UvT Webvideo

The main reason I'm blogging is that it is obligatory to pass my course of Business Information Technology. To do so, we had to create a web video as well, which contains an interview with someone from the department of communication. The video we created should be posted on the blog as well, so here you go... Enjoy!!

Priming, a (mind)tricky business..

I discussed the possible consequences and showed several examples of subliminal perception. Priming is a comparative process in which a stimulus activates knowledge structures. Word association is a good example of such a knowledge structure. I will explain to you what major influence priming can have by using several striking examples.

The most important thing to remember about priming is the word ‘accessibility’. By seeing a specific image or word, associations are activated and become more accessible. These words are now more ‘on top of your mind’ in comparison to other random words. Next to association, recency and vividness are other factors that influence this ‘on top of your mind’ness. For example, have you ever thought about the reason why a specific person is picked out of a large group when a charity organization like Greenpeace wants attention for the environmental problems? The key to this question lies with vividness. By setting a concrete (and therefore more vivid) example, it’s easier to remember and consequently easier to recall; it stays more accessible.

A good example to see the differences in perception because of priming:

People significantly overestimate the number of murders while they severely underestimate the number of burglaries. The reason: Priming. Because of the fact that murders are mentioned more frequently in the news than burglaries, this crime will be more active in one’s mind and therefore the amount of murders will be overestimated.

The last example doesn’t need very much of an explanation, just see for yourself how the mind of these people is tricked.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog again, thanks for reading anyway ;)

Smartphones: A life changing technology

In this blog, I want to discuss the influence of smartphones on peoples’ lives nowadays. An interesting topic, because of the major differences in habits, pastime and staying in touch. In the pre-smartphone period, people used the internet mostly via a desktop or, if they wanted to be ‘mobile’, a laptop. Nowadays however, there is a certain amount of time spent on the Internet by the use of a smartphone. Whether you are looking up certain information about the weather, about departure times of trains or about a stupid fact that just wouldn’t come to mind fast enough, all this information can be accessed by a few clicks or even a few touches on your smartphone anywhere, and at any time.

I will now discuss this topic on my own experiences when I started using my Blackberry. That first, magical moment I had my smartphone and could use it for all those pointless and fun stuff can be considered a life changing moment. From this moment on, I discovered the convenient functions I mentioned (looking up information about a variety of topics) as well as I started to like Twitter and Facebook all of a sudden. At first, I was kind of skeptical about these social media, especially about Twitter. However, after being able to read and produce tweets from every location and at any time I was bored, it became much more interesting. Nowadays, the first thing I do when I wake up is checking my Twitter timeline to see if something interesting has been posted.

Another shift is the use of Blackberry Messenger and Whatsapp instead of texting. With my unlimited Internet contract, contacting people has become way cheaper, and still becomes cheaper since everyone who can pick a new phone will pick a smartphone. Therefore, almost everyone can be reached as much as you want for as long as you want without having to be cautious about the maximum amount of messages.

After reading this story I suppose you understand that I’m quite positive about this ‘new’ technology and I guess most of you will agree that it’s an enriching gadget to your life. A downside of the whole story is that you can get too obsessed by smartphone use as the following commercial shows, although it’s up to yourself to not let that happen ;).

Facebook vs. Hyves: which to choose?

The social media world is still expanding intensely in Holland. More and more people discover this way to stay in touch and follow your friends, family and acquaintances. Facebook is the most common social media website by far on a global scale with a market share of approximately 60 percent. In the Netherlands however, Hyves has been the leading social media platform and confirmed this status by subscribing the 10 miljonth member in 2010. Although Hyves is still a high roller on Dutch soil, a remarkable shift seems to be taking place concering social media in Holland. But which type of social media should you choose? Which type of social media is hotter? And which type of social media will still be alive and kickin’ 10 years from now? Don’t worry, I will list a score for you, so you can make the right decisions…

1. Research has shown that Facebook is growing rapidly over the last six months of 2010. As a comparison to Hyves, Facebook had a growth of unique visitors of nearly 50% whereas Hyves had a slight decrease of unique visitors (3%). Conclusion: Facebook is more popular at the moment (+1).

1-0 to Facebook

2. Another statistic from the research implies that Facebook keeps its visitors online longer on the website than its fellow social network Hyves does (approximately 19 minutes vs. 9 minutes). Conclusion: Facebook scores higher on engagement (+1).

2-0 to Facebook

3. Looking at the number of pageviews per visit, it can be noticed that Facebook is leading on this statistic as well: 29.1 pageviews for Facebook vs. 18.9 for Hyves. Conclusion: Facebook scores higher on this aspect of engagement as well (+1 again).

3-0 to Facebook.

Looks like a lost cause for Hyves.. However:

4. The same research as mentioned above has shown that Hyves visitors return to the site twice as much as do Facebook visitors (with an average of 30 visits a month vs. 15 visits a month for Facebook). Conclusion: Hyves wins the loyalty aspect (+1)

3-1

5. Looking at google searches, results were in favor of Hyves as well. Hyves was listed as the number 1 search on google whereas Facebook had to settle for 5th place. Conclusion: Hyves scores higher on curiosity (+1)

3-2

6. A final note that has to be made is the fact that Hyves has over 10 million members in the Netherlands versus 4,8 million Dutch Facebook-users. Conclusion: Hyves is still the biggest social media site in the Netherlands (+1).

3-3

That settles it. Based on this research I conclude it’s a draw. My own conclusion however: Facebook is the future. I will tell you why. Facebook is the growing social media site in Holland. It’s internationally accepted and used which implies that more and better apps and other gadgets will be available for your mobile phones, Ipads and personal computers. Next to these arguments, I could mention the usability of Facebook, which is way better in comparison to Hyves in my opinion. Another argument could be the image of Facebook. Hyves has a much more childish and small-scaled vibe to it whereas Facebook looks global and straightforward. Although my own preference is Facebook, I think Hyves surely can exist next to Facebook. The major reason I think this is the target group. Where Hyves should be focussing on the age-groups below 17 and above approximately 40, Facebook is much more useful for students, therefore the age-group from 18 years and older. This is a trend I see in my own surroundings as well.

Thanks for reading, I hope it’s been of any use to you!