Week 3 - My Frequently Used Websites

The websites that I frequently use usually vary depending on my mood and what I'm feeling like doing on a particular day whether it be research, staying in touch with friends, and/or just having fun.

First, I will begin by stating that my homepage is Apple.com but just by reading my previous post you'll know how I feel and what I think about this company's website.

Besides Apple, my most commonly used website is Hulu (http://www.hulu.com). I think it is well organized and presented in a very neat and organized way. There is a menu bar at the top that has a search feature in the middle. If you’re a subscriber/user you’ll see your screen name on the far right in a white font for easier access to your account/profile and ability to customize settings such as other devices used, auto play options, and cancellation of service if not too thrilled about Hulu, but I think it’s quite an awesome show. Not related to the website itself, but unlike Netflix, with Hulu you can watch current shows and although their movie collection is a little more limited there are also a bit more commercials but the price of being current with some of the more popular shows. On the far left in green and white font you have the Hulu Plus logo and next to it are the other menu options such as TV shows, movies, kids, and original Hulu shows. Which make it easier to sort through the major areas the website is divided. The cool part is the showcasing of some current shows and/or movies for the day, since it changes on a daily basis for the most part, which is a nice way to attract you to some of the popular shows being streamed or present something that otherwise you wouldn’t watch. Also as you save favorite shows and have some added to your queue, Hulu goes on to suggest similar shows based on your recently watched shows/episodes and the shows that you liked.

Another commonly used website I frequent visit is Volaris.com (http://www.volaris.com). Being Mexican I have found it that I can easily save a lot of money on air travel by booking a plane that depart from the International airport in Tijuana. I love he San Diego airport, besides being an excuse to roam around and further explore downtown, but I have no patience to wait long lines and put up with the traffic in the loading and unloading areas of the airport let alone the expensive pricing of tickets and once inside the cost of snack and food depending on how “early” I arrive to wait to board my flight. The Volaris logo is on the top left which never changes position so you know what airline you’re making plans with. Also reminiscent of a Rolodex with colorful tabs are the main menu sections/links that are easy to navigate and take you to the appropriate information being sought. There is also on the top right there is a search bar in case one is looking for something specific, although I’ve never had to use. Emphasizing the Spanish orientation of the website, the cool aspect of the website and something not commonly seen in many American websites is that on the top far right next to the search bar you have a Mexican flag icon with the word Español that once you click it, turns to English with icon of American flag and magically translates the whole website for you. Even more amazing is that the layout of the website and menu/links don’t change position or color but you’re reading it in the language you feel more comfortable with. Another cool aspect is that the upper center portion of the home page hold the place to look for flight, round trip or not, and the currency of Mexican pesos or American dollars that will be used to purchase flight. I know we don’t see much of this dual language website being consistent regardless of language being read but I think it’s a cool website to check out especially if flying to Mexico or other areas in the U.S. for slightly cheaper offers than in the San Diego or Los Angeles airports. Trust me when I say that there are many people coming from China/Japan and other Americans (white Caucasians too) when my family and I are at the Tijuana international airport; just don’t forget your passport!

Week 3 - Identifying and Using Good Design

This week we explore web design and brand aesthetics. The websites I have chosen for this week's lecture is apple.com and toyota.com. Here are my findings...

**I apologize for not noticing that my whole blog entry did not post on here. Good tip to keep in mind is to be careful when copying/pasting from Word or other similar programs as text and/or formatting may not transfer as smoothly.

Roverp6cars.com
By far one of the busiest websites I've seen in a while. First of all there is a lot of information which means too much scrolling down  to the bottom of the page to see the other link buttons such as contact/email option, print, and social media venues such as Facebook and Twitter. Personally, I love using color mixing and matching and having something pretty to look at but this website is just major disaster in that yellow and cyan are not good complimentary colors and basic/simple colors are utilized and not in the most creative way either! The yellow background is horrible and the fact that there are so many pictures is just horrible and too cluttered. The menu/links are all on the left and the red block font is too straining on the eyes...at least mine. Overall this website is just too cluttered and not enough time was taken to think about their web presence let alone what they want their website to say/do. A little more organization and focus would most likely help clean up this website and make it one where more people would want to request services from this organization/company.

Apple.com
By far a really well thought out web presence/site. One aspect that makes it really user friendly is the fact that the opening page is well organized and displays the most popular apple products used. The neat thing from the start is the logo, the white apple, is on top left corner and serves as the home button when wanting to return to start of website after getting lost in the information they provide. One thing that I really liked about is the clean crisp layout of their website because as soon as you click one, product right below you get a new list, or row, with everything related to that product and any miscellaneous products in a third tier in much smaller font. Also the website provides a search bar near top right of page and there is a quick menu/link to "support" page where common problems/solutions can be viewed. Overall this is a well crafted wen site and most impressive is the detail and thought behind the organization and the hierarchical menus used when researching the different apple products and services. 

Toyota.com
Another really good website, and favorite since I drive a Toyota too. Once again we see a very well organized website. Hierarchy and layout is well throughout and navigation of overall website helps with the pictures of the different vehicles the company sells. One neat features that pops right out is the "Reviews" section/menu and the reason for that is that we get "real" reviews from customers and makes their opinions guide us in our on prospective purchase of a Toyota vehicle. I must say the 2016 Camry does look pretty bad ass, especially in blue! There is a search option near top right of page and as you scroll down the page you see the icons of the social media they use like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Navigation was easy to maneuver and I didn't feel overwhelmed by content but more at ease by the big and visible emu options especially getting to the option that allows for me to customize my own vehicle.

Week 2 - 5 Businesses and their Social Media

Here are my 5 businesses and the Social Media that they use.

1.     Rubio’s

http://www.rubios.com/

Social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Last post: Facebook on Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 8:47 a.m.

       Twitter on Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 8:40 a.m.

2.     North County Transit District

http://www.gonctd.com/

Social Media: Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube

Last post: Facebook on Friday, February 13, 2015 at 12:02 p.m.

      Twitter on Friday, February 13, 2015

      Google+ on Saturday, February 7, 2015

3.     Humboldt State University

http://www2.humboldt.edu/social/

Social Media: Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, LinkedIn, Interest, Twitter, YouTube

Last Post: Facebook on February 13, 2015 at 11:55 a.m.

      Twitter on February 11, 2015

4.     California State University Long Beach

http://www.csulb.edu/

Social Media: Facebook, Goggle+, Instagram, Twitter

Last Post: Facebook on Friday, February 13, 2015, 12:51pm

      Twitter Thursday, February 12, 2015

      Instagram on Monday, February 9, 2015

5.     Starbucks 

http://www.starbucks.com/

Social media: Facebook, Google +, Twitter

Last post: Facebook on Thursday, 2/12/15 at 12:43 p.m.

      Twitter on Saturday, February 14, 2/14/2015

                                 Google+ on Thursday, February 1, 2015

The Major take away from this assignment has been that regardless of how big a corporation/business is their use of social is very important. I don't think in the sense of having the most followers is the main reason businesses seek out other venues of social media, besides their main website, but rather to let their customers know what the company is doing and those that follow can even get rewarded with special offers that otherwise would not be given through conventional methods of email or getting coupons mailed home.

Week 2 - Communication: Businesses & Social Media

This week we are challenged to

Recall an experience, positive or negative, where we used social media to communicate with a business.

Honestly, I always tend to give businesses and restaurants a second chance but if on a third visit things are still questionable that’s when I usually ask for the manager or a company number to make a suggestion/complaint.

There was this one time at Rubio’s, my place of employment, where the more positive comments/compliments/reviews we got our guest loyalty index would go up and if there were negative comments then the score would go down. Things have changed a bit since that time but we still take into account the comments/complaints that our guests make. Please note, Rubio’s does have Instagram as well as a Facebook page but I believe MarketForce is the system that is used to track all incoming complaints and compliments from al the different stores. In this particular occasion, being burned out and annoyed from work and upon getting home after my shift I took a guest survey, but used my sister’s name, and was able to make more specific comments about my experience at the Rubio’s as well as mostly give out threes and twos on certain questions. The following week during our staff meeting things I had mentioned in the survey were brought to our attention and we were given instructions on how to better our performances and avoid such negative, yet, specific comments from guests. Best part no one ever found out it was me who did the survey.

Week 1 - Personal/Professional Use of Social Media

As we come to a closing of week one, we are made to ponder:

Which social media platforms seem geared towards personal use and which ones seem to work better for business?

I strongly believe that almost all social media can be used for personal use, however, it is the content and the intent of use one has for the information being gathered/shared that dictates what personal and "professional" aspect is being displayed.

In terms of personal use of social media I think that, as many of us will concur, Facebook tends to be one of the biggest personal, if not, most commonly used platform out there to connect with family and friends and even long lost friends that are now more of an acquaintance than actual friends. Interestingly enough we are seeing a slight shift in this since one is now able to like pages that consist from bands, books, movies, places and personal business from friends and people we may know and/or share common interests with. Likewise, YouTube still tends to be personal in that one can post videos on some rant from not getting proper service at a store/restaurant, watching someone's opinion about a current movie, or just some random video we stumbled upon. The only thing that would probably make it somewhat professional would be the "commercial" ads that at times pop up when watching music videos that allow you to skip after 5-10 seconds but at time are interesting enough that you watch the whole thing, at least that happens to me. Lastly, Instagram is still more on the personal side of social media because the pictures one shares depend greatly on what the feeling at that time (love, hunger, annoyance, etc.) is and saving the memento vs. giving an opinion of like or dislike at a service/product.

On the business side of social media we have sites such as LinkedIn. One of the more commonly known since it is a way to network with others in the line of work one would like to do/have and even obtain a job offer due to the fact that one can post their resume for prospective employers and scouts to check you out. Although strictly professional and business geared, there is a light personal use since one can also connect with people they know and depending on information submitted on profile get articles and video pertaining to one's career and hobby interests. I have talked about Facebook and how it's becoming somewhat of a hybrid between the personal and the professional/business use.

Another site better geared for business, in my opinion, would be Twitter since one can ask questions or make comments to a specific person or group and depending on traffic, get a personal response. Lately, I've seen Twitter geared towards businesses in that most publicity is being given that way. One example, although there are many that we could think of, would be the Bravo's Real Housewives shows and how the housewives have a twitter account (and a blog through Bravo) where they can talk to fans, answer questions, get feedback, etc. In a way it does work because what better way to promote a personal business venue, event, party, etc. than by having your personal fan base know what you're up to where you'll be and getting more people interested in what you're doing. Not sure if anyone else has talked about these, but other sites such as Yelp! or Angie's List, to name a few, fall into the realm of professional/business geared because not only do they require one to create a profile but once you're in you can request a service as well as provide a comment and rate your personal experience and satisfaction on a service being provided for you AND have the convenience of doing it on-the-go by downloading the mobile app.

Regardless of the preferred social media there is always room for improvement and the uses are limitless. Although some maybe more known for their social atmosphere for the most part most share the same features of finding and searching people that one known and connecting with them that way. I don't think that there is one site that is specifically just social/personal use or business/professional use because such sites are always being updated with the users/consumers voice and/or opinion in mind and having a hybrid of both personal and business tends to be what is being done.

Week 1 - Background

So we begin this class with the question,

Why did you choose the background that you did?

So to the question on hand, I will start off by saying that I kind of didn't like the selection I was given from the get go. I just figured out how to go back and make overall changes to the look and feel of my blog so maybe later I'll check some of the other templates available and see if there are any others I like. Trust, me I am no novice when it comes to technology and I actually pick things up rather quickly but never having a blog of my own this was a bit different, especially not knowing exactly where to go next.

Now, ethereal did catch my attention at first and was a little stuck between watermark but chose ethereal because it does make me think of peace and calmness...things that I am the majority of the time with the exception of today and needing to get to work in a bit. Since the instructions do mention to keep the layout/format simple I think this works best. It's not too distracting even with the hummingbirds, the colors work well together and are not to busy and even the text is easy read. Of course, when I have some extra time I might change the whole thing or keep it as is and work with the color scheme a bit more...only time will tell. For now loving what I've done even if this is a class assignment and my first blog EVER!!

Also, and as dorky as it might seem, I did think that this background would have been some Anime inspired background because of the use of the cool colors such as the pink, a light blue and the crème/golden yellow color. I can definitely see myself liking these colors and I think it’s a perfect match for my personality too! One thing that I actually do like is the white silhouette of hummingbirds, which are awesome. Although possibly a little girly, my mom has told me on occasions that it is good luck when you see a hummingbird or when they are flying close to you. So being the good little boy that I am, I chose this background, and loving it, in the hopes that it does indeed bring me some good luck...in terms of this class to understand the material and concepts being taught and get a passing grade while becoming a pro at using social media!