A large portion of the population in the world uses Facebook in their daily lives.  . Individuals use social media for a variety of purposes: to pass time, maintain relationships, meet new people, keep up with current trends, and gather social information (Quinn, 2016).  Facebook is aware of this and uses our “likes” as a way to enhance the experience and make it personalized to the user by selecting advertising that tailored to each individual. 

There have been some claims that this is a breaching in our privacy and that it is against the law for Facebook to do this.  However, I personally think that is not illegal and that we, as individuals, should be monitoring our own online presence.  We should be aware of what we post and share and I believe we should be responsible for our actions.

Facebook gives us the option to control our own accounts and what we share.  We can make our accounts private, we can control who sees our information and we can even choose a different name if we really want to be anonymous.  However, the privacy settings do take some time to locate and if you are not the most technologically savvy, they can be a little difficult to set.  This is where Facebook has some opportunities to change.  The privacy settings should be upfront and easily accessible for everyone to set.  I understand why they do it.  Facebook is a business and they are in the market to make money just like every other business.  Their income comes from advertising and the “clicks” you make.  Everything you click on a business to view their items, Facebook generates income from that.  If your privacy settings block that, then they are not producing the necessary revenue to stay in business.

In the end, it is our own responsibility to be socially aware of what we post to the Internet.  Once it is posted then that information is there forever and forever is a very long time.

Quinn, K. (2016, March). Why We Share: A Uses and Gratifications Approach to Privacy Regulation in Social Media Use. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Vol 60(Issue 1), pp. p61-86. 26p.

Facebook Privacy

The Tea Collection

After viewing the video on The Tea Collection it is evident that Emily and Leigh are using their strengths to building and grow their business.  One is stronger in the entrepreneurship of the business and the other the more creative side.  This is a great way of leveraging their talents into business to help grow and nurture it.

 

In the video it is evident that they are meticulous as to where they are going to place their next retail store front.  They use a system that maps out where there are pockets of areas that are ripe for a children’s clothing store.  It isn’t a good strategy to saturate a market that is already saturated with stores that sell children’s clothing.  That just doesn’t make good business sense.  By carefully scoping out the location, they are able to gain maximum growth and sales of their items. 

Another software tool that is used is the back-end ordering system the stores use to restock their merchandise.  This allows them freedom to order their inventory as items run low.  They also make good use of their time by not have to spend hours on the phone with their customer service representative.  However, as with all IT software, it is critical that the system be in top working order.  It should also grow as the business grows.  If not, this could be detrimental to their sales with the stores as progress would slow and be cumbersome. 

Geo-Mapping Technologies Help Target Sales Prospects

The Tea Collection