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CEID100 Final Project: Blogs

While I’m sad that this course is coming to an end, my group and I used all our skills to put together 6 blogs that discuss different elements of Visual Culture!

You can check the 6 blogs out at my peer Amanda Green’s blog at: https://amandagreen502.wordpress.com/author/amandagreen502/

#CEID100

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You may work for a company, or be the founder of your own company, with a goal of increasing revenues. How can this be achieved? Increasing your website conversions is a great way! Here is an infographic I created, referencing Avinash Kaushik’s blog post on this topic!

For a closer look, here is the link to the infographic: https://create.piktochart.com/output/42516439-6-tips-for-higher-conversion

#CEID100

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Learning HTML!

Programming always seemed like it was an advanced concept that I wouldn’t be able to learn. I always imagined it to look something like this:

Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as I imagined! 

For this week’s assignment, we were assigned to complete a course on Code Academy for any language we wanted! I ended up choosing the Introduction to HTML course, as I’ve always wanted to learn HTML. I’ve used the very basics as an intern when I formatted blogs, but always wanted to gain in-depth knowledge to be able to fully customize the content to look exactly how I imagined.

In just a few hours, I was able to complete an entire course on HTML! Here’s my completion badge as proof:

And here are the 15 badges I earned in the process:

(excuse my bad cropping skills - all of these badges were earned on Nov 14, 2019)

Throughout the Introduction to HTML course, there are a few projects to test your knowledge. Here is the code for the Wine Festival project, in which we had to create a table:

In conclusion, I think this was a great learning experience. The step-by-step instructions really helped me learn different tags and concepts in detail without feeling overwhelming. I would highly recommend you to check out the courses offered!

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Fake News PSA!

This week, we got to create a short video on an important PSA. Our group decided to focus on the fake news that circulates social media. Why does this happen? How does this happen? And what are the impacts? Find out more by watching our video!

https://youtu.be/VAgyeNINvqk

#CEID100

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Skincare App!

For this week, we had to create an informational mobile app about any topic we were interested in. Naturally, I picked the topic I’m most passionate about - skincare!

This app features the 3 main steps everyone should implement in their daily routine. 

The link for the preview: https://snappy.appypie.com/website/pwa-preview/appId/47f439d97bda

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Creating an Elevator Pitch

It’s very important as a young professional to have an elevator pitch ready. Not only is this necessary when you attend networking events with industry professionals, but it’s also useful to include in your cover letter and/or resume, and have ready for any interviews.

For myself, I use my most recent achievements in my personal elevator pitch. This works for me because as I am currently a student, my main purpose of an elevator speech is to include my biggest selling points to a recruiter for entry-level positions. My elevator pitch includes the following:

·         What university I attend

·         What year of study I am currently in

·         My previous co-op positions (company and my position title)

·         And any unique points about myself (certifications, interesting facts)

I find that this format helps communicate a very brief but important part of my professional identity to any potential employers. It helps quickly relay a quick background of myself, some of the relevant experience I have, as well as unique achievements that would be of interest to the person I’m speaking with.

For example, if I am speaking with a campus recruiter for a position I’m interested in, I will bring up at the end of my elevator pitch how I am certified in Google AdWords and Google Analytics, and learned Photoshop on the job within two weeks. This usually gives an interesting talking point for the recruiter to inquire more about, in which I can speak in greater detail of how me being certified in Google Analytics allowed me to improve the company’s CTR by 65% within a month.

In conclusion, it’s important to know who your audience is going to be and be able to highlight the greatest and most interesting parts of yourself to help kickstart a conversation with the person you are speaking with.

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Using Ghostery on Firefox

For this week’s assignment, we were to use the add-on called Ghostery on Firefox. This add-on shows what trackers are used on each site, and allows you to block them, which also leads to a faster load time and a more seamless experience. 

While I knew that websites use trackers, I didn’t realize how many were used, and what they were called. Here are 20 trackers used for the Sephora website:

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#CEID100 Project Proposal

Check out my YouTube video which explains the impacts of visual culture, alongside my groupmates Amanda Green and Khadijat Kassim!

Link: https://youtu.be/VKoP6XbPtRU

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Google Search Syntax 101

Learning how to navigate Google searches more effectively is a great life skill, so why not start to learn these hacks now?

Below are some great shortcuts to use whenever conducting searches:

1. Search for an exact word or phrase

To do this, include the specific word or phrase inside of quotation marks

For example - “laptop”

2. Search for something on a specific site

To search for something on a specific site, include “site:” before the website

For example - site:acer.com

3. Search for a definition

To search for a definition of a word, include “define:” before the word

For example - define:CPU

4. Search for a specific product available within a specific price range

To search within a specific price range, include two dots between the prices

For example - laptops $500..$1000

5. Search for a specific filetype

To search for a specific filetype (such as pdf, docx, txt, ppt), include: “filetype:” before listing the file type

For example - acer filetype:pdf

6. Include or ignore words in your search

To include a word, use the “+” symbol before the word. To ignore a word, use the “-” symbol before the word.

For example (including a word) - peanut butter +jam

For example (not including a word) - manchester -united

7. Find sites or pages similar to an existing one

To find sites or pages similar, use the word “related:”

For example - related:acer.com

8. Confirm the exact form of a quote even if you were missing some of the words

Forgot a few words? Use the * symbol as a substitute for missing words

For example - What a * world

9. Search for pages containing two connected words

To find results related to two connected words, use the word “and”

For example - jobs AND gates

10. Search for social media content containing a specific tag

To find a specific tag for social media content, just use the hashtag #

For example - #shoetrends

With these simple search hacks, you’ll be able to find more relevant results quicker! 

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Social Media Best Practices for Businesses

It is important to learn how to manage your company’s online presence - especially in a time where everything is just be a click away. For businesses, it is important to maintain a strong online presence to help remain competitive and drive sales as well. It’s also important to tailor your strategy for different platforms (Brand Communities). What works on one platform may not work on others. For example, it’s common to post more frequently on twitter, while that wouldn’t necessarily work for Instagram or Facebook.

While going viral for a campaign is amazing for companies - avoid being the center of an online controversy. Don’t post, share or forward anything that you feel does not represent your company’s interests (Ps, Qs and three Ws: Online Netiquette). An example of a huge social media fail was for Dove, who is usually known for empowering women and focusing on realistic standards of beauty (Egan, 2018). The ad depicts a black women transformed into a white woman after using the Dove body lotion (Egan, 2018).

That ad is offensive, not consistent with Dove’s online voice of empowering women, and is not on message with their brand (Ps, Qs and three Ws: Online Netiquette).

In general, some social media best practices for businesses include (York, 2018):

Defining your network or themes

Your brand voice - consistency is key

Avoiding slang (unless teens are your target demographic)

Researching competitive analysis

Engaging, interacting and humanizing

By following those best practices, you can ensure that you are maintaining a strong online presence while also engaging with your audience in a positive way.

References:

Egan, K. (2018, May 29). 6 Social Media Marketing Failures & What You Can Learn from Them. Retrieved from https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/social-media-marketing-failures

York, A. (2018, May 7). 5 Social Media Best Practices Every Marketer Must Follow. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-best-practices/

Figure 1:  Social Media. (2018). photograph. Retrieved from https://lyketil.com/insights/2018-social-media-news/

Figure 2:  Dove Campaign Fail. (2017). photograph. Retrieved from http://creativeworksmarketing.ca/went-wrong-doves-soap-ad/