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| Original articles from Aprel Phelps Downey. |
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Does Your Social Networking Activity Play to Your Advantage?
Your intentions are always in the right place every time you go online. The plan is social media networking activity first and Candy Crush second. Yet after a couple of hours you close the laptop with blurry vision and candy images stuck in your head. Corporate America will not quietly wait for you to be more disciplined about your social media networking activity focus. |
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Are You Guilty of Social Media Fraud?
Countless hours have been spent planning out the next step of your career path. Your Facebook status updates detail virtually every moment of your progress as you go about pulling off that dream internship or landing that coveted interview. Your Instagram account highlights networking events where you rub shoulders with the people that can send you straight to the top of the corporate ladder. |
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What Happens When Online Actions Result in Real-World Consequences?
You are heading into an interview for your ultimate dream job. It starts with a confident smile and firm handshake. You answer each question "on point," making sure to include the research you did on the company beforehand. As the interview comes to a close, you walk out the door certain you nailed it. As the door closes behind you that interviewer goes online to find out more about you. |
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Are You on Social Media Overload?
You arrive at the restaurant where you quickly check-in on Foursquare before joining your dinner guests. Pictures taken during dinner on Instagram go straight to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Once home, you search Pinterest for that delicious recipe everyone was talking about at dinner. Social media involvement doesn’t end with personal connections. An evening spent at a networking event sends you straight to making LinkedIn connections. Meeting a new client has you on Facebook reading customer reviews and learning more about their company. |
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Learn About Someone Online Without Being Obvious
Social media networking is all the rage these days! With the click of a mouse or tap of a finger you can find out where a potential business partner goes for networking events or how that next client truly engages in the outside world. Social media also allows you to keep tabs on people you associate with, yet might not want to be "friends" with. |
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Facebook Makes the Heart Grow Sadder
Two people meet, feel the spark of a connection begin to form. It soon turns into a full-fledged romantic relationship. Declarations of love are made to family and friends. Text messages filled with sweet nothings are sent back and forth between one another throughout the day. You feel as if you are sitting on top of the world. You want to share this new romance with anyone who will listen. |
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Phone a Friend to Save Your Facebook Life
You pour a cup of coffee and log into Facebook. Instead of seeing your morning News Feed you remain on the log-in screen. It appears your password has been entered incorrectly. You try again two more times with the same end result. At this point it just became Facebook serious. The coffee is brushed aside. The TV is muted and little beads of sweat begin to form on your forehead. You take a deep breath and slowly enter each keyboard character... |
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The Internet is Always Watching
Facebook creates a digital connection to family and friends. Foursquare provides a convenient way to meet up with friends for a night on the town. Instagram captures irreplaceable moments in a virtual photo album perfect for sharing. Twitter condenses personal thoughts and business ideas into 140 characters or less. LinkedIn allows us to network with potential business clients. The information sharing does not stop there. Email exchanges with family, friends, coworkers, and bosses open a window... |
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Are You Ready to Get Off the Fence?
At the start of 2013 personal goals were put into place that would make this year different than any other. You are going to take an active stand against a social issue such as bullying or battling an addiction. You are breaking up with fast food and becoming best friends with the gym. You are going to become the next best-selling author. Then life got in the way and now you are stuck without much motivation and wondering if it’s too late to make a change this year. Have no fear; there is a movement hitting the Internet... |
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In the Wake of the Boston Tragedy, Social Media Provides a Lifeline
America is once again grieving the loss of loved ones at the hands of someone else. As a nation it is another page in an all-too-familiar book. With very few answers and a million questions weighing heavy on the mind, we reach out to one another, share sentiments of love, and stand together as a nation vowing to bring the responsible party to justice. |
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Text and Drive? You're Not Alone.
You're driving down the road when it happens. You hear that all-too-familiar 'ding' on your phone indicating the receipt of a new text message. Slowly and cautiously, without taking your eyes off the road, you reach across the passenger seat until your fingers grasp your cell phone. Once in hand the phone slowly moves towards the steering wheel until it is directly in line with your view of the road. |
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YouTube Disappears: Real or Practical Joke?
For the past eight years YouTube has been the go-to Internet video destination for virtually everything including dancing babies, acrobatic dogs, music videos, and how-to guides. Parents have relied on it as a virtual tutor for assistance in helping their kids with homework assignments. Singers have become overnight musical sensations after uploading home-shot music videos. It is the place for bloopers, practical jokes, and video diaries. Now it seems all these viral videos may soon be in search of a new home. |
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Yahoo Pays $30 Million to Sit at the Cool Table
Everyone wanted to sit at the cool table in high school. A large majority of this table consisted of jocks, cheerleaders, and other popular icons that filled the hallways. Sitting here meant one had achieved the ultimate high school social status ranking. Those not invited to sit at the coveted table waited and watched quietly for a golden opportunity seat to open up. The social media world operates on the same premise. |
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Staying One Tech Step Ahead of Your Kids
You are a diligent part of Facebook as a means to keep tabs on your daughter’s online activity. You check her profile page; have her password so you can scan her news feed and messages. You know everyone on her friends list. Those who are unfamiliar are removed or blocked if needed.
You feel as if you are one step ahead of the game. Think again! Do you remember that cell phone she has for emergencies or as a means to keep in touch with you? The one with the rules you laid out before handing over the phone? |
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View the Windows of the World Courtesy of Google+
A pack of wild elephants runs across an African safari desert in the middle of a rainstorm. The emotional changing of the guards takes place each hour at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. The Eiffel tower in Paris illuminated at night and the Roman coliseum guarding secrets of chariot races from ancient times. There are lakes, waterfalls, and forests as far as the eye can see across the globe. Each of these settings offers us a window to the beauty of our world. A million more picturesque windows to the world remain. |
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Yahoo Shutting Down More than Just the Home Office
The often misunderstood CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, is sitting pretty as the queen of media headlines these days. It started with her decision to abruptly halt employees working from the comforts of home. This singular business decision captured the attention of status updates, tweets, and blog posts around social media land. |
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And the Oscar Goes to…Social Media!
It is a night filled with glitz and glamour. Celebrities walk the red carpet dressed to impress sharing facts about who they were wearing from their earring straight down to their shoes. Acceptance speeches, musical performances, champagne toasts and parties until dawn will complete the biggest night in Hollywood! |
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Tweet Your Way to a New Job
Nerves have your stomach in a knot. Beads of sweat form at the top of your forehead. You have spent countless hours in front of the mirror answering potential interview questions in order to boost self-confidence. Your social media network profiles have been triple checked to ensure that each one makes the best possible first impression. With one last deep breath and a quiet positive affirmation, you fire up the laptop for the job interview of a lifetime.
The emergence of social media networks and Twitter... |
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Need a Valentine? There is an App for That!
Valentine’s Day holds the promise of a perfect day filled with love, sentiment, and time spent together. Dinner will be spent gazing lovingly into one another’s eyes as chocolate hearts wrapped in shiny paper and bouquets of red roses are exchanged. Cutesy stuffed animals with big red hearts on their bellies that play "love songs" when pressed will be paired with the perfect card. |
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Need a Taxi Cab? Hail a Transportation App Instead!
Picture a city where taxi cabs are plentiful, quietly waiting to whisk passengers from their plush executive offices to the glitzy social event of the evening. There is no pushing or shoving, yelling or fighting. Just peaceful taxi cab service where everyone waits their turn. This is a mere figment of the imagination. Real taxi cabs are nowhere to be found when needed. |
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To Tweet or Not to Tweet; That is the Question
Performance arts theatres are the last of a dying breed. These treasures are one of the few places in America that have yet to be touched by social media and the modern age of smartphones. As the house lights dim, audience members make one last glance at a cell phone, making sure to turn it on "silent." |
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