#same user and I post silly images after my drawings

[andresmounts]

My favorite mean girl

[e-king-court]

It’s that time of year again...

...and by that I mean it's my birthday.

 I don't generally celebrate my birthday. It became A Thing after my parents divorce, and since then, it is definitely a cursed day (last year I got a whole pandemic, so...)

This year, however, I decided I wanted to write me a story. Some months back, while scrolling through Facebook (I know, I know) I came across a post of a post that was a plot bunny. It was a tweet from user @JohannesEvans that read:

Hot goth in the woods that keeps answering the door and sighing and going "no, I'm not the witch, he lives over there" and points across the street to a dazzling pretty boy wearing a gold waistcoat who's waving excitedly at them

I immediately wanted to write it. So I did.

 Now, to no one's surprise, I didn't start this story until roughly a week ago, so... well, it's almost done. So, for now, just to say I've properly celebrated my birthday, please allow me to share with you the first half or so of this silly story. It's rough, really rough, and doesn't have a title. I'm not thrilled with it, but... guilty pleasures, etc. Enjoy!

Quiet. That’s what the little alternative community in the woods had offered. Peace, acceptance, solitude. Quiet.

So Locke bit back a curse when someone knocked on his door for the hundredth time that day. Poppy seeds scattered across his work bench when he jumped because of course he hadn’t used a measuring spoon. Why would he use a measuring spoon for the smallest ingredient? Obviously, pouring straight from the bottle is the best way to measure poppy seeds.

The knocking persisted. Locke sighed and set the bottle down with a thud and rattle of chains. He stomped his way up front and tugged the door open, startling the pair of young women standing on his doorstep. Their eyes widened and the three of them stared at each other for longer than Locke thought was polite.

“Can I help you?” He didn’t growl. This was good communication skills.

The two seemed to shake themselves. “Are you Mr. Devereux?”

Locke sighed. “Which Mr. Devereux?”

They blinked and exchanged a confused glance. “We, um… we’re looking for a spell.”

“Then you want the witch.” He pointed a long arm over their heads toward the obnoxious display across the street. “That Mr. Devereux.” As one, they turned and Locke followed their gaze.

Sebastian was lounging in a pool chair, a cheap thing with neon yellow piping and no pool in sight. He was surrounded by colorful plants, flowers, and enough suncatchers to make any light fairy jealous. Locke was dismayed to see that he was sunning. Long legs, waxed and bronzed, stretched up to the hem of a pair of nautical striped boyshorts. A too small gold waistcoat revealed a pierced belly button and parted with sequined lapels and a collection of charms and pendants against his chest and the hollow of his throat. Golden blond hair was classically cut, cropped close to the sides and left almost strategically messy on top. Locke was not surprised to see the flash of glitter, either put there intentionally, or polluted from the obnoxious, glittery, sun-shaped sunglasses taking over most of his heart-shaped face.

His smile was almost blinding as he waved. “Hey, gorgeous!”

Locke frowned as his face went hot and wished for the hundredth time since moving in that he was the kind of goth that wore full face makeup. “That’s the witch.”

The women gawked at Sebastian, turned and gawked at Locke glowering in the doorway, and then looked at each other.

“Umm… sorry,” the apparent speaker of the duo said, and they turned and fled across the street, whispering to each other as they went. Sebastian stood and stretched, that waistcoat riding higher and those boyshorts hugging… well, everything. Locke sighed and shut the door with a snap.

Newlight Falls was advertised as a quiet town with a village-like atmosphere, tucked away in the old growth forest and home to those who didn’t fit in elsewhere. It was home to all sorts of paranormals, which included an uncommon amount of witches, plenty of fairies, and the obligatory pack of werewolves. Being that it was only an hour away from three major cities, it had become a bit of a tourist attraction, replete with warm-weather festivals that the fairies almost exclusively coordinated. Locke wasn’t a fan, but they were good for the town and good for business.

Even with all that, Locke fell in love with the place almost as soon as he saw it. He’d found the listing on Will’o, trying to find something close to the doctors he needed, but not directly in the city. Not only was his dark little cabin perfectly suited to him, but being back in the woods meant plenty of shade and long trails that he could disappear into if the festivities got to be too much.

It was also supposed to be haunted, which, perfect, but so far he hadn’t experienced much more than a few things being moved and a book or two knocked to the floor. No great shakes, really.

With the image of Sebastian’s sparkling navel piercing embedded in his mind, Locke sulked back to his work room to clean up the poppy seeds and see if the tea could be saved.

“Locke!” Benji’s happy voice boomed, big arms open and face nearly split by his smile.

Locke returned his smile but stayed sequestered on the front stoop out of the sunlight. Benji came to him without question, wrapping him up in the kind of bear hug only large goblins could give. He grunted and gave Benji’s back a pat as the air was squeezed out of him. “Hey, Benj.”

“Good to see you, you look good. This place looks great,” he said, stepping back to appraise the front of the house. To most, it needed some work, but Locke was partial to the busted exterior shutters and chipping grey paint.

“Thanks, the web is real, orb weaver, real beauty,” he said, motioning to the port window overhead.

Benji’s smile went tight and strained. “Love it,” he grunted like it hurt. He cautiously turned his attention away from the spider. “Thanks for letting me come.”

“Of course! Make my favorite sibling miss Fairy Fest after listening to him whine about it for ten years? Fat chance. C’mon, I’ll show you your room,” he said, motioning Benji in.

Benji grabbed his suitcase and thundered up the steps. “This place has a guest bedroom?”

“Eh….” Locke whined and didn’t answer further. It did, but the guest bedroom was where he’d put his workroom and it would have been too small for his hulking brother anyway. Instead, Locke had cleaned up his own bedroom and got a cot for his workroom. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable, but he could deal with it for the week that Benji was visiting. It wasn’t often they got to spend time together one on one.

They wandered in. Locke waved over the small living room, through the doorway to the small kitchen and dining nook, the water closet under the stairs, and then brought him up to the attic that made his bedroom and the full bathroom for his use during his stay. Benji caught on quick, but didn’t say anything, no doubt having considered how small the house was.

“We’ll have to share the shower, but otherwise, this room is yours for the week. I, uh… can’t say I’d be real thrilled if you picked someone up at the Fest, but, I’ll be the best wingman I can be,” Locke said, drawing the curtains back from the port window to let some light into the room.

Benji chuckled. “I wouldn’t do that to you. Thanks, man, this place is great. Mostly,” he said, eyeing the spider visible through the window.

Locke smirked. “Ghost isn’t too rowdy, either.”

“Ahha, of course you’d have a ghost,” Benji said with a self-deprecating laugh. Locke’s grin went cocky and he thumped his way back down the stairs.

“I gotta make a product run when dusk rolls around if you want to see the town proper tonight. There’s not a lot except some kitschy shops, but you might like one of the little restaurants for dinner,” he said, wandering into the kitchen.

Benji hummed and sniffed the air, eyes landing unerringly on the box that took up most of the little dining table. It was full of Locke’s teas, creative little blends in labeled linen baggies waiting to be delivered to the shops in town he was contracted with. “Sure, I’d love to see the place.”

“Cool, you can carry the box,” Locke said, wandering back to his workshop. Benji’s laugh made the windows rattle.

A few hours later, with the sun set enough that it didn’t irritate Locke’s eyes and skin overly much, he was leading an easily distracted Benji through town. The whole town was decked out for Fairy Fest, covered in lights and flowers and full to bursting with fairies. They flitted about in showers of sparkling color, some already celebrating by tossing petals or handful of pixie dust over the myriad of tourists also steadily filling the streets. Locke would have felt out of place in all his black and chains, but there were plenty of darker fae around, too. If anyone stood out, it was his rather large foster brother, his impressive figure causing people to practically dive out of the way, even as poor Benji apologized.

“Stop apologizing, Benj, you’re only walking,” Locke said with a smirk.

Benji was all tight frowns. “I feel bad, though.”

“Don’t, you’re fine. This is us, though,” he said, veering for a shop door. Benji followed, uttering a few more unnecessary apologies as they went.

The dark little mystic shop was one of Locke’s favorites. It was an evening shop and sold pretty much the same stuff that the rest of the kitschy shops sold, but it was themed dark. Spangled black and purple curtains and tapestries kept most of the natural light out, the shelves all made of cast iron and mahogany. The goods skewed toward occultish, but nothing available to the general public could cause any trouble. Even the obsidian athames were blunter than a letter opener. There were more exotic wares in the back, but the owner, Ms. Gloushire, was highly selective when it came to those sales. Even Locke, who was a resident, didn’t have her convinced, but he was getting there. Not that there was anything fancy he needed for his teas.

Benji, of course, veered right for the collection of polished stones and crystals. Locke grinned and teasingly hissed for him not to touch all of them. Benji glared at him but didn’t put down the peacock ore he’d already snatched from the display.

“Ms. Gloushire?” he called when he saw the front end empty.

“Is that you, Locke!?” a muffled shout echoed from the back.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, sliding his sunglasses onto the top of his head.

A moment later Ms. Gloushire was whacking her beaded curtain out of the way and she smiled warmly at Locke before her eyes settled on Benji. “Oh, you have a friend today.”

“Yep. My brother, Benji,” he said. “I have the tea for you for the Fest. The Starry Night, Full Moon, and Crossroads.” He set his box down on her counter beside the register and pulled back the flaps.

Her face lit up and she rubbed her hands together. “Ooh, excellent. Everything work out all right with your last check?”

“Yes, ma’am, not problems at all,” he said, smiling softly.

“Good. All this newfangled equipment. I know it’s more convenient for the Norms, but electronics and magic don’t always mix well. But if everything’s fine, then it’s fine,” she said, casting her new POS system a distrustful glare as she dug into the box of teas. Locke just chuckled and waited patiently for her to finish her counting and inventorying. Satisfied, she marked it all down and set the box aside.

“All right, dear, everything looks to be in order. If I need anything else, I’ll call you,” she said.

“Yep, you know where to find me. I gotta stop at Coriander’s. You have a good night,” he said, flicking down his sunglasses.

“You too, Locke. Pleasure to meet you, Benji,” she said with a suspiciously sharp smile. Benji tittered nervously, thanked her, and they were off.

The stop at Coriander’s was brief and uneventful. Locke handed over the second box of teas, things packaged in lighter bags with more spritely names, while Benji was one again glued to the shiniest objects the shop had to offer. Even with Coriander chatting at top speed about a new topic every few seconds, they were done relatively quickly. He said his farewells to the bubbly sprite, flicked his sunglasses down, and turned toward the door, only to be blinded anyway.

Sebastian was in the doorway, pushing his outrageous sunglasses onto the top of his head as he meandered into the shop. As soon as he saw Locke he smiled and Locke frowned at the butterflies in his stomach.

“Hey beautiful,” Sebastian said, smooth and a little high. His eyes instantly flicked to Benji and his expression went briefly blank, before he smiled again and got a little swagger. “Well, well, who is this delightful new face?”

Locke glanced over his shoulder and wasn’t surprised to see Benji’s face dark with blush. His greenish skin and purplish blood made him look a little brown, but it was definitely a blush. Locke didn’t blame him.

“Sebastian,” he said. “My brother, Benji. Here for the Fest.” He cleared his throat before his voice broke and ignored the look Benji gave him.

Another expression briefly flickered across Sebastian’s face, this time more surprised than blank, and quickly settled into a coy grin. “Brother? Well, welcome to Newlight Falls, Mr. Benji. I’m Sebastian Devereux, Locke’s neighbor,” he said, sauntering forward and offering his hand. He was a head shorter than Locke, which had Benji nearly towering, but as usual Sebastian’s confidence was unwavering. Locke figured it would have to be with a neon pink sequin sarong over those...shorts.

“Good to meet you, Mr. Devereux,” Benji said. “Which neighbor would you be?”

“The one across the street, handsome. Incase you ever need to borrow a cup of sugar,” he said with a wink. Benji grinned stupidly and Locke nervously fussed with his lip ring. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I have some tea to stock up on.” He winked at Locke, who barely resisted watching as Sebastian sauntered past. He huffed, tugging his hood closer to his face, and hurried out of the shop, leaving Benji to scurry after him. Maybe the hood and sunglasses disguised his blush enough? He certainly hoped so.

--

“So how are the infusions going?”

Locke looked up from pushing around his caprese. “Hmm? Oh, they’re fine. They’re infusions.” He cut a bite of cheese and tomato. “I had one last week and I think I’m scheduled for the week after next. Mostly vitamin D right now.”

Benji nodded, obliterating a half-pound cheeseburger and fries. “I remember summers are harder.”

Locke shrugged. “Yeah, but being here has been really great. The woods are so dense that I don’t always get a rash, so I can be outside more during the day.”

Benji’s face lit up. “Oh! That’s really cool! Mom and dad will be happy to hear it. See? I told them this was a good move for you.”

Locke huffed. “What, me telling them how great it is wasn’t enough?”

Benji waved him off. “You know how they are, they always worry about you.”

It wasn’t unwarranted. Locke had been a sick kid with all kinds of health issues and sensitivities, not the least of which was chronic anemia. At the time, being in and out of foster homes like he was, it had been difficult to narrow down his symptoms. Until Dan and Lori snagged him, the pale, scrawny, constantly exhausted thing that he was, and gave him a solid foster home to grow up in. Within the first year they’d discovered he had vampire heritage, which explained the majority of his weird symptoms. It wasn’t enough that he had to have transfusions, but it still meant he was anemic and allergic to too much direct sunlight. After that, with the support of his new foster family, Locke improved enough that he was able to finish school, and even got a degree.

Now, with a healthy lifestyle, he could live pretty normally, even if he still needed to be monitored monthly. Newlight, on top of being paranormally inclusive, also happened to be an hour away from the office that handled his case, which was still better than the two and a half hours he’d been traveling while still living near Dan and Lori. They might not have adopted him, but they still considered themselves his parents, and made quite the fuss when he moved so far away from them.

“Well, I really am doing great. You can tell them that I'm happy and healthy and even the ghost doesn’t bother me too much,” he said.

Benji snorted. “Lori would flip her lid if she knew you had a ghost.”

Locke grinned and didn’t think Lori would honestly be too surprised.

Other than the caprese salad, the choice of restaurant had been deliberate. It sat across from a stretch of woods with a marked path, and that path just so happened to let out a few yards from Locke’s house. The dark fae of Newlight loved to fill it with all sorts of mischief, some of which was quite pretty depending on the mood. With it being tourist season, and the endless woodland trails a huge attraction, Newlight had strict ordinances for what was and wasn’t allowed on the public paths. Benji was hesitant to take the woods home, but Locke assured him it was quite safe so long as they stayed on the path.

True to form, the woods were full of eerie giggles and mysterious lights, shrubs shaking and twigs snapping in the shadows along the lit path. The usual lamps that ran along the ground had been replaced with overhead string lights, zigzagging back and forth  like a trail of will-o-the-wisps. Since the sun had finally set, Locke was able to shuck his hoodie and take off his sunglasses. Extreme temperatures had never really bothered him, but the summers could be pretty oppressive. It was nice to feel cool night air on his skin.

Half way home, a fairy appeared, a curvy woman in a diaphanous lavender dress and long, curling black hair. She hovered her way across the path, watching them with a wicked grin and shining black eyes.

“Evening, Iris,” Locke said casually. Benji made some choking noises behind him and Locke suppressed a grin, imagining his brother was blushing so hard he was almost purple.

“Hello, Locke. Who’s your friend?” she asked, moving a little closer.

“This is my brother, Ben.”

Her grin got even more mischievous. “Nice to meet you, Ben,” and she was off again, disappearing into the trees on the opposite side of the path. A symphony of chittering laughs hit them and Locke snorted.

“Wow,” Benji huffed as they kept moving, eyes nearly glued to the spot.

“She works in Mrs. Gloushire’s sometimes,” Locke said with a shrug.

“Oh yeah?” Benji mumbled absently, still searching through the darkness. Locke wanted to tease him, but it was his turn to blush when another fairy appeared.

“Hello, Galena,” he nearly deadpanned, glad it was so dark.

Galena was tall and willowy, built lean like a swimmer and burnished like bronze. He was dressed in what Locke could only call a poison green loincloth with a braided rope of poison ivy draped across him like a sash and pinning back half of his long, curling brown hair.

“Hello, Locke.” He did a little spin, purple wings beating wildly. “What do you think of my Absinthe costume?”

Locke blinked. “Isn’t that the same costume from last year?”

Galena scoffed. “You’re no fun!” he snarked, but blew Locke a kiss anyway and darted off again. Locke sighed and picked up the pace.

“Are the woods always like this here?” Benji nearly whispered to a chorus of laughter.

Locke shrugged. “No, they’re just excited for the Fest. It’s pretty quiet outside of tourist season.” Benji just hummed softly and got a little closer when something shrieked nearby.

[egdocument]

About the EvaGeeks wiki and why you shouldn't trust it, concerning mainly one user.

On the subject of EvaGeeks: Let’s talk about the manipulation of information on the wiki, and perpetuated “nastiness” on the forums that has persisted for several years now. THIS IS A MIRROR OF THIS GOOGLE DOCS FILE. (My twitter post.) You can share this post or the original document freely, use parts of it, etc. I want this document to simply serve as a warning to new Eva fans and those less familiar with EvaGeeks and their history - as well as an update for people who haven’t seen the current state of it.

NOTE: If you can’t read any of these images, these are Imgur albums containing all of the notable ones: https://imgur.com/a/z2mGvvX https://imgur.com/a/oAgufc3

The intent of this document is not to “take down” the wiki or forum, obviously. The intent is simply to inform people of the dangers of trusting this site with their Eva info. It might be the best we have but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve it. I would actually love to see a more community cultivated version of the site with less biased information, but I fear that will never happen. The anxieties of any one (or many) individual(s), which have prevented consistent change until now are well justified, and it is not within reason to blame the outsiders for never bothering to correct the myriad of issues with the wiki. Please extend kindness to other Eva fans and approach sites like EvaGeeks with the appropriate scrutiny, if you aren’t already. We’re divided enough as it is.

Before I begin, I must state: All of the information presented is publicly available, either through main pages, chat logs or history. And yes, the link to join the Discord server and verify the information given in this is publicly available too. I will not link it myself, as I want to avoid any possible harassment of the users I speak about here. Harassment is NEVER the answer in any kind of conflict. This behaviour I don’t believe can go unchecked, but that doesn’t mean the consequences of it should be any kind of conflict towards any user. I will be naming them here so you are aware, but I really do have to advise you, as a reminder, DO NOT HARASS OR ENGAGE WITH THEM. The rule of thumb is that these issues are more systematic than you might think, and blaming or taking it out on a singular person or even a whole group is never justified. Targeted harassment, even with reason, especially never helps to remedy an issue, because it forces the person to double down on their behaviour and beliefs. Causing unnecessary pain to a person is never okay, and the ‘offences’ committed here aren’t deserving of it in the first place. Please also consider the feelings of the people who use the server and EvaGeeks site; not everyone is your "enemy" or your "target" (and frankly, no-one should be) and despite the feelings echoed in this document, EG is not a monolith of a singular opinion or belief.

The purpose of this document is to inform people of the ways EvaGeeks fails objectivity and has existed to push narratives and exclude outsiders for far too long. With new people coming into the Eva fandom (and there of course being others who have been around for quite a while but just aren't aware) I feel like now is the best time I could write this.

As for what prompted this, an anonymous member of the Discord server contacted me regarding the behaviour of one particular user they were concerned about. Said user had expressed considerable bias in the past and was admitting to making large edits to pages on the wiki very recently, and the person who contacted me felt unequipped to bring the issue to light themselves.

A decent amount of this document will be dedicated to presenting said user's contributions - while I feel someone always had to address the EvaGeeks Problem at large, it doesn't help that this user has essentially incriminated himself here to expose the problem in its entirety. 

There is quite a bit of pretense I must discuss before I get into the subject of the wiki pages themselves. I suggest you read all of it; the start of the wiki section will be in heading text if you’d like to skip to it. I’m sure information on the biased editing of wiki pages is privy to anyone who has used the server or the site itself, but at the server’s current status of 60 entire members, I know not everyone has, or is aware of what the problem actually is. Please note that the person who contacted me has requested anonymity and I will be complying. I will not include screenshots of their conversation with me, and anything I quote from them will be paraphrased so nobody can go full Sherlock and analyse their typing patterns. It sounds silly and it’s probably just paranoia, but they shared my concern here. Any conflict we can prevent is for the best. EvaGeeks, of course, has a culture very much promoting the idea that it’s the “number 1 source for all things Eva”, and for English speaking fans it definitely is - you’d be surprised the amount of people who still, after all these years, think this site is consistently reputable. For the sake of context, I’m going to assume that you are not all that familiar with the site’s history or nature, so I’m going to provide a little bit of information about it for those without any first-hand experience. The forums in particular cultivate a very join-us-or-get-out type community, where those who dare to go against the grain get incentivised to leave the site; they’ll claim this isn’t the case if asked and obviously the site is NOT a hivemind but that doesn’t mean it’s not insular. I can vouch for myself and many others who refuse to go in more than a few threads for fear of discussion turning particularly nasty. Even the server member who came to me about this has stated they feel it “might not be a hivemind but it sure feels that way.” Silencing dissent, even when officially-backed, is part of their culture. You don’t have to personally harass everyone who has an opposing thought to you for it to not feel acceptable, you just need to have a history of mocking those who do. If you want some previous, notable cases of “discussion turning nasty”, here’s some off the top of my head: 1. The AWL Incident - In which ADV VA of Rei and director of EoE dub, Amanda Winn-Lee, joined the forums for discussion and was promptly harassed by a user. Most of these messages have been deleted but you can view what remains of her post history here.  2. Recently brought to my attention: upon beginning translation of the Episode 24 drafts, EG forum user LiLi was subjected to incentive to leave, mostly in the form of homophobic disgust in replies to her thread or others they were mentioned in. Any information that goes against the cultivated narrative, even when it is literally officially licensed content, is only ever considered with a degree of reluctance. The fact these drafts co-exist with other pages concerned with this episode is almost a miracle. You can find plenty of repeat instances of the above if you want to (more to do with homophobia and misogyny than outward hostility, but honestly it’s the same thing.) A look at basically any EvaGeeks thread concerning pairings or the female characters will unearth a variety of awful comments from many other users, not that that would be surprising to anyone who has spent more than two minutes in the fandom. Now, of course, that’s very relevant to the topic at hand even if it doesn’t seem to be. The EG wiki and forum have quite a bit of overlap and circular influence on each other as you’ll see later if you aren’t already aware of it. For a short summary before we jump into things and analyse our subject of the day, this essentially means that anyone with an opinion or information the majority doesn’t like will never get in a position good enough to edit the wiki and keep the edits there. This has resulted in many articles filled with conjecture and fan speculation that serve to shut down other viewpoints, whether it’s intentional or not.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ON THE TOPIC OF THE EVAGEEKS WIKI

The issue surrounding homophobia and downplaying of references to LGB content in Eva, through proxy of fan-dictated content control and translation is not a new one by any stretch of the imagination. I'm sure you're all very well aware. It’s far from the only issue present in the fandom but it will be our subject of conversation today. Any ‘one instance’ of this persistent behaviour from Eva fans is never going to be enough to summarise how insurmountable it really is, though, so today I instead draw your attention to one user of the wiki who goes by the name of FelipeFritschF and his recent, frequent updates to pages concerning Nagisa Kaworu.

[TOPIC: FELIPEFRITSCHF]

I must reiterate here: although this document is mostly concerned with this user and will contain a number of receipts from various places, it is NOT supposed to function as a hit piece or inspire any kind of mob. Leave this guy the hell alone, just be aware that he’s the one making most of these changes and isn’t a particularly impartial party, to put things lightly.

Now, before we really get into things, it should be stated that the EvaGeeks wiki requires approval to get your edits there, as stated at the bottom of the homepage, here:

This means that anyone making consistent edits to the wiki has in fact been approved, and this isn’t the result of lack of maintenance.  

What you’ll find is that it is consistently Felipe making edits to the pages in question. Kaworu’s bio page, for example, is almost entirely edited by Felipe, which we can see from the “History” tab of the article.

This is barely half of his edits made in the last few days. Take a scroll through it yourself if you’re so inclined. This hilarious bit of waffle was added by Felipe a few days ago and since revised since by him, as shown here. 

(As an added bit of comedy, the man who decided to add in the Japanese in the first place apparently didn’t know the difference between 好意 (kindness, what Kaworu actually says) and 行為 (action). It’s been fixed since but I still think it’s quite funny.) Now, as anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of Japanese knows, 好き is not actually a very ambiguous word at all. I think it goes without saying, though, and I’m not here to have an argument about translations with you all (for the record, Kanemitsu’s now scarily infamous translation of this scene is perfectly fine with me in a vacuum, it’s just literally everything else surrounding it that’s the problem. Also, regretfully, I will have to speak about this nonsense later when it becomes relevant.) I’m using this as an example instead, to show how utterly ridiculous this guy’s additions to these pages are. He’s not even making a point here. It keeps going past this excerpt, and I suggest you read the whole thing (Kaworu’s page is linked above.) The point of bringing this up - and when I eventually discuss the Netflix translation when it’s necessary - is not to complain about semantics, although I’d argue that’s what’s happening in these articles, honestly. It’s just helpful when proving the actual point of the editor being incredibly unreliable and biased in how he phrases and omits things.

On the page dedicated solely to Shinji and Kaworu’s relationship (which is basically identical to their section on Kaworu’s page as far as I can tell), we can see that Felipe has also edited this several times, and even credits himself with expanding the version on the Evangelion Fandom Wiki now copy and pasted back to EvaGeeks.

The kind of “discussion” (very much not discussion when added to a wiki page supposedly presented as factual information, is it, frankly?) would be fine if it was happening in the EvaGeeks forum itself (and happen does it ever, but that doesn’t change the inappropriateness of this particular behaviour.) What I find disturbing is that in the past few days, this user has gone out of his way to make some already worrying articles even worse, presumably in an attempt to silence discourse, or add more fuel to the flames, surrounding the new Netflix translation. He has a whole page on that one, too, one which is very up-to-date in some regards and not at all in others, despite only being added a few days before me compiling this information. Frankly, going through this whole page on its own is a huge waste of my time considering how BLATANT it is in its biases, but I’ll do it anyway. It IS only a Theory and Analysis page (which is essentially an EvaGeeks free-for-all), but I think it’s quite bothering that the site even allows Theory and Analysis pages that consider only one viewpoint and are written by one person. The forum, presumably, is connected to the site for a reason. 

I’m just going to link it here, for the sake of brevity. https://wiki.evageeks.org/Theory_and_Analysis:Kaworu%27s_lines_in_Episode_24 I suggest you read this before continuing. For a slight departure, the original theatrical Funimation dub of 3.0 is partially available for viewing online, although the audio is in cam quality so you may want headphones if you have plans to watch what’s there. The home media dub’s major changes are to issues with lore and localisation of jargon. While not directly mentioned in this article, it is implied from the subject that this is what it’s about; it’s been speculated that the very literal translation of Episode 24 in particular has come about due to Khara’s embarrassment with how Funimation’s theatrical dub of 3.0 handled Kaworu and Shinji’s relationship rather loosely. Despite these claims, every instance of the two sharing (honestly pretty awkward and unnecessary) flirtatious back-and-forths are still present in the home media version, barring an instance in the stargazing scene where Kaworu’s dialogue was translated even worse than it is in the final dub. If you don’t believe me, do the comparisons yourself. It may not be conclusive, but I think it puts mostly to death the rumour that “a Khara employee was there and saw how people laughed at the Kaworu and Shinji scenes and demanded it needed to be changed for the final release and now that’s being reflected on the new translation”, which is what it tends to boil down to. 

It also goes without saying that NO ONE PERSON is “the most qualified” (holy shit, is this entry not even bothering to hide how biased it is) to translate an entire TV show, let alone something like Evangelion. Let us not forget that Kanemitsu’s claims that he respects “ambiguity” are not even true to begin with. EvaGeeks itself is a shining example of Eva fans, of which Kanemitsu is one and this is even discussed in the article, not being impartial enough to be tasked with discussing Evangelion! (There is obviously issue with citing the ADV translation as a source of all truth; if you read further into the thread on my tweet [the kitchen scene in EoE], I provide extra context for those interested, which I am aware has been spread around Discord and other places without that context included. Of course, I’m not an unbiased source either as you can probably tell from my tweets nor am I claiming to be, so please feel free to discuss these things in other places if you want. I’ve just got the tweets I have on hand here. Sorry about that.) Next, the repeat claim that this is “Khara’s licensed translation and thus the most accurate version” is pretty obviously nonsense; I’m sure I don’t need to point out to the audience that Japanese companies meddling in localisation has ended poorly in the past, or that Khara uses questionable translations from the dubs of the Rebuild films on licensed merch from time-to-time, or that the translation was fairly obviously not overseen or even QA’d by anyone following Kanemitsu’s translation work judging from the myriad of grammatical errors, missing subtitles and overly literal, poor sounding phrasing present in the final work. (Do I need to source this? Just watch the damn thing.) It’s not even like the ways it was translated have been consistent through different versions on Netflix; some were translated from Kanemitsu’s English to other languages judging from the obvious mistakes being present in multiple tracks, and some were barely even translated at all - the Italian version, the dub of which is mysteriously now missing, was so bad people were commenting that it sounded like Shakespeare or that it was translated word for word from Japanese. I dunno about you, the reader, but something about “Khara only bothered to check very rigorously the English version for their specific requests with the translation” doesn’t sound like what really happened to me. It’s more like they’ve just sent a translator they have worked with before to work on a project of theirs. Apologies for engaging in speculation, but that’s all this whole article is anyway. It’s just something I noticed from skimming through the page, but I find it quite interesting that Felipe makes a blanket statement about the excerpts from Schizo and Prano “being wrongly attributed to Anno” and then the source he provides for that is just someone on the EvaGeeks forums saying the same thing with little proper sourcing, when that was never really the intent of their post anyway. An interview summary exists where Anno has stated he wrote both books himself, and if you haven’t seen it, here it is. It’s obviously flimsy at best, but Tokyo Otaku Mode is an officially licensed Evangelion distributor. If Felipe is going to parade around his love for the Very Official Khara Subtitles Of NGE he can at least extend the same gratitude to other forms of official information; I mean, frankly, this article is about as reputable as anything in the Netflix subtitles are.  Lastly, another thing I found quite interesting is his strange love for the ADV VHS subtitles. I really, really think this is obvious, but subtitles changed in later versions of the ADV release were changed because they were deemed incorrect. I don’t have sources for this so take it with an absolute grain of salt but I believe there’s even a commentary track on the Platinum release where the translator talks in depth about why she translated episode 24 as she did. It’s not exactly a better word than Kanemitsu’s, but if we’re considering translator’s word as law for whatever reason like Felipe is here, we might as well consider hers, too, right? Oh, and actually, have a look at the sources used on that article. Most of the sweeping statements he makes have absolutely no backing beyond what he’s piecing together from old and irrelevant interviews (when discussing the Netflix translation) as well as...linking Kanemitsu’s job history...I mean, sure, the guy is qualified, but do I really need to go over this again?

INTERMISSION: Speaking of sources, you might have noticed from perusing these articles yourself that EvaGeeks has a very low standard for sourcing to begin with, which is likely partially to blame for how things like these articles can even exist in their current forms in the first place. A site that doesn’t have such a lenient policy on sourcing, though, is Wikipedia. Felipe, of course, cannot stay within the confines of the fandom and has decided to have a go at providing some information to Kaworu’s actual Wikipedia page as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kaworu_Nagisa&action=history Felipe is far less to blame for the state of Kaworu’s Wikipedia article, which is honestly pretty bad to begin with. There have been plenty of other people editing this one and the rather homophobic “Relationship with Shinji” part of the article has been present for a while before he started editing it. (The fact this article literally uses someone being explicitly homophobic as a source is not surprising for Eva fandom, but holy shit, am I disgusted every time I reopen this page. I'm not even going to bother figuring out who added that one.) I do wonder if his reasons for not desecrating this page the same way he has on EvaGeeks is because he knows it wouldn’t stay up for particularly long. Reminder that he is also the main editor of the same pages on the Evangelion Fandom Wiki, which is essentially a copy and paste of EvaGeeks. Of note is this little tidbit I found:

This is what Felipe then deleted, as this is apparently not relevant, despite literally being about Kaworu’s relationship with Shinji. I mean, I’m sure this could have been put in somewhere else and perhaps phrased a bit better, but why the hell would you outright delete that kind of information? It’s supposed to be a wiki, not your own personal opinion chamber. BTW, this is the thread post he links as a rebuttal to that person adding it, and it’s probably for the best it’s presented here with context: https://forum.evageeks.org/post/886380/NGE-Ep24-Script-First-and-Second-Drafts/#886380

He clearly thinks he has a point here, but I’m not sure what exactly he’s going for. Basically everything he’s saying is conjecture, and while I can kinda see where he’s coming from it sure does completely fail to address the intent as explained in this interview. “Read the whole interview” is very dismissive, especially when the interview in full doesn’t exactly contradict the initial point. It does say quite a bit, how he will disregard official information when his wiki articles themselves are full of nothing but rambling.

Here’s another relevant and quite funny Discord screenshot:

Felipe is making a pretty hypocritical statement here. I’m sure he does have a point - there’s probably been quite a bit of vandalism happening to these pages which isn’t exactly surprising (again, Eva fans are not often rational people, please be honest with ourselves). That being said, I think there’s a particular irony to the man who has written many very, very long paragraphs on the wiki pages he has control over trying to stop people from thinking there might be anything but “ambiguity” between a pair he doesn’t like.

In the case anyone reading has forgotten: the purpose of a wiki should be to provide unbiased information on the material it discusses. Obviously the repeating of “innocuous” statements about how “ambiguous” it all is, in the vain of EG’s now made fun of ‘we don’t know what he really meant by that’ and ‘why Kaworu is so intent for Shinji alone to have happiness remains a mystery’  are pretty obviously intended to downplay the very, very obvious “subtext” and leagues of official information provided.

It kinda goes without saying that WE CAN INFER THESE THINGS FROM THE ACTUAL INFORMATION ON THE WIKI, you don’t need to add a disclaimer to everything going “well we just don’t know what it means!” (even in instances when we do know what it means, but that’s almost besides the point). You don’t need to add in these statements, unless you’re trying to sway people into ignoring what's presented by the show. If you want people to draw their own conclusions, you are in fact capable of presenting information without commentary - in fact, that's kind of the whole point of a wiki. Yes, Eva is ambiguous at times, but talking down to people like they need this reminded to them constantly is an absolute waste of time and energy. It’s almost as if the editor has been trying to cultivate a narrative and has been getting away with it because you can’t really prove these statements are biased unless you do the research. (I mean, you can from context, but it certainly hasn’t done much to get them removed, has it?)

You can view the editing history of any given EvaGeeks article on their own pages if you want to see just how many times these things have been added in by Felipe. And obviously, no, it isn’t just his fault - there are other users, several, in fact, credited with the editing of these pages, many of the edits serving the same point as Felipe’s paragraphs on “ambiguity”. He’s just the most concrete example of a biased editor. Also, yes, I do recognise this has all happened within the few days post the release of Eva on Netflix and that it was likely prompted by that. But we know at least one of the mods is aware of it given how Felipe talks about it in the EvaGeeks Discord server. It’s also quite funny I’ve seen people linking these pages like they're some kind of "gotcha" in response to tweets discussing the new translation, as if they haven’t been invented out of thin air in the past few days.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, frankly I’m sick of staring at EvaGeeks, and if you want any more information on these articles and others with instances of the same thing happening, you can have a look at it yourself.

Originally, this document contained far more screenshots from Felipe. My desire for this to not turn into a hit piece has lead me to remove a great deal of these messages. I do suggest, if you want to, you join the server and make your own conclusions. Even beyond what the member told me about I found myself agreeing with him fairly frequently when he was being reasonable - this doesn't change my concerns regarding the presentation of information on the wiki, though. The anonymous member was mostly concerned about this user having basically all the control over Kaworu's wiki articles, seeing as he has far too high of a stake in everything. Not all of these messages are inflammatory or even necessarily bad or wrong, but I find that to anyone privy to the “revelations” about the EvaGeeks Wiki here, they paint an interesting story, to say the least.

It’s starting to sound like he perhaps has just had some bad experiences. The following few messages are part of the same conversation.

I find it interesting how he flipflops from not understanding anything about the whole Eva Parallelism Theory Thing to suddenly being all for it when it concerns things not about the gay stuff.

Comments on how ‘manipulative’ Kaworu is

Because Kaworu is very pro instrumentality, and this definitely isn’t just a theory, I mean, it’s even talked about on the wiki, guys! (And I’m not even touching on the yes-men in this server.) Oh.

Oh no.

For the record, this page is clearly still under construction, and to point out any one thing about how bad it is would be essentially just poking a stick at a beehive. At least this one is so absolutely poorly phrased it’s doubtful anyone could mistake it for any kind of proper information. I also find it incredibly funny whenever pages on the wiki use the forum as a source. Relevant: Qmisato’s post on his defending of Shinji sexually assaulting Asuka: https://qmisato.tumblr.com/post/183082754484/yesterday-i-was-invited-to-evageeks-official

In response much later. I really can’t see it as being framed as “fun teenage romance”, also why is the word romance suddenly being used to talk about Asuka and Shinji after the whole debacle with Kaworu? He’s said before he doesn’t see Asuka and Shinji’s relationship as romantic, either (and GOOD! It’s not!)

(Also - it’s not sexual assault when Shinji tries to kiss Asuka in her sleep, but it IS when Kaworu does the exact same thing to Shinji? Make up your mind, dude.) Turning this sort of thing into Shipping Discourse is frankly not the right way to go about it, but it is perhaps notable that despite what Felipe says, he is in fact an Asushin shipper. (I don’t feel the need to post all these images in the document as its cluttered enough as it is.) At this point it’s rather adhom and I feel irrelevant but I do think it’s relevant that through all of Eva fandom, those who have the most issue “understanding” (more like accepting, I suppose) LGB subtext, are those who also are really attached to a fairly morally grey het pairing themselves. Again, seriously, there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of this and assuming the worst of someone because of the pairings they like isn’t my intent here, it’s more that I find this pattern has always been prevalent and it’s bothering me I’m seeing it STILL in 2019. ESPECIALLY from a wiki editor who inserts so much of that into his work on the site. 

  You’re probably sick of reading all of this (and I’m getting sick of writing it), so I’ll wrap up the part on Felipe quickly: Yes, I just dedicated several pages to screenshots of mostly innocuous (when considered out of context) stuff one guy had to say. I feel more obsessive than I’d like to admit, and frankly I have no business with this person. We’ve spoken twice on EvaGeeks threads if you can even call it speaking. This task was given to me by a member of the community who was concerned about his behaviour but didn’t want to publicise it themself and I feel a little out of my depth here. I at least hope we can come to the conclusion I wanted to here, that I fear may have been lost in this whole great mess of language - no one person should have THIS much sway over the state of a wiki that’s supposed to be impartial, especially when they have not been quiet with their biases in the first place, and it is the failure of everyone involved in the maintaining of the wiki itself that this sort of behaviour has been allowed in the first place. 

The guy can have whatever opinions and theories he wants, obviously. I don't give a shit; he's not even that bad compared to the grand majority of Eva fans to begin with. Don't think this document exists to "cancel" him or thoughtpolice, I truly, genuinely, do not care what is said inside this server anymore. It doesn't concern me. I mean, it's a fucking cartoon, for god's sake. This only becomes an issue when opinions are expressed on a wiki, for reasons I have reiterated many times now. EvaGeeks lacks the objectivity required to function as a wiki and I'm trying to make that clear. 

[ON THE TOPIC OF THE EVAGEEKS WIKI AND COMMUNITY IN GENERAL] As for who can edit the wiki and what they’re allowed to say: As you can see from the nature of people’s posts in this thread, you’re given access to do very specific things, and although I haven’t bothered going through the process myself (as I find it would be quite redundant, trying to fix such an inherently broken system), I’m guessing it’s very easy to get your edits reversed if you post anything they don’t like. Take that as conjecture of my own.

I have it in decent faith that the approval process involves whoever of the mod team is there at the time coming to an agreement based on people’s applications. Obviously this is a decent idea for a system, and I’m sure there are legitimate reasons as to why EG has to be locked down as much as it is; judging from the state of other fanon wikis I’ve seen there’s likely to be a decent amount of vandalism, especially in a fandom as passionate as Eva’s is. However, I think it’s fair to say that the complete restriction of updating these pages to those approved by a mod team who, while I’m sure are very reasonable people overall, certain individuals of which have displayed concerning behaviour and biases of their own in the server during my brief look around. I won’t be naming anyone in particular from the mod team as I don’t feel like I need to add any more targets of shame to this already horrifically negative document, but I have gotten the general impression (in case it needed confirmation, following the remaining of these specific changes on the wiki) that some mods, not all, aren’t the most nonpartisan individuals themselves. I do happen to be decent acquaintances with at least one of them so, again, please don’t consider this a personal attack.

My concern here plainly is that I don’t think a group of mods who have routinely failed to prevent events like the ones mentioned earlier, nor seem to have much of an issue with the myriad of examples of people being openly homophobic and misogynistic on their own forum are really in the position to be choosing who of the Privelleged Few get to control the Eva meta-narrative here. As I was writing this, I was alerted to the state of the primary Japanese Evangelion wiki as a source of cross referencing for what these things can look like if done right. If you take a moment to browse it, even if you don’t speak any Japanese and have to use an automatic translator it should be very obvious how something like this differs greatly from EvaGeeks. Kaworu’s page, for a relevant example, doesn’t have present any of the nonsense statements about ambiguity or overwritten descriptions of everything. The wiki respects the reader’s intelligence enough to know that it is, in fact, a wiki, and thus tries its best to be factual. His page is fairly decent in size and states things we know are fact rather than theory. There’s no attempt made to influence or confuse.

Oh, and just in case you think the mods aren’t actually active or present enough to know what Felipe is doing, his particularly awful page on Kaworu in episode 24 got a shoutout from the official Twitter account two days ago.  

If you are going to join the Discord server to verify things yourself* or do further digging, again, please be cautious of other users inside and do your best not to start anything. I am an occasional contributor to the forums and I’d prefer not to get my account flagged or to experience harassment myself, if any EvaGeeks members are still reading this document and disagree with my conclusions. I may not have posted much since I joined earlier this year, but despite everything I find the forums to be valuable for connecting with other fans and have enjoyed the positive feedback to my SIRP translation! Those who have spoken to me there have been very kind (including Felipe himself), and I must reiterate that this is not targeted at the whole site, or even at just Felipe. I simply believe there is more than enough evidence to suggest there have been consistent, systematic failures to recognise and correct the utter lack of objectivity present. I seriously don’t have any personal issues or beef with this guy, either. I wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t someone else who came to me about it.

*It should be noted that the person who spoke to me has pointed out certain members have been concerned about outsiders joining and screenshotting the chat. They may remove the public link to join if this document were to cause a huge issue. I will leave the server following the publication of this document and I have no plans to join again. I can’t speak for those who may join of their own accord but I do hope people have heeded the disclaimer I made initially.

Thankyou to all the people who have extended their own kindness and support during the creation of this document, to the anonymous person who tipped me off and the lovely Eva analysts I know for offering their own experiences with EvaGeeks and further supplementary information. If this whole document reads like the product of a bad mental health day, I guess it is. Also yes I know how hilarious it is that I’ve spent all this time creating what essentially amounts to an EVAGEEKS CALLOUT POST but I mean. Someone had to say it. Why not make an utter buffoon of myself in the process?

[mirceakitsune]

Banned from Furaffinity for drawing jokes / caricature / satire 7 years ago

Furaffinity always had serious issues and strange behavior toward its community. What happened over the past two days however is beyond what I think any of us would have ever imagined seeing someday. I'm not really sure how I can even translate the situation without people thinking I'm biased and exaggerating because it happened to me, it's one of those things you have to experience for yourself to fully grasp it.

They have now banned me and another artist I followed for 15 years and admire. Our only crime was making satire art… 7 years ago (in both our cases) plus my latest render in my case. All pieces were SFW and in no way sexual, literally intended as jokes and nothing more. After two thirds of a decade, during which the pieces were up and nobody once complained, a coordinated ban was conducted over what our past selves did at a time when there were probably no rules against it to begin with; In my case I had even forgotten that old sketch, initially I thought they mistook the age of a character in my recent works since I didn't even remember doing child characters (only did that one time and another joke I think).

https://inkbunny.net/s/886450

From what I remember, this was essentially a joke about a similar artist who got harassed: I believe Subwoofer made a parody about animals eating babies and everyone started yelling at him because of it, I found the situation hilarious and made that drawing to honor it. Initially FA suspended me for one week over that sketch, citing how it was somehow cub porn… I'll let others deal with the mental gymnastics as they're far beyond me. Then they needed a reason to get rid of me for good, and so…

Yes: A parody with cartoon bunnies poking fun at the capitol insurrection on January 6th. The accusation, I kid you not, is that this image was promoting COVID misinformation along with QAnon… it also says they deleted some journals which I'm not even aware of. That render… is COVID… misinformation…

And to be absolutely clear, it legitimately wasn't even intended to support anything in any serious manner. As I said it was strictly parody with a silly story attached, mostly to poke fun at what went on. I did NOT claim the elections were stolen, that Trump was right, and in fact I legitimately believe QAnon is 90% crazy from the little I even bothered looking into that group.

This is a screencap for anyone who thinks I must be blowing this out of proportion and it couldn't have been like that. See for yourself: This is the reason they gave, the image they reference is the one with the same title. Let me know how in the heck I even said anything about COVID-19 in that 3D render.

The real motive they came after me is because I took Foshu's defense in that journal, against the people harassing them also for making a cartoon joke those same 7 years ago. I wasn't suspended for anything I said there however: The FA mods instead decided to look through my gallery and pick two jokes I made seven years apart. It was because of my stance there however, we both got banned at the same time and it was clear it came from the arguments we just had with the angry mob.

Though I figure worse is possible, I imagine this is one of the biggest abuses in FA's history. Both in what they try to interpret as being against their extremely vague TOS, as well as how they handled it. I'll see if anyone in the appeals will contact me after I explain the situation, but even if I get unbanned I'm unlikely to post there again: FA has gone completely nuts, everyone including the mods are acting like a cult on anything that is a social issue… not everyone as far as users go of course, but the platform at large has clearly become a nest for the most violent and delusional circles (just like Twitter).

I'm posting this to let everyone know it happened and I'll likely leave the place whatever happens next. But also to expose the extent of the abuse, in case anyone feels they can look into it and do some investigation; FA is of course its own private site and can do any insanity it wants, but for a community of its size I really wish someone out there could hold it up to a minimal standard. Inkbunny is the only one I trust any more, it's made some mistakes too but never anything like this… may it live longer than me and stay free no matter what the world's insanity throws our way.

[studentsdeservearefund]

Tutorial Feedback

After a long talk with Gemma, where I disclosed my issues with the course and the desire to leave the course altogether. I have decided to stay on not only because I know I would not be able to return after a ‘break’ from studies but also because it would be silly to give up now giving how close I am to the end of the degree.

In our discussion, I realized I had not discussed my ideas particularly well and had difficultly explaining the creative decisions so I will address the gaps in my reasoning in this post.

1. The Goggles - Will I be adding to them? What will they be called? What part will they play in the campaign?

Firstly, I will refer to them from now on as “Janus X”. This name stems from the two-headed god, Janus who is often described as standing in a doorway, on the precipice between two contrasting worlds which I feel is very relevant. The product offers the user the ability to disappear from their CR (current reality) to a fantastical world, acting as a gateway - or door - between the two and allowing the user to stand either side depending on whether they wish to escape or not.

Secondly, I will be leaving the goggles as I bought them. There was consideration towards embellishing the goggles to make them almost humorous with feathers, jewels, ridiculous aesthetics that point towards bizarre and laugh at the fact that these are just a pair of goggles. This would almost taking the mick out of them as they have no purpose, however, upon seeing them, I find myself not wanting to make any changes to the design as they have a slick, sleek and professional look to them. If these were used in a commercial, they would fool anyone into believing that this product existed. They could be advertised on Amazon and have people begging to see if the product was back in stock which it what I’m after, I want people to crave them and desire them just as we desire an escape. The goggles point out how addictive escapism is, how much people will want them and ‘need’ them in a consumer society. Think of the uproar caused with the PS5 this year? The console sold out everywhere and people went insane over the internet, scouring every site and shop to find one because it is the latest must have. 

Thirdly, Gemma suggested that if this product is an online artifact, why not use the website to show case the item? I had not considered this beforehand as I had thought of making a showroom-esque installation that showed the product. I had not considered that the media should better suit the product. I will instead have more focus on my testimonies and website with less focus on taking pictures as this is more of a print based advertisement method whereas this will be a digital advertising campaign. I will still use a picture of the product to show what it is exactly the person buying it would receive however the testimonies will more useful to me. The marketing methods have changed since lockdown with the rise of TikTok and companies having to rely on customer reviews such as makeup reviews - often featuring a person putting the makeup on and talking about amazing it feels on the skin or how well it matches the skin tone - to draw the audience in as everyone cannot go outside to test it themselves. Often ads on Facebook will feature a well-known beauty guru applying the product so the customer can watch, learn and listen to the voice of a ‘celebrity’. These clips or ads are often 60s or less so that the attention spam of the viewer is captured by they aren’t forced to sit through a long scripted monologue of the product - this may be because as technology advances, peoples attention spans are growing less and less focused with the mass influx of short, snappy videos and/or images that get the message across quickly. I will contact well-known cosplayers and/or gaming influences so that I can enlist their help in customer testimonies so that people who are following them can ‘see’ the product in action and make it more believable. ‘Celebrity’ endorsement is often used in this way marketing.

2. What is the aim of the project? Why am I making this work? Why is it important?

This project not only looks into the human desire to escape but also that we crave it more in our current consumer society. Technology offers better and better ways to emulate and immerse yourself in virtual worlds and games. The Janus X offer complete immersion, something never really achieved before outside the realms of films and science fiction stories. I will use the influence that influences/celebrities have over their followers to create interest in a campaign that offers ‘the perfect escape’ and putting that onto a website that advertises the Janus X product so that I can get almost proof of how much people crave that perfect escape - this will be done by having a comment section on the website where anyone who comes across it can comment on the product and/or how much they believed it was real.

I am making this because I can relate to those who wish to escape because the world seems to be falling apart at the moment and if I could disappear into a world where I could slay a dragon instead of staring at the same four walls  then I’d be throwing my money at the cashier. I know that others feel this way through my research included in my proposal where the sales for fiction books have skyrocketed as well as the sales for games and VR equipment.

I hope this has cleared up a bit more of my rationale and I will endeavor to become more critical as well as explanatory in future tutorials and my workbook.

[toaster-hair]

random silly theory i randomly made bc im bored

long fucking post down below lol

so you might be thinking to yourself “hmm i wonder what this theory is about” 

well im gonna tell you; its about kazuichi soudas design and why his ass is so fucking fat in the first place.

first, ill need to discuss this image. as you can see on the right side of the image, kazuichi has his back facing the viewer. this backside shows us kazuichis thicc megatron ass.

now you may be thinking to yourself “toastie, what the fuck.”. ill explain further;

my hypothesis is that the person who made kazuichis original final design mistook him as a girl and ran with it until getting feedback from kodaka or someone else working on the game.

now youre most definitely thinking “toastie, what the fuck.” and i dont fault you for that. even i dont believe it. but ill go over my little evidence anyways.

this is his supposed “beta” design. obviously it is different from the final product, however it is practically the same. if i didnt know about this design and saw someone draw it, i wouldve just guessed they messed up on the design.

unlike a lot of other danganronpa characters, it appears he only has one beta design. to explain this, i bring up this idea; there was a bit of miscommunication with the design and art team, leading to kazuichi having a completely different design that mightve been controversial and releasing this beta as a cover up. this led to all of kaz’s other designs being unreleased/lost.

this is most definitely a stretch, but i do think the dr team not releasing or even losing references and designs is a possibility. how can i prove that? with his goth counterpart; gundham. fucking. tanaka.

this is his final design, and like kazuichi he only has one beta design we know of.

(i couldnt find a bigger pic sorry, the same image is up on his wiki) im sorry, but there is no way in my mind that these are even the same person. itd take more than just one beta design to go from some guy who looks like hed be a member of blood on the dancefloor to an edgy anime wizard. there were obviously a few more beta designs that didnt make it to the public.

“but toastie, how do you know if the main designer for kaz thought he was a girl?” well tumblr.com user, i dont. but somethings that help that theory is;

sdr2 has a pretty different style compared to dr1. ndrv3 also has a different style but it was released like 7 years after the first game i think? so i can excuse its style. while sdr2 was made only 2 years after the original (and couldve been in development way before 2012), so to me itd make more sense if they had new people.

kazuichi is still pretty androgynes (hell, maybe even a bit feminine), even more so than chihiro. the only characters that look similar to kaz (kaito and leon) are still pretty damn masculine when compared.

pink hair big hips and sharp teeth isnt what youd first imagine when you hear the word “mechanic”, is it?

to wrap up this post; while i dont think all of this theory is the absolute truth, i do believe that there is probably a lot of lost danganronpa media, whether it be a lost anime episode, a spin off novel everyone claims exists but has no original internet trace, or even a few beta designs. this theory will get confirmed when pigs fly.

[theveryworstthing]

hey kids its more ~*Downtrodden Answers*~

heres answers to a few questions that are clogging up my inbox. if i don’t answer yours i’m either writing a long post for it or i’ve already answered it.

its Capital Letters Time.

I’m still working on island legends but I’ve got some tidbits about art I can give you.

Rabbit Art:

Art on the island reflects the roots of language for rabbits in that it’s very tactile. Lango, the most widespread old language on the island, is similar to braille. It was a language meant to be read by touch in the dim warren tunnels and reading visually at all times is actually relatively new, something that started to really pick up in the last one hundred years after interacting with vultures and mainlanders. Even though visual reading became a thing, many books still included thin pieces of wood or thick pieces of paper with raised patterns and textures that were meant to be felt as the story was read. This tradition of ‘feeling’ through art carries on today. Paintings are made with thick layers of paint. Mosaics of textured glass, pottery, and metal line warren walls. Colorful embroidery of plants and bugs and geometric patterns grace the lining of cloaks and inside clothing. Its all about art you can feel in the dark. What isn’t meant to be felt usually produces its own light source in the form of glasswork meant to hold lights or illustrations made with bioluminescent inks. Art pieces that a large amount of people can use or see at the same time are usually more elaborate than pieces meant for individuals, making things like fancy teacups rare and valuable items only given for special events.

Mainlander Art:

Mainlanders typically produce photo-realistic works of art. Things like portraits, taxidermy, elaborate show-weaponry, religious imagery, and landscapes are common. They have good eyes for detail and the artists among them have always held that the best way to express culture and beauty is to make things as true to life as possible. Sometimes artists tend to give reality a little spit-shine for an angry client or disobedient lighting but the ideal is for every painting to resemble a clear window into another space and every statue a living thing (which can lead to some super creepy results). This makes work that features abstraction or symbolism sparse and gives their older children’s books and comics a very particular look since their popular drawing styles aren’t really meant to be simplified. This has changed in recent times since rabbit, hare, and vulture artists intermingling with their community really inspired a lot of illustrators. Body art is also a common practice for things like everyday makeup use (making fur/skin patterning bolder, using kohl eyeliner, males dusting iridescent powders on themselves), special fancy time use (tracing markings with silver or gold inks, fancy nails, painting vows and poetry on themselves for special events), and miscellaneous activities (sex workers, actors, ect. bleaching their skin/fur and drawing new designs on themselves, using people as living canvases).

That’s such a cute image! But rabbits aren’t really the fiddles and flutes type of race. They’re more into things like drums, mbira, and the occasional acoustic guitar. its got a vibe like this and this and this (if anyone knows of anything that kind of fits this vibe let me know) Rich mellow sounds that you can feel in your bones. Sounds that evoke calm in the uncertainty of the outside world and the warmth and safety of dimmed underground lights.  

Sounds you can fucking party to.

The island’s signature instrument is the Thumpekha, also known as the dancing drum. Rabbits who play this instrument literally dance on top of it; stomping and hopping with great force while tapping the rim with a pole that they twirl and toss during their performance. Its super tiring to play and traditional dances are actually used for guard training. They’re also a good outlet for the hyperactive and many rambunctious kits get marked for dance practice if they can’t focus on their studies. Thumpekha can be played wearing padded wooden shoes but hardcore rabbits do it barefoot and sometimes even light their poles on fire for an added air of drama and completely unnecessary danger. Thumpekha are mainly played at outside gatherings and special events and have the added benefit of warding off predators. No one is sure why. Something about the vibrations.

Bun names are arranged in three parts.

Given Name/First Name: the name your parents give you. For example, Foxglove. Traditional rabbit names are poisonous plants for two reasons. 1: in the olden days it made memorizing poisonous plants easier. if you have an aunt named foxglove it made you think twice when someone offered you a salad with foxglove in it. 2: it was just seen as good luck to do so. Like, if you took on the name of something poisonous then you were seen as less palatable to predators. These names can be passed down to loved ones or used in memory of someone and encompass different spellings because there are a lot of rabbits and even though you and two of your cousins look up when someone shouts ‘Foxglove!’ at least on paper there are some extra h’s and c’s in there to tell you apart.

Blood Name: the equivalent to a last name that you take from your mother’s side. These names are created from combinations of the names of ancestral mates (say, Oleander and Hemlock which can be something like Olehem or Hemander) and the word ‘root’ (which is spelled differently depending on where you live on the island. Example: root, roote, rute, rhoot, rhoote, rhute, ryute, rhyute). The complete Blood Name would be something like Hemanderroot. People used to combine names when they got married but those names got real long real quick and that practice has mostly ended. There are still rabbits walking around with awful disjointedly long last names though.

Family Name: not everyone has this name and the translation from the old Lango word to ‘family’ is shaky at best. It’s basically the name that can either be given to an adoptee by their new family or chosen for yourself for whatever reason. It is very important to note that these are not nicknames and referring to them as such is pretty disrespectful.

There aren’t any vampires on the island of talking magic rabbit people.

That would be silly.

Mainlanders do have tales of leeches though.

Nasty business. Drinking water from certain lakes and rivers without boiling it first might lead to swallowing a leech egg. A leech egg that hatches and grows and melds with a person’s insides. Imitating the tongue that it eats to nothingness in both function and feeling. Becoming such a part of them that its unclear if they are two separate entities. A leech that this person now needs to keep fed if they don’t want it to tap into their blood stream and kill them both. And it doesn’t need a lot of blood in the grand scheme of things but it needs Enough and it is Unpleasant.

As for sirens, there might have been something on the island that beckoned to people on the water’s edge with convincing words and delicate outstretched hands, but its long gone.

Mainlanders Physically Can’t Come To The Island. There are only a few sapient species that can live on the island without their bodies rejecting the notion of existing there. entire species have been wiped out because they all woke up one day and ran into the sea to try and get away from something that no one has figured out yet. If a mainlander brute forced their way close enough they would black out on their vessel and either wake up swimming/turning around or in rare cases straight up die in a stress induced heart attack. Some people might find this preferable to being misgendered but I’m gonna be real with you, most don’t.

Rabbits have learned that avoidance saves more lives than warfare. Plus, heavy tanks on an island riddled with hidden underground homes probably wouldn’t be great! It could be of use in a mainland war though.

Depending on the water they’d be definitely wet and maybe drowned and sometimes Gone.

If they’re hunted over a long period of time and the scare tactics don’t let up yes. Fear Death is a thing, though they need a long period of intense anxiety for it to take hold.

Answers in order! Nope, Nope, Nope, certain dyes/pelts/metals/magic user services/plants, living bugs and old Ms. Belladonna’s prize winning jam.

Between you and me its an angel but it looks an awful lot like an Alicorn if you squint and listen to the faint whistling of its last shuddering breath.

There’s a joke on the island that every single tree is the same height. This is only half true. Every single tree LOOKS the same height from the coast. Everything is bigger the closer you are to the center.

[ashxpad]

Profoto Camera App Review: The Future of iPhone Photography?

Profoto recently announced a revamped version of its Camera App and with ample new features and a new file format, it certainly sounds promising for smartphone photography.

I recently shot a swimwear editorial with it, both in-studio and on-location. Does the app live up to the descriptors? In short: yes.

Phones are among the fastest-evolving technologies to ever exist. Naturally, various accessories tend to evolve with the device too. One of the main improvements that phones seem to have from generation to generation is the new camera, and many people have already asked if iPhones have a future in replacing cameras. Although opinions differ, one thing is for sure: phones are much more popular than traditional cameras.

Most people these days likely start dabbling in photography by using a smartphone. Lighting, being a core aspect of photography, is naturally a focus for many photographers, so Profoto introduced a new technology, AirX, that lets photographers sync flash to their phones directly.

The Profoto Camera app’s new update brings smart TTL as well as Profoto RAW. I took it for a spin in a studio and on-location environments to see how it fairs as an image capturing device that promises to deliver fast results and an uncompromised light-shaping experience.

Features

Features included in the Profoto Camera app include:

Two modes: Smart-TTL and manual mode. The smart mode takes control of everything, all you need to set is how dramatic you want the light to be as well as your desired color temperature. Manual mode, on the other hand, lets you control your phone like it’s a camera. This means full manual control of not only exposure but also flash — it’s pretty much like your phone has a built-in flash remote.

Profoto Raw format. Profoto describes this as a format that uses DNG files. The Profoto RAW (DNG) files are 5-8 times larger than the usual JPEG. On paper, this allows them to capture more detail, therefore offering more post-production possibilities. In essence, this is just a DNG file.

UI Experience

Perhaps one of the things Profoto is famous for is its Swedish simplicity. As renowned photographer Albert Watson put it: you plug it in and it works. Profoto Camera holds to that tradition. Selecting Bluetooth on compatible lights and then connecting to the app is very simple. Pairing requires you to press the test flash button, but after the lights are paired, they will connect automatically to the app. I never experienced any connectivity issues on the app either.

As for the rest of the GUI of the app, it is easy to understand as there are labels and names on everything, making the learning curve very shallow.

Field Performance and Real-Life Experience

To truly test out the app and how well it works with lights, I chose two different settings: studio and on-location. The idea was to shoot a summer swimwear editorial that would encompass these looks very well.

The experience shooting with the Profoto Camera app can be described as slower than I’m normally used to. Having worked with cameras for much of my career, I felt really slow when working with a phone. It took a moment to adjust, a moment to fire, a moment to do everything else. This may work with some photographers’ shooting style, but it could also possibly limit photographers from working faster and more seamlessly.

Look 1

A 1970s-inspired look with a badminton racket. It was shot against a white background which was made blue by a large 2×3 softbox with a blue gel inside. The key light on the model was chosen to be hard to mimic sunlight, which was done with an OCF beauty dish. A CTO gel was added to warm the light up and give it sunlight-like quality.

Using the Smart-TTL mode has shown to be slightly hard here, as it didn’t quite understand the setup I was going for. The key light was overpowering the background gel, so I chose to use manual mode instead.

Syncing lights and setting them up was done, one by one, as usual. Shooting with a phone felt extremely strange, but the app was easy to use and I had the lights set up in manual mode in no time. One drawback was not being able to assign groups, but instead to having guess which light was responsible for what.

Look 2

The second look was designed to show the swimmer about to jump. Here a three-light setup was used. A 2×3 softbox was replaced with a much larger 165 Cm umbrella to allow for more even background light. The key light was chosen to be a 2×3 softbox with the same CTO gel. I wanted much more even illumination, and using a hard reflector would make that more challenging. Lastly, a small A10 was used to light the apple box the model is standing on and create the gradient. Unfortunately, the app didn’t quite recognize this setup, and I once again resorted to manual mode, as the app was trying to light the whole scene without balance between lights.

Look 3

The goal was to create a smooth gradient on the model while keeping the background the same color as in the last images. For that, a bare-bulb light with a 20deg grid was used. The camera app lets me control the lights seamlessly, with the experience being not too different from an actual camera. The app lets me control features such as modeling lamp, intensity, modeling lamp temperature (on B10 and B10+ lights)

Look 4

Using the camera app on location was a different story. With only a handful of things to take, the versatility of the app was quite fantastic. I had to take an A10 starter kit (available in certain regions only), which came with a small softbox, grid, as well as an OCF adapter for the A10 flash. I threw the kit on a light stand and shot away in the auto mode setting the light to soft. This enabled me to not worry about camera settings and focus on getting the shot.

At first, there was little understanding between the crew on when the picture was taken as there were a series of pre-flashes. However, the app was not missing the mark and got all the photos exactly as I imagined. This leads me to believe that the app is geared towards smaller light setups, such as just one softbox or a key with a fill.

General Testing

One feature I was interested to try was the possibility of controlling how dramatic light is. This can be done in Smart-TTL mode just by changing the slider. This is an interesting feature that performed surprisingly well. Usually, one would have to move their light or change the modifier, but the camera app takes multiple exposures combining them into one big one.

A drawback for potential users would be when it comes to shooting moving objects in smart mode. To operate, the smart mode needs to make a series of flashes and exposures, which requires the subject to be more or less still.

Speaking of the Profoto RAW format, there are no options to edit the pictures in the app. If speed is of the essence, there is rarely time to process raw files. There are more options with the DNG files that Profoto Camera captures, but they are nothing extraordinary. When editing, I found that although there is more latitude, it’s nothing like with other raw files, like CR2.

A Gateway Drug to Portrait Lighting

Profoto is perhaps ahead of its time with the Camera App, as many photographers may be puzzled by why exactly it exists in the first place. However, the app allows for much faster image capture and social media publication — something that traditional cameras can’t do.

Those who will probably gravitate towards Profoto’s new camera app pool are photographers who are not new to taking pictures, but perhaps new to lighting. Many iPhone photographers could potentially benefit from the ability to use a familiar device with sophisticated lights.

When it comes to whether the Profoto Camera app should be used in large-scale productions, I doubt it. I believe phones are just never going to reach the quality that a proper camera offers.

That said, I don’t think the Profoto Camera app is competing with high-end cameras — that would be a silly fight to pick. The camera app is simply offering a much more compact solution to allow for the capture of images on the fly. I see event shooters being interested in this, too, as it would allow them to carry much less while letting the camera mix flash and ambient as well as expose the whole image.

Pros

Fast results straight from your phone

Light control in simple situations

More control over light settings when compared to the remote

Ability to shoot with any light shaping tools

Cons

No power setting on the back of the light unit screen

Light names unclear on the app. No ability to assign groups

No ability to process DNG files in the app.

Limited ability to work with fast-moving subjects.

Should You Use It?

Yes. A previous argument against iPhone photography was that syncing lights is impossible, yet now with good light, I am more than happy to take my iPhone photography to next level. A family portrait session or anything of that nature is perfectly suited for the Profoto Camera App. I draw the line there personally, but someone else may prefer to ditch their camera altogether for the iPhone given the functionality here.

Overall, the Profoto camera app is very useful, especially when capturing images on the fly is a priority.

from PetaPixel https://ift.tt/3gvS0Fn

[charlieharry1]

Using snapchat as a digital marketing device

In our role as digital marketers, we are constantly looking to get worried with the modern-day virtual advertising gear in order to make certain that our paintings is in advance of the curve. In one in every of my in advance weblog posts, in which i observe the upward thrust of visible  Digital Marketing Agency in Edinburgh content in social media, i began to recall how snapchat has been evolving from its authentic idea which will offer customers with a bigger and better visible revel in, eclipsing its on-line social opposite numbers in phrases of consumer engagement and following. It’s legitimate – snapchat can not be disregarded through digital marketers. Snapchat, to start with released in september 2011 through younger students evan spiegel, bobby murphy, and reggie brown, became created as a image messenger app that provided one innovative feature: any images despatched can most effective be seen for 10 seconds or much less. In only five years, the app has harnessed a big following, with an anticipated 41% of all 18 to 34-year-olds within the states stated to use the app every day. But, the app is no longer simply an ephemeral image sharing platform. 150 millions users in line with day is a huge target market that constantly demands extra interesting content material and unique capabilities that cannot be determined on other social systems. The advent of ‘snapchat stories’, a function which permits the consumer to submit a snap on their profile so that it will continue to be seen for just 24 hours, is essentially an extension of the original concept of snapchat. The drum currently said that the insurance of rio 2016 was watched by way of over forty nine million customers inside the first week on my own, with a compilation of ‘high-quality bits’ being uploaded to the ‘stay snapchat tale’ feature each day, disappearing after 24 hours in actual snapchat fashion. Along the tale functions, colourful filters can be relayed over pix to ship funny snaps to friends or fans. These features and many greater are designed to be handy for most a long time, presenting a easy social platform for customers who're bored with the limitations of different social media systems, together with twitter. This seemingly sluggish choice of snapchat to social media giant twitter isn't always going neglected by using the huge men, both. Aaron wahle, sony images amusement’s senior vice-president of digital marketing, mentioned that “[o]bviously snapchat has our middle audience reachable each unmarried day…it’s eclipsing twitter – which we don’t put it on the market on so much anymore – so it’s a truly remarkable way to get in the front of the eyeballs we need to get in front of. Just right time, right location.

Read Also:-  For successful social presence, you need both organic and paid social media marketing

 with the latest declaration that snapchat plans to introduce behavioral focused on for advertisers, the photo app has clearly cemented its area inside the cosmos of virtual advertising. The proposed marketing plan is in all likelihood to provide data based totally on who a user follows, with particular attention interested in enterprise specific pastimes. This trendy circulate is simply some other step in the direction of the complete integration of snapchat inside the virtual advertising sphere. Under, i've gathered what i consider are the 3 most vital motives as to why corporations have to employ snapchat as a digital marketing device. Create geofilters for areas

geofilter era, at first conceived by snapchat, gives users the possibility to reveal their area in a amusing and engaging way. The location filters can be added to any snap to share with friends or followers through the snapchat app, providing a easy, easy, and enjoyable person revel in. Within the previous few months, snapchat has elevated its advertising options and launched ‘subsidized geofilters’, a perfect function for nearby businesses or corporations with more than one branches to entice clients located round a selected vicinity. Custom geofilters at the moment are additionally to be had at a low cost, supplying companies the risk to design their own clear out which can be embedded into the app for area-precise targeting. As an instance, if a pop-up keep became open for five hours within the centre of oxford street, the business should determine to layout their very own filter which could be available in and around the pop-up save place on that day only. All that the commercial enterprise would want to do is encourage their customers to apply and proportion the custom geo-filter, hoping to drive footfall into the pop-up keep or to sell the logo in standard. A image of a snapchat dog.

‘ever wanted to look what you’d seem like as a type-of-canine? Now’s your threat!’

supply different, ‘behind-the-scenes’ content

snapchat is rapidly emerging as the number one platform for distinctive insurance of worldwide activities. Dressmaker misha nonoo, who used instagram to offer her spring series, intends to use snapchat to officially unveil her fall 2016 collection by means of collating a ‘stay lookbook’. Of the venture, she stated that “[using snapchat] might be a new opportunity not to clearly display pix, however also movies and the overall talents of snapchat’s capabilities…customers could be capable of view the snapchat story stay and right away purchase the pieces she loves, all from her mobile device.” earlier this yr, customers have been able to advantage get right of entry to to the behind the scenes location of latest york fashion week through trend’s snapchat account, catching glimpses of fashions and designers setting completing touches to their catwalk seems. Content material which cannot be seen anywhere else is a high-quality way to make your snapchat followers sense like they're gaining some thing important whilst viewing your snaps. As a enterprise, you could use the platform to launch exclusive deals or to sell social campaigns on your snapchat followers before all people else, worthwhile your fans for being entirely invested on your logo and offerings. Hook up with audiences

every other way one could choose to use snapchat as a digital advertising device is by using engaging together with your audience and starting up the channels of communique. Within a commercial enterprise, snapchat may be used to spur followers into replying for your snaps or sharing their testimonies in their reports together with your commercial enterprise. Reach out to your audiences earnestly through the medium of snapchat and they'll be responsive. Walt disney international’s snapchat account often asks its followers to screenshot wdw’s snapchat story and use the drawing function to create some thing cool and interesting to trade the photograph from the snapchat tale. Customers can then ship of their creations and walt disney global will put up the nice submissions onto their personal, popular snapchat tale. Customers have little to benefit from engaging with this selection, and but they do. It’s exciting and affords the threat to be silly and revolutionary with very little effort. The walt disney world snapchat account is a exquisite example of the way to connect with audiences at the same time as sustaining a consistent brand tone (simply check this!), an vital feat for any business that desires to appoint snapchat as a digital advertising device within their personal practices. Right here at lively net advertising (uk), we wholeheartedly inspire our clients to realize the benefits of the usage of snapchat. Even if you aren’t satisfied, why not grab the enterprise call on snapchat while it’s still available? It’s completely free and guarantees that in case you should decide to utilise  Digital Marketing Companies in Brighton snapchat inside your virtual advertising strategy, you may no longer must worry approximately the use of a enterprise call that isn't always recognisable to customers. Snapchat has grown immensely from its theory manner again at stanford college, and its reign over social systems isn’t disappearing whenever quickly.

[lindyhunt]

Emoji Meanings: How to Interpret and Use 17 Common (& Confusing) Emojis

An emoji is one of the most useful shorthand communication tools of the 21st century.

An emoji can be used to express personality in your email campaigns, or on social media. In fact, nearly half of all comments and captions on Instagram contain an emoji, and using an emoji on Twitter can result in 25.4% more engagement.

Ultimately, a properly-used emoji can make your audience smile and feel better connected to your brand.

For instance, take a look at this email I found in my inbox on Cyber Monday, from Influenster, a product review site:

Or this one, from CB Insights, a machine intelligence platform:

As you can see, emojis can take your messaging to the next level and allow you to stand out in a crowded inbox. Additionally, you can use them as a substitute for generic and overused words like "money", making your content both fresh and enticing.

But emojis can be confusing, and it's often difficult to discern the difference in meaning -- like between a "🙄" and a "😳" face (trust me, there is one).

To ensure you use emojis to properly engage and delight your audience, we've compiled a list of the most common (and confusing) emojis, with examples of how to use them for any of your marketing purposes. At the end, we'll also explain which emojis your business should likely avoid. 

Sound good 👍?

Emoji Faces

To start, let's take a look at some of the faces you might use to convey certain emotions, along with examples of how you might use each in your own marketing content.

1. Heart Eyes Emoji 😍

You might consider using a heart eye emoji to show your love for something, whether it be a new product or a blog article you want to promote on social.

For instance, SoulCycle uses a heart eye emoji in their email subject line, to convey their approval and love for the brands they're now selling online:

2. Side Eye Emoji 😏

This side eye emoji is most commonly used to express a smirk after someone makes a sarcastic or ambiguous joke that could seem serious, out of context. Ultimately, it's a good emoji to use if you want to demonstrate a playful side to your brand, or if you're making a joke and aren't sure whether your audience will know you're kidding. 

For instance, you might playfully insinuate you understand most of your readers will be offline over the weekend, by saying in an email, "While we understand you're probably dying to do more work over the weekend 😏, we've put together a guide with suggestions for creating better work-life balance. Check it out here."

3. Eyes Emoji 👀

The eyes emoji is a simple and fun way to draw attention to a link or image you want to share with an audience. Instead of saying "Look at this", you might consider using the eyes as a silly substitute.

For instance, take a look at how GREATS, a footwear brand, uses the eye emoji to elicit excitement and suspense over an upcoming release:

In this case, the eye emoji playfully suggests to the audience, "Keep an eye out -- something new is coming soon".

4. Embarrassed/Flushed Face Emoji 😊

The flushed face emoji is a fantastic opportunity for your brand to demonstrate humility or gratitude for an achievement or award.

For instance, you might show the flushed face if you're sharing an article that lists you as a top company in your industry. Perhaps you'll tweet, "So grateful to have made it on Company A's list of Best Workplace Culture of 2018 😊 Thank you!"

Alternatively, the flushed face emoji is often simply used to express happiness or joy.

5. Thinking Emoji 🤔

The thinking emoji is often used to demonstrate someone deep in thought, or pondering the validity of something. It can be used to express a level of doubt, like "Hmm … not sure about that", in regards to a controversial issue.

For instance, take a look at how Monday.com responded with integrity to a Facebook user who questioned whether Monday.com bought fake social media likes:

Rather than fighting with the user, Monday.com took the high road and used the thinking emoji to express a level of doubt over the accuracy of the user's statement.

Alternatively, you might use the thinking emoji after a question or poll on social media, simply to create a visual that indicates you want your audience to think about something.

6. Sweat Emoji 😅

The smiling emoji with a sweat droplet is typically used to express a close call -- while the sweat depicts a level of discomfort, the smile alludes to someone who's thinking, "Phew! That could've been bad."

For instance, if your coworker emails you moments before a meeting with an urgent, "Wait, where's the most recent reporting deck with all our statistics?" You might send the deck back with a "Don't worry -- got it, right here 😅" response, alluding to the satisfaction you both feel over averting an issue.

7. Hand Up Emoji 🙋‍

Typically, businesses use the hand up emoji to suggest a level of enthusiasm or participation, like "Sign me up!" For internal purposes, you might use the hands up emoji to get a headcount of people willing to help out.

For instance, if you see your team leader is asking for volunteers to pass out microphones during the next company meeting, you might send back a simple "🙋‍" as your response.

Alternatively, you might use the hand up emoji to ask whether your social media audience agrees with you. For instance, you could post on Twitter, "Who thinks skittles are better than m&m's? Give me a 🙋‍if you agree!" 

8. The Laughing Emoji 😂

Allegedly 2017's most popular emoji in the U.S., the laughing emoji is one of the easiest ways to express humor or amusement. Oftentimes, when a coworker makes a joke in a slack channel, I'll use the " 😂" emoji as an alternative to "haha" or "lol".

Additionally, the laughing emoji is an effective opportunity to demonstrate your brand's sense of humor. For instance, Honest, Jessica Alba's company that creates safe and natural products for the household, uses the laughing emoji in this Instagram post:

In this instance, Honest demonstrates an ability to laugh at themselves and their own cheesiness (with their attempt to re-define BYOB's acronym meaning) -- and makes them seem more human, as a result.

Emoji Symbols or Objects

Along with faces, emojis offer your business the opportunity to use objects or symbols to express meaning, such as the heart symbol (❤️), a check mark (✔️), or a taco (🌮).

Here are some symbols or objects you might consider using in your marketing content:

9. Monkey Emoji 🙈

The hiding monkey face emoji is a cute opportunity to express a level of shyness or embarrassment. For instance, your brand might use the monkey emoji after making a mistake, like this -- "Hope you enjoyed our tool, even though it didn't work the first time 🙈."

Alternatively, you might use the hiding monkey face emoji to suggest you wish you hadn't seen something. This can be humorous, particularly if you share a funny prank video with a "Yikes, that was rough 🙈" caption.

10. Nail Polish Emoji 💅

As you might've guessed, the nail polish emoji can be used to demonstrate a level of casualness or indifference. Some people believe it means "I'm prettier than you", or an expression of arrogance or confidence, but typically, it isn't used for any other reason than to articulate nonchalance or relaxation.

For instance, I might use the nail polish emoji to engage an audience, by writing -- "This weekend is all about rest and relaxation 💅😊 What are your weekend plans? Leave them in the comment section, below."

11. Hand Emojis 👌👏👈🏿

HubSpot often uses various hand emojis to express emotion simply and effectively. For instance, the 👌 expresses the same message as it does in real life -- "that's a-okay," or "fine by me".

The clapping hands (👏) can be used to express congratulations or excitement, such as "Congrats to @CForsey on winning our giveaway contest👏!".

Finally, the "👈🏿" pointing finger emoji is effective for pointing at a link. Particularly when there's a word limit, it's a good idea to use the pointing finger instead of writing, "Check out this link".

12. Waving Emoji 👋

The waving emoji is a playful yet simple way to say "Hello" or "Goodbye". Consider incorporating it into your welcome email to display a level of warmth to your new subscriber.

Alternatively, you might use the 👋 emoji to playfully introduce your audience to a new product or service. For instance, Drop uses the 👋 in their email subject line to introduce its email subscriber's to Drop's new app:

13. Thumbs up emoji 👍🏾

The thumbs up is relatively universal, making it a classic emoji to use to either express your business's approval, or to ask for quick audience engagement.

For instance, you might write on Instagram, "What do you think of our new company logo? Give us a 👍🏾or 👎🏾". This allows your audience to engage with your brand with very minimal effort on their part.

Emojis to Avoid for Business Use

I spoke with Krystal Wu, HubSpot’s Social Media Community Manager, about her stance on emojis for marketing purposes, specifically on social media. She suggested businesses use emojis to express a level of authenticity, and choose emojis they feel align well with the tone of their brand.

However, Krystal advises businesses be wary of using strong emotional emojis, like the kissy face. She told me those types of emojis might express emotions too intense for a business's audience.

Here are a few emojis to be wary of using for business purposes, and the meaning behind them:

14. Kissy Face Emoji 😘

A kissy face emoji is slightly different than a heart eye emoji. While a heart eye emoji shows your love for something, a kissy face emoji demonstrates your love for someone.

Typically, a kissy face should be reserved for one-on-one conversations, such as a texting conversation between you and your friend in which you say, "Great job at open-mic last night! You killed it 😘".

A kissy face, despite its innocent nature, is likely too emotionally-charged for your business to use with your audience, unless you truly believe it aligns well with the tone of your brand.

15. Angry Face Emoji 😠

While the angry face is undoubtedly a popular emoji to use with friends and family, it's likely one you should avoid for business purposes. It is typically used to express strong disapproval or dislike for something, which is probably a negative emotion you want to avoid directing at your audience.

You should probably only use the angry face when communicating with a friend, one-on-one. For instance, you might text your friend, "Oh no! The movie is sold out 😠so mad!"

16. Bunny Emoji 👯

Dictionary.com defines the people with bunny ears as emojis used to express "a fun, party-loving spirit ... [and used to] communicate festive and friendly sentiments".

Ultimately, due to the ambiguous and party-loving nature of the bunny emoji, it's likely one you should avoid for your marketing campaigns.

17. Hair Flip Emoji 💁

Until recently, I thought this was an image of a woman flipping her hair. But Emojipedia.org describes her differently, as an "Information Desk Woman" who is holding out her hand, asking how she might help.

Despite the innocent intent, the hair flipping girl is often used to demonstrate sassiness, sarcasm, or even to express disrespect for someone or something (at least, in the U.S.). To avoid any risk of offending or confusing your audience, you want to avoid it in your marketing emails and on social media.

[wisejellyfishcrown]

Investing in a WordPress theme is a big decision.

This is how your site is going to look and feel to your customers for the next few months or years.

It’s going to be a deciding factor in how much traffic you get, how people view your business and how much money you make.

If you get it wrong you can find yourself with just another lifeless, moneyless blog tucked away on the 18th page of Google, writing to the same five email subscribers over and over again.

But if you get it right you can enter the world of high-traffic, high converting and highly successful blogs out there.

In this article I want to advise you on how to choose the best WordPress theme for blogging, and give you the tools you need to get all of these great benefits.

What You Will Learn

Why your WordPress theme is critical to your success

7 critical things to look for when choosing your WordPress theme

How I chose the best WordPress theme for blogging

Where to download my theme

3 hacks to help you optimise your new design

Meaning you’ll come away armed with the knowledge you’re choosing the best WordPress theme, for the right job and at the right price.

Ready? Let’s get started…

Why The Design Of Your Blog Is Critical To Your Success

The design of your blog plays a huge role in the success of your site.

On the surface it may feel like it’s just a design. But there’s a reason you – and countless other bloggers – spend hours scrolling through pages of themes looking for the right one.

Because you know the design of your site speaks volumes about the type of business you run.

In this section let’s look at why the design of your site is important and how it affects your bottom line.

It’s The Body Language Of Your Site

Visual information is processed 60,000 times faster than words. Meaning that when someone comes to your site the design says an awful lot before they’ve gotten into the content.

Now, as you’ll read in point #3, this isn’t about how pretty your site is. Instead it’s about sending the right message to your new readers, and how you want them to feel:

Do you want them to picture you as an authority?

Do you want them to feel a particular emotion?

Do you want them to feel a certain way about your product?

For example the Zen Habits blog talks about mindfulness, removing excess and creating new habits. It’s about having a clear message through the day to day clutter.

And you can feel that on your first glance:

Because the blog is so stripped back the design matches the message. Can you imagine if this site was cluttered with pop ups, lots of hard to navigate menus and distractions?

On the flip side Amazon focus on being the everything store and giving you access to buy as much as you want. So the cluttered and full-on nature of their page matches the message too:

So it’s important to have a design that matches what you’re trying to say and the point you want to make. Don’t preach productivity and have a slow to load site that’s hard to navigate.

Your Design Builds Trust

Have you ever been on a website that you’re just not sure you can trust?

Perhaps you thought they might take your money and never send you a product. Or that downloading would fill you computer with viruses.

Well, as Business2Community write here, a lot of that comes down to the design of your site.

And choosing the right WordPress theme can be the difference maker between being a site your users will trust, or one they’re going to avoid.

Ease Of Use Is The Bottom Line In Everything

You probably think the prettier your site is, the better it will convert. But there are thousands of ugly sites out there that are converting highly right now.

For example take look at Irish Around Oz, an expat travel site for Irish people in Australia.

It’s probably the least beautiful site in the world. But according to Glen over at Gaps, it’s making in excess of $10,000 every month.

You could also check out Skyscanner, Untemplater and A Luxury Travel Blog to see similar trends.

Having a pretty site can also mean that you convert. For example the MailChimp website is gorgeous to look at and they have millions of customers to date:

The same goes for Neil Patel, Drip and Gary Vaynerchuk. Their sites are all really beautiful to look at, and convert highly.

So it’s not really a question of how pretty or ugly your site is.

Instead it’s a question of how easy to use your site is. Is your audience easily able to find what they’re looking for, read your content and access the points where you want them to convert?

If your site is hard to navigate, slow to load and filled with distractions then you’re going to take a real hit on conversions. Regardless of whether you spent $10 or $10,000 on designing your site.

Which brings me to swiftly to my next point…

Even Simple Changes Affect Your Conversions

There are hundreds of case studies out there to back this up.

Just a quick look through this Kissmetrics Article shows over 40 instances where design changes have improved conversions ranging from 30% all the way to 400%.

This can be as simple as changing the colour of a button, or redesigning your site. But design is integral to them all.

If you get it wrong, your site will start to lose out on cash.

So that covers why design really is that important to your site.

Now let’s look at what should you be looking for in a WordPress theme…

7 Things To Look For When Choosing A WordPress Theme

Here are a few of my recommendations for what you should be looking for in a WordPress theme.

These are core values that, if not there, show you’re going to be wasting money on your purchase.

Be sure to read these carefully and understand each one before going out to make a purchase.

#1 – Simple And Clutter Free

The simpler and easier to read your site is, the better.

This allows your content to shine through and you can use your powers of copywriting to make the difference in your sales. Meaning silly little design bugs don’t hold you back.

As HubSpot write here, whitespace is one the most integral parts of website design.

It’s basically all of the unused space that surrounds the content on your site, like in the image below:

Because white doesn’t draw the eye in this case, it focuses the attention on the words on the page.

Much like reading words on paper; you don’t notice the paper, just the words you’re reading.

So a theme that allows you to have lots of whitespace around the words you’re writing, the menus you’re using and the images you’re sharing is essential.

#2 – Mobile Responsiveness

Mobile responsiveness is non-negotiable right now. Mobile usage has overtaken desktop usage and it doesn’t look like slowing down.

But let’s not forget Google told us explicitly way back in 2015 that if we want our site to rank well it must be mobile friendly.

That is a key ranking factor and who doesn’t way lots of free targeted high converting traffic from Google?

So avoid buying a theme that doesn’t appear natural on mobile phones as it will seriously cripple your ability to grow.

#3 – Optimized For Speed

Site speed has a direct impact on your customer experience, SEO rankings and how well your site converts.

It doesn’t matter if you have the most beautiful site in the world. If it takes 60 seconds to load and 10 seconds to jump between pages, you’re going to lose out.

Not long ago I was able to increase my site earnings by $30,586 just by making some tweaks to the site speed. It goes to show that even a few seconds goes a long way.

#4 – SEO Ready

SEO is a big source of traffic for blogs. And whether you plan on focusing on it or not, it pays to be SEO ready.

These themes are made in a way that makes them: easy to crawl, simple to use SEO plugins with and do as little as possible to stand between you and high levels of search engine traffic.

Make sure your theme is clearly labelled as SEO ready or SEO optimised and do some basic spot checks like making sure there is only 1 H1 tag on posts/pages.

#5 – Easy To Customise

You want a theme, not a prison.

So the site design you choose should be easy to customise so that you can set yourself apart from the other sites in your niche. And you should be able to do it with a few clicks of a button.

You don’t want a theme where you need to dive into the code and start playing around with assets that could backfire and break your site.

#6 – Built In Shortcodes

Shortcodes allow for an extra level of customisation to your blog posts.

They’re simple copy and paste codes that allow you to make some really cool features of your theme come to life:

I use embeded videos, quote boxes, highlighted texts and sharing buttons where they’re needed.

This can really help your content stand out on the page and look super professional.

#7 – Good Support

The final point is good support.

The last problem you want to have is spending $100 on a theme and it break with no support to be found. Trust me, it happened to me in the early days and I never want you to live through that.

Make sure the theme you’re looking at offers a support package for at least six months, and is renewable when it’s needed after that.

Think of this as your theme’s insurance policy.

How I Chose The Best WordPress Theme For Blogging

I’ll be honest with you:

When I first bought my theme it was a horribly coded mess that I hacked to death.

It was a stock theme that I just threw up there to make do. And it quickly became outdated and I found myself in a world of problems.

So I decided enough was enough and I reached out to the team at MyThemeShop to help me turn my hacked to death theme into something I could actually use to grow my business.

I needed a theme that would help me build my brand, optimise my SEO and that I could perform multiple tests with. And I needed it all without compromising speed, usability or readability.

I wanted the best WordPress theme for blogging period.

And that’s how the theme that you’re seeing on the blog right now was born.

Working alongside the guys from MyThemeShop, I was able to create the best WordPress theme for blogs that is-

Quick

SEO Ready

Easy to brand

Advertising friendly

eCommerce ready

User focused

But on top of that, this theme was integral to positioning me as an authority in the SEO and Affiliate Marketing niches.

The design of the blog instantly makes you, the reader, feel like you’re on a blog of someone who knows what he’s talking about.

Whether it’s the subtle branding at the top of the page:

Or the sidebar:

Where the author box that draws the eye-

Or the clarity of the words on the page (more on why that’s important later). All of it positions me as someone in the know before you even think about how many subscribers my blog may (or may not) have.

The fact you’ve stayed with this blog post this long is testament to that.

And thanks to the wonderful team over at MyThemeShop you’re now able to access this exact theme and use it for your own site, too.

The theme, titled Authority, has been even further improved to make it flexible to any brand or niche.

In fact you can see everything you can do with the theme right here:

So if you want a theme for your site that builds trust, loads quickly, ranks well and positions you as the authority in your niche, then you need this theme.

You can see a live demo & download your copy here.

3 Blog Design Hacks To Improve Your Site

Once you’ve got your theme in place it’s time to refine it and turn it into a well read, high converting, blogging machine.

In this section I’m going to talk you through 3 hacks and adjustments you can make to increase on page time, customer conversions and sign ups.

So if you’re ready to supercharge your blog, read on…

01: Remove Your Sidebars For Longer On Page Time

This is a place where bloggers – myself included in the past – love to put adverts, sign up options and links to other content.

After all it’s dead space that could be used for making money, right?

Well it turns out your sidebars could really be holding you back, especially on your article pages.

For example, I found that by just removing the side bars from my content, I was able to instantly increase my session duration and on page time by 25%. Not bad for just a few clicks work:

This can also have a direct impact on your conversion rates and overall profits, too.

In this blog post from Crazy Egg, they found that Video Fruit managed to increase their email sign ups by 26% and Impact Branding and Design generated 71% more leads.

Why does this happen? Well, it has a lot to do with Jam.

In an experiment Psychologists ran two tests in a supermarket. The first group was shown 24 different types of gourmet jam and gave everyone who tried a sample a $1 coupon for them to purchase their favourite.

The next group was shown just six different types of jam and given the exact same $1 coupon.

The first display with lots of jams generated a lot of interest.

But when it came down to people buying an actual product the people who saw 24 jams were one tenth less likely to buy than the people who only saw six types of jam.

By giving people too many options you create choice paralysis.

They can’t decide which option is better so they take no action instead. Unless the value proposition is so good that they can’t refuse.

And when you look at the design of a blog, the same applies. There are often options to:

Opt-in to a mailing list

Click on your most important posts

Click on your recent posts

Click on an advert

Like you on Facebook

Check out your latest tweets

Download a free eBook

Redeem a members only discount

Meaning their being hit over and over and over again with options before they get to the call to action in your blog post or on your sales page.

So when it comes time to decide what to do – be that opt in to your mailing list or buy a product – they’ve got no idea what to do. Resulting in a reaction like this:

But by removing those side bars and all of the other distractions you allow people to focus on your overall call to action.

02: Adjust Your Fonts For Better Conversions

When all of the distractions on your blog have gone that only leaves two things for the reader to contend with. Your content and your fonts.

A font is the body language of your text. If your blog uses Times New Roman chances are you’ll read a lot more formal. And if you use Comic Sans chances are people will think you’re a four year old.

But a font can also affect how much of your page someone reads.

If a font is too small, it’ll be too much work to read and people will switch off.

If a font is too artistic or hard to make out, people will also switch off.

Bigger fonts often lead to higher conversions and longer time on page. So when it comes to choosing your theme it’s important to make sure you’re able to adjust your fonts as and when you need to.

And if you want optimal results it pays to pay attention to this next piece of information.

To quote this brilliant article from ConversionXL, there’s a lot of research to back up these next three points:

Small font sizes & low-contrast are the #1 complaint for web users as it relates to reading online.

Due to the effects of aging, at 40, only half the light gets through to your retina as it did at age 20. When you’re 60, it’s only about 20%. (See: Presbyopia) also 3/4 of Americans use corrective lenses

All readers – but especially low-vision readers – experienced better reading speeds & comprehension when line-spacing was set to 1.5

All of which points to using bigger, easier to read fonts with lots of white space around them. Making your page easier to read and digest.

If you look at lots of high converting blogs – even the ‘ugly’ ones – you’ll see that this practice is often used.

Just like this excerpt from the Jeff Goins blog:

Or this one from Seth Godin’s blog:

This was one of the important points in creating my theme, which is why there is so much white space and clarity with my fonts. There’s nothing to distract you from reading the words.

Now you don’t need to go over the top and turn this into big fonts like you’d find in a children’s book. But there are some best practices I’d recommend:

Make sure your font is between 11pt and 14pt

Make sure your font size is consistent between mobile and desktop

If you’re not sure on a font, choose Arial or Georgia

And, in the long run, it would be a good idea to split test which fonts work best for your audience too.

03: Focus Above The Fold To Capture Attention

I hate to break it to you but there is no perfect design. Or, we’d all be using it and I’d have reached a seven figure income much sooner.

But in Sumo’s research they found that while no one particular factor makes a blog design perfect; when you focus on your scroll rate the results drastically improve.

Your scroll rate is how many click onto your site and continue to scroll down the page.

While this might sound arbitrary it actually quite important. This scroll rate controls how much of your content new visitors see.

Especially if they’re landing on your home page from guest posts, adverts and other links pointing to your site.

So it’s the difference between someone seeing just your first post and all the content that could grab them.

To distill their research a little they found that everything sits above or below the fold. What does that mean?

Above the fold is everything your readers see when they land on your page without scrolling

Below the fold is everything they see when you readers do scroll

As Justin Brooke over at ClearVoice found when he spent $30,000 on testing his site, putting important elements above the fold makes a huge impact on how much time people spend on your blog.

By putting the most important information in this real estate you’re able to focus attention on where you want it to go.

For example when you land on my homepage you will see this-

That is powered by Thrive Leads and currently converts at 5%.

But I actually have a second “above the fold” for the 95% of people that close the welcome.

Normally WordPress lists the latest posts first but if you click through to my blog the first post you see isn’t my latest one.

Instead it’s the most important post I want people to see at the moment:

Because this above the fold area has purpose – it shows I’m an award winning blogger and funnels people to my highest performing post – people inherently know that there is more than one post on the site.

So they begin to scroll down when that’s not the post they’re looking for.

For most blogs the above the fold area is going to be the most important. This is somewhere people are guaranteed to see.

So, coming back to the research from the guys at Sumo, it’s important to have a purpose here.

For example SmartBlogger have the purpose here of displaying their sign up offer:

While Canva uses the above the fold of their site to focus on one particular post and tease at new posts below:

When you’re designing your theme – be it the authority theme, or another you’ve bought – be sure to have a real actionable purpose for the above the fold area of your site.

This could be something like:

An email sign up box

An free download offer

Your most important/featured content

Your latest blog post

A brand led video

Where you want to drive traffic, sign ups and prompt people to scroll further down the page if they need to.

Wrapping It Up

I hope by now you’ve got a much better idea of what to look for in a WordPress theme and how it affects your bottom line.

Everything that you’ve read so far has been at the heart of designing my own Authority theme.

And I honestly feel that if you want to build a blog like mine that has generated over seven figures in income so far, which easily makes it the best WordPress theme for blogging.

If you want a proven, fast, SEO ready, customisable theme that gives you complete control over the future of your site, then Authority is also the theme for you too.

Download your copy of my theme now and get a head start on the competition.

Accelerate Your Success With The Best WordPress Theme For Blogging was originally published on Matthew Woodward

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[casynsgsscrapbook-blog]

Scrapbook Analysis

This scrapbook project serves as a way to summarize the Gender studies class by taking four “artifacts” from each chapter discussed in class and relating them to those chapters. When searching for my artifacts I tried to relate them to pop culture and this generation. A lot of my artifacts come from other posts on social media sites, including Instagram and Twitter. I also had artifacts about well-known social media influencers that many people would recognize, as well as a character from a well-known TV franchise. I also made sure to include artifacts that I found entertaining, and not too many long articles that may seem boring.

Part II

When making my scrapbook, I decided to keep things in order. The first part I posted was ideas. In this section I posted a video called “Sexist Toys” the video was uploaded by Rachel Ballinger who is the person talking. She made this video because she saw Target was selling a selfie kit that was “for girls only”. This sparks some anger inside her and she discusses other harmful stereotypes in toys. I put this under ideas because it touches on what we stereotypically believe is “for boys” and “for girls”. The next thing I posted is an article about a genderfluid Character on the Netflix show Degrassi. The “Ideas” chapter touches on the binary and the character, Yael, feels as though they do not fit in the binary, they don't feel like a boy or girl. The article provides basic information about the particular episode where Yael comes out, without spoiling. My next post is a video of Youtuber, Gigi Gorgeous, coming out as transgender. The video was uploaded a few years ago and Gigi has recently made a documentary showing her process. I would definitely recommend the documentary to anyone who is still confused about what being transgender means, so I included a link to the trailer in the caption of my post. My last post for the Ideas section is an Instagram post by the account “greenboxshop”. The image shows someone wearing a shirt that says, “gender is a social construct”. The owner of the account also owns a clothing business with shirts like this one. The Ideas chapter mentions the idea of gender being a social construct, which this shirt claims to be true.

Part VI

The next section I have in my scrapbook is inequalities, and my first post is an Instagram post, from “soft.feminism”, of a screenshot from Twitter. User @MrLawson posted a picture of a list of things 4th-grade boys don't like about being boys. The chapter discusses inequalities that men and women both face including some of the things on the list. The next post is a video about school dress codes. The woman in the video interviews female students at a high school in Kentucky who are fighting the dress code which has very specific measurements for the skirt and short lengths. The video not only talks about the inequalities for these young women, but it also touches on how it impacts the male students as well, saying they often feel insulted by the rules. The next thing is an article that suggests that men use sexist and homophobic jokes because they are insecure about their own masculinity. The chapter talks about men avoiding feminine things in order to boost their masculinity, this may involve putting femininity down. The last item in this section is a video of fathers reacting to their daughters getting catcalled. Catcalling is a common example of an inequality women face. Usually, men are not aware of how serious and scary this experience is unless they witness it happening to loved ones. In this video, it's obvious that they care that it is happening to their daughters but, is that the only way we can get them to understand?

Part III

The next section on my scrapbook is bodies, starting with a short video about the nature vs nurture debate which was discussed in the chapter. The next item is another video that talks about the nature vs nurture debate, but this one goes more in depth and provides claims and evidence for both sides. It also questions whether gender is a social construct or not. The next artifact is an Instagram post from “stayfrostyfob” of a screenshot of a Tumblr post. The image shows two identical babies, one is a “big, strong, boy” and the other is a “little, cute, girl”. The description basically says that there have been experiments where people reacted differently to a babies behavior based on whether they thought it was a boy or girl. When babies cried, for example, people described the “male” babies as being angry and the “female” babies as being scared. The last thing in this section is a video called, “are boys smarter than girls?” it provides information about the differences between the sexes.

Part IV

Next, I moved on to performances starting with a TED talk with a teacher talking about how her kindergarten students taught her about gender. She begins by talking about a student she had in the past named Michael who was extremely shy. She then explains how she bumped into that student who now identifies as female and goes by Mandy. This inspired her to ask her kindergarten students to list the differences between boys and girls. And they, herself included, learned that there weren't many significant differences. The artifact is a video of a guy listing five times schools tried to enforce gender roles. One school made a boy remove his makeup because it was “distracting”. And another school kicked a girl out of prom because she wore jeans. They claimed it went against the dress code, that did not exist. The performances chapter talks about gender rules and when breaking the rules is acceptable. For these students, it was not acceptable for them to break the rules, and for these schools, gender rules and roles are important to maintain. I then posted another video, this one talking about gendered marketing. It points out how companies can sell the same product to men and women by simply changing the packaging, and many other ways they do it. The last thing is something I feel sums up performances, and how silly gender roles actually are, is a drawing of a little boy dressed as Elsa, and a little girl dressed as Spiderman. The writing on the drawing says, “It’s okay for girls to be Spiderman, and it’s okay for boys to be Elsa”. The Instagram account, “activistbitches” posted this image, however, I am not sure if they are the original artist. The image really questions society’s reasoning for specific gender rules.

Part V

I posted artifacts that related to the Intersections chapter, and to start it off I reposted a simple image reading, “Your feminism isn’t feminism unless it’s intersectional”. This was posted by the Instagram account, “idonthatemenchill”. A lot of people who claim to be feminists only care about problems that they face, and do not acknowledge sexism for people of a different race, class, sexual orientation, or ability. The next post comes from the same Instagram user and relates well to the previous post.  It is a screenshot from a tweet from @ThatBoyYouLike, that basically explains how gender fluidity had been widely accepted amongst cultures in the past, and because of colonialism, trans people of color suffer. This chapter talks about how it may be harder for people who aren’t wealthy, white, straight, and able-bodied to express their gender identity. This post provides a potential reason why people of color in countries that dominantly white have a harder time expressing their non-binary gender identity. The next post is a video that explains “white feminism”, or feminism that is not intersectional. It is important that we learn to identify white feminism in order to educate people about intersectionality. The last artifact I have for intersections is an article about intersectionality and stereotypes that harm people. It also discusses how it can be hard for people of minority groups to move past those stereotypes.

Part VII

The last section in my scrapbook is sexualities which talks about hookup and rape culture for not only cisgendered straight people but for those in the LGBTQ+ community. The first thing I posted was a video that questions if hookup culture is real. It provides evidence to disprove that hookup culture is a new thing. The next item in this section is a video interviewing young people from Toronto about hookup culture. They ask about what happens the morning after and how they get people to leave. This video does not say if the students are all straight, but it seems like they are. The next artifact I posted was a video talking about rape culture, which is discussed in the sexualities chapter. The speaker in the video provides a good explanation of rape culture and her own personal experiences. She talks about rape culture and how it impacts men and women, she also provides an example of how it does this. The last artifact I have is a video uploaded by a gay man named, Alex. He talks about hookup culture in the gay community. My previous videos about hookup culture did not seem to be gay-inclusive. From watching this video I figured that this is because straight hookup culture is different from gay hookup culture. The book talks about hookup culture not including people with sexualities other than straight. The books reasoning was that the LGBTQ+ community is not accepted in the straight party scene. This video confirms that gay people experience a different hookup culture, inclusive of LGBTQ+ community. Alex also talks about how hookup culture not being a new thing, like the first video from this section.

To conclude, this gender studies class has opened my eyes and introduced me to new topics about gender I had never been exposed to. I learned a lot from researching these artifacts, and I hope they provide people with the information they need to start to understand the complexity of gender. We live in an era where this information is at our fingertips, it is easy for us to share and educate others with our technology. Things like Gender rules greatly impact the way kids are raised. Future generations will be able to take this into consideration when raising their children. This class has taught me a lot about the binary and just how ridiculous it is. It’s crazy to think that for so long society has made us believe we can only be one thing or the other. That is not the case for many things, especially gender.

[thisisbomi22-blog]

How Snapchat Affect Teenagers Aged 15-17 Both Positively or Negatively

There are top 3 social apps between old teenagers (aged 15-17) which are Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. Among those, I would focus on the Snapchat which is the rising social app between the teenagers. Snapchat showed great growth to be one of the most popular social platforms for teenagers and some says its popularity today is higher than Instagram and Facebook.

To briefly say what Snapchat is, it is the form of social media, the mobile messaging application to send pictures or videos to their friends or families, and the videos or pictures are removed automatically after few seconds which is also possible to set. Also, it is possible to decorate the pictures by drawing lines or letters or putting stickers or emoticons. This is much more funny application compared to the others. Many teenagers use this purpose of fun and enjoyment rather than social interaction with others like Facebook or Instagram. According to Elyse Better’s article, the users of Snapchat daily send about 700 million snap pictures or videos to others through this application in 2014 (Better, 2017). So, I can guess that as the popularity of this app goes on a rise, the numbers of sending daily snap would be much higher than it.

Snapchat is made with the purpose of messengers, protection of privacy, and camera which directly appeals for teenagers and young adults.

In Johnson’s article, the study finds 80% use the app once a month (Johnson, 2016). Honestly, Snapchat to me is not very familiar app while majority of American young adults and teenagers use Snapchat. Even in the class, I see many classmates who use Snapchat to send funny or silly pictures or videos to their friends. I actually have an account for Snapchat, but rarely and hardly use it. Not only me, in my country, South Korea, many people do not know about Snapchat and do not use it well unlike the United States. The users are mostly early 20s to use selfie filters.

The article also says that the primary users of this app is teenagers and young adults in early 20s (Better,2017). Statistically, about 70.4 million Americans use Snapchat in 2017 and even if it is just a small percentage of the entire users, the Snapchat is used by above 40s which is about 12 percent and it rapidly rises compared to 2016 at 9% (AdvertisingAge, 2017).

As the popularity of Snapchat app from a lot of people in United States, I would become very curious about how Snapchat affects the primary users who are the young adults, teenagers both in negative and positive ways. The reason for its popularity would bring a lot of positive reasons to use this app for the teenagers, at the same time, I also become wondering some negative aspects of the usage of it like used for cyber-bullying, sexual problems or also racial problems by using Snapchat.

The purpose of this project is to make the teenagers, especially any users of social media including Snapchat to be aware of the possible risks by it and the benefits of it. I would make them learn the digital literacy on using it, not just learning how to send photos or videos by Snapchat, what purposes or reasons are to use this app. Additionally, I would make parents who are not familiar with the social media, learn to know about the effects of Snapchat to their children and warn not to make their children to be exposed to the risky things through the mobile app.

First of all, I would focus on the advantages of using the mobile app, Snapchat for teenagers. Many teens say that they prefer Snapchat more than Facebook because it has different format compared to the Facebook or Instagram because it is the combination of text-messaging, visual photos or videos, and the face chatting. Also, Snapchat has very unique functions that other social media do not have like self-explosion of the pictures or videos in few seconds that users set, and also funny selfie filters, and also teenagers say that Snapchat seems to be more realistic rather than Facebook or Instagram that people prefer to post or upload the most beautiful or impressive pictures or videos on their pages and also some fake or manipulated profiles on the social network websites.

Also, for the safety problem which always arise with the social media things, Snapchat has a function of self-destruction in seconds, this gives trusts on the users that their use of digital apps is not being exposed to others unlike Facebook or Instagram are vulnerable to be open by other strange users or even unknown links on their own pages. So, Snapchat makes the teen-aged users to relieve their anxiety about the digital piracy which seems to be more safe than other social apps. Also, Snapchat contains the strict security options to make their users be safe from any risk. It gives options to choose the viewers like for every user or only mutual friends to watch the users’ photos or videos (Hinduja, 2016).

Teenagers are always looking for the new and interesting things because they are the most sensitive and follow the vogue to be trendy. Snapchat is just what teenagers wanted. It was new with the functions that I have said above. Teenagers love to spend time chatting with their friends with funny things especially sending silly photos to their friends with texts by using social tools and due to the easy method to use Snapchat, it is more widely used by teenagers. According to the research result by the researchers at the University of Michigan got the fact that Snapchat brings “positive mood and social enjoyment” (Simmons, 2015) to young users rather than other social networks use. I believe this is because Snapchat causes less distractions to the teenage users with the reasons of no pressures to make fake lifestyle or images on the social apps or sites, and no need to be bothered by the comments by others or the number of likes like Facebook or Instagram (Simmons, 2015).

While there are many advantages of the photo-messenger app, Snapchat for the teenager users, since this is one of the digital tools, there is no doubt that it also has some negative aspects for teenagers who should be protected by any risk from Internet or the technology.

I know the function of self-destruction of videos or photos on Snapchat can be advantageous in ways, but I think this can also cause negative effects to the teenagers for sexual or privacy reasons. Teenagers too trust on the function of self-destruction of Snapchat, but it lasts for about 10 seconds which is enough time to have screen-captures. Some says that the function of capture the screenshot brings more dangers and risks to pirate the digital privacy by exposing and spreading out the captured pictures.

Many teenagers use Snapchat to socialize with their friends, so, they do not mind taking sexual photos of them or their bodies especially those who overlook the digital world. For instance, since teenagers are lack of avoiding the temptation, so, there is a possibility to use the app for ‘sexting’ because Snapchat is more live and real, teenagers less worry about the digital security for their use (Parker, 2017).

Furthermore, Snapchat has potentials of being used for cyber-bullying which is severe problem of digital world. There are many ways to use the photos or videos. In some cases, the pictures and texts by some teenagers to bully other victimized teenagers by sending ridiculous or harassing things through Snapchat. It is significantly against the positive purpose of Snapchat, this would be an example of aggressive usage.

I and my friend had a personal experience of being victims of cyberbullying recently in some ways by Snapchat from teenagers who we even do not know. My friend and I were on the rail heading to the MSP airport, 4 teenagers seating next to us who are seemingly over 17 or 18 took our pictures secretly and sent them to their friends through the Snapchat. My friend saw that and we asked why they took photos of us. They did not listen to us, and just saying the word “Asians” and “some F words”. They used a lot of slangs that we do not really understand, but we could feel that they laugh at us. They did not stop sending our photos with some texts by Snapchat until we get off from the rail. I believe this is also one of the way of cyberbullying by teenagers using the social app, Snapchat. It was my first time to experience or see the real situation of cyberbullying, but it really makes us feeling not good. Hence, I strongly believe the risk of cyberbullying by the social app with using the photos or videos.

To live in this digital world, also as the teenagers who are sensitive on trends, I think the use of social media apps like Snapchat is quite necessary for them to socialize with others or getting enjoyment from the technology. Technology always bring both negative or positive effects on people including teenagers, Snapchat also has both effects for their primary users, young adults. Hence, I think to use Snapchat more safe and not causing risks, teenagers should be alert on the risks which are possible to occur by Snapchat, and also moderate use with the positive aspects of Snapchat.

Resources:

Betters, Elyse. (2017). “What’s the Point of Snapchat and How Does It Work?”. Pocket-lint.com. Web. 23 April, 2017.

Hinduja, Sameer. (2016). “Teaching Snapchat Safety to Teens”. Cyberbullying.org. Web. 23 April, 2017.

Johnson, Lauren. (2016). “Snapchat Beats Instagram and Facebook as the Top Social Platform for Teens”. Adweek.com. Web. 24 April, 2017.

Parker, Wayne. (2017). “Snapchat – A Popular App for Teens But With a Dark Side”. Thespruce.com. Web. 24 April, 2017.

Simmons, Rachel. (2015). “Why Your Kids Love Snapchat, and Why You Should Let Them”. TheNewYorkTimes.com. Web. 25 April, 2017.

Unknown. (2017). “Already a Favorite of Teens, Snapchat Is Gaining Popularity With Their Parents”. Adage.com. Web. 21 April, 2017.

[lindyhunt]

The Best of B2B Marketing Content: 10 Examples

Here at HubSpot, some of the most awe-inspiring moments take place when we get to take new products and features for a test drive. We transform, if it's even imaginable, into even bigger geeks than we normally are, squealing with the excitement typically reserved for iPhone launches and new seasons of Netflix series.

But alas -- this glee is caused by software we use every day at work, and will eventually get to share with other marketers.

Many B2B marketers have seen B2C content at least once and asked, "Why do they get to have all the fun?" But the moments like the one we described above are the ones that remind us: B2B companies are just as passionate about their products as B2C companies are. And for every B2B product, there are even more B2B users out there looking for information, inspiration, and knowledge to provide them with solutions.

The point? No marketing, including content, is uninteresting if you look at it certain ways.

Done right, B2B content marketing can certainly match -- and sometimes, maybe even rival -- the creativity and appeal of the best B2C ones. And we want to recognize the brands that are breaking that mold and creating great content that grows fervent, dedicated audiences.

Below, you'll find a few of our favorites, all with their own B2B marketing strategies that you can take with you.

10 Exceptional B2B Content Marketing Examples

1. CB Insights: Newsletter

What It Does Well

There are two things I love about the CB Insights newsletter. First, it's surprisingly funny (the subject lines alone make it worth it). Second, you learn a lot just by reading the newsletter, no need to click through a bunch of links.”

- Janessa Lantz, HubSpot Senior Marketing Manager

We love how this newsletter illustrates the willingness of CB Insights to not take itself too seriously. Yes, it shares some of the finest insights on technology, venture capital (VC), and emerging businesses, but it does so with fun images that ultimately relate back to the subject -- e.g., the above photo of Oprah that’s been adapted as a meme, since, well, that was the topic of the newsletter.

But the messaging remains relevant, even among the hint of silliness. After all, CB Insights designs technology for people in the VC space, so it’s tasked with creating content that will appeal to a broad audience: customers, prospective customers, tech enthusiasts, and investors. And so, under such subject lines as “so sad: tough to have a VC dad,” it includes relevant data. Yes, gifs are hilarious -- but in some contexts, they’re also worth $147 million.

Takeaway for Marketers: Remember Your Buyer's Goals

When you’re dying to create truly unique, cutting-edge content, it’s easy to stray from your organization’s mission and focus.

So, while it’s great to think outside of the box, use clever subject lines, or even write every email with an overarching humorous tone -- keep it relevant and include the information that the people reading it signed up to receive in the first place. Then, keep it human.

2. Mattermark: Raise the Bar

What It Does Well

Raise the Bar rounds up the best stories about a variety of different industries, giving me a great snapshot of trends to watch and news stories to follow without having to search for them myself."

- Sophia Bernazzani, Editor, HubSpot Customer Success Blog

One of the best things about well-curated content -- especially the kind that pertains to your line of work -- is that it eliminates a lot of work. Keeping up with news and trends is never easy when you’ve already got a full plate, so when someone else is able to hand-pick the things you need to know, it can feel like you’ve struck gold.

That’s what Raise the Bar does, by compiling a “daily digest of timely, must-read posts on sales, marketing and growth engineering.” And, that was the intent all along. In a 2016 blog post announcing the launch of the newsletter, Mattermark’s Co-founder and CEO, Danielle Morrill, wrote, “We’re turning our focus toward sifting through the mountains of content out there around sales, marketing, and growth to help the community of DOERS who grow companies.”

Takeaway for Marketers: Educate Your Buyers

Think about the problems that your product or service already aims to solve for customers. Then, turn that into relevant content that’s going to both save time for and inform your audience -- and make it easy for them to access it.

3. MYOB: Tax Time

What It Does Well

MYOB, a provider of business management solutions in Australia and New Zealand, helps companies manage their finances, in part by connecting them with bookkeepers and financial services professionals. It has two main buyer personas:

Small businesses that are just learning the ropes

More established companies that need greater insight into all facets of their operations.

Each audience has its own set of concerns and corresponding hub of information on MYOB.com -- and MYOB has built a B2B content marketing strategy for each one that shows how much it understands its customers.

MYOB recognizes that many businesses are figuring out accounting and financial decisions as they grow, so it’s created content that positions the brand as a go-to resource to help those businesses navigate each stage of their development. The Tax Time center, for example, is angled to fit the needs of both customer groups, providing tips for those just starting out, and guides for breaking through new stages of development.

Takeaway for Marketers: Grow With Your Buyers

When you begin to brainstorm and map out ideas for content, ask yourself, “Do I really understand my audience?” If you have any doubts as to how the idea will benefit or be useful to your audience, the answer might be “no” -- and that’s okay. Like everything else, audiences (and people) evolve, so it’s okay to go back to the drawing board in instances like these for a refresh.

4. Unbounce: Page Fights (R.I.P.)

What It Does Well

If you’ve ever seen a growth marketer on the heels of a successful optimization experiment, you know that her energy is electric. Unbounce, a landing page software company based in Vancouver, understands that excitement and decided to leverage it to create an engaging microsite, Page Fights, in collaboration with optimization company Conversion XL.

The project came to a close after one year, but during its existence, Page Fights contained live streams of marketing optimization expert panels who critiqued landing pages in real time. It was content that expanded far beyond the written word -- and that was one thing that made it so great.

Sure, Unbounce has a successful blog, but it saw Page Fights as an opportunity to expand beyond that copy. It knew that the web -- especially within marketing and web design -- was becoming increasingly crowded with content. To address that, it diversified the format of its expertise, to keep its audience engaged and learning.

Takeaway for Marketers: Diversify Your Channels

The internet is only going to become more crowded. And as the human attention span dwindles, that makes it even more important to create content that engages and maintains your audience’s attention.

So while we don’t recommend abandoning blogs completely -- after all, written content is still vital to SEO -- we do emphasize the importance of diversifying content formats. Marketers who incorporate video into their content strategies, for example, have seen 49% faster revenue growth than those who don’t. And remember that tip to “keep it human” we mentioned earlier? That’s a great thing about live video in particular -- it can help portray brands (and their people) as candid and genuine.

5. Deloitte Insights

What It Does Well

Deloitte is a professional services company specializing in consulting, tech, auditing, and more. It works with a massive cross-section of industries, from government agencies to life sciences -- and that broad range of knowledge is a major selling point. That’s why creating informed, useful content for individual, specialized audiences is core to its marketing strategy.

But Deloitte has also used that wealth of knowledge to position itself as a resource for those who want to know what it knows. So, among its specialized hubs are educational content centers, including Deloitte Insights (formerly branded Deloitte University Press).

Much like some of the other remarkable B2B content we’ve come across, it curates not only different pieces of highly helpful content -- but also a variety of content formats. From blog posts, to webcasts, to podcasts, Deloitte Insights has a bit of everything for those who want to learn about its specialties and the industries it works with.

Takeaway for Marketers: Separate Your Buyer Personas

Creating a content strategy to please a wide-scale audience like Deloitte’s is challenging. It can quickly become unfocused. But if your company has a number of specialties, creating content microsites for each of them is one way to keep that information organized, discoverable, and easy to navigate.

Plus, it can never hurt to establish your brand as a go-to resource. So, as you create these content hubs, consider adding a “knowledge center” among them that’s dedicated to teaching your audience the valuable things it wants to learn.

6. First Round Magazines

What It Does Well

Here’s another example of a brand that does a great job of leveraging different categories of knowledge. First Round, an early-stage VC company, recognized the knowledge among entrepreneurs and leaders that wasn’t being shared -- knowledge that could be highly beneficial to their peers -- and created the First Round Review as a place for it to be shared. It serves, reads the manifesto, to liberate the ideas and expertise that are “trapped in other people's heads.”

But liberating that much-untapped knowledge can lead to the same problem we alluded to above -- an unfocused mass of content that makes it difficult to discover exactly what you’re looking for. That’s why First Round organized the Review into a collection of nine online magazines, each specializing in a different aspect of building a business.

Takeaway for Marketers: Work With Thought Leaders

If you’ve ever wondered how to leverage the wealth of knowledge outside of your organization -- and inside your professional network -- here’s a great example.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to the entrepreneurs and leaders you’ve met, or simply just admire, to figure out how they can work with you to create content with teachable experiences that your audience will value. Sharing useful, relatable first-hand accounts conveys empathy, which helps to invoke trust among readers.

7. NextView Ventures: Better Everyday

What It Does Well

We absolutely love stumbling across B2B companies with an active presence on Medium. A great example is VC firm NextView Ventures' Better Everyday, a Medium publication that focuses on “stories, analyses & resources to help seed-stage founders redesign the everyday.”

But why would NextView want to create an entirely separate blog that isn’t even on its website? Well, it’s an exercise in creating off-site content: the material you own but doesn’t live on your website. When executed correctly, it can give publishers a huge boost in discoverability, variety, and quality, especially when making use of a highly popular platform like Medium.

Because Better Everyday isn’t attached to the company’s main URL, it provides an opportunity for NextView to experiment with different tones, voices, and stories -- all from a variety of experts that might already be using Medium to discover and contribute unique content. Plus, with Medium’s built-in ability for people to recommend, highlight, and search internally for relevant content, it makes the work published there that much more shareable.

Takeaway for Marketers: Publish Off-Domain Content

Take advantage of the availability of off-site content platforms. As my colleague, Sam Mallikarjunan, writes in “Why Medium Works,” it can take up to six months of consistent publishing on your company’s blog before it gains significant traction. (And we’re not discouraging that -- stick with it, and find ways to supplement those efforts.) But off-site content diversifies your audience by engaging readers who might not have otherwise found your website.

Medium, for example, connects your content with the people most likely to read it. Plus, you’re creating a publication on a platform that comes with a built-in audience of at least 6.3 million users.

8. Wistia: Instagram

  Want to capture glorious shots like this with a DSLR camera? Head over to the Library for everything you need to know (dog sold separately). Link in bio!

A post shared by Wistia (@wistia) on Apr 24, 2017 at 11:58am PDT

What It Does Well

At risk of sounding like a broken record, we can’t emphasize enough the importance of B2B brands maintaining a human element. That’s why we like it when companies use social media channels to give audiences a “look inside” at the people who make the great products and services they love.

Wistia, a video hosting platform, does that particularly well by sharing visual content on Instagram that lifts the curtain on its people -- and dogs. It not only aligns with its brand -- after all, the company does provide technology to businesses that want hosting solutions for their visual content -- but it’s also just smart. Among its other advantages, visual content can help boost a viewer’s retention of things like brand information.

Takeaway for Marketers: Incorporate Visual Content

Please, please, please don’t neglect to incorporate visuals into your content strategy. Of course, having a presence on visually-focused channels like Instagram and YouTube is vital -- but when it comes to your written content, don’t afraid to use visuals there, as well. After all, articles with an image once every 75-100 words got double the number of social shares than articles with fewer images.

But if you can also create content that aligns with the core of your product or service, that’s also great. As we mentioned before, Wistia creates visual content technology -- so it makes sense that it would have unique visual content. Identify what your business does particularly well, and then make the most use of the channel that best aligns with your strengths.

9. Zendesk Engineering

What It Does Well

Yes -- more offsite content. This time, it’s from Zendesk, a maker of customer service software that’s done something unique with its Medium publication, Zendesk Engineering.

Zendesk might be an expert in the solutions provided by its product, but behind that product is a chorus of highly skilled experts -- the people who build and engineer the software. The company realized that there’s an audience to be tapped that’s seeking insights and expertise on the technical side of the product, so it used that to build an entirely independent content property.

Takeaway for Marketers: Tell Your Brand Story

Dig beneath the surface of the solutions your company provides. You offer solutions -- but what is your process? What have you learned that makes you do what you do so well, and how did you get there?

Sure, topics like engineering might be traditionally “unsexy.” But when leveraged and communicated in a storytelling manner, they can make for remarkable content.

10. Hexagon: Annual Report

Image via App Annie

What It Does Well

Who says written content needs to be two-dimensional?

For Hexagon, an industrial IT solutions provider, "AR" doesn't just stand for annual report. With that in mind, the company recently "augmented" a presentation to its investors in a creative way.

Hexagon used augmented reality (AR) to spruce up their written company report, giving investors a more interactive experience when learning the latest updates on the company. How does it work? A mobile app, based on technology from Samsung and zSpace, displays a virtual demonstration of a product when readers hold their mobile device over a "trigger image" of that product within the report.

Takeaway for Marketers: Challenge Your Buyers

It's easy to feel limited by your medium as you create content -- especially for a business audience who you've all agreed is comfortable with that medium.

But in order for content to convert readers and incite growth, it needs to occasionally disrupt its audience's point of view. A company doesn't work for its content; content works for its company. If you need to say something that a blog alone can't, the business demands that you make it work -- whether that means starting a YouTube channel or seeing how you can integrate an AR tool into your next ebook.

And the List Goes On

We’re optimistic that the digital realm is full of strong B2B content marketing efforts -- and, we want to hear about them. But even more than that, we want to hear how these examples inspire you. As they show, there's a world of content opportunities out there, just waiting for creative B2B marketers to take on.