#plus influencers are super annoying on every other platform

[allthegothihopgirls]

i hate tiktok i hate short-form video content i hate tiktok 'influencers' i hate herd mentality i hate it oh my god

[eri-blogs-life]

It took me 112 days to slog through the first one, and just 5 days for me to beat the second one

Here are my thoughts on Super Mario Sunshine

Now, just as a preface as I start writing up my thoughts: I grew up with Super Mario Sunshine. My brother and I played a lot of Sunshine growing up, and we’ve picked up the old Gamecube every now and then to get in a few shines here and there since. I’m fairly familiar with this game, and nostalgia is definitely a strong factor in why I love this game so much. And I don’t believe there’s such a thing as an objective analysis of a piece of media, as everything is going to be influenced in some way by the creator’s biases. But all that being said, after Super Mario 64 being such ass, I’m so glad to be playing Sunshine, which is a pretty okay game, despite what a lot of people will try to tell you.

The Good

A lot of people like to shit on Sunshine as the worst 3d mario game, but I feel like, at least compared to 64, there’s really a lot here to love.

The game’s basic engine, and Mario’s movement, feels a lot more slick and streamlined than it did in 64. Mario’s basic moves feel like they give you a lot of control over the way he moves, which is really important for a platformer. Plus, the moves and the sounds that mario makes really make the act of moving from one place to another decently entertaining. Fludd adds some nice ability to adjust your jumps or get yourself lined up just right over a tricky platform.

The vacation theming is just so fun, and the ability to put mario into sunglasses and a shine sprite styled aloha shirt is just such a nice touch for completing the game. 

And my biggest complaint about 64 is remedied in Sunshine. When you fail a platforming challenge, you aren’t immediately booted out of the level. Well, generally. Most of the time there’s something below you that you end up falling on to, from which you can then platform your way back up to where you were, without having to be kicked from the level and making your way back in and siting through the goddamn loading screens again. This isn’t always the case, as there are some levels where hitting the ground will kill you, but having that not be the norm makes most of the platforming challenges feel a lot more comfortable to play in. 

The Bad

Sunshine ain’t without its share of problems, though. There are definitely a few ways in which Sunshine doesn’t always feel great to play. (Even without comparing it to 64, in most cases, but not all - the lack of a long jump is really felt here, and it’s a shame that was removed.)

The biggest complaint I probably have is that you have to reach part 7 in all the levels in order to reach the final boss. This just doesn’t feel great, as some of the shines within each level can be really frustrating to get, especially if you aren’t super comfortable with the game’s mechanics, so I don’t think this was the best design decision. Rather, it would’ve made a lot more sense to have a minimum number of shines needed to reach that final level, even if that minimum number happens to be 7 times the number of levels.

Also, the Chucksters. The chucksters aren’t so bad in regular levels, for much the same reason I mentioned above about how if you miss the platform you’re being chucked to, you usually just end up on the ground and have to climb your way back up. But it’s so hard to line up where the chucksters throw you. And in the sublevel where you have to get thrown by chucksters any mistake costs you a life and it’s so annoying and its even worse when you’redoingtheredcoinversionofthelevelandyouhavetolineupprecisethrowswhileonasupershorttimelimitandthechuckstersaremovingaroundandohmygoditsthe worst.

The Beautiful

So... those are most of my thoughts. Mario Sunshine is a pretty solid 3D platformer, but it does have its share of problems and things that can make it frustrating to play. I love the game to death. 

And I’ve made a lot of comparisons to 64 as I wrote this up, for probably obvious reasons. Mario 64 was the first foray of Nintendo into 3d platformers, and it had a huge cultural impact. Sunshine was Mario’s second adventure in 3d, and it had a lot to live up to. It failed to live up to those expectations for a lot of people, but for people like me who had never played 64 as a kid, Sunshine is the basis on which I compare my other 3d platformers. (Well, Spyro was also a 3d platformer I played a lot as a kid, so there’s also that)

I don’t think either 64 or Sunshine is inherently a better game. Both are very solid 3D platformer games that are riddled with their share of design problems or weird control scheme choices. Both make a lot of sense for their position within history, and received a lot of praise from critics at the time of their releases. Neither is inherently a better game, but rather one might be a better game for a certain person, and that could be for a lot of reasons, and nostalgia from growing up with a certain game would definitely be a big factor. 

---

I am probably going to take a break and play something else before I move on to doing Galaxy, but I’m excited to get to Galaxy as well.

But really I think we can all agree that the objectively best mario game is Hotel Mario

[interesting-blog-name]

FKA twigs MEGAREVIEW (LP1/M3LL155X/MAGDALENE

FKA twigs is a British R&B and art pop singer who came up as a backup dancer for various artists’ music videos, and decided to start her music career, releasing her first official EP, EP1, in 2012. I am not familiar with anything she’s done except for her feature in A$AP Rocky’s Fukk Sleep, so I don’t know what to expect, even though I’ve heard good things. I’ll be listening to her two studio albums and an EP she released between the two, chronologically.

 LP1

I love it.

Although twigs isn’t fond of being categorized as an R&B artist, specifically alternative R&B, as she has stated in an interview with The Guardian, there really isn’t much else to be used to describe her music, and the term is pretty convenient to embody most of the sounds in LP1, so I’ll most likely be using it. The album is a mixture of strong, dark electronic production and twigs’ beautiful falsetto singing, taking form as either the sexually charged, euphoric vocals you hear in the chorus of Two Weeks, or the hymnic elements her voice has in Closer and the intro Preface. These two key elements constantly clash and form something way more impactful than what they’d be individually, and give the whole LP a soothing and simultaneously dark and dizzying atmosphere.

The highpoints in the album are when the two combine into grand moments such as the ending of Lights On, where the production amounts into a huge chunk of pure bliss, sounding like there are tens of different sounds all in sync with one another, or the processed, multi-layered chorus in the next track, Two Weeks. Another great quality to the production style in the album is that it gets to be adventurous when it wants, how it wants, whether by pulling back completely and minimalizing its role to let FKA twigs’ voice shine on Hours, or on my favorite track Pendulum, where the whole song is built around this unstable knocking and simple yet effective manipulated keyboards, completely fading out at times leaving the high-pitched vocals to themselves.

The lyrical themes are all built around love and passion, with varying levels of aggression to romanticism (Lights On, Two Weeks vs. Hours, Give Up) or regret, such as in Numbers, which showcases how far into the electronic side the production can go, with erratic drums and beeping at the start, progressing into some gorgeous synths under some of twigs’ most heartfelt singing in the project. The exception is Video Girl, the most personal track here, where she sings about her time as a backup dancer and the struggles that came with her intent on achieving fame. The lyrics hit hard and it serves as a really nice intimate moment in the album.

For the tracks I don’t like as much I have the two closers: Kicks and One Time, the latter being only available in the deluxe version, which is not on streaming platforms. Kicks, from what I could tell, is all about being enough for yourself, specifically sexually. Without the grand ambitious production from the rest of the album, this outro is left with okay vocals and an odd theme that doesn’t go anywhere, backed by some slightly annoying production decisions, and a nice chorus which is definitely the best part of the song. One Time, on the other hand, is just really bland compared to the craziness of the rest of the album, as it is the most stagnant and uneventful of the tracks.

The sound of LP1 is definitely intriguing, and I consider it a nice introduction to an artist I have high expectations for.

 FAVORITE TRACKS: Pendulum, Video Girl, Two Days, Lights On

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Kicks

  8.25/10

“You’re younger than I am broken. I dance feelings like they’re spoken, so my conversation’s not enough.”

 M3LL155X

Read as “Mellissa”, this EP was released in August of 2015, and features 18 minutes of music spanned into 5 tracks, and I love to say there’s not one track here I don’t like

What surprised me about M3LL155X is how “explosive” twigs seems to be compared to LP1, where most of her tracks were sung in a comfortable, soothing falsetto tone, in here she isn’t afraid to let her voice carry out a lot more, which brings some much appreciated strong emotions and power to the songs here, great examples being her fast delivery on the hook of In Time, and her enchanting finish to Mothercreep.

The EP starts with Figure 8, which places the listener dead center in the chaotic instrumentals the project has to offer, with a banging bass right at the beginning. The track slowly progresses from its slightly angelic cadence into the weird, choppy vocal effects in the latter half, giving the track a nice finish. What I find a little underwhelming are the lyrics, sometimes they come off slightly meaningless, at least at first glance, but I feel they could have been used better, maybe to convey meaning other than love and relationships, which is done in the last two tracks, but not in such an effective way in my opinion, specifically on Mothercreep, a track supposed to be a mature hindsight to twigs’ mom’s decisions to her daughter’s life, which doesn’t come off as super personal in a way it could have. Like I said, however, the ending to this song is gorgeous, and I love how the song waits to bring in that climax, it really ends the EP on a huge high note.

To me the best the EP has to offer is In Time and Glass & Patron, the first being this infectious, addictive, ever-evolving fat banger, I just cannot get enough of it at all; and the latter being the weirdest, most electronic-influenced song here (I mention the umbrella electronic genre very carefully because I know fuck-all about it), with the oddest but most interesting progression here. That isn’t to undermine twigs’ vocals, as they are as good as ever, I just wish in tracks like this and I’m Your Doll, where she reaches some great vocal inflections, she’d make more use of them, but to me they feel like the vocals are somewhat teasing themselves to the listener, when they could’ve been used to a much greater extent.

I love this EP, I love its aggressiveness and how it surprised me, but I know, even as good as it is, that all the potential here could have been used a bit better.

 RANKED TRACKS: In Time, Glass & Patron, Mothercreep, Figure 8, I’m Your Doll

 8.15/10

“Paper cut it, I feel the slightest rip is a river that’s overflowing me”

 MAGDALENE

Bruh.

I don’t even know what to say honestly, I’m completely blown away. This is heaven.

From the start, I thought this album was gonna be alright, but immediately after home with you I knew this shit was something else. This is by far her most cohesive, beautiful, emotional, greatest album overall. I seriously don’t even know what to say, I’m writing this immediately after my second listen, and I love almost every aspect of it.

I guess I’ll start by the things I liked the least, which were probably the tracks sad day and holy terrain, even though these tracks are at least great. The melodies in sad day are so unique and entrancing, really the only thing I didn’t like as much was the production, which felt like it could have gone a bit further. For holy terrain, I have mixed feelings towards it. While a part of me feels like it was a little weird, a bigger part is amazed at how well these two worlds merged with each other to form a track as beautiful as this; again, it doesn’t stand out as much as some others, and I think twigs sounds a bit like Ariana Grande at the beginning of the hook, but fuck me some moments in this song are insane.

I was a little indifferent towards thousand eyes at first, but I’ve come to appreciate a slow, ascending intro to this mindfuck of an album, and the track right after that, home with you, is pretty much perfect, I have nothing bad to say about it. I love the alternating between processed and raw vocals, and it just ends so beautifully, it’s seriously otherworldly.

“Otherworldly” is actually a great word to describe almost anything here. mary magdalene is a gorgeous look into the ethereal feminine theme this album is solidified over, and sounds like something you’d hear as you ascended into heaven after dying; fallen alien is aggressive like something out of M3LL155X, but even more polished and fits perfect into the context of the album, and after it starts a nearly flawless outro of three tracks: mirrored heart, daybed and cellophane. This is pure emotion, I cannot describe what I felt while listening to these three. The first is probably one of the best songs I’ve ever heard, or at least that’s what I feel right now. I have to be extremely careful not to listen to this too much, so it doesn’t lose its magic on me.

daybed is much simpler instrumentally, with an ambient undertone to the track that just really fits my personal tastes. The lyrics in this track are raw feels, in fact the lyrics in MAGDALENE in general sound much more mature and fleshed out, and I absolutely love it, it’s heartbreak, bittersweet beauty in every direction, all connected by this weird theme of something greater than humanity; if twigs’ intent was to make herself look extraterrestrial with her art, but at the same time undeniably human, then I think she succeeds, because, to me, it feels like she is the music, it feels like she pulls these songs straight from her soul, and that’s why it’s so alien, because it is incredibly human.

For the closer, cellophane absolutely wrecks your heart with a gorgeous piano ballad, and I’m very happy I never heard this song, considering it is the lead single to the album, because it just added so much emotion to the outro of one of the best albums I’ve heard. I seriously cannot get enough of it, and I think I’ll go sleep for a while now just to clear my mind a little bit. I’m sorry if these three “reviews” haven’t gone super in depth with the albums, but I feel like if I talk about them any longer they’ll lose some of their beauty to me, plus I’m not doing this to be perfectly objective, just to share my super biased, super inexperienced thoughts on what I listen to. So I guess just listen to them. They’re awesome. Peace.

 FAVORITE TRACKS: home with you, mirrored heart, cellophane, daybed, mary magdalene

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: none

 9.45/10

“Aching is my laughter, busy is my pastime, telling is my silence, blurring my horizon, smothered is my distance, careful are my footsteps, possessive is my daybed.”

[operationrainfall]

Title Secret of Evermore Developer SquareSoft Publisher SquareSoft Original Release Dates NA: Oct 1, 1995 PAL: Feb 22, 1996 JP: Cancelled Genre Action RPG Platform Super Nintendo Age Rating Everyone

The golden age of RPGs gave us many classics that continue to bring about memories of joy and awe when simply mentioned. Games like Secret of Mana or Chrono Trigger are universally loved due to their epic stories, fantastic gameplay, and beautiful aesthetics. However, not all RPGs from that era achieved such legendary standing, as few games, even now, have come as close to perfection. Secret of Evermore is one such example; it’s a game with a satisfactory story and both familiar gameplay and aesthetics, yet it falls terribly short in its execution and overall quality. Not quite a hidden gem, Secret of Evermore is more a game with loads of potential that never manifested nor achieved the greatness it could have had.

Secret of Evermore begins with a cryptic thirty-year flashback, at a tucked away mansion depicting an experiment gone wrong. Turn to the present, a boy chases his dog to the now dilapidated mansion, stumbling upon a peculiar machine. The machine is activated and the boy is transported. He soon meets two unknown individuals, one of whom promptly dismissed him and eventually the boy finds himself plummeting from space in a pod before landing on what seems to be prehistoric Earth. Not knowing where he is, how he got there, or why his dog is now a feral wolf, the boy and his pet set off into this prehistoric wilderness in search of a way back home. He will ultimately need to work together with individuals from his own world that he meets and uncover the secrets of this land he will come to know as Evermore.

No kidding…

Secret of Evermore is a quest-driven story in which history, knowledge, and imagination mishmash to create the world our hero and his dog find themselves in. The simple task of finding a way back home develops into meeting various other characters who also find themselves in Evermore and doing the tasks they give in the hopes of achieving that similar goal. The game solely depends on its story to intrigue its players throughout the hero’s journey. Unfortunately, the story itself isn’t all that strong, as the mysteries of Evermore aren’t all that mysterious or intriguing. Rather than a fleshed-out unraveling of what Evermore is and how it came to be, it’s mostly addressed without any significant depth. We are told rather than shown. Exposition comes quickly and mysteries are bluntly uncovered to move the story and game along. This is a fairly common occurrence, missing out on opportunities to build suspense and establish a heavier tone of mystery. There is also an existential element to the story that is never explored, which is something that would have added much-needed depth. The story may remain amusing enough to hold one’s curiosity until the end, however that end is unsatisfying and once the game is completed, with its lack of mood, even less character development, and the linearity of the entire journey, the game does little to entice a replay other than purely for nostalgia’s sake.

The writing can be blunt at times…

Other narrative shortcomings come from the near nonexistence of character establishment or development. Not to say there isn’t any characterization⁠—the only character to have any semblance of unique personality is the hero⁠—but that doesn’t go much further than his apparent love for fictitious movies and his willingness to refer to or quote them as his circumstances call for it. The other major characters hardly have any detail to them other than their connections to the experiment and their current residency in Evermore. Even their voices are written painfully similar to the point that their only distinguishing traits are their obvious influences on Evermore’s landscapes and their character sprites. Simply put, characterization and development never seemed like a concern of the developers at all.

Our hero is simply a story-driving pawn

Leaving story behind, Secret of Evermore’s gameplay should be familiar to anyone who has played Secret of Mana. Secret of Evermore implements near-identical gameplay mechanics, utilizing the ring menu system and combat system from Mana. Basic combat requires a recharge after every strike and most other functions, from using items to equipping arms and armor, to casting alchemy skills, can all be performed via the ring menus. Familiar and intuitive, gameplay does have some unique quirks as well. One major departure from the Mana formula is that magic comes in the form of learning alchemy recipes and the use of items. Rather than a magic meter, in order to perform skills, you must have the required number of ingredients necessary to perform them. For example, to use Flash, the basic fire skill, you need one wax and two oils. As you traverse Evermore, different ingredients and more skills become available, but all are dependent on your having the right ingredients and quantities. In turn, this makes having plenty of cash on hand to make frequent purchases an absolute necessity. Together, the constant need for cash and ingredients becomes an annoyance as you’ll constantly be making purchases in order to make a viable offense.

Other familiar traits in gameplay include the use of different weapons. As you use a particular weapon, it levels up and allows for a charged attack that typically provides better range. Standard attacks, however, significantly and annoyingly lack range regardless of weapon type, so leveling weapons comes into greater play. Though the charged attacks are unique, I much preferred the varying ranges and traits of the different weapons as seen in other games at the time. Also, the need to get overly up close and personal to enemies to inflict damage means taking damage. A lot. More often than I’d like, placing even greater dependency on cash and item stocks for too frequent healing.

The challenge level of Evermore is noticeably steeper than similar games, so defeating enemies while balancing the unavoidable damage and maintaining HP is key. Grinding for levels is also recommended, as the hero and dog will both feel like they’re not hitting hard enough in crucial fights. Unfortunately, the experience gains from enemies are lacking while experience demands for a level up feel higher than what can be considered balanced, adding to the potential frustration players will feel. There are many enemies and moments that can feel downright unforgiving, so patience with the gameplay’s nuances is also a must. Again, that means working around the limited range and power of physical attacks and near complete reliance on alchemy skills, especially in regards to boss fights.

Not everything is intuitive or explained, leaving it to us to figure out. Here, you need to use the floor hatches to leave or the machine to launch your dog in the air

Outside of combat, gameplay is a linear ordeal, as you explore the subsequent towns, talk to NPCs, do a bit of trading should you choose, and simply trek from one point to another until the end. There isn’t much in the way of subquests, nor exploration in the dungeons and other enemy-infested areas, keeping gameplay to the simple tasks of surviving and boss beating. Though the straightforward style works, it lacks creative appeal and may be more a deterrent than an attraction to potential players.

Finally, Secret of Evermore sports a familiar, yet appealing aesthetic that overflows with nostalgia. The visuals are mostly strong, with detailed sprites and impressive enemy and boss depictions. The backgrounds and map designs are especially strong and creative, vividly detailing the historical aspects they are meant to represent. Few other games have attempted such an idea, so the uniqueness of Evermore’s world continues to stand out. Though I did find some maps inconsistent in their levels of details, the areas that do receive that attention definitely show it. As for the audio, the soundtrack is satisfactory, as the music matches its locales and serves its purpose of amplifying the tones that both the story and visuals attempt to convey. However, I didn’t find the soundtrack nearly as remarkable. None of the tunes truly stand out or possess the weightiness of the tracks from other games at the time of its release. I will say that I am impressed with the use of silence and ambiance, as both are used effectively to create mood, plus neither are overused, which I find to be a skill in itself. Overall, Secret of Evermore’s aesthetics support well the story and gameplay and while the music fails to stand out in any memorable way, its visuals will impress.

They may look cool, but the bosses can be annoying. This one constantly drops you, forcing you to climb up a tower to attack

The fact that Secret of Evermore was the first attempt by a new development team definitely shows, yet their efforts produced a satisfactory game that continues on more as a cult classic. Some love it, many others look upon it with mixed feelings or utter indifference. It’s not the hidden gem that is Terranigma, nor will it trigger the same levels of awe and pleasurable nostalgia like Chrono Trigger. Its narrative potential fails to hide the linear story and instead exposes its disappointing lack of depth. Missteps in gameplay hurt and may likely turn away players expecting the more robust gameplay of Secret of Mana, Illusion of Gaia and the likes of those more highly regarded RPGs. Despite all of this, Secret of Evermore has its strengths and will appeal to players looking for a bit of a classic, throwback RPG style. It’s not for everyone, but if you have the patience and the passion for the oldschool, Secret of Evermore may be worth the look.

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[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”2.5″]

Review Copy Owned by Author

TBT REVIEW: Secret of Evermore Title Secret of Evermore Developer SquareSoft Publisher SquareSoft Original Release Dates NA: Oct 1, 1995

[dipulb3]

The 2021 Polestar 2 is a truly cool EV

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/the-2021-polestar-2-is-a-truly-cool-ev-2/

The 2021 Polestar 2 is a truly cool EV

The Polestar 2 is one of the coolest EVs on sale.

Daniel Golson/Roadshow

Most new EVs either look too normal to stand out or too strange to entice regular consumers, but the Polestar 2 perfectly lands in that middle ground. To my eyes, this is one of the first truly cool EVs — at least in terms of more affordable cars. And when it comes to new segments and emerging tech, sometimes being cool is the most important thing.

Like

Fantastic stying inside and out

Super quick and fun to drive

Great Google infotainment system

Don’t Like

Less range than Tesla

Only comes in one expensive configuration

Limited servicing network

A real crowd pleaser

I live in Los Angeles, where hybrids and EVs are common — basically every other car you see is a Tesla.  But the Polestar really grabs peoples’ attention. Chalk some of that up to it being new and some of it to its lack of badging — either way, most people just don’t know the hell it is. They just know it’s something new and cool, and want to learn more about it.

It’s hard to categorize the Polestar 2. At first glance it looks like a traditional sedan, but it’s got a fastback rear end with a hatch instead of a trunk. The Polestar has a higher ride height than most sedans (it’s an inch taller than a BMW 3 Series but more than 4 inches shorter in length) and SUV-like body cladding, making it a bit of a pseudo-crossover. However you classify it, the Polestar 2 is an extremely handsome car, with minimal body surfacing and great proportions.

It’s obvious the Polestar 2 was originally designed to be a Volvo, but that’s not a bad thing. Still, lots of little details set it apart from other Volvos, like the blocky patterned grille and full-width LED taillight strip. The only badges on the car are body-color Polestar logos on the hood and trunk, as well as subtle stickers on the front doors that denote the model name, battery pack size and power output.

The Volvo influence is obvious in the 2’s interior, but Polestar’s designers really turned the specialness up a notch or two. My test car has the Slate color scheme, which features vegan WeaveTech surfaces that feel like a high-end windbreaker and black ash wood trim. There’s a good amount of head- and legroom for front and rear passengers and the cabin feels airy thanks to the huge standard panoramic sunroof. I wish there was a sunshade for the roof, though, as direct sunlight can still be annoying despite the tinted glass. Another major downside is a lack of storage up front, with only one usable cupholder in the center console (there’s another under the center armrest) and fairly small door pockets. Still, the overall vibe is very Swedish high-end furniture/audio store and it genuinely feels premium.

The Polestar’s Google-based infotainment system is one of our favorites.

Daniel Golson/Roadshow

OK, Google, you rule

The Polestar 2 is the first production car to use Google’s Android Automotive infotainment tech and even for a staunch iPhone user like myself I think it’s easily one of the best systems on the market. (Don’t worry, Apple CarPlay functionality is coming and I don’t even miss it during my time with the car.) The system looks fantastic and the 11-inch screen is super quick and snappy, plus it’s easy to log into my Google account via QR code and download apps like Spotify from the Google Play store. There aren’t too many apps yet and missing ones include Audible and some major podcast platforms, but they’re coming. The Google Assistant voice commands work well too and it can even control things like the seat heaters. The only physical controls are a volume knob and buttons for the heated windshield and rear window, meaning even climate controls are accessed through the screen, but that’s easy to get used to.

The best part of the Android system is that Google Maps is the native navigation. I typically gravitate towards using Google Maps through CarPlay over any built-in nav and it looks even sharper on the Polestar’s display — there’s even a nearly full-screen view for Maps in the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster. The Google tech has some nice EV-specific features, like showing the estimated range and charge you’ll have at the end of a set journey and providing an info-filled list of charging stations. I do wish you could see a satellite map view, though. 

Shirking the EV norms

For now, every Polestar 2 comes the same way; there’s one battery pack size and one motor configuration. There’s an electric motor at each axle for a combined output of 408 horsepower and 487 pound-feet of torque, with all-wheel drive as standard. With a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.5 seconds the Polestar 2 is damn quick. Launches push you back in your seat and the performance doesn’t seem to fade after multiple goes. There’s no sport mode or adjustable power setting, so you’ve always got the full amount of torque no matter what. I do like that you can turn the idle creep function on and off, too — I prefer to leave it off like a brake hold feature.

There are three settings for the steering, the firmest of which is my favorite. It’s really nicely weighted, direct and actually offers a good amount of feedback, which is not the norm for EVs. The Polestar’s chassis is great too and the car feels a lot more nimble than its nearly 5,000-pound weight suggests. An ESC Sport mode reduces the intervention of the stability control, but it doesn’t make a massive difference in the dry. Overall, the Polestar 2 is just as fun to drive in the twisties as it is around town. Impressive.

That subtle styling packs a major punch.

Daniel Golson/Roadshow

But the best part of the Polestar 2 isn’t how it launches or how it corners, it’s how it stops. The 2 has a regenerative braking system that affords true one-pedal driving and once you’ve experienced an EV with a good one-pedal system, it’s hard to go back to anything else. The Polestar lets you select between having the regen fully off, having it in a low setting that won’t bring the car to a complete stop, or keeping it in the standard mode. Keeping the Polestar in the standard mode the whole time, I maybe touch the brake pedal half a dozen times over the course of a week of testing. Even during a very spirited drive on some canyon roads, the regen is so strong and easy to regulate that I never have to tap the brakes.

You can add a $5,000 performance package, but honestly, I wouldn’t. While I love the design of the 20-inch wheels and the gold seatbelts, the Polestar 2’s regenerative braking makes the performance pack’s upgraded front Brembo brakes unnecessary. And as cool as the manually adjustable Öhlins dampers might seem, they’re annoying to adjust and make the car ride worse than with the standard setup. Plus, if you really want bigger wheels, a set of 20-inchers with a sweet 4-spoke design is available for $1,200.

Standard active-safety features include Volvo’s Pilot Assist system (adaptive cruise control with steering assist), automated emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic assist, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, a 360-degree camera and parking sensors. Every Polestar 2 also comes with heated front and rear seats, a heated steering wheel, heated windshield wipers, active LED headlights, a Harman Kardon sound system, ambient interior lighting and a wireless phone charger.

The Polestar 2’s interior reminds me of high-end furniture.

Daniel Golson/Roadshow

Let’s talk about range

The EPA says the Polestar 2 has a range of 233 miles per charge and while I never fully charge or fully deplete the battery pack, the car’s estimated range readout seems accurate if not a little conservative. It only gives the range in 5-mile increments, which I think is fine — I’m never going to get close enough to empty for a super-precise readout to really matter anyway. The Polestar’s range is way more enough for me and it certainly is enough for the majority of consumers, especially those with short commutes. But I wouldn’t hesitate to take it on a long highway trip that would require charging; Polestar says the 2 can gain an 80% charge in just 40 minutes on a 150-kilowatt DC fast charger.

There’s a lot of public charging in Los Angeles, but nearly every time I charged it was at the same location close to my apartment, so I didn’t have to deal with a lot of searching for stations that aren’t either broken or occupied. (There was a massive puddle of oil on the ground next to my parking spot the first time I charged, go figure.) While Polestar has no fast-charging network of its own like Tesla, you can charge it up at third-party stations like those from Electrify America and EVgo. Polestar also recently announced a partnership with ChargePoint in which the companies will launch an in-car app and expand access to all of ChargePoint’s 130,000 chargers.

Rejoice! It’s a hatchback!

Daniel Golson/Roadshow

One configuration fits all

The Polestar 2 starts at $61,200 including destination, but before any incentives. It’s eligible for a federal $7,500 tax credit, which brings the price down to $52,400. With $1,200 Snow paint and the $5,000 performance pack, my test car is $67,400. The only option left on the table is the $4,000 ventilated leather interior that would bring the price to $71,400. So yeah, the Polestar is quite pricey, even among other premium EVs. (Cheaper models with fewer standard features will eventually arrive, though no details have been announced yet.)

The easiest comparison to draw is with the Tesla Model 3, as it’s the only other premium electric sedan in the same size class as the Polestar. The all-wheel-drive Long Range Model 3 starts at $46,690 before any incentives and offers slightly quicker acceleration and a much longer range (353 miles). Then there’s the $54,690 Model 3 Performance, which has a 315-mile range and will hit 60 mph a full second quicker than the Polestar. In terms of performance and value for money, the Model 3 creams the Polestar 2.

I don’t want the Tesla, though. The Polestar 2 is more enjoyable to drive, better to look at and way nicer inside, plus I prefer its tech and the hatchback rear end. And most importantly (at least to me), the Polestar is just more interesting. Even if Teslas weren’t so common where I live, I’d still want to be seen in the Polestar. Driving it feels like I’m at the cutting edge of the industry.

The Polestar 2 is currently available to order online, with test drives, delivery and servicing handled by the brand’s Spaces showrooms. As of right now there are only a few, mostly in California with one in Denver and another in New York City. But Polestar promises that 15 more showrooms will open by the end of 2021 in places like Boston, Seattle, Detroit and Miami. If you’re interested in a premium electric car and have a Polestar Space near you, I highly recommend checking it out. You might end up the coolest person in your neighborhood.

[gertrudejnieves]

Javascript Commission Bot Review – Recommended or Not?

Javascript Commission Bot Review – An Introduction

Most folks think that it’s difficult to make money online. These are likely to focus on “top gurus” approaches, which ultimately lead to minimal to none.

They may have lost a lot of time and money in purchasing tools, creating content, building a list … Each adds up a lot of money that causes them to break away before they get even to make money for themselves.

Everyone knows it takes big targeted traffic and evergreen offers to make money online. What about a system that allows you to use the other audiences for specific traffic and gets you hundreds of products paid by an infinite audience?

So, your last all-inclusive solution is JavaScript Commission Bot. This program really changes the game as it simplifies the whole online money making process. For more details, let’s just dive in my honest review.

Javascript Commission Bot Review – Product Overview

Product Name Javascript Commission Bot Product Creator Jono Armstrong Launch Date & Time [2020-Jul-07] @ 09:00 EDT Price $13 Bonus Yes, Best Bonus Available! Refund Period 30-Days Official Site https://javascriptcommissionbot.net/ Product Type Ranking Software Skill Any Levels Recommended Highly Recommended

What Is Called Javascript Commission Bot?

The JavaScript Commission bot addresses the 2 biggest problems facing the MMO space for all newbies; traffic and monetization. You come up with a genuine automated solution which literally provides your accounts with cash on full autopilot.

Element 1 – Traffic: It is generated using a Chrome extension “Javascript,” which “follows” the target followers both on Instagram and on Twitter. This Chrome extension works at a browser level and is 100 percent free. This element guarantees a continuous, 100 per cent free automated flow of targeted traffic.

Element 2 – Monetization: The sellers have created 2 of their best conversion campaigns to send this free traffic.

You will thus see that all the method you need is already set up. And you can speed up the process and maximize its performance once you acquire this awesome program. As a result, you can save yourself more time and money, and spend more time on your job.

9.5 Total Score

Good!

Javascript Commission Bot is a software PLUS monetization method rolled into one. It delivers free traffic from 2 powerful social platforms, then monetizes that traffic FOR you with included affiliate offers. Brought to you by Jono Armstrong and his top-shelf development team, this has been generating complete beginners 4 figure profits PER day. Javascript commission bot puts these together to practically automate daily 4 figure commissions.

QUALITY

9.5

FEATURES

9

EASY TO USE

9.8

PRICE

9.5

SUPPORT

9.5

PROS

Unlimited Traffic Potential

Automated & Self-scaling

10 Minute Setup

Zero Learning Curve

No Question Asked Money Back

CONS

No Significant Cons Found

User Rating: Be the first one!

What You Have Inside Javascript Commission Bot?

Javascript Commission Bot deserves to be your viable solution! Thanks to its key advantages:

POWERFUL CHROME EXTENSION

You can cheer up now if you are concerned about security and privacy when using the software, because JavaScript Commission bot is not. It is the case. This software is a Chrome extension which allows you to use your IP anonymously. Moreover, your process does not include annoying ads that will allow you to focus 100% on your work.

EASY INTERFACE

The Javascript Commission Bot is designed for newbies or experts, which means that a well-organized gui is super easy to use. And you can make use of it no matter who you are, an expert or a newbie.

FREE TRAFFIC POWERFUL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Do you wonder where the traffic can come from? Well, the program allows you to use two of Twitter and Instagram’s most powerful social media platforms.

As you know, these two social networks are so ubiquitous that everyone in the world has an account every day and uses them. Therefore, the greater the chance of gaining traffic the longer people join the two platforms!

10 WELL MADE CAMPAIGNS

As soon as the Javascript Commission Bot has conducted your traffic-gaining operation, you don’t need to have anxieties about campaigns because up to 10 campaigns are done for you coordinated by Jono. You can use them when you want to turn your traffic into revenue!

What Javascript Commission Bot Can Do For You?

Without this program, unlimited unsaturated traffic on a tap can not be provided for free by anyone else.

100-per-cent platform compatible and it will always work today and will continue to work unlike other tools that are shut down via platforms.

Premium evergreen groups of products. The campaigns included made me hundreds of thousands to buy commissions from hungry consumers over and over.

Competition? Which competition? Which competition? You profit virtually untouched by traditional marketers who make “money online” in the obscure niches with this system. And there is a large ocean of commissions for selection

Automation of next step. The traffic program will easily redefine the click. Once set up, it runs 24 hours a day and nobody touches you.

Why Javascript Commission Bot Is Recommended?

This revolutionizes how quickly & easily you can profit online. It’s the automated way to turn laser-targeted free traffic into 4+ Figure Daily Commissions. Javascript commission bot is your all-in-one turnkey income solution!

Without making videos

Without a social following

Without learning complicated software

Without building an email list

Without buying ads

Without studying marketing or paying specialists

Without creating products

Without even needing your own social media account!

Without waiting for results

Java gives everything you need to get success online. You have

The brand new, robust software is fully compliant with the included traffic sources – And unlike many other products, it’s guaranteed to remain compliant so it’ll keep working for you!

The DFY affiliate campaigns are proven winners that have made me hundreds of thousands of dollars – In evergreen, WEIRD untapped niches with massive audiences spending BILLIONS of dollars

Your customizable money pages are optimized to maximize your commissions – Just paste in your link, then marketing pros do the selling FOR YOU

Javascript Commission Bot Review – Good & Bad

Good Things

Use Other People’s Audiences For Targeted Traffic Fast

Don’t: Pay For Ads Or Waste A Second Creating Content

Find Products With An Unlimited Audience That Pay Hundreds Per Sale

Don’t: Struggle For Puny Commissions In The Competitive Mmo Niche

Free, Automated Traffic

4+ Figure Profit Potential Per Day

No Video Or Content Creation Of Any Kind

No Surprises Or Extra Stepssmall Call To Action Headline

Done For You Commission Campaigns Bank Up To $400 Per Click

Login & Copy What We Show You, Then The Software Does The Rest

Bad Things

I Didn’t Found Any Bad Things In It.

Who Should You Buy This?

This software is made so simple and efficient that anybody can use this software and produce results, even if they are new to the whole “internet platform” or “making money online.” JavaScript Commission Bot is apparently a good match if you want to easily start up your online business. You should take this seriously, particularly if you belong to the following list:

JavaScript Commission Bot will work for anyone who needs traffic:

Affiliate marketers

Ecom store owners

Entrepreneurs

Sell your own products

Business owner

Bloggers

Local business owners

Newbie

Javascript Commission Bot Pricing & Evaluation

By paying $13 you can use Javascript Bot Commission. This is the perfect amount. It is obviously a difficult task to generate traffic. Although you know how to sell, you still need to rely on a number of tools to improve your process. And this is why your money is worth this ultimate tech.

Okay, there are plenty of high quality tools that provide the same and perhaps better service, but I am sure you’ve got to pay through your nose. And what is the right option for you? I believe you already have the answer. Without knowing whether it suits them or not nobody want to spend a big fortune in a costly tool.

You’ll get the lightning speed and conversions of paid traffic with JavaScript Commission Bot – without shopping ads. This gives you even untapped, unsaturated traffic – ready for your gives. It is served on a silver plate without uploading or creation of content!

Free, automatic traffic, commissions for change of game and more than 4 figures of profit potential every day. I can tell you that after I check and rely on this product, it works really. It seems simple, but the outcome is unbelievable, because it uses social networks to effectively engage traffic.

If you do not want to miss this chance then go ahead and take immediate action.

Conclusion

Most find it’s difficult to make money online. Perhaps they have been scoffed into dodgy practices, or they have wasted too much time and energy to develop tools , create content, learn new skills, build e-mail lists. The Javascript Board Bot will smash records on how fast ANYONE can make consistent profits online. The platform is fully automated and provides 100 % free traffic for the best possible outcome in influencer marketing. It’s not just technology that is innovation.

You can also organize and optimize affiliate campaigns by Jono Armstrong, the main affiliate marketer. These items have extremely low competition and become nuts … they ‘re a recipe and include to print cash. The only way to get it wrong is not to try, so it’s no brainer with the money back guarantee. Very recommended, very highly.

from SPS Reviews https://spsreviews.com/javascript-commission-bot-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=javascript-commission-bot-review from SPS Reviews https://spsreviews.tumblr.com/post/623095198936940544

[jerometbean]

Javascript Commission Bot Review – Recommended or Not?

Javascript Commission Bot Review – An Introduction

Most folks think that it’s difficult to make money online. These are likely to focus on “top gurus” approaches, which ultimately lead to minimal to none.

They may have lost a lot of time and money in purchasing tools, creating content, building a list … Each adds up a lot of money that causes them to break away before they get even to make money for themselves.

Everyone knows it takes big targeted traffic and evergreen offers to make money online. What about a system that allows you to use the other audiences for specific traffic and gets you hundreds of products paid by an infinite audience?

So, your last all-inclusive solution is JavaScript Commission Bot. This program really changes the game as it simplifies the whole online money making process. For more details, let’s just dive in my honest review.

Javascript Commission Bot Review – Product Overview

Product NameJavascript Commission BotProduct CreatorJono ArmstrongLaunch Date & Time[2020-Jul-07] @ 09:00 EDTPrice$13BonusYes, Best Bonus Available!Refund Period30-DaysOfficial Sitehttps://javascriptcommissionbot.net/Product TypeRanking SoftwareSkillAny LevelsRecommendedHighly Recommended

What Is Called Javascript Commission Bot?

The JavaScript Commission bot addresses the 2 biggest problems facing the MMO space for all newbies; traffic and monetization. You come up with a genuine automated solution which literally provides your accounts with cash on full autopilot.

Element 1 – Traffic: It is generated using a Chrome extension “Javascript,” which “follows” the target followers both on Instagram and on Twitter. This Chrome extension works at a browser level and is 100 percent free. This element guarantees a continuous, 100 per cent free automated flow of targeted traffic.

Element 2 – Monetization: The sellers have created 2 of their best conversion campaigns to send this free traffic.

You will thus see that all the method you need is already set up. And you can speed up the process and maximize its performance once you acquire this awesome program. As a result, you can save yourself more time and money, and spend more time on your job.

9.5 Total Score

Good!

Javascript Commission Bot is a software PLUS monetization method rolled into one. It delivers free traffic from 2 powerful social platforms, then monetizes that traffic FOR you with included affiliate offers. Brought to you by Jono Armstrong and his top-shelf development team, this has been generating complete beginners 4 figure profits PER day. Javascript commission bot puts these together to practically automate daily 4 figure commissions.

QUALITY

9.5

FEATURES

9

EASY TO USE

9.8

PRICE

9.5

SUPPORT

9.5

PROS

Unlimited Traffic Potential

Automated & Self-scaling

10 Minute Setup

Zero Learning Curve

No Question Asked Money Back

CONS

No Significant Cons Found

User Rating: Be the first one!

What You Have Inside Javascript Commission Bot?

Javascript Commission Bot deserves to be your viable solution! Thanks to its key advantages:

POWERFUL CHROME EXTENSION

You can cheer up now if you are concerned about security and privacy when using the software, because JavaScript Commission bot is not. It is the case. This software is a Chrome extension which allows you to use your IP anonymously. Moreover, your process does not include annoying ads that will allow you to focus 100% on your work.

EASY INTERFACE

The Javascript Commission Bot is designed for newbies or experts, which means that a well-organized gui is super easy to use. And you can make use of it no matter who you are, an expert or a newbie.

FREE TRAFFIC POWERFUL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Do you wonder where the traffic can come from? Well, the program allows you to use two of Twitter and Instagram’s most powerful social media platforms.

As you know, these two social networks are so ubiquitous that everyone in the world has an account every day and uses them. Therefore, the greater the chance of gaining traffic the longer people join the two platforms!

10 WELL MADE CAMPAIGNS

As soon as the Javascript Commission Bot has conducted your traffic-gaining operation, you don’t need to have anxieties about campaigns because up to 10 campaigns are done for you coordinated by Jono. You can use them when you want to turn your traffic into revenue!

What Javascript Commission Bot Can Do For You?

Without this program, unlimited unsaturated traffic on a tap can not be provided for free by anyone else.

100-per-cent platform compatible and it will always work today and will continue to work unlike other tools that are shut down via platforms.

Premium evergreen groups of products. The campaigns included made me hundreds of thousands to buy commissions from hungry consumers over and over.

Competition? Which competition? Which competition? You profit virtually untouched by traditional marketers who make “money online” in the obscure niches with this system. And there is a large ocean of commissions for selection

Automation of next step. The traffic program will easily redefine the click. Once set up, it runs 24 hours a day and nobody touches you.

Why Javascript Commission Bot Is Recommended?

This revolutionizes how quickly & easily you can profit online. It’s the automated way to turn laser-targeted free traffic into 4+ Figure Daily Commissions. Javascript commission bot is your all-in-one turnkey income solution!

Without making videos

Without a social following

Without learning complicated software

Without building an email list

Without buying ads

Without studying marketing or paying specialists

Without creating products

Without even needing your own social media account!

Without waiting for results

Java gives everything you need to get success online. You have

The brand new, robust software is fully compliant with the included traffic sources – And unlike many other products, it’s guaranteed to remain compliant so it’ll keep working for you!

The DFY affiliate campaigns are proven winners that have made me hundreds of thousands of dollars – In evergreen, WEIRD untapped niches with massive audiences spending BILLIONS of dollars

Your customizable money pages are optimized to maximize your commissions – Just paste in your link, then marketing pros do the selling FOR YOU

Javascript Commission Bot Review – Good & Bad

Good Things

Use Other People’s Audiences For Targeted Traffic Fast

Don’t: Pay For Ads Or Waste A Second Creating Content

Find Products With An Unlimited Audience That Pay Hundreds Per Sale

Don’t: Struggle For Puny Commissions In The Competitive Mmo Niche

Free, Automated Traffic

4+ Figure Profit Potential Per Day

No Video Or Content Creation Of Any Kind

No Surprises Or Extra Stepssmall Call To Action Headline

Done For You Commission Campaigns Bank Up To $400 Per Click

Login & Copy What We Show You, Then The Software Does The Rest

Bad Things

I Didn’t Found Any Bad Things In It.

Who Should You Buy This?

This software is made so simple and efficient that anybody can use this software and produce results, even if they are new to the whole “internet platform” or “making money online.” JavaScript Commission Bot is apparently a good match if you want to easily start up your online business. You should take this seriously, particularly if you belong to the following list:

JavaScript Commission Bot will work for anyone who needs traffic:

Affiliate marketers

Ecom store owners

Entrepreneurs

Sell your own products

Business owner

Bloggers

Local business owners

Newbie

Javascript Commission Bot Pricing & Evaluation

By paying $13 you can use Javascript Bot Commission. This is the perfect amount. It is obviously a difficult task to generate traffic. Although you know how to sell, you still need to rely on a number of tools to improve your process. And this is why your money is worth this ultimate tech.

Okay, there are plenty of high quality tools that provide the same and perhaps better service, but I am sure you’ve got to pay through your nose. And what is the right option for you? I believe you already have the answer. Without knowing whether it suits them or not nobody want to spend a big fortune in a costly tool.

You’ll get the lightning speed and conversions of paid traffic with JavaScript Commission Bot – without shopping ads. This gives you even untapped, unsaturated traffic – ready for your gives. It is served on a silver plate without uploading or creation of content!

Free, automatic traffic, commissions for change of game and more than 4 figures of profit potential every day. I can tell you that after I check and rely on this product, it works really. It seems simple, but the outcome is unbelievable, because it uses social networks to effectively engage traffic.

If you do not want to miss this chance then go ahead and take immediate action.

Conclusion

Most find it’s difficult to make money online. Perhaps they have been scoffed into dodgy practices, or they have wasted too much time and energy to develop tools , create content, learn new skills, build e-mail lists. The Javascript Board Bot will smash records on how fast ANYONE can make consistent profits online. The platform is fully automated and provides 100 % free traffic for the best possible outcome in influencer marketing. It’s not just technology that is innovation.

You can also organize and optimize affiliate campaigns by Jono Armstrong, the main affiliate marketer. These items have extremely low competition and become nuts … they ‘re a recipe and include to print cash. The only way to get it wrong is not to try, so it’s no brainer with the money back guarantee. Very recommended, very highly.

source https://spsreviews.com/javascript-commission-bot-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=javascript-commission-bot-review from SPS Reviews https://spsreviewscom1.blogspot.com/2020/07/javascript-commission-bot-review.html

[dorothydelgadillo]

The Changing Position of Social Media in 2018: What Does It Mean for Marketers?

Marketers have been using social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to promote their businesses for years now.

Social media marketing can work fantastically for some. Take the Pescetarian Kitchen blog, for example, which drove over 15,000 unique visitors from social media in just six months.

Sounds great, right? It is --but those case studies are becoming increasingly harder to find.

These days, many marketers find their organic growth from social media is stagnant.

It’s rare to see an influx of page likes from a single Facebook post, a boatload of website visitors from a tweet, or a ton of engagement on a recent photo you’ve posted to Instagram—unless you’re willing to invest a lot of time, effort, and cash into the mix.

That’s why, although 77% of marketers use at least one social media platform for marketing purposes, less than half (48%) say that they see ROI from this strategy.

Why is social media becoming harder to crack? How can marketers see results from their social media strategy? And should social media still form a huge chunk of a marketer’s daily routine?

In this piece, I’m sharing the answers to all three.

Social Media Is Changing—That’s a Fact

If you’re one of the 48% of brands struggling to see ROI on your social media marketing investment, you won’t be surprised when I say this: social media is changing – and it’s not necessarily for the better, at least from a marketing perspective.

Some of the biggest platform changes we’ve seen in the past year have included:

Mark Zuckerberg Announcing a Change in Facebook’s News Feed

Earlier this year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a huge shift in the way Facebook’s News Feed would work:

“The first changes you'll see will be in News Feed, where you can expect to see more from your friends, family, and groups.

As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard – it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.”

According to Facebook’s research, their users want to see more content from their family and friends in their News Feeds, not content from brands.

So, expect your uphill struggle to boost the organic reach of your business’ Facebook posts to continue.

If you’re not handing over your cash to the advertising side of Facebook’s platform, you won’t be seen at all.

There have also been major issues over privacy regarding Facebook, but more on that later.

Twitter Is Deleting over a Million Accounts Every Day

Has the follower count on your Twitter page seen a drop recently?

With over 70 million suspicious and spammy accounts being deleted by the company over the past two months, don’t be surprised if you see a significant dip in the number of people following your Twitter profile.

This move led to an 8% drop in shares of the company, and it’s having a huge impact on the entire platform.

Granted, there will be less automated tweets, fake followers, and bot accounts taking over your feed, but it will likely still reflect upon your business if your follower count drops overnight.

Instagram’s Algorithm Stops Branded Content from Reaching Its Audience

Since making the switch to a non-chronological algorithm, small business owners haven’t been shy about the negative impact the new Instagram algorithm update has had on their companies – some saying it’s “crippling:”

Source

Similar to parent company Facebook, the main goal of Instagram’s algorithm is to show more content from a user’s friends and family, not from brands—but this change is really where people spoke out and criticized the impact their new algorithm is having on the organic reach of branded content.

But Why Is Social Media Changing?

According to DailyMail, a third of millennials have permanently deleted their social media accounts, with Facebook and Twitter being among the first to go. (Unsurprisingly, they’re not quite ready to let go of Snapchat or Instagram yet.)

Source

So, what’s causing this global disinterest in social networks? And why are technology-savvy millennials suddenly quitting two of the biggest social media platforms in the world?

Privacy Is a Huge Concern

Despite Facebook’s attempt to bury the Cambridge Analytical scandal, it doesn’t seem to be working.

The social media giant has been plowing cash into video marketing to convince their users to trust the platform with their data, like this example:

But it’s storing of data is no secret.  In his testimony, Mark Zuckerberg himself said, Yes, we store data ... some of that content with people’s permission.”

Though that information is never directly sold to advertisers, many users are not happy about their private data and activity being used in such a manner.

In the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report of Brands and Social Media, 71 % of consumers say that they want brands to push social platforms to better safeguard their personal data, and 49% say they are not willing to sacrifice some of their data privacy in return for a more personalized shopping experience.

In a world where private information(such as your browsing history, contact details, and IP addresses) is collected through social media usage, it’s tricky (and worrying) to understand who’s using the data you’re consenting to give (or don’t give at all)

Plus,  with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that took effect on May 25th of this year, people are more aware of their privacy rights than ever.

The GDPR is “intended to reshape the way that user data is gathered and processed…[and there are] strict rules of conduct for businesses who collect information from consumers.”

Mental Health Concerns

Do you ever scroll through Instagram and feel like your life isn’t on a par with everyone else’s?

Photos from vacations, “perfect” dates or relationships, and luxury gifts are just a handful of things you’ll see when scrolling through a typical feed – but falling into the “compare and despair” trap isn’t doing any favors for our mental health.

In fact, studies show that younger generations have experienced 70% more depression and anxiety over the past 25 years and that social media use is heavily linked to these increases.

One previous Facebook user summed up the detrimental impact of social media on their mental health by saying:

“I concluded a few years back that I invested too much time checking up on what everyone else was up to, and that it wasn’t good for my mental health. Quit cold turkey, and I’m in a far better place today because of it.”

Commercialization

Because it’s getting harder for marketers to drive results from social media, competition is rife.

Brands are fighting hard to make their voice heard, but it could be having the opposite effect on the people you’re targeting.

In one study, 74% of millennials and Gen Z said they’re annoyed by brand targeting in their social media feeds, and 56% have cut back or stopped using social media entirely due to this.

That’s no surprise, especially with advertisers being able to show in-stream ads to the same user twice a day – which is probably why millennials make up 40% of people who use ad blockers.

What Do These Social Media Changes Mean for Marketers?

I know what you’re thinking: with all these changes in social media usage and the platforms themselves, how can marketers still see strong ROI?

Along with a constant need to stay up-to-date with ever-changing algorithms and user behavior, marketers need to:

1. Focus on Engagement

The goals for your social media marketing campaign might include increasing link clicks, on-site conversions, or follower counts, but you’ll struggle to grow these metrics if you’re not focusing on engagement.

Why? Because engagement is the first step to conversions. In other words, it’s extremely rare for someone to purchase something if they aren’t already engaged with the brand.

On Twitter, just 0.03% of a brand’s audience is engaged, and Facebook’s average isn’t much better, with 0.07% of a brand’s entire following regularly engaging with their content:

Source

Just think about the last time you made a purchase online.

Can you remember the first interaction you had with the brand? Did you respond to a tweet, like their Instagram post, or follow their Facebook page? Did the brand engage back with you - maybe retweeting a pos

Marketers will need to prioritize this in order to keep up with social media changes, no matter which platform they’re using. This can be done by:

Providing an incentive for people to engage – such as a giveaway or discount code

Hosting a contest

Prompting conversation using polls, questions, etc.

2. Team Up with Influencers

If you want to take your engagement strategy to the next level, work with influencers who’ve already nailed it.

One in three consumers trusts an influencer’s words over what a brand says, so instead of promoting yourself on your own channels, let someone else share how awesome you are.

Bloggers, vloggers, and social media stars are classed as influencers because they have influence over their audiences (usually niche, but at least between 2K-10K). However, that’s not possible if their audience isn’t super engaged with the content they’re sharing.

Depending on your budget, you can manually source influencers, using online databases like Cision, or influencer platforms like HelloSociety.

Keep in mind, influencers with 1M+ followers often have their own agents.

To ensure that you’re partnering with the right influencer for your goals, identify their current engagement rate (follower counts can often be inflated) and, of course, whether their audience fits within your own buyer persona, which you should craft before you start sourcing.

There’s not much point in having a fitness blogger endorse your SaaS, even if the blogger does have an incredible engagement rate on their Instagram page.

And don’t ignore influencers with smaller, more niche audiences, or micro-influencers (follower count up to 10K).

While a Kardashian may reach millions, they can’t engage with each follower the way micro-influencers often do; and because micro-influencers are associated with fewer brands, you can get a bigger promotional bang for your buck.

Also, make sure to align yourself with an influencer who takes an organic approach and limits partnerships with the brands they really do believe in and actually use their products or services. Some influencers seem to promote a product in every single post, which only decreases their credibility.

Once you’ve found the perfect fit, reach out and mention how you’d love to collaborate on a campaign. You could ask for:

A mention in an upcoming Instagram Live

An endorsement of your brand on Twitter

A shoutout from their Facebook page

Remember, though, you will likely need to offer an incentive for the influencer to get involved, especially if they have a huge following. Free products, cash bonuses, or age-based commissions might help to bring influencers on-board with your social media mission, so don’t head into the influencer marketing business if you’re not prepared to fork out something for their fees.

3. Pay Attention to Niche Communities

Earlier, I mentioned how millennials are turning away from well-known social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

While this is true, they’re not quitting the internet altogether. Many social media users are simply migrating to smaller social networks.

Forums, online communities, and start-up social platforms could be set to take the social media marketing world by storm, so consider establishing yourself early.

Since they’re curated by people with a genuine interest in a specific topic, they’re more engaged – and you could hit the jackpot by focusing on this new breed of social media before everyone over-saturates it.

To find these niche websites, try the following:

Search “[industry] + forum.”

Find niche websites with a few thousand followers, but high engagement rates on each post.

Send an invitation to join the group (or create an account).

Contribute relevant knowledge, articles or advice to the community.

Let’s take the marketing industry, for example.

The Growth Hackers forum has over 150,000 members and could be a goldmine for finding (and engaging) new fans. If you’re contributing relevant content and being a genuinely nice person (rather than “the marketer”), you’ll build relationships with people using the site and grow your brand.

Marketing pro, Benji Hyam of Grow and Convert used this tactic to grow his business from zero to almost 33,000 paying customers in just five months, so it’s nothing to scoff at.

By focusing on smaller, niche websites with a strong sense of community, he was able to see great business growth, and you could too.

4. Sell Stories, Not Products

As I mentioned, social media platforms are changing to focus on what they believe consumers want from them -- human connection.

Although that material tends to be from their family and friends, emulating this type of content through your brand could help you to conquer the new changes.

According to The 2018 Sprout Social Index, consumers do want discounts and new product announcements, but 59% still want posts that ‘teach them something,’ 56% want posts that entertain, and 49% want posts that inspire.

Source

That’s hard to do if you’re constantly pitching the hard sell to your followers. So, what type of social media content can you create that combines both value and humor? Stories.

Stories humanize your brand.

By proving there’s a real person on the other side of your social media account or product, relevant stories can make your audience feel like they’re talking to a friend who really gets them.

People tend to make decisions based on emotions, and it’s difficult to trigger an emotion with facts and stats.

Since the beginning of time, humans have responded to storytelling with empathy and feelings.

One of my favorite examples of brand storytelling on social media comes from Buffer.

The social media company has  an entire Facebook album with photos from their company retreat, which gives their followers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of whom they’re talking to when they contact their team:

Source

To get started with storytelling on social media, consider publicly answering these questions:

How did your brand start?

How did you, personally, start working at the company?

How did you help a previous customer solve a shared pain point of your future customer?

Why do you love the company you’re working at?

Telling the stories of your customers also helps prospective buyers connect to your brand.

Why? Because the majority of purchasing decisions are emotional, not logical.

When people see the stories of customers like them, they can picture how working with or buying from you can affect them personally.

They can see and feel the effects your product/service/company truly has and, in turn, feel better understood and connected to your brand. 

Not only do these stories count as fantastic testimonials, but they prove to people in a similar situation that you’re not just there sell.

Remember: The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.

5. Dip Into the World of Social Media Advertising

The majority of social media platforms are pushing brands towards their advertising packages if they want to make their social activity a success.

Facebook (and Instagram, in turn)  is one of those you’ll particularly struggle to have your content seene if you’re not paying for it.

But don’t see this as a negative.

While organic social media growth is preferred, you can start advertising on Facebook for as little as $1 a day. That’s a small sum to pay for the rewards you could get in return.

In fact, one marketer used Facebook ads to generate $36,499 revenue from a $4,159 spend.

That equates to an ROI of 776% – which I’ll bet is much better than the average ROI you’re currently getting on an organic Facebook post.

So, Is It Time to Ditch Social Media Marketing?

That’s a question on every marketer’s lips.

Especially when other marketing channels such as email marketing or SEO sound more appealing, with the average ROI for those strategies at $40 and $22.24 respectively.

Source

However, although social media is getting tougher to crack, you shouldn’t end your strategy altogether.

Considering that as of 2017, there were  still 2.46 billion active social media users ( expected to increase to 3.02 billion by 2021) and 77.6% of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) use social media in their marketing strategy, you could be missing out if you’re not making yourself visible to potential customers.

However, you need to enter into it strategically.

A multi-channel approach with a key focus on engagement is a great way to get started, but keep your eyes on your performance and be ready to change with your users and the platforms themselves.

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/changing-position-of-social-media-in-2018-marketers

[infotainmentplus-blog]

LG G7 ThinQ hands-on: Amplified The latest in the G series tries to bring the relationship between LG and Google even closer, while once again upgrading its main feature, the camera experience. The LG G7 ThinQ brings an AI-enabled camera, a Google Assistant button, and more, but is that enough to bring LG back to the forefront of the flagship game? Let’s find out in our LG G7 hands-on. First things first — the ThinQ name on the end of the official title for this phone is a connection to LG’s IoT platform. However, we were told during our time with the phone in Korea we can just call it simply the LG G7. The LG G7 looks a lot like a mix between the V30 and the G6. Though LG has moved to a slower release cycle for its mobile devices, the influence of the past is still very strong in this handset. The design of the device is much like the LG V30, which had the shape of the LG G6. The design’s tall screen now sports a notch, with a glossy back that comes in four different colors. It might not be the most unique-looking device, but it is still a looker. What is interesting in the G7 is how LG is ever so slightly moving away from certain aspects that helped differentiate their devices from the rest of the field. A big example of this is the fingerprint reader, which is still in the same place as before, but no longer doubles as the power button. Instead, the power button is located more conventionally on the side, which might feel a little odd to LG veterans. Apparently, this was changed to make waking the device easier. Some users found the back power button a little annoying to reach, especially in situations like driving (or when your phone is lying face up on a table). The power button on the side also affords the phone a new way of quickly launching the camera with just a double tap. A new AI button is now found on the other side of the phone. LG has partnered up with Google very closely again to provide G7-specific functionality. Google Assistant is the G7’s AI assistant of choice, and this button allows for full control over its triggering. Press the button and it will launch Google Assistant in the same way that holding the home button does. Double press the button and it will launch Google Lens. Press and hold the button and Google Assistant will listen for as long as the button is pressed down for the voice search string, making the start and end of your query easier to identify. The AI key is a unique and potentially invaluable way of interacting with Google Assistant Editor's Pick Google Assistant guide: Make the most of your virtual assistant What is Google Assistant? Google Assistant is Google's virtual assistant, available on Android and iOS mobile devices, as well as smart home devices like smart speakers and smart TVs. Think of it as your own personal … That last function might seem simple — like talking to Google through a walkie-talkie — but it might be the most significant change to the way Assistant works. Only Google Pixel Buds support that kind of long-press interaction, where the touch-sensitive earbuds can be held down to take a search string for the duration of the hold. Think of all the times you failed to get a proper search done with Google Assistant because it failed to recognize when you’d stopped speaking. For that reason alone, this implementation will make Google Assistant a bit easier to manage and use. It is certainly a different take on what we have seen in the form of squeezing on other devices. The notch is becoming a very common addition in new phones this year, and every manufacturer is trying to bring their own spin on it, LG included. First off, the phone speaker and the better front-facing camera are centered at the top, where the notch just covers up that portion of the screen. LG tries to make the notch easier on the eyes through customization. It can be “turned off” by making the entire notification area black. Those same areas can also be made different colors and gradients. Admittedly we are a little miffed that what is called the “New Second Screen” doesn’t really add any new functionality, like the old second screens of the LG V10 and V20 once did. The screen is still a powerful Quad HD+ IPS LCD panel. An OLED screen might have appealed to more people, but LG chose to stick with LCD for one particular reason: brightness. When set to Super Bright Display mode, the screen can get to 1000 nits if the user so chooses and can stay that bright for a maximum of three minutes. The screen has also been tuned to retain the fidelity of colors and sharpness of text. This is more than just changing the screen settings in broad daylight situations. When directly underneath the sun, the screen will brighten automatically, but prioritize textual elements in places like the phone or messaging apps. It is only when the user triggers the Boosted Mode that the screen will be a very bright, but still effective, display experience. Everything looks crisp and proportionate on this display. LG’s software has been accused in the past of feeling bloated, without a fully coherent design language. Yearly updates have been good to this now Oreo-enabled version of its interface. There isn’t much wasted space in the new menus. The home screens can be changed to include not only an app drawer button, but also a swiping motion similar to the Pixel Launcher or Samsung UI, and LG’s own companion home screen experience seems simple enough. LG’s ploy for AI capabilities shows in not only the included SmartThinQ application, but also its Smart Bulletin, which tries to give users contextual information based on location and time. The page will display all of that in cards. It isn’t too hard on the eyes yet, though we will need to spend more time with it to see if LG’s algorithms are up to par with the likes of Google Feed and Bixby. The specs you’d expect from a 2018 high-end device power this phone. It’s got a Snapdragon 845 with either 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage, or 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The larger version will be available later, though we are not sure which markets will get it (we were told the U.S. will only get the 4GB/64GB version). A 3,000mAh battery might not sound huge, but we will reserve judgment until our real-world usage and tests. All the other bits and pieces you would want in the phone are here, including the headphone jack. LG continues to be one of the few companies that pays this much attention to the audio experience. A single bottom-firing speaker might sound like a pretty conventional setup, but LG has taken it a step further by creating Boombox Sound. This is a unique take on the speaker experience, as it makes the entire back portion of the phone into a sound chamber. Don’t miss: LG G7 ThinQ specs: Fantastic audio and a super bright screen In simple terms, the space between the back cover and everything it protects is now a place for sound to literally emanate from. When playing audio at loud volumes, the entire back of the phone will vibrate — just enough so you can feel it, but not so much that it becomes annoying. This vibration makes the sound resonate through anything the phone might lay on. Any box or hollow container will thus create great sound. The vibrations make materials like thin wood and cardboard boxes literally amplify the sound, making for a richer experience far better than any other device — even if you do that trick of putting phones in glass cups. There’s a striking difference between the LG G7 and any other phone we’ve tested; practical or not, this is an interesting way of thinking — or listening — outside the box by LG. The headphone jack returns, bringing with it the Quad DAC once again, this time with tuning made for the DTS-X 3D standard. That standard is basically an add-on for changing the soundstage of whatever you are listening to and can either narrow or widen the audio experience. The Quad DAC is still one of the big trump cards for LG’s phones. Anyone disillusioned by the USB Type-C adapters of the world can rest assured everything out of this phone sounds really great, no matter what headphones you use. Also, the Quad DAC plus active noise cancelling is one hell of a combination. The camera has been LG’s most unique and most polarizing phone feature the last few years. Let’s start off with some great news: the front-facing camera is finally good — and not just because of the bump up to 8MP from 5MP. Just from a cursory glance, the sharpness has been greatly improved and details are no longer smudged by shoddy processing and over-softening of features. The front-facing camera also now has a portrait mode, which is software based but still welcome for the artistic bokeh background effects it brings. The improvements to the front-facing camera alone make the G7 a viable upgrade for anyone unhappy with selfies on their previous LG phones. Finally — an LG flagship with a good front facing camera! Portrait mode tends to take advantage of a dual lens setup, most commonly through a regular and telephoto lens. LG did not want to mess with a good thing, however, and kept the wide angle lens. It now has a 107-degree field-of-view, which helps correct the distortion on the sides of the frame without sacrificing too much of the wide angle. That wide angle lens is still one of the best parts of this phone — the style and drama it affords still makes for one of the most unique photo-taking experiences around. Because the rear camera lacks a telephoto lens with tighter zoom capabilities, LG’s portrait mode keeps the field-of-view the same as the main lens to remain effective. This means users don’t have to step back because the camera is trying to reach farther into the frame. Some might prefer the look of the tighter frame, but others may like not having to move in order to make the portrait work. Though our devices were very pre-production, the portrait mode shots needed a little bit more work. It messed up the cutouts around elements like hair or my glasses in certain shots. LG decided on a pixel binning solution for low light photography. Essentially the 16MP of either rear camera shifts into larger pixel groups of four so each group can more effectively flood in light in a darker scene (the same thing Huawei has done with the P20 and HTC did with UltraPixels). The result is a 4MP image that hopefully exposes better than the alternative. We didn’t get to test this much but we’re looking forward to trying it further when we get our review unit. Video is still a big deal with the LG G7. It retains the manual movie mode and the high-quality audio capture capabilities of the LG V30. The wide-angle lens is still very viable, too, though I noticed I could not change between the two lenses while recording. The camera AI is mostly consistent at identifying the subject, but the tag cloud might make some users think otherwise. LG already introduced AI in its updated LG V30S ThinQ. The tag cloud from that release has made its way to the G7. This cloud is a flurry of words that shows the camera is trying to recognize what object or subject it is pointed at when AI is on. Once it decides what is in the frame, settings change to enhance the photo. Take a second on a plate of Korean BBQ and the camera will change to the food settings, which mainly bumps up the saturation. Take a picture of a tree and the AI mode will make the green colors pop. AI modes in cameras are a little bit new and their effectiveness is down to the optimization of the software. I found some odd words in the cloud during a selfie session, but it never ended up deciding I was a cauliflower. The camera seems to find its subject well enough by the end of its search. Thousands of objects have been inserted into the AI memory of the camera and it is always searching. We will see how the AI Cam fares when we test it further in our final production review unit. There you have it: the LG G7 ThinQ. LG proves each year it really prioritizes key aspects others might take for granted (like a high-quality headphone jack, for instance). While some of its decisions this year seem more trend-following (like the notch), the features where LG tries to be different are what people will really appreciate. The wide-angle camera is great but we will have to wait and see if Boombox Sound ends up on the list, as well. We are excited to get our hands on an LG G7 review unit to see how the handset fares under more rigorous testing. Until then, let us know how you feel about the LG G7 below! , via Android Authority http://bit.ly/2rjNy1Y

[northshoregadgets]

5 Popular Instagram Tips You Must Ignore

Instagram tips and my grandmother have a lot in common. “If everyone started jumping off a bridge, would you do that, too?” I vividly recall my grandmother dispensing that sage wisdom in response to why I had to have the then-popular 1980s designer name jeans.

“Everyone has them, I have to have them, too,” I recanted.

I got those jeans, but there are some fads and pieces of not-so-useful ‘advice’ that are best ignored. This is most evident in this rapidly-changing world of social media. You go to bed, wake up, and it’s a brave new world: Facebook makes changes overnight, Google’s algorithm had an overhaul, and Twitter implemented an update. On Instagram, not everything is as it seems when it comes to the right strategy.

Here are 5 popular Instagram tips you must ignore (or suffer the not-so-pleasant consequences):

Instagram Follower Schemes

This one is a two-parter:

Never buy Instagram followers: This will not serve your social media strategy in any way, shape, or form. Buying followers often means the accounts are not real, the IG Gods will figure it out, delete the accounts, and many times, your account will get the ax, too. Connect with people and grow your Instagram account organically.

The Follow and Unfollow Scheme: Once upon a time, someone in the Instagram Universe decided that following and then later unfollowing someone was a good way to grow a following. Note to that person: Nope! It is rude, word will get out, people talk, an–like the real world–Instagram relationships matter. Grow an organic fan base and follow people you really want to form an Insta-relationship with. An Instagram feed is an intimate thing. Many of us scroll through our feeds during the work day, at night, and, heck, even from bed. You want your feed to be filled with images and content you want, which leads to our next no-no…

Follow Every Single Person Who Follows You

Instagram is an interesting social media platform. You want to reciprocate, but you genuinely may not always be interested in following someone back. Drop your guilt at the door and embrace your ability to choose. Choose wisely. If you find the content of the follower interesting, then absolutely follow that person.

In an article for Business2Community, Don Williams writes, “Some people will begin following you without liking any of your stuff. These are the people that are looking only for followers. Explore their feed and click on a couple of their pics, just in case in they were in a hurry to grow a following that they forgot to look through your feed. Give them the benefit of the doubt. At this time, unless their feed fits your business interest, you don’t have to follow them back.”

Bottom line: If your Instagram feed is filled with images and content that you generally do not like, you’ll be less likely to use it and probably end up engaging with people you have zero interest in.

Desperado

Being desperate on social media is about as attractive as being desperate in real life. Nothing makes the Instaskin crawl more than seeing content peppered with hashtags such as #Like4likes or “I follow back!”  Desperation will get you nowhere. Instead, start commenting on people’s content you like, are interested in, and want to know more about. Put the social in social media and be a human being filled with emotions, responses, and kindness. Good things can happen.

In that same vein, clogging your Instagram page with a boatload of content in one day is just poor social media etiquette. On Twitter, there are chats and rapid fire tweets. On Instagram, unless it’s a super special occasion or you are taking over an Instagram feed for a day, try and keep your content to a maximum of three photos/videos per day. Over saturation is a sure-fire way to get unfollowed.

  Let the Picture Say A Thousand Words… Or Not So Much

It’s true that Instagram is a visual platform, and, yes, pictures say a thousand words. Posts need captions. Period. Whatever that caption is, be certain to include something relevant in your Instagram posts. This is where an Instagram strategy comes into play. Check out some of the Instagram accounts you admire the most. I call this the Follow 4 Experiment.

Choose four Instagrammers with a reasonable amount of followers and shadow them, one Instagrammer per week. Are they someone in your niche or outside your niche? This is a question you should answer first, and then dive in. Watch for:

• What types of images they are creating: Lighting, indoor/outdoor, pets, people involved, quotes? Get to know the type of image. • What text do they use to accompany their images? Is it long or short? Funny or serious? A combination of both? Pay attention to what they are saying in conjunction with the image. • What hashtags are being used and where are they placed? I use my phone’s Notes feature to store hashtags for different platforms and then copy and paste them as needed. • What are followers saying to the Instagrammer? Is there engagement and likes? You might want to follow some of your favorite Instagrammers followers, too.

Take notes as to what you are finding. You are likely to see patterns emerge, even if you chose four Instagrammers in four different niches.

At the end of four weeks, you’ve tailed four successful Instagram accounts and had a silent mentor of sorts in helping you to grow your Instagram account. You should not be a copycat to their account, but you can develop your own style and content strategy on Instagram by looking at what those you are admire are doing.

Engage with influencers who drive activity on relevant topics.

Be An Island Unto Yourself: Wilsonnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!

Have you seen the Tom Hanks’ movie, Cast Away? No man nor woman is an island unto herself.

When people comment on your Instagram posts, don’t ignore your followers’ comments. Yes, it is time consuming, but that’s the nature of social media. It’s easy to reply to comments using the reply feature under each of the comments on your post. Comments can significantly impact the relationships you build. I also go to the users who comment on my page and I engage with them.

Similarly, I check out the folks who like my content on Instagram and I often find new followers, great content, and folks to engage with this way.

via GIPHY

Bonus No-No on Instagram

Do not share every single Instagram post to your Facebook and Twitter. I share a lot of the same friends on my Instagram account with other platforms. I don’t want to clog up their Facebook feed with something they just saw and hopefully commented on/liked on Instagram. Plus, to be honest, people are in a state of content fatigue. Why would someone need to follow you on Instagram if they know they are going to see that same content on Facebook and/or Twitter. A better technique is to share a photo and then encourage your Facebook or Twitter followers to come see more on Instagram.

Each social media platform should have its own look, style, feel, voice, and content, even if that means different image sizes.

Don’t Stop Now

You are on a roll, so why stop now? Get on the Instagram train and learn more here:

How to Start an Instagram Account for Your Pet

Creative Ways to Use Instagram Stories for Blog Traffic

How to Report a Stolen Instagram Photo

What is something that annoys you on Instagram? We’re all ears and listening in the comment boxes below. 

Carol Bryant is the Marketing and Social Media Manager for BlogPaws and runs her own dog blog, Fidose of Reality and its fundraising arm, Wigglebutt Warriors. When not busy playing with her Cocker Spaniel, Dexter, she stays far away from cooking. Her trademark is her mantra and is tattooed on her arm: My Heart Beats Dog.®

Images:  CREATISTA/ Shutterstock.com

The post 5 Popular Instagram Tips You Must Ignore appeared first on BlogPaws.

from BlogPaws http://ift.tt/2vFa72E via IFTTT

[jesicajparksuk]

5 Popular Instagram Tips You Must Ignore

Instagram tips and my grandmother have a lot in common. “If everyone started jumping off a bridge, would you do that, too?” I vividly recall my grandmother dispensing that sage wisdom in response to why I had to have the then-popular 1980s designer name jeans.

“Everyone has them, I have to have them, too,” I recanted.

I got those jeans, but there are some fads and pieces of not-so-useful ‘advice’ that are best ignored. This is most evident in this rapidly-changing world of social media. You go to bed, wake up, and it’s a brave new world: Facebook makes changes overnight, Google’s algorithm had an overhaul, and Twitter implemented an update. On Instagram, not everything is as it seems when it comes to the right strategy.

Here are 5 popular Instagram tips you must ignore (or suffer the not-so-pleasant consequences):

Instagram Follower Schemes

This one is a two-parter:

Never buy Instagram followers: This will not serve your social media strategy in any way, shape, or form. Buying followers often means the accounts are not real, the IG Gods will figure it out, delete the accounts, and many times, your account will get the ax, too. Connect with people and grow your Instagram account organically.

The Follow and Unfollow Scheme: Once upon a time, someone in the Instagram Universe decided that following and then later unfollowing someone was a good way to grow a following. Note to that person: Nope! It is rude, word will get out, people talk, an–like the real world–Instagram relationships matter. Grow an organic fan base and follow people you really want to form an Insta-relationship with. An Instagram feed is an intimate thing. Many of us scroll through our feeds during the work day, at night, and, heck, even from bed. You want your feed to be filled with images and content you want, which leads to our next no-no…

Follow Every Single Person Who Follows You

Instagram is an interesting social media platform. You want to reciprocate, but you genuinely may not always be interested in following someone back. Drop your guilt at the door and embrace your ability to choose. Choose wisely. If you find the content of the follower interesting, then absolutely follow that person.

In an article for Business2Community, Don Williams writes, “Some people will begin following you without liking any of your stuff. These are the people that are looking only for followers. Explore their feed and click on a couple of their pics, just in case in they were in a hurry to grow a following that they forgot to look through your feed. Give them the benefit of the doubt. At this time, unless their feed fits your business interest, you don’t have to follow them back.”

Bottom line: If your Instagram feed is filled with images and content that you generally do not like, you’ll be less likely to use it and probably end up engaging with people you have zero interest in.

Desperado

Being desperate on social media is about as attractive as being desperate in real life. Nothing makes the Instaskin crawl more than seeing content peppered with hashtags such as #Like4likes or “I follow back!”  Desperation will get you nowhere. Instead, start commenting on people’s content you like, are interested in, and want to know more about. Put the social in social media and be a human being filled with emotions, responses, and kindness. Good things can happen.

In that same vein, clogging your Instagram page with a boatload of content in one day is just poor social media etiquette. On Twitter, there are chats and rapid fire tweets. On Instagram, unless it’s a super special occasion or you are taking over an Instagram feed for a day, try and keep your content to a maximum of three photos/videos per day. Over saturation is a sure-fire way to get unfollowed.

  Let the Picture Say A Thousand Words… Or Not So Much

It’s true that Instagram is a visual platform, and, yes, pictures say a thousand words. Posts need captions. Period. Whatever that caption is, be certain to include something relevant in your Instagram posts. This is where an Instagram strategy comes into play. Check out some of the Instagram accounts you admire the most. I call this the Follow 4 Experiment.

Choose four Instagrammers with a reasonable amount of followers and shadow them, one Instagrammer per week. Are they someone in your niche or outside your niche? This is a question you should answer first, and then dive in. Watch for:

• What types of images they are creating: Lighting, indoor/outdoor, pets, people involved, quotes? Get to know the type of image. • What text do they use to accompany their images? Is it long or short? Funny or serious? A combination of both? Pay attention to what they are saying in conjunction with the image. • What hashtags are being used and where are they placed? I use my phone’s Notes feature to store hashtags for different platforms and then copy and paste them as needed. • What are followers saying to the Instagrammer? Is there engagement and likes? You might want to follow some of your favorite Instagrammers followers, too.

Take notes as to what you are finding. You are likely to see patterns emerge, even if you chose four Instagrammers in four different niches.

At the end of four weeks, you’ve tailed four successful Instagram accounts and had a silent mentor of sorts in helping you to grow your Instagram account. You should not be a copycat to their account, but you can develop your own style and content strategy on Instagram by looking at what those you are admire are doing.

Engage with influencers who drive activity on relevant topics.

Be An Island Unto Yourself: Wilsonnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!

Have you seen the Tom Hanks’ movie, Cast Away? No man nor woman is an island unto herself.

When people comment on your Instagram posts, don’t ignore your followers’ comments. Yes, it is time consuming, but that’s the nature of social media. It’s easy to reply to comments using the reply feature under each of the comments on your post. Comments can significantly impact the relationships you build. I also go to the users who comment on my page and I engage with them.

Similarly, I check out the folks who like my content on Instagram and I often find new followers, great content, and folks to engage with this way.

via GIPHY

Bonus No-No on Instagram

Do not share every single Instagram post to your Facebook and Twitter. I share a lot of the same friends on my Instagram account with other platforms. I don’t want to clog up their Facebook feed with something they just saw and hopefully commented on/liked on Instagram. Plus, to be honest, people are in a state of content fatigue. Why would someone need to follow you on Instagram if they know they are going to see that same content on Facebook and/or Twitter. A better technique is to share a photo and then encourage your Facebook or Twitter followers to come see more on Instagram.

Each social media platform should have its own look, style, feel, voice, and content, even if that means different image sizes.

Don’t Stop Now

You are on a roll, so why stop now? Get on the Instagram train and learn more here:

How to Start an Instagram Account for Your Pet

Creative Ways to Use Instagram Stories for Blog Traffic

How to Report a Stolen Instagram Photo

What is something that annoys you on Instagram? We’re all ears and listening in the comment boxes below. 

Carol Bryant is the Marketing and Social Media Manager for BlogPaws and runs her own dog blog, Fidose of Reality and its fundraising arm, Wigglebutt Warriors. When not busy playing with her Cocker Spaniel, Dexter, she stays far away from cooking. Her trademark is her mantra and is tattooed on her arm: My Heart Beats Dog.®

Images:  CREATISTA and  mountaira / Shutterstock.com

The post 5 Popular Instagram Tips You Must Ignore appeared first on BlogPaws.

from News And Updates About Pets http://blogpaws.com/executive-blog/blogging-social-media-info/learning/5-popular-instagram-tips-you-must-ignore/

[jesicajparksuk]

Are You Making These Social Media Video Mistakes?

No one size, technique, or style fits all, and this holds true in the social media realm. Are you making any social media video mistakes? We’re only humans living in a digital world, so it is quite easy to stray from the path of best intentions.

Here’s a step by step plan for rocking video content in the social media space while avoiding the most common (and not so common) pitfalls and mistakes:

Trying to Make The Same Video Work Across Social Media Platforms

Snapchat videos are vertical, and Instagram videos are square. Instagram Stories have their own sizing in a vertical format, and so mistakes can be made in the size and shape of the frame. Beyond that, the voice and tone of your videos should vary from platform to platform. Snapchatters value authenticity, so a walk in the woods with a real feel would appeal to that audience more than it would on a platform like Facebook. Walk through the woods on Facebook with a shaky handheld and users are likely to tune out (unless of course, you are Bear Grylls).

Have a video content and social media plan: Each platform has its own legion of followers who go there to be with their like-minded tribes. What works on Facebook may not work on Instagram. Plan ahead.

Forgetting the Powerful Opening and Clear, Dynamic Call to Action Closing

How do you want to be remembered? You’ve got 3 to 5 seconds to make a first impression on a live video within the Facebook space. Realizing that most folks will come back and see the replay of your Facebook Live video, welcome your followers to the replay in those first few seconds.

A call to action, CTA, is crucial for positive video results. Do you want your viewer to watch your video, go away, and never return to your page? Of course not, so give them something they absolutely must do.

BlogPaws recently revealed the proper length of a blog post (which, of course, varies from topic to topic, blog to blog). If you write a lengthy blog post, supplement it with a short trailer-style video that promotes the blog content. For example, on my iPhone 6 Plus, I use the iMovie app for easy to make videos. Reveal a few key points readers can look for in your blog post.

How Many Words Should a Blog Post Be?

Advanced Video Tips for Social Media Traffic

Rapid Fire Social Media Video Mistakes

Length: Don’t make it super long unless it is a step-by step tutorial that must have length to make sense. Every moment needs to count.

It’s All About You: You are the vessel for your readers and followers. Make videos that serve their needs. Ask yourself what problems you can solve for your demographic and then create videos around it. Better yet, re-purpose those videos across platforms. Speaking of which…

One and Done: No, no, and more no. You would never take a sip of water one time and then never have another. Social media content is like water: You need to filter it out to the proper channels to satisfy everyone’s thirst. Did you shoot an Instagram Story? Then save it to your phone and repurpose it on Facebook IF it makes sense to do so.

How to Repurpose Content and Market it Consistently

No Tools of the Trade: Crappy looking and less-than-stellar sounding videos serve no one, especially you, the creator. Your followers will not stick around with messy looking and poor sounding content. You need not be Cecil B. Demille, but you do need to have the right tools to broadcast video.

At the BlogPaws Conference this year, several of the speakers gave tips on phone lenses, lav microphones, and clip-on lighting. Thanks to Molly Mahoney for turning me on to the clip-on phone light. I literally sat in a dark closet and took a selfie, then did the same with the phone light and boom: Lovely lighting! Try Googling “selfie ring light” and check out reviews (note: they are not expensive).

No Content Plan: If you are waking up asking yourself, “What should I video about today,” then you may have a serious issue as time progresses. While winging it and doing this in the spontaneous moment is fun and has a time and place, social media videos with zero thought can backfire. Have a video content plan. Have a social media plan.

Schedule things in advance but respond in real time. Don’t let social media and video creation eat your day away.

A Video or a Film

I love this analogy so much that is worth showing you what it means instead of blogging it. Watch this, then read on:

Again, we are not Hollywood movie makers, but we are online influencers and bloggers who have a purpose and a desire, so deliver quality. Try storyboarding your video before shooting. I did this recently in a video for a paid campaign I did. I wrote out what I wanted to shoot, thought about how I envisioned the scene, and then I shot this video on the topic of training your dog to like car rides:

Now I have a piece of content that resides on YouTube, is embedded into my blog, and can be shared in a variety of ways. Winning!

Creative Ways to Use Instagram Stories for Blog Traffic

Speaking Well

You must absolutely speak in a way that your viewer wants to stick around. When I am shooting videos, I think to myself how I would explain my concept to a friend. I try to forget the camera is there and focus on talking to a friend about the topic at hand. I use my hands, I smile, my cadence is the right speed, and I am enthused about the subject matter without being overly exuberant annoying.

Your Environment

What is the lighting like? Is your background appropriate? Do you have a forest of trees behind you where one branch appears to be sticking out of your head? Do a location check first. You need not spend a lot of money on background but you should be aware of the lighting and your surroundings.

Mishaps will happen. While filming a Facebook Live a few months ago, a slew of police sirens passed by my office. I just worked it into the video and held up a note that said, “Well, I guess I’m in trouble,” which I had ready in case of sirens.

Have you heard of BeLive? It’s a new way to do Facebook Live videos.

That’s a Wrap

Speak well.

Know your content.

Have props and storyboarding ready/done in advance.

Practice. Ask for honest feedback from those you trust.

Do not try to be on every social media video platform. Excel at one before trying to be meh at the others.

Where is your audience and what do you want them to know? Solve their problems and rock your social media video plans like the pro you are!

Are you using video for social media? Where can you use help? What can BlogPaws do to help you? Tell us in the comments below. 

Images:  file404/ eva_blanco /Shutterstock

Carol Bryant is the Marketing and Social Media Manager for BlogPaws and runs her own dog blog, Fidose of Reality and its fundraising arm, Wigglebutt Warriors. When not busy playing with her Cocker Spaniel, Dexter, she stays far away from cooking. Her trademark is her mantra and is tattooed on her arm: My Heart Beats Dog.®

The post Are You Making These Social Media Video Mistakes? appeared first on BlogPaws.

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Are You Making These Social Media Video Mistakes?

No one size, technique, or style fits all, and this holds true in the social media realm. Are you making any social media video mistakes? We’re only humans living in a digital world, so it is quite easy to stray from the path of best intentions.

Here’s a step by step plan for rocking video content in the social media space while avoiding the most common (and not so common) pitfalls and mistakes:

Trying to Make The Same Video Work Across Social Media Platforms

Snapchat videos are vertical, and Instagram videos are square. Instagram Stories have their own sizing in a vertical format, and so mistakes can be made in the size and shape of the frame. Beyond that, the voice and tone of your videos should vary from platform to platform. Snapchatters value authenticity, so a walk in the woods with a real feel would appeal to that audience more than it would on a platform like Facebook. Walk through the woods on Facebook with a shaky handheld and users are likely to tune out (unless of course, you are Bear Grylls).

Have a video content and social media plan: Each platform has its own legion of followers who go there to be with their like-minded tribes. What works on Facebook may not work on Instagram. Plan ahead.

Forgetting the Powerful Opening and Clear, Dynamic Call to Action Closing

How do you want to be remembered? You’ve got 3 to 5 seconds to make a first impression on a live video within the Facebook space. Realizing that most folks will come back and see the replay of your Facebook Live video, welcome your followers to the replay in those first few seconds.

A call to action, CTA, is crucial for positive video results. Do you want your viewer to watch your video, go away, and never return to your page? Of course not, so give them something they absolutely must do.

BlogPaws recently revealed the proper length of a blog post (which, of course, varies from topic to topic, blog to blog). If you write a lengthy blog post, supplement it with a short trailer-style video that promotes the blog content. For example, on my iPhone 6 Plus, I use the iMovie app for easy to make videos. Reveal a few key points readers can look for in your blog post.

How Many Words Should a Blog Post Be?

Advanced Video Tips for Social Media Traffic

Rapid Fire Social Media Video Mistakes

Length: Don’t make it super long unless it is a step-by step tutorial that must have length to make sense. Every moment needs to count.

It’s All About You: You are the vessel for your readers and followers. Make videos that serve their needs. Ask yourself what problems you can solve for your demographic and then create videos around it. Better yet, re-purpose those videos across platforms. Speaking of which…

One and Done: No, no, and more no. You would never take a sip of water one time and then never have another. Social media content is like water: You need to filter it out to the proper channels to satisfy everyone’s thirst. Did you shoot an Instagram Story? Then save it to your phone and repurpose it on Facebook IF it makes sense to do so.

How to Repurpose Content and Market it Consistently

No Tools of the Trade: Crappy looking and less-than-stellar sounding videos serve no one, especially you, the creator. Your followers will not stick around with messy looking and poor sounding content. You need not be Cecil B. Demille, but you do need to have the right tools to broadcast video.

At the BlogPaws Conference this year, several of the speakers gave tips on phone lenses, lav microphones, and clip-on lighting. Thanks to Molly Mahoney for turning me on to the clip-on phone light. I literally sat in a dark closet and took a selfie, then did the same with the phone light and boom: Lovely lighting! Try Googling “selfie ring light” and check out reviews (note: they are not expensive).

No Content Plan: If you are waking up asking yourself, “What should I video about today,” then you may have a serious issue as time progresses. While winging it and doing this in the spontaneous moment is fun and has a time and place, social media videos with zero thought can backfire. Have a video content plan. Have a social media plan.

Schedule things in advance but respond in real time. Don’t let social media and video creation eat your day away.

A Video or a Film

I love this analogy so much that is worth showing you what it means instead of blogging it. Watch this, then read on:

Again, we are not Hollywood movie makers, but we are online influencers and bloggers who have a purpose and a desire, so deliver quality. Try storyboarding your video before shooting. I did this recently in a video for a paid campaign I did. I wrote out what I wanted to shoot, thought about how I envisioned the scene, and then I shot this video on the topic of training your dog to like car rides:

Now I have a piece of content that resides on YouTube, is embedded into my blog, and can be shared in a variety of ways. Winning!

Creative Ways to Use Instagram Stories for Blog Traffic

Speaking Well

You must absolutely speak in a way that your viewer wants to stick around. When I am shooting videos, I think to myself how I would explain my concept to a friend. I try to forget the camera is there and focus on talking to a friend about the topic at hand. I use my hands, I smile, my cadence is the right speed, and I am enthused about the subject matter without being overly exuberant annoying.

Your Environment

What is the lighting like? Is your background appropriate? Do you have a forest of trees behind you where one branch appears to be sticking out of your head? Do a location check first. You need not spend a lot of money on background but you should be aware of the lighting and your surroundings.

Mishaps will happen. While filming a Facebook Live a few months ago, a slew of police sirens passed by my office. I just worked it into the video and held up a note that said, “Well, I guess I’m in trouble,” which I had ready in case of sirens.

Have you heard of BeLive? It’s a new way to do Facebook Live videos.

That’s a Wrap

Speak well.

Know your content.

Have props and storyboarding ready/done in advance.

Practice. Ask for honest feedback from those you trust.

Do not try to be on every social media video platform. Excel at one before trying to be meh at the others.

Where is your audience and what do you want them to know? Solve their problems and rock your social media video plans like the pro you are!

Are you using video for social media? Where can you use help? What can BlogPaws do to help you? Tell us in the comments below. 

Images:  file404/ eva_blanco /Shutterstock

Carol Bryant is the Marketing and Social Media Manager for BlogPaws and runs her own dog blog, Fidose of Reality and its fundraising arm, Wigglebutt Warriors. When not busy playing with her Cocker Spaniel, Dexter, she stays far away from cooking. Her trademark is her mantra and is tattooed on her arm: My Heart Beats Dog.®

The post Are You Making These Social Media Video Mistakes? appeared first on BlogPaws.

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