Final Thoughts

I am just about finished with the “Exploring Your Digital Portfolio” class. It was not as easy as I had originally thought (lol).   What did I expect? What was it really like? Was it useful?

I was not really sure what this class would be all about. As a matter of fact, I have not been in school in over 25 years. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what this class would be all about. To be honest, I thought it would be a “walk in the park”. I live on a mini farm and am used to making short videos and taking pictures of all kinds of funny things happening around the farm. I was even able to post it all on social media like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. In short, I thought I was pretty “cool” and knew enough to “get by “. After my first introduction assignment, I was still pretty confident that I would have “smooth sailing”. 

However, things got very interesting and challenging pretty fast! With each new blog or smackdown, I realized that I knew pretty much nothing about anything or at least only a little bit about something. I could blame myself that I am in my fifties and I have not been in school for so long but never mind the reason- what really matters is that it became a challenge and I am not one to give up easily.

            I can state with confidence that thanks to this class I have learned more about the use of tools in social media than I ever dreamed of. Little did I know that there are so many not only practical but also fun tools out there that one can use professionally, for education, or just privately. It is mind-blowing how many different apps are out there yet some of us, including myself, get so comfortable using the same app and stick with it. Again, if it was not for this class, I would have never looked past the few apps I had been using and I would have never widened my "social media app" horizon.  

            While many of the social apps seem to have the same purpose and are equally useful, there were several that I had either never heard of before or never bothered to use. Take the app. "Grammarly", for example.  I had never heard of it and knew nothing about it. Until Mary Kupp, one of my fellow students in this class, introduced it. This app would have made my life so much easier had I known about it. I am German and the German grammar is very different from English. It can be quite a challenge to write at times. This Grammarly app is an amazing tool for professional use, school assignments, or private use. It will proofread and fix words to make whatever you write sound more fluent and grammatically correct. Just what I need!

            Another example of a tool that I have enjoyed learning about is the Animoto video maker. If it was not for this class, I would have never explored other options/tools for my hobby farm video making. The Animoto video maker is so easy to use. For one of my class assignments, I used it to put together a video with a slide show of pictures of my son Nicholas. I finished this particular assignment on the day of my son's 24th birthday. The Animoto video maker made it easy and fun and I will most definitely use it in the future to make more videos of that sort.

            As I mentioned before, this portfolio class was more challenging than I expected but I was able to learn so much from it that I am glad I took it. The teacher makes you comment on other class mate's assignments which encourages you to not only explore a new app/ tool for yourself but also learn about the tools other classmates found interesting or useful.

The Importance of Social Media Etiquette - How Kathy Griffin ruined her own career via Social Media

 

How Kathy Griffin ruined her own career via Social Media:

Kathy Griffin is just one of the many public personalities who used their influence on social media inappropriately and swiftly learned there are more appropriate ways to make your opinions known.   

Who is Kathy Griffin? 

According to Wikipedia: “Kathleen Mary ‘Kathy’ Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American actress, stand-up comedian and television writer and producer. She is also an LGBT rights advocate. She hosted her own talk show, Kathy. From 2007 until 2016, she presented the New Year's Eve celebrations from New York City for CNN along with Anderson Cooper.” (Wikipedia, 2023). 

What incident led to Kathy Griffin’s demise?

On May 30^th, 2017 Kathy Griffin posted a photograph of herself wearing a blue blouse; standing in front of a blank white background; holding a likeness of, then sitting President, Donald Trump’s decapitated and bloody head; being held up in the air by her right arm by his signature wild orange hair.  The photograph was eerily reminiscent of the beheadings often committed by terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab.   See the photo below:

 

Important points to understand:

The United Stated is a federal constitutional republic.   This affords our citizens many rights not enjoyed by citizens of other countries.  The First Amendment to our Constitution states the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (U.S. Const., First Amendment).  The important take away from the First Amendment with regards to the Kathy Griffin incident is that in the United States, unlike in other countries such as China and Cuba, Griffin has the freedom of speech.  She can, with certain exceptions, say and express herself in almost any way she wants.  She did just that.  She made a statement with the photograph she posted.   As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.  But did she pass the social media etiquette test?  Clearly, the answer to that question is NO.  Because common sense is a dwindling trait with many people today, there are a multitude of websites to help guide you with many of today’s common tasks.  One website posting that is relevant to the Kathy Griffin incident is titled “The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook” (https://www.techipedia.com/2008/social-media-etiquette-handbook/).  Its title says it all.  If you use social media in anyway form or fashion, reading and understanding what is posted on this wonderful website should help you avoid 99.9% of social media pitfalls.  Griffin violated several points of “The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook” and she did it in a shocking way.  Was her goal to be shocking?  The likely answer is yes.  Did she anticipate the scope of the fall out she would ultimately receive?  That answer is, probably not. 

Reactions:

The internet and news outlets immediately condemned Griffin for her inappropriate post.  Articles condemning her post were released the same day she released her photograph and continued for some time after.  I could not find any posts that condemned her for being anti-Trump, which is good because it shows a support for the freedom of speech.  All of the condemnation was geared toward how she went about doing it.  Adherence to social media etiquette could have saved her career while allowing her distaste for Trump to be known.  In fact, according to The Hollywood Reporter an internet new website, “CNN Cut[s] Ties With Kathy Griffin on [the] ‘New Year’s Eve’ Show After Trump Photo Stunt.”   They also published the following: “Griffin apologized for the images, despite initially defending them. ‘I sincerely apologize,’ she said in a video on Twitter. ‘I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people, it wasn’t funny, I get it.’ She added, begging for everyone’s forgiveness, that she will ask the photographer to take down the image.”  (Hollywood Reporter, 2017).  President Trump understandably reacted with the following on his Twitter account: “Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!”  (Hollywood Reporter, 2017).   First Lady Melania Trump reacted with the following: “When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it.” She added that as a mother, wife and “a human being,” the photo is “very disturbing.” (Hollywood Reporter, 2017).    And lastly one last quote from The Hollywood Reporter displays the effect the social media post had on her sources of income and it states:  Squatty Potty, a Utah-based bathroom products company, also suspended its ad campaign featuring Griffin “to demonstrate our commitment to a culture of decency, civility, and tolerance.” CEO Bobby Edwards said in a statement Tuesday that the photo “was deeply inappropriate and runs contrary to the core values our company stands for.” (Hollywood Reporter, 2017).   

Did she learn her lesson?

Do you remember my assertion that common sense is a dwindling trait with many people today?  Well consider this, Kathy Griffin re-posted her controversial decapitation photograph on Twitter in November of 2020. Just three years later.  (See The Wrap’s Article titled:  Kathy Griffin Re-Posts Photo of Fake, Bloody Trump Head, https://www.thewrap.com/kathy-griffin-re-posts-photo-of-fake-bloody-trump-head) Did it pass the social media etiquette test this time?  The answer is certainly NO. Did the photograph have the same impact on her career as it did the first time?  My opinion is no or at least not in the same way.  The original post damaged her career in such a spectacular fashion that she will likely never have the same impact on any issue that she once had.  Social Media Etiquette is clearly an important factor to consider when using any social media platform. If I were a personal friend of Kathy Griffin I would have strongly advised against this type of post and guided Kathy to another way of expressing her distaste of Donald Trump.  She not only harmed herself with this post but she killed the career she once had when all she had to do was to take a step back, think about how others would receive her photographic statement, and maybe, review some free guidance on Social Media Etiquette.

 

References:

Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, April 13). Kathy Griffin. Wikipedia. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Griffin

 

Huff, L. (2017, May 31). CNN cuts ties with Kathy Griffin on 'New Year's Eve' show after Trump Photo Stunt. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/kathy-griffin-holds-a-fake-bloody-trump-head-new-photo-shoot-1008645/

Storytelling Tools (Gazzara)

 StoryboardThat.com:

 

Bacon the Not So Mini Pig

 

The Proposal

 

Dream Come True

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Animoto.com:

 

My Son Nicholas

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Canva.com:

 Our Future Home Site

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Still images of the above videos:

 

 

 

GEN2243 Good/Bad Website Smackdown

 

Good / Bad Website Smackdown

The internet is full of commercial websites that sell discounted products.  People often turn to the internet using their phone, tablet, or personal computer to quickly search for the best price for the product they are looking to purchase.  When time is a factor, with regards to obtaining the item, customers often use the internet to price search and compare, then physically go to the commercial retailers to purchase the desired item.  This can alleviate shipping costs and wait times for the product to be shipped to your home.  When purchasing the product quickly is the main goal, people often search the websites of the stores they know are local. 

Two local commercial retailers in our area that sell discounted products are Ollie’s and Walmart.  They both sell many name brand items at a lower price point than other commercial retailers.   They both have physical “brick and mortar” locations to visit in person.  They both advertise products you can physically see, touch, and purchase once you are at each retail location.  And most importantly to this blog, they both have websites that advertise items they sell.  

Ollie’s and Walmart websites at first glance

According to Bill Widmer in his internet article titled “What Makes a Good Website: A Quick Guide to Website Design” there are many factors that heavily impact the website users opinion and desire to continue to use the website after they decide to go to a particular site.  Using the Ollie’s and Walmart websites as examples I found that both websites load fairly quickly on phones, tablets, and personal computers.  According to Widmer, over 51% of website traffic is currently completed using a cell phone.  Using the “mobile-friendly” website test https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly I tested both the Ollie’s and Walmart websites.  Both sites scored a green check mark that indicate they are usable on mobile devices.  This test alone does not paint a full picture.  Aesthetics is a major factor in a customer’s desire to stick around and continue to browse the site.  I felt the Ollie’s website color scheme is alarming and made me feel uneasy with the bright yellow background and bright red lettering.  Walmart’s soothing blue and white lettering with its current Easter color tones made me feel calm and willing to continue to browse and shop the site.   The Ollie’s website layout is what I would describe as “gimmicky” (gimmicky definition: using something that is not serious or of real value to attract people's attention or interest temporarily, especially to make them buy something; Cambridge Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gimmicky).  The Walmart’s website seems more sincere.  The images and fonts on the Walmart website conveyed more of a “I have a great product that you would enjoying purchasing and owning.”   Both websites have a search function but Ollie’s search bar is nearly unusable.  For example, I saw that Ollies was advertising memory foam mattresses.  I clicked on the advertisement and it brought me to a page that stated they are 40% off.  The picture of the product was not great and it gave very little detail.  I then went to the Walmart website to search for mattresses.  The Walmart website returned multiple results having great product descriptions and photographs.  I went back to the Ollie’s website to search for the mattress ad again and typed it in the search function for the website.  Nothing returned.  I then tried to search for several other products I know they sell and was met with the same results.  The Ollie’s search function does not seem to be linked with any actual products.  This is a show stopper in my opinion.  Why would any shopper want to use the Ollie’s website knowing their search function does nothing to help the customer find the product they are looking to purchase? The only way to find information on a product Ollie’s is selling is to see a specific ad on the main page and click on it.   

 

Bottom Line

Although both Ollie’s and Walmart have a “brick and mortar” store that sell many of the same items at discounted prices and they both have an internet presence, Ollie’s is clearly inferior when it comes to website design and functionality.  Outside of this blog research project, I will likely never visit the Ollie’s website again.  In contrast, I will likely browse the Walmart site more often having seen what it has to offer.