Reading Reflections #2 - rating and reviewing

When I first read "Your brand is whatever your customers say it is", I was really shocked about it. I used to think traditional media and marketing strategies can influence what people think about the brand image. However, in this present world, social media empowered people to think and make their own decisions. They can visit others’ blogs to view their opinions about the products which they are interested in. They can also share perspectives with friends who they never met. Just like the book “Groundswell” said, people are both complaining about and praising about the products on forums. They are rating and reviewing your products on the websites. They are blogging and making videos and analyzing every move of the company. (p.182) I realized that in many ways social media have empowered people to make more buying decisions. Social media has allowed the consumers to talk to one another and made them think on their own instead of believe the advertisements.

Take my experiences for example; I will go to Santa Fe next week. I have to find a good hotel to stay for two nights. I never been to Santa Fe before and I really don’t know which hotel is better. I went to Priceline.com and viewed the comments and the ratings which were made by the users. I saw some interesting complains about the weird smell in the room, the dirty bathroom, and the uncomfortable pillows. After review the ratings and the comments, I made my decision depend on others’ opinions.

The opinion from the customers is a good way to realize what their real thoughts are. The company can listen where are the problems and decide how to solving these problems. (p.207) Social media can let  the company connect with consumers directly. Consumers can also use social media to express their thoughts about the products of the services. It might have positive and negative comments on the websites. However, the company can know where the problems are and find the solutions to go further. And the company can use social media to interact with their customers and they also get feedbacks quickly. These rating and reviewing can boost visits, in long term, that’s going to bring more business. (p.194)

The company can use social media to listen to their customers and embrace low-cost, low-control social media technology to drive awareness and increase word-of-mouth. Take YouTube for instance. You don’t have to pay for put the videos and commercials on YouTube. It can save lots of money. There are 140 millions viewers per month and there may have plenty of potential customers in it. It’s a good way to interact with the viewers and get instant feedbacks from them. The viewers can also watch the videos on their smart phone. It can build a new social networking in business world.

Who is famous in Wreth (original post #2)

Just like I mentioned last week, Wretch is the most popular blog in Taiwan. More and more people have become the users of Wretch. Some bloggers became famous through Wretch. And some of these bloggers even published their own books. Then, I will introduce two popular bloggers.

In the beginning, I will introduce the music star in Wretch. Her name is Hana Hsu http://www.wretch.cc/blog/pinkguitar. She is only 25 years old and she is a student right know. She can play guitar and she can also write a song on her own. Her voice is very clear and pure. Hana has a lot of talents in music. You can feel very relax and comfortable when you listen her music. She uses her life experiences as the materials to produce the new songs. According the interview, she never thought she will be famous in the Internet. And she still couldn’t believe that Wretch can bring a lot of opportunities for her. Through Wretch, Haha gain plenty of supports. And she also got the opportunities to performance with live band in famous pubs. She uses the Wretch to connect with her fans. It just like the platform let her can share her new songs with the public.

                                                           < Cover of Hana Hsu's EP3>

 

And the other example who became famous through Wretch is Sana. She draws the comics in her blog. The comics in her blog are really interesting. It can help the public release the pressure in real life. She uses Wretch as a diary. She uses her comics to record her life. There are more than 2000,000 people have been to her blog. That’s the reason why the publish company want to publish her comics. She published her first book “Sana放空ing ” in 2006. She published three comics in three years. Not only the comics, she also designed the desktop and the calendars for the readers. Sana likes to use the e-mail and the Wretch to communicate with the readers. And she also enjoyed the instant feedbacks from the readers.

                                                             < Special calenders >

 

<Another famous "egg" in Wretch>

After these examples, you can realize it’s really easy to use Wretch to express your own voices. It just likes a stage and a platform. Blogs and the Internet can make it possible for people to publish quickly and easily under their own name. In present society in Taiwan, more and more people become bloggers. The users can be “receiver” and “deliver” at the same time. They can generate the content by themselves. They also can share the information and knowledge through Wretch. In this virtual world, it really shows plenty of surprises waiting for everybody.



Reading Reflections #1(week4r)

Few years ago, a lot of blogs came out. According to the book “The New Influencers”, in this Web2.0 world, anybody can use blog and the Internet becomes somebody. Blogs and the Internet can make it possible for people to publish quickly and easily under their own name. They can express their thoughts just like this article said. It becomes possible to broadcast the information in the Blog whole world immediately. Blog changes the form of broadcasting, from speech turns into communication. Through blog; anyone can produce the new information, from the traditional “receiver” role changing into “participator”.

A blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. And many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Therefore, people can put their photographs, music, videos, and write the articles on their blogs. Just like the author of the book “Groundswell”  said why people like to participate in this groundswell, it contains several reasons. People like keeping up friendships and they also can make new friends. People can express their creativity and their concerns on their blogs. (Charlene Li, 2008)

The groundswell trend is expanding globally. Take Taiwan for example. Taiwan has begun to use Blog widely in recent years. There also have lots of different kinds of blogs in Taiwan. But the most popular blog in Taiwan is Wretch (http://www.wretch.cc/). According to Wretch(Chinese: 無名小站), is a Taiwanese community web site; in Chinese, its name means “Anonymous Site or Nameless Station”. It is the most well-known blog community in Taiwan with thousands of users registered. Wretch provides free album, blog, and Bulletin Board System hosting services. That means the users can put their photographs, music, videos, personal diaries, and opinions on their own blog. In July 2007, Yahoo! acquired Wretch; this became the biggest acquisition of Yahoo in Taiwan since Kimo. After this transaction Wretch becomes stronger. When you want to make new friends in Taiwan, you definitely will ask them” Do you have the account in Wretch?” It is very popular in Taiwan.

< How to use Wretch >

Wretch is very unique in Taiwan. Any user can put their own pictures, music, videos, and create articles through this blog. That means people can use this blog to connect with their friends and can produce their own content. Wretch is free and accessible. The users don’t have to spend money on it. The users can produce the content by themselves and can also get the feedbacks from other people. People can produce their own content on their blogs. And they also can choose the color of the background and the pictures on their homepages. Furthermore, through this blog, users can get instant responses. They can get the feedbacks immediately when they post the articles and diaries. It doesn’t have to be limited by the time and the space. That also means they can connect their friends without the time and space limits. And users can also put a lot of information on Wretch. They can put pictures, music, personal diaries on it. So it’s a multi-media blog. And there are plenty of different kinds of blogs in Wretch. Some of them are focusing on the personal diaries, some of them are focusing on the politics, and some of them are focusing on literature.

In present society in Taiwan, more and more people become bloggers. The users can be “receiver” and “deliver” at the same time. They can generate the content by themselves. They also can share the information and knowledge through Wretch. And it also causes plenty of effect on society, politics environment, and business process. In this virtual world, it still has plenty of surprises which waiting for the public to find out.

Read more: http://www.miller-mccune.com/media/why-blog-to-change-the-world-and-blow-off-steam-7303/

Why poeple like Facebook (week3o)

Facebook is a social media which owns lots of users around the world. People use this media to communicate with their friends. It proves computer-mediated communication can enhance and maintain relationships. People can use Facebook to know what happened to their friends and can see the newest pictures of them.  People can use Facebook as a channel to reach their friends and also to express their voices. Moreover, they also can use this “social media” to “social” and make new friends. It helps to build a social network. These conveniences are cell phone cannot provide.

In my personal experiences, my friends always give me a call when they want to talk to me or they send a text message for me. However, they like to leave the messages for me on Facebook instead of calling me recently. Even my family members also like to use Facebook to contact me. Because everyone can use this social media to connect with their friends no matter where they are and when they can call them. They used to call their friends when they miss them. However, they can use social media to connect whoever they want right now. Cell phone is not a cell phone anymore. People would like to use their iPhone and Blackberry to log in their Facebook and leave some messages for their friends instead of giving them a call. I think this change can avoid some inconvenient and awkward situations. And you can also see the pictures of your friends and leave some interesting comments on the pictures. It’s a good way to care and keep the contact with the person you love. It also can help to build and maintain the relationships. It’s really convenient and easy to use.

In my perspectives, there are several reasons that why Facebook can be so successful. First of all, Facebook is free and accessible. The users don’t have to spend money on it. And it’s really easy to use. You can just follow the instructions to create a new account. You can just follow the instructions to create a new account and instantly enjoy the services. Second, it’s interactive. The users can produce the content by themselves and can also get the feedbacks from other people. The users can type their feelings and thoughts on Facebook. They also can update their newest pictures on it. It’s a good way to communicate with their friends. Third, it’s personalized. People can produce their own content on their pages. Through this social media; anyone can produce the new information, from the traditional “receiver” role changing into “participant”. Furthermore, through this social media, users can get instant responses. They can get the feedbacks immediately when they post any information. It doesn’t have to be limited by the time and the space. That means they can connect their friends without the time and space limits.

Just like Joe Caldwell said, Facebook is a phenomenon that joins people together, not only for political groups but also for the idea of being social (Caldwell, 2009). It is also a phenomenon hits everyone, even our parents. People can use Face to contact their friends without spending money on it. It doesn’t have to be limited by the space and time. You can leave messages for your friends whenever you want. Facebook helps our society, human wants to be social and Facebook allows us to be this way, no matter where we are. In this visual world, it still has plenty of surprises which waiting for the public to find out.