Author: Jones

Instagram: Symptoms that Your Instagram Account is Trapping You

Instagram: Symptoms that Your Instagram Account is Trapping You

5,501 Followers The simple desire to be liked is a social tool that bridged over to social media as quickly as the “like” button was added to posts and has exploded into something that can completely take over someone’s life. I’ve heard girls in line 

Amazon Reviews: The Ethical Implications of Working in a Grey Area

Amazon Reviews: The Ethical Implications of Working in a Grey Area

Amazon ranking: #51,485 I’ve talked previously about Amazon’s policies about reviewers and how it’s changed in the past year. As an ardent rule follower, the idea of being on the wrong side of the government really irks me (it’s weighed about equally with my curiosity 

Instagram: Will People Love You If You Give Them Free Stuff?

Instagram: Will People Love You If You Give Them Free Stuff?

I had a brand reach out to me about a month ago that does tutorials for development. They asked if I’d recommend them to my followers, I said I couldn’t unless I actually knew what they did (trying to be ethical and authentic here) and they hooked me up with a temporarily unlocked account so I could check out their tutorials.

Then without any prompting on my part, they contacted me again and asked if I’d be interested in offering my followers free tutorials. “Heck yes” I said (not really, I said something more reserved). They gave me a graphic to use “if I wanted” but I opted to use my own because if my experiments have taught me anything, graphics don’t do well when people are used to pictures of your face. Continue reading Instagram: Will People Love You If You Give Them Free Stuff?

Amazon Reviews: Encouraging Contact from the Other Side

Amazon Reviews: Encouraging Contact from the Other Side

Amazon Ranking: #54,434 The beautiful part of my Amazon Review project is that as a reviewer, I have no way of contacting companies and saying “Hey, notice me” (unless I literally buy a product and say that in the review). This means that getting noticed 

So you want to learn how to code?

So you want to learn how to code?

So you think you want to learn to program but don’t know what to do next? Here are some easy ways to start.

Instagram: How a Hiatus Affects Your Stats

Instagram: How a Hiatus Affects Your Stats

It’s been about 9 months since I started my Instagram experiment, and if there is one thing I’ve learned it’s this: purposefully maintaining an Instagram account is really hard. From having the time to constantly produce unique content to keeping up with interactions, it’s an exhausting experience. So when I found myself moving into a new apartment and working at a summer camp for a week in the same month, I figured this would be the perfect time to try something new: leaving my Instagram accounts alone.

Continue reading Instagram: How a Hiatus Affects Your Stats

Instagram: Why your Direct Message isn’t getting a reply (and how to change that)

Instagram: Why your Direct Message isn’t getting a reply (and how to change that)

The magic of Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook is that the people who you choose to follow often aren’t celebrities, they’re just normal people you have something in common with who are sharing parts of their lives. Maybe you like their photography style, or their careers, 

Amazon Reviews: Talking to Bots

Amazon Reviews: Talking to Bots

There are few things that are more frustrating in life than having a problem and not feeling like you’re being heard. It’s even worse when a company sends a robot or auto-generated message your way. While Amazon says it’s trying to fix this, it’s hard to 

Instagram: “Let’s Collaborate” : The Instagram Influence Marketplace

Instagram: “Let’s Collaborate” : The Instagram Influence Marketplace

In profiles across Instagram of blossoming Instagrammers you’ll see in their bio lines:

  • “DM for collabs”
  • “Serious business inquiries only”
  • “Email xxx@example.com for collaborations”

But what does collaborating actually mean? Continue reading Instagram: “Let’s Collaborate” : The Instagram Influence Marketplace

Instagram: Getting the Repost (vol. 2)

Instagram: Getting the Repost (vol. 2)

I posted a while back about how I was reposted by a large clothing company and, to my disappointment, it resulted in much less attention than I expected. This experience has been repeated on multiple occasions, but it’s also been challenged. Earlier this year I