The Sartorialist

   I follow a lot of fashion blogs but the one that sticks out and is followed by millions of users is one called 'The Sartorialist'. His blog was started around 2004 and today, it is one of the most famous blogs in the fashion industry. His pictures have influenced top designers and his inspiration to find the best dressed people are what makes him such a hit. He responds to most of his comments and each picture is taken with grace and clarity. He also adds a brief summary as to how he was able to capture the images of these people.
    His professional pictures are filled with dramatic still images of the person being photographed. Comments are often posted right as he posts his blog and his audience seems to always come back for more pictures or just to gain a little inspiration.
    Another thing to note is that he writes monthly articles for GQ magazine. GQ magazine is a major magazine for male fashion and inspiration. I pretty big feat being only a blog writer. He travels the globe in search of fashion and has made a pretty successful living from it.
 

Here is  link to his Blogspot:
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

Serious Blogging for Bloggers

  
   If you're serious about blogging and want to actually make something out of it, I'd recommend reading this article I found. It shows ways to improve your blog and make it come to life. It shows how to gain more viewers and to actually improve the ways you post content. As with most things, Content if one of the key pieces the article stresses to improve. Another way of improving your blog is by actually answering questions your audience asks. Basically, the way to go is to put down everything you're doing in life and devote entirely to blogging!

Here is the link. Enjoy!

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/17-ways-to-grow-your-blog-from-top-bloggers/

Social Media Drives Stocks!?

   I read an article today stating that Social Media can and does influence the stock market. That article stated that three brands (coke, nike, and starbucks) were researched over a 10 month period and noticed a trend through facebook, youtube, and twitter feeds that the more people who were involved with the fan-base of these companies, the higher the stocks drove for those companies. Consistent interest in these companies through profile pages on these social media sites may well be the new way to build profits of the stocks!
   The article also discusses brand loyalty and how it plays a massive part in how a company can build off these websites. If more users are accounted for and use the sites to generate a user interaction, it influences the users to purchase and it also sheds greater light for the companies to learn from the users and their spending habits.
   I wonder what this does as a general business idea? Maybe I should invest in some of these stocks as well. Well, I must say, I may need to do more research on how to invest. One question I'll leave with is if these social media sites have an end to what kinds of possibilities they can perform? As social media grows, so does its surroundings.


Here is the link to the article. Enjoy!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382391,00.asp

Earthquake in Japan

  
   Recently, a lot of social media sites have been used to donate or spread awareness of the earthquake in Japan. What we see is that many people are involved on facebook, myspace, twitter, and other various sites. I think the social media sites have been used in every possible way now.
   As a moderator of the MY.IS forums, we've decided to open up a Japan relief thread to help and donate money to the people in need in the various provinces in Japan. We've had hundreds of dollars donated already and we're now able to spread awareness as well on the forum to the members all around the world. I think forums are a good place to spread awareness because we have people with similar interests focusing on one cause. Forums are used to discuss and inform users of various topics and using that to inform members about Japan is awesome.
   To the families in Japan who are homeless, scared, hungry, etc., MY.IS is doing it's part in helping you all. Our blessings are with every single one of you and please keep your heads up as we continue to do our part.

Social Media Sites: Safe?

  
   I was watching "To Catch A Predator" a few days ago on youtube (short clip). The show basically tries to catch online child molesters with undercover cameras and uses young boys and girls to target the them. I notice that they start off with the youngsters talking to sex offenders through various social media sites and chat rooms. As we know, there are thousands of sexual offenders on these sites who create fake profiles in order to attract a specific type of individual to fulfill their sexual fantasies. Usually, these perverts would force the children to meet up in a distinct location and meet and have a good time. What the molesters don't know is that they are actually being monitored.
   Are these social media sites safe enough for teens to use? We see and hear news stories about myspace, facebook, craigslist killers everyday and it's extremely disturbing. Social media sites are often used for dating and meeting new people. Who knows who you will meet and what kind of person they are? Be safe and use your gut instinct to figure out if these people are what they put themselves out to be.

The FTC suggests these tips for socializing safely online:

• Think about how different sites work before deciding to join a site. Some sites will allow only a defined community of users to access posted content; others allow anyone and everyone to view postings.
• Think about keeping some control over the information you post. Consider restricting access to your page to a select group of people, for example, your friends from school, your club, your team, your community groups, or your family.
• Keep your information to yourself. Don’t post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or bank and credit card account numbers — and don’t post other people’s information, either. Be cautious about posting information that could be used to identify you or locate you offline. This could include the name of your school, sports team, clubs, and where you work or hang out.
• Make sure your screen name doesn’t say too much about you. Don’t use your name, your age, or your hometown. Even if you think your screen name makes you anonymous, it doesn’t take a genius to combine clues to figure out who you are and where you can be found.
• Post only information that you are comfortable with others seeing — and knowing — about you. Many people can see your page, including your parents, your teachers, the police, the college you might want to apply to next year, or the job you might want to apply for in five years.
• Remember that once you post information online, you can’t take it back. Even if you delete the information from a site, older versions exist on other people’s computers.
• Consider not posting your photo. It can be altered and broadcast in ways you may not be happy about. If you do post one, ask yourself whether it’s one your mom would display in the living room.
• Flirting with strangers online could have serious consequences. Because some people lie about who they really are, you never really know who you’re dealing with.
• Be wary if a new online friend wants to meet you in person. Before you decide to meet someone, do your research: Ask whether any of your friends know the person, and see what background you can dig up through online search engines. If you decide to meet them, be smart about it: Meet in a public place, during the day, with friends you trust. Tell an adult or a responsible sibling where you’re going, and when you expect to be back.
• Trust your gut if you have suspicions. If you feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, tell an adult you trust and report it to the police and the social networking site. You could end up preventing someone else from becoming a victim. 

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec14.shtm

Social Media Sites: Which is the most Popular?

   When we talk about social media sites and the popularity within them, every individual site is used for the specific purpose or their intended user. We see artists mainly using myspace to popularize themselves, Facebook to connect with people,  and twitter to update everyone on yourself. But what site is the most popular and used the most out of the giant social media blogs? If you're wondering, I pulled up one of the more recent graphs that depicts the popularity within the social media giants. Here it is:

Farmville

    Some of you may be asking what Farmville is. To the rest of the population, or Facebook users, Farmville is one of those annoying games that people on Facebook play. Facebook was just an ordinary social media site until a man by the name of Mark Pincus created the games we see on Facebook. Using games as a way to chat with other members around the world created a huge hit and interest in it as a whole.
   As he was just a video game creater, he also created the company Zynga. He joins the forbes list of billionaires with a net worth of 1 billion dollars. he is the brainchild of the popular Facebook games such as Farmville, Mafiawars, and Cityville. I often recieve these stupid invites to these games on Facebook and it's almost impossible not to join only to stop the invites from ever happening again. He has amassed a fortune. The company gains money by actually charging real wold money to those who want to boost their virtual farms.
   The company receives money from extremely wealthy investors. The company is said to be worth well over 7 billion dollars by the end of the next quarter. With this much success, why haven't more people actually taken the time to grow real gardens? We could possibly stop world hunger with how many users acre actually playing Farmville. Imagine, millions and millions of new farmers in the world!