Online Communication, Business Assessment

 

Hello!

The business I chose to look at is Nemesis Boutique. 

Some things I will focus on while assessing their business are as follows:

• Does the company do a good job communicating on its website and social media platforms? Provide examples.
• On the company website, what is featured at the top, in the middle, and at the bottom of the home page? Why do you think they have it organized this way? In your opinion, is it effective?
• Does the business communicate an identity online? Provide examples.
• Where could the company improve its online communication?

 

This company does do a great job communicating both on their website and social media platforms. This business has several social media platforms in which they post to often including Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. They do a great job of communicating because on TikTok, for example, they box customers' orders with permission, which allows for their business to be completely transparent. On Instagram, another example, they ask for opinions on what customers want to see as well as post updates on promo codes and sales. 

On the company website, at the top, is links to their social media, the company name, shipping time, website tabs, cart, and a member login. I think they have organized it this way to make it easy for customers to navigate as they have the big sections that people would normally go to such as, contact, policies, etc. They also probably organized it this way to make communicating easier as not only is the contact information tab listed at the top of the page but also the social media icon links. In the middle of the page is the logo, a shop button, and their message to customers. I believe that they placed this here because it is what they want customers to see first. At the bottom of the page are some featured items available on their shop. This is placed here most likely so the viewers can have a quick look at some of the fun deals this business has to offer.

This business creates an identity focused on using natural ingredients and making handmade products. They are focused on creating candles that have a positive impact on their audience. They present their business as having a lot to choose from and making the process as individualized as the customer wants it. They really focus on making products handmade FOR the customer.

On its online communication, the company could improve by adding a live chat to their website for example. This company already does a great job in communicating online and I don't know what else they could add to make it better.

Nemesis Boutique

Crystal Point Pillar Candle — Nemesis Boutique

Prensky's "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants"

 Two things to reflect on:

• According to Prensky, what is the immigrant/native divide, and how has it affected how students learn?

        Marc Prensky is an American writer and speaker on education. In Prensky's article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, he discusses the immigrant/native divide and how that divide has impacted students' learning. In his article, Prensky uses the phrases "Digital Native", meaning those of us who grew up with technology and understand it as a whole and "Digital Immigrant" meaning people who adapted to the digital world and adopted some or all aspects of the digital world without being born into it. Going off of this, when referring to an immigrant/native divide, Prensky is referring to the boundary between the digital native and the digital immigrant. When comparing the digital immigrants with digital natives there is a large divide in how one thinks, and uses the resources provided in order to learn effectively. This divide is based on what Prensky would say is "speaking different languages", the "modern" language of a smooth use of digital media such as editing things online and the "old" language such as printing and editing things on paper. This goes to affect learning because digital immigrants, that we know now as teachers and adults we look up to are trying to teach digital natives the "old" language that they now rather than letting students explore the "modern" language.

• According to Prensky, what category do I fall into, and how has it affected my learning?

    According to Prensky I fall into the category of digital natives. I was born in 2002 and grew up with the modern technologies. This allowed me to grow up speaking the language of the digital world and understand it but it also made it so I was growing up and being taught by people who fall into the category of digital immigrants. This meant that I was speaking the digital language but limited to what my teachers could do with it. Outside of school I was multitasking and using as many resources as I could while inside school, I was doing single tasks with limited resources making it harder to expand my knowledge in school and other places of learning. This is just one way in which my learning was impacted by this divide and how my learning was affected by being a digital native. 

Image link

Knapp's Relational Model

     We all have several relationships in our lives whether they are friendship, romance, family, etc. All relationships at any time are in the ongoing process of either developing or dying. Knapps Relational Model portrays a relationship as a series of steps broken down into two stages that happen at the same time. These two "stages", coming together and coming apart, combine to form relational maintenance. 

    One interpersonal relationship that I have that is a good representation of Knapp's Relational Model is my relationship with my mom. My mom and I have been through a lot, and so has our relationship. We have come together, grown apart and ended up coming back together as most children do with their parents. Starting with the initiating stage, that initiation happened when I was a baby, and my mom was my mom. That relationship started the day I was born. Moving on to experimenting, my mom tried several ways with me growing up to aid our relationship and aid me in general. Please experiments brought us closer as I started figuring out that relationship. Next comes intensifying, which game in my tween slash teen stages. This was where our relationship became stronger because I was actually able to start developing my side of the relationship because I was finally able to put things in perspective and relate. Next comes integrating. This is where I established my identity and established the relationship's identity by highlighting the qualities that make my relationship with my mom its own. Then came bonding, this was probably established in middle school to early high school when my mom and I started hanging out with my sisters and going out. This was formally establishing that relationship in public. Then moving on to late to mid-teens that differentiation stage kicked in. I had moments where I felt thrown to the side or moments where it felt like some things that meant a lot to me didn't mean anything to them. This is where I expressed my beliefs and acted in a way that was different in my mom's perspective. Next came circumscribing. This is where I avoided topics that would make us angry at each other and I shared information that she wanted to hear and held information that she didn't want to hear to myself. Next stagnation kicked in where I avoided communicating or talking about the problems or disagreements and soon after avoiding was taking place because I had distanced myself from her by going out more and spending as little time at home as possible, engaging minimally. My relationship with my mom never hit the terminating stage. Instead that relationship was rebuilt starting back at initiation.

Photo link

Oversharing Online

 Some questions that come to mind:

• What factors might influence whether Facebook has negative influences, such as links with depression, versus positive results, such as boosts in self-esteem?

• Do social networking sites have any responsibility in promoting mental health in their users? If so, how might they go about doing so?

    Facebook, and all other social media platforms for that matter, has both negative influences and positive influences on users. Some factors that may be linked with negative results could be lack of followers, lack of likes, mean comments or posts made and anything else of the sort. Some factors that may be linked with positive results could be a higher number of likes, a higher number of followers, nice comments or posts or anything of that sort, essentially the opposite of what there could be causing negative results. These numbers and comments associated with social media in comparison to that of others or that of what you normally get on posts can impact your mood and thoughts about it all in different ways. In other words, it all depends on perspective and the person running the account. Some people may find it overwhelming to have that many people keeping tabs on them whereas others may find it flattering and enjoy the attention and some people could care less about any of it. Links with depression can occur when people who appreciate the attention are not seeing the numbers and comments they want to see. This lack of attention can cause poor self-esteem, poot feelings of self-worth and they may wind up feeling as though they can't be good enough. These thoughts over a prolonged period of time could lead towards that feeling of depression. On the other side, boosts of self-esteem can also result from social media. Seeing the numbers, comments and support you want to see over social media and seeing your platform grow for example, can boost your self-esteem like no other. Knowing that there are people out there who want to follow your journey, find you entertaining, or even just like the content you are putting out can make you feel so supported. This can make you feel like you are good enough because people like what you have to offer, which boosts your overall self-esteem and confidence levels.

I feel like social networking platforms do have some responsibility in promoting mental health for its users but not completely. To certain extent, these platforms do have a responsibility in my opinion, but a lot of it depends on the perception and mindset of the user. Just because a platform promotes mental health does not mean that it is going to work by itself, it's the user's job to perceive it in a way that is beneficial. Promoting mental health doesn't stop a user from comparing themselves to others or taking something the wrong way. The user is responsible for that part. I do believe though that it is the platforms' responsibility to give the user some of the tools to do this. One way that platforms could do this could be promoting body positivity, for example. Another way may be normalizing seeking help and it being okay. This could be done by refining the advertisements shown to viewers. Simply just switching out a few models here and there or having advertisements geared toward actually helping people could do the trick. There are so many more way that platforms could promote mental health, but these are just a couple examples.

About Me!

 Hello all!

My name is Madeleine Bouchard, but I go by Maddie. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science majoring in Chemistry at Oregon State University. I am currently a senior and will hopefully be graduating next spring! Afterwards I will be pursuing my Masters in teaching here as well. In my free time in the fall, I march alongside the Oregon State Marching Band as one of the captains of the Oregon State Marching Band Color Guard, or flag team as some may know. In my free time in the other times of the year, I practice this activity and I work. During the school year I work on campus as a General Chemistry Teaching Assistant, and I run a lab full of General Chemistry students! With my degree, I hope to one day be a high school chemistry and science teacher.  

Oregon State University Color Guard