Monthly Archives: November 2018

Week 9: Follow Me On My Data Trails

I must admit that I am not overly paranoid about the data trails I leave behind. I used to be extremely uncomfortable with the idea that I can be easily tracked, but for some reason that fear has subsided. Maybe that has something to do with the fact my data trail has not visibly affected my day-to-day life. Maybe that has something to do with how much work it is to avoid creating data trails. Maybe I’ve just given up. Regardless, I know Amazon, Google, Facebook, and more have absorbed mass amounts of information about me. I found Suzanne Norman’s (2015) article on “trying not to drop breadcrumbs in Amazon’s store” interesting because I didn’t expect the store not to accept cash. Our digital-focused world is increasing the difficulty to avoid leaving breadcrumbs.

I actually found it very interesting to discover how user data is analyzed from a business perspective. For this week’s lecture, we had Monique Sherrett present and discuss website monetization. Monique (2018) discussed how Google Analytics can provide information that can help improve your blog, such as knowing what people click on, how long they spend on pages, and what time people are typically accessing your website.

This lecture also led me to consider the possibility of monetizing my website. I don’t think my website would make any considerable amount of money, but I wouldn’t mind having affiliate ads or partnerships with specific theatres or movie companies. I don’t think these types of advertisements would take away from the integrity of my work because I am still focused on discussing movies, not theatres. If people were on my website and decided they wanted to buy tickets through my affiliate ads, great. If not, I’m fine with that too. Making money isn’t my focus.

Roshane encouraged us to consider what kinds of ads we would have on our websites. When I thought about different partnerships or affiliate advertisements I could have for my movie review blog, I thought of three potential companies: Cineplex, Landmark Cinemas, or Atom Tickets. Cineplex would be a great partnership because they are a large company and they often have a wider range of films than Landmark Cinemas (mostly because they have larger theatres). On the other hand, I have a more personal connection with Landmark Cinemas because I have worked at the Guildford location for just shy of seven years. Atom Tickets seems like a neutral company because their focus is allowing users to purchase tickets and concession in advance, skip the lines, and receive rewards. However, Atom Tickets currently only provides tickets for Landmark Cinemas, so these advertisements would still feel tied to Landmark.

I didn’t create an advertisement, but here is an example of my personal experience and love of Landmark.

I am in the red power ranger suit, and my coworker and manager are the other two power rangers. We did this promotion for the release of the new Power Rangers movie and had prize wheels, colouring stations, and more. I would be happy to partner with Landmark because they are a theatre that knows how to have fun and create “movie magic” for their guests.

 

Works Cited

  • Norman, Suzanne. 2015 “Trying not to drop breadcrumbs in Amazon’s store.” http://publishing.sfu.ca/2016/03/breadcrumbs-of-data/
  • Sherrett, Monique. October 2018. Presentation on monetization and Google Analytics. Lecture at Simon Fraser University for Publishing 101.

The Power of Data Trails

Prior to this course, I only thought of data trails as data given to me from people by tracking engagements on my website. I never thought about how I also contribute to others’ data analytics. I’m on the computer all the time and I never realized I was feeding companies with information about myself. That’s kind of scary. I remember talking about how ads are curated to each person in lecture and I find that amazing, but creepy. Especially how ads show up depending on what you search, but they can also show up if you just talk about something in person. I feel like if I get to learn the algorithm behind it I would be somewhat scared to use the internet so I’m better off not knowing how it works exactly.

I do not try to avoid getting tracked by these programs just because everywhere I go (on the web) they ask me for my information. Information that seems harmless like my name and my e-mail. After listening to Suzanne’s Amazon experience, I honestly had no idea data trails include card payments. Now I’m wondering, where does the card information go to. With all the information companies are receiving about us daily, the fear of having one of those company’s systems hacked becomes greater.

Process Post 8 (Analytics)

Our online activity plays an important role for many businesses in terms of understanding their audience and the activity of users online. For this week’s process post, we were to discuss analytics and some of the pros and cons of collected data.

According to the business dictionary, analytics “often involves studying past historical data to research potential trends, to analyze the effects of certain decisions or events, or to evaluate the performance of a given tool or scenario.”. Understanding analytics can be key in improving one’s business or site and to confirm whether or not certain elements of your work actually have an impact on users. It is quite interesting to be able to track your audience’s activity and be able to make any necessary changes in order to create a desired objective or message. According to Hugo Moreno from Forbes, the concept of analytics is no longer just a nice option, but the core of the enterprise; they drive an enterprise and the formation of a strategy. The fact that technology has progressed to allow us to view, analyze, and dissect the analytics and data of our work and be able to alter our decisions based on this information is something quite profound for our time.

Although analytics is proven to be helpful, there can also me downfalls. Things that I find to be of a challenge would come from the creator and publisher’s side, but also as a user. As a publisher, such as myself, looking at analytics can sometimes be of a burden and diverting my attention to actually enjoying the work I put in. People may resort to unethical decisions just so they can improve their analytics or social profile, but disregard anything important about their own mental health. Take for example Instagram, by constantly viewing the analytics of a personal profile, the worry of what to post and when to post becomes more important than the actual enjoyment and freedom of the social media platform.

When does it become something for your own pleasure versus something only for the sake of others?

In addition, from a user’s perspective, knowing that websites (Facebook anyone??) can record and track your data may also be worrisome. How do we know what is being tracked and where our information is going? For large companies like Facebook, I tend to wonder parts of my online activity is being tracked and if I would want my activity to be tracked in the first place for monetization purposes. Are we really free to do what we please online? Or, is our every move just crucial sets of data for large companies to record and sell? Analytics has its pros and cons – I would argue that, especially in today’s technological age, that it is very important for us to understand what happens with our data online and when it can be of use and when we should take precautions.

Week: 3- process posty; Mapping the Online Persona


My PUB 101 content would go in the drop-down menu on the left-hand side with other subjects that I want to talk about in my blog. And under the PUB101 tab, it includes process posts and any other assignments related to this course. I also want to add some sort of graphic that captures the essence that my blog displays. 

  • This was my first idea of what I wanted my site to look like. 
  • My second design as I figured out my website. 

Mini Assignment #4 Remixing

In this assignment, I mixed sound into the scene of Interstellar. Showing the original version first, it describes the original mood of the scene. I added an audiotrack on the top of the video, and the song is “Home Alone Theme” by John Williams.  The mood of the scene dramatically changed as I mixed the audio, and at the same time, I also added a laughing effect. That totally reversed the mood of the scene. In this assignment, I did the sound effect, how important the sound is, in a film, especially, in the movie. I used Adobe Premiere program to edit the video, and I downloaded the movie scene from Youtube. I also downloaded sound files from Youtube.

inter