I hope that when I am older I will be able to use all the new technologies because they offers uses that are very interesting for old people : keep in touch with friends and family or shop online, for example.

– Visit blogs and websites related to your activity. It is important to watch over what is happening in your domain in order to be aware of the market changes, the innovations and the competitors. To make it easier, use RSS and newsletters to access the information quicky.

– Create your own professional blog. If you are an expert in your job, why not share your knowledge with other people ? If you work hard on that project, you could get a notoriety as a reference in your domain. For example, Gregory Pouy became famous in the marketing world thanks to his blog where he posts his analysis of current campaigns, ans also most personal things.

– Be active in the professional networks. The best opportunities arrive thanks to the people around you, that is why it is important to be present on the Internet. To do so, join community websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Viadeo, … You will be able to keep in touch with collaborators and to meet new interesting people for your business.

I feel very concerned by the environmental issue, and especially with the protection of animals. I know I have a very controversial point of view on this subject, but I assume it. I think that since we are responsible of global warming and pollution, it is normal that we pay the consequences, whereas animals should be protected because they belong to this planet as much as we do and did nothing wrong to Nature, contrary to us. It is unfair that they have to pay for human beings mistakes.

Most people think this problem is secondary compared to the consequences of environmental problems on their daily lives. As we can see it on the figure above, even 7% of people think that this is not a problem at all. Therefore, there is no politician to defend this cause, whereas the list of endangered animals becomes longer every year, and this is not the favorite theme of mass media either. That’s why I think Internet is a great opportunity to make people aware of this emergency to protect the rich wildlife of our beautiful planet. What’s more, a communication campaign on the Internet costs less money than a traditional one, which is important because this cause is mostly defended by NGO.

It appears as an opportunity to communicate in a new way on this subject, because people are tired of seeing massacred baby seals, it doesn’t affect them any more. This issue should appear as something urgent and fundamental, because very soon it will be too late. According to me, a good axis for a communication campaign would be to show people that in a close future, their grandchild will make no difference between lions, polar bears and dinosaurs : they would all belong to the past.

I let you think about it with a videoclip of Jamiroquai from the 90′s, but which is still accurate…

The portal Hobsons.fr is interesting for the CELSA students because it is specialized in postgraduate studies, internships and jobs, contrary to generalists websites such as Monster for instance. It provides offers in France and abroad. Have a look !

At the moment, I work in a company that employs 65 persons. It is located in Paris in the 15th city district on a street called Rue Maubert. Its activity is to commercialize children software.

It receives a subsidy from the state to hire young trainees. This is how I obtained my place as a “Sales manager”. At the beginning, my job title was “Marketing manager”, but I switched jobs.

We sell a range of products branded “Youngsoft”. We have many expenses related to marketing. Advertising in the subway is one of the most expensive. Our PR department has a very large budget too. We produce our own ads with our editorial staff, and we edit our own user manuals.

Our quarterly results for this year have been all very positive. Our market is very interesting right now, and that is why we are profitable.

We want to sell our products in Tahiti because we think overseas customers would be interested in buying them.

To sum up, I would say that thanks to our positive ethical policy and interesting niche market, we are have a bright future.

2. Sell fake pills online : some people are addicted to drugs (sleeping pills, viagra, anxiolytics…) and are so desperate that they would do anything to get their precious pills. Some unscrupulous persons improvises laboratories to sell fake pills, or just sell placebo products. According to Prof Richard Clayton, “in this business it’s easier to sell more things to existing customers than go find new customers, so that’s what these sites do and that’s why they are still around. They still send spam email etc to find new customers, but they keep selling to old customers.”
(Source : Consumingexperience.com)

3. Sell goods that don’t exist. If breaking the law is not a problem for you, then there is an other idea I can suggest you. Why not promise to naive people products that you don’t own, for the cheapest prices ever ? And then, just get the cash and run ! Still according to Prof Richard Clayton, “These sites are often run out of China. (…) They say they don’t take credit cards, you have to send the money to them by Western Union to order the goods. And of course, that’s the last you see of your money and you never get the goods.” (Source : Consumingexperience.com)

4. Steal a domain name. In 1999, the domain name “Business.com” was sold 7,4 millions dollars. Wow. These kind of data gave some people an idea : to buy a domain name hoping some company will offer you money to get it back. Indeed, between 1999 and 2006, the Global Organization for Intellectual Property had to deal with more than 20000 complaints for “cybersquatting”.
(Source : Scriptol.fr)

5. Sell gifts you don’t like. According to a study, 66% of the Internet users sell the gifts they don’t appreciate on the Internet (and especially on Ebay) without any complex. This is a good solution to earn money instead of keeping useless objects. The only risk is to disappoint the person who offered you the gift !

Why do I think this information has its place on this blog ? Because actually, Delphine has the same English teacher as me : Bob ! And I’m so jealous because he sees her more often than me ! I think this situation represents a nice example of how Internet can improve distance relationships. Just as I can have class with Bob via MSN, blogs and wiki, I can keep on touch with my best friend via Skype, Facebook, and mails.

Thanks to the Internet, the distance seems to be less important. But as I was telling you, I went to Montpellier this weekend to see my friends, and I think I would have too even if some hologram could make them appear in my living room. Nothing can replace the presence of someone you love, but it’s true that Internet makes the absence more bearable, as a way to keep in touch and exchange news.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Delphine and I last weekend in Montpellier ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Here is a video that I found on Youtube and which I think is very interesting when talking about the dangers existing on the Internet. It was post on Youtube about a month ago by the Ad Council, which is a private, non-profit organization that produces communication campaigns to deliver critical messages to the American public.

The goal of this campaign “is to make teen girls aware of the potential dangers of sharing and posting personal information online and of communicating with unfamiliar people to help reduce their risk of sexual victimization and abduction”, as it is exposed on its Youtube description.

Indeed, it also mentions that “sixty-one percent of 13-17 year olds have a personal profile on a social networking site and half have also posted pictures of themselves. Teen girls are particularly at risk of 1 in 7 youth who received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet, 70 percent were girls. ” These statistics show the importance of this phenomenon, and the reason why young girls (and people in general) should think twice before they post a text, a photo or a video of themselves.

We can wonder why young people are so inclined to diffuse personal information on the Internet. I think the explanation is quite simple : adolescence is the age of identity construction and social recognition purchase. Teenagers often feel insecure and they are most of the time in conflict with their parents or teachers. There are two different expressions of this anxiety :
- the diary : the need to relate one’s frustrations, fears, envies and feelings
- the provocative behavior, as an affirmation of one’s identity

I am not a psychologist, but I think this simple analysis can be relevant, as it is something pretty obvious. Indeed, these phenomenons existed since there are teenagers as a “social class”, and have always been expressed, by different ways depending on the time.

Today, Internet enables these behaviors to express more than they ever did. First, a teenager can write a diary just like her mother and grandmother did, BUT now she has the opportunity to share it with the whole world, what means friends and strangers. What’s more, it is now really easy to publish a picture or a video : teenagers not only dress like freaks or act badly to afraid their parents, but also to show the world they exist.

To conclude, I would say that Internet emphasizes the natural tendency of teenagers to adopt a provocative and dangerous behavior. Hidden behind their screen, they can pretend to be what they dream to be, they can affirm themselves as a sexually attractive person, they can say loud what they would hush up in “real life”. Yet they also have a “real life” with real people in it, and sometimes these people can have bad intentions. That’s why they must be aware that Internet is like the “real world” : it can be a great place to meet new people, but it also can be full of bad surprises.

As far as I’m concerned, I would say that I had a glimpse of this kind of issue a few weeks ago : during the welcoming party to new CMM students, a girl that I did not know came to me and say “Hi Laura, are you doing ? New haircut ? I like it !”. Actually she knew me from my personal blog (where I talk about the Celsa, amongst other subjects), and she knew a lot of things about me (what I did before the Celsa, etc). It was really strange, and made me think that anybody could hail me in the street and shout “Hey Laura, what about this gig you saw last night ?”.

Freakish !

A month ago, the media related the story of two young women who met on the Internet with the purpose to kill themselves together. Both of them had tried to commit suicide alone before, without success. They reached their goal on September 23 by parking their car on a grade crossing, waiting for a train to take away their lives.

This is not an isolated issue : actually, it happens quite often, in most developed countries. Suicide have always existed, but Internet seems to act like an accelerator for people who hesitate to kill themselves. Indeed, instead of talking to the people around them (friends, family, teachers, doctors…), candidates to suicide can meet strangers who share their morbid ideas. It can help them to find support, just as it can isolate them a little bit more from recovery.

Here is an interesting video I found on this subject :

I would say that in my opinion, Internet represents for the “lost souls” a way to escape reality, to start a new life, or only to finish this one. Some people hope to find love behind their computer, some people build themselves a new identity in virtual world, and some are looking for somebody to give them the courage to die. But finally, we are looking for somebody or something, this elusive hope that everything could be better.