Monthly Archives: June 2012

FreakyFriday: Weird of the Day – You’re Probably Addicted to Your Smartphone, Study (and Common Sense) Finds

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By: iCopywriter Senior Editor, Heather Price-Wright

Actually, the news that smartphone addiction is a very real and very fast-spreading phenomenon is probably not “freaky” so much as, well, obvious. But a new study released by the mobile security firm Lookout revealed some troubling facts about the way we interact with our Crackberries and i-Can’t-Put-it-Down Phones.

  • Most of us – more than 60% of those surveyed – can’t survive a single waking hour without checking our phones.
  • The younger we are, the worse the addiction is. A whopping 73% of women and 63% of men ages 18-34 couldn’t go an hour without looking at their smartphones.
  • It’s not just waking hours, either – 54% of respondents admitted to checking their phones from bed, some even in the middle of the night.
  • With the advent of the smartphone, manners and basic decency seem to have gone out the window, judging by the fact that almost 33% of those surveyed use their phones while eating with others.
  • “Eyes on the road” doesn’t seem to be a rule we live by anymore, either, as 24% of surveyed people said they check their cell phones while driving, as well as engaging in other high-risk smartphone habits.
  • And finally, how sad is this? Almost 75% said they felt “panicked” when they misplaced their cell phones. Only 6%

So, how can you tell if you, too, are suffering from the menace that is smartphone addiction? We’ve come up with a list of behaviors we think might constitute an unhealthy attachment to a little piece of metal and plastic. We admit that some of these apply to us – do you see yourself here, too?

  1. The last thing you do before bed isn’t brush your teeth, say your prayers or even kiss your loved ones goodnight – instead, you check your email and play a word in Words With Friends.
  2. You have panic dreams about life without your Android.
  3. You miss big events because you’re too busy trying to take pictures of them with Instagram and post them to Facebook.
  4. You feel irrational fear on airplanes, not because you’re in a metal tube hurtling through the sky, but because you had to put your phone on airplane mode.
  5. You take your phone with you to the bathroom. Yuck. Seriously, stop doing that.

Have you checked out iCopywriter.com lately?

Photocredit: GinaEllen, www.stockfreeimages.com/

FreakyFriday: Weird of the Day – ‘Burritobot’ Uses High-Tech Concept to Craft Low-Tech, Tasty Food

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By: Heather Price-Wright, iCopywriter Senior Editor

Has the well-meaning human burrito-maker at your favorite Mexican food joint ever bogged down your burro with too much fiery salsa and not enough meat? Are you a fan of burritos that are mostly guacamole, but have trouble conveying just how much guac you’re talking about?

Enter the “Burritobot,” the thesis project of NYU grad student Marko Manriquez. The device is similar to a 3D printer, but instead of coating a metal sheet with plastic, the bot shoots ingredients like salsa, guacamole and sour cream onto a tortilla.

Better yet, just like pretty much everything else these days, from our music listening to our workouts to our tanning destinations, the robotic burrito-maker is controlled by your iPhone. Sliding toggles within the Burritobot app let you adjust the levels of various ingredients. Then, nozzles on the robot add the requested amounts of beans, cheese, salsas and other condiments to your waiting tortilla. Now, if only the bot would do the pesky burrito wrapping for you.

According to MSNBC’s Technolog blog, the Burritobot has design flaws. The size and shape of the nozzles make all the ingredients come out with a strange, rather pasty consistency. And of course, as griped about above, the robot does not have little burrito-wrapping arms (how cool would that be?), so you still risk shoddy construction and getting beans all over your shirt.

Marquez noted that, in fact, the Burritobot is not meant to be an end product, but merely a set of ideas and questions about taste, automation and food production brought to life. And indeed, it seems we’re not far from automation in most of our fast food production, especially when it comes to grab-and-go foodstuffs like burritos.

For now, though, the Burritobot is just a really cool novelty, though we have to admit, we wish we had one right about now. Mmm, burritos.

Have you checked out iCopywriter.com lately?

Photocredit: Marko Manriquez

 

FreakyFriday: Weird of the Day – Zombie Apocolypse & How Social Media Is Fueling the Frenzy

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By: iCopywriter Blogger, Kimberly Crossland

Ever play that game of telephone in school? You know, the one where one person tells another something, and it gets passed around until the last person blurts out something completely different?

The same thing happens every day in our media-fueled world.

Not only has Hollywood driven us to believe that the Mayans got it right thousands of years ago and  the end of the world will hit us with a Zombie apocalypse (good thing I have my garage stored with plenty of freeze dried foods – wait, don’t you?), but now the inherent nature of social media has helped to fuel this fire even more.

The zombie apocalypse stories all came to a head when a man, high on bath salts (otherwise known as the new LSD by people on the street), stripped himself naked and jumped on top of an innocent homeless man only to begin eating his face.

This was no comfort to the believers of the destined Zombie invasion.

So the inevitable happened. People began to voice their fears, whether joking or real, to their social media channel of choice. And stories started popping up everywhere of similar events. One man reportedly cut his stomach open and threw his intestines at police officers, while another ate the brain and heart of a missing person. The list goes on. And if you’re really intrigued, you can check out a running website filled with the Zombie stories for some solid entertainment (or horror, depending on what you believe).

So why are all of these stories just popping up now?

The answer is simple. Now, people are hungry for more weird, creepy and completely bizarre stories. That’s just a case of supply and demand. People have always been crazy, and there have always been bizarre crimes, but now more people want to read about it. And in turn, more people want to talk about it and fuel the frenzy with outrageous conclusions.

The Internet allows anyone to publish anything. Enter: The School Yard Game, Telephone. One story pops up about a man eating another man’s face. The next person adds to that the inevitable conclusion that this must mean a Zombie apocalypse. And just like that, the social media fire is ignited.

Have you checked out iCopywriter lately?

Photocredit: Chrisharvey

4 Ways Content Marketing Keeps Customers On Your Site Longer

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By: iCopywriter Blogger Kimberly Crossland
Your website is your storefront on the Internet. And just like a brick-and-mortar store, you want to keep prospective customers in your store as long as possible. The more time your customers spend on your website, the higher the chances are that they will make a purchase.

Content marketing has taken the digital marketing world by storm for good reason. One of the most effective ways to keep your customers engaged with your brand online for longer is content. The more valuable information you can provide, the longer you will keep your prospects and customers engaged, and the more likely they are to ultimately perform the action you are driving them to do.

The following are four ways you can improve your website to keep customers staying for longer.

1.     Break up content on multiple pages – If you have a long blog posts or information-rich articles, break them up onto multiple pages. This will get your reader to click to other pages on your site to continue reading and encourage them to continue engagement with your brand even after they are finished with the blog post or article they are reading.
2.     Recommend further reading – Once a blog post or article is finished, recommend further readings that are similar to the content your reader just consumed. This will not only keep them on your website, but show that you have more expertise as a brand and thereby establish you as an industry leader in your field.
3.     Link keywords internally – Throughout your content, link keywords to other articles or blog posts that you provide on your site. Linking internally can drive customers to other content that you have developed and keep them engaged.
4.     Embed interactive features – To make content more dynamic, add videos or slideshows. This will keep your customers on pages for longer. A recent study by research firm Ooyala states that approximately 40% of viewers who tune in to online videos on computers or laptops, do so for as long as 6 minutes. This percentage goes up with videos on tablets and smartphones as well. This is a significant amount of time to keep customers on your website and improve their experience.

A combination of informative written material, driving customers to other content, linking internally, and adding dynamic features to your site will keep your customers on your website. This increases the likelihood of social sharing, as well as the chances that they will purchase from your company when they are ready.

What else have you done to keep customers on your site for longer?

Have you checked out iCopywriter lately?

Photo credit: Creativestock

FreakyFriday: Weird of the Day – The Good, The Bad, and The Dangerous of Living a Public Life

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By: iCopywriter Blogger, Kimberly Crossland

In less than a decade our worlds have changed dramatically. Now, old flames are being reunited and marriages are being dissolved over the use of Facebook – a service that was in its youth only 8 years ago. The way people interact with each other has shifted to socializing online instead of in person. People are kept up to date on what is happening in a distant friend’s life on social networks instead of on the phone. And while this is a great way to keep people close, it can also expose your world to people you may not have intended.

The following are a few examples of just how public our lives have become with the increased use of social media to interact.

  • Location-based services – With services such as Foursquare that encourage check-ins at local restaurants, shops, or businesses, people are broadcasting where they are for the world to see. While it may be fun to strive to be a mayor on Foursquare, opening up your location to be seen by your friends can be a risk. Imagine letting everyone know that you were at a local bar, only to have your ex-boyfriend show up for an impromptu greeting. There are fun sides to these apps, undoubtedly, but it is important to be aware of who will be seeing your location when you shout it from the social media rooftops.
  • Status updates – Even if you are not using a location-based service, status updates can also provide a wealth of information that divulges sensitive information (think: exposing your new-job search to your current boss), or brings to light that you are on vacation, opening up the possibility of thieves seeing your status and breaking into your home when you are gone. While these are extreme circumstances, they are meant to show that it is important to be mindful of what you are posting and how public your posts actually are.
  • Websites that watch – Today is the last day in a privacy policy poll that Facebook put out to its users on giving a little more leeway on the information they can share about their users. But it’s not only Facebook that is delivering tidbits of information to their users. Google and other websites gather information on where you visit, and what you search for. Your privacy is eliminated as soon as you type in a search query. Don’t believe us? Look at the ads that are being displayed in your direction. They, without a doubt, have something to do with a website you have searched before, or the subject of an e-mail you received.

Exposure is not always a bad thing. However, it is important to be aware of just how public your data is each and every time you hit your keyboard or send an update from your smartphone.

You tell us – Do you worry about your life being overly exposed online? And if so, what privacy measures do you put in place to help stop it?

Have you checked out iCopywriter lately?

Photo credit: Stan020

FreakyFriday: Weird of the Day – ‘Politwoops’ Site Archives Politicians’ Deleted Tweets

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By: iCopywriter Senior Editor, Heather Price-Wright 

Last week, we brought you criminals so stupid they shouldn’t have been allowed to have Facebook accounts. This week,we continue our examination of people too dumb to social network with the most logical next step: politicians.

We’ve all read or heard about political gaffes large and small; politicians have been putting their feet in their very large mouths since the dawn of politics. What’s unique about this day and age is that our, ahem, esteemed elected officials have a nearly unlimited platform on which to say silly, offensive or downright wrong things – the Internet. And specifically, Twitter.

But unlike real life, Twitter does have a delete button. And occasionally (or rather, all the time) someone catches sight of a numbskull political tweet and tells whoever posted it to take it down. So unless we’re constantly glued to Twitter (and let’s be real, we are a lot of the time) we might miss these gem-like gifts from the gods of hilarity, these bizarre or inaccurate or misspelled or just plain boneheaded little missives.

Enter the Sunlight Foundation’s Politwoops. As the Huffington Post reported Wednesday, the new tool will scan the Twitter accounts of every member of Congress, plus President Barack Obama and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, and figure out when Tweets have been deleted or edited. It will then compile those changed or vanished tweets on its website for everyone to see. As the Sunlight Foundation’s blog explains, in addition to being amusing for those who love to see politicians squirm, Politwoops serves as a window into how our political machine operates, what thoughts get censored and what your elected officials don’t want you to see.

In browsing the site, we’ve come across a few general categories of deleted tweets:

  • The Meta

Speaker John Boehner ( R )

You know what else has been deleted? Jobs in the Obama economy. Where are the jobs? #politwoops

  • The Rant

Justin Amash ( R )

When did Republicans start supporting hate-crime legislation?http://t.co/4dJV5pGi. #hypocrisy

  • The “Didn’t Anyone Every Teach You About Quotation Marks”?

Susan Collins ( R )

“She expressed “cautious optimism” about changes as the quasi-civilian government has taken steps toward democracy”

  • The TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read)

Bruce Braley ( D )

RT @FeedIowa1st: @BruceBraley Is there anyway to make the IRS move faster we filed 501C3 in Jan and they are proccessing Sep 2011 We nee …

  • THE CAPS LOCK

Susan Collins ( R )

SENATORS SNOWE, COLLINS ANNOUNCE MORE THAN $2.6 MILLION IN FUNDING TO MAINE AIRPORTS http://t.co/WH1JeIZR

What do you think of Politwoops? Is it all in good fun, or a serious way to hold politicians accountable? What’s the silliest political tweet you’ve ever read?

Have you checked out iCopywriter.com lately?