According to two stories in The Guardian newspaper, http://www.guardian.co.uk/, during the last year, "Local councils, health authorities and hundreds of other public bodies are to be given the power to access details of everyone's personal text, emails and internet use under (United Kingdom) Home Office proposals." The government is looking at requiring communication companies to retain such personal data for up to 12 months so that it can be used for criminal investigations or other public safety threats. In addition, since the policy is based on a European Union directive, the data would be made available to public investigating agencies throughout Europe.
The idea was originally proposed after the 2005 London bombings and justified that it was vital to the fight against terrorism. However, now its potential use would be expanded for all types of "crime and public order" investigations. This would mean that the details of personal internet and text, but not the content, would be made available "to protect the public". Only recently, the Home Office abandoned the idea of a central "super-database" run by the state. Many in the country are concerned that it will be used to snoop on ordinary people in everyday situations.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
50+ (Baby Boomers and Older): AARP and ThirdAge
A recent Pew Internet & American Life Project survey, http://www.pewinternet.org/, found that 63% of adults aged 50-64 and 25% of adults aged 65+ were active online.[1] This growing “Baby Boomer and Older” audience is more computer savvy than ever and they are influencing the way organizations do business online.
The U. S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/, projects there will be 77.2 million people age 55 and over in 2011; and 88 million by 2016.[2] The 50-plus market constitutes 41% of the U.S. population, controls 75% of the nation’s wealth, and accounts for more than 50% percent of all consumer spending.[3] Seniors spend more on travel, recreation, health and personal-care products than any other age group. They are major online purchasers.[4]
e-Marketer, http://www.emarketer.com/, states that, “Internet usage by baby boomers—and over-60s—is projected to continue rising well into the future. These trends create an irresistible opportunity for marketers.” The number of U. S. baby boomers who use the Internet at least once a month will grow from 60.6 million in 2008 to 63.7 million in 2011. Over-62 use will be growing from 20.5 million on the Internet in 2006 to 25.3 million by 2011.[5]
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project’s Generations Online in 2009, older generations use the internet as a tool for news, research, shopping and banking. In particular, older internet users are significantly more likely than younger generations to look online for health information.[6]
On the AARP website, http://www.aarp.org/, “Founded in 1958, AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50 and over improve the quality of their lives. AARP has grown to 40 million members and has offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As the nation’s largest membership organization for people 50+, AARP is leading a revolution in the way people view and live life after 50.” [7]
The AARP’s Online Network Media Kit states that, “today’s 50+ audience is more vibrant, active and healthy than any preceding generation. They are powerful in number, surprisingly tech savvy, and are redefining our expectations on age, vitality, and life….We reach an active, affluent, and vibrant audience. Our members are avid travelers, are educated about their health, and use the Internet to research both small and large purchases….AARP visitors are active and diverse: 44% male, 56% female, 69.8% married, mean household income: $71,544, 45.4% employed full time or part time, 86.3% own a residence. [They are] online savvy: 90% have been online for 3+ years, and 53% have been online for 10+ years, 91% go online every day, 96% shop online. They know their way around the AARP Online Network: over 2.5 million unique visitors, over 40 million page views a month, average minutes spent on site per visitor: 25 minutes.”[8]
AARP ranks 3,820 on Alexa, http://www.alexa.com/. Top keywords driving traffic to aarp.org from search engines are: aarp, aarp games, social security, aarp health insurance, reverse mortgage, aarp travel, aarp insurance, aarp.com, and aarp discounts. Relative to the general population, aarp.org is more popular with 45+ and less popular with 18-44.[9]
AARP.org has a clear purpose in providing a variety of information to its viewers: health, money, leisure, make a difference, family, online community, membership. Its audience is older people – men and women. The site does appeal to its audience. There is good content that would appear to satisfy the needs, wants, and desires of the target market. It makes a sincere effort to establish trust and credibility. It does not make a strong effort to appeal to the self-concept or identity of the audience. The quality of the information is detailed and appears to be unbiased.
There is good unity of design for the home page and over the entire site. The choice of a white background for the older audience is a good one. There is good contrast, and the images are easy to see and the text is easy to read. The focal point is clear with a picture in the center of the page and frames are used to organize information. Appropriate pictures and symbols are used throughout the site. The site is somewhat cluttered with a lot of information. There is a little animation with the main photographs on the home page rotating, but it is effective. The opening screen has lots of items to click on, making it a little too busy. The type face on the fonts makes for easy reading.
In all this is a very good comprehensive site for the target market of older people who want information and may even be inclined to participate in the organization’s activities.
According to its website, http://www.thirdage.com/, “ThirdAge Inc. is a leading online lifestage media, marketing and consumer insight company exclusively focused on serving baby boomers. Through strategic partnerships and integrated advertising campaigns, we help companies build lasting relationships with our audience.”[10]
In their online Media Kit, ThirdAge states that, “Generally in their early 40s to late 60s, these ThirdAgers are nowhere near ready to retire -- or even wind down. Rather, they are redefining what it means to get older, and doing so on their own terms. ThirdAge provides them with trusted content, informed insights and community connecting tools to do just that.”[11]
Continuing on the ThirdAge website, “Over the last decade, ThirdAge has built a loyal and trusting community of individuals intent on living life to it’s fullest. They return to ThirdAge for content that is relevant and useful to their changing lives. More than 1,000,000 unique visitors come to ThirdAge every month and close to 1,000,000 subscribers receive our customized newsletters each week.” .”[12] According to their online Media Kit, ThirdAge visitors are: 73% between 40 and 65 years old, 70% female, 30% male, 50% married.[13]
ThirdAge ranks 22,760 on Alexa. Top keywords driving traffic to thirdage.com from search engines are: menopause, third age, sex goddess, romance sex, fantasies, the third age, sugar and spice and everything nice, and first date ideas. Relative to the general population, thirdage.com is more popular with 55+ and (surprisingly) 18-24, and less popular with 25-54.[14]
ThirdAge.com has a clear purpose in providing a variety of information to its viewers: health and wellness, family and friends, relationships and sex, money and work, beauty and style, travel and pastimes. Its audience is middle age people – primarily women. The site does appeal to its audience. There is reasonable content that would appear to probably satisfy the needs, wants, and desires of the target market. I have questions about trust and credibility. It makes a very strong effort to appeal to the self-concept or identity of the audience. The quality of the information is somewhat superficial and purports to be unbiased.
There is good unity of design for the home page and over the entire site. The choice of a light blue-green background for the audience is a good one. There is good contrast, with images that are easy to see and text that is easy to read. The focal point is clear with a large picture at the top of the page and frames are used to organize information. Appropriate pictures and symbols are used throughout the site. The site is clear and clean. No animation is evident. The opening screen has a big picture (currently of Hillary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor – Breaking News, Breaking Bones) and a few other items to click on. The type face on the fonts makes for easy reading.
In all this is probably a good site for the target market of middle age people – primarily women - who want personal life style information in an easy manner.
See Evaluating Web Page Design by Dr. Gloria M. Boone at http://infoarc.50megs.com/nm/evaluatingweb.html.
[1] Pew Internet and American Life Project (2008, August) Internet Access Among Older Adults. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.pewinternet.org./
[2] United States Census Bureau. Population Projections. Retrieved June 18, 2009, from http://www.census.gov./
[3] AARP. Online Network Media Kit. Retrieved June 19,2009, from http://www.aarp.org./
[4] Third Age. Media Kit. Retrieved June 19, 2009, from http://www.thirdage.com/
[5] eMarketer. (2007, December). Baby Boomers and Silver Surfers: Two generations online. retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.emarketer.com./
[6] Pew Internet and American Life Project. (2009, January) Generations Online in 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2009, from http://www.pewinternet.org./
[7] AARP. About AARP. Retrieved June 19, 2009, from http://www.aarp.org./
[8] AARP. Online Network Media Kit.
[9] Alexa. Traffic Details. Retrieved June 19, 2009 from http://www.alexa.com./
[10] ThirdAge. About Us. Retrieved June 19, 2009, from http://www.thirdage.com./
[11] ThirdAge. Media Kit.
[12] ThirdAge. About Us.
[13] ThirdAge. Media Kit.
[14] Alexa Traffic Details.
The U. S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/, projects there will be 77.2 million people age 55 and over in 2011; and 88 million by 2016.[2] The 50-plus market constitutes 41% of the U.S. population, controls 75% of the nation’s wealth, and accounts for more than 50% percent of all consumer spending.[3] Seniors spend more on travel, recreation, health and personal-care products than any other age group. They are major online purchasers.[4]
e-Marketer, http://www.emarketer.com/, states that, “Internet usage by baby boomers—and over-60s—is projected to continue rising well into the future. These trends create an irresistible opportunity for marketers.” The number of U. S. baby boomers who use the Internet at least once a month will grow from 60.6 million in 2008 to 63.7 million in 2011. Over-62 use will be growing from 20.5 million on the Internet in 2006 to 25.3 million by 2011.[5]
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project’s Generations Online in 2009, older generations use the internet as a tool for news, research, shopping and banking. In particular, older internet users are significantly more likely than younger generations to look online for health information.[6]
On the AARP website, http://www.aarp.org/, “Founded in 1958, AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50 and over improve the quality of their lives. AARP has grown to 40 million members and has offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As the nation’s largest membership organization for people 50+, AARP is leading a revolution in the way people view and live life after 50.” [7]
The AARP’s Online Network Media Kit states that, “today’s 50+ audience is more vibrant, active and healthy than any preceding generation. They are powerful in number, surprisingly tech savvy, and are redefining our expectations on age, vitality, and life….We reach an active, affluent, and vibrant audience. Our members are avid travelers, are educated about their health, and use the Internet to research both small and large purchases….AARP visitors are active and diverse: 44% male, 56% female, 69.8% married, mean household income: $71,544, 45.4% employed full time or part time, 86.3% own a residence. [They are] online savvy: 90% have been online for 3+ years, and 53% have been online for 10+ years, 91% go online every day, 96% shop online. They know their way around the AARP Online Network: over 2.5 million unique visitors, over 40 million page views a month, average minutes spent on site per visitor: 25 minutes.”[8]
AARP ranks 3,820 on Alexa, http://www.alexa.com/. Top keywords driving traffic to aarp.org from search engines are: aarp, aarp games, social security, aarp health insurance, reverse mortgage, aarp travel, aarp insurance, aarp.com, and aarp discounts. Relative to the general population, aarp.org is more popular with 45+ and less popular with 18-44.[9]
AARP.org has a clear purpose in providing a variety of information to its viewers: health, money, leisure, make a difference, family, online community, membership. Its audience is older people – men and women. The site does appeal to its audience. There is good content that would appear to satisfy the needs, wants, and desires of the target market. It makes a sincere effort to establish trust and credibility. It does not make a strong effort to appeal to the self-concept or identity of the audience. The quality of the information is detailed and appears to be unbiased.
There is good unity of design for the home page and over the entire site. The choice of a white background for the older audience is a good one. There is good contrast, and the images are easy to see and the text is easy to read. The focal point is clear with a picture in the center of the page and frames are used to organize information. Appropriate pictures and symbols are used throughout the site. The site is somewhat cluttered with a lot of information. There is a little animation with the main photographs on the home page rotating, but it is effective. The opening screen has lots of items to click on, making it a little too busy. The type face on the fonts makes for easy reading.
In all this is a very good comprehensive site for the target market of older people who want information and may even be inclined to participate in the organization’s activities.
According to its website, http://www.thirdage.com/, “ThirdAge Inc. is a leading online lifestage media, marketing and consumer insight company exclusively focused on serving baby boomers. Through strategic partnerships and integrated advertising campaigns, we help companies build lasting relationships with our audience.”[10]
In their online Media Kit, ThirdAge states that, “Generally in their early 40s to late 60s, these ThirdAgers are nowhere near ready to retire -- or even wind down. Rather, they are redefining what it means to get older, and doing so on their own terms. ThirdAge provides them with trusted content, informed insights and community connecting tools to do just that.”[11]
Continuing on the ThirdAge website, “Over the last decade, ThirdAge has built a loyal and trusting community of individuals intent on living life to it’s fullest. They return to ThirdAge for content that is relevant and useful to their changing lives. More than 1,000,000 unique visitors come to ThirdAge every month and close to 1,000,000 subscribers receive our customized newsletters each week.” .”[12] According to their online Media Kit, ThirdAge visitors are: 73% between 40 and 65 years old, 70% female, 30% male, 50% married.[13]
ThirdAge ranks 22,760 on Alexa. Top keywords driving traffic to thirdage.com from search engines are: menopause, third age, sex goddess, romance sex, fantasies, the third age, sugar and spice and everything nice, and first date ideas. Relative to the general population, thirdage.com is more popular with 55+ and (surprisingly) 18-24, and less popular with 25-54.[14]
ThirdAge.com has a clear purpose in providing a variety of information to its viewers: health and wellness, family and friends, relationships and sex, money and work, beauty and style, travel and pastimes. Its audience is middle age people – primarily women. The site does appeal to its audience. There is reasonable content that would appear to probably satisfy the needs, wants, and desires of the target market. I have questions about trust and credibility. It makes a very strong effort to appeal to the self-concept or identity of the audience. The quality of the information is somewhat superficial and purports to be unbiased.
There is good unity of design for the home page and over the entire site. The choice of a light blue-green background for the audience is a good one. There is good contrast, with images that are easy to see and text that is easy to read. The focal point is clear with a large picture at the top of the page and frames are used to organize information. Appropriate pictures and symbols are used throughout the site. The site is clear and clean. No animation is evident. The opening screen has a big picture (currently of Hillary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor – Breaking News, Breaking Bones) and a few other items to click on. The type face on the fonts makes for easy reading.
In all this is probably a good site for the target market of middle age people – primarily women - who want personal life style information in an easy manner.
See Evaluating Web Page Design by Dr. Gloria M. Boone at http://infoarc.50megs.com/nm/evaluatingweb.html.
[1] Pew Internet and American Life Project (2008, August) Internet Access Among Older Adults. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.pewinternet.org./
[2] United States Census Bureau. Population Projections. Retrieved June 18, 2009, from http://www.census.gov./
[3] AARP. Online Network Media Kit. Retrieved June 19,2009, from http://www.aarp.org./
[4] Third Age. Media Kit. Retrieved June 19, 2009, from http://www.thirdage.com/
[5] eMarketer. (2007, December). Baby Boomers and Silver Surfers: Two generations online. retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.emarketer.com./
[6] Pew Internet and American Life Project. (2009, January) Generations Online in 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2009, from http://www.pewinternet.org./
[7] AARP. About AARP. Retrieved June 19, 2009, from http://www.aarp.org./
[8] AARP. Online Network Media Kit.
[9] Alexa. Traffic Details. Retrieved June 19, 2009 from http://www.alexa.com./
[10] ThirdAge. About Us. Retrieved June 19, 2009, from http://www.thirdage.com./
[11] ThirdAge. Media Kit.
[12] ThirdAge. About Us.
[13] ThirdAge. Media Kit.
[14] Alexa Traffic Details.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Common Cause -Online: Search, Advertising, YouTube, Facebook, Blog, etc.
Common Cause describes itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen's lobbying organization promoting open, honest and accountable government. However, when searching these keywords on Google (other than Common Cause), the only time Common Cause shows up on the first page is when you type in "accountable government". It does not appear when you type in "nonpartisan organization", "citizen's lobbying organization", "open government", or "honest government". Clearly, the organization could do a better job in promoting its cause to potential donors, concerned individuals, activists, and even members. In addition, there was no advertising for Common Cause when these searches were conducted.
Good news - Common Cause is on YouTube. When you type in "YouTube Common Cause", there is a CNN clip from November 20, 2008 with a link to the organization at http://www.commoncause.org/. Common Cause is also on Facebook. There is an official Facebook Page of Common Cause. People are invited to join Facebook to get exclusive content and interact with Common Cause right from Facebook. You can also connect to MySpace, Twitter and Change.org on its website homepage.
Common Cause also has a blog on its website and it is up to date (today) on current events and issues related to the mission of the organization. The website itself has good content and encourages viewers to "learn more", "sign up", "take action", and "donate". Viewers are also offered the opportunity to sign up for e-mail alerts.
Good news - Common Cause is on YouTube. When you type in "YouTube Common Cause", there is a CNN clip from November 20, 2008 with a link to the organization at http://www.commoncause.org/. Common Cause is also on Facebook. There is an official Facebook Page of Common Cause. People are invited to join Facebook to get exclusive content and interact with Common Cause right from Facebook. You can also connect to MySpace, Twitter and Change.org on its website homepage.
Common Cause also has a blog on its website and it is up to date (today) on current events and issues related to the mission of the organization. The website itself has good content and encourages viewers to "learn more", "sign up", "take action", and "donate". Viewers are also offered the opportunity to sign up for e-mail alerts.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
PR online
Effective PR online includes such activities as search engine optimization, blogging, and social networking. Search engine optimization is the practice of designing one's web site, blog, and related online material so they are found by search engines and highly ranked in search results. Blogging, by creating and updating one's own blog, as well as monitoring other relevant blogs and commenting on them, is an important area of PR online to get one's point of view circulated. Social networking sites are tremendously popular and information can be disseminated through them if it is done carefully and appropriately.
Ineffective PR online is anything that comes across as simply advertising or too commercial. Also, exaggerated claims or misleading, inaccurate information can damage one's reputation. Fraudulent activities that manipulate the use of the Internet, may bring about short term gains, but generally are destructive over the long term.
Ineffective PR online is anything that comes across as simply advertising or too commercial. Also, exaggerated claims or misleading, inaccurate information can damage one's reputation. Fraudulent activities that manipulate the use of the Internet, may bring about short term gains, but generally are destructive over the long term.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
An important policy issue for the Internet
The Pew Internet and American Life Project at http://www.pewinternet.org/ has a July 11, 2008 Commentary on Identity entitled, "Do we have a right to online privacy?" This is certainly an important policy issue for the Internet.
The Commentary is about a U. S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the privacy implications of online advertising. The posting states that Google gains most of its money from these ads which subsidize the free services to its users. It reports that online consumers are "exposed only to ads deemed relevant to them - or to what their data say about them." The Commentary details that on a search, Google will typically "collect your IP address, operating system, browser type, requested search query and cookies."
The posting states that most Internet users, like me for instance, are not fully aware of how these big Internet corporations gather and utilize this information. Privacy experts, such as the Center for Democracy and Technology also were present at the hearing. They are concerned that this information could be pieced together to personally identify users, and might be misused by the government or other entities.
The U. S. Congress is trying to determine privacy protections on how information is collected and utilized. We all need to increase our awareness of this issue and keep pressure on our elected officials in Washington to do what's in the public interest.
The Commentary is about a U. S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the privacy implications of online advertising. The posting states that Google gains most of its money from these ads which subsidize the free services to its users. It reports that online consumers are "exposed only to ads deemed relevant to them - or to what their data say about them." The Commentary details that on a search, Google will typically "collect your IP address, operating system, browser type, requested search query and cookies."
The posting states that most Internet users, like me for instance, are not fully aware of how these big Internet corporations gather and utilize this information. Privacy experts, such as the Center for Democracy and Technology also were present at the hearing. They are concerned that this information could be pieced together to personally identify users, and might be misused by the government or other entities.
The U. S. Congress is trying to determine privacy protections on how information is collected and utilized. We all need to increase our awareness of this issue and keep pressure on our elected officials in Washington to do what's in the public interest.
Ineffective websites
Today, I went on Google and typed in "health" for search and looked at the top 50 sites that came up. The good news is that most of the sites (particularly those in the top 30) are very effective in terms of appealing to the audience seeking information about health topics and concerns. They are generally visually appealing with good use of pictures and graphics, and well-written and easy to read. I found them interesting and relevant - often with updated current information on swine flu or other concerns. Many are interactive with multimedia presentations and the ability to get personalized information.
There are several sites (mostly in the 31-50 group) that are ineffective. Here are three:
#34 Health Affairs, The Policy Journal of the Health Sphere, at http://content.healthaffairs.org/index.dtl is a website geared to health policy wonks. However, that does not mean it has to be unattractive. There is no effective use of color, no use of pictures or graphics. There is nothing interesting or entertaining about the site. It's just about "the facts".
#49 CDC - National Center for Health Statistics, at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ is a government website geared to health statisticians. Statistics are important to guide policy decisions that affect real people. They could be presented in an interesting way. This site does not do that. The site is not particularly inviting, does not use color well, does not use pictures or graphics, is kind of cluttered and contains nothing out of the ordinary. It's just reams of data.
#50 Washington State Department of Health, at http://www.doh.wa.gov/ is another government website, this time at the state level. However, the audience for this website is much broader, including the general public. The site is visually unappealing, has poor use of color, limited use of photos and graphics, and is cluttered. It is a typical government web site, but that is not a valid excuse.
There are several sites (mostly in the 31-50 group) that are ineffective. Here are three:
#34 Health Affairs, The Policy Journal of the Health Sphere, at http://content.healthaffairs.org/index.dtl is a website geared to health policy wonks. However, that does not mean it has to be unattractive. There is no effective use of color, no use of pictures or graphics. There is nothing interesting or entertaining about the site. It's just about "the facts".
#49 CDC - National Center for Health Statistics, at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ is a government website geared to health statisticians. Statistics are important to guide policy decisions that affect real people. They could be presented in an interesting way. This site does not do that. The site is not particularly inviting, does not use color well, does not use pictures or graphics, is kind of cluttered and contains nothing out of the ordinary. It's just reams of data.
#50 Washington State Department of Health, at http://www.doh.wa.gov/ is another government website, this time at the state level. However, the audience for this website is much broader, including the general public. The site is visually unappealing, has poor use of color, limited use of photos and graphics, and is cluttered. It is a typical government web site, but that is not a valid excuse.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Suffolk University graduation photograph adds to its Homepage
Today, I went online to the Suffolk University Homepage and the photograph on that page was of a young African-American graduate speaking at the Suffolk University Commencement with distinguished faculty looking on behind her. This picture definitely adds to the website since it pictures the success of a student achieving her degree. It shows that all the hard work and expense paid off.
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