Monday, September 30, 2019

Fashion Channel Market Segmentation Essay

One of TFC’s glaring strengths is that it specializes in fashion-oriented programming. The company is dedicated to fashion programming 24/7, meaning it is in a position to influence the market. Secondly, TFC appeals mostly to women between 35 and 54. The company’s viewership in the segment is 45% compared to 42% and 40% for Lifetime and CNN respectively. This category has the largest number of viewers and at the same time, one of those segments that is able to attract premium pricing. In addition, the company operates under the basic cable package. The package has more than 80 million subscribers in the U.S meaning that a large number of people have access to the channel. Conversely, TFC faces several weaknesses. Firstly, the company has not fully diversified its operations; it only specializes in fashion related programming. This could spell doom for the company, especially if the current trend is an indication of the future. Moreover, there is a section of the top management that is reluctant to accept change in the organization. The implication is that Dana’s recommendations may fail to get ratified for fear of the unknown. Thirdly, the satisfaction level of TFC’s customers is on the decline. The company is quickly losing customers to the two major competitors, and there are fears that the trend is sustainable. The other major weakness is that the organization has not segmented its market. The company ought to segment its market in order to benefit from the premium fee charged for the highly valued demographics. There are a number of opportunities available for TFC in its external environment. To begin, advertisers are ready to pay a premium for higher rating as well as defined demographic programming. Channels with higher rating are able to charge more for advertising meaning that TFC can gain additional revenue if appropriate strategies are developed to help increase its overall market rating. Secondly, there is a more room for the company to increase its market size. Fashion specific programming is continually gaining prominence among viewers in the U.S. market. In addition, viewer’s demand on network content and ad is directly related to the cost of advertisement. The company can thus increase its ad revenue through marketing strategies aimed at increasing viewership. One of TFC’s predominant threats is its two chief competitors: CNN and Lifetime. The two are constantly eating into the TFC’s major revenue base, and may even force the company out of the market. The second threat is that TFC is only entitled to $1 per subscriber. This is quite a small portion that cannot fully sustain the company’s operations. Besides, there is a threat that TFC may get dropped from the basic cable platform if subscribers satisfaction fails to improve. This may mean total loss for business. TFC’s Central Strategic Issue The company appears to lack a clearly defined business strategy. The  company’s product-market focus is vague. For instance, TFC has not segmented its market into different segments. Alternative Strategic Promotional Courses of Action Alternative 1 There are a number of marketing courses of action at TFC’s disposal. The first one, and perhaps most important, is market segmentation. The company should divide its market into different segments and concentrate on maximizing the revenue for the segment of choice. According to the data provided in the case, a combination of Fashionistas (scored 23.1M) and Shoppers/Planners (scored 42.35M) segments appears the most economical alternative for TFC. The two categories of customers are highly involved in matters related to fashion and are thus a suitable target for the company. There is also economic benefit involved if the company opts to back the strategy. Firstly, an admixture of the two segments yields a high profit margin (39%) in comparison to any other alternative. Besides, the alternative will trigger an increase in overall rating by 20%. There is a potential rise in the company’s rating from 1.0 to 1.2 consequently leading to increased revenue. In addition, this segmentation has the highest percentage of viewers 50% (=35% + 15%). The large number of viewers in two segments is thus suitable for the company, especially given that it entirely specialize in fashion programs. The problem with this alternative is that there is an increment in programming expenditure by $20 million. Alternative 2 The second alternative is broad-based marketing. This involves treating the entire market as a single group typified by customers with shared needs. The advantage of this strategy is that it is quite profitable at least in the short-run. Its adoption is likely to earn the company a net profit of more than $40 million (=$94.9 – 54.6). In addition, the approach does not attract incremental programming expenditure. On the other hand, the broad-based alternative will deny TFC the opportunity to earn premium CPM (Cost per thousand). Alternatively, TFC can opt for Fashionista segmentation. Using 2007 as a  base year, the alternative may rake for the company at least a net income of $100 million (=151.4 – 54.6). In addition, the approach is likely to boost the company’s overall rating from 1.1 to 1.2. The company will also be in a position to increase its charges from $2 to $3.5. Conversely, the Fashionista alternative will lead to an incremental expenditure of $15 million. Decision and Implementation Plan The new promotional plan should be positioned towards a combination of Fashionistas and Shoppers/Planners segment. Although there are a number of risks involved in this strategy, the returns are investing in the strategy. One of the greatest challenges for the company is maintaining the loyal customers while at the same time wooing new planners/shoppers and fashionistas. The company must come up with ways of ensuring that they do not lose some customers. This is achievable through evaluating the programs popular among the loyal customers and ensuring they are not disrupted by the new alternative. The company can also benchmark with its customers to learn how they are able to attract a huge number of fashionistas. The fact that the alternative may lead to incremental $20 million expenditure presupposes that its implementation is quite expensive. Benchmarking with Lifetime and CNN can help reduce the cost. Finally, the company should devise ways to foster awareness, perceived value, and interest of its products among consumers. This can be achieved through online marketing and ensuring there is appropriate social media policy in place to avoid misuse of the marketing platform.

Slaters Investigation

Aim. The aim of this investigation is to find out how Slaters react to an increase or decrease of the temperature in its surroundings. Hypothesis The speed of the Slaters will increase when the temperature of its environment is increased or decreased from its preferred range, so it ensures that they spend less time in unfavorable conditions to avoid desiccation. Method 1. This experiment is done using a water bath to change and control the temperature being trialed.The water bath will have a lid on it in order to keep the light intensity and humidity as constant as possible. 2. Ice and warm water would be used to the temperatures being trialed in this experiment. The temperature range that I am going to be using is 10Â °C,15Â °C,20Â °C,25Â °C,30Â °C. The temperature will be controlled between each Slater test by measuring the temperature of the water with a thermometer and adjusting the temperature to ensure that each Slater test is accurate and fair.The light intensity and humi dity of the environment would be monitored throughout the experiment. 3. A beaker with a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of it will be placed into the water bath once the water bath have adjusted to the temperature being trialed. In order for the test to be accurate, I would give the beaker and paper 2 minutes to adjust to the temperature that I am trialing before putting the slater in it. 4.Starting with the temperature at 10Â °C, I would draw a dot at the center of the paper in the beaker as a starting point. Each Slater will have 60 seconds and I will start once the slater have touched the dot on the paper. In order to measure the distance that the Slater have travelled in that 60 seconds, I will mark the position of the Slater every time it turns direction of movement in each test, at the end of each Slater test the markings would then be joined together to show the complete trail of the Slater

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Reckless Endangerment or Street Racing

Alex Larson February 9, 2009 Writing 122 Reckless Endangerment or Street Racing? One well known fact is that teens, males in particular, like to drive at higher speeds, sometimes resulting in street racing. It is a big problem and causes deaths all over the United States and tragedy to many families. Some people say cracking down on teens by way of police force is how to solve the epidemic. Others, such as Denver Post columnist Leonard Sax, and San Diego State University professor Stephen Bender, believe it would be wise to institute a supervised street racing program for teens. What both sides are trying to achieve is a lowered death rate of young teenagers looking for a little thrill. One side wants to have a bigger crackdown on street racers. The Denver Post article supports programs against such racers. The Los Angeles Police Department has implemented the tactic of confiscating supped-up racing cars to prevent their use in street racing; and Denver wants to copy the idea. The author suggests the other side’s solution: supervised, legal, track racing (Authorities. ) Presenting another idea, Leonard Sax and Stephen Bender have supported and started, respectively, RaceLegal. RaceLegal is a supervised racing event at San Diego Stadium. On Friday nights teenage boys and young men get together and do drag racing on the four-laned, one-eighth mile track (Leonard. ) According to Sax’s article, similar programs have begun in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Muncie, Indiana. In Noble, Oklahoma they are mimicking Bender’s idea. A fifteen dollar admission gets you into Thunder Valley Raceway Park to see or participate in â€Å"Beat the Heat. † This program takes a different twist, with participants racing in their own cars against local cops in their cop cruisers (Leonard. Sax claims that education to stop teens isn’t helping stop the â€Å"epidemic,† as Bender refers to it, but may actually catalyze it. Teenage boys like to do what they’ve been told is too dangerous to do, so naturally speeding when told not to, is the result. He believes allowing legal racing will calm teens down on public roads (Leonard. ) Both sides do have go od programs to prevent untimely deaths. Taking racing teens off the road or taking their cars away would solve the problem. However, being one of those eighteen year-olds with a red sports ar and a bit of a lead foot, I would respond much better to moving my activity off the public road to a track than being pulled over for being a teen with a fast car. The ability to race elsewhere would definitely stop me from driving as fast on public streets. A legal racing league seems to be a well accepted idea; the Denver Post article, which talks about implementing police action, even alludes to the implication of such a program; just their idea tweaks it so that teens are not allowed to race, which kind of defeats the purpose and doesn’t complete the objective at hand, which is solving the teen street racing epidemic. Works Cited Denver Post. â€Å"Authorities Should Stop Teens from Engaging in Street Racing. † Opposing Viewpoints: Cars in America. Ed. Andrea C. Nakaya. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Rogue Community College Library. 10 Feb. 2009 http://ezproxy. roguecc. edu:2080/ovrc/. Leonard Sax. â€Å"Teens Should Be Encouraged to Participate in Supervised Street Racing. † Opposing Viewpoints: Cars in America. Ed. Andrea C. Nakaya. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Rogue Community College Library. 10 Feb. 2009 http://ezproxy. roguecc. edu:2080/ovrc/

Glue out of Cigarette Filter and Acetone Essay

This chapter includes the past related literature / studies and researches, articles and some information gathered to guide in this study or research. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE According to (Marvilde, 1981), Classroom absence is a major factor responsible for falling standard in school education system today. Future of the nation always takes place in schools. School is such an organization, which deals with the betterment of society. According to (Khatri, 2013), School absenteeism has a far-reaching impact on a child’s academic progress and future. Absenteeism creates a dead, tiresome and unpleasant classroom environment that makes students who come to class uncomfortable and the teacher irritable. According to (Segel, 2008), in quality terms, absenteeism is a waste of educational resources, time and human potential. Students who have absenteeism problem generally suffer academically and socially. According to Lotz & Lee (1997), indicated that sustained absences might affect retention as it may degenerate into truancy. The study also revealed that the act of delinquency is more frequent among students who exhibit low grade, have spotty attendance an d later on drop out of school. Many factors can contribute to student absenteeism. Family health or financial concerns, poor school climate, drug and alcohol use, transportation problems, and differing community attitudes towards education are among the conditions that are often associated with a child’s frequent absence from school. According to (Marburger, 2001), It disturbs the dynamic teaching learning environment and adversely affects the overall well being of classes. Absenteeism is the one angle of viewpoint is one of the common causes of degrading performance of the student. According to (Australia, 2004), identified four major dimensions of absenteeism truancy, school refusal, school withdrawal and early leaving. It is important to identify the different dimensions of absenteeism in tackling the problem because they require different interventions. Truancy as the persistent, habitual and unexplained absence from school of a child of compulsory school age, although it can occur with parental knowledge and sometimes consent. According to Bond (2004), included fractional truancy, this occurs when student arrive late or leave early or spend entire days away from school. School refusal differs from truancy in that children refuse to attend schools even in the face persuasion and punitive measures from parents and school. These students stay at home with the knowledge of their parents and school administrators. According to (Mc Shane, Walter & Ray, 2001), School withdrawal means children are absent from school because their parents keep them away from school on a frequent basis. Their parents do not enroll them at school. Early leaving refers to children fewer than 15 who drop out of school before completing their schooling. According to (Williams, 2001), Attendance is an important factor in school success among children and youth. Studies show that better attendance is related to higher academic achievement for students of all backgrounds, but particularly for children with lower socio-economic status. Acco rding to (Epstein & Sheldon, 2002; Ready, 2010), Beginning in kindergarten, students who attend school regularly score higher on tests than their peers who are frequently absent. Chronic truancy (frequent unexcused absence) is a strong predictor of undesirable outcomes in adolescence, including academic failure, dropping out of school, substance abuse, gang involvement, and criminal activity. According to Savers, D. Et al (2005), when the student misses a day of school. Students have lost the chance to hear other’s interpreted and analyze the lessons or joins the introductions within the class. According to Nakpodia and Dafiaghor (2011), â€Å"lateness† can be defined as the â€Å"situation where an individual arrives after the proper, scheduled or usual time. Nakpodia and Dafiaghor attribute lateness or tardiness to a lot of factors or causes. Going late to bed and waking up late next morning is the most common. The authors’ added film watching late at night as a cause for tardiness. The student may forget that he/she needs to be in school the next day. Nakpodia and Dafiaghor as a possible cause for tardiness also consider the distance between the student’s home and school or solely the school’s location. Not just because it takes more time to get to school, but according to the authors, the student is susceptible to more distractions and hindrances along the way. Parent’s untimely tasks and commands are also reasons that students come late to school. Habitual tardiness can also be  learned from other members of the family, especially from the older ones. Lack of a firm and consistent policy on punctuality also encourages students to come late at school since there are no consequences attached to lateness or tardiness. These causes of tardiness will lead to serious effects. Nakpodia and Dafiaghor emphasized that lateness or tardiness is not just the problem of the late student but it affects the surrounding people. A student coming late in class distracts the rest of the students and disrupts the flow of the teacher’s discussion. It is even a burden to the student/s whom the late students ask for what to catch up with. The rest of the effects given by Nakpodia and Dafiaghor are about the welfare of the whole school, its productivity and revenue. Knowing the possible effects of lateness or tardiness, it is necessary for solutions to be executed. Studies have revealed that those students with â€Å"perfect or near-perfect attendance† have good grades compared to those students who miss classes often and latecomers. Nakpodi a and Dafiaghor stated that school administrators must lead by example. They should be punctual in their own meetings and classes to avoid students to think that being late is just all right since even the authoritative persons are doing it. They should as well teach it and integrate it in every lesson. The effort on the remedy on lateness or tardiness does not start and end with the school. It must begin with the parents of the students and the government must take part as well. Transportation must be improved in order to avoid students getting stuck in traffic or encountering other obstacles down the streets. According to Lauby (2009), puts it as a term used to describe â€Å"people not showing up on time†. According to Breeze et al. (2010), contributed by saying that, lateness is synonymous with â€Å"tardiness†, which implies being slow to act or slow to respond, thus not meeting up with proper or usual timing. According to Weade (2004), defined tardiness as â€Å"being late for any measurable length of time past the stated or scheduled start time for work or school.† In most schools, a student is considered tardy when he/she is not present when the school bells rings or when the first teacher starts to give instructional materials for the first subject in t he morning class. A study conducted by Barbara Lee Weade on 2004 tried to â€Å"determine if school tardiness is a predictor of work tardiness†. It provided a lot of literature that observes correlations and factors affecting a student’s tardiness. As cited by  Weade, the 3rd most common cause for the failure of a student is â€Å"excessive tardiness and unexcused absences†. Weade gathered data from the schools of participating students. First and foremost, she asked consent from the students and their parents in order to gain permission to collect their school records. She collected and studied the attendance and punctuality records of these students based on the number of unexcused absences and minutes of tardiness. Her study showed that among high school students, the grade point average is correlated with absences and tardiness. This means that students with better attendance and punctuality have higher grade point averages and vis-à  -vis. Her study was also able to show that attendance and punctuality of students are not consistent throughout the year. There were more absences and tardiness at the latter part of the year. Gender has also shown to be a non-factor in the attendance and punctuality of high school s tudents. The study was very comprehensive in its subject matter. It tackles not just school tardiness but also its implications on work tardiness. It shows that â€Å"students who are on-time for school classes are also likely to be on-time at work while students who are tardy frequently at school will probably also be tardy at work†. The study requires a lot of data but Weade was able to gather a sufficient amount. Though some possible correlations were not established, it is outside the scope of this research. According to (Sprick and Daniels, 2007), It creates problems, not just to the students but also to the teachers. It stated that the range of the teachers’ response was â€Å"from ignoring them to sending them to office†. This variation could lead the students to confusion as to how important it is to be on time in going to class. Another reason is the lack of motivation. Students who come to school on time are not given incentives or rewards. Also, responses to tardiness are lenient, that is nothing is done until the tenth strike or more. Another reason is â€Å"giving the student the impression that they won’t be missing anything if they are late† since in some classes, no important activities or instructions and no lessons are being done for first few minutes. Lastly, crowded hallways could create traffic, thus blocking the way of other students and making it hard for them to pass through. According to (Cowan Avenue Elementary School Community, 2007), Cowan Crier, the official School Publication of CAESC, also states that while having â€Å"occasional tardy† isn’t a big deal, unfailing tardiness  is and it gives students problems including being ill prepared for the job market. According to the results of the study of the U.S. Department of Education on â€Å"truancy†, which is related to tardiness, being present and on time in going to school are big factors on the â€Å"success and behavior† of the students. CAESC has their policy worked this way. Other schools initiated interdisciplinary curriculum that integrates discipline and conduct in academics. According to CAESC (2007) and Zeiger (2010), the most essential learning time of the day for the students lies in the morning, specifically between 8:00 to 9:30 AM. It is because the students are most mindful and observant at this time of the day. It is also the reason why the most important lessons and subject matters are discussed during this time. So when students are late or are not present during this time of the day, they, in effect, miss out most of the important lessons to be noted and learned. Thus, it is a lot important to value time and practice being on time while being a student. According to Zeiger (2010), the results from the survey report conducted by teachers show that students with high tardiness rates have â€Å"higher rates of suspension and other disciplinary measures†. Zeiger stated â€Å"Students who are frequently tardy to school are also more apt to be fired from a job for showing up late†. According to Santillano (2010) stated that psychological theorists considered some â€Å"personality traits, including low self-esteem and anxiety† as triggering factors of tardiness. She also mentioned that while some theorists considered tardiness as an â€Å"inborn quality† since our being early or late is â€Å"partially biologically determined†, which she also agreed, other experts also believed that some people are â€Å"chronically tardy† for the reason that they consciously and unconsciously get good things from it. In the book cited by Santillano, â€Å"Never be late again: 7 cures for the punctually challenged†, the author Diana DeLonzor suggested that some personality traits could most likely lead to a person being often late. Some of the traits included were â€Å"struggling with self control†, â€Å"feeling nervous or uncomfortable with social situations† and â€Å"getting distracted easily†. Santillano also discuss ed about the study conducted by DeLonzor at San  Francisco State University in 1997 in which she surveyed 225 respondents about their habits that makes them late from their appointments. It was also a test on the personalities of the respondents that affect their habits. According to the results of DeLonzor’s study, those respondents that were often tardy apt to be anxious and gets distracted easily. According to Oghuvbu (2008), female students are more likely to be late than male students because of â€Å"their involvement in domestic activities by their parents†. Also, as cited by Oghuvbu, â€Å"distance to school, school discipline, family background and school location†. Another study was the one conducted by Enamiroro Oghuvbu in Nigeria. The objective of the study was to determine the causes of the absenteeism and lateness among the secondary students in Nigeria and to seek for solutions to the growing problem. The study revealed that the causes of lateness among the secondary students in Nigeria were â€Å"going late to bed because of watching films and home movies, resulting into wake up late in the morning, distance to school and keeping friends who are not students†. These results went consistent with the results of Oghuvbu’s reference studies which proves that tardiness among students have been a growing problem and that it is caused, not jus t because of the students but also because of the lack of imposing discipline from the parents. According to (Emore, 2005), are some of the common causes for the tardiness of the secondary students? According to Pimentel and Quijada (2011), focused on the frequency of use by the UP Cebu freshmen students of Facebook and a part of the study tackled about the effect of the famous social networking site to UP Cebu students’ punctuality and academic performance. For their study, Pimentel and Quijada collected 60 respondents and provided them with questionnaires. The questionnaires contained questions that ask the respondents about their use of Facebook and its effects. A certain question asked the respondents if late-night use of Facebook has an effect on their punctuality. According to the results of the study, three out of 60 respondents are always late, eight said they are sometimes late, 12 said they are seldom late and 37 said that they never get late due to late-night use of Facebook. Generally, the results showed that the respondents are seldom late in class because o f late-night use of the social networking site. Ledoux, as cited by Pimentel and Quijada, said that lack of sleep causes neural malfunctions and further affects a person’s  behavior. In the study’s case, it is a student’s punctuality that is affected. According to (Britt, 1988), situations such as â€Å"crowded halls, limited opportunities for social interaction, irrelevant course content, and teacher indifference†. According to (Damico et al., 1990) are also factors that affect a student’s attendance and punctuality. As mentioned by Weade, personal values, financial security and lack of parental guidance. Some schools have already started finding solutions that would effectively minimize and/or eliminate tardiness among students. One of the solutions made by some schools is implementing tardiness policies, wherein they take steps in approaching the students and parents for them to solve the problem. According to Cordogan (as cited by Weade, 2004), said that a school in Chicago, Illinois adapted a similar curriculum and yielded positive results. Students under the interdisciplinary program exhibited more positive behaviors from students not from the curriculum. Interdisciplinary students showed less absences and tardiness, as well as higher grades. Other schools made smaller academic changes such as developing personality works and cooperative learning activities, such as creation of portfolios and tutorial to younger students. These taught the students better goal setting, decision-making skills and time management. In return, students under these behavior modification programs yielded less tardiness and higher grades.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Disagreement case study Essay

Disagreement between practitioner, child and a young person Sometimes children can be rebellious if there passing thru difficult time in their life or some stage, however we must not go into any argument with any child. Some times it’s good to give child and ourselves a little extra time alone to think again. Settings behaviour policy must be followed so the child or a young person will not be confused and they will know every consequence of their actions. We could call a another person to be with us at the time of talk to prevent any accusations, we must inform the manager just in case parent needs to be involved and also to allow communication between colleagues in setting to be up to date. Being informative and reasoning may allow child to understand further our point of view and in some case that may help issue to resolve. We must be sensitive, show them with our body language, that we are listening their point of view without interrupting their talk. Show child a respect and treat them like the adults, ask for mediator if you thin k that will be better for both side. Disagreement between Practitioner and adults In any work we all will have disagreement some point in our work life. Most of these disagreements are results of miss communication. To resolve this disagreement and prevent it to escalate we need to talk about them as soon as possible, the longer we leave the problem lye, becomes more difficult to get it resolve. It’s important to follow settings policies to make sure everyone behaves in an appropriate manner. Sometimes clash personalities, or our other qualities can make other side hard to cooperate with, in that case it’s good to arrange a mediator who can be voice of the both side and can mediate to resolve the issue. It will beneficial to be informative all the time, so other side can understand fully about the issue and the outcome of any actions. Other person can have their own personal problems so it’s good to show some sensitivity to their needs and questions may prevent lot of disagreements. Always we need to report our manager what happened and we nee d to keep manager up to date, so we will have the support we need if the thinks gets out of hand or escalates.

Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of a Parrot Essay - 1

Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of a Parrot - Essay Example His inner frustration is vented out when he says, ‘I flap my wings and I squawk and I fluff up and I slick down and I throw seed and I attack that dangly toy as if it was the guy's balls’ (Butler). However, it merely increases his frustration for the result is merely a deeper realization of his tragic reality: ‘†¦ it does no good. It never did any good in the other life either, the thrashing around I did by myself’ (Butler). The writer, therefore, revolves the story and the narration around this inner conflict felt by the parrot, who has no choice now but to see other men visiting his wife in what used to be his home. Robert Olen Butler, in fact, adds to the agony of the parrot/jealous husband through the constructed set of the play. The narrator returns to his home when he is bought by his wife and is incarcerated in a cage. The entire setting of the story then takes place within the house, that once used to be the home of this jealous husband. However, the irony of the situation is that the position of his cage is such that he is only able to see part of the bedroom. He can see every man enter and exit his house but can not see any activity that takes place in the bedroom, which adds to his frustration and his curiosity. The narrator expresses his frustration, explaining: ‘When she keeps the bedroom door open I can see the space at the foot of the bed but not the bed itself. That I can sense to the left, just out of sight. I watch the men go in and I hear the sounds but I can't quite see. And they drive me crazy’ (Butler). These frustrations and the inner conflict of the narrator are cleverly portrayed by the writer, for he not only uses the point of view of the parrot but also gives a humanistic element to the narration. While the parrot has all the qualities and limitations of a bird, the narration of the parrot is altogether human.  Ã‚  

Friday, September 27, 2019

Human growth and developement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human growth and developement - Essay Example 1. Development proceeds from the head downward. This is called the Cephalocaudle principle. This principle describes the direction of growth and development. According to this principle, the child gains control of the head first, then the arms, and then the legs. Infants develop control of the head and face movements within the first two months after birth. In the next few months, they are able to lift themselves up by using their arms. By 6 to 12 months of age, infants start to gain leg control and may be able to crawl, stand, or walk. Coordination of arms always precedes coordination of legs. 2. Development proceeds from the center of the body outward. This is the principle of Proximodistal development that also describes the direction of development. This means that the spinal cord develops before outer parts of the body. The child's arms develop before the hands and the hands and feet develop before the fingers and toes. Finger and toe muscles are the last to develop in physical development. 3. Development depends on maturation and learning. Maturation refers to the sequential characteristic of biological growth and development. ... Finger and toe muscles are the last to develop in physical development. 3. Development depends on maturation and learning. Maturation refers to the sequential characteristic of biological growth and development. The biological changes occur in sequential order and give children new abilities. Changes in the brain and nervous system account largely for maturation. These changes in the brain and nervous system help children to improve in thinking or cognitive and motor or physical skills. 4. Development proceeds from the simple to the more complex. Children use their cognitive and language skills to reason and solve problems. For example, learning relationships between things, or classification, is an important ability in cognitive development. The cognitive process of learning how an apple and orange are alike begins with the most simplistic or concrete thought of describing the two. Seeing no relationship, a preschool child will describe the objects according to some property of the object, such as color. Such a response would be, "An apple is red or green and an orange is orange." The first level of thinking about how objects are alike is to give a description or functional relationship between the two objects. "An apple and orange are round" and "An apple and orange are alike because you eat them" are typical responses of three, four and five year olds. As children develop further in cognitive skills, they are able to understand a higher and more complex relations hip between objects and things; that is, that an apple and orange exist in a class called fruit. The child cognitively is then capable of classification. 5. Growth and development is a continuous process. As a child develops, he or she adds to the skills already acquired and the new skills

Censorship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Censorship - Essay Example It is evident that we have reached the nadir of restraint on free speech even in the absence of censorship because free speech is policed thoroughly even more than before the age of internet and television. It is totally inane to claim that one can say whatever they wish in the post-censorship age yet there is restrain to ensure one does not think the wrong thoughts, or they do not say the wrong things. Additionally, it is useless to grant free speech yet one cannot be free to use language without being cautious not to use the wrong language. The government takes any controversial views as offensive and unsuitable by a host of interest groups due to the public’s indifference towards the basic values of a free society. Nevertheless, the collection of personal information over the internet is bound to raise a plethora of complaints from the public especially because it will exert immense control on free speech like never before. Malik Kenan argues that heretics who offend like D arwin and Galileo have always taken society forwards and most importantly, these critics highlight the importance of free speech;

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Personal Career Development Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Personal Career Development Project - Essay Example Most leadership researchers agree that leaders need to have important interpersonal skills such as empathy, motivation, and communication (Carlopio et al 32). What has received considerably less attention than the skills is that appropriate application of these skills requires a thorough understanding of one's social setting, or social intelligence. The main strengths I possess are confidence, high-self steam, ambitious, workaholic, forward-looking, always willing to learn, cautious. My leadership functions are partly a function of skilful deployment of personal qualities but probably more of the interactive processes between leaders and their followers and the more general processes through which purpose and commitment are generated and sustained within an organization. It is the willingness of people to follow that makes a person a leader. Moreover, since people tend to follow those who, in their view, offer them a means of satisfying their own personal goals, the more managers are able to understand what motivates their subordinates and colleagues, and the more they reflect this understanding in carrying out their management actions, the more effective they are likely to be as leaders. In my communication, I am concrete, time-limited, realistic, challenging and capable of evaluation (Cole 39). The main weakness is that English is my second lan... Decision-making is directed to reaching a goal/objective. It is about the how, what, why, when (and where) of a course of action and of how to overcome obstacles and to solve problems. Decision-making is what turns thought into action: it implies change and requires a decision to be made against a background of uncertainty and risk. Every person needs to be able to choose the action or course of action that is the best for you/your organization to meet its objective(s). An effective decision is one that produces the goods, ie gives the desired end result. It is important to be able to project ahead, to take the expected and unexpected into account, to have contingency plans in case events intrude in such a way as will turn a good decision into a bad one (Cole 35). The main opportunities are desire to learn and master new knowledge and skills, creativity and self-confidence. On the other hand, creativity can be encouraged in people (including oneself) by exploring some of the qualities and characteristics of creative thinkers and the activities/steps that can be undertaken to improve the processes involved. The main threats are lack of lack of business background. Communication should be good laterally and vertically (and flatter organizations should - in theory, at least - encourage good lateral communication). Managers should ensure a good flow of information - ideas can emerge as a result. Good administration is the hallmark of good management and the proper and efficient use of resources. Managers become leaders when their personality and character, their knowledge and functional skills of leadership are recognized and accepted by the others involved. These leadership functions need to

Introduction to Organisations and Management Assignment - 3

Introduction to Organisations and Management - Assignment Example Business is a dynamic process governed by the economic, political and social environment in which it operates. Due to rapid changes in the operating environment entrepreneurs need to dynamic in their approach to devising and implementing strategies for growth and development. Businesses create opportunities within the community to grow and prosper. The report provides an assessment of the changes taking place in the business processes over the past few decades through a comparative analysis of the existing practices at H&M Consulting and Watson Engine Components. While Watson Engine Components exhibit a conventional style of management based on traditional values and practices, H&M Consulting offers a modern approach to dealing with its employees and customers. The strategic management practices here are based on innovative work culture that applies employee empowerment theories and open organization system that promotes employee commitment and proactive behaviour at workplace. The n ext few sections analyse these practices and highlight the significance of modern day management strategies through a comparative assessment of these two firms. ... In current business context, entrepreneurs re-engineer business processes to accommodate a flatter organization structure that necessitates free flow of information and knowledge to the workforce. Watson’s business strategy focuses on conventional business management approach that adopted a top down hierarchical structure. While this conventional form of management practice is successful in instilling discipline within the organization, it fails to motivate employees to perform better. Over the past few years Watsons has faced significant challenges in meeting the needs and requirements of the evolving business climate. The problems are evident in the difficulties faced by the organization in meeting delivery schedules and retaining employees. The management is opposed to innovative strategies that can help the company in boosting employee morale, productivity and performance efficiencies. The staff participation and involvement in decision making process within the organizati on is missing and the managers believe in adopting an authoritative style of leadership to promote business goals. Traditional organizations employees were provided with directives on how to get a task done and it was effective in accomplishing organizational goals. However, the employees simply followed directions and were not given the scope to think and act. This restricted their scope of personal and professional growth that had a negative impact on their performance in the long run. Participatory style of management is highly effective owing to their impact on employee decision making abilities, performance level, and positive reinforcement at work (Jelinek, 2010). â€Å"Business firms around the world are

Blog Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Blog - Article Example This is symbolically a romantic experience and as seen it builds up the imaginations which follow. In most of the modern Hollywood films, the same is the case. Women are elements of romance and they motivate all what men do. This is clearer from the latest Vampire Diary series where everything happens motivated by romance around Elena Gilbert. There exists some difference between the old films and the new. You will realize that, the old films presumed the natural gender roles and women were only viewed as subservient persons there for a man’s pleasure and taking care of the family. In â€Å"Octavian Saint Laurent from Paris is Burning Documentary†, she believes in the provocative ideologies as a means to reach men’s hearts. This is not the case in the modern movies where the women are depicted to be very dynamic characters who believe that whatever a man can do, a woman can threefold or more and do it in a match better way. Look at a modern movie of â€Å"Mr. and Mrs. Smith†. Both are detectives and they do their jobs equally well. The woman presented here is of independent character. Earlier in times, women were very uncommon in arts and films. They were literary ignored and this something which they did not like. However, despite the fact that there were women who were artist in old days, their efforts were also trivialized and this why history has a few number of great women artists. This concern prompted Linda Nochlin to write an essay that brought a revolution in the art and film industry as far as women are concerned. She asked the big question as to why there are no female artists in history and then people began to think (Druckman 26). One of the impacts of her work is that it led to artistic liberation of all women who were interested into joining the arts and film industries. A feminist arts movement was established to champion for the rights of women in

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Challenging Shakespeare's Hegemonic Position in the Literary Canon Essay

Challenging Shakespeare's Hegemonic Position in the Literary Canon - Essay Example 805). Interestingly, Shakespeare himself was alive during this period. The term ‘literary canon’ is however, far older and was originally used in the context of the books of the Bible that were deemed genuine and possessing authority, but whose meanings were later expanded to include other writings. This literary canon now includes works by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Dickens, Dante, and all such authors who are seen to be writers of the classics and worthy of serious academic attention. Writers who have been given canonical status are generally celebrated names with universal acclaim (Stevens, 2007). It is true that Shakespeare holds a hegemonic position within the literary canon, but it is not without reason. It can be justified in many ways. To say that he had creative writing ability would be an understatement seeing the enormity of his written work - drama or poetry - and the consistency that he maintains in his writing throughout. Shakespeare’s popularity can a lso quite simply be attributed to his enormous popularity among lovers of literature over the four centuries following his death and that popularity beyond generations alone validating and cementing his reputation as one of the best if not the best dramatist of all time. A point to be kept in mind is that the rise in Shakespeare's popularity to the reaches of being called 'hegemonic' is a phenomenon that started to occur after his death and not during his lifetime. This lends more credence to the fact that sheer popularity among his audience has more to do with why Shakespeare is the subject of this paper. That raises the question of 'What is the reason of Shakespeare's universal appeal?'. And truly it is an intriguing question because it brings one to contemplate over the reasons how an unknown country boy from Stratford-upon-Avon, poor and poorly educated according to the standards of his age arrives at the great city of London and goes to work at odd jobs in a theater. In a year or two he is associated with scholars and dramatists, the masters of their age, writing plays of kings and clowns, of gentlemen and heroes and noble women, all of whose lives he seems to know by intimate association. . . Play after play runs from his pen, mighty dramas of human life and character following one another so rapidly that good work seems impossible; yet they stand the test of time, and their poetry is still unrivaled in any language. (Long) If we look at the age in which Shakespeare was writing, we learn that he was not the sole progenitor of the age's literary vitality on the stage. A star in his own right, Shakespeare shared the sky with others like Ben Jonson and Francis Beaumont among whom Beaumont happened to be the first dramatist who was honored with a burial in Westminster Abbey while Shakespeare was relegated to the obscurity of Stratford-upon-Avon, his hometown. (Jokinen) There are many reasons for Shakespeare's massive appeal but primarily it appears that Shak espeare's continued popularity has been due to the continued availability of his texts over the centuries and due to their adaptability. The first instance

Discussion questions and participation questions continued Essay

Discussion questions and participation questions continued - Essay Example Two different people deal with the late trucks, break downs and such once the trucks have left the plant and reschedule appointments for these trucks. This current process means that carriers are unsure of who to contact in the event of a problems and receivers are unsure who is their contact person in the event of a problem. An improvement would be to divide up the plants, assigning one person to handle all issues for that plant. That would make one contact person for both the receiver and the carrier from the time the order is first placed until it is received by the receiver. The benefits of this arrangement would be that there would be a cleaner flow of information and assistance between the customer, the carrier and the customer service representative at Cargill. The risks might be that the workers would get so bogged down making appts and routing the trucks that there would be inadequate time to help with problem loads and problems would fall between the cracks. Other risks include risks common to all projects: competency of the workers, costs involved in the change over and the risk that this will fail and customers will lose faith in the company. The risks might me mitigated by beginning this change on a small scale with one plant only. This will leave backup for those participating in the experiment. process improvement enhance the overall working and performance of the business. Here we have open management and handling of all activities and operations in the organization. Here we have following benefits: Operations management is the managing of these productive resources. It entails the design and control of systems responsible for the productive use of raw materials, human resources, equipment, and facilities in the development of a product or service. Operations management is important to the every day lift of any organization especially if it can be performed with little or no errors and be kept at a low cost while continuing to provide

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Implementation Apple Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Implementation Apple Organization - Essay Example Target market sales - Various measurements of sales including revenue generated, units sold, or profit can be used in determining sales. This measurement compares the actual sales of iPhone in the Asia Pacific regions with the projections in the marketing plan to determine consistencies and needs for change (Mackay & Wilmshurst, 2011). To finalize the lease contract and locations of 90 stores in the first quarter of financial year 2015, there will be need to renegotiate the plans, to recruit additional staff, to review the general plan, and to submit a report of the plan required plan of action that would facilitate operationalizing of the stores in the first month of the second quarter. Failure of finalizing the team and their responsibilities by the end of the second quarter of 2015 financial year. Review the team building plan and allow the Director of R&D and the HR Director to review the issue and provide a final team based on priority. Given the new product development facility is not operational by the end of the fourth quarter of 2015 financial year, review the unmet requirements, review the project plan, and appoint a different project manager if required. Apple has established a collaborative organizational structure that allows the different divisions to come together in view of making important decisions within the organization, thus increasing the performance of the organization (Horrigan, 2012). Establishment of a team aimed at facilitating the development of the new product, procuring new machinery and instruments, and establishment of a new development facility in the view of promoting product development. Innovation – innovation allows for the development of a connection with the consumers and thus managing different problems and risks related to threats for substitution and new entries (Franke, Keinz, & Steger,

Interpersonal Communication Week five journal Essay

Interpersonal Communication Week five journal - Essay Example My experience with verbal aggressiveness was really unpleasant since this involved a close relationship with a long-time friend. This friend is actually a good person but he has a way of saying things that could be considered sarcastic. The thing is that he agrees with me on most topics (that is why we are friends) but he has a negative demeanor towards other people. For example, whenever we order at a diner and the waitress commits a little mistake, he calls them â€Å"stupid† and says other nasty remarks which I could consider demeaning. I am embarrassed by such manifestations of verbal aggressiveness since I always try to put myself in other people’s shoes. One time I broke news to him about the misfortune of another friend and all he said was that â€Å" he got what he deserves†. He goes on rationalizing that life is what we make it so if it turns out bad , it is due to our poor choices. While there is a grain of truth in such statements, it would be so inappropriate to tell it to someone who is already feeling miserable. Because of this, I would react to him and I myself would experience verbal aggressiveness from him since he would criticize me for my beliefs. The readings taught us that power plays must be put to a stop so the patterns would not be repeated. The person using power play would be aware that his statements are not healthy and defeating development of interpersonal relationships. As for physical aggressiveness, I only experience it during contact sports when we have Physical Education class way back in high school. We were taught how to play basketball and that meant experiencing physical contact especially coming from the opponent. There were times that I get pushed or held back which made me upset but I never lose my patience. I had the right frame of mind and understood that this is just sports. However, it would be a different story if an opponent deliberately hit me in the face since

Monday, September 23, 2019

Foundations of Economics For Finance FR1001 Essay

Foundations of Economics For Finance FR1001 - Essay Example Governments are controlling the fiscal policy to stabilize and maintain the flow of the economy. This way, a country can achieve economic stability and growth. In United States, the government controls the fiscal and monetary policy in order to achieve a good economic development. Economy is good in case of low unemployment rate, low fiscal deficit, controlled inflation rate, high gross domestic product (GDP), maintained exchange rate, high export and low import of goods, balanced cash inflows and outflows, and a good investment portfolio. Based on the graph below, the US output gap between the early 1980s up to the last quarter of 1984 and 2001 to 2006 is negative. The worst recent output gap of US was back in 2003 when they have reached negative 1.1. With the proper use of fiscal and monetary policy, despite the Asian crisis in 1997, the US was able to control inflation rate and the fluctuation of exchange rates. The control of inflation resulted to a more stabilized prices and economic growth. The negative output gap is most likely to be the after effect of the high inflation and interest crisis in 1980s, Mexican crisis in 1994 and globalization in year 2000 onwards whereby many of the US businessmen started to cut on their operational costs by subcontracting most of their needed services from the skilled workers from developing countries. The US is aiming to reach a zero output gap by year 2008. (IMF, 2007) Since most of these businessmen are downsizing their businesses in US back in the early twentieth century, many of the US local citizens were affected by mass lay-offs. Some companies even had to declare bankruptcy because of the tight competition coming from the global markets. The increase in the unemployment rate affects the consumer spending in the long-run. This is the main reason why the real domestic output of the US has been constantly declining since 1999. (See Table 1 below) Notice that the graph above indicates that

Geography - British Colonisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Geography - British Colonisation - Essay Example The maritime adventures of the 16th century naval and merchant seamen were responsible for the extension of English economic power throughout the Atlantic to North America and the Caribbean, to promote trade for the home country. â€Å"Obsession with maintaining colonial production led to policies that encouraged the development of labour in the new territories† argues Page (75). Consequently, religious dissidents in England such as the Puritans were subjected to unfavourable treatment which compelled them to flee to the newly discovered land of America by the 15th century. Similarly, indentured labourers were sent away from the British Isles to distant colonies, while slave trade from Africa continued to be carried over several centuries, for subjugation and slavery. The British colonization of India along with trading rivalry from other European powers resulted in their extending their mercantile principles to India by the early 17th century. By the 18th century, British imp erialism spread to Australia as well. In the 19th century, Africa, New Zealand and Canada were brought under British colonization. In the 20th century radical changes took place in the British Empire, besides its separation into dominion and colonial divisions. By the mid-20th century, massive decolonizations led to the achievement of independence by many British colonial areas, although some marginal regions remained in the colonial fold. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate British Colonization across the globe, over several centuries of British Imperialism. Colonization and Expansion of the First British Empire James A. Williamson observes that because there was no scope for ambitious land expansion by the British, colonization had to be undertaken overseas. English sea-power primarily emerged and developed during the Middle Ages, and by the Tudor era (1485-1603) seafaring took lasting hold of the imagination of the people. Thus, British colonization and expansion must take into account the beginnings of sea-power, and its development driven by geographical, political, and economic factors (Williamson 3). The first British empire was established in the Americas between the 16th to 18th centuries by emigrants fleeing from Britain to escape the religious rule and harassment. Thus, by the early 19th century, Britain formed an empire spanning the seas by emigration to the newly discovered land of America which was the homeland of native Indians since ancient times. Gradually, â€Å"multiplication of the colonial stock began to transform British North America from a fringe of maritime possessions into a territorial nation† (Williamson 6). In South Africa, the same process resulted in Cape Colony being taken over as a predominantly naval station on the British route to the East. In Australia, the coasts occupied for a distinctive administrative purpose drew immigrants who spread into the interiors. British expansion into New Zealan d took place against the wishes of the imperial government, states Williamson (6). Thus, the four distinct regions of North America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand were taken over by the growing population of British immigrants who overflowed into unoccupied borderlands. Establishment of the Second British Empire Establishment of the Second British Empire included the expansion of British colonial rule in India from

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Savil Building by Glen Howells Architects Essay

Savil Building by Glen Howells Architects - Essay Example In its design, its response to the site, the climate, the design requirement, it has surpassed the programme. That's what makes it unique, 'high architecture' or in plainer words an award winner! This essay investigates the architectural qualities of the Savill Building with specific reference to the following themes: Beauty or the aesthetic value of every building is an important feature of every structure established within certain locations. It is also closely related to the time and place of the architectural event. Thus, modernists like Philip Johnson see deconstructivism as 'warped' and the International Style as 'pure'. It is about the contrast between 'perfection and violated perfection'.1 The many trends in architecture after modernism suggest a pluralist society where too many issues are equally important. However, in the collective concern for the environment and attempts at conserving and reusing and generally trying to contain one's carbon footprint, we may have finally, the one world- religion that will generate an aesthetic that may be most persuasive of recent trends.2 And the Savill Building illustrates this beautifully both figuratively and literally. Through improving the landscape of the park, the building creates a profound experience for the visitors making them feel like they belong to the landscape itself. The dome shape of the roof creates an illusion that the entire building is one continuous structure that follows the dictates of the landforms so sensitively that it is difficult to perceive where building ends and landscape begins. It fits in with its surroundings hand-in-glove, not just in terms of building profile but also in terms of its material for construction that was judiciously selected and felled on site itself. Of all the other features of the complex, the structure of the building stands out as the chief characteristic of the complex. Being a part of the whole landscape works well for the Savill Building as it utilizes the natural beauty of the location where the structure is established. The complete building created not only for catering to its distinct functions it aims also to enhance the entire natural landscape of the site3. This capability of the structure to bring out the natural essence of the beauty that the location itself posses makes the complete conception a complimentary element to the landscape. 2. Nature Seen and Sensed The major features of the shapes and elements that make up the building actually create a more sophisticated presentation of nature. The carefully crafted design that mimics the entirety of scale and location highlights the abundance of nature creating an 'environment of seemingly untamed, ever-productive free growth'4. A curved glazed curtain wall allows the visitor to view the 'spectacular' landscape over the terrace.5 The glazing allows natural light to enter the building giving it better chances of being appropriately lit during the day right up to mid afternoon. The glazing 'frames' the scenic view of the natural landscape of the gardens for which the interiors of the building create a perfect foil. Hills and

High School Education Essay Example for Free

High School Education Essay Education has been the proposed priority of the different countries all over the world in an effort to develop the social abilities of the children who will be taking over the country in the future and will be leading it to another way of growth. High school is viewed to be an important time for the students especially as it is a transition between the time of elementary learning and into specialized learning (Armstrong, 1998). Moreover, it is also situated during the development years of the adolescent which may factor to their presence of mind while developing for their future needs. In this regard, it is important to determine the overall direction/objectives of High School in this generation and to determine ways on how these objectives can be implemented and achieved. Today, the main objective of High School also known as secondary school is to provide educational program that enhances full potentials of the students in terns of academics and social aspects. In addition, the educational institution today must be able to establish a more comprehensive and efficient High School or secondary school. It has been said that High school is the time wherein the students themselves are finding their cognitive skills developing and thus are also developing their behaviors appropriately, is also then the time where teachers must focus on tackling these factors equally and comprehensively; as such, the authors acknowledge that high schools must prepare their students for specializing and further studies in different universities. Social competence must also be assessed as the teachers must be able to gauge the abilities of their students and thus from that must then be able to construct their goals for the end of the school year that will include the knowledge that the students have gained, the development of their views, as well as their own goals further than the end of their years in their high school Today, high schools are determined to provide a variety of learning methods to reach all students needs. Recognizing that in the past, instruction has often been geared to a hypothetical average student rather than to individual students with different backgrounds, attitudes, needs, interests, and abilities, new ways of learning are being created. These ranges from options for students within the school itself, to community involvement, and even to visiting or living in other countries. In order to meet these objectives innovative projects and programs are designed to reach students who have become frustrated and uninvolved in the work of the conventional high school. Options are intended to make learning more interesting, realistic, and meaningful to students. New ways of approaching the academic disciplines, more personal relationships with students, and imaginative learning activities are being invented example of ingenuity in creating many types of options within one school. Aside from that, High School today is now trying to integrate their educational program with information communication technology. It is noted that innovative Information Technology (IT) applications can provide advantages such as: students experienced greater independence and responsibility for their own work and progress; students are more capable of beating deadlines; and fostered students’ ongoing reflection about their work: either by redrafting and/or reviewing it, and especially by comparing it with assessment criteria with the aim of improving their overall standards. Similarly positive, Goodison (2002) said that even if in terms children’s awareness most students are not aware if ICT made them more productive in any way and that some pupils see the complexity of software applications as barriers to task completion, ICT contributes to the promotion of learning independently.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Winter Dreams Essay Example for Free

Winter Dreams Essay Matthew Bruccoli wrote, â€Å"The four closing paragraphs of this story are distinguished by Fitzgerald’s complex explication of Dexter’s sense of mutability: he grieves for the loss of his capacity to grieve. † This statement is about the main character Dexter, in Scott Fitzgerald’s â€Å"Winter Dreams†. I agree that the last four paragraphs show a man whose dream does not turn out the way expects it. Dexter worked hard and in the end, the dream was gone, taken from him. The last line supports Bruccoli’s statement, â€Å" I cannot cry. I cannot care. That thing will come back no more. What Dexter is talking about is his dream or the classic â€Å"American Dream. † The main character of this story Dexter has a vision of success; he wants to pursue the American Dream, money, status, and class. While chasing his goals he wants to climb the latter of wealth and then marry beautiful Judy Jones. Little does Dexter know where this journey is going to take him, the American Dream is something that every person would like to someday reach, but what happens when you get the American Dream? Fitzgerald’s voice is clearly heard in this novel because he shows the parallels’ between Dexter’s â€Å"Winters Dream† and the American Dream. He presents this idea of idealism in a negative way, telling the reader the underlying opinion that the American Dream isn’t real and that all there is left after the glitz and glam are gone is a shuddering feel of emptiness. â€Å"Winter Dreams† is a short story that takes place over a time period of twenty years. The American Dream is something that came about in the mid-1900’s this is something that Dexter strives to have. He wants to be a part of the elite and when he graduates from a prestigious eastern college he becomes a partner in a laundry company. This makes Dexter very wealthy and successful and he realizes that he has two things that are important to American Character: confidence and hard work. He has always had the drive to succeed, even when he quit his job as a caddy his boss begged him â€Å"with tears in his eyes,† not to quit the job. He also exudes confidence when he quits because he knows that he can do better for himself. Also he wanted to be seen as equal not inferior to Judy Jones and he works very hard throughout this entire story to achieve that. Dexter Greens whole life, personal choices, and aspirations were dramatically influenced by the incredible power Judy had on him. His fatal attraction towards her is something that he can never quite shake until the end of this novel. Judy Jones represents all of the things that Dexter can’t have. She is unattainable, just as money, power and success are to a four-teen year old boy; four-teen was the age Judy and Dexter first met. At twenty three Dexter met Judy again in a golf country club, where they became sentimentally involved. Very soon in the story the reader realizes that Judys good looks and flirtatious behavior has the great power to conquer numerous men, including Dexter, making them absolutely powerless and blindly fall in love with her. Judy becomes the ammunition to Dexter’s American Dream she is the ultimate goal Dexter wants to achieve. When he finally catches her eye and they being to date, it doesn’t take long for Judy’s destructive character and shallowness to emerge. Dexter realizes that he is just something that she can play with and when she gets bored with one suitor she quickly throws them out and replaces them with a new one. Her ultimate concern is for her own desires and she doesn’t care about anyone she steps on along the way. Unfortunately for Dexter this destructive game causes nothing but hurt and disparaging sadness for him. Judy and Dexter are briefly engaged and during this time they both suffer a great deal of disillusionment and pain. . â€Å"Winter Dreams,† explores many themes that stand out, but the main theme that Fitzgerald addresses is by far the American Dream and its hollowness at the end of the road. This is a classic story of life lessons, love, and pursuing inner dreams and goals. The way that Fitzgerald uses Judy Jones to represent and entire lifestyle and goal of a character is genius. The American Dream is something that a person works towards and cannot reach by impatience it’s a goal that should be reached overtime, something that should not be allowed to take over your life. Because we are encouraged to chase our goals and follow our dreams, people get caught up in the dream and the illusion and don’t look towards the reality. Then you end up without the capability of grieving and miss the loss of even that. The last four paragraphs summarize all the aspirations Dexter had, lost. He said they had existed once but no longer do, and will never return again.

Public Interest Is Used To Justify Regulation Media Essay

Public Interest Is Used To Justify Regulation Media Essay Public interest is a concept that can be high-jacked by journalists themselves: a plea of in the public interest is a favourite defence for journalism under attack. It is at the heart of the argument about the extent to which prying reporters and cameras should be allowed to invade personal privacy. The Ofcom code says that Where broadcasters wish to justify an infringement of privacy, they should be able to demonstrate why in the particular circumstances of the case, it is in the public interest. Examples of public interest would include revealing or detecting crime, protecting public health or safety, exposing misleading claims made by individuals or organizations or disclosing incompetence that affects the public. The BBC also has its own guidelines as it seeks to balance the public interest in freedom of expression with the legitimate expectation of privacy by individuals. There is no single definition of public interest, it includes but is not confined to: exposing or detecting crime, exposing significantly anti-social behaviour by those holding high office, preventing people from being misled by some statement or action of an individual or organisation, disclosing information that allows people to make a significantly more informed decision about matters of public importance. However, neither media code or attempts a full definition of the public interest. The BBC requires a higher public interest test for secretly recording in a private place where the public do not have access, secretly recording medical treatments, secretly recording identifiable people in grief or under extremes of stress both in public and semi-public. There are also some arguments over the media whether they are serving the public interest or interesting the public. Public/social purpose media should be informing and educating, but medias are more likely to weigh up the market-driven news values nowadays. The news media are failing to serve the public interest because of the following points: Firstly, abuse of individual right to privacy Privacy and alleged invasions of privacy by the media are central issues in the ethics of journalism. Clearly, we live in a society that values personal privacy, and is concerned about intrusions into privacy from whatever source, including the media. Yet, perhaps paradoxically, we also live in a society that thrives on publicity, or at least one in which many individuals depend on publicity for their lives and activities. This seeming paradox is usually defused by drawing a distinction between the private and the public aspects of peoples lives, and by further claiming that there is indeed a right to privacy, but that in certain circumstances the right can be overridden in the name of the public interest. This account of the matter accepts that in such circumstances an invasion of privacy has actually occurred but that the invasion can be justified by an appeal to a greater good. The right to privacy is no more than a presumption ( though an important one), and that where some information about an individual that he or she would prefer to keep private should be in the public domain, then putting it there is not overriding that individuals right to privacy because no such right ever existed concerning this aspect of the persons life. There is, on this account, no such thing as a justifiable invasion of privacy because justification is in fact a demonstration that no privacy could properly be claimed in the first place. On this account, all invasions of privacy are unjustifiable. This is particularly important in the case of politicians and others who occupy similar positions in society. Thus a politician who has his or her secret love nest exposed in the press is not the victim of an invasion of privacy, because scandalous behaviour of this nature cannot legitimately claim the protection of privacy. This is not simply because politicians are in the public eye, but because they, and others in business and the media as well, wield power in society, and all aspects of the exercise of power must be open to public scrutiny. This is the only way to avoid corruption in public life, and by corruption. I mean more than financial chicanery. I do not say that politicians are not entitled to privacy, but that they are not entitled to abuse the right to privacy. In a democracy those who wield power cannot decide for themselves where to draw the boundary between the public and the private aspects of their lives. In spite of the recent introduction in the UK of some legislative safeguards in the first two areas, there is a little that members of the public can do to assure themselves that their privacy is not being abused here. They simply do not know what is going on an cannot find out, for such abuse is normally hidden at source, even though it might have actual consequences for peoples lives. With invasions of privacy by the press it is wholly different, for here the victim obviously knows. This might explain why there is a considerable outery against invasions of privacy by the press even though this is less harmful to individuals and the democratic political process than abuses in the other two areas for here is an open target, easily identifiable, to soak up the publics concern and wrath. Hence the demand for the press to clean up its act, either voluntarily or, if this fails, through controls imposed by legislation. This threat of statutory restraints prompted the editors if the national newspaper in Britain to issue their own Code of Practice in 1989 to add the codes promulgate by bodies such as the Press Council ( now defunet) and the National Union of Journalists. The editors code and the Press Council code were later absorbed into a newspaper-industry code, monitored by the Press Complaints Commission, in which the voluntary protection of privacy, without legislative intervention, was a primary aim. Secondly, interesting the public rather than serving the public interest According to the trend, the pursuit of profit has replaced that of serving the public interest as the driving force of journalism. News producers even those like the BBC which are free of direct commercial pressures have been required to become more an more oriented towards ratings, subordinating the journalistic obligation to inform to the more audience-friendly task of supplying entertainment. The result of these pressures has been an explosion of infotainment journalism in which entertainment values take precedence over information content, presented at an intellectual level low enough to appeal to the mass audiences which comprise the major media markets( the lowest denominator, as critics frequently express it). Lower, too, than a healthy democracy demands. Political journalism is said to be conforming to the pressures of tabloidisation observed elsewhere in the media: a term which used interchangeably with dumbing down and infotainment, functions as shorthand for the offence, as it is often characterised, of catering for popular tastes. One manifestation of this trend would be the medias contemporary fascination with elite deviance( sexual, financial or moral), as in the cases of Conservative and Labour politicians in Britain throughout the 1990s, an of course Bill Clinton, whose sex addiction was a prominent theme of political journalism in Britain as well as the United States during the 1990s, exemplified by coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998-9. The sleaze agenda which featured prominently in British and American political news for most of that decade was alleged to be driven by market forces rather than public interest, in so far as the relentless commodification of journalism an the ever-increasing competitiveness of the media market put a commercial premium on sensationalism an prurience in coverage of politics. Although journalists like to envision themselves as independent pursuers of truth, the public sees them as employees who are only trying to help corporations make a pound. More than two-thirds say: News papers are concerned mainly with making profits rather than serving the public interest. I believe that newspaper frequently overdramatize some news stories just to sell more papers. Journalists chase sensational stories because they think itll sell papers, not because its an important story. Journalists sometimes see themselves in heroic terms. Lurking in the back of their minds are phases like eyes and ears of the public, representatives of the citizenry and the publics watchdog. By keeping tabs on the politicians, they can ensure that the public will be properly served by the government. The public, however, is convinced that politicians are more ethical than journalists. Many journalists shrug off such findings. Journalists are not supposed to be popular, they say. Theyre supposed to be tough observers of government and society. Thirdly, lies: publish and be damned degenerates to publish and be sued we can afford it: The law is a conservative profession. Most legal advisers first impulse will be tell news organisation Dont publish. The paper is at liberty to ignore the advice: to publish and be damned. But because of the complex risks involved, this is not a decision for an individual reporter or sub-editor to make. It needs to be made collectively and at policy level. Many news reporters start their careers with a stint on the court beat. This is considered good training in the need for discipline and accurate fact-gathering in journalism. Many young journalists, however, find the courts intimidating, confusing, and stultifying boring. Often, thats because they dont know the ropes. News media nowadays tend to pay for the punishment than actually avoid treading lines. They are more likely to step into the grey area on the ethical issues. Fourthly, abuse of the public interest defence (especially by some elements of the news media) : Journalists damage their case further when their stories go too far, as they often do. Tabloids have behaved as though the public interest argument stretches indefinitely, that once established it justifies anything. But a legitimate public interest in an aspect of the private behaviour of a public figure cannot automatically justify disclosure of any private information about the individual. Legitimate public interest certainly justified the story that the heir to the Britain throne, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, had had an affair with Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles after his marriage. Public interest would probably also has justified the story, were it true, that Charles have sex with Camilla at his home while his wife was upstairs. The case was compromised, though by publication of pictures inside the Parker-Bowles home and bedroom against their will. They were not justified by a pub lic interest. The chairman of the PCC, Lord Wakeham, gave a strong warning to editors early in 1995 against abuse of the public interest defence. He said the Commission would not tolerate spurious use of the defence when considering complaints. Soon afterwards, the PCC severely critised the biggest selling British newspaper, the Sunday tabloid, the News of the World, for coverage of the illness of Lady Spencer, wife of the brother of the Prince of Wales. The paper has shown sad pictures of Lady Spencer, taken evidently without her knowledge, while she was being treated for an eating disorder. No genuine public interest was involved an Lord Wakeham took the unusual step of writing to the owner of the paper, Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation, about it. As a result, Murdoch publicly rubuked the News of the World editors. Specious and spurious arguments and dubious cases aside, the public interest defence is widely recognized as valid within limits. The committee appointed by government to examine media intrusion and suggested what public interest defences might be used. Journalistic intrusion could be justified if the information collected expose crime, other wrong-doing or a danger to public health. The PCC adds a further consideration: intrusion can be justified if it would prevent the public from being misled by some statement or action of an individual or organisation. This could be strengthened further by adopting the public interest defence that already exists in the Obscene Publications Act. An intrusion could be defended if the material gained exposed any matter of serious concern to the general public. Critics regard generalized exceptions as weasel words designed to allow disreputable journalism to proceed unhindered. But plainly interpreted, a wide-ranging defence of the kind envisaged would offer some protection for public figures, would reduce the risk of commercial villains sheltering behind a privacy law and would not damage protection for ordinary people when they deserve it. Lastly, Outings by media which are couched as serving the public interest. To conclude , the news media are failing to serve the public interest because of abusing of individual right to privacy, interesting the public rather than serving the public interest, lies: publish and be damned degenerates to publish and be sued, abusing of the public interest defence (especially by some elements of the news media) and Outings by media which are couched as serving the public interest.

Friday, September 20, 2019

To Determine Social Media Usage Among Malaysia Student Media Essay

To Determine Social Media Usage Among Malaysia Student Media Essay Recent year have shown a worldwide growth pattern in social interaction in digital media more knows as social media. Today more than hundreds of millions internet user all over the world visited thousand of social media sites. Social media come out parallel with various technological affordances, supporting with a wide range of interests and practices. While, their key technological features are fairly consistent and the cultures that emerge around social media sites are varied. Most sites support the maintenance of pre-existing social networks, but others help strangers connect based on reasons, shared interests, political views, or activities. Universal McCann (2009) conducted an extensive study on social media usage among 232000 active internet users in 38 countries during spring 2009. This study showed that social consumption of digital content is either highly penetrated among active internet users or still growing rapidly. Besides that, through this study also find out that consumers continue to flock to digital destinations in order to create and share content, but they are now becoming more selective in terms of where they are doing it included the tools of social media are starting to coalesce on to a single platform type, namely the social network. According to Universal McCann (2009), 17 percent of active internet users globally now access the internet on the move, in others words internet and social media use are becoming more mobile. Social media platforms also are becoming more multi-media and the number of bloggers and social network users who have uploaded photos, videos, music and widgets has continued to rise since the last study conducted in 2007 until 2008. From this information, there is no doubt at all that social media increasingly important and become a culture for people all over the world in this era 21st century. Background of the study This study will carry out in Universiti Utara Malaysia because students are not exceptional as the active internet user and they have a higher access to the internet especially in variety types of social media. It is also because many students are teenager and still young. Usually, at this age the student have a higher desire to do something that their feel interesting and something new. Commonly, student will use many type of social media depending on their reasons. Sometimes, they visited social networking sites, collaboration websites, creativity work sharing sites and others type of social media to get any information, to make a discussion, to keep in touch with friend, for media sharing, self presentation and debate, social networks, referencing and recommendation services and many else. Problem statement Currently, social media become phenomena to all internet users not only in Malaysia but all over the world. According to the recent report, more than 30% teenager neglecting their school and also family because spend a long time to access social media. We can see that young became addicted to social media. Social media addiction will occur when people visited websites regularly without any motive, goal and became of their habit every day. Social media addicted is more likely to happens to a university student that have a greater access to the computer. So, this research will conduct a study in Universiti Utara Malaysia to identify the social media usage among Universiti Utara Malaysia student and also to determine the factors that motivate them to take part in social media. 1.3 Research question This research aims to answer the following question: What are the social media usages among Universiti Utara Malaysia student and what are the factors motivate them to take part in social media? 1.4 Research objective Research objective has listed below: To determine social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by performance. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by passing time. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by information seeking. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by social connection. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by entertainment. 1.5 Significance of the study A study on internet user regarding social media was done by previously researchers. However, the author choose to take the graduate as the scope of the study as this group is those who are educated and expose to technologies changes especially in emerging of variety type social media. They believe through social media they can gain many advantages and beneficial information. Hence, this group should be addressed to enhance a better understanding about social media and the factors motivate to take part in social media. The author chooses Universiti Utara Malaysia to conduct this study because Universiti Utara Malaysia is one of the early higher educations in Malaysia. Besides that, this study location at northern peninsular of Malaysia because until now, there did not have any study conduct regarding social media in Malaysia. This study is considered important because to identified the social media usage and to determined the factors that motivate Universiti Utara Malaysia student to take part in social media. This study also was conducted to view growing rapidly all over the world. The previously research about social media should be given a new lease. 1.6 Scope and limitation of the study The studies on the social media usages and motivation factors to take part in social media only focused only to the graduates. Graduated are here devoted to College of Business student that consist of undergraduate student and also postgraduates student. The researcher will make Universiti Utara Malaysia student from College of Business as their population and sample will be randomly selected from the population. The limitation of this study is limited to the Universiti Utara Malaysia student only because of timing problem and also budget problem. Organization of the research project CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction In this chapter earlier studies connected to the problem area and more specifically to the research questions, will be discussed. First, previous studies related to the definition of social media from previous research, will be presented. Then, literature regarding the research question from first question until the last question about social media usage and motivation factor to take part in social media among Universiti Utara Malaysia student will be brought up in this chapter. 2.1 Social media From the previous research, we can see there have several definitions of social media given by the previous researcher. The definition that already given by the previous researchers is so variety and there is no clear definition about social media. According to Universal McCann (2009), social media is a platform for social connection and also an application to user generated content. It is a new kind of online media that can be characterized by user participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness (Mayfield, 2006). Blog, micro blog, RSS, widget, social networking sites, chat room, message board, video and photo sharing is included in central of social media (Universal McCann, 2009). According to Universal McCann (2009), social media design is about designing platforms and applications for social interaction and user generated content. Social media is a new kind of online media characterized by user participation, openness, conversation, community, and connectedness (Mayfield, 2006). Central social media platforms include blogging, micro blogging, RSS, widgets, social networking, chat rooms, message boards, podcasts, video sharing, and photo sharing (Universal McCann, 2009) Social media is an application and system that can support content sharing, and create environment for sociable online that included solution for media sharing, presentation and debate, social network, referencing and recommendation and also sources for create knowledge. It also may include technology platform interactive television and also mobile phone (Karahasanovic Folstad, 2008). According to KarahasanoviĆ¡ Fà ¸lstad (2008), social media are systems and applications supporting content sharing and co-creation in sociable online environments. This includes solutions for media sharing (e.g. YouTube, Flickr), self presentation and debate (e.g. MySpace, blogs), social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn), referencing and recommendation services (e.g. Digg, Del.icio.us) and co-created knowledge resources (e.g. Wikipedia). Social media may also include technology platforms such as interactive television and mobile phones (KarahasanoviĆ¡ Fà ¸lstad, 2008). According to Kaplan et al (2010), social media is a group of internet based application that can build ideology and technology foundation of Web 2.0 that can allow creations of user generated contents and also exchanges the user generated contents. Web 2.0 can be consider as platform for the evolution of social media because it represent the ideology and technology foundation that have being seeing as the sum of all way in which people make use the social media (Kaplan et al, 2010). Social Media is a group of Internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content. They consider Web 2.0 as the platform for the evolution of Social Media because when Web 2.0 represents the ideological and technological foundation, User Generated Content (UGC) can be seen as the sum of all ways in which people make use of Social Media (Kaplan et al, 2010). There have three requirements in User Generate Content that included need to be published, certain amount of creative effort need to be show and lastly need to create outside from the practices and routine (Kaplan et al, 2010). According to Kaplan et al, (2010) User Generated Content needs to fulfil three basic requirements in order to be considered as such first, it needs to be published either on a publicly accessible website or on a social networking site accessible to a selected group of people and second, it needs to show a certain amount of creative effort and finally, it needs to have been created outside of professional routines and practices. The combination of technological drivers likes increased broadband availability and hardware capacity, economic drivers likes increased availability of tools for the creation of User Generated Content and social drivers likes rise of a generation of digital natives and screenagers: younger age groups with substantial technical knowledge and willingness to engage online will make User Generated Content nowadays fundamentally different from what was observed in the early 1980s. (Kaplan et al, 2010). According to Danah Allison (2007), social media is a web based service that allow user to construct a profile either public or semi public profile that will be bound by the system, all will be listed in the system included list of other user that they are connected with and lastly view and traverse their list that they are connected with and other within the systems. The connection is different between sites to sites. Social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and lastly view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site (Danah and Ellison, 2007). 2.2 Factors motivate to take part in social media They are many factors that can motivate user to take part in social media. It is included because of performance, passing time, information seeking, social connection and entertainment that will be elaborate below: 2.2.1 Self expression From literature we can find several different reasons why customers visit social media sites. Shao (2008), believe that the user contributed to social media because their need to self expression. This statement also supported by Sirgys (1982) claim that user looking for the experience that will enhance their self concept. Shao (2008) suggests that users contribute because they have a need for self-expression and self-actualization, which is supported by Sirgys (1982) claim that individuals look for experiences that enhance their self-concept. According to Shao (2008), self expression refer to user communicated their own identities and also their individualities. It is assume that user wan to communicate themselves to other person, so other person will know about themselves as they know themselves (Shao, 2008). Self-expression refers to users communicating their own identity and individuality (Shao, 2008). It is assumed that people want to communicate themselves to other people, so that others can know them as they know themselves (Goffman, 1959; McKenna and Bargh 1999; Swann, 1983; Shao, 2008). 2.2.2 Performance there are various types of Social Media that need to be distinguished further. However, although most people would probably agree that Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, and Second Life are all part of this large group, there is no systematic way in which different Social Media applications can be categorized. To create such a classification scheme, and to do so in a systematic manner, we rely on a set of theories in the field of media research (social presence, media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure), the two key elements of Social Media. Applied to the context of Social Media, we assume that a first classification can be made based on the richness of the medium and the degree of social presence it allows. Applied to the context of Social Media, we assume that a second classification can be made based on the degree of self-disclosure it requires and the type of self-presentation it allows. Social media encompasses a wide range of online, word-of-mouth forums including blogs, company sponsored discussion boards and chat rooms, consumer-to-consumer e-mail, consumer product or service ratings websites and forums, Internet discussion boards and forums, moblogs (sites containing digital audio, images, movies, or photographs), and social networking websites, to name a few. As illustrated by Table 1, social media outlets are numerous and varied. 2.2.3 Passing time 2.2.4 Information seeking According to Shao (2008) argue that the primary use of social media among user is to find information and also to build the knowledge. Users can get technical value from social media through find the specific information that can broadening and increase their knowledge (Shao, 2008). Shao (2008) suggest that the primary use is looking for information and building knowledge. In social media technical value can be seen as the value that the customer gets from finding specific information or just broadening his knowledge (Shao, 2008). Desire to increase knowledge among user are motivated user to seeking for the information. User not only wants to get information about others and the world but they also want to provide information about themselves to others and the world. Shao (2008) argues that information seeking is motivated by users desire to increase knowledge. Users want information about themselves, others and the world (Shao, 2008). Studies show that people are increasingly looking for information on the web, which has lead to sites like wikipedia.org growing rapidly (Shao, 2008). According to Kaplan (2010), the trend of social media can be seen as evolution to the Internet root since World Wide Web already transform to became a platform that can exchanges information between user. The current trend toward Social Media can therefore be seen as an evolution back to the Internets roots, since it retransforms the World Wide Web to what it was initially created for a platform to facilitate information exchange between users (Kaplan, 2010). Shao (2008), argue that users can find and get information about product and services but in some cases, user are more trusted the information that they are getting from others user compare to the information that they are getting from the marketers. Searching for information can also be related to reading about products or services. In most cases, users trust information that they get from other users more than they trust information that is provided by marketers (Shao, 2008). According Kim et al, (2010) both members and non-members have two types of facilities to find the information they need on social Web sites. The facilities are keyword-based search engines and browsing. The search engines can be used to look for the names of people, names of groups, and particular UCCs. Browsing can be done on selected groups and UCCs in a particular category. Most sites allow keyword-based search of text-based contents. Some search engines are fairly powerful, while others are crude. The users can also browse the results of keyword-based searches, and groups and UCCs that are suggested as related to the group and UCCs the users currently view. All social Web sites provide categories for the UCCs stored, so that users may browse UCCs in a specific category. 2.2.5 Social connection Social media can also increase users social interactions, and decreases loneliness or help users manage their moods (Shao, 2008). These motivations can also be linked to the community aspect of social media, as Tedjamulia et al (2005) suggests that one of the reasons why users choose to contribute is because they feel motivated to do so because of being part of a community. Social Web sites provide various facilities for members to use to communicate with their online connections, that is, friends and other members. These include email, instant messaging, text messaging, and public and private bulletin boards, and even Internet phone services. Such sites as MySpace and Facebook allow their members to use the messaging and phone call facilities of Internet phone services, such as Skype (Kim et al, 2010). Further, according to Kim et al, (2010) on behalf of the members, the sites send member updates and notices using emails or text messages to members friends. They also send updates and notices to members of groups. The sites also display friends updates to members public and private boards. For example, Twitter allows members to send mes- sages to friends on what the members are doing. A message, which is restricted to 140 characters, may be sent to friends mobile devices and their Twitter accounts. A member may have one or more followers, and many members may be following a member. Facebook provides a mini bulletin board (called a wall) to post a members message for all friends to see and respond to. LinkedIn provides an answers function to allow members to answer questions posted by other members, and to refer the questions to their online connections.