Tag: communications

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Photo Courtesy of Getty Images

RokuTV owners might want to know about this deal ahead of Black Friday. The newest season of the RokuTV SoundBar is available to purchase before the holidays. To top it off, Roku is running more than one promo right now, meant to show that wealth is no longer a factor in truly enjoying revolutionary surround sound. 

TCL Roku TV Wireless SoundBar will be a:

  • 2.0 channel soundbar
  • Output a maximum of 120W 
  • Multiple EQ settings are available in the TV sound settings menu.
  • Wireless music streaming is available via Bluetooth

At $179.99, Roku TV users can use the code TCLROKUSOUND, dropping the price to $99.99. And that deal is still valid, according to Roku. It’s an affordable price point for the working class. There’s also a chance to win a TV plus soundbar on the Roku Blog through December 10th.

No wires mean no installation hassles. With Bluetooth and WiFi as connectors, it’s also possible to boost the sound by attaching other subwoofers. It’s straight-up expandable, making it possible to turn any room into a small theater itself. Sound is accessible, especially for Roku users.

“I mean, there was a time when having a killer home theater setup was, you know, just for someone with, maybe you know who’s really into audio and wanted everything perfect, but these days, TV’s have gotten huge, and they’re accessible. You can get a great TV for not very much,” said Anders Steele, with Roku’s Public Relations Department.

An audio expert himself, Steele feels that the target demographic of Roku has fundamentally changed as years go by.

“TV’s have gotten big and expensive, but they’ve also gotten thinned so the sound of TV’s these days isn’t what you know when the big boxes that I had when I was younger may be able to reproduce, it’s just not possible so, soundbars are a good way to to get the sound that you want. And even way better than what TV’s have been doing,” said Steele.

More specs are on the TCL website, like adding a wall-mount and compatibility with other Roku remotes. The box only comes with three components, a power cord, the soundbar, and the kit to mount it up. With simplicity on the mind of Roku leaders, TV isn’t the only home product becoming more accessible, especially during the pandemic. 

“We’ve had COVID and not a lot of people feeling comfortable going to the theater. At the same time, we have seen movies like Dune coming out simultaneously digitally. So you can create a perfect home theater experience,” said Steele.

What Roku and TCL were hoping to create was an experience of sound fit for everyone. The new SoundBar won’t become an eyesore that collects dust. It’s clutter-free, as TCL puts it. It’s easy to move. It’s portable and easy to keep out of sight. 

“Suddenly, you’re booming if you want to be. And it’s a good feeling, actually,” said Steele.

Considering how many movies are opening streaming only, it’s time to embrace the whole at-home movie experience. This trend is here for the long haul for apparent reasons. Good movies deserve even better bass.

“Streaming services are kicking, but there’s so much good stuff out there, and first-run movies are coming out and these devices, especially this one,” said Steele.

Steele pointed out that Roku’s audio teams are globally pushing the boundaries of sound and science. As far as what’s coming in 2022, Roku seeks to consistently improve its products and optimize them for the consumer experience. In short, there’s always room for improvement.

“We have people heading our acoustic designs department in Denmark. We have a separate facility there who came from like Bang and Olsen or Dynaudio, which is very high-end,” said Steele. “We have an anechoic chamber and facilities in San Jose, CA. We’re constantly working on our audio products. The price is excellent compared to competitors and compared to what’s out there for what you get.”

Considering that Black Friday is early to town this year, it’s possible to see some more great deals to complement the Roku you already have. One Twitter user tweeted that the ‘best investment I ever bought was my RokuTV bundle with the Roku SoundBar.’

Even with movie theaters opening up across the country, it’s essential to have home comfort as an alternative. A marketing campaign aimed at leaving customers with their own decisions to make is a good one. It’s true; the TCL Roku soundbar is for family and parents too.

“We’re not looking to make a killing on selling audio products. We’re trying to enable people to have a good and inspiring home theater experience. That’s our goal,” said Steele. “Being that it’s wireless, you don’t need to hire someone to help you install. You plug it in, and the automatic setup just works. It’s not an exciting answer, but the truth is, this product is for everyone.”

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Photo by alleksana on Pexels.com

Say bye to the problematic personalized news feature.

For the average consumer, it will be considered a win for privacy. Today, the company silently turned off their “Personal News” feature on their Google Assistant. 

The end of another Google AI-based program impacts the Android community and Google product users at home. While a standard news feature remains on the Google Nest Mini (6:30 on a Friday), there’s no reasoning behind why it’s gone, according to a report from The Verge. As far as consumers go, many are left to wonder what’s next for the tech giant.

Google’s met their fair share of concern over privacy–or lack thereof–regarding their AI projects. On top of security concerns, there’s also the concern about not controlling your news feed. There’s the concern of fake news hitting the airwaves.

And through it all, top media organizations continue to create short headlines for Google. Some outlets abandoned the route entirely–while engagement through audio remains the oldest living mode of communication.

Forty-one percent of Americans are listening to regular podcasts, a study with Pew Research Center found. Another 83 percent of the public listens to traditional radio. 

An algorithm isn’t currently capable of producing audio-rich news for a large audience demographic. Since the need for audio production is still growing in the digital sector, maybe Google will introduce something new. 

We are finally saying goodbye to a nosy, algorithmic news option that has operated since 2019. Soon, another algorithm will take its place. The goal? To better serve their audience.

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I’ve went from print journalism to marketing, public relations, advertising and back again. For now, I’m trying to stay in the social media manager realm because it allows me to write blogs.

Meaning I get to exercise my journalistic creativity on the regular. But seriously though, I cannot express enough how underpaid and undervalued I am as a content creator. I’m marketing a brand to retain clients and often I’m still stuck cleaning a break room.

How can I continue to create an organic outreach that reaches real customers when I’m not taken seriously?

This is why I’m in school. I’m kind of hoping that with the next tier of degree in my life, I’ll get taken a little more seriously. I want to help companies grow and I’m generally not given the resources or time to make that genuine connection happen.

Unfortunately living in the metropolitan area that would see my value in Southern California is a six-figure endeavor. I’m talking like, almost a quarter of a million dollars a year just spent on living comfortably.

And I’m not at that point in my life yet. I don’t know if I’ll ever be close. It seems like my generation really got the short end of the stick and somehow it was so bad that the impact has trickled down to literally everyone except the 1 percent.

Connecting to an audience in a prolific way is something that I crave. I constantly find myself reading these feel good stories but the problem here is that they’re all bandaids for some kind of poor practice. There’s better ways to connect to an audience.

I like to do it in writing because I have social anxiety. But then that anxiety took over my words too. Being in this program has really changed me. It’s caused me to become more humble but to also see that I’m worth more than minimum wage.

Journalism is the core of the communications field. The digital convergence that happens with public relations, marketing and advertising is propelled by media convergence. I have always felt like journalists are held to a higher standard than anyone else. This is because the public trusting us is vital to democracy.

We need to strive to do better. I will never not express how important it is to keep going for the optimum outcome. I know that not everyone in the Newhouse School is there for a journalism degree. Some might hate writing entirely. But when we all work together and pay mind to the ethics behind our careers, our lives are a little bit easier.

I hope I can take the inspiration I draw from this program and really make a difference in the world through telling news via different mediums. I’ve always been a writer. A poet too. But there’s an urgency I feel regarding closing the gap that is the digital divide by exposing misinformation and promoting social awareness as our whole world inches further into the future.

I feel like I really understand why good marketing, advertising, PR and journalism will always go hand in hand with each other. One cannot function without the other in our realm.

The amount of mediums is way too many to count and hard to keep track. Right now I’m loving podcasts because it’s a really old idea with a modern twist attached to it.

Multimedia is this whole different ballgame that really gives writers new and creative ways to tell the stories that they write. If journalists like myself can’t keep up with that, we’re going to slowly lose the media literacy we’ve grown to have.

Digital convergence isn’t going to stop, so we need to hop on the bandwagon and ensure that what does come out is used to the fullest extent of the product or service’s capabilities.

Having a free press is my everything. It’s a gift unlike any other. It’s used as a curse, in some situations. I respect it above all else though, always. If more people lose their respect towards this profession, we’re going to see more open hatred across the board.

I feel like so many demographics have been looked over until recently. And this new wave of marketing towards the younger generations through the likes of big data collection is super creepy. Highly intriguing to watch change happen so quickly though.

Who would’ve known that AARPANET would turn into this massive worldwide conglomerate that corporations are fighting to control the access to? A social awakening is happening that is only going to continue to grow.

As human behavior continues to change, we’re currently seeing something unlike anything that’s been recorded by historians before. It’s not Ancient Aliens or anything, but it’s still pretty great.

The ways culture is portrayed across the world is solely because the internet is here to allow for mass sharing. I’m all here for it. Let’s keep sending memes.

It’s so hard to say what else lies in the future. I’m kind of hoping that eventually I’ll have some brain implant that’ll allow a laptop to type my thoughts for me since my carpal tunnel will probably eventually take my hands out.

Other than that, all I can do is hope that there will be some regulations that will keep customization convenient and 75 percent less invasive. Wait no, maybe like 95 percent less invasive. I’m hoping for the best.

Kind of seems like we’re living in a dystopian universe already though. At least we’re all in this together, right?

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We can’t get away from social media and the impact it has had on the media, marketing, advertising and the realm of public relations. So it’s like the old saying goes: if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

Being able to understand and harness these new catalysts for communications helps us understand how commercialization, personalization, entertainment and media have all intertwined.

I decided to jump into the world of print journalism. I’ve found through the years that I’ve also had to learn to master various other platforms as well.

Multimedia rules our generation and while it’s sometimes scary and a pain to learn, it’s something that every journalist needs to get in order to push their career forward. It’s truly something that is a gift and a curse.

In the easiest terms, it’s a way to document memories without having so much of it on paper. What you say or do on the internet is out there forever.

Right now America is watching the impeachment inquiries of President Donald Trump. You can watch it on the television. You can watch it online just about anywhere–Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, various media and probably even Twitch. I happened to catch it on Twitter.

Yes, a social media website. How does that happen? I’m sure I’m not the only one to see it, and the internet gives everyone a way to pay attention. Whether at work, in school or at home, there’s a way to check in on what pertains to your life.

Now social media can be personalized to a point where you can see information while doing other things. We’re all multi-tasking. It’s also a case of the second screen experience.

There’s little tools like Google Home and Amazon Alexa that will tell you news headlines in real time while you go about your day. There’s all these ways to stay tapped in.

When the information is good, it’s that much easier to put trust in the second screen experience. But I feel like just how many journalists now operate with a disclaimer in order to differentiate from their bias, it’s important that every other part of the industry does the same.

For the most part, it does happen. But there’s still a few bad apples here and there.

Twitter is also a place where we can now see real-time commentary. It’s a place where we’ve seen every part of the communications industry flourish.

https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1194773240905961472

Public relations has a fast way to react to damage control and everyone can effectively communicate with each other in a way never seen before the digital era. However, if the intentions of good aren’t there, we’re just looking at more propaganda.

For example, think about how big oil companies are trying to push the narrative that they’re looking for a “greener” route to do their business. It’s clear that there is not.

Or what about how private energy companies like Pacific Gas and Oil or Southern California Edison can continue to push that shutting off power during fires is only beneficial to the fact that they are no longer liable if there’s a massive natural disaster that might have been their fault?

Thanking people for their “patience” is really the bare minimum. However it’s all they can do to not make anymore people blow up on them.

There’s also the fact that because of social media and callout culture, there’s no reason to attempt to hide anything from the public anymore. If there’s a farce, expect it to be revealed. Like..in the case of Californian Governor Gavin Newsom. Taking money from those he has recently scorned.

Unfortunately Twitter is a place where misinformation is a problem. That’s why it’s up to those in our field to be able to make things clearer for those without the media literacy to spot a scam. And it’s important to be able to keep an open line between companies and those that use their services.

If we, as journalists, don’t continue to learn innovative ways to utilize social media, it’ll probably overtake us. With the next presidential elections looming, it’s clear that we need to be wary of what’s to come.

But with vigilance, it’s apparent that the world is ready for the truth to be told and for personalization to come with it.

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Social media is a way for everyone to connect–even for dog owners. Here’s a picture I shot of one of my dogs for his Instagram during a walk this month. Yes, my dog has an Instagram. And I’ve been able to find more dog owners that have the same breed. It’s great.

“What’s the biggest impact social media has made on how we interact with one another?“

Who do you talk to these days? And how are you talking to them the most?

For many, it’s through our smartphones. Asking for an Instagram username is like calling someone’s house phone back in the day and asking them on a date, or to come outside to hang out.

Interaction–something that has drastically changed over the past two decades. It’s crazy to think that the days of growing up outside as a child are massively different.

Everyone has a phone in their hand; I received my first phone in middle school. My younger sister? She had one in third grade. My mom’s reasoning was for safety. It was something foreign to me. The difference here is our age gap of seven years.

I’ve read every single Harry Potter novel. And I could read an entire novel in a day. I’m not special for it. I’m sure a lot of people have too. It’s just that now, that kind of dedication is rare, especially when your phone is lighting up every fifteen minutes with a new notification.

Since technology and social media altered our society’s attention spans, I’ve never been able to read a novel quickly since. I get bored easily and at some point, I’m going to check my phone. I have to even use my phone to go to sleep.

Not having access to social media is like cutting off one of my index fingers and an ear. Without it, I’ve lost a way to vitally interact with others. That’s one of the many cons of social media.

Now, harboring some kind of presence takes precedence over knowledge. It’s frightening for our future.

However, there’s those that have actually developed enough media literacy on their own to actually use their platforms to not only make people laugh or smile, but to bring awareness that impacts the global population in a million ways.

For me, Twitter has become the best place to find breaking news. Instagram has become a place for me to showcase my photography.

Thanks to social media, everyone can be a model, actor, artist and citizen journalist, to name a few things. A business can grow from local to worldwide if you’ve got the right marketing tactics.

While this has caused for saturation to accelerate in terms of actual talent in many fields, it’s also brought plenty of new talent that might have never been discovered before without the help of the internet.

Let’s talk about rapper and actress Cardi B. She gained her fame through social media by posting her life to Twitter and Instagram. She went from rags to riches, and then some.

She’s now considered one of the best female artists in the pop realm. Her openness and realism through various social media platforms is what makes her relatable.

Social media has really pushed forward commercialization for businesses and individuals alike, especially in the case of celebrities.

Think about the Kardashian family. Would they really be this famous if it wasn’t for them jumping on the social media bandwagon?

Kylie Jenner made an entire empire through her Instagram account before she turned 21 years old.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3pmU43HNNX/

She’s become a staple for women across the country–a roundhouse millionaire, all thanks to social media. Without social media, there’s no way her makeup line would’ve flourished the way that it has.

It’s pretty common to see the younger generation have more than 1k followers these days. Life is measured by the likes you get online. If you’re able to push your passion out there to the right people at the right time, it could change your life for better or worse.

President Barack Obama used Twitter, Reddit and Instagram to stay connected to the general public. Now every Democrat running for office is adopting the same routes.

It’s a thing that other individuals, regardless of the field, have latched onto for the same reason.

An instant way to provide information and answers, social media has actually provided an easier catalyst for journalists to give out news consistently, 24/7.

As social media continues to change, it’s going to further change the way society interacts with others. On one hand, social media brings people together that might have not been able to interact before. Think about online dating, for example. Suddenly, the world is not that small.

When I was in fifth grade, I joined a Linkin Park message board for die-hard fans. I ended up staying friends with people I met on there till this day, even if we don’t live in the same part of California.

But then again, social media has also brought newfound body dysmorphia and isolation. Kids would rather sit on Youtube and TikTok instead of enjoying what’s probably the last decades of affluent nature.

Like I said, our lives are now dictated by the likes that we get. And when you can’t fulfill that satisfaction, you don’t want to associate with anything at all. At least some of us have that awareness. For others, they don’t know anything else.