My favorite app

E-commerce (EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. 
Used interchangeably with e-business
Also known as e-tailing for online retail selling. Or simply put, blog shops and online stores.

I'm do not really fancy online shopping very much. There were a few times where I bought things online and what I received was not what I expected. *Heart ache cause it felt like a waste of $$*
Nevertheless, I see myself wandering into some online stores at times, and clicking the 'SALE' section happily hahaha! Not that I would necessarily buy anything, but it is pleasing to the eye! Sounds like an addicted shopaholic, no?

So anyway, I would like to share with you a local e-commerce businesses which I feel is really really good. In some way, this inspires me to set up my own business too. It tells me that it is possible to grow a small idea into something that thrives across the entire nation! Hehe! :)

AND LETS WELCOME...............
Carousell, founded in May 2012
An app I use pretty often and falls into a more specific category: Mobile e-commerce
Carousell is amazing because it is a platform for Anyone to sell &/or buy almost Anything & Everything legal online to/from Anyone else. HAHAHA!
You could look for your item via a Search function or via categories such as 'For Her' and 'Vintage'.
You also get to monitor any activities related to your items listed! :)
Here's a sneak peak!!

I was introduced to this app by a friend, and since then I got really hooked onto it. Hooked on not just because it is addictive, it seriously works!!! I sell some of my new and second hand apparels and accessories via this channel and buyers who are interested in my items could simply 'Chat me'.
In case you would like to visit my shop, search 'pzt' in the User Search tab! :P
Sellers/Buyers also do trading and negotiating, and all these are within reach of your mobile phone. Quoting from Carousell's official website, "Whenever you open the Carousell app, you'll probably find some stuff you need, and stuff you didn't know you needed."

Here's an interview with the founders! :D

Unlike other e-commerce like Ebay and Qoo10, Carousell does not collect any form of commission or registration fee despite being a a mobile C2C marketplace! :D
It is absolutely free for users! :D Woots!!! hehe! 
So I assume that they profit from advertisements and sponsorships! :) 
For example, at the Activity page, there is often an advertisement about the latest flea markets in town by ForFleaSake (FFS). Perhaps cause Carousell functions like a 'Digital flea market', it does have some sort of common interest with FFS. Both are outlets for individuals who wanna sell their secondhand items and who have a liking for knick knacks and cheap clothes! haha! :) 

Putting aside my baseless assumptions, Carousell recently managed to "raise about 800K seed funding by Rakuten, with follow-on investiments by Golden Gate Ventures, 500 Startups, and a few other angel investors such as Danny Oei Wirianto and Darius Cheung" (quoted from Tech In Asia).
It even intends to expand into the Malaysian and Indonesian market!! :D HEHE!

On average, a Carousell user would open the app about 10 times a day and spend about 25 minutes on it daily. In comparison, a Facebook user opens the app 14 times a day and uses it for 30 minutes daily. To date, the community has created a million listings on the Carousell marketplace, and over 20% of that ends up getting purchased. - Jacky, Vulcon Post

Personally, I really like it :)
Other than some irresponsible buyers/sellers, it is a crazy virtual marketplace to sell your stuffs!! :D Totally free!! :D So if you have something stagnating at the corner of your room, take a picture of it and list it on Carousell! It only take 30 seconds!~

Baiiii!~

You've got 6 seconds

Tweet a 6 seconds video, and that's it. As simple as that! :D
Vine is a mobile video sharing app created in June 2012. In a short span of 3 months, it was acquired by Twitter. In 2013, it was ranked the 4th most downloaded app and had an estimate of 6 million US users.
Waaaaa! :D

So, vine? 

Or Vine??

Its co-founder, Colin Kroll explained in 6 seconds that "The future of Vine is everyone being able to create short looping videos from their mobile phone in the language that they speak and discover great content." 

As some have questioned if 6 seconds were too short to capture anything, Kroll pointed out that "It (Vine) enables a level of creativity that was untapped before Vine." And I thought that this is really true. The idea of keeping things simple, capturing moments and on-the-go. That's what attracts users. As of now, no other video sharing platform is as straightforward and user-friendly as this! Moreover, it is an app based in a device most of us have now - our smart phones. 
Before moving on, here's a compilation of some hilarious and popular Vine videos of 2013! :) 

 

Putting Vine in a continuum with other social media apps, it is probably somewhere in between Instagram and Twitter. Users can take a video, share it and post it. Excluding all the photos and plain texts. It is powerful not because of any revenue it makes, but because it make Twitter a better social network.
Social networking, by definition, refers to individuals connecting with one another across social media sites/applications, and getting to know individuals whom they have a common liking with, similar interests and perhaps compatible personalities.

Via Facebook, which has so many users, advertisements and user-generated content, it is tough and distracting to find another individual of similar interest. It is too huge and too broad that we probably don't feel comfortable adding friends randomly. Besides, many of us probably do not disclose any personal information to the public. So there's really not much left for social networking other than with the people we know.

Then there's Instagram, which started off primarily as a photo-sharing app, and recently with a 10 seconds video function. Over time, it has become a platform where individuals seem to be overly conscious and caught up with themselves for any social networking to take place. Narcissism is more evident and is slowly becoming a norm in such media creation. Of course, I will not forget to acknowledge amazing users like @drewkelly who posts photos and videos of his life as an English teacher in North Korea and journey to new places. While his photos and videos often capture the raw moments of people and their lives, he complements them with his captions as they are insightful and thought provoking! :D

And yeah, not forgetting Vine's parent company, Twitter! Ads on Twitter are valuable due to the crazy number of users scrolling through their news feed each time. Ohyeah that's why they are expensive - $200 000 per day to run a Promote Trend.

For users, simply post a photo on FB or Instagram and you can them all on your Twitter feed! Share a URL you read online or a Youtube video you found really funny, all on Twitter! CONVENIENT OR WHAT?

As a result of Twitter's popularity, introducing Vine to its user was easy peasy. Thanks to it being clean cut, pretty cute, coooool and new, users have no reason to not give Vine a try! Over time, it becomes a video sharing app which is more personal than Facebook and has less emphasis on 'the self' than Instagram. Unless you are gonna take a 6 seconds video of yourself smiling at the camera. Hmmm...

Therefore, Vine feels like a balance. What do you think? :)

Quoting from Ellen DeGeneres, “My point is, life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The pina and the colada.” 

~


References
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/12/31/us-apps-top-idUKBRE9BU0K820131231
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25876928
GIF: http://gif-emporium.tumblr.com/post/9114184623
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/24/vine-just-made-twitter-a-stronger-social-network/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57568628-93/twitter-bumps-the-price-of-promoted-trends-to-$200k/

So, do you ♡ music or social media?

As teenagers of the 21st century, we ♡ both. We loveeeee both music and social media. The question is, can we really have the best of both worlds?

In the past, music reached us in the form of vinyls, CDs and tape recorders or via the radio and television. 

Today, most of these forms still stay, with the addition of Social Media. Youtube, Spotify, Pandora radio and other online streaming platforms have grown so rapidly in less than half a decade that it's no doubt they are here to stay for awhile more. 

As consumers, we are sooo enjoying the benefits of Social Media. We message our friends via Facebook and Twitter, we scroll through our Instagram feed to admire hipster photos taken by people we know and do not know and we conveniently head to Youtube to stream the latest new hits for free (with exception of your internet fees). 

From the perspective of the music industry, social media has probably taken a toll on them. Apart from having to review traditional methods of promoting and releasing music, they have to realize that consumers now know, see and listen to much more than in the past. They are more demanding in terms of convenience, price and variety. With social media, they are expose to much much much more music, and will probably not listen to a single album for a very long time. One they see something better, they would probably gravitate towards it. Moreover, there's no longer a need to bring a compilation of their favorite ear candies, no longer do they have to spend a lump sum of money on a new Ipod nano! 

Your mobile phone + a music streaming app = that's all you ever need! 

And the other unjustified thing is, Social media = data. The more followers, likes and shares you have, the more popular you are. That sounds pretty logical huh. and somewhat superficial. 

So now, bands and artistes use such data to decide if they should release an album, hold a performance or even do a tour. Sponsors would probably take into account these factors before deciding to fork out their money. It becomes an additional factor to consider at the expense of spreading music to the world. It opposes the passion for wanting to perform for fans since bands actually consider those who aren't even supporters. Talent and good music is no longer a priority.

On a side note, am I making sense to you? and am I going in circles? Hmm, I'm confused myself :/ Hahahahahaha!

Anyway, the weird thing of social media is how it is slowly and subconsciously frying our brains. Quoting from Tony Hymes (read article here), 

"social media has exposed us to more than we would ever know about without it, but at the expense of not really getting to know any of it. We are — thanks the spin of Earth — limited to twenty-four hours each day. The more things we have to pay attention to, the less time we can spend on each one."

Take what he said into the context of listening to music. Can you really listen and appreciate a piece of music when you have so many other things to listen yet so little time? Music is meant to take time, to be slept on and to be soothing. It shouldn't be objectified to race against time, neither should it be something which young people listen to feel part of the popular crowd.

Personally, I feel guilty over what Hymes said. Social media began as a fun and exciting thing for me. Gradually, and unfortunately, it became something which fed on my narcissistic self. I realized how relationships around me became increasingly disconnected (yet virtually and superficially connected). It dawned upon me that it has started to take control.

Therefore, to music lovers out there, it is necessary to realize that music is not something we can connect with in the same way we scroll through our news feed and get updates of our friends. Yes please, access music via Social Media since it's so easy and full of choices. But as Hymes pointed out, "give proper attention to make a deep and lasting connection to music."


Have a great weekend~
References:
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013/09/what-social-media-is-doing-to-music-hint-its-not-good.html
http://www.socialnomics.net/2013/12/02/how-social-media-and-streaming-have-influenced-the-music-industry/

P.S. Do take a look at this music timeline! :D It is super cool hahahhaha! :)
http://www.concerthotels.com/100-years-of-rock

Internet X Domain names

Here's a common sight on my lovely bed.

Credits to Nicola Ng :)

Books for whatsoever purpose + some drink + Laptop switched on and ready to connect to the Queen Bee of our hearts - the Internet. Hahaha!

As time passes, it seems to be integrating into every part of our lives! From connecting with friends to buying movie tickets online and even grocery shopping, it is pretty hard to say that I can live as smoothly and conveniently without it. *guilty*

As such, I suppose it is important to understand how on the earth this weird, invisible, headless creature connects to us!! :D And I figured out that one of the ways in which it does is through DOMAIN NAMES.

Imagine this: You switch on your lappy > click onto IE > type in the website address #likeapro > and TA DA, you are at where you are. The crucial point lies in how the website address actually brings you to your online destination.

Firstly, Domain names (DN) are used to identify IP addresses - a really long set of numbers. So instead of having to remember so many numbers, you just remember a name :D Perfect~

Secondly, DNs are used in URLs to identify web pages. And every domain name would be accompanied with a suffix (e.g. edu, gov, net, sg, cn) which indicates which top level domain (TLD) it belongs to. In the past, TLDs are limited to only a few. However, IT IS CHANGINGGGGG!!

Recently, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) received 1930 applicants for new generic top level domains (gTLD)! In other words, instead of the usual stomp.com.sg and runwaybandits.com, we can now have URLs like stomp.gossip and runwaybandits.fashion.

SO COOL RIGHT HAHAHAHA!!!

Some real and popular names which were submitted include .guru, .sucks, .ninja and .book. Hahahha can't help but laugh at the second one!! Anyway, because these names were applied by more than one 'buyer', they would be put up for auction. As a base fee, applicants already have to pay $185 000. So can you imagine how much more $$$$ it would cost if buyers have to still bid for the name. Ohmyyy crazy crazy!!

One not-so-surprising thing is that huge Internet companies such as Google and and Amazon bidded for 101 and 74 names respectively. And a wholesale company, Donuts, which was specially created to earn $$$ on this expansion bidded on 307 gTLDs. Tskkk!!

So anyway, the current status quo is that some gTLDs would available from TODAY (4th Feb 2014) onwards. But they are non-english terms :D

·         Arabic word for "web"

·         Russian word for "online" and "site"

·         Chinese word for "games"

and Donuts announced that these english gTLDs would be available from Wednesday

·         camera

·         equipment

·         estate

·         gallery

·         graphics

·         lighting

·         photography

How cool are all these right hehe. Honestly, I think my bird brain will have a pretty tough time remembering some sites. Especially since they would probably be longer, with more syllabus and letters. Heh heh heh!
This totally sounds like a legitimate limitation to this expansion. WHY? Domains names were meant to be easy to remember. Snap snap kind of thing. So as it gets longer and perhaps more confusing, it may not be as easy to remember anymore :/
BUT YEAH SMALL ISSUE MAN. heehee!

So anyway, apart from all these new expansions, the question now is 

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO GET A DOMAIN NAME?

do check out this link as this guy has compiled a really good list of reasons :D

http://www.practicalonlinemarketing.com/why-are-domain-names-important/

Have a happpyyyy day, earthlings! :D


References
http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/02/03/web_domain_names_about_to_get_more_creative.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/26014829
http://www.practicalonlinemarketing.com/why-are-domain-names-important/