017

Instagram: @DearDarling2017

#DearDarling

Combining the likes of our profile pictures, we gained 664 likes, almost 700. With this, we believe that our profile pictures contributed a lot of engagement and hype.

The content of the page focuses on sharing experiences about “LOVE” from different generations. We posted “humans” where we ask individuals certain questions and their answers are posted along with their pictures. These stories are posted every night from March 27 to April 7 at 9:30 PM, the peak hour on Facebook.

For the main videos, we have tackled two different aspects of love namely, courtship and relationship. The videos only ran for 3 to 4 minutes. The first video had 10k reach and 1.6k engagement. The latter video garnered 3k reach and 315 engagement.

Before posting the main videos, we also had teasers which included short clips and gifs including the one below. These teasers were done to pique the interest of the audience.

In posting every publicity material, we made sure that we had captions tha would catch the audience’s attention. For example: In our 2nd main video (Relationship), our caption was, “Commitment, sagabal sa pag-aaral? Ano ang "relationship" para sa'yo?”

Another example is the caption on our 2nd Teaser Video (What is “Dating” for Generation Z?):

Dating? Uso pa ba 'yon?

Pakinggan ang mga kuwentong pag-ibig mula sa iba’t-ibang henerasyon. Bukas na!

We used Filipino in writing our caption since we believe that our own language was more heartfelt. In addition, we always made sure to put open-ended questions so that our audience were compelled to think and ponder. This way, we would engage them with our content.

The challenges our page and group has faced included the inconsistency and rescheduling of posts. Our lack of participants and weak household internet connection contributed to the difficulty of sharing and posting our pubs. This, of course, forced us to meet in person despite having no classes on certain days. 

It was also hard to edit all the videos on time. We had a total of fifteen videos to merge into at a four-minute video and the raw videos were not given on time to our editors which led to a lot of adjusting and rushing. This led to us having to deviate from our original plans and also contributed to the problem with the inconsistency of posting.

However, despite the problems we faced, we were still able to successfully promote and update our page. We were able to post both planned main videos, teasers, and the humans as well.

Learnings and Realizations

First of all, making a concept that would appeal to people is not a piece of cake. Making our audience hooked into the content we posted daily is also not an easy task.

Despite the difficulties we have encountered, it was exciting, honestly, when it was time to post our content. It was undeniable that the post engagements, Facebook likes and Twitter & IG followers gave us the satisfaction and motivation to improve the products & content we present through these social media platforms.

Another realization that we had was that no matter how prepared we are (as proved by our nifty Google Drive), some things don’t workout the way we expected it to be, especially when our initial goal was to a reach a half a thousand likes on FB and a hundred followers on Instagram & Twitter. One then should know how to adjust to different scenarios. Plan B and even C should always be available. For our group, the files were accessible to the rest of the team that made it easy for everyone to post it on our social media platforms. Also, being responsible for social media management is never easy. It takes patience and discipline to launch a campaign. A simple mistake can affect our page and/or your campaign.

Publishing online may seem an easy task, but it really is difficult to know what content may encourage an individual to stop scrolling and engage with the post.

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Sprak

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Embracing the digital age: A study on how news organizations deal with the internet

     Digital media has indeed affected the print media in terms of circulation (1), distribution of news (2), and its mere existence in today’s age (3). How then do the news publications deal with both opportunities and challenges in the digital age?

     Focusing on two different news organizations, their respective approach to the industry of media varies. The Daily Tribune, a traditional newspaper organization, is not entirely felt in the digital media. On the other hand, GMA News Online was built on the model of digital media branching out of the traditional perspective. The approaches, for example, on writing articles is different from one another. From the length of the article to the language used, the approach of both organizations differs. However, if there’s a similarity that they both thrive on, it is the existing in the same industry and the audience that they intend to inform.

     With the rise of smartphones and of the internet, information becomes more diverse and accessible. It’s no secret that this information is heavily obtained through the internet. This makes journalism different today. The purpose of journalism is to provide information to the people to “make them (to) play their role in the society” (1). For the purpose of this report, we would tackle two news organizations - the Daily Tribune and GMA News Online - and their strategies to combat the challenges and to make use of the opportunities brought by digital age.

Mr. Lozada, the deputy editor of The Daily Tribune, on what is the internet for them: “[The] Internet is a complementary to the publication.” 

Keep reading to know more about the report.

“WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR” OF THE DIGITAL SPACE?

     You may be familiar with the notion that print is dead. And though many claim that print is indeed dead, newspapers are still everywhere – in convenient stores, restaurants, and even along the streets. The Daily Tribune, despite its economical struggle, still continues to print and distribute traditional newspapers with the belief that there are people, particularly those in the urban areas, who do not have access to technology and the internet.

The Daily Tribune’s official newspaper logo and tagline.

     The Daily Tribune is a newspaper often accused as an opposition paper - a paper identified as actively opposing every administration. However, this accusation is brought about by publishing blunt, tough, critical and factual stories, situating themselves under the newspaper’s motto - ‘without fear or favor’. Mr. Tuvera, one of the Tribune’s reporters, said that this is what sets them apart: “We never write things that are incensing or glorifying the government.” The interpretation, however, is up to the readers. In their 17 years of existence, how do they deal with the negative impact of digital media in terms of revenue and profit (1)?

To embrace or not

     2016 has seen the worst decline for newspapers, “the worst since 2008-2009 recession”, according to the report of the 13th annual Pew Research of the State of the News Media Report (4). On the other hand, according to Mr. Lozada, the deputy editor of The Daily Tribune, he does not see print dying anytime soon. The largest expense of the publication is its actual printing. They too have not yet fully embraced the digital media since they believe that the internet is not yet as stable as the traditional media. By fully embraced means that they have not yet invested much compared to printing. Four reasons arose as to why they have not yet totally depended on to digital space for their publication: 

The more details, the better. Yet in the digital space, less is more. The editor-in-chief of Quartz, a business news website, said that their readers do not like 500-800 word articles (5), which is difficult to achieve for a news publication that intends to show how accurate a news story is according to one of the reporters in Tribune. Murcia shared that they do not rely heavily on the internet to disseminate news.  “Digital reporting” as he called it, offers fewer details to its readers; thus, there is no depth in these stories. Accuracy and truthfulness of a news may also be affected. The traditional, however, offers more details which the readers appreciate, he added.  The readers are assured of the quality of work (3).

Murcia indicated that they do not have enough funds for their digital publication; however, they have been lenient in going with the flow in the digital age. For them, advertisements - the heart of the news publication - is much more difficult online. And besides, they are a “newspaper” publication for a reason which leads us to the second point.

Contrary to the common belief, the internet access in the Philippines is not yet as widespread compared to the other countries. This is the fact that this publication adheres to disseminate news in print.

“Newspapers are different from social media sites,” Lozada said. His colleague, Murcia, envisions their publication as a newspaper organization that would still print and utilize the traditional media. “Alternative lang ‘yung digital printing,” Alvin denoted.  He added that social media sites and digital space is the place where people go and dwell, and these people are the millennials. The millennials are not only the people of this country, “Marami pa kaming 60s [at] 70s [ang nagbabasa ng dyaryo]”.

      The digital world has greatly affected the traditional media (1, 2, 6), but many still believe that digital would and could not kill traditional media. One of these believers, Barry Eisler (7), insisted that “Publishing isn’t dying; it is evolving.” Even the news publications must adapt to this evolution according to Murcia. Merging, he shared, is the key.

Mr. Joyas on media as a never ending evolution: “Media is a changing environment.”

THE SHIFT TO DIGITAL

       In a research conducted by Cherian, most people get updated with the news and current affairs of the world through television, then the internet, and ranking third would be the newspaper  (1). “Youngsters” also are not anymore interested in reading news from newspapers (1). They opt to go to online news websites and even their social media for information. Unlike newspapers and free television (TV), online news websites are on the job 24/7. GMA News keeps up with the need to do real-time journalism with other platforms it is existing with. As what Mr. Joyas, Assistant Social Media Manager of GMA News, said, “Media is a changing environment”.

     It is normal for media companies to embrace the shift in media and adjust to the ongoing trends. These days, people heavily rely on mobile phones and the internet to get their daily dose of news (1). Ms. Athena Imperial, GMA News Correspondent and Anchor, explains that mobile phones are not even considered a luxury anymore. It has become a necessity.

    Even social media accounts are not just for personal purposes but also for the source of current information in the society. As a media company, it is important to keep an open mind to the shifts in media and the tactics for survival in the industry.

GMA NEWS: SERBISYONG TOTOO EVEN ONLINE

   In January of 2007, GMA News Online was introduced to the public. The website, which was a result of GMA news branching out to the online world, became one of the internet platforms for people to see, watch and read the news. As the world, slowly embraces the shift in the world of media, it is no secret that the pressure to deliver factual and reliable news is more evident now more than ever. Just like newspapers that the people see everywhere, online news publications can also be seen everywhere in the internet space.

 In a world where competition is highly seen, the survival of such platforms gets tougher (8), and GMA News is not an exception. “YouScoop on the other hand focuses on citizen journalism reports and user-generated content. It accepts, verifies, posts, and airs content from ordinary citizens (online),” said Ms. Audrey Domasian, YouScoop Producer for GMA News.

Coexistence, not competition

     As technology continues to evolve, they too must get along. With people flocking to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like, the organization had to make their presence known in these online platforms. Mr. Joyas denotes that it is difficult to compete with such big sites. Thus, instead of competing, it is important to learn how to co-exist with social media sites.

      Ms. Domasian explained that at times, social media plays a larger role than traditional news. She said, “For example, traditional media may not be present in Dinagat Islands to monitor news there, but thanks to social media and digital media, we are able to see how a mysterious object appeared on its shores (and verified that it was a decomposing whale carcass).

      This led to a story on air and online, featuring photos and videos sent by YouScoopers through YouScoop. Another way we have taken advantage of the digital world is that we post video clips online, like video clips of newscasts that have aired, so people who may want to re-watch our shows can do so. We also post full episodes of documentaries, such as I-Witness, and special features from our GMA News and Public Affairs shows.”

     An interesting statement that  Ms. Imperial said is how her Facebook page is a mixture of news and her daily personal activities. And this is where the secret to thriving in social media lies - in the building of a connection and a relationship with your audience. She says that it’s not so much of the organization dictating people to read their content, rather it’s in their strategy of keeping the reader's’ attention that they would ultimately read their content without hesitation because they have given their trust to the news organization and its people.

    Keeping this in mind, Ms. Imperial does just that. She incorporates her personal daily activities like the usual route she uses when going to GMA or photos of the GMA crew behind the scene. Brilliant, we say. It’s a strategy that has worked in the past and is still working today.

     With the goal of delivering news to anyone anywhere in any given time, the organization tries all possibilities to tap their audiences and build their market through utilizing what social media sites offer. In addition to, Ms. Imperial explains that there are some news personalities who runs a blog where they feature the stories they cover. Although these stories are injected with their opinion, Ms. Imperial says, “It’s another way of letting people know kung ano na bang nangyayari sa lipunan natin”.

Ms. Imperial on how numbers do not measure success: “Hindi ibig sabihin na mas maraming nag-like sa balitang ito, mas importante ‘yon.”

Measuring the digital success

        GMA News Online, just like most online news publishers, is still on its early days with still a lot of room for change. Though online news websites have pleased their particular audience (1), most news websites are still testing out the waters of the platform of the internet. These news websites continue to cope up with the demand of audiences of the digital media. Moreover, Mr. Joyas shared that success in the digital space can be measured by the number of followers, and heavily on engagement.

     However, Ms. Imperial believes in the opposite. For her, it’s not so much of the number of followers and likes, but by the number of viewers their news garner. She says that everyone has their own opinion and so we cannot measure success in the digital space by a simple thumbs up. Ms. Imperial says, “Hindi ibig sabihin na mas maraming nag like sa balitang ito, mas importante ‘yon”.

      Ms. Domasian adds, “We measure success by our ability to deliver the news. If we are able to deliver relevant and timely news to our audience online and on air, this is success for us. If we’re able to inform the public of breaking news through their Facebook or Twitter feed, this is success”.

Challenges on the web

Even if measures of success may differ, challenges in digital publishing still arise. The following are the challenges of GMA News Online.

In order to cope up with the demand for real-time news, online news sites have limited time to make and release news articles, making them more prone to mistakes.

Another issue is retaining the audience’s concentration by catching their attention in order for them to stick with the company. In order to solve such issues, studying the audiences and knowing what they like is highly important in order for the company to think of ways to capture the attention of the readers.

Lastly, there is also the issue of ‘trolls’  on comment sections of the site. “Of course, maraming trolls,” Ms. Imperial is quick to respond when asked about the challenges in the digital media.

      In an article published by Inquirer.net last August 28, 2016, Trolls/Professional Trolls are identified as salaried employees who go online to pick a fight for different reasons, but mostly political reasons (9). “Troll” has become a common word ever since last year’s presidential campaign and elections, with people labeling each other “dilawan”, “dutertard” to name a few.

     With the anonymity to label strangers on the Internet comes a hefty price. Last October 2016, Rappler published a 3-part expose on internet trolls which discusses the manufactured reality brought by fake people on social media (10, 11, 12). The 3-part special discussed how the internet has become a place for propaganda set by both government and anti-government organizations. Moreover, weaponizing the internet has been affecting our democracy without us knowing.

     However, GMA News Online makes sure that the guidelines for the people working for the company are loud and clear in terms of acting towards those people. “Most of the time –snob mo na lang sila. Talagang hindi mo sila papansinin kasi hindi rin naman matatapos and you can’t convince them kasi ‘yon na ‘yung pinaniniwalaan nila,” Ms. Imperial says.

      On the other hand, Ms. Domasian said, “I think the challenge we are facing is how to make sure we deliver the right news to our audience. Another challenge is how we can reach more people given that digital media is very competitive. We resolve these issues by making sure that we are timely in our posts so that everyone can see our posts immediately. We also try to avoid errors, keep our captions short and relatable, and make sure that our audience understands the news items we are posting.”

Mr. Joyas on the rapidly changing environment of media: “The media will adapt to the changing environment.”

What the future is like for GMA News Online

     With the continuous change in the nature of media, the future seems to be a bright spot for any platform. As Mr. Joyas believes, he sees a future of data-driven digital media while continuously adapting to the changes. Moreover, he sees people embracing digital media more in the future because he believes that for one news organization to thrive in today’s era, it must have a digital presence to not crack only the older generations, but the younger generations as well.

     On the other hand, Ms. Imperial believes for digital media to thrive, there should be visuals like photos and videos for every news article so readers can vividly picture the scene on their mind. She adds that journalists can incorporate a “creative side” for feature stories to avoid creating content heavy on statistics which people tend to avoid. 

The main goal is to get the audience’s attention and maintain that attention until the end.

     Moreover, Ms. Domasian believes that GMA has a long way to go. She says, “There’s so much more to be explored. There’s 360 photos and videos, immersive graphics, parallax scrolling, virtual reality to name a few. There are many ways to present a story with the help of digital media, but at the end of the day it boils down to content and I know GMA News is capable of producing good, accurate, and verified content.”

DIGITAL AGE: A MISHAP OR A HOPE FOR NEWS ORGANIZATIONS

     As said before, media is a rapidly changing industry and thus, adjustments are inevitable. Survival and success are both hard to sustain with each organization. As most of us highlight the said competition between the media organizations (traditional and digital), we tend to forget that it is also possible for them to co-exist with one another. Most of us see the digital media industry as a mishap of different companies that will eventually lead to a fall of one company to another. The changes, if media companies learn to adapt and adjust, can actually give hope to the betterment of news organizations.

     Although there seems to be a fall on the traditional publishing, it is important to realize that these newspapers paved the way for the start of journalism, that we now also see with digital news organizations. This, if accepted and integrated properly by the newspaper organizations, can help them crack the digital code to success in today’s era. At the same time, if traditional media paved the way for the practice of journalism that we have, digital media can also serve as the reason for traditional media to upgrade and exist in the digital era (2), while still embracing the remains of the practices of the traditional newspapers.

Acceptance of change does not entail the foregoing of what was, but instead an openness to what is and what will be.

References:

Ressa, Maria. "How Facebook Algorithms Impact Democracy." Rappler. Rappler, 09 Oct. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2017

Cherian, Jacob. “Emergence of Digital Publishing - A Great Challenge to The Print Publication.” Procedia Economics and Finance, vol. 23, 2015, pp. 576 - 586.

Flavián, Carlos, and Raquel Gurrea. "Digital Versus Traditional Newspapers." International Journal Of Market Research 51.5 (2009): 635-657. Business Source Complete. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.

"The resurgence of traditional publishing in a digital world." Ribbonfish. Ribbonfish, 04 Apr. 2016. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

Edmonds, Rick. "Newspaper Declines Accelerate, Latest Pew Research Finds, Other Sectors Healthier." Poynter. Poynter, 15 June 2016. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.

Jackson, Jasper. "Is This Article Too Long or Too Short? Why Newspapers Are Writing the Wrong Articles for the Web." TheMediaBriefing. The Media Briefing, 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Wolff, Michael (2016). Traditional media goes to digital rescue. USA Today, 2016.

Eisler, Barry. "The digital truths traditional publishers don't want to hear." Books blog. Guardian News and Media, 29 Apr. 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

Manyika, Michael Chui and James. "Competition at the digital edge: 'Hyperscale' businesses." McKinsey & Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Caruncho, Eric. "Confessions of a Troll." Inquirer.net. Inquirer, 28 Aug. 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Hofileña, Chay. "Fake Accounts, Manufactured Reality on Social Media." Rappler. Rappler, 15 Oct. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Resa, Maria. "Propaganda War: Weaponizing the Internet." Rappler. Rappler, 4 Oct. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

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‘Tis the season to be jolly: Cupid’s coming to town with jewels, clothes and gift cards

Who spends more during Valentines? How do brands and marketers deal with consumer behavior?  

Men spend an average of $210, and around $127 for women in Valentine’s. Does that mean that men are more romantic?

Men show their love to their partners by spending around 65% more than women. They prefer to give jewels over flowers and romantic dates, according to an artificial intelligence company, Poder.IO.  

The highest spend is on jewelry for men at $210, and a little lower for women at $127.34. The next favorite V-day gift of men is clothing. They could spend around $112.71 and around $106 for gift cards. Next to jewelry are night outs and dinner for women ($71.16). The budget may not matter, but note the difference: MEN SPEND 65% MORE THAN WOMEN IN GIVING VALENTINES GIFTS. 

Guess who celebrates Valentine’s Day the most. Well, the MILLENNIALS! Another fact from the study made by Poder.IO : This special day is celebrated by most people between 25 and 34 years old, and by celebrated, I mean they spend an average of $213!

This behavior is studied by Poder.IO which is very helpful for the business and marketing people. Consumer patterns enable these people to predict what sells and when to sell it. 

Keep reading to know how artificial intelligence recognizes consumers’ behavior, PLUS A V-DAY GIFT GUIDE! 

BUSINESS WORLD: iGOTCHU!

Diego Paramo, the co-founder and VP of Global Sales & Parnerships of Poder.IO shared that "With the help of Artificial Intelligence, the analysis of important spots in the customer journey is easier and more effective. This aids retailers and marketers to know the key moments of their users, allowing them to be in the right place and time to sell.”

Marketing actions depend on the consumer behavior. And when the time comes for people to think of Valentine’s which is around the last week of January, that is when they make their move. 

Click to see the ultimate V-Day Gift Guide for your partner:

For HIM: http://www.askmen.com/entertainment/mrtech/34_tech_gadgets.html

For HER: http://www.askmen.com/entertainment/guy_gear/valentine-s-gift-ideas-for-her.html

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LOST in WHAT?!

“Internet is not for me; I don’t even know how to search for a picture of an amoeba, or worst, the internet does not know anything about amoeba!!!” 

Millennials ≠ Internet Babies. Not everyone in our generation grew up with the Internet. I may be one of the millennials, but I do not consider myself as an internet baby [BUT I AM NOW AN INTERNET ENTHUSIAST ;)]. I did not even know what internet really is, not until I was in sixth grade. I WAS A LATE BLOOMER, I must say. Shocking? Not really. 

So, what’s with amoeba and me?!?! Well, this started my internet journey. Back then when we had home works and projects, I’d first consult the books and magazines we have at home before I ask my parents for help. Then there was this science project we had, and we were required to compile pictures of different organisms. It was impossible to see pictures of protozoa, paramecium, amoeba, and the like in magazines. I mean, hello? I think no one would buy a Metro or an FHM magazine with pictures of bacteria in the issue. Do you even remember these organisms? [Note: It was difficult to find a scholarly magazine back then] Where in the world would I search for these pictures, I asked myself. Then my father told me that he was busy to even search for these photos on the internet, and I was like, “What? What even is internet?” He brought me to his friend’s house where there was a computer with an internet connection. His friend opened the computer, opened a browser, then told me to type whatever I needed to search. And there was this search bar with G O O G L E on top of it. “A M O E B A,” I typed and there were like thousands of links shown. THERE WERE NO PICTURES! And so, I typed again... “Amoeba picture” then again, “amoeba picture save” then again, “amoeba image” and so on and so forth (I did not know that the IMAGE TAB existed!). I SPENT AN HOUR LOOKING FOR A PHOTO OF AN AMOEBA AND I DID NOT EVEN GET TO FIND ONE. I told my dad that the internet probably has not seen an amoeba. So, I did not like the internet that much... YET. 

LOST in time. On the 19th of April 2005 (probably), my mother’s birthday gift to my father was a personal computer. I was so fascinated on how I could play games, draw, and do so many things with the PC. I’d go home from school, then I immediately would open the computer, and spend like three hours on paint and computer arcades. Then I got bored with these things for I did not know the other complicated and more interesting things the computer was capable of doing.

I got my own PSP as a gift, and this what took almost half of my day, and possibly half of my life for I was really into playing games. I’d use it after school, after doing my homeworks, and even before going to sleep (WELL THERE WERE TIMES I DID NOT SLEEP ‘COZ I WAS JUST PLAYING PSP!). Yes, I was probably not aware of the time, but my addiction to digital media (that led me to become an internet enthusiast) happened when my father bought me a cellphone as a graduation gift.

Wattpad became my coffee; it became my drug (well, the reason behind the existence of my eyeglasses). By this time, we had our own internet connection, so I get to talk to my crush through Yahoo Messenger and stalk him in Friendster. If self-destruction bomb existed, I would have one. It could have exploded for a long time, just because my life revolved around digital media. This was the time I could say that I can’t really without it. 

LOST in self. “Hey, add me on Farmville.” And there was me again, “what?!” And so my facebook journey began. What got me hooked on Facebook was the reconnection I had with my friends when I was elementary, not to mention my crush back then. I get to post how my day went, my photos and videos that my friends would “like” and “comment” on. There was this sense of fulfillment whenever I had many likes on a post. Again, it was self-destructing for me to depend my confidence on the number of likers I have in my post and on the number of friends I have. I was so lost in myself that made me forgot the important things I have to do for the day, just because I was so busy scrolling in my feed, checking my notification every now and then.

LOST. LOST IN THE INTERNET and DIGITAL MEDIA. How amazing it is to go back to where I started with digital media and internet. It makes me appreciate what I have now, of what we have. It makes me appreciate (somehow) the slowness of our internet connection because I myself have been lost in the fast journey (BUT I AM STILL HOPING FOR A FASTER INTERNET CONNECTION HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES!). These two things that millenials could not live without opened my eyes to the bigger world out there. It made me realize that there is a world beyond and besides my own. Being lost in the internet and digital media made me hungry for more -- information, ideas, thoughts, and new experiences. Being lost in the internet and digital media has created a virtual world where anyone could be in anytime. We have created this world together. And my hope is that, as we search for the meaning of “what” in our lives, this internet and digital media would help us to be in the right path, to be in unity.

I may have been lost throughout my journey, but I have brought with me the experiences and learnings I had.

Explore. Be lost as well. 

[fern-c-blog1]

From Uhhhm to Hmmm... 

I may not know now, but I will in the future. 

Taking up PUBLISH for my fifth term in DLSU may be of the flowchart; nevertheless, I hope I’d have the right motivation to be in this class. Well, it’s my first day and yes, it seems fun and adventurous (ADVENTUROUS COZ LIKE THIS SEEMS NEW TO ME, just the usual facebook-ing and twitter-ing). I do not usually do blogs (well, blog as in sharing personal opinions and stories); thus, I think this would be a brave thing for me to do. I have been keeping my life private for quite some time now (chos lang). Aside from enjoying this class, what I expect to learn from this class are the techniques of sharing a story interestingly in the different platforms available and some technical side of digital publishing. I hope that I would be able to tell in-depth and captivating stories over the net.

I too hope that at the end of the class, I would be able to share my ideas freely and creatively in the virtual world, and make the most out of the opportunities digital publishing has to offer. not just facebook-ing and twitter-ing.  

Cheers for a better and braver me (well, over the internet of course) !!! 

Note to self: Don’t be afraid to explore. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes in this class. You’ll learn. YOU WILL.