Statistics on #Gamergate – The Numbers

Please note that the purpose of this blog is to present factual information gathered based on online mentions of #Gamergate generated by blogs, tweets, forum posts, and news articles. This gives you an idea of how far and wide #Gamergate has expanded across the web. Essentially, I’m presenting the numbers show the impact #gamergate has had.

As of October 21st 2014:

• #Gamergate has been mentioned over 3.2 million times across the web
• Mentions of #Gamergate began on August 28th 2014
• The majority of mentions come from Twitter
• On average 84% of #Gamergate mentions on Twitter come from Males
• 59.7% of #Gamergate mentions come from the United States.
• Highest number of mentions around #Gamergate took place on October 15th 2014 (this was a result of #stopgamergate2014)
• After #Gamergate the next two popular hashtags associated with this term are: #notyourshield #stopgamergate2014

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment.

Cheers,

10 Things I Hate About The Internet

Ahh the Internet…. There are lots of things that I love and hate about the Internet. I probably spend countless hours everyday on the web, to the point where I tend to question whether or not I should cut back (I seriously should). Since 1999, when I got my first desktop computer (a Dell yo!), I remember feeling like I had entered an endless world of possibility where I could learn just about anything. It still boggles my mind how information is so easily accessible, now on almost any tech device. But with the good of the Internet comes the bad. Things that will make your blood boil.

 

Here are a few of the things that make my list of things I hate about the Internet:

1. Those damn Facebook game invites

You know what I’m talking about. I don’t want to spend countless hours on Facebook playing zoo farm animal pet adventure story part 5. These games are time consuming, slow, and repetitive. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

 

2. People who Vaguebook

I’ve done it before, you might have done it before and it’s annoying. This is obvious bait for attention and people are usually going to ask “What’s going on?” “Are you okay?”.

 

3. Daily emails from that website I went to once

These types of emails just begin to flood my inbox and become a nuisance. There are too many emails to read and it seems like there is no end in sight. Have you ever tried unsubscribing from a newsletter? It’s usually a nightmare. I banish thee to my spam folder!

 

4. News Headlines like: You wont believe what this person did!! Or This is the best story you are ever going to read period

Most of the time I’m extremely disappointed with the result. Yes, I know, it’s a link baiting strategy. It annoys me how effective it is. I fall for it every time…

 

5. Tweens with unhealthy boy band obsessions

It’s posts like: OMG I love him so much I just feel like my heart is going to explode out of my chest!! I’d do ANYTHING for him and if you say anything-bad I’ll KILL YOU!!! These types of comments truly disturb me. /shivers

 

6. UpPeR AnD LoWeR cAsE PoStS

I just annoyed myself by typing the above. It’s ghetto, confusing, and it goes against everything we learned in English class.

 

7. The “I’m happy 100% of the time! Person

I consider myself a pretty positive person and I LOVE seeing my friends happy. But am I like this all the time? No way, I’m human. I get sad, frustrated, and worried sometimes. Although these emotions can be sucky, they do make you appreciate the happy moments.

 

I could be wrong (so feel free to disagree with me), but I feel like being 100% happy or 100% unhappy can really affect other people.

 

Here’s what I mean. When people put out that they are a ray of sunshine during every single instance of their digital presence, it can begin to seem either very false (because we all go through good and bad times always in life) or it can make others feel bad about themselves because they don’t feel happy all the time. Now posting a positive post about overcoming a hardship is a completely different thing. It’s a beautiful thing and beneficial for all.

 

When it comes to 100% unhappy people online, you’re more inclined to avoid or block those messages.

 

8. Spoilers with no warning

Some people like myself, look forward to quality shows week on week. Shows such as The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and other premium programming. Unfortunately because of my geographic location, I have to wait an extra day to view some of these shows (Thanks Australia!). This has caused me to run into some major spoilers online, ruining the viewing experience for me. This is something that I just would NOT do. It’s just plain inconsiderate.

 

9. Mean people on social media

Nuff said.

 

And the last thing that I hate on the Internet is….

 

1. People who share too much

Some things are better kept to yourself. I’m sure we can all recall a moment when an old high school friend who we reconnected with on Facebook, wrote a huge post ranting about something way too personal. It just makes others feel awkward.

Honorable mention to the list: website’s that looks like poo on tablets and mobile devices. Businesses need to get with the times

That’s it! Do you have anything that you’d add or omit from this list? Let me know.

Using Cuteness for a Cause – Pedigree Adoption Drive

Dog lovers rejoice! Pedigree recently launched a super cute video jam packed with adorable dogs. Capitalising on our love of cute animals, the video aims to generate as many YouTube views as possible to earn revenue that will be donated to the Pedigree Adoption Drive.

The video is authentic and transparent about it’s intentions, informing viewers of the campaign’s charity goal, which makes it hard not to view and share. Here are a few of my favorite fan comments proving this point:

– “If you won’t share this video to help raise money to help dogs, you have no soul.”
– “I even turned off my ad blocker for this. #important”
– “Just by clicking on this video, you help doggies in need! Why not ? It’s just a simple click , come on guys 🙂 Let’s help our little buddies! For the love of dogs <3”

You have to love how simple, transparent, and adorable this is. Thumbs up to the marketing team for this one.

To promote the upcoming release of the highly anticipated game Watch Dogs, Ubisoft has launched a campaign site that perfectly ties in with the themes of the game, while freaking people out with their personal data.

The website Digital Shadows allows users to connect their Facebook accounts to display that everything you put online is available and through that data, algorithms can predict your interests, fantasies etc. Below is a video of YouTube vlogger Boogie29 giving the website a try. Unfortunately the website seems to block countries that are outside the US so I have not had the opportunity to try it on my own account.

Another great example of what online marketing can do.

 

When is Sharing Baby Pictures on Social Media too much?

It’s a natural instinct for the modern parent to take hundreds of photos of their child’s every moment. I find myself having this same desire with my little one in the hopes of capturing one of his simple, yet amazing milestones. But what is a parent to do with these precious images? Why share them with the world of course!

Yes, I’ve become one of those parents. My Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts are filled with pictures of baby Reuben doing baby things. While I love sharing pictures of my little one on social media, apart of me holds back and asks the question, “how much baby picture sharing is too much?” Not all of my industry friends are parents and some don’t intend on having kids so I get that they might not be interested in the baby life. But the truth of the matter is, for the next few months the baby IS my whole life. It’s hard stealing time for myself to game, hangout with friends, even writing this blog is a challenge and I’m only getting it done during the baby’s nap time (he can wake up any moment, oh the suspense!!).

So what’s my final take on this topic? Well, I’ve decided to hold back on sharing every since photo moment and upload things that I feel are interesting to share (enter clone baby pic!). Also I’ve decided to post things for me, like blog posts, videos, and conversations I want to have with my online friends. This will help me maintain my identity as Renelly while adding the term mom to a list of who I am.

What are your thoughts on the sharing of baby pics?

My husband’s clone aka our baby

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PlayStation Installation Literally Shocks People

I’m a big fan of creative installations for products that make sense. This install for InFAMOUS: Second Son challenges people to insert their fingers into a machine for a chance to win a free copy of the game. This installation is a great example of a real life marketing tool that gets people talking and generating entertaining content. Do you think you’d be able to win game?

How I Use Technology to Help Track My Baby’s Routine

It’s now been 6 weeks since I’ve officially been a parent. This is a fact that still blows my mind and the work that goes into it is VERY real.

Reuben at 4 weeks

 

My days and nights have been filled with feeds, diaper changes, settling baby, and lots of laughs. I wish I could say that I’ve finally gotten the hang of being a parent but the truth is, every week is a different experience. This is why I decided to turn to technology to help me manage my day.

The app store has a number of great tools for parents to track their baby’s behaviour including sleeps, diaper changes, and feeds. Identifying emerging patterns can help to ease the parenting daily grind in the long run. One such app that I’ve been using is called “Eat, Sleep”. This application allows users to log the length of feeds and sleeps throughout the day. The app also tracks daily, weekly, and monthly averages. From this information I was able to see that our baby usually wakes up at 12am, 3am, and 5am for feeds. I was also able to track the number of diaper changes giving me a good idea of how much we’ll need to budget for baby diaper costs.

The downside of using these apps is that constant updating is required. Sometimes I’ve been too tired to find my phone at 3am to log diaper changes and feeds. For people who are zombies during the witching hour (like myself), this can be a challenge. It really takes commitment to develop an archive of data that can help you better understand your baby’s behaviour.

Parents, have you tried using similar apps? I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Why I’m obsessed with Reddit.com

Recently my fiance pointed out that a lot of my conversations with him have started with the words “I was on reddit today and saw/learned [insert awesome piece of content here]”. I just can’t help it! As many people on the net know, reddit is an amazing resource for relevant content. Along with some of the most interesting content, the site maintains a sense of community that has been lost in recent years across many social media sites in my opinion. Now I know a number of my friends and colleagues frequent reddit but I keep coming across people who kind of know about the site but just don’t get it. They are why I’m writing this blog.

Most people’s first impression of the website is that it looks outdated and overwhelming. I get it, reddit is not your typical beautifully designed website. But that’s not what it’s about. It’s about the content. I think the best way that I can describe the value of reddit is by giving you an overview of how I use it. Here goes!

For a while, I was not quite sure how to approach reddit so I stuck to the front page, that’s where all the site’s most popular content gets posted across all the sub communities/pages. From here I’d mostly lurk to review the content I was most interested in reading and upvoted or downvoted content based on my opinion of its value. This is a key component to the site. It helps to maintain the integrity of the posted content and rewards community members for good/interesting posts.

Then I decided to venture off and began subscribing to subreddits, niche reddit pages/communities categorised by a specific interest or hobby. There are SO many subreddits that most people are bound to find something that they’re interested in following.

Here’s my list of interests and subreddits I follow:

• Video games – /r/videogame
• Community questions – /r/AskReddit
• Brooklyn – /r/Brooklyn
• Australia – /r/Australia
• Interesting pictures – /r/pics
• Memes – /r/adviceanimals 
• Learning new stuff – /r/todayilearned
• Fitness – /r/loseit
• Parenting (as I’ll soon be a mom) – /r/parenting 
• Self improvement – /r/DecidingToBeBetter

I also got a chance to participate in the 2013 Reddit Gifts Secret Santa. It’s one of the largest secret santa gift exchanges in the world. It was very satisfying using my internet stalking skills to get my secret santa recipient exactly what he wanted. Still waiting for my gift to arrive *fingers crossed*.

Now I’ve just scratched the surface here but I hope this give you a nice overview of how awesome reddit is. There are more subreddits to discover and one of the best things that I love about reddit is contributing to the community and receiving that positive feedback or response from others.

Have you used reddit? How do you go about using it? Share your experience!

The Rules Have Changed, What Marketers Need to Know About Facebook for 2014

The Rules Have Changed, What Marketers Need to Know About Facebook for 2014

During 2013 Facebook has made some major changes to their newfeed’s algorithm. These changes have cause an overall decline in organic reach for Facebook pages. Companies who’ve build large fan bases on their brand Facebook page have to really begin spending money the reach the majority of fans.

Jump on Mashable (click on the orange link above) to learn more and be prepared in 2014!

Enhancing the E-commerce Experience through Boards and Social Sharing

This holiday season retailers are working harder than ever to get consumers shopping in their stories, especially online. Recently All Facebook.com reported Toys R Us and Babys R Us’ new e-commerce enhancements that help users to organise boards of items which they can share across several social media sites. Now this is not anything new but the fact that it’s now an important feature on the site shows the companies adaptation to the latest digital technology trends and user behavior.

The new e-commerce enhancements include:

– A feature allowing users to organize the items they would most like to receive on themed boards, much like Amazon’s wish lists
– Improved site navigation.
– Enhanced product detail pages with larger, higher-quality images.
– An Info Center that provides quick access to information on services, shipping, returns, and other topics.
– The Savings Center hub for local weekly ads, current specials, and clearance items.
– A gift finder
– Live chat support

As a Digital Strategist, I’d love to see results generated on the sharing and purchase funnel these enhancements could make. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what other companies do to optimize the shopping experience further.

– Renelly