It refers to marketing techniques that uses pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be a word-of mouth delivered or enhaced by the network effects on the internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images or even text messages.  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing

An example would be Pepsi Advertisement

Watch Video Here

It is an example of viral marketing which not only advertise with a storyline and products, in this video, stars like David Beckham, Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce are involved. Stars not only help to advertise Pepsi ,at the same time they could also promote themselves.

Immersive:

pertaining to immersing or plunging into something

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/immersive?o=100074

Difference between New Media and Digital Media

Digital Media does not allow participation whereas new media involves participation. An example of participation would be Facebook Wall.

Here are some questions to tackle:

1. What kind of customer value does Youtube provide in the marketplace?

What is customer value? : Customer value is the sum of all tangible and intangible benefits, direct and indirect, derived from a vendor relationship.  These benefits result in either cost savings or increases in profitable revenue generation for customers. Source: http://www.vxtconsulting.com/FAQ.htm#How%20is%20customer%20value%20defined

Youtube allows members or non-members to make use of it as a platform to search for relevant topics. For example a businessman who does not have any design-based software background trying to find out how to use photoshop to edit photos, with Youtube, the businessman can easily access to videos of tutorials on photoshop and even links to download photoshop brushes/ patterns.

Youtube is a video sharing website hence it can benefit the public by sharing videos from all over the world. Be it tutorials, movies, music videos, self promotion or any other video that might eventually benefit someone one day.

2. How do business like Youtube alter the ways that organizations and customers interact?

Example: Nike

Whenever Nike launches a new sports shoe, they can make use of Youtube to share with users around the world which would then become their customers. Advertising their products online gives convenience to users who are researching on the product. After videos of the product has been uploaded, users can comment and Nike can improvise on their strategies to attract more customers and gain feedback at the same time.

3. What are the challenges facing Youtube in the future?

One strong competitive would be Metacafe which is a community based video sharing website that specializes in short-form original entertainment, where users upload, view and share video clips. For Youtube to overcome and defeat competitive competitors like Metacafe, Youtube must improve on the infrastructure, quality of videos and finding ways to strike big companies for a revenue.

Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF)  is a non-profitable charitable organization, established in February 1996 by Dr Gordon Ku who is a kidney specialist, which subsidized dialysis treatment and medical fee to help needy patients who are in financial difficulties.

A holistic approach is taken when caring for patients as it is KDF’s mission to look after the well-being of patients by nurturing hope and confidence to make life more meaningful, even for the most destitute. With the commitment to provide high quality, low cost treatment to patients who are unable to afford treatment KDF has with the support of donors and sponsors, set up a few centres to care for its patients.

As at 31 March 2009 KDF has served over 519 patients of which 53 have undergone successful kidney transplantations. It is currently serving about 274 patients and annually, $6.4 million is needed to continue this life-saving mission.

What’s so special about KDF?

KDF are very focus and only attends to a niche group of patients who are from the lowest 10% of the income group and referred by the medical social workers from various hospitals. Most of the patients in KDF holds job such as cleaners, hawker assistants, store assistants and taxi drivers.

Patient Population

As at 31 March 2009, the total patient number stood at 274 which translates to approximately 4.2% less patients compared to FY07/08.
This can be a worrying or good news because even though the numbers fall but there are still patients who need help but does not know where to seek help from.

KDF’s official website also allows public to get to know more about what happens during the dialysis and what are the causes of it.
Explanations are all provided to the public and this is a photo on the website of what happens during a haemodialysis treatment:

Creating more awareness.

KDF has made an effort to create a Facebook account but it only has  15 fans who are aware that this organization that exist on facebook. Obviously there are more than 15 and some people who are aware might not want to become a fan of it. I will improvise and think of solutions and discuss it on my next post on the final project.

5 key points the speaker has mentioned during his presentation.

(1) The use of social media as a tool to deliver a message across and get response in return. Like what he showed us that blog shops are using new media tools like facebook or twitter to publicize their web and at the same time,  if the response is high, blog shop owner could perhaps get money for adverting for Nuffnag.
(2) The process of doing a web page for a client. First it starts of with what the client needs and the cost or fee for the service is based on the content and types of media used. The process of web publishing needs to be uploaded to a host before it can be displayed.There are many kinds of host; shared hosting, dedicated hosting.
(3) Twitter is very useful because if you have a smart phone, you can access twitter to see the updates of friends, and follow websites you like. For example, channel news Asia, when you follow them, you will receive short new updates that are useful.
(4) New media tools they instill in blogs. For example: Xiaxue’s blog when she has the photo of the moment that allows xiaxue to take any photo with her blackberry and sends an email to an address and  it will automatically be uploaded on her webpage.

(5) Difference between blogshop and e commerce sites, blog shops usually do not have automated payment gateway; the payment being processed online so its more cheaper compared to e commerce websites.

3 things that has inspired you from this lecture.

(1) The new media tools that makes our life easier and comfortable. It has inspired me to continue searching for ways to improvise on the things around me.

(2) It has inspired me to start developing ideas that are ever changing because ideas are everywhere but it a matter of getting the idea.

(3) I’ve been motivated to research for more media tools that makes life easier in the future.

Do you think it is useful to have a guest speaker to share their expertise, experience and “Tips & Tricks” of the trade?

Yes, I strongly agree on this. This lecture not only allow me to gain more knowledge,I am also able to understand the difficulties and challenges that experts face. From there,I can learn from their mistakes and do not repeat it again. It is useful because we are not experience and had never tried working in the society so by having a speaker who is experienced and has been working with major companies, it would benefit us. From this lecture, I have realized how fast technology flows and if we are still not moving, then we are going  to be behind technology.

Credit Source : http://www.streetdirectory.com/stock_images/travel/preview/11048448100029/19768/national_archives_of_singapore/

Credit Source : http://www.streetdirectory.com/stock_images/travel/normal_show/11048448100028/19768/national_archives_of_singapore_entrance/

National Archives of Singapore (NAS) was formed in August 1993 with the amalgamation of the National Archives and the Oral History Department. It is responsible for the collection and management of records pertaining to the nation’s political, social and economic history. Apart from public records, NAS also identifies and collects records of historical significance from private sources, both locally and overseas. In 1993, both NAS and the National Museum of Singapore were brought under the administration of the National Heritage Board.

History of National Archives of Singapore (NAS).

The National Archives was originally established in 1968 for the preservation and administration of the archives. This treasure house has records dating as far back as 1800, 19 years before the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles. The Oral History Centre records dcuments, preserves and disseminates information on the history of Singapore through the oral history methodology.

Who Are They?

The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) houses the collective memory of our nation. This memory allows current and future generations Of Singaporeans to understand our different cultures, explore our common heritage and appreciate who we are and how we became a nation.

As the official custodian of the corporate memory of the government, NAS manages public records and provides advice to government agencies on records management. From government files, private memoirs, historical maps and photographs to oral history interviews and audio-visual materials, NAS is responsible for the collection, preservation and management of Singapore’s public and private archival records, some of which date back to the early 19th century.

NAS protects the rights of citizens by providing evidence and accountability of government actions. Its repository of archival materials makes NAS an important research centre for those in search of information about the country’s history. NAS also promotes public interest in our nation’s history and heritage through educational programmes and exhibitions.

What do they do?

NAS aims to build a comprehensive documentary heritage of our nation and to become a leading resource centre for the research and dissemination of information on the history of Singapore. It has a selection of archival materials available for viewing by the public, including public records, building plans, oral history recordings, photographs, electronic records and an audio-visual collection of microfilms, films, videotapes, colour slides, negatives and maps.

The Oral History Centre, administered by the NAS, sets out to interview and tape historical reminiscences of individuals. Its role is to record, document, preserve and disseminate information on subjects of significance to nation-building.

NAS’s Historic Sites Unit, formed on 1 October 1996, identifies and commemorates buildings and sites where historic events had taken place. Other than military sites, the Unit plans, coordinates and implements the marking of economic, cultural and educational sites.

Types of services they provide:

(1) Records Management And Preservation.
NAS implements an effective records management programme for the public service.
Vital records are scanned and output onto microfilms for preservation in climate-controlled conditions. Records with intrinsic value are carefully conserved. In 2003, NAS achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification in imaging and conservation services, in recognition of quality and operational efficiency in our key preservation processes.

(2) Providing Access
The value of archives lies in their continuing relevance to people who need them to understand the past, write research papers, as evidence of rights and obligations, or simply as creative inspiration. Public access to their collections is available through our Archives Reference Room or online at www.a2o.com.sg.

(3) Sharing Knowledge
In addition to our core work in protecting and preserving its archives, NAS shares expertise with the community through consultation and training. They run regular seminars on using archival resources, records management and oral history methodology. In partnership with local universities, NAS provides internships and courses on archives and records management. They also conduct guided tours of NAS to educate the public on the nuts and bolts of archival work.

(4) Archives Conservation Services
Archives Conservation Lab provides professional conservation services for paper records such as anoxic treatment, deacidification, leafcasting, mechanical cleaning, manual repair, tissue mounting, encapsulation and high value (rare) book binding using archival method. Their customers include government agencies, companies as well as private collectors. Their experienced conservators will be able to recommend the type of treatment(s) required and provide an estimation of the charges based on the physical condition of the records as well as offering advice on proper storage and handling methods.

Public Education
As part of their mission to promote an awareness of Singapore’s history, NAS has several outreach programmes to cater to your specific needs.

(1) Travelling Exhibitions
NAS has put together an array of travelling exhibitions to suit all age groups and audiences. Our exhibitions travel to schools, community clubs, shopping centres and other locations in Singapore. They are available for booking at a fee throughout the year. 

(2) Online Exhibitions
Some of their more popular travelling exhibitions are now available to you at the click of the mouse. The online exhibitions are enhanced interactive multimedia versions of NAS’ previous, current and forthcoming exhibitions that are touring the schools and other locations in Singapore.

(3) Internship And Attachment Programmes For Students
Student internships/attachments are offered to schools on an annual basis. The programme aims to introduce them to NAS and its functions by allowing them practical hands-on experience in areas like conservation, documentation, automation and research. Students are given the opportunity to interact with professionals and thus able to expand their future career options. Through the attachment, students will also be imbibed with positive work values and attitudes.

(4) Student Projects
Every year, NAS receives several batches of students from the schools and institutions of higher learning such as the polytechnics, for attachment programmes. To ensure that the students apply their knowledge and skills obtained during their stint with NAS, they are encouraged to submit projects related to their course of studies and to NAS’ mission.

Social Media Tools Used- a2o

IT savvy Singaporeans today expect “instant” information to be made available via Internet. To meet the increasing demand for on-line research and to remain relevant in the Knowledge Age, National Heritage Board (NHB) as a major content provider on heritage information, needs to ride on the changing mindset and expectation and re-engineer information delivery mechanism.

The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) developed the Access to Archives Online Singapore (a²O), a one-stop portal site on heritage information dating back to 17th century. a²O allows users to seamlessly search information across NHB’s various independent databases and view selected photographs, maps and plans, listen to oral history interview samplers and watch snippets of audio-visual recordings, round the clock. In addition, a2o also provides information on recently acquired materials by NAS, Online Exhibitions, how to access our archival collection as well as student programmes.

Down Syndrome Association,Singapore.

Introduction to down syndrome- What causes down syndrome?

Down syndrome is a genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra chromosome 21. A baby born with Down syndrome has three copies of chromosome 21 instead of the usual two. As yet it is not known what causes the presence of an extra chromosome 21.  It can come from either the mother or the father.   There is no way of predicting whether a person is more or less likely to make an egg or sperm with 24 chromosomes. There is a definite link with advanced maternal age for reasons yet unknown.  However most babies with Down syndrome are born to women under the age of 35, as younger women have higher fertility rates. It occurs in all races, social classes and in all countries throughout the world.  It can happen to anyone.

DSA Singapore is actually very helpful and supportive towards those families with down syndrome kids. DSA is also continuously updating their events for people suffering from down syndrome to participate actively outdoors and indoors. Events like movie marathon, Bowling, Soccer, Yoga, Dance, Swimming..etc has been organised to let them know that they are not outcast in the society because of their illness but also let them experience activities that can at the same time,  improve their strength and health.

DSA has education and support services like:

(1) Adult services
(2) Children services
(3) Family support services

(1) Adult services

ADULT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM (AEP)

The AEP is a skills enhancement program targeted at persons with intellectual disabilities who have graduated from (special) schools at 18 years old. It is a weekly 5-day program from 9.00am to 4.00pm that focuses on:

1. Work Activities (Work)
2. Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
3. Leisure Activities (Leisure)

AEP seeks to enhance the clients’ skills in the above three areas so as to maximize their potential and to help them become more independent and productive in the course of their life. Clients in the program are placed in three tracks of specialization, namely Open Employment/Social Enterprise, Project-based, and Leisure-based tracks, respectively.

(2) Children Services

Integration Facilitation Support Programme (IFSP)

As part of its ongoing efforts to provide support for children with Down syndrome in mainstream education, DSA’s Integration Facilitation Support Programme (IFSP) serves to support children with Down syndrome in mainstream pre-schools and primary schools.

In its continuing outreach and partnership with mainstream schools, DSA is providing a range of school based consultancy services, which include:
Providing teacher training in the school through imparting specific strategies in assisting children with Down syndrome make academic gains.
Training teachers in behaviour management strategies to remediate behaviour problems for the child with Down syndrome by directly working on-site with the teacher in the school and classroom.
Providing workshops and talks to schools in understanding and working with children with Down syndrome.

(3) Family support services

The DSA Family Support Services(FSS) maintains and provides support to four groups to ensure continuous development for the parents/caregivers of persons with Down syndrome –

1. New parents (parents of newborns, toddlers and pre-school children)
2. Young parents (parents of young children/young teens)
3. Mature parents (parents of teenagers and young adults)
4. Siblings (of persons with Down syndrome).

They have served a total of over 100 families, with 279 parents/caregivers over the past year.

They conduct parent support group sharing sessions for the various groups. A total of 121 parents/caregivers participate in these sessions to enhance their knowledge and capability. The support group sessions provide a conducive platform for sharing and providing emotional and psycho-social support to parents/caregivers.

DADS SG (Dads Appreciating Down Syndrome –Singapore) is an acronym created by a group of fathers in US who shared a very unique common bond i.e. they are all dads of children with Down syndrome.  These sessions link up dads who share common concerns and hopes for their children. This network of dads provides opportunities to exchange experiences, support one another, as well as be an effective catalyst for advocating the causes of persons with Down syndrome.

MOMs Only is a unique group of mothers who have children with Down syndrome. The Moms get together on a regular basis to share and exchange best practices and information on bringing up a child with Down syndrome.

They have organized talks’ workshops such as the Kinder Art workshops, Kindermusik workshops, presentation on the Hanen Programme, a Dental talk, a Speech Therapy training session, and an Oral-muscle therapy presentation by Mr. Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson from Talk Tools International USA.  A total of 158 parents/caregivers participated in the said activities. These educational parent workshops hosted by various professionals’ aim to empower parents/caregivers with skills and knowledge to provide best in class care to their children.

Solutions to further increase DSA’s presence in the society:

DSA has already been very active in organizing activities to make sure down syndrome kids are not neglected in any way. Other than organizing activities, planning workshops and consultancy services.
Here are some solutions that might help to further increase their presence and raise awareness.

1. Newspaper Articles
Newspaper is a simple yet powerful media tool that is able to deliver messages direct and fast. In this society, more and more people are concerned about the current news and when they read the article it has not only gave them information but also at the same time, make them think about the people who are suffering from down syndrome.

2. Public Online Forum
To further increase the awareness there must first be active participants. With a public online forum, anybody can access to the forum to suggest an outing, exchange opinions, post comments..etc that are able to connect everybody together. DSA has planned events that are suitable for the family but with a public online forum, a poll can be created and they can vote for the best outing venue or activity. This way of organizing is much better because it is dependent on the majority.

3. Working with the neighborhood community
DSA can increase their presence by going into a smaller area,community clubs. Community clubs is the heart of all neighborhood and if pamphlets or articles are being given out or put up on the noticeboard, it can actually create more feedback. Community clubs can also organize an mini children party where all the children from the neighborhood are invited. This can not only let the children familiarize themselves, they can also make new friends and understand more about children in their neighborhood who are suffering from down syndrome.

After reviewing the communication process, I understand that communications are for a reason and be it important or not; there would bound to be some miscommunications and interference. Arguments and misunderstanding usually evolves from bad communication when both parties and more are unable to decode or understand each other. Everyone communicates and different types of people communicate differently. I have learnt that communication is a process and such contains many elements susceptible of defect.

Diagram 1.2- Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/osterwalder/242636313/

I personally feel that communication is like a daily activity to do no matter if I’m in school or at home. I need to communicate to my family, friends and even strangers who I interact with. Communication has become a part of my life to get ideas and comments across to the other parties involved. From the diagram 1.2 above, it shows that for communication to be present there should be a speaker and a listener; speaker being the one who voices out the comments and ideas and the other end being the listener, receiving the comment or idea suggested.

Also, I am aware that there are many ways to communicate between each other and to communicate, channels or rather means of communication is needed. Examples would be like face-to-face conversation, emails. Posters, short messages, advertisement…Etc.

The other model of communication I found while researching:

Schramm’s Models

Wilbur Schramm’s 1954 model expands on this thinking by emphasizing the process of encoding and decoding the message. Schramm envisioned this process as a two-way circular communication between the sender and receiver. Where the Shannon-Weaver model is a more mathematical and technological one, Schramm incorporates the study of human behavior in the communication process.

In addition to the six elements above, Schramm has included these concepts:

Feedback – information that comes back from the receiver to the sender and tells him how well he is doing.

Diagram of Schramm’s feedback loop:

Field of Experience – an individual’s beliefs, values, experiences and learned meanings both as an individual or part of a group.

Diagram of Schramm’s field of experience:

Dr. Schramm suggests that the message can be complicated by different meanings learned by different people. Meanings can be denotative or connotative. Denotative meanings are common or dictionary meanings and can be roughly the same for most people. Connotative meanings are emotional or evaluative and based on personal experience. A message can also have surface and latent meanings. Other characteristics of messages that impact communication between two individuals are: intonations and pitch patterns, accents, facial expressions, quality of voice, and gestures. The successful transmission of a message depends on whether this message will be accepted over all the competing messages.

Schramm’s model of communication also allows for the process of interpreting the message. This process is influenced by the presence of both physical (phone, tv, sirens, etc.) and semantic (distractions, age, attitudes, etc.) noise.

Dr. Schramm believed that all of these elements were important functions of communication in society. He felt that people in a society need information on their environment and methods of communicating in order to make decisions. Most importantly we need “places to store the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of a society and this is why we have libraries” (Schramm, 1963, pg. 14). Within a library, all of these elements of Wilbur Schramm’s communication model are useful in addressing problems with conducting a reference interview. This model provides the rationale to solve the problem presented in this project.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/05/massive-facebook-and-myspace-flash-vulnerability-exposes-user-data/

Brief overview of article: This article is about the security safety of the user either from the 2 social networking sites, facebook or myspace. How some of the hackers on the internet can easily rip our passwords to access to all our account data that includes photos, personal messages and anything that can be found on the web page.

“ A Facebook developer named Yvo Schaap has uncovered a massive security flaw present on both Facebook and MySpace that would give hackers the ability to steal all of your account data, including your photos, personal messages, and basically everything else you’ve ever put on the social networks, without you ever realizing it.”

This has become a very serious matter because it involves the violation of one’s privacy. Responses are still waiting from myspace to be confirmed while facebook is investigating and working on the problem. In facebook’s case, when we check the ‘remember me’ ,we do not have to open any file to get affected; as long as if one of our infected files shows up in the News Feed. It is that simple.

Facebook has implemented that: “The security of our users is a top priority for Facebook and we worked with the researcher who identified the issue to fix it. We have not received any reports that it was ever exploited.” Simply meaning that facebook team has been researching on it and has not found anything to prove that there indeed exist hackers who steal account information on facebook. Thus, the exploitation might be just a rumour.

Facebook is no longer just a social networking site but many businesses and companies are using facebook to enhance their popularity around the world and to be recognised. In this case, if files are easily accessed by hackers it would not be effective to advertise on facebook due to its security that lead to personal information being leaked out. Facebook has previously said that there are a whopping 300,000 developers building on its platform.

Due to the advancement in technology, hackers nowadays do not need very good computers or special device to hack because codes are all open in the internet. It is observed as a trend that hackers would usually hack accounts for their own benefits and they would go with the flow and observed sites that are popular and easier to hack.

Social networking has indeed added spice to our lives because we have a way to communicate over to people around the world instead of just communicating to the locals. In a way or another, it has advantages and disadvantages. For all I feel, do not post anything on the internet that is important example: office documents, passwords.etc Internet is very broad but nonetheless, it works very quickly, information could be downloaded as fast as a minute or two.

In conclusion, hackers are targeting people who are flashy or popular on the internet which can benefit them. Therefore as long as we do our part to make sure that our passwords are 100% private and personal, there would not be such cases of passwords or account data being stolen.

Imagery Credits: http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20080317/475_facebook_080317.jpg

http://blog.bluefur.com/images/hacker.jpg

http://www.v4technical.com/images/v4_social_networks.jpg

http://www.akafla.com/images/aka-stamp-contact_th.jpg

Simplicity is me, I am simplicity. I love outdoor activities and shopping.  Colours fill my life; they makes me happy.   My goal is to be an interior designer.