Pongr

A friend of mine interned over the summer for a business called Pongr.  As the sites home page briefly explains,  users "Snap photos of the brands you love, send your best shots to the brand's page via Pongr, and collect points and rewards."  This form of advertising allows people to promote and share the products they love with their friends through different media outlets, and the customer-based business tactic makes for a much more honest and unedited view of the products we use everyday.  Without the company having the opportunity to alter the images we see only real people supporting their favorite brands in a realistic manner, no crazy Photoshop that could render the real product almost unrecognizable. 

Taylor (on right) and a coworker participating in One Run
for Boston, a Pongr associated fundraiser

My friend that worked for the company, Taylor Mecham, explains, "Pongr focuses on a 'call to action' which brings the consumer to the product.  i.e: 'Take a picture with this Pepsi cup and send it to pepsi@pongr.com for a chance to win' and therefore the consumer is more like to buy the product because he/she is already holding it. It is a consumer-run business that provides a platform for the seller to interact with the consumer." The company has also launched an image recognition program, a revolutionary advertising tool that will pinpoint brand logos within pictures when they are uploaded to online sites. My friend has stated that with this company "what you see is what you get", it is honest advertising, and I think this is something the media could use a lot more of.  

see for yourself and get involved! http://blog.pongr.com

"Social" Media

In my opinion socializing is not something that can be done through the Internet.  While I do suppose social networking sites allow us to communicate to some degree, I just don't feel that this communication is honest or effective.  I've found that while there are media outlets (the more News-based sites) that share information to the public for the good of the people, most sites we use are nothing more than cloaks that allow us to alter or improve others' perceptions in unnecessary ways.  Speaking to someone through a social network allows us to edit ourselves, in fact it is so easy to do so that it's almost impossible to avoid.  Sites like Facebook, Flickr, Form Spring, Tumblr, Twitter etc...create a cloudiness around the truth and through this I feel that the very concept of truth is being lost amongst our generation.  This, I think, may be stunting the growth of our generation as a whole, while it should bind us together ( after all, these sites literally are bringing us all together in one unbiased community) but in reality it appears to do nothing but force judgement and negativity onto each other.  However, I can't sit here and act like I don't participate as far as at least having accounts on most of these sites.  I have only learned to take these sites for what they are: virtual.  Unfortunately, virtual reality seems to be the future we are moving towards.  Obviously I have no clue what the future of this technology will be like, I just have a feeling it could end up leading to our destruction as a united community.  Anything that people become this obsessed with or addicted to simply cannot be good for us. 

About Me

Hey guys, I'm Jillian.  If you ever need me I can be found watching Netflix marathons on my computer or napping in public places around campus.  Yeah it's ridiculous but I commute and hey... gotta do what you gotta do.   I'm a Comm major, a floundering junior, procrastinator extraordinaire and self-proclaimed title exaggerator.  In my off hours from class I work, a lot, but in my truly 'spare' time I like to do absolutely nothing, hence the almost constant napping. When my body decides it needs some activity sometimes I'll move the nap outdoors, or occasionally throw in a hike or a find some cliffs to jump off (into water, not to my death). My family travels quite often and to some amazing places.  I think exploring our world is the greatest thing I or anyone else do and I am beyond grateful that I have a family that shares this ideal.  I spend almost all of my money on going to concerts, and the music I listen to - and the friends I share the obsession with - mean the world to me.  I sincerely hope that anyone reading this has something in their life that makes them as happy as these things do for me. I'm not sure about you guys, but I am completely clueless as to how I'd like to spend the rest of my life, career-wise or in any other aspect.  I'm taking it one step at a time, and for right now... everything is pretty alright.