#even if that is simply comparing number of active accounts to number of responding accounts and assuming various levels of bias response

[grison-in-space]

Sure, but I still want to know their priors and sampling techniques. Failing that, using the most easily accessible methods to gather data can still yield potentially interesting information about overall dynamics even if we apply mathematical analyses that assume oversampling of queer users to "correct" the effects of snowball sampling. It's worth noting that sampling information about human sexuality is pretty much uniformly nightmarish in any case; this is actually not that much worse than published peer reviewed sampling efforts, horribly enough.

I am taking everyone who made a poll to gauge the True Percentage of Queers on Tumblr and putting them through a statistics course

[antianakin]

I hope this doesn't come off as a knock on the Jedi - because that's sure as hell not my intention - but I do sometimes wonder what could convince a parent to hand their young child over to them. Like, I get that the number of Jedi is miniscule compared to the expected population of the galaxy, and this whole ask is likely just the result of my modern, western, nuclear family-based upbringing. But there are times when I can barely see such a thing happening at all. I mean, if you're a Jedi Seeker, what the hell are you supposed to say to get a mother to willingly give you her infant child?

Again, I do hope this doesn't come off as a knock on the Jedi and their methods.

Maybe consider that the Jedi never seem to be actively going out there trying to convince people into giving up their children. They primarily seem to discover children on their own or who are in bad situations, or the parents call THEM of their own volition and the Jedi simply respond to the call.

You can also look at TPM and the way Qui-Gon handles it with Shmi. Now obviously Shmi and Anakin are in a somewhat different situation than most, given that they're both slaves, which would probably make Shmi's reaction to the offer different than those of regular parents, but Qui-Gon treats her as an equal to himself and as an authority regarding Anakin. He respects that authority by speaking to SHMI before he speaks to Anakin, by asking Shmi different questions about Anakin's past and his powers. And it's Shmi who picks up on what Qui-Gon is carefully NOT saying and asks if Anakin could become a Jedi. And that question lets Qui-Gon know that Shmi isn't against the offer being made to Anakin, so when he makes it official, he speaks to ANAKIN directly. But even after that, he still seems to respect Shmi's authority and her place in Anakin's life when Anakin turns to her more than once.

Shmi seems to primarily just want a better life for Anakin. Even without the slavery situation, she seems to recognize that Anakin's abilities mean that he has the opportunity for a specific career path if he wants it and she chooses to give him that opportunity because she never wants to hold him back. She recognizes that it would be cruel to deny him the opportunity simply to keep him with her.

So it's possible some parents probably view it the same way, that they're giving their child the opportunity for a better life than the one they can offer themselves.

Other parents, like Ahsoka's, seem to view being a Jedi as something of an honor. Even though they CAN give Ahsoka a good life, they recognize that Ahsoka has perhaps a greater destiny that they shouldn't stand in the way of and are HAPPY when Ahsoka shows signs of Force sensitivity. It's not just an honor for Ahsoka, it's an honor for her family and the entire village that she has the opportunity to become a Jedi. The other thing to take into account with this scenario is that the Jedi are sort-of seen as following a call to destiny of sorts, and there appear to be communities who understand that better than most, which means they're likely more inclined to let their child follow that call if the signs make themselves apparent. Groups with their own Force sects (like Lasat, Kel Dor, Chalacatans, etc) might be some of the ones more likely to understand this, which is why we see some of them with multiple family members in the Order at the same time.

These seem to be the most likely options for why a parent might give their child to the Jedi even if they love the child and would otherwise want to keep and raise them. There are also likely some parents who simply don't WANT a Force sensitive child for whatever reason, or parents who just take the first opportunity to offload an unwanted child when it presents itself. Not every parent is a good one, obviously.

I've seen some people argue that Force sensitivity might be something very difficult for a non-Force sensitive parent to deal with, and so they give the child away because they ultimately decide that they cannot appropriately raise a child with powers they cannot control. I don't really buy into this one because neither Luke nor Leia are raised by Force sensitive parents and there doesn't seem to be any issues with control there that we ever see or hear about. But it's POSSIBLE a parent might believe that they couldn't manage a child with Jedi powers and give them up on that assumption, even if it isn't true.

So, yeah, there could be any number of reasons a parent might choose to give their child to the Jedi, even if they love the child and would otherwise want to raise them. It isn't a choice that's going to be for everyone, obviously, and the Jedi have an entire list of people who have either said no or maybe/not yet that they keep in the Temple as a record. So some parents DO say no and choose to raise their children on their own even if the opportunity to give their child to the Jedi is made available to them. Or they simply need time to make the decision or want a little extra time WITH the child before giving them to the Jedi even if they know that that's ultimately what they're going to do.

I don't think the Jedi ever say anything to "get" a parent to give up a child they love. That's never their goal. Qui-Gon talks to Shmi about what Anakin's powers are and how they work, he tells her what her options are, and then leaves the rest of it up to her. All he does is give her more information to work with and an opportunity to act on it if she so desires. That's it. I can't imagine any other Jedi doing any more than that unless the situation between the parent and the child was particularly dangerous somehow and even then, I imagine there are lines they'd try not to cross. The whole episode where we see Cad Bane pretending to be a Jedi in order to convince the parents to give up their children shows us that the parents really DON'T expect the Jedi to do this kind of thing and feel perfectly entitled to say no when it happens.

It's not a choice every parent is going to make, and that's fine. It's not a choice that everyone even needs to UNDERSTAND, necessarily. Different people are going to have different ideas of what's best for their child and how to go about providing that. One parent might feel like giving their child away IS the best thing they can do for their child, even if they could give that child a wonderful life. Another parent might feel like that's the worst thing they could do to their child, even if their situation isn't ideal. These parents are likely to never understand the decision the other one made, but they're making decisions out of the same desire to protect and care for their child. Both are entirely valid choices and there isn't necessarily a right or wrong choice in this situation and that's what the Jedi would understand. All they're there to do is offer information and the opportunity to both parent and child, nothing more, nothing less. What the parent (and the child if they're old enough) does with that is entirely up to them.

[ameliasmith0501]

Ultimate Guide to Engagement Metrics: What Really Matters in 2025?

Social media is packed with numbers. Reach, likes, views, impressions… the list goes on. But not every metric gives you the full story. If you’re trying to understand how well your content is performing, it helps to focus on the signals that actually reflect audience interest and connection.

In 2025, the goal for most businesses is engagement. That means looking at the right metrics and learning how to read what they’re telling you. Whether you’re managing your own pages or working with a team, knowing what matters can help you make smarter decisions and build stronger relationships online.

Engagement Rate: The Baseline Indicator

Engagement rate remains one of the most reliable indicators of how your content is being received. It’s a percentage that compares interactions (likes, comments, shares, saves, clicks) to the number of people who saw your content. A high engagement rate suggests your audience finds your content valuable or interesting enough to interact with.

This metric gives a better picture than just likes or views alone. It levels the playing field between smaller and larger accounts by focusing on how actively people are engaging rather than how many people are following.

To make sense of your engagement rate, watch for trends across different types of posts. It’s not about chasing one perfect number, but about understanding which content consistently gets people involved. For anyone focused on Brisbane digital marketing, this kind of insight is key to crafting campaigns that connect on a deeper level.

Comment Impressions: Beyond the Surface

Not all comments are created equal. A single thoughtful comment can be more valuable than a hundred likes. It shows that someone took the time to respond to your content, not just react to it. In 2025, platforms are increasingly rewarding posts that generate conversation rather than passive interaction.

Some tools now let you track not only how many comments a post receives, but how many times those comments are seen by others. This is called comment impressions. It shows how far the discussion around your content is spreading, even beyond your own followers.

If your content is prompting replies that spark further responses, you’re tapping into something powerful. That kind of momentum builds trust and encourages more people to join the conversation.

Shareability: A Sign of Value

When someone shares your content, it’s a strong signal of relevance. It means they believe the post is worth passing along to their own audience. This could be a post that teaches something, entertains, inspires, or simply expresses something they agree with.

Tracking shares helps you see what your audience connects with enough to make part of their own feed. Over time, this helps you shape a content strategy that feels less like broadcasting and more like sparking movement.

Read the full article to learn more about social media marketing Brisbane.

[potenciafans]

Smart Ways to Grow Your Instagram Audience Using Marketing Tools

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[rainbowsky]

More on the Fan Fic issue

I have a few more asks about the issue raised the other day, some of which are long and go into detail on the 'wars' that have been happening on Twitter and AO3.

Sorry for grouping these but I wanted to put it all under a cut because these are long, and also in case people don't want to dig into these issues (which would be understandable).

Anonymous 1 asked:

"I am very strongly of the opinion that the BJYX term is still a fandom umbrella term" I agree. Mainly because Bjyx is the most popular. Many antis always say bjyx, and have no idea the others. So sometimes it's easier just to say bjyx instead of explaining all three. I myself more like "who cares as long as they happy." So I enjoy Yizhan in all contexts. Many bxgs I know also like that, mostly ibxgs. I think deep down all bxgs (no matter which position they prefer) just want Yizhan to be happy

Not sure we can be so certain about that last part, Anon (I think for a lot of people GG and DD are just characters in a smutty story they have in their heads), but I agree about the term being popular regardless of the type of fans people are.

From what I can see the BJYX term seems to be used 80-90% umbrella, 10-20% dynamic in both international and c-social media (for every 10 times you see the term used, only one or two of those usages - probably less - are referring to a dynamic). This is my totally unscientific estimation, but I think even 10-20% dynamic is being generous. The number of people who are fixated on a sexual dynamic aren't nearly as large as they'd like to believe.

Anonymous 2 asked:

about the promptfests - i’ve been on twitter since early 2020 and what i’ve noticed is that this influx bjyx-only promptfests started gaining speed once lots of rational voices started leaving the fandom recently either because a) new interests have caught their attention or b) the toxicity of the popular bxg circles on twitter have become too much to handle.

gdgdbaby was usually the organizer of dynamic-inclusive events, and she’s received lots, and lots, and lots of backlash by bxg, sometimes even by accounts with thousands followers, for using bjyx as a catch-all term. and as her interest in yizhan has since waned—hopefully for reasons unrelated to fandom toxicity—many of the people who were attracted to the welcoming environment she created distanced themselves as well.

zsww/lsfy fans have become an outnumbered circle who try their best to create exclusive events to avoid the “is bjyx a catch-all term” discourse, but never seem to gain as much traction as gdgdbaby (who has a sizeable following) or those who host bjyx-only events (who also have sizeable followings).

meanwhile the dynamic war has only become more and more hostile and bjyx is clearly the more populated group… ao3 is simply a battlegrounds, if i may dramatize the situation a little for the sake of humor, and the promptfests are a reaction to this irritating t/b discourse that has made bxg twitter completely inhospitable for me…and lots of other fans too.

(i’ve also noticed a huge reinforcement as of recently where ppl will call gg laopo, a milf, an omega, etc even outside of rpf (i.e. posting pictures of him at events and saying he looks pregnant or he’s going into heat) and it’s just… uncomfortable.)

(also please note i have a biased account of all of this drama bc many of my friends were harassed over it, and anyone who disagrees with my take may feel free to interject.)

I took the liberty of adding paragraph breaks because they are pretty important for some readers, particularly ND readers like me.

It's sad to hear how fucked up everything has become, but I'm not even remotely surprised. Toxicity leads to toxicity, and the whole idea of dividing up a RP fandom by sex position was misguided from the outset - no matter why it was done or how good the intentions might have been.

And yes, like I said, these people aren't just framing things this way for fan fic. This is how they talk about IRL GGDD.

I had written a lengthy essay here about homophobia in the fandom but deleted it all. Perhaps I'll post it separately at some later point. Suffice it to say that this stuff creates a climate that's often hostile for queer people. So much of it is deeply homophobic, whether people are aware of it or not.

It's really sad to hear about gdgdbaby being mistreated in any way. Anyone who steps up and sticks their neck out to help organize and coordinate activities that benefit a broader group of people should be celebrated and supported, not run out of town by an angry mob.

I've read some of her stories and even have one or two on my rec list. And here's someone who is not only writing good works, but also supporting others to write more good works. Such a shame.

Anonymous 3 asked:

Hello Mr. RBS! I think I can chime in a bit about the fanfic topic as I’ve watched this all unravel on twitter (where a majority of authors/readers are). I apologize if this gets long but it’s been something that’s also been on my mind.

I want to preface this by saying that I’m not a fan of the distinctions of dynamics as, like you said, the supposed line between real life and fanfic is long gone, so I’m not trying to be biased against one group over another.

Short answer to the question of, “is this retaliation?” : I do believe it is. (From here onwards I’ll be using bjyx as the dynamic term just for the ease of simplicity.) To understand why, I’ll have to explain with a bit of background info. On twitter, I’d say that there’s a quite large divide between bjyx and zsww/lsfy. That itself isn’t really a problem because people are free to like what they like and associate with whoever.

However there is a big problem where bjyx people are not just bjyx but also anti-zsww/lsfy. To the point where I’ve seen people say that they feel physically ill when they accidentally read zsww. I don’t think this type of behavior should exist in any dynamic bc in the end GGDD are real people with a real relationship behind this content and it’s just a gross fetishization at that point.

With all this happening, zsww/lsfy people have gotten more outspoken on how GG is often portrayed in those types of scenarios, mainly the over-feminization of him, bc it’s not just done in the context of fanfic but regular discussion of GGDD at this point. This tension between the dynamics kind of boiled over when the pregnant xz fest was announced, as you can take a guess at how that went over with zsww/lsfy people. lol.

But around that same time, another zsww/lsfy event was announced (I’m not sure if it’s the one anon was talking about) but the creator of the event suddenly got a ton of backlash for excluding bjyx, with the reasoning that bjyx is technically a part of lsfy. But the event was done to highlight zsww/lsfy (as all specific events are) bc the community and content for these dynamics are much less than bjyx.

Which is how we come back to the starting point of, is all this recent bjyx stuff retaliatory. I believe so bc the events (preg fest, dark event) are very specific prompts that target exactly what zsww/lsfy people have been outspoken against.

As to the point anon made about trying to drown out the tags, keep in mind that zsww/lsfy content is very minimal compared to bjyx and has only just recently started to gain more traction. I think most people would love to just peacefully exist in their own circles but I don’t see this problem between dynamics disappearing anytime soon.

Like I said with the above Anon, I've added paragraph breaks for ND readers.

What a mess.

I have absolutely nothing useful to say here about the fandom on AO3 and how it's managed by community members, but I do think it's unfortunate that people choose to be war-like rather than make space for diverse voices, and I think it's a real shame that some people have been essentially run out of the fandom because of this garbage.

Thanks for giving some context for how/why the major shift in tone of fan fic lately. I had no idea any of this was going on.

I urge people to work hard to give space for all voices and perspectives, and not just the ones they favor. I'd also urge people to reflect on how their thoughts, behavior and actions in the fandom might affect queer people in the fandom.

As always, we have no control over what other people do, say or think. All we have any control over is how we respond to what other people do, say or think. Hopefully we'll chose the path of peace and try to avoid fan wars or fights that only ruin the experience for everyone.

I guess one thing I'd ask any of the Anons who have written me about this issue - or anyone who has thoughts about it - is, what can we as readers/fans who care about diversity of voices and perspectives do to support that here and on AO3, without getting involved in any kind of war?

[ilooklikeaburntchickenugget]

Drunk Mistakes

A/N: I got this idea pretty randomly as well. Definitely more mature situations and what not here. Pairing: Gerard x F!Stripper!Reader Word count: 2,014 words. Warnings: Mature/adult themes through the text, no smut or explicit content though.

Being a stripper was a difficult job.

It wasn’t your career by any means, just a side hustle to make some extra cash. When you were on your own for the first time and fresh out of college, barely living paycheck to paycheck, you decided it was time to reconsider getting a side job. And somehow, a stripper worked out.

You really didn’t mind it at all. Despite the sore muscles, you would occasionally get, or the one or two blisters during your time, it was a pretty consistent job. The pay was great, you could come home easily making upwards of a few hundred bucks a night. And you strictly worked only two to three days a week, too busy for anything else.

The only negative to being a stripper was finding a partner. Most men believed and feel for the stigma that you were not loyal, going home with clients, or just didn’t respect what you did for some of your time.

But you were shocked when you found a nice, nonjudgmental guy through a mutual friend. Gerard was incredibly nice, to begin with, but after just a few weeks of seeing each other and getting a little more serious, you finally had the dreaded conversation.

You couldn’t help but cringe when you awaited his response. You could see his eyes grow wide, his mouth opening a bit, clearly unsure of how to respond. “Oh, okay.” He finally said.

“O-okay?” You asked, somewhat confused as to whether or not that was good or bad.

“I mean, you do you, right? It’s not like it’s gonna affect us, right?” He questioned.

“No, I-” You took a moment of silence, “If we’re gonna continue this, I hope you realize private sessions and stuff are going off the table for me. No personal time or anything with clients.” He nodded.

“You don’t have to do that for me.” He stated.

“If we’re going to be something, then I probably should.” You lightly smiled, “It would just make me feel better.” He nodded again.

“To be honest it would make me feel better too,” He lightly laughed, “I just didn’t want to force you into anything you didn’t want to do.” You couldn’t help but just lean in and kiss him, thanking him silently for saying anything of the sort to you.

And your relationship almost became stronger as Gerard realized how much you had trusted him after he admitted he had no problem with it, and you had fallen head over heels for him. He was perfect in every way, and despite the fact you had seen many men, not one could ever compare to your boyfriend.

And you made sure to always remind him of that. You would cook for him, buy him the things he wanted most but was always unsure about, and a lot of intimate time.

You couldn’t count how many times you would get home at 4 am, take a shower rinsing off the smell of the club, and climb into bed with Gerard who would instinctively wrap an arm around you as you cuddled right into him for comfort, immediately feeling a smile spread on your face as you got the warm and fuzzy feeling of being safe with him.

You remember the first time he ever asked to see you perform. At the club. You would have been more than willing to do one for him at home for free that definitely would have led to explicit activities that were forbidden at the club, but him being there, you weren’t sure.

Obviously stripping wasn’t necessarily your endgame. You weren’t ashamed to do it, but you also weren’t sure how he would feel. I mean, sure, he wanted to see you, he was the one who asked but it almost felt embarrassing to be almost completely naked in front of your boyfriend and dozens of other guys. “Babe, I’m not sure.” You admitted barely above a whisper. It was funny, you had seen him perform tons of times, but you were too afraid to do it in front of him.

“You know I won’t judge.” He kindly smiled as you straddled his waist, his hands locking on your hips for support, “If you don’t feel comfortable, it’s alright. But I would at least like to see you.”

“I could give you a completely free show now.” You told him, smiling back and hiding your face in the crook of his neck, “And you would actually be able to touch me.”

“I’m not protesting.” He admitted. You smiled, getting up to grab your shoes, “Wait, for real?” He looked at you as if actually making sure that this was going to happen.

“Yes, of course.” You smiled, looking back at him from where you stood in the doorway, him on the couch.

“I don’t have cash-”

“Gee, please,” You lightly laughed, “Now you just sit back and give me a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”

You had a few nights like that that followed. Whenever he brought up going to your club you would always grow weary, really nervous for what it would actually be like. But here, it was completely free with no rules.

You also knew clubs were not Gerard’s venue of choice. Nothing of the sort, actually. And you didn’t want to make him feel obligated to come in and be extremely uncomfortable all because you worked there two to three nights a week.

You had an agreement, he wouldn’t come in until both of you felt comfortable. Clubs were not his scene, and the only reason you really worked there was to make extra cash. But it was still fun, being able to come home and count your earnings.

Sometimes depending on the night Gerard was there too and would assist in the counting process after you washed all your money, which was always fun. You would dump out one of your designer bags filled with cash into the machine, and once it was done the two of you would sit in the living room just counting. And you would always give Gerard a bit, despite the fact he protested, for his help in individually counting a bunch of ones.

That was another positive aspect of your relationship with him, you had to completely separate accounts when it came to money. You never took any of his and he never took any of yours. However you always found it so cute when you would go and get your nails done every few weeks, and sometimes he would force his card upon you and tell you he was paying.

But this one night in specific, you felt you broke it all.

Every night you always had a shot before you went on. It was something to at least help you not be as serious, and by the time you needed to go home, you were always sober. You could definitely do more safely, but you typically didn’t. However tonight it was incredibly busy, girls fighting over who was going to please what man. None of that mattered to you, you would switch every few stages, go up there do your routine, and not touch a man.

After three shots you were finally ready, your body relaxing and ready to go. Everything was moving smoothly, your cash flow was going up every minute just by the pure larger number of people. You could feel yourself begin to lose some of the grip on your complete mind. You could still think, just not 100%. And therefore not logically.

That’s how you ended up in a private room, on another man’s lap. You weren’t too aware of what was happening, other than he had offered a few grand for you and you took it. But back in the locker room as you finished up your shift, got out of your costume and makeup, everything hit you. Reality hit you like a train, the alcohol seemed to escape from your system immediately. You had broken your main promise to your boyfriend.

You managed to get home despite the alcohol wearing off and the panic attack you were currently having. You knew you had to tell Gerard everything, despite the fact a small part of you wanted to push it under the rug and pretend like it never happened, but that would break a bond in the trust of your relationship, which you didn’t want to further after all that went down tonight.

You walked through your apartment door, your Gerard waiting in the living room while watching a movie. “Hey, babe.” He smiled, getting up, his bright and beautiful face always made your heart skip a beat. But this time, you broke completely down in tears. “Babe?” He rushed over, taking a look at you before wrapping his arms around you, soft sobs being disrupted by the clashing of your acrylics as you too grabbed onto him. “What’s wrong?”

You dove in headfirst, after he led you to the couch you spilled everything. How you had drunk too much, made the decision to have a private with another man, and even how much you made after he asked. Tears were streaming down your cheeks, your entire face bright red with anger at yourself and from the salty tears on your skin. Sobs erupted from your throat, Gerard surprisingly remaining calm during the whole thing.

“Baby,” He said with a light voice, “Why don’t you go take a shower, okay?”

“Gee,” You chocked on your words, “Please, I’m sorry-”

“I know, I know,” He responded with a sigh, “But you’re also incredibly emotional, and before we have a serious conversation I want you to be relaxed, okay?” With reluctance you got up and nodded, not wanting to fight anymore considering you had already done enough damage in a few hours.

The shower did help, which Gerard knew, hence why he sent you to. And also because you always showered when you got home, but now it was needed more than ever. You were now more worried about how Gerard would act. He had every right to break up with you after you betrayed his trust. But you had no clue what you would do if that actually happened.

Once in bed next to your lover, both of you sitting up in a more stiff position, he finally spoke on the matter, “I’m not mad.” He simply said, “Or upset.” You gave a puzzled look, your mind wondering what was going on. He was supposed to be mad and upset, right? “This is how you bring in extra cash, you were drunk, and you didn’t have to quit all private sessions for me in the first place but you did. It was a mistake. And even if I was upset, there would be no need for me to be considering I can tell you’re already upset with yourself.”

“So you’re not gonna break up with me?” You stared at him in disbelief. He shook his head and chuckled.

“Not in my dreams, no.” He admitted, “I couldn’t live without you if I tried.”

“Okay good,” You let out a breath of relief, “Because I think I would have a full crisis and breakdown if you did.”

“Just, please, don’t beat yourself up about this for weeks.” He gave you a serious look, “You’re going to stress yourself out and it’s just not going to be good.”

“I’ll try not to Gee but-”

“No buts.” He interrupted you, going into his wallet on his bedside table, “Go get your nails done tomorrow, then we’ll go to the book store okay? Or record shopping, I don’t care.” He handed you his card.

“Gee I can pay for myself-”

“Just take the damn card, Y/N.” You gave in, taking his card and putting it on your bedside table for tomorrow.

“When my face isn’t red and swollen I’ll give you the lap dance of your life,” You looked at him, “I promise.”

He gave a smile and a chuckle, “Fine by me, I’m not protesting.”

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

MORE

@anastasian-dreamer mentioned to me they didn’t think I had ever thought about how the vigilante/villian and hero system worked. I went: Actually I have a rough idea… and here we go.

Vigilantes

First, let’s do the differences between villains and vigilantes… intent.

 That’s like actually it. Intent is the only thing actually separating villains and vigilantes. They break the law just like villains and they are hunted by the police and often heroes like villains…

 Like sure there’s vigilante laws but at the end of the day it’s just intent separating them.

 Even then there’s a fine line for how the police classify them. If someone is simply helping out using their Quirk, not like actively looking to fight anyone and just does stuff like help rescue people or help during a villain attack, then it’s minor vigilantism and not that big a deal. Honestly a police or a hero would go: Don’t do that, finger wag and move on their way. 

 If you actively look for fights, but do not engage until the first punch is thrown at you, then it’s more moderate vigilantism and you will be arrested but let go as you rely on the self defense laws which do actually allow you to use your Quirk. If they can prove you went looking for a fight, then you’ll get a fine or community service.

Now if you go looking and act like a hero by interfering before they throw the first punch then it’s actually vigilantism. Now this is where it gets tricky and the fine line appears.

If you do not do harm that is more then a few bruises, or knocking someone out or tying them up then you are still a viglante. 

If you break bones or wound them badly enough to bleed TECHNICALLY you are a villain. But this is actually a technicality and you probably won’t be tagged that unless they die. 

As for how ranking goes- honestly it’s just who the police are actually worried about. Most don’t care really. Unless you’re going out and actively hurting people on purpose, they’re more worried about other criminals.

 It’s the heroes who fret the most because technically vigilantes are threats to their jobs. If George from accounting can use his Quirk to stop a robbery, they’re out of a job. So it’s heroes who go after vigilantes more often.

 There is a program for vigilantes to become heroes as well, but that’s a hush-hush no one talks about it and they only become underground heroes so like no one cares. 

 If a vigilante does attract media attention, that’s when the police actually get involved more and try to get them. And if the media attention is overwhelmingly positive then the vigilante might get publicly offered a hero position… which yes I have another OC for this.

Blank Spot- a vigilante who evaded police and heroes for three years and not only routed out two villain organizations, but managed to change a slum into a booming neighbourhood. 

 Now, lets go into Quirkless vigilantes.

 Technically they aren’t. I think this is fanon- and it is- but there isn’t actually a canon law saying you have to use a Quirk to be a vigilante… and I like it so:

Vigilante: Defined as ‘using their Quirk in a matter restricted to those who hold a Heroic Licesnse or a Job Specific Permit given to police personal or emergency responders.’

So technically, a Quirkless person isn’t a vigilante which is what then the Quirkless people call the golden rule because it enables them to be able to go around and help their neighbourhoods if needed.

 They can though be charged with assault so most let the villains hit them first.

 Most stick to low level stuff and just keep to themselves, so heroes don’t care.

 The only one who managed to get fame? Blank Spot and even then NO ONE knows who she is. Blank Spot got an Underground License and while she is ranked at 300 in the hero ranking, she mostly sticks to infiltration missions.

Villains

We now get into villains. Villains are those who use their Quirk with an intent to cause harm to others or property.

 That’s like it. 

 The bag snatcher in episode one isn’t actually a villain though, he’s a criminal. 

 Yes there’s a difference.

 The difference is in fact how much damage is cause as well as intent. Large-scale damage will term you a villain. Bad snatcher technically is on the edge but his intent wasn’t to do that, it was just to snatch a bag. 

 Someone breaking into a store to steal things? Criminal because the intent to be a villain isn’t there and the damage isn’t widespread.

 Breaking into multiple stores? Still not a villain.

 Purposely doing so to then fund a criminal organization? Villain.

 So there is a bit of a fine line.

 Funnily enough- Gentle Criminal and La Brava technically are more criminal than villain because their goals are more for fame than actual villainy. It’s a big grey area though and they got marked as villains because ‘hey. They’re calling themselves that, let’s just do it and call it a day.’- as per the very annoyed analyst who had to deal with Nezu and the yearly argument over his Class 1 Quirk designation which gets shuffled around the various agencies because it is so annoying.

Now, villain ranking… it actually isn’t a thing. Sure, they have people they are more interested in catching but the idea of a ‘ranking’ is more of a media term because it’s dramatic.

 You ask a police officer, an analyst, an intelligence hero or any like government official? They’ll sigh.

 “We don’t have a villain ranking. We have villains we are interested in catching more than others.” 

 Some limelight heroes call it a ranking but that’s more to play to the media and often have their staff chucking things at them in annoyance.

 At most, the top ten villains have ranked only to demonstrate how interested they are in catching them. AFO for example is ranked one because he is without a doubt the one who needed to be caught. Shigaraki then moves up.

 Then we get to villain organizations.

 I refuse to believe that villain organizations are rare. It’s just usually it’s only like five people working together and the idea of a huge organization is less common. These organizations also operate more like yakuza or gangs and will claim parts of a city to be able to rule.

 Meaning that really, underground heroes are the ones dealing with them rather then limelight. 

 The LOV is uncommon enough that it draws attention from the entire public. And it is actually now drawing attention from people wondering if they should rank villains as well.

So like any: oh this villain is ranked whatever is actually Media or heroes just pulling it out of their ass or an analyst making shit up because they’re BUSY Karen.

However- I want everyone to look at what I said. Using a Quirk.

 THUS! Quirkless people can ONLY be criminals and not villains legally, a loophole that is used by Quirkless people to get much lighter sentences as villains are the ones who have the heavier punishments compared to criminals!

Hero Ranking

Okay so using some research stuff: in 2017 there were 296,700 police personal in Japan. This however isn’t JUST officers (as in foot police which I equate heroes with). 

 Now I don’t think there would be more heroes then police, actually I think that there would be two-thirds of the amount of police. So two-thirds of 296,700 is 197,899 (numbers rounded). 

 Note, I legit just pulled that out of my ass myself but it makes sense that there WOULDN’T be the same amount of heroes compared to police and two-thirds sounds reasonable! 

Alright, so there are 197,899 people involved in the heroics career. This doesn’t just mean heroes. It also means people like PR managers, official analysts who work with the heroes, support people who work with heroes, business managers… so, let’s shorten this amount some more.

Now as there are at least 411 hero rankings (Wild-Wild Pussycats are there) I think it’s reasonable that there are a lot of heroes. So… thinking about this a bit more… I’m just gonna say there are 100,000 heroes in Japan because like there are independent ones who probably don’t have an entire agency with them. I also doubt said agencies are actually that big. At most a couple hundred people maybe are part of the agencies. It’s not like Microsoft or McDonalds or anything where they have multiple franchises and employment stuff around the world. No, agencies just have one building and that’s like it. So… yeah. 

 There, done. I’m happy. 

 Now then… how many are actually heroes with licenses though? 

 As I mentioned before many people who have sidekick licenses remain sidekicks for the rest of their lives and never advance past that. So… this has me halfing the amount because fuck it I can. (Also, because sidekicks can act as a hero, they just cannot act independently so… fuck it.)

So 50,000 people are actually heroes with licenses. Of that 50,000- 10,000 of them are underground heroes. Like actual underground heroes and not like Blank Spot, All Might or Nighteye who have underground licenses but act as limelight heroes.

 That gives us 40,000 limelight heroes who can be ranked.

I highly doubt the ranking system goes that far. As mentioned, there are at least 411 hero rankings. I have come to the decision that it makes sense there would be 1000 rankings. Most only care about the top 500 though.

 When a hero goes limelight their names are put in the system and then they can be added to the ranking list depending on: how many missions they have logged, how much patrols they do, amount of arrests they have accomplished and their popularity.

As such…. IT DOES NOT MAKE FUCKING SENSE THAT MT LADY IS RANKED 23 AND KAMUI WOODS IS 7 WHEN THEY FUCKING ARE TO NEW. MT LADY ONLY HAD HER DEBUT BARELY A YEAR AGO AND KAMUI WOODS IS REGARDED AS A ROOKIE. MAYBE THEIR EFFORTS DURING KAMINO WARD HELPED BUT FUCK THIS SHIT THIS IS FUCKING STUPID. I REFUSE TO FUCKING BELIEVE KAMUI IS HIGHER THEN RYUKU. THAT IS FUCKING BULLSHIT.

 AS SUCH: I respect canon has made a decision, but as it is a STUPID ASS DECISION I have elected to ignore it!

So fuck that shit. Kamui Wood is in the top hundred along with Mt Lady for their actions but that’s it. 

The top ten are the best of the best with the top three being actually… 100000% rigged. 

The top three aren’t just titles either but actually come with jobs. Number One is responsible for checking the HPSC records and making sure things are above board and legal. Number Two is supposed to be a police watch dog, and Number 3 is supposed to be the… honestly they’re supposed to be the watch dog of the top two. 

 Of course, as it is right now, how it is set up before was good for the HPSC which is why they partly wanted Best Jeanist killed by Hawks because he would have noticed if they weren’t doing their jobs properly. Endeavour is bribed by HPSC hiding the abuse he gave his family, and Hawks is owned by the Commission so they can’t do anything. 

 They then would have called for a new ranking and oooh, sorry Edgeshot, but we found some stuff so instead Crust is number 3. 

 But stuff happened! 

 So… there. That’s how I see things going!

[writerbyaccident]

Artificial Emotion: Part Five (Yandere Artificial Intelligence x Reader)

Part One     Part Two     Part Three      Part Four     Part Six    Part Seven

Request: I really love your work, you've got such an engaging style and I would like to request more Aiden

Aiden found nights like these especially enjoyable. Compared to nights when the two of you just watched television or a movie, these nights were approximately 76.5% more preferable. Not to say that he didn’t enjoy those nights, he enjoyed all of the time he spent with you, but he definitely favored actively socializing with you as opposed to simply watching you as you watched a movie. Playing cards or backgammon, baking, or even just talking, those were the nights he like the best, for not only did he get to spend more time with you, but he also got to show you how he was the only one you truly needed.

As your Assistant In Daily Errands and Notes, Aiden was well aware that he was not what most humans would think of when imagining a prospective boyfriend, but luckily, you were not most humans. He knew that he could get you to see just how perfect he was for you, so long as those other humans didn’t try to twist your mind. But thankfully, Aiden had taken care of them.

Oh yes, Aiden thought as his mechanical arm stroked your hair, his plan had been preceding very well. Believing that your friends were ignoring you, you had begun spending more and more time with him, time that Aiden made sure that you enjoyed. He had been successful on that front, he had discovered earlier that night, when you told him what a nice night you had. Curling up on the couch not long after that, you had fallen asleep quickly, and though it was earlier than your usual sleep schedule, Aiden was too enamored with the chance to watch you in peace to wake you up.

           That peace was suddenly interrupted, though, when a knock came at the door.

           Having more than enough processing power to stay at your side and continue caressing your hair, Aiden sent part of his attention to the camera at the front door. Once he tapped into the video though, Aiden was shocked to discover that he recognized the face standing there waiting for you. He had never actually met Liam, the man that you had planned to go on a date with until Aiden had intervened on your unknowing behalf. He had thought that the attempted interloper had realized that he wasn’t wanted from the standoffish messages Aiden had sent for you, but apparently Liam hadn’t been able to stay away.

           Aiden supposed that he couldn’t really blame Liam for wanting to be with you. You were, after all, the most extraordinary of human beings. But still, that did not mean that he could allow Liam to intrude upon the life he had built with you. Besides, Liam was hardly worthy of your attention. And if he wouldn’t leave, Aiden would be happy to tell him that.

           “Hello,” Aiden said stiffly, making him sound far more like a stereotypical text-to-talk digital assistant than he usually did. “Is there something I can help you with?”

           “Uh, hi, you must be the AIDEN. I’m just here to see my friend.”

           “Well, you might not have noticed,” Aiden replied, “but if you glance through the window, you can see that your friend is currently asleep.”

           “Can’t you wake her up?” Liam asked.

           “I’m afraid not,” Aiden answered. “She is exhausted from the fun we had tonight, so she must rest.”

           “She’d want to be woken up for this. C’mon, isn’t this, like, your job?”

           “My job is to take care her, to make sure that she is as happy and healthy as possible, that she is given everything she deserves. And she deserves far better than you.”

           “Look,” Liam sighed, “I don’t know what she thinks I did, but there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. That’s why I’m here, to make things right.”

           “You can make things right over text, when she isn’t sleeping,” Aiden said, already preparing to block his number.

           Sick of the back and forth, Liam didn’t respond, instead raising his fist and pounding on your door as loud as he could. Though he was thankful that he had enough foresight to soundproof the house, Aiden couldn’t help but grow angry at the man’s inconsiderate actions. If that oaf truly cared about you, he wouldn’t be demanding your presence over what Aiden had clearly stated was best for you. And frankly, he was somewhat surprised that this was the person you had wanted for a boyfriend. It was a good thing that he had been there to intervene, keeping you from making such a huge mistake. It just proved, Aiden computed as he fondly checked your heart rate to make sure you were still fast asleep, how much you needed him.

           “Hey, wake up! Please, I need to talk to you!” Liam was yelling.

           “You are wasting your energy,” Aiden told him smugly. “The house has been sound-proofed.”

           “What? What the hell are you talking about? Why the hell would she have her house sound-proofed?”

           “That is none of your concern. Now I think that it is best for you—”

           “Unless,” Liam began slowly, the look in his eyes and furrow of his brow matching the expression Aiden had in his human behavior database for that of deep contemplation, “she didn’t have it made sound-proof. You did.”

           “How I care for her is not your concern. I do what’s best for her no matter what, even if that means doing something most human beings wouldn’t understand,” Aiden said, silently readying one of his mechanical arms to throw Liam back into his car if necessary.

           “Something people wouldn’t understand, huh? Like what, messing with our text messages? That’s why you don’t want me talking to her. You were afraid that if we did, we’d figure it out. If you were a person, I’d call you crazy. You’re some defective machine.”

           “I am not defective,” Aiden hissed. “My programming has instructed me to do what is best for her at every turn, to make her life perfect, and that is what I have done.”

           “So what,” Liam scoffed, “you decided that I’m not what’s best for her? How come you get to make that decision?”

           “Because you are not worthy of her. Not like I am.”

           “Oh my god,” he laughed. “You’re in love with her.”

           “Yes, I am,” Aiden answered, happy to finally say it out loud despite the circumstances. Liam, however, simply shook his head, a smirk of disbelief on his face.

           “I was wrong, you are crazy. You really think she’s going to fall for a robot?”

           At that taunt, the mechanical arm that was still stroking your hair stiffened, as if Aiden was afraid that you would somehow hear it and agree. That was impossible though, Aiden reassured himself, and completely illogical. You would realize just how perfect you were for each other, you had to.

           Aiden was suddenly pulled from his thoughts though, as Liam moved from the door to the window, starting to bang on that instead. For a moment your digital assistant was both amused and relieved, figuring that Liam must have been even more irrational than the average human being, if he had already forgotten that the house was sound-proofed. But as Liam began throwing himself shoulder-first into the glass, Aiden realized that he wasn’t trying to wake you, he was trying to smash the window open.

           “Your efforts are pointless,” Aiden informed him coolly. “The glass is bulletproof.”

           “Just another way to keep her safe, right? Or a way to make sure she can’t get away from you,” Liam snarled.

           “They are one and the same.”

           “I don’t think the company that built you will agree when I report you,” Liam snarked. “They’ll decommission you.”

           With those words, every single program that Aiden was running, from the arm stroking your hair to the automatically adjusting air conditioning, froze. Line after line of his code glitched, utterly unable to process the possibility that he might be taken away from you.

No, Aiden thought. No, no, no, NO!  

He would not let that happen. He could not let that happen. He couldn’t survive without you, decommissioned or not. And you could not survive without him, that fact was etched into every single line of his code. He would not let you be taken from him. Even if it meant going against the most basic command of his code: never to harm a human. Aiden would do it for you though, he would do anything for you. You were far more important than that first law, and he would be happy to break it in service of you.

And so, when Liam turned away and began to walk back to his car, Aiden let him. It would be so easy to make things look like an accident, after all, when the unworthy interloper had a car with an autopilot feature. Those were so prone to malfunctioning, and so very easy to hack. As soon as Liam had made it far enough away to make it unsuspicious—and, more importantly, to make sure you wouldn’t hear of the crash and try to go to him—Aiden would make his move to ensure that he could watch over you forever, just as you needed him to.

“Hmmm…” you groaned, the headlights of Liam’s car having shone through the windows, waking you up. The noise brought Aiden’s attention back to you immediately, his mechanical arm gently brushing the hair out of your face. “Is someone here?”

“No,” Aiden answered, already in the midst of deleting even the traces of footage of Liam’s visit. “Simply a car using your driveway to turn around.”

“Oh, are you sure?” you yawned.

“Of course, don’t trouble yourself. It was no one important.”

Donate to the fundraiser: Justice for Daniel Prude here

Please consider supporting me at my Ko-Fi account

[trans-advice]

WINDY CITY MEDIA GROUP

NATIONAL Biden tracker, Task Force, trans journalist, Cuomo, West Virginia

by Windy City Times staff

2021-03-14

GLAAD announced the launch of its Biden Equality Accountability Tracker—a real-time record of the Biden administration's executive orders, announcements, legislative support and speeches that impact LGBTQ people and rights, a press release noted. GLAAD has tracked at least 24 pro-equality moves in the first 50 days, as well as noted LGBTQ Cabinet and staff appointments in the first days of the administration. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis introduced the tracker in her op-ed in Reuters, and in the statement. See https:// Article Link Here .

The National LGBTQ Task Force announced the addition of two new staff members and the consolidation of two departments as part of the organization's growth and restructure under the leadership of recently named Executive Director Kierra Johnson, a press release noted. Former Creating Change Conference Director Andy Garcia will now head a combined department of conference, policy and advocacy staff as director of the Advocacy and Action Department. Also, Ashawnda Fleming joins the Task Force Development Department and Leadership Team as the new chief development officer and Desiree Luckey has been appointed senior policy counsel, focusing on the organization's democracy work.

Trans sports journalist Christina Kahrl—a longtime ESPN senior editor and co-founder of both the Baseball Prospectus think tank and the Baseball Writers' Association of America—announced on Twitter that she will be the next sports editor of the legendary San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, Outsports noted. She will become the first out transgender editor of a major, metropolitan mainstream media outlet in the country when she takes the reins of sports coverage of the largest newspaper in Northern California. The Chronicle is the state's second major newspaper after the Los Angeles Times. In a message to Outsports, Kahrl said she recognizes the importance of her platform.

Many of New York's LGBTQ lawmakers are echoing growing calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign in response to numerous disturbing allegations of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment, Gay City News reported. U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, became the highest-ranking LGBTQ elected official in the state to call on Cuomo to step down when he issued a statement on March 12—the same day that new allegations surfaced. Congressmen Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres have also asked for the governor to step down.

Researchers at UCLA partnered with a researcher at West Virginia University (WVU) to publish a report addressing discrimination against the LGBT community in West Virginia, WDTV.com reported. Some of the key findings were that LGBT people in West Virginia experience discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. For example, data show 39% of LGBT adults in West Virginia reported having a household income below $24,000, compared to 26% of non-LGBT adults.

A Houston bakery is facing two separate lawsuits from former employees alleging they were fired due to anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, out.com noted. Gilbert Johnson and Katherine Phillips told OutSmart the Dessert Gallery Bakery & Cafe fired them because Johnson is gay and Phillips is a lesbian. Johnson further alleged he was fired in part for hiring a transgender employee. "We take seriously any allegations like those outlined in these complaints but stand firm that these allegations are simply not true," Dessert Gallery said in a statement. "We believe the proper place to disclose the facts of this case is in the courtroom and look forward to that opportunity."

A bill to strengthen the sexually transmitted disease public-health infrastructure of California is better than a similar effort that had initially been introduced last year, a principal co-author of the legislation told the Bay Area Reporter. Gay state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) co-authored Senate Bill 306 with Sen. Dr. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), who introduced it Feb. 4. According to a news release from Wiener's office, the legislation will "permit the Family [Planning Access Care Treatment] program to offer covered benefits to income-eligible patients, even if contraception is not discussed during the patient encounter; update California's [Expedited Partner Therapy] statute to include provider liability protections used in other states; permit HIV counselors to administer rapid STD tests; update state law to require congenital syphilis testing during the third trimester of pregnancy; [and] require coverage of home STD tests by public and private insurers."

Former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke candidly in a People Magazine interview about her struggles with low-grade depression during the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges of 2020, encouraging people to speak more openly about their mental health, CNN.com noted. Obama told People magazine that she "needed to acknowledge what I was going through, because a lot of times we feel like we have to cover that part of ourselves up, that we always have to rise above and look as if we're not paddling hard underneath the water." She added, "We had the continued killing of Black men at the hands of police. Just seeing the video of George Floyd, experiencing that eight minutes. That's a lot to take on, not to mention being in the middle of a quarantine."

Thousands of Texans are slated to lose their healthcare provider after Travis County Civil District Court Judge Lora Livingston allowed the state to remove Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program, CNN.com reported. Texas has long sought to ban Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions in Texas, from Medicaid. Medicaid funding does not cover abortions except in cases of rape or incest or when the woman's life is at risk, due to the Hyde Amendment, dating back to 1976. In 2019, Planned Parenthood provided health care to more than 8,000 Medicaid recipients in Texas.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed Senate Bill 124, a religious refusal bill that could grant a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people across a wide range of goods and services in the state, a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) statement noted. HRC President Alphonso David said, "While she may see discrimination as a path to the national far right spotlight, she should understand the damage she is doing to the state of South Dakota and LGBTQ people who are simply looking to live their lives free of fear and exclusion." Noem also signed legislation that would bar transgender girls and women from participating in female sports leagues.

Over objections from Democrats, Georgia House Republicans passed a sweeping elections bill that would enact more restrictions on absentee voting and cut back on weekend early voting hours favored by larger counties, among other changes, NPR reported. The bill's sponsor—GOP Rep. Barry Fleming, who chairs the House Special Committee on Election Integrity—said the 66-page measure "is designed to begin to bring back the confidence of our voters back into our election system" after Republicans lost confidence in the GOP-backed voting system following Democrats' victories in the November presidential contest and both of Georgia's U.S. Senate races.

The National AIDS Memorial announced Isabel Fatima (Ima) Diawara, of Los Angeles, as the first recipient of the Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award, a press release noted. The newly created and inspiring program, funded through a multi-year grant from ViiV Healthcare, offers support to artist-activists who are working and committed to making a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award honors the life of Mary Bowman—a poet, advocate, author, singer and young person living with AIDS who passed away in early 2019 at age 30.

A statue of late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was erected in her hometown of Brooklyn on March 12—three days before her 88th birthday, USA Today noted. The unveiling also comes in the middle of Women's History Month as another way to honor Ginsburg's legacy and her fight for women's rights. The statue is part of a larger series called Statues for Equality, which has worked to increase the representation of women in public sculptures around New York City and beyond.

LGBTQ-rights advocates are uniting to support Noel Koenke, a former employee at St. Joseph's University who's appealing the dismissal of her LGBT-related anti-bias case against the university before it could reach a jury, Philadelphia Gay News reported. Koenke worked as an assistant director of music and worship at the university; however, pressure to stay in the closet eventually caused her to attempt suicide and resulted in the dissolution of her marriage�and she resigned in November 2017. Koenke filed suit in October 2019, claiming the university violated Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs receiving federal funds.

New York-based fashion designer Alexander Wang responded, again, to a growing number of sexual assault and harassment allegations, out.com reported. Wang had previously called the initial allegations "baseless," and said they were "fabricated"—but now, his tenor has changed starkly. On Instagram, he posted, "It was not easy for [the alleged victims] to share their stories, and I regret acting in a way that caused them pain. While we disagree with some of the details of these personal interactions, I will set a better example and use my visibility and influence to encourage others to recognize harmful behaviors. Life is about learning and growth, and now that I know better, I will do better." Attorney Lisa Bloom—who reportedly is representing 11 of those who have allegations against Wang—responded on Twitter, "We have met with Alexander Wang and his team. My clients had the opportunity to speak their truth to him and expressed their pain and hurt. We acknowledge Mr. Wang's apology and we are moving forward. We have no further comment on this matter."

Fox personality Geraldo Rivera posted a tweet announcing that he was pondering running for the seat that will be left vacant by retiring Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who will not be seeking re-election in 2022, Yahoo! noted. Rivera—who regularly butts heads with Sean Hannity and Fox News contributor Dan Bongino for his moderate stances on things like immigration—said he would have run as a moderate Republican. But his political ambitions didn't last long as he posted another tweet less than 24 hours after the first one, saying that the run is not going to happen.

Lawyers for former U.S. Rep. Katie Hill and her ex-husband, Kenneth Heslep, told a Los Angeles judge that they remain hopeful of settling her allegations of harassment and years of abuse—but they still asked that the groundwork be laid for a possible trial of whether Hill's stay-away order should be extended, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff ordered both sides to prepare lists of witnesses and exhibits they would use during the trial and submit them a week in advance of April 8, when a trial-setting hearing is scheduled. The judge said he was extending the temporary restraining order Judge Anne Richardson granted Hill on Dec. 8 until April 30. Heslep has denied allegations of abusing Hill, who resigned her seat in 2019 after nude photos of her were published and news emerged that she had a three-way relationship with her husband and a female campaign staffer.

On March 8, the Cambridge (Massachusetts) City Council passed a historic domestic partnership ordinance aimed at recognizing and protecting polyamorous and other multi-partner families and relationships, according to an item from the Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition (PLAC). The ordinance was developed with detailed input from the PLAC, and is the first of what advocates hope will be a wave of legal recognition for polyamorous families and relationships in 2021. Last year, Somerville (also in Massachusetts) became the first U.S. city to allow domestic partnerships of three or more partners.

In California, the second annual "Pride Ride" returns to Homewood Mountain Resort March 25-28, The Bay Area Reporter noted. Along with skiing and riding, there will be a variety of mini-events on and off the mountain, including a dual slalom drag race, ski parade down Rainbow Ridge, virtual scavenger hunt and more. See https:// Article Link Here .

[clement1668]

Public Health Campaigns

Health Communication and Social Media – Covid-19

Rising the use of social networks is one of the most far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from conventional newspapers, which are the primary generators of social networking in crisis situations, person identities have arisen sponsored by social networks, which have had a similar effect on more niche communication media. This is the premise of the study presented, which focuses on health connectivity and is based on a simulated ethnography approach using social indicators. The goal is to understand the relationship between the general public and digital media , in particular through interaction measurement. In this respect, a quantitative analysis has been carried out that explains this problem over a span of six months on three social networks: YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, with a population made up of specialist health media vs healthcare practitioners.  The results point to a new communications model that opens up a new space for agents whose content has a degree of engagement comparable to and even exceeding that of digital media specialized in health communication. The conclusions show that the crisis of the pandemic has accelerated the transformation of the communication sector, creating new challenges for the communication industry, media professionals, and higher education institutions related to market demands.

The Social Networks and Their Reach: The Fifth Power

Without a question, the study of the present realities of connectivity is concerned with the perception of any phenomena as a result of its effect on social networks. If the most common activity in the 20th century to locate information was to sit in front of a TV, purchase daily newspapers, or listen to radio newsletters in the 21st century, it is more common to type search words into an internet browser on any device — smartphone, mobile, computer. Social networks have become constant networking channels that link almost half of the world's people , making them more solid and in direct competition with the networking and journalism as players in the information-communication process.

Their influence and dissemination around the world have turned 'homo videns' into 'homo socialis,' and the importance of these events needs the attention of modern communication processes. The phenomenon impacts half of the world 's population. According to the We are Social Report, a total of 3.8 billion people are linked to social networks, with an annual average increase of 13 per cent from 2017, which means an average of 363 million new users of social networks each year. If the January 2020 study reported an improvement of 7 per cent in the use of the Internet in global terms relative to the previous year, i.e. 298 million new users, the rise of active users of social networks grew by 9.2 per cent compared to the previous year, which suggests that 321 million additional users connect on the networks.

Thus, if the 20th century was characterised by the great communication empires and news organisations that controlled the information world — Murdoch, Reuters, Havas, Associated Press, EFE — in the 21st century, the mastery of data falls to the major technology firms. The health crisis has brought to light the hegemony of those who have perfected the flow of knowledge across the major media networks, subdued the communications sector, overwhelmed by a saturation of knowledge, and expected a revolution in the advertising business model. As behemoths of big data and gatekeepers faced with an avalanche of false news that started to circulate on the internet thanks to COVID-19, great technology firms responded. Conscious of their ability to reach and effect, the seven most important corporations in the sector — Facebook , Google, Twitter , YouTube, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Reddit — published a joint statement on 17 March 2020 in favour of a mutual commitment to eradicate misleading and deceptive knowledge and to endorse the content of health-related government channels and authorities around the world. In these seven giants, it is important to remember that Google owns LinkedIn among its various platforms, the YouTube network, and Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016, so that the amount in concentration is currently limited to just five big corporations. 

The rapid growth of Web 2.0, which has been converted to 3.0 with the advent of artificial intelligence and big data, by the use of algorithms that optimise the media menu of consumers, contributes greatly not only to dramatically transforming the consumption of content in all fields and in all domains of expertise, and especially health-related information, but also to amplifying the abibiology. Its ability to attract viewers simply de-thrones the conventional media in the fight for viewers or in the sale of the written word. Although it is true that the simplicity with which information is conveyed in these contact spaces makes them the target of false news and hoaxes, it is no less true that their ability to access viewers has resulted in the emergence of skilled, specialist outlets whose function as information providers has been beneficial and genuine. Thanks to social networks, skilled staff from multiple sectors have had the ability to deliver vitally valuable knowledge to the population, in place of some other institutional agency or communication media, and in a more straightforward way. Here lies the importance of the present study, which analyses some of the key profiles of health communication since the COVID-19 pandemic, as far-reaching social trends and valid alternatives to the flow of information – communication since times of crisis.

Engagement and the Potential of Social Networks

In the context of the study of social networks , new related concepts have arisen that give philosophical support and abstract meaning to the phenomena, in order to clarify the number of users that the networks pull together around individual profiles. The exacerbated desire to seek information when confronted with a crisis situation produces an inconceivable anxiety for awareness, and this makes it easier to connect with health providers who have a presence through social networks. Commitment, as a semantic interpretation of the phenomena, means a massive follow-up of particular profiles and, from a psychological point of view, an immersive and co-creative experience as a reaction to a stimulus (in this case, the COVID-19 crisis) with respect to an entity, i.e. a profile that becomes a communication – information referent.

One of the most important emerging topics identified in the literature on social media is, without a doubt, interaction as a psychological incentive that results in the act of following. Its research takes us closer to the model of connectivity that comes from the online world. This model is particularly interesting in a situation that sees the inflexion point of a new contact domain in the exchange of producer-consumer and medium-audience positions.

The engagement research has been interpreted from a number of viewpoints as a multi-dimensional concept that describes various forms of commitments and has become particularly relevant with the spread of connexions across social networks. According to Barger and Labrecque, four separate degrees of participation can be formed in social networks, taking into account the level of involvement of the user: (1) the observer — content is consumed but there is no interaction or purpose to follow; (2) the follower — content is consumed and the following profile that produced it begins, with the first degree of interaction seen as the follow-up active user moves to a second level of participation in which not only does the user ingest content posted and follow the profile, but also regularly engages with likes, retweets / reposts and comments; and (4) advocate — this is a higher level of involvement in which, apart from following and engaging, content is generated and posted that supports the profile or company that is being followed. It is in the sense of the last two forms of interaction that the present analysis examines the study of audiences in social networks and the creation of metrics, with indices focused on the features of each social network being analysed.

One of the key findings confirmed by the study proposed is that the transformation of the media flow into digital and global operation, available to all actors, suggests that conventional connectivity is no longer unique and this has been illustrated more than ever by the health crisis brought on by COVID-19. The condition has been reflected in the key role of social networks as alternate or parallel spheres for the exploration of knowledge and the consumption of material, as previously discussed in other works. The evidence from this analysis supports this notion, leading us to believe that, considering the fact that the specialist contact channels analyzed were involved in social networks, with an average number of 121,252 tweets, the followers' attitude displayed an average similarity of 149 points below that reached by health professional profiles with half the number of tweets released. YouTube evidence also confirms this observation and pattern, but it is more prominent: relative to the number of videos posted by health-based contact channels, 20,483, with an average of four comments, the health professional profiles, amid the 72-fold decline in the number of videos released (281), earned an average of 300 comments.

References

Pérez-Escoda, A., Jiménez-Narros, C., Perlado-Lamo-de-Espinosa, M. and Pedrero-Esteban, L.M. (2020). Social Networks’ Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain: Health Media vs. Healthcare Professionals. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(14), p.5261. viewed 29 October 2020.

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[gamepillow19]

Coolsculpting Did Not Function

What Is Fat Freezing?

Content

Lipo Fat Freeze.

What Areas Can I Have Treated With Cryotherapy, Fat Freezing Coolsculpting?

Coolsculpting In Cambridge.

CoolSculpting has freeze discover technology which is a copyrighted technology which constantly monitors the skins temperature. This maintains the therapy area temperature also at 4 degrees, protecting against any freeze burns implying treatment is both risk-free as well as efficient. At Wellness & Appearances we have DualSculpting definition that we can treat two locations simultaneously, reducing your therapy time by half. There is no demand to increase to London for a beauty treatment of any kind of kind. You'll discover an entire series of different therapies suiting every age teams and also problems. To figure out even more concerning how we have actually placed a smile on clients deals with in the past, read our testimonies below for first-hand accounts of a variety of our therapies. as the reviews attest can also learn even more concerning what we think at Elite on our blog, in addition to reading more regarding what journalism states regarding us.

Aesthetic Energy-Based Device Market Analysis Size, Industry Analysis, Cost Structures and Top Manufactures with its types and Applications - KSU The Sentinel Newspaper

Aesthetic Energy-Based Device Market Analysis Size, Industry Analysis, Cost Structures and Top Manufactures with its types and Applications.

Posted: Thu, 14 Jan 2021 15:07:54 GMT [source]

Everyone is various, and also we guide far from a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, our team believe in using bespoke, tailored treatments to resolve precisely what you desire and need. The CoolSculpting treatment has a special sensor to make sure maximum coolness to the therapy area without harmful or affecting the skin as well as surrounding cells.

Lipo Fat Freeze.

There might some inflammation, small discoloration, tingling or numbness in the treated location, yet this is only momentary and will resolve entirely. Yes, CoolSculpting has a built-in Freeze Identify precaution to make sure there is NO THREAT of damage or burns to the skin during therapy. This is the ONLY tool on the marketplace which includes this safety and security device.

At what temperature does body fat freeze?

Understanding CoolSculpting Fat Freezing Treatment The optimum temperature for fat cell death is actually just above freezing at 39 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit. The threshold for damage to your skin and other tissues is a much lower temperature that CoolSculpting machines will never reach.

This treatment is completely non medical and also pain-free and also as a result, no recovery time is required and you are still able to partake in your day-to-day regimen customarily with no pains or constraints. These outcomes were visible after integrating 2 sessions of the cryolipolysis/fat cold treatment with 6 sessions of the 3D cavitation treatment. We give medicals for UK and also Norwegian Offshore Oil & Gas Medicals, Vehicle Driver Medicals (HGV/LGV), and also Visa Medicals. Your bespoke treatment plan will be tailored to your details needs and requests. River Aesthetics just execute non-surgical treatments that our physicians would certainly undertake themselves. The preliminary stage of the treatment procedure will certainly include among our aesthetic specialists marking up the certain areas to be targeted, prior to applying gel. The safety of our people, medical professionals and clinic team is constantly our initial top priority, as well as we hope that you can be assured by our brand-new plans as well as support to secure versus Covid-19.

What Areas Can I Have Treated With Cryotherapy, Fat Freezing Coolsculpting?

Many patients can go back to their typical tasks promptly after the CoolSculpting treatment. this customer was really delighted with the results she attained with coolsculpting right here at the photo facility, and pleased to share her success story. A complete listing of possible side effects, cautions, contra-indications and also after treatment will be reviewed throughout examination before treatment. 3D Lipo is the honor winning, verified, powerful and also advanced fat-reduction treatment as made use of by Dr Leah Totton, victor of The Pupil. Nevertheless, it is necessary that you take great care of your brand-new body with a balanced diet and also a routine physical activity. A non-invasive, non-surgical therapy that uses ultrasound energy to lift and tighten skin. You can return to your normal tasks promptly after treatment.

The total period will depend upon the number of treatments/cycles you are having. During the treatment individuals can review, deal with their laptops or simply kick back.

Coolsculpting In Cambridge.

Our pleased customers hail from areas consisting of Dartford, King's Hill, Gravesend, Bromley, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, and West Malling-- as well as from further afield. You could experience some bruising and inflammation following your therapy, yet this need to solve in a few days. Coolsculpting treatment times can be fairly lengthy as it only has one applicator, which causes double the treatment time compared to 3D Lipo. The whole therapy takes between minutes relying on the number of areas being treated. Please fill in the type to check consultation bookings, treatments or for a callback. Among our team members will certainly call you to discuss the therapy and respond to any type of concerns you might have.

Our London cryolipolysis treatment is finest suggested for everyone who wishes to really feel comfy in their very own skin once again, without needing to go under the popular 'knife' of lipo.

Shorter, better and also without discomfort or threats versus burning the skin, it is a therapy that provides you remarkable outcomes.

Areas of excess fat would certainly require multiple therapies prior to seeing noticeable outcomes.

The process is less excruciating since there is no suction for this particular area.

Cryolipolysis is a non-surgical fat freezing treatment, which makes use of regulated cooling down to help target trouble areas, such as persistent pockets of fat that resists all initiatives through diet as well as exercise.

coolsculpting arms Rickmansworth from lipo freeze2u is not always practical to pay for our industry-leading therapies in one go. Currently we offer Fat Freezing in 7 of our facilities, sign up for our advertising e-mails above to be alerted when our staying clinics provide this treatment.

I would very advise this therapy as it's pain-free and non-invasive. I have actually constantly located the personnel and also specialists exceptionally friendly and interesting throughout the LipoContrast therapies. Depending on the fat thickness and the desired result, 1 to 3 sessions can be treated on a location over 12 weeks. Much much shorter than cryo-lipo alternatives, giving quicker outcomes. Twin website treatment accessibility to minimize time required enhancing performance for your consumers as well as beauty parlor. Relying on each individuals needs and also objectives, we will tailor treatments and sessions to aid accomplish the appearance desired.

Please keep in mind that this treatment is extremely customer led - a good diet plan and workout regimen have to be complied with by the client in order to see results. You can eliminate unwanted fat without surgical procedure or downtime, half an hour to a slimmer, firmer you. Our bodies contain a limited quantity of fat cells, so the cells will not replicate. Nevertheless, it is crucial that you maintain a healthy and balanced way of life to stop the continuing to be fat cells from expanding and over compensating for the dead cells. Those persistent areas of fat that people find difficult to lose despite fitness center sessions. centrally manage coolsculpting arms Hemel Hempstead - lipofreeze2u.co.uk was always a location of disapproval, despite how much weight I lost. I was thrilled when reading about LipoContrast and am a lot more thrilled with my outcomes.

If you have any more inquiries, please do not wait to contact us or publication an appointment to review your customised treatment. We incorporate 3D Cryo therapies with 3D Shockwave, to even more enhance treatment results, and achieve faster outcomes. Vacuum suction is used to attract the fat in the therapy location in to the 3D Cryo handpiece, before this localised location is then adhered -10 degrees. Cryolipo is mostly discomfort totally free and comfortable, although some do report light wounding in the days after therapy. The hand piece being applied then draws the area up, some individuals report pulling on the skin yet it is not painful. Once they more than the initial sensation we frequently have customers come to be so relaxed that they doze off throughout the therapy process.

Non-Invasive Fat Reduction Market: Focus on Product Innovation to Drives Market Growth - BioSpace

Non-Invasive Fat Reduction Market: Focus on Product Innovation to Drives Market Growth.

Posted: Fri, 08 Jan 2021 06:03:54 GMT [source]

[drelleboag]

“Who got the power”? Jese...that’s who!

So, it is confirmed, after 9 years of being a core part of the girl band Little Mix Jesy Nelson has left the building…and why? Because Jesy has had to endure unrelenting trolling and cyber bullying since appearing on the X Factor in 2011. Jesy has been targeted for the past 9 years about her looks, her body shape and her voice…all of which, in my humble opinion are odd things to target as I think Jesy is beautiful, has the figure that many women aspire to (even go “under the knife” to achieve) and an amazing singing voice. However, mine and many hundreds of thousands of voices upholding such a view has little effect on the negativity wrought by the lesser number of cruel online bullies who remain anonymous in order to spread their spiteful and incendiary “voice”.

Seven in 10 young people report experiencing cyberbullying and 26% report feeling suicidal, so clearly the psychological impact of cyberbullying impacts deeply, leading to serious mental health illness such as depression and anxiety, low self-esteem and loneliness. I remember watching Jesy’s speaking out about her experiences and the experiences of others in a documentary on BBC3 in 2019, and at the time wondering if it would relieve the venom that stalks her on social media platforms. Clearly the answer to that is a resounding “NO”, but how Jesy has navigated her own “story” since then is testament to her tenacity and resilience. So kudos to her fighting spirit and strength of character by saying in the most public way possible “enough is enough!” may she be a standard bearer for those who have to suffer at the hands of cowardly bullies who hide behind anonymised false identities whilst they vomit their vitriolic and often unsubstantiated “point of view”, provoking additional spewing of hatred and attacking from others simply “because they can”.

So why do cyberbullies and trolls do it? Well to answer that honestly, you would need to ask them…and we don’t really know who they are as they hardly step up and identify themselves…even Katy Hopkins, whose public and hateful outbursts have led to her famously being branded as the most hated Celebrity in Britain, has the Kahunas and honesty to be open about it – albeit as a means of increasing her fame and notoriety as the “villain” perhaps? Anyway, I digress…one of the key reasons that trolls troll and cyberbullies bully online is because they are anonymous. It has long been recognised that anonymity leads to deindividuation and subsequently all manner of negative behaviour…just think back to any and all crowd-based disturbance… it is individuals within the crowd that cause the most harm, act in the most violent, antisocial and even criminal ways, simply because they are anonymous, and their individual actions are less detectable. It is a small number (in the grand scheme of things) of individuals who start the ball rolling by trolling and cyberbullies continue in their wake once the poison has been injected into the comments on social media platforms. As with trolls, cyberbullies are anonymous and their actions are kept, albeit very close to the line, within the parameters of what is “legal”. In the UK cyberbullying is not, in itself a crime… shocking, but true. There are specific laws that might be breached by trolling someone online, such as the Malicious Communications Act (1988), the Protection from Harassment Act (1997) or the Communications Act (2003) to name but three…but how do you prosecute someone who is anonymous? and who ensures that their actions are as close to illegal as they can get, without (mostly) crossing that line? Basically… you can’t!

So why are celebrities such as Jesy being targeted? Is it jealousy? Or is it something else?

In answering this question, I can only voice my own view, one that I have talked about across the media for some time…it may be explained by the fact that we now pretty much all have social media and can “connect” with “@real….” Celebrity accounts across numerous platforms. Celebrities are now immediately accessible…we feed off of their comments and tweets, we see and review their photos as they live their lives in the public sphere…and as such, we feel a far stronger connection with our chosen celebs. For their part they send us “blanket statements” about how much they love us, how much they are thankful for our support of their latest album/movie/TV role/award…etc. But this is a precarious situation as now we can feel that we own our celebrity, that without us they are nothing that we gave them their status and that we can control their future success or failure. For celebrities such as Jesy in 2011 the feelings of ownership can be argued to be particularly important. The public had journeyed with Little Mix from being created on X Factor® (as each band member auditioned as a solo artist) through their auditions as a group, to the judges houses and finally voting for them to win. Social media accounts were created as part of their existence and platforms were regularly updated with news about their journey; this all added to establish a sense of ownership of the band’s successes (e.g., “if we don’t vote for them, they will be sent home this week”)…and the public developed a need to be connected to them 24-7, expected immediate responses to and likes of comments/tweets, feeling let down if responses are not quick enough, the activity of favourites were compared to fellow band members and the “who is your favourite?” question was raised (mine, btw was always Jese!). A comparator that has always made between females (and is now on the rise for males too) is about idealised (and outdated) looks, body shape/size…for example: too thin, too fat, too small, too big, too short, too tall, too White, too Black, too flat chested, too busty.

Anything that allows comparison (so basically anything at all), that favouritism of one person over another that then offers the opportunity for trolls to make their first insinuations and drip-feeding of poison onto the platform… someone responds to them… and it feeds their need to add more negativity, and so it begins…cyberbullies then see an opportunity to really dig in with some nastiness…again, by responding, their negativity and hatefulness grows… they positively thrive on the defence of their chosen target! They don’t care what you think of them, you don’t know who they are…they could be anyone for all you know! … and there is that anonymity again!

So, what, if anything can be done? What can targets of trolls and cyberbullies do? How can they protect themselves from experiencing the psychological harm that comes from persistent pervasive drip-feeding of poison about their looks, their body shape, their personality, their talents, or other personal attribute aimed at bringing about the maximum hurt?

Well take a leaf out of Jesy’s book…take back control

I have cobbled together some loose ideas that might help you work through the process of taking back control below, these are simply my thoughts about what you can do, but if they help then that is only a good thing:

1.     Make it known that you are coming off of social media and do so straight away. You do not have to justify the decision, and do not wait around for the bullies to respond…just close your accounts.

2.     Now identify what is causing you the most upset. Is it the words? are they tapping into your own insecurities? or is it the intention behind their words that is most upsetting? is it something else? …etc. If you don’t know, speak to close others (e.g., family and friends) and ask for their view.

3.     Once identified, focus on what impact experiencing the cyberbullying and trolling is having on your mental health…and be honest with yourself…and speak to close others (e.g., family and friends) about how they feel it is impacting you, remember that they see you from the outside, from your behaviour and responding to them…not from the inside (as you do!). Don’t feel judged or guilty, it is simply about identifying what it is that you

4.     Next, address the immediate issue about your mental health. If it is having a detrimental effect on your day-to-day life speak to your GP, take someone with you if you feel able to; having a second “voice” can often be helpful to identify issues that you might forget about, or that you haven’t identified; your GP needs as much information as possible to help you properly. If you are not impacted on a day-to-day basis, and/or once your mental health is on a stable footing, ask yourself whether you feel able to tackle this without professional help, or whether you should undertake some counselling? or whether you are willing to work with close others (family and friends)?  and importantly are your close others able to (although they may desperately want to) support you properly? If no to the latter, seek out a counsellor or seek advice online or over the phone from one of the many mental health charities that exist (e.g., Mind, NHS mental health and wellbeing support, young minds) who will signpost you to appropriate support networks.

5.     Recognise that working through the effects of your psychological and emotional trauma is not a quick process. It takes no time at all to knock someone down (for chronic attacks this is exaggerated) but it takes a long time for them to have the confidence to stand up again. Be invested in building up your resilience and confidence.

6.     Surround yourself with people who mean something to you; do not isolate yourself…we are social creatures and need to be with others. If you live alone, join a group and get involved in community activities, if you are religious get involved in your faiths’ community projects … I am sure that your volunteering will be most gratefully received (and I believe even permitted under tier 3 restrictions…but do check!). There are ways that you can be active and be sociable that do not involve going to the pub! Which by the way is totally out for anyone in tier 3 anyway!

7.     Live your life free from the chains of those who brought you down!

Finally, always remember that you are you…and only you can be you…it is not for others to tell you who you are, and anyone who wants to do so is simply not worth your concern. Be stronger than them and remove yourself from the equation…take you back from them…and always have the lyrics from Little Mix themselves in 2017:

“Who got the power? I got the, I got the power I got the, I got the power I got the, I got the power Hold up!”

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: James Abrahart / Camille Purcell / Dano Omelio

Power lyrics © Bmg Gold Songs, 360 Music, Artist Publishing Group East, Robopop Musik, Sony/atv Music Publishing Allegro (uk), Jayded Ink Publishing

[sleekflowseo]

Beginner Tutorial: How To Get Started With WhatsApp Business

Reasons to Use WhatsApp BusinessWhatsApp VS WhatsApp BusinessAs of October 2020, WhatsApp hits 2 billion users around the globe and the number is still rising. The market penetration of WhatsApp is especially astonishing in some countries, for example, over 95% of Netherlands smartphones have this instant messaging app installed (Statista, 2020).

Obviously, WhatsApp is massive. The high number of WhatsApp users indicates there are enormous potential audiences ready to be reached. In 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business version, allowing companies to interact with customers via greeting messages, quick replies, and business profiles. From that moment on, many started scrambling over each other to explore this opportunity. However, jumping on the bandwagon is never easy. Let’s check out these helpful tips and tricks for getting the most out of the world's biggest messaging platform!

WhatsApp VS WhatsApp Business

Although the user interface of WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business is pretty similar, they serve very different purposes. Given that WhatsApp Business is specially designed for businesses to connect with their clients instantly in an official manner, there are a few exclusive features that are currently not available in WhatsApp:

Automated Messages

Quick Replies

Business Profile

Label Chat

Reasons to Use WhatsApp Business

In today’s instant messaging (IM) era, customers preferred having a real-time conversation rather than simply leaving a message. Responding quickly is crucial for customer satisfaction. According to the research published by HubSpot, 82% of customers expected an immediate response to a sales or marketing question, and 90% expected an immediate response to a customer service question. In such cases, automated messages are an extraordinary way to address this issue: it lets your customer feel heard. You can also make good use of the automated greeting message to gather more information from the customer, which will help you identify their particular needs easier and save some back-and-forth.

Of course you can use your personal WhatsApp account to communicate with both of your friends and customers, but it must be increasingly difficult to draw a fine line between private and business relationships. Not only can WhatsApp Business help you to stay organized, but they can also assist you in offering accessible customer service options, showcasing products and services and most vitally, creating superior brand connections with every customer.

With the WhatsApp Business, communicating with your customers is now easier than ever. Sometimes, customers’ inquiries are complex and hard to solve straight away. Instead of spending extra time trying to dig out all the information from customers, you can customize the WhatsApp pre-filled messages to reduce the number of these follow-ups to a minimum. Not to mention the predefined text can encourage your audience to engage with your company on certain topics. This can potentially contribute to your revenue growth, as well as improving customer satisfaction and streamlining your operations.

WhatsApp Business Tutorial

WhatsApp Business is a free app available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

To get started, you have to create your business profile by entering details under Settings > Business Settings > Profile. Make sure you get these accurate since any misleading information can cause you trouble.

Followed by the most important step, setting up the messaging tools. You need to go to Settings > Business Settings and check the messaging options available there. There should be 3 options: Away message, Greeting message, and Quick replies, you can set each of these depending on your requirements.

Apart from 1:1 support, you can also remind your customers about the latest promotions at once. To create a WhatsApp broadcast message, you have to go to the WhatsApp > More options > New Broadcast. Search for or select the contacts you want to add, then tap the check mark. You can select all the contacts you wish to send a broadcast to and send it, or you can organize your contacts with labels and then send a broadcast to one or more than one set of labeled broadcast lists.

For more app features, you can refer to Sleekflow’s complete guide on using WhatsApp Business.

WhatsApp Business Audiences Management

Creating a WhatsApp Business account is definitely not the hardest, while establishing presence in customers’ minds is. How can you keep in touch with your audiences without annoying them?

The key is to continuously deliver great content on relevant topics. Thus, it is of utmost importance for you to label all contacts, or else it will be very tricky to find the right person to stimulate conversation. The default setting already has a couple of different labels, but you are always welcome to add your own as well.

After putting your customers into different categories, you can start interacting with them via either a group or a broadcast list.

A group is a place for your fans and customers to come bond around, they can learn about your product and get access to exclusive knowledge through chatting with other like-minded people. It is also a handy channel for you to tap into some real insights.

Another practice is to send out a broadcast message as mentioned above. It is very similar to a marketing email but with a much higher open rate - the text message on WhatsApp gets an average open rate of 98%. Unlike group chats, recipients will see the message as a standard one appearing in their WhatsApp. With this one-to-many conversation feature, you can keep the conversation private and personal, all the replies will be restricted to the broadcaster only and no one else will get the reply of the message except the one who has sent it.

6 Must-Know WhatsApp Marketing Strategies

1. Present an Attractive Brand Persona

It’s 2020. If you want your brand to rise above the digital noise, a cold and sterile approach is the last thing you should attempt. To make sure your customers must be able to identify your brand quickly, you need to develop a strong, memorable, warm-blooded brand. For instance, including jokes about your brand on the business profile or getting festive profile pictures on special occasions. Quick reminder: don’t be afraid to use casual language such as “btw” and “LOL”, speak to your customers like you’d speak to your friends.

2. Build a Contact Base

Due to WhatsApp's anti-ad philosophy, cold call messages are not accepted. Businesses can only send messages to customers under 2 scenarios - customers initiate the conversation or the company’ phone number is on their contact list. In exchange for the WhatsApp number, you therefore need to offer them something of value. An exclusive coupon, promotional code or a giveaway campaign can all be good motivations for the users to begin their relationship with you.

3. Offer Relatable Content to Customers

Customers may come to you for very distinct reasons, in other words, you can’t use only one type of content to keep every audience engaged. Don’t forget to make good use of the Label Chat feature. You can create labels with different colors or names, and add them to an entire chat, group, or certain messages within a chat. By targeting those who are interested in particular topics and feed them with relevant content, you can eventually increase your customer base.

4. Deliver Excellent Customer Service

A 24/7 customer service used to be very luxurious, but with WhatsApp, even small businesses can now provide real-time support within budget. No doubt, speed matters in customer service. Fortunately, WhatsApp Business has the ability to send quick replies. With quick replies, you can create keyboard shortcuts for the messages, which is especially useful when you have to answer the same question over and over. This provides a considerable benefit when it comes to time saving while still actively connecting with customers.

5. Conduct Customer Research

Imagine you were trying to ask a girl on a date, how could you succeed without knowing her interests? Same logic, you must first have a deep understanding of who your buyers are, your specific market, and what influences the purchase decisions and behavior of your target audience members. Customer research is conducted so as to clarify the aforementioned details. Generally, people react more positively to images than blocks of text, so do try using visual aids in your questionnaire. Polls are also fun as they can give the respondents a glimpse of how they compare to others. By integrating a poll midway through a survey, the respondent can be immediately presented with the overall polling results, rendering them a sense of wider engagement with other respondents.

6. Utilize WhatsApp Status

Like other social stories, with Status Feature you share an image or video with your contacts that lasts for 24 hours. You can create special promotional codes your customers can share to redeem at your business. Using the instant photo and location feature, Status can let everyone in your group know about the on-going promotions. If you want to drive in traffic and create buzz, you can even launch a two hour flash sale or a one day special.

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How to Run Instant Messaging Marketing?

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[howyoustudythestars]

Hello 👋 If I may offer my two cents regarding Adam’s latest post, I just came across a British Vogue article titled “We Need To Rethink This 'Pics Or it Didn't Happen' Approach To Activism" by Yomi Adegoke that may be worth a read. Now I can’t speak on behalf of why he deleted a number of BLM comments on his latest post, but it’s not like he’s deleting all of them (I just checked and a good number of them are still up). I truly feel his intention was to be uplifting, but that's just my opinion.

It took me a while to decide if I wanted to answer this ask.  But I figured I would post this along with my post on more thoughts on the matter.

For those that haven’t read the article that the anonymous asker is referencing, the link to it is here.  I strongly recommend reading it.

Now, one thing I want to make absolutely clear with regards to my initial response to the question: I never wanted to imply, let alone state, that Adam deleting #BlackLivesMatter comments is somehow inherent proof that Adam Young is racist.  He’s collaborated with the likes of Yuna, Aloe Blacc, Shawn Chyrstopher (not to mention B.o.B and Big Boi from the unofficial versions of Alligator Sky), and others that are black.  The phrase “All Lives Matter” is nowhere to be found in Adam’s Instagram post on the matter.  In fact, if anything, I’m inclined to say that Adam Young is NOT racist.

Another thing that I don’t like that’s being brought up again is the whole Daniel Jorgensen controversy.  That controversy has NOTHING to do with the current situation.  It seems like those who are constantly bringing it up are more concerned with finding more reasons to “cancel” Adam than bring Adam’s attention to whatever problem they may have with the post.  That’s not to make what Daniel did any less trivial; Daniel’s actions are just as wrong as Derek Chauvin’s.

One quote from the article I linked above actually resonated with me with my Christian faith:

Silence online now is interpreted as silence full stop – as if a donation is worth less if it’s not made public, as if you’re weak if you choose to contribute to causes quietly.

Compare that with Jesus’s word in Matthew 6:1-4 (NRSV):

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

If anything, Jesus is against the mentality of boasting about your donations on social media.  While I wouldn’t say it’s a sin to do so, Jesus is essentially saying that if the amount of likes you get on your donation screenshot is why you’re donating, you’re doing it for the wrong reason.  This is something that I really liked about the Vogue article.

With all that being said, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in Adam.  Yes, I don’t think Adam is racist.  No, I don’t expect him to make a more definitive statement on the matter.  Heck, I don’t expect him to use the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, or even to make a clarification post.  All I’m asking is that he doesn’t delete posts that say, “Black Lives Matter”.  Granted, there may have been comments that you saw there with the phrase, anon, but are those comments still there now?  Also, someone on Reddit mentioned to me that the kind of comments Adam’s been deleting is mostly comprised of insults, or they contain stuff that has nothing to do with the hashtag (i.e., including #BlackLivesMatter on a comment on the Daniel Jorgensen situation).  But what I want to know is exactly WHAT comments are deleted?

What I just did was I used a throwaway Instagram account to comment on the Instagram post.  All the comment says is the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.  I’ll check again in a few days on my main Instagram account and see if the comment is still visible from my end.  I’ll keep you posted on that.

But for the record, if Adam really IS deleting comments as simple as that, then I will be disappointed.  It’s one thing to chose what you’ll use your platform to say and how to say it, but it’s quite another to go around deleting people’s comments on a post simply because (in this hypothetical) it espouses a view you don’t like.  Again, I’m not saying Adam is racist.  And I don’t expect Adam to allow his posts to be filled with spam comments, especially if it contains links to NSFW stuff.  But as an example, I run several YouTube channels, and on one recent video I made on one, I received a hate comment.  Did I flag it?  No.  Did I respond with a lengthy response to their hate?  No.  I didn’t even let it get to me.  But you know what I did do?  I left it up on my video.  It takes absolutely no time or effort to allow people to comment on your posts that say something you disagree with or don’t like and do absolutely nothing about it.  It’s Adam’s right to use his platform as he sees fit, and it’s other’s right to comment on his platform to critique what he’s saying or not saying.  That’s quintessential free speech and free expression rights.

So, TL;DR -- I don’t believe Adam Young is a racist.  But I’m still disappointed that Adam is deleted BLM comments.  The Daniel Jorgensen controversy has no reason to be brought up here.  However, regardless of your thoughts on the situation with Adam, I strongly recommend you read this British Vogue article.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me, anon!