We often see people being treated badly on the Internet. They are humiliated for what they did or said, receiving endless mockery. There are many forms of Internet abuse, and one of the most common abuse people experience nowadays is Internet or Online Trolling. No, it has nothing to do with those cute characters in one of Disney’s recent animated films. 

Internet Trolling is the act of initiating quarrels or upsetting people on the internet, posting derogatory remarks that are not related to the topic originally posted. Those who practice this kind of behavior are trolls. With that definition and description, you might already be wondering where this term came from and how it began.

An article posted by The Conversation said that online trolling used to be funny. Back in the early 90s, “trolls” are people who liked to play pranks on others. There was a funny story where a seller was selling his Powerbook online. He was contacted by an obvious scammer who wanted to buy the Powerbook through an escrow service. The seller then trolls the scammer by sending a bogus photo just like the one below. That’s his way of getting back at the scammer!

So,when did it evolve into the fearsome, anxiety-causing act that we now know? Like the funny trolling that quickly got famous, the abusive trolling also spread like wildfire. It has become so prevalent that almost everybody was doing it or experiencing it. In the early 2000s, trolling evolved into “meme culture”.

Fast forward to 2010, trolling turned into something very negative. Any person that becomes a victim of it is left emotionally battered. Can you imagine the embarrassment, as well as the emotional and physical toll? This is definitely not an experience that you want to happen to you. In 2011, some trolls made use of Facebook memorial pages to mock the deaths of deceased users. Can you imagine?!

Trolling is ethically wrong. We know that ethics is the discipline concerned with what is morally right and wrong. The term is also applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles. Internet ethics covers the morality of acts done in the Internet, defining the good and the bad. Now, trolling is ethically wrong because it adversely affects an individual and the society as a whole. 

The worst effects of trolling are emotional and psychological pain. Body Shaming for example can lower the self–esteem or self–worth of an individual because of degrading comments. This can cause a person to experience feelings of humiliation, loneliness, anger, and even vengefulness. 

In the midst of widespread Internet use, it is inevitable that trolls will assuage their need to victimize people and find satisfaction in shaming them. 

Here are some suggestions as to how you can avoid becoming a victim of trolling.

Advice #1: Use the Internet Wisely

Why do you use the Internet in the first place? Is it just for email correspondence? Do you use it to connect with friends on Instagram or Facebook? Are you on the Internet to follow celebrities on Twitter? Or do you just use the web to search for information? 

Regardless of the apps that you use or the websites that you visit, you must be a responsible user.

Advice #2: Be Mindful of what you post on the Internet

Let’s say you post a photo which you think is funny, but then you realize later that it’s actually embarrassing. First, you get funny comments about it from your friends. Then, you get one scathing comment from somebody from the web and it causes you a great deal of emotional stress.

Take note that by the time you request for your photo to be deleted, it had already been seen by so many Internet users. This doesn’t apply only to photos. You never know who’s watching or reading, so make sure that you’re ready for any consequence that may happen after you post something. You ALWAYS have to be careful of what you post online if you don’t want to suffer from the negative effects of your actions.

On the other hand, if you see something you don’t like, don’t insult, curse, spread hatred, or bully people. Just ignore the post and move on. You don’t have to say anything bad to the one who posted it. Remember, don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you.

Advice #3: Block Trolls

If you have a troll in your network, you can do what celebrities do – just ignore them. Do not respond to them in any way. If they persist on bothering you and start becoming a thorn on your side, it’s best to block them. Just remember the most common phrase; ‘Don’t feed the trolls’. 

In reality, no one is immune to abuses, even on the Internet. Right or wrong, good or bad, the balance of ethical standards will always be tipped. But with caution and the tips I listed, you can banish the trolls roaming around the world wide web!

Have you experienced a troll before? How did you feel about it? Please feel free to share your thought with me. I’d love to hear about it. I also hope you have enjoyed reading this blog.

What do you do when you need to know the answer to something? Yes, you got that right. You Google it! This is the answer of almost 90 percent of people I asked.

You simply bring out your mobile phone, tablet, or laptop, and search the information that you need in just a few clicks. 

Of the many search engines available on the internet, Google is the top choice for most people. They think that this is where they can find the answers to all their questions. This makes Google the biggest search engine that accounts for 92.37 percent of the market share worldwide. Wow!!! The number is really crazy! Google takes almost all the market share.

I’ve been mentioning “search engine” quite a lot, a term which I’m sure is not new for many people. But in case you are part of the small percentage of people who don’t know what a search engine is, let me tell you about it.

Search Engine is a facility permitting users of the internet through the World Wide Web (www) to look for content by simply typing in phrases or words that they would like to know about. In a split second, they will receive all the relevant results that are available in the internet.  

That doesn’t sound difficult at all, right? Whether you’re looking for a recipe, a DIY project, or even a person, you can have all information you need with just a few clicks. If you think that things can’t get any easier than that, you have to read on. 

For those who want to know how they can get more detailed answers to their questions, there’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for you. Now you’re asking, “What is Search Engine Optimization?” More specifically, “What needs to be optimized?”   

SEO refers to techniques, strategies, and methods that are utilized to expand the number of visitors to a website. This is done by securing high–ranking placements in a search engine’s results page (SERP). 

Google definitely has a strong presence in the Internet, almost everyone uses it. But what if you want to shift to other search engines? Are there any alternatives? Yes! There are many alternatives for you, like Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuck Go, and others. But if you are like me and are looking for a site that does not gather and store your personal information, try using Ecosia. I’ve been using this search engine for the past few years. Let me tell you what it is, how to use it, and its differences from and similarities with Google.

What is Ecosia?

Ecosia is an internet search engine like Google. Do you know why I prefer Ecosia for most of my Internet research activities? Well, Ecosia is an extension that runs off of Bing. When people use it, the company donates 80% of its revenues to plant trees worldwide. Don’t you think this is amazing? 

How to use Ecosia?

First, download the extension on the browser that you currently use. Once you have Ecosia, you can start searching. You can also click on the advertisements (ads) if they catch your interest. That’s it! The ads that you click generate revenue for Ecosia. 

Hold on a bit and let me explain about the ads. A company can pay a certain amount of money to search engines like Google, Ecosia, etc. to run advertisements of their products and/or services to appear as a top result. These ads appear alongside related searches. Search engines are paid on a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) system which is an advertising model where advertisers pay the search engine company for every click made on their ads.

Differences and Similarities between Ecosia and Google

#1. First, the number of results appearing is varied. The gap between Ecosia’s and Google’s number of results is huge. No wonder Google is the top search engine out there. However, despite the varying number of results, results are still similar. In reality, you are acquiring more or less the same information.

#2. Second, if an ordinary user would take the path most travelled, then Google has a very convenient interface. Google uses developed algorithms which offers users a more thorough search. I’m not saying that Ecosia doesn’t have these qualities since it also has a good interface. It just doesn’t have developed algorithms the way Google has, still relying on Bing searches. 

#3. Lastly, Ecosia might be a good contender in terms of data collection. In its website, it claims that it does not use any of the users’ information to sell to advertisers. It also doesn’t store data permanently. It deletes user data after seven days. If a user doesn’t want to be included in analytics, Ecosia offers a ‘do not track’option.

Conclusion

It’s nice to have an alternative to Google. But how can you be sure that Ecosia is legit? Does it really plant trees? Ecosia is a B Certified Corporation since 2014 which means that Ecosia is verified by the B corps company. Additionally, it also shows transparency to public by posting its financial report online.  

Every search engine has its own advantages and disadvantages. Now, if you want to save the environment, while doing the things that you’re already doing, then Ecosia can help you with that. You can help plant trees and lessen your carbon footprints, all while using the Internet. What do you think about Ecosia? Of course, if there are pros to using it, there are also cons. So, will you consider switching to it for all your search engine activities?

Have you ever heard about Big Data? 

Do you believe that it knows you more than anyone? 

Well, it does. You’re probably going to say ‘No, my best friend knows me better’. Well, your best friend may know you well, but he/she only knows the version of you that you want them to know. He/she may only know based on what they can see. I believe there are some parts of yourself that you don’t show to them. Well, the “you” that they don’t know has something to do with Big Data.

What actually is Big Data? How big is it? How can it even know me better than anyone? 

These questions might come to your mind right now. 

Let’s talk about it….

Big Data are made up of the words “big” and “data”. When we put these two words together, we have an interesting concept that affects how we do a lot of things now. Big Data means a large group of structured and unstructured data that are analyzed to capture ideas and trends pertaining to businesses. McKinsey (2011) defined Big Data as ‘datasets whose size is beyond the ability of typical database software tools to capture, store, manage, and analyze’. 

Big Data has three characteristics. These are volume, variety, and velocity.

1. Volume – refers to the size of the data generated, which is extremely large. 
2. Variety – refers to the various types of data which include text, photos, videos and messages that are captured and analyzed every single moment.
3. Velocity- refers to the speed in which the data is processed. This greatly affects businesses in a significant way.

Big Data can help businesses to provide goods and services that are based specifically on customer’s needs and preferences. Big Data analytics can lead to effective marketing, optimized customer service, efficient operations, competitive advantage, and increased revenues. 

‘Without big data analytics, companies are blind and deaf, wandering out onto the Web like deer on a freeway.’

Geoffrey Moore

How Does Big Data Affect Us

Do you even realize that businesses have collected so much information about you without you knowing it? And you even wonder why your favorite site know you so much!

Let’s take a look at my favorite buddy ‘Netflix’ as an example. It is one of the big companies that successfully use Big Data analytics in its strategy.  As per July 2019, Netflix has 158 million subscribers worldwide for both paid and free trials. The number of subscribers continue to grow every year. 

Netflix utilizes Big Data analytics to observe what exactly its users want. According to the Wall Street Journal, Netflix uses Big Data analytics to gain customer’s behaviour and preferences and to optimize the quality of its video streams. Big Data has been helping Netflix to make prescriptive decision by showing streamers’ habits such as time spent on selecting movies, time spent on playback, number of times a show was watched, etc. 

How Does Netflix Apply the Big Data Analytics

#1. Personalized Recommendation List

As you can see from my homepage below, there are some movies recommendation based on the movies I have been watching lately.

It is very obvious that Netflix has been analyzing my preference on selecting movies starts from the genre, actors/actress, and even the producers. For instance, since I just finished watching  ‘Something in the Rain’ which has romantic drama genre, it can be seen that the movie recommendations are also romantic drama movies. As a customer, I find this is really helpful as I don’t have to waste my time searching for the next movies to watch. Netflix already knows my preferences!

#2. Produce New Movies

Netflix uses Big Data analytics to produce movies and tv series based on the user’s preferences. For example, 33 million subscribers had streamed the film by director David Fincher featuring Kevin Spacey. Based on this data, Netflix produced a tv series called ‘House of Cards’, who was starred by Kevin Spacey and directed by David Fincher, which brought in 3 million new subscribers last year. This is exactly what we’re talking about!

Show Me the Money

The chart above shows Netflix’s annual revenue from 2002 to 2018. Can you see how consistent it is in growing its revenue? This is mostly because of Big Data. Netflix is able to recommend content based the subscribers preferences mainly because of Big Data. This has caused Netflix to earn billions in revenue in the past years, and it continues to do so as you read this. We can really say that Big Data is a huge factor in Netflix’s success. 

Conclusion

Now, after seeing what Big Data all is about, you now have a better understanding of what it is and how it works. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Aside from Netflix that I mentioned above, other apps that you use also get data from you. Once you click on the terms of agreement, those apps already have your information. They can be banks, shopping sites, magazines, online payment providers, and etc. If you’re using it on the Internet, then it’s most likely collecting data from you. 

Advancements in technology, such as Big Data, has made our life much easier as businesses understand what we exactly want.

So, do you agree with my statement that Big Data knows you better than anyone?

Is there anyone reading this blog who doesn’t own a mobile phone? I doubt it. You could actually be reading this using your mobile phone!

Most people use their mobile phones in various aspects of their lives.  Some can even leave the house without their wallets but not without their phones. That speaks a lot about how mobile phones has become so important for us. Take myself as an example. I was shocked when I checked my screen time record and discovered that I use my phone 9 hours per day on the average! Can you imagine that? That’s the hours worked by a full-time office worker! Instead of being on a desk though, I usually use my phone for texting and calling people, browsing social media apps, shopping, and even for delivering food.

The advancement in technology, particularly the invention of mobile phone, has brought us to a whole new world. A world where everything is within our reach. 

In Singapore alone, 95 percent of the total population are using mobile phone where various of activities can be done. 

Given the facts mentioned above, it is imperative for businesses to take into consideration the use of mobile marketing.

Are you familiar with “Mobile Marketing”? Mobile marketing is defined as a communication process and promotion of an offer between a business and its customers through a mobile app or a mobile device. People are more tech savvy nowadays, thus mobile marketing has the power to add more value for customers. 

Many businesses now are using mobile marketing as its strategy to reach a wider pool of consumers. Let’s take a look at how Burger King implements mobile marketing for its business. As we all know, Burger King sells its hamburgers in a brick-and-mortar restaurant and it has been successful throughout the years. Moreover, its strength lies in its geographic expansion by owning 11,500 restaurant in over 70 countries. So, why should it bother using mobile marketing when people are already aware of their brand?

Let’s take a look at how Burger King uses mobile marketing tools to achieve its marketing goals.

• Mobile Ordering

Burger King has made it possible for its customers to order using its mobile app. For customers’ convenience, they can choose the option of having their order delivered or picked up at the physical store. This features is built to support customer loyalty. 

• Mobile Advertising

Burger King’s mobile ads provide customers with a preview of its new offerings. It constantly updates the customers with the latest promotion and builds customers’ awareness of new menus. With just a few clicks, customers can also have their orders delivered straight to their desired location, or they can order in advance and pick it up at a branch of their choice.                         

With over 90% of Singaporeans using mobile phones, Burger King has taken advantage of this by making sure that people are aware of their current product offerings. Then they immediately provide a call to action by creating a convenient way for its customers to purchase it products wherever they are located. 

• Mobile Coupon

How would you feel if you are given a coupon and you can use it to get something free? To some, it’s comparable to winning the lottery. And psychologists have a term for it – Incentive Theory Motivation. This theory argues that human behaviour is motivated by acquiring good things. Knowing that you will get something good for what you do makes you more motivated to continue doing it. Thus, this pushes the customers to keep on coming back to get more rewards and continue its support of Burger King.

I feel like Burger King is one of the most generous company as I can easily get my food for free through the app with daily login. It launched this feature to rewards its customers in the form of its menu. It also shows the schedule when you can claim your reward. You just need to log into your account on the app daily to get the rewards. The most interesting part is that no initial purchase required. Isn’t it truly attractive? Who doesn’t want free food?

It is inevitable that the percentage of people using mobile devices continue to rise and Burger King is on the right track of applying its marketing strategies. Continued patronage by its customers and the attraction of new customers are guaranteed.

The Overall Result:

The relaunch of Burger King’s mobile app showed a 1000% Return of Investment (ROI). Monthly users rose to 400,000 and more than one million users were attracted. The app rating increased from an average of 1 and 2 to 4.5 from millions of users in a span of just six months. This shows that Burger King was so successful in the mobile app development. 

Conclusion:

Mobile marketing is an assured way of reaching the customers of a business and attracting new ones. With the increase of mobile device users, businesses are finding innovative ways to engage people and drive them towards supporting their products. 

What is your opinion about mobile marketing? As a customer, does your favourite brand use a mobile app as well? Do you feel that using the mobile app is more convenient compared to having an in-store experience? Feel free to share your thoughts below. Thank you. Cheers!

Reference:

Citrus Bits n.d, Burger King, Citrus Bits, viewed 23 August 2019, <https://citrusbits.com/portfolio/burger-king/&gt;.

Nowadays, publishing content on the Internet has become so easy that even kids can do it. People do something, they upload it, and they share it. Popular examples are videos of the Kiki Challenge and the Ice Bucket Challenge. Then recently, videos of people doing the Bottle Cap Challenge have been circulating online. Do these videos sound familiar to you? You may have even uploaded your own videos of these challenges!

Now, why did these videos go viral? Because last time I read studies have shown that thousands of videos are uploaded daily, but only 1% really catch people’s attention and go viral. The challenges I’ve mentioned were ideas that have captured people’s attention really well. Someone shared an idea, and the rest of the world caught on. Again, what makes viral videos viral?

You may have heard the term called viral marketing. It is a concept that a lot of businesses use. They create messages about their product or services so they can gain customers’ attention. These messages are so good that they quickly spread through many online platforms. There are a lot of ideas about viral marketing, but the one that catch my interest the most is the concept of STEPPS by Jonah Berger. He analyzed various viral content and came up with the Six Principles of Contagiousness. He believes that these principles determine the success of “virality”. 

I will use my two favorite viral videos to further illustrate some of the STEPPS concept.

First, let’s look at the Kiki Challenge (or In my feeling challenge). This is a dance challenge inspired by the song “In my Feeling”, which was sung by international singer, Drake. In 2018, this video went viral and a lot of people did the challenge on Instagram and YouTube.

With the virality of the challenge, this made the song become the most streamed song of the summer.   

Based on the STEPPS concept, the Kiki Challenge became popular because of the principle of social currency. People care about how other people see them, so they want to achieve something more than anybody else. By doing the challenge, people who made it want to show to others that they can do it better.  

Second, let’s look at the Ice Bucket challenge campaign popularized by the ALS Association in 2014. ALS Association is an American non-profit organization that serves people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) disease. The Ice Bucket Challenge was a campaign that aimed to raise the awareness of people about ALS and to raise money for its research. The ice bucket challenge is described as viral marketing gold. With over 17 million people who participated, the campaign became very viral and successful. Many celebrities including Bill Gates, Cristiano Ronaldo, Justin Bieber took part in the challenge. It was succeed to raise $115 million for ALS in 2014.

One of the reason why this campaign succeeded is because it hit the emotions of the audience. People will do anything for something that they care about. They did the challenge and shared it through social media. The videos stirred a positive emotion as they were funny. It enabled people to connect with it at the most basic human level because it made them feel happy which resulted to better engagement. Also, the challenge was so easy and simple to do. People just had to take a video of themselves pouring a bucket of ice-cold water on themselves. It was easy for anybody to participate. So, it went viral instantly. 

Another contagiousness principle applied in the ice bucket challenge is public. People have a common tendency to imitate what others are doing. This campaign has been successful because it is really easy for people to do it. People upload the videos because they want to show others that they also care for people who are sick and because they want to make their “caring” go public. This is an evidence of Social Proof, meaning that when people see others doing it including some celebrities and they also want to show to public that they also care. 

In conclusion, there are many ways to make your product or campaign viral. It is really important to take into account that you need to analyze your target market and to apply the concept of STEPPS by Jonah Berger. You do not have to utilize all the six concepts; you just have to pick the ones that apply to your target audience. So, what do you think? Do you have any other opinion on how to ideas or products go viral? 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Feel free to comment on my post, so I can learn from you, too. Cheers!

“Great satisfaction comes from sharing with others…”

Hi there!

I would like to thank you for visiting my very first blog! I am a final year student from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Bachelor in Business (Management). In this last semester, I am taking Digital Marketing as one of my electives. This blog will be about my understanding and thoughts about what I will be learning in Digital Marketing. Let’s join me on my journey to discover more and more about Digital Marketing.

Happy Reading!

Cheers,

Crystalia