Selling Stuff

 Have you used a website like Craigslist or EBay to buy or sell something? What was the experience like? Would you use such a service again? If you haven’t, detail how you have sold or bought something outside the environment of a retailer.

I have gone on both Craigslist and EBay looking to buy something but have yet to actually purchase something through these websites. A couple years ago I sold my guitar that I didn’t need any more through a trader newspaper. I put an ad in the newspaper, which was free, and it ran in there for three weeks. Someone called in response to the ad and my dad talked to them and had them come to our house to look at the guitar. We eventually negotiated a price and the customer bought my guitar. I don’t know if I would use this method again but I did like the fact that the person could see the item in person and not just on a screen, or at least I would like to be able to do that. I have used Craigslist to look up stuff online to possibly buy and I like the fact that you can contact the person not just through the website and that many of the sellers have the option of meeting them to look at the product in person. But again, I think websites like EBay are good as well because you don’t have to go out of your way to go to another person’s house but rather you do everything online and from what I hear they have a pretty good guarantee policy that the products sold through this website are legitimate and not scams or anything. It’s nice to actually see and hold what you are going to buy in person but then again it’s also nice to just order something online without having any other hassles of going somewhere or dealing with other people in person, etc.

Important Personal Question

You have an important personal question you’d like answered. Explain the procedure for getting your question answered and why this method appeals to you (you don’t need to get specific, but let’s assume the answer does not require specific expert knowledge, as from a doctor).
           

                Depending on how serious the question, I would probably start looking for answers or explanations on Google and other websites on the internet. If I was still unsure about the information I found or didn’t find what I needed, I would possibly ask my parents or friends or people I would think knew the answer. I would go to the internet first though because it’s what I use for a lot of my research and everyday uses like communicating with friends, etc. Also, it’s the easiest method to choose right off the bat and you can get answers, whether they are reliable or not or what you need, right off the bat. The biggest problem I and others run into is that you can’t guarantee every single website you gather information from is valid and actually factual information because anyone and everyone post things everyday on internet whether they are experts or not. This is why it’s nice to have books and other people to turn to for answers when you question what you find on the internet are true or not.

Group Member

 Describe a group you are a member of and how it is organized. Is there management? How is information distributed within the group?

One group I am currently apart of is my waitressing job at AJ Gators. We have an owner and two general managers, which are the three top people at the restaurant. The two people the rest of the employees look up to for information and guidance are the two general managers. At least once a month we have a meeting before or after hours of work which the managers discuss what has been running smoothly at work, and the things we need to make sure we are doing or things that need to be worked on. This allows everyone to kind of catch up and be on the same page, and all of the information is especially important because it is coming from management; our bosses. They are in charge of telling us when our meetings are and also when we are allowed to leave and end our shifts. If neither of them is there the bartender usually takes place of the “manager” role and assumes all responsibilities for that time being. We also have to go to the bartender if we want to order food during our shifts. We get the most important information directly from our managers, but every once in awhile we will hear some news through the grapevine of other employees about what’s going on. Overall though the management does a good job of keeping everyone informed and on top of things at work, providing us with both positive criticisms on things that need to be worked on but even more importantly always make sure we are having a good time at work and are happy and provide positive feedback.  

Newly Emerging Groups

If managers aren't important anymore towards the formation or control of groups using online tools, what do you consider the main role websites such as MeetUp.com, Facebook, or MySpace have provided newly emerging groups?

I think that the main role new websites have provided emerging groups is less limitations to what you can do with and in a meeting. Meeting online instead of face-to-face does have its disadvantages but like Shirky said in her book “Here Comes Everybody” it has taken some of limitations from group meetings, such as how many people can meet at once and including more people in the participation factor, almost completely away. The biggest factor, like the question poses, is how online meetings have changed the fact that you don’t necessarily need a manager or president or whatever to run the meeting; they seem to run just fine without someone in charge 24/7. In my opinion, I think having a meeting online takes away some of the stress of talking in front of people because you aren’t face-to-face so for people who normally are really stressed or intimidated by talking in front of people they can feel more comfortable talking via a computer and have at least some of that stress taken away. Also the fact that you can partake in an online meeting anywhere that provides internet today also relieves some of the stress of trying to get everyone in the group to find a time to meet. Now people can turn on the computer and attend a meeting at the coffee shop, at school or even in their PJ’s in their own home. This also takes away the need for someone to be in charge of figuring out where when and how many people can meet at a certain time for every meeting that needs to be held, people can meet more freely on their own. Like I said before I think online meetings do have disadvantages, like losing some of the personal feeling, etc. but they also allow meetings to run more smoothly perhaps with some of the stress taken away in confronting people, and also it’s easier now to watch a meeting that took place that you might have missed by watching a recording of it. I still think it’s important or at least helpful to have someone that mainly runs the meeting, but it’s less vital to have someone like that in online meetings.

Grocery loyalty cards

I can see the point of using loyalty cards because in some ways they do help out the customer, but I also learned some things in this specific part of the chapter I didn’t realize before. I think it is smart to keep a track of what items are bought the most at each specific store, to make sure they provide deals and coupons for the customers that buy them, as well as making sure to keep in stock those items that do sell a lot. On the other hand, I’m not sure that is all worth the fact that affiliates can then share your information, what you like to buy, etc. with other affiliates. Like the book says once you get one of those loyalty cards, every time you use it, that transaction is recorded and ultimately is a bit that can never be erased. If you are trying to be more private in certain aspects of your life, this is definitely one area that can be avoided by paying a little bit more for keeping certain information to yourself. I personally am not sure where I stand on this issue because I see good and bad in both sides, especially since I do have one of these cards for a local grocery store. When it comes down to it though I don’t know if I am comfortable with sharing everything I buy every time I go to the store with other stores, etc., even if with the fact that I have nothing to hide. It’s interesting to learn and go more in depth of how we reveal more of our personal life in ways you wouldn’t expect, like your grocery shopping list.

Google and Yahoo in China

I agree with censoring search results for search engines like Google and Yahoo in different countries. Every country has their own set of laws and regulations that their citizens follow everyday and I think that should include regulating the social media and networks. I can see how many people would be against this because some countries, like the United States have more control over what they can search and information they can find via the internet, but again I think it comes down to how much freedom the citizens have in other areas of life outside of the technological world. I don’t know all that much about China and the government and the laws that are given to the citizens in that country but I do know that they are more strict in at least some sense to the laws here in the U.S. so I think it only makes sense to be as strict with what people can search on the internet. In my personal opinion I don’t think it’s fair to have those kinds of restrictions on what kind of results pop-up with whatever word a person searches, but once again I probably wouldn’t agree with some of the laws they have in general. Overall I think every country should have their own regulations on the internet and how their citizens use it based on the laws they already have set in place because if not then I would think it would cause more problems to let the people be more free in what they search over the internet and could possibly cause more controversy.

About Myself

1. What name you liked to be called
My name is Britney Myers and the majority of my friends call me either Britney or Brit, either one is fine with me.

2. Your major
I am currently a senior and studying Communications, with a concentration in Public Relations. This past May I finished my first minor in Human Resources Development and just added Educational Media as my second minor this week.

3. Your career plans
I am graduating this upcoming May, but not exactly sure what I want to do. I am considering and applying to graduate school for next year or for sometime soon. In the meantime I am working on getting an internship within the public relations field. I plan on working in the public relations field, or something similar to it, but again have no set plans yet!

4. What you hope to learn from this course
I hope to be able to utilize any information that I learn from my course, especially the information and solving problems part of it, in my future profession, whatever that may be.