Modernize Your Home, Dorm, or, Whatever Else!!!

The three keywords & their volumes:
-Furniture (1,000,000+)
-Bar Stools/Sofa's (450,000 each)
-Furniture Stores (823,000)


NoLa, Is Bringing Modernity to Your Furnishings.

When you consider modern furniture options, we all know what comes to mind, Ikea, Ashley, etc. We are here on this blog, to inform you about the modernity, and chicness of NoLa Modern. It's no secret that furniture can bring out the very best in anyones home. It currently is 2019, and that means modern furniture is more hip than ever, why not try out barstools for your kitchen countertop? Or maybe a sofa in a bedroom, to make rooms multi-purpose? The key to modernity, is innovation, and a lot like Tesla, NoLa offers nothing but that. We know, choosing a furniture store can be overwhelming, but chose one that speaks to you and makes your home feel more like a home than ever before! Not only is modern furniture great for homes, but students as well. As mentioned previous, it is 2019, and it is primetime to modernize your furnishings. Students at High Point University, are vamping out their dorm rooms with modern bar stools, sofa's with cupholders, sustainable plastic chairs, and decorative pillows. This is just a taste of the buffet of modernity that NoLa Modern furniture market has to offer. Moving along, something else imperative when furniture shopping is price point, we know all furnishings are going to set you back a pretty penny, but why not get even more innovative with renting modern furniture? NMR (NoLa Modern Renting) is a new program unveiled this year that allows one to have all the modern furnishings they could ever want, but instead of having to buy them all, we allow you to pay monthly. By doing this, you are able to upgrade home furnishings much sooner, and will not have to deal with the hassle of selling old dirty furniture when your home is ready for an even BIGGER upgrade! The home market has always been a cut-throat industry filled with competition. But at NoLa, we bring modernity unlike it has ever, ever, ever been seen before. So when thinking about where to go next for home furnishings, why not try out an arcade in the basement with bar stools? Or a movie theater room with one sofa that seats 12? Furniture stores are everywhere, and you can catch a NoLa, located at someplace modern. We have the innovation, the rest is up to you, valued furnisher.

Work..? Well... What Kind?

For those of you currently reading this sentence, that don't really know what this is, my name is Jared Much, a senior at High Point University, and welcome to my blog! I want to firstly bring up that we should all be grateful to live in a society where it is acceptable to have a passion for anything, and doing so will lead to a job one day. This past summer, I had the absolute upmost pleasure to work for Live Nation Entertainment, which is the #1 leading live entertainment company on the planet. I felt nothing but great honor to work for such a prestigious company, because I one day hope to work in the live entertainment industry. This is an industry that not only makes me happy, but an industry I am excessively passionate about. This summer working for Live Nation, my job title was Fan Ambassador. This essentially meant that my job was to manage fans, make sure they are safe, and enjoying their experience at the show. My main focuses were to manage fans to ensure that we kept lines short, crowds under control, and fans in their seats happy. Our motto is "Fans, creating once in a lifetime experiences, for fans." It was somewhat difficult work in all honesty, especially the days where we had large crowds, of up to 22,000 people. There were instances where I had to break open bathroom stalls, because intoxicated people were not responsive. Tasks like this made me uncomfortable, but I complied, because this is a dream industry. I also took this opportunity to flashback to a case study done by fellow classmates, about seeking discomfort in life. Because I am a senior, graduating is upon me, and so is the job hunt. All I hope to myself is that I can one day find a job within the field of live entertainment that I truly enjoy. Something like concert promotions, or concert marketing, or my ultimate goal would be to be on tour with a band, working behind the scenes. Not only did I work for Live Nation Entertainment, but I also work for LaneOne, and CID Entertainment, as ambassadors. These are also entertainment companies, that deal with all the VIP ticket purchasers. My main roles are to check them in, escort them to seats, and distribute merchandise. All three of these current positions now combined, should hopefully give me plenty of experience to obtain a live entertainment employment position within the coming year. All in all, so far, I feel accomplished in my life because I have already gotten my foot well-into the door that it needs to be in. I hope this will one day payoff, and work, will not be considered work in my future ;)




**Keywords: Entertainment, Job, Music, Live Nation, Fans, Live Music, Live Entertainment.

The "TROLLS"

On to a more humorous but still serious topic... The INTERNET TROLLS! As the article mentions, internet trolling can actually get pretty nasty, and turn into anything but a laughing matter. Internet trolls are the people who like to go online, and bash, hate, and rebuttal with people who are just trying to share an opinion. It's no secret that as a human, part of your rights in the First Amendment, is freedom of speech as we learned in class. Therefore, there is absolutely no reason that when one goes online to make a comment, or share a post, someone should fire back calling them wrong, or simply dismissing another persons opinion. Trolls can be mean, and disgusting, and are typically most common at places like the comment section of YouTube videos, Blog Comments (hopefully none magically appear on mine!), Forums, Email responses, etc.
Trolls can be depressed, or self conscious, resulting in them feeling an urge to hop online hiding behind a computer screen, just to bash other people. While the trolls are also protected by the First Amendment, it is somewhat unfair that they can behave in this inhumane, disgusting way, and still get away with it. Specifically when it comes to things like controversial topics, the trolls are everywhere. And by controversial we all know I really just mean Politics!! Overall, internet trolls are everywhere, and will continue to be everywhere, and after reading this article, I can honestly just say, Ignore them! As I mentioned in my presentation, I have been trolled before, and it really doesn't bug me, because I know most of them have an IQ of ketchup. While everybody takes these trolls differently, it is important to remember although they may act better than you, they are not. Everybody has the same rights, and everybody is entitled to an opinion.







https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-internet-trolling-3485891

Propaganda More Dangerous

After reading an article, I am shocked.... Today, we all know and love them... Memes. Believe it or not, propaganda is now more dangerous than ever. As seen in the photo below, this poster of uncle sam "recruiting" for the U.S. Army has been seen millions of millions of times, since the early 1900's. Unfortunately, this reappeared in 1968, and is still reappearing today. It is a known fact that propaganda posters can teach us a huge amount of information about psychological effects of politically pointed art. For example political comics, these are still considered "memes". The dangerous aspect of this is that memes are no longer centrally orchestrated pieces, they are no longer designed to advance the public good. But instead, be negative, or even worse, mind bending, or manipulative to its audiences. Because this article is from the Washington Post, we know it is most likely reliable. Through the power of mass media, and mass replication, anybody at this point can spiral into internet fame by being "funny" but there could be darker or more manipulative messages behind these "memes". However in some RARE cases, they can be positive... For example the egg on Instagram that still holds the record for most liked photo at nearly 55 million likes, all for no reason. This account turned out to be a plot to manipulate people into listening to messages about the dangers of mental health. This was good, because that is a topic that millions of people are still ignorant to. Overall, it is fun to look at memes, but we need to be careful, because now more so than ever, they can be targeted at us, to act, believe, or think a certain way. The power of persuasion.....






https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/03/12/why-propaganda-is-more-dangerous-digital-age/?utm_term=.6ed2ba3f8e39

Mainstream Media

When we think about the massive amounts of news and media outlets in existence, it can be overwhelming. First and foremost are the most popular media sources, these are things like ABC, CNN, NBC, FOX, etc. Because most people know about these, and consider them to be reliable, these are known as mainstream media sources. If you turn on the television to watch news, most likely one of the previously named sources is what any given household will pick. However mainstream media, specifically when it comes to politics, can have especially negative connotations, because we know many media outlets are in fact biased. This may cause some households to prefer the news sources that bias with their own viewpoints.  On the other hand, alternative media sources are things that are not mainstream, or media sources not everybody knows about, some examples are given below, like BuzzFeed, Inside Edition, The Daily Beast, etc. While these can still be reliable, they are not considered to be mainstream.

When we think of problems in media or even life, whistleblowing is a massive one. Internal Whistleblowing is something like spotting a co-worker stealing money, or doing something they should not be doing, and telling the boss about this. This does not always have to be something bad, as it can at times serve justice. External whistleblowing is similar, however it would mean reporting it to someone external of the company, who is not affected directly, for example the police. Confidential sources can help journalists reveal transgressions in the Government or in other organizations. But whistleblowers all around, do get a bad wrap, as it's in a way "snitching". Sometimes it can be good as mentioned before, especially when it exposes a politicians wrongdoing.




**Information in this blog post was gathered from notes on a fellow classmates presentation.**
https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-chart

Smith-Mundt Act

• The Smith-Mundt Act was first established in 1948. In 1948 when it began, it was firstly considered the information and educational exchange act of 1948. This was to keep people from knowing what this act was really about.The Smith-Mundt Act authorized the use of propaganda  by the Government, however it was only authorized to be targeted at people from different countries, not ours. But that is when 2012 came along, and the act was repealed, and modernized. This meant nothing but bad news for us as a country, because this new "modernization" made it essentially legal to now direct propaganda at the United States' own citizens. Essentially what this means, is it is now legal for OUR OWN Government to direct propaganda at us, without us even knowing when it is used, or how it is used. This is why now in modern society, it is so difficult to tell when the Government is deceiving us, or telling us the truth.

My Online Presence

When it comes to my online footprint, I like to keep it to a minimum. I usually will only post once or twice a month on either, but I will actively use multiple social media outlets on a daily basis. My only "personal" websites I would even consider would be my Linkedin, Facebook, and this blog of course! My favorite social media sites to use consist of Instagram, which I know is an app, Facebook, and YouTube. I do not personally have a YouTube channel, but I know of many friends that do! I usually will just put things I want other people to know about me, on my social media outlets. Things like where I work, where I go to school, where I went to high school and grew up, my interests, etc. I never like having private or personal information out there. With that comes an opportunity for something to backfire potentially. If you are a random visitor to my Facebook profile you could immediately tell I am a huge fan of concerts, and I am a brand ambassador for 2 VIP ticketing event companies! You will see some of my photos, and where I go to school, and "Chicago". I do not like to make my phone number or home address ever visible to the public. I usually will give out information like my phone number and email address to companies when placing orders and things like that, but I will sometimes use my fake email. At school, my address does not become as much of an issue because my address here is a temporary one. Things like e-mailing lists, I will use a fake email and not give my phone number.

I think social media is a great tool for everyone to have and use, but some people do not like it. As we saw in the article (attached below) about a 14 year old who left social media immediately after going on. It can be a very toxic thing as well. I know personally, I have been hurt or upset by other people having fun, and being out posting having a good time, while I have been sitting at home. Things like this are what make others upset, as social media can also be used in negative ways, to hurt people. I do think social media can make people lonely and depressed, because people will soon realize that an entire online virtual world, is not a real world. Hiding behind a computer screen is not a way of living or a good way of life. As we get older we need to learn how to be adults, and not hide. The other article mentioned how some of Facebook users still are not completely aware to how some of it works, this is absurd, but sadly true. Overall, I do think social media is a great new tool that is connecting people, and putting parts of your life on display for others to see, it has come a long way, but we still all need to be careful with social media online.

https://www.fastcompany.com/section/the-privacy-divide

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/01/facebook-users-still-dont-know-how-facebook-works/580546/

Diffusion Of Innovations- Rogers

When it comes to new and upcoming innovations and product ideas, people tend to go nuts over the new product releases. First released in 2016, Airpods are something that are becoming more and more popular by the second. Just take a short walk downtown Chicago, and you will see nearly 1 in every 4 people are wearing Airpods from what I could observe. Airpods first came in 2016, and now, they are the hottest headphones on the market. I believe that Rogers Diffusion of Innovations has a lot to do with this. We have the pioneers and innovators, these tend to be the people who will pave the way, and be the first to even pre-order the product. As more people find out about the convenience and quality of the Airpods, more people want them by the day. This year, they have blown to monumental success, to the point where they are now more popular then the previous headphone supremes, The Beats By Dre Headphones. Airpods run around $150-160 which is a steep price, but they will last forever, and the convenience is priceless. Although to some they look like the ends of Colgate electric toothbrushes being stuck in the ear, to others, they are an innovation they simply cannot go a single day without. This product follows Rogers' Diffusion theory to the T, around now I would say we are at the early majority stage still. Because they are still so new. But, I am confident within the next few years, Airpods will be "new" to the laggards, and the pioneers will be pre-ordering the next big thing to come. Overall, Airpods are at a stage of monumental success, not only because all because people want to fit in with them, but also because they are convenient, high quality, and well lets be honest.... made by Apple. The black version of the product is on the way, and I can only expect this to be even more popular than the white version! When we look at the headphones market, we see a similar theme. The Beats headphones are already on their downfall, I would say that product is beginning the Late Adopters/Laggards stage soon. New products will continue to come, and Rogers' Diffusion Theory of Innovations is a vicious cycle, that will continue to repeat itself, as new products come.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/03/26/review-apples-airpods-2-are-a-first-class-update-to-an-already-superb-product

Empire Star Jussie Smollett:

Recently, there has been a lot of news, drama, and opinions regarding the Jussie Smollett case. Jussie was accused of staging the entire brutal hate attack, causing fans, celebrities, and everyone in between to turn against him. It was just announced that the charges against Mr. Smollett will be dropped. “After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollet’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.”- Lawyers, and ABC News. Since then, there have been many people butting heads regarding the case, causing fights and even more communication drama on social media platforms across the board. Jussie was reluctant to hand over his cell-phone in the case, which sparked even more drama, and making people point fingers at the star. All in all, the case has been resolved, and no matter what people will not always agree on the outcomes of trials, in example, this specific case.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/empire-actor-jussie-smollett-appears-emergency-court-hearing/story?id=61951756

Blog Post- Promote Tolerance

I chose to do my blog post on the 6th value of free expression, which is to promote tolerance. After doing research on promoting tolerance I have found a giant convention held in both Los Angeles and New York once a year. Called Rupaul's Drag Con. It is essentially a giant convention with people of all shapes, sizes, sexual orientations, skin colors, and everything in between. Appearing at the convention are over 100 drag queens who have appeared on VH1's Rupaul's Drag Race since 2009. The festival is a giant celebration of love, sexuality, acceptance, tolerance, freedom, and equality. Everybody who goes reports leaving, feeling lifted, free, and accepting of not only themselves, but everyone else. Although some consider drag queens "odd" or "weird", it is actually these people's full time profession, and is considered an art form, and a metaphor for being your true self. This convention's attendance is a massive plus 40,000 people. This is as large as a music festival. Now that the reality tv show is becoming more mainstream, so will this convention. The more that people know about the convention the more people may be interested in it. The world needs to continue to communicate in ways of tolerance, not violence. The world has become a place of darkness recently, and spreading love and communicating to each other, everyone is equal, will make this world a better place. Tickets for Rupaul's Drag Con are available now, and are extremely affordable. Not only will there be drag queens, but social media stars, actors and actresses, and even pop-stars!

"Snapchat Streak Rules" For 2019

It is no secret that Snapchat is potentially the most popular social media app to date. On Snapchat, people have what are called streaks. This means when you send someone a snap, and they send you back a snap within the same day (24 hour period). When this has been done 3 days in a row, a number 3 will appear next to that person on your friend list. Then it only goes up from there, I know some people who have 900-1000 day streaks, which is crazy!! I firmly believe that Snapchat streaks keep people together, because I personally have streaks with people who I know I would not be friends with if I did not have a streak with them! It is cool how something as simple as a number, is keeping people so connected!! You can now get back a streak once it is lost too, this happens if you or the other person fails to send a snap within the time period. You will then lose the number, and potentially even contact with that person if the streak was the only thing keeping you together! See more below!:

https://learn.g2crowd.com/snapchat-streak

"Momo Challenge" Getting out of hand-

It is no secret that everybody knows the obnoxious, stupid, and dangerous Momo Challenge. This challenge is usually through forms of anonymous communication such as WhatsApp, Kik, etc. Unsuspecting children who may just be trying to explore, can wind up in a dangerous situation when the communication begins. The challenge revolves around doing harmful things, and this is not a good use of communication at all. The "Momo" monster is not even a real thing, it is a piece of horror art titled "Mother Bird". Yes, it can be very scary to kids, but parents need to educate their children on proper uses of social media apps, when it comes to safely communicating with others, NOT strangers!! It has since been proven that the terrifying challenge is a hoax. Although videos with mom in it did appear, the challenge itself was never a real thing. However it did spark lots of communication, buzz, and press about the seriousness of the topic. The internet is becoming a dangerous place, especially for kids. Knowing how fast challenges and things like this can spread, it was imperative we communicate safety when navigating the internet, especially to children.


https://www.13abc.com/content/news/506705402.html

"Bangtan Boys" or "BTS" Announce 2019 Stadium Tour

Recently, the K-Pop Superstar group BTS recently announced they would play some stadium tour stops this summer across Europe, America, and Asia. This has caused an absolute mess across twitter, instagram, reddit, etc. As BTS fans are communicating amongst one another to try and figure out the best ways to buy tickets, to see their favorite band live! Because these are stadium shows, the amount of internet traffic trying to purchase tickets will be beyond immense. This may cause the website to crash. Fans have been going crazy for days due to their excitement regarding the announcement. Ticket prices have not been announced yet, but this is another thing people have been communicating over on social media. Whether or not they will be able to afford tickets, or better yet, the VIP tickets! UPDATE: The tickets for all 6 stadium shows in the United States (Rose Bowl, Soldier Field, MetLife Stadium, 2 shows each) all sold out within hours of going onsale. Fans have been posting reactions of not being able to get tickets on Twitter and videos on YouTube. Originally, they were scheduled for 1 show per city, but due to excessive demand a second date was added! Tickets are all sold out now, and some fans are happy, while others are heartbroken.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/bts/8498863/bts-add-2019-tour-dates

New Pepsi Commercial~

Cardi B's newest controversy comes from her recent Pepsi Commercial. Some say it was great, fun, funny, and a twist on what promotion can be. But many, found it to be obnoxious. The commercial features people sitting at a diner, and Cardi gives her infamous "Okurrrr" line. Everyone in the diner follows, including famous drag queen Monét X Change, who is also featured in the commercial. It is up to you, the viewer, to decide what you think of the commercial. Is it obnoxious? Not worth being out there?? Folks have been butting heads on social media regarding the new advertisement, so what do you think?? Do you think it is obnoxious? Or does it make you want to order a Pepsi next time you are out to eat?



See it below:

https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8497110/cardi-b-second-pepsi-commerical

Live Nation Entertainment- TICKET TO ROCK!

For those of who who don't know, Live Nation is the nations largest live entertainment company. Bringing you the hottest shows to the best venues. Coming to many Live Nation venues this summer, is a star studded lineup of heavy metal, and hard rock artists. These artists include Slipknot, Korn, Alice In Chains, Breaking Benjamin, etc. Now I personally am not a big fan of this genre of music, but for those of you who are, keep reading. Purchasing tickets to each of those shows individually, is going to cost you an arm and a leg. So, Live Nation is bringing you the bundle deal you could have only dreamt of! The Ticket To Rock option, gives you access to three-show packages for $59, and four-show packages for $69! What a bargain!! Of course, these are lawn tickets, but for an extra 20$ overall, you can upgrade to reserved pavilion seating to get closer to your favorite bands!! I believe this is news worthy, because it is no secret people love to read news stories, and offerings about saving money, and getting great values. There are so many hoaxes in today's society, so much spam, and false offers that will rip people off. It is important to spread awareness of official articles that can help the biggest music fans save the biggest dollars!

https://www.wivb.com/entertainment/live-nation-offering-ticket-to-rock-for-darien-lake-concerts/1765390861

5 Places I Go For News~

1. Inside Edition- Inside Edition is a very popular news source, I prefer to watch Inside Edition on their YouTube channel, that has over 4 million subscribers. They are always accurate, up to date, and even investigate things like scams, or crimes. Not only do they post news, they sometimes post videos such as "Helpful tips while traveling" or "How to save money at the grocery store". For the most part, their news videos are always on point, and I truly enjoy watching their channel.

                                                         https://www.insideedition.com

2. BuzzFeed- Of course, what College student doesn't like BuzzFeed? Not only do they have many different YouTube Channels, but they are constantly posting funny, entertaining videos on trends, gossip, challenges, experiments, news, etc. They have it all! No matter what you will find at least one BuzzFeed channel on YouTube that you enjoy! They are constantly keeping me informed, up to date, and knowledgeable, all in an entertaining way!

                                                             https://www.buzzfeed.com

3. Facebook- In addition, I love to turn to Facebook. I consider this a news source, only because I follow many different pages that post up to date news, articles, videos, etc. I can open Facebook at any given point and find a post regarding something up to date in the news, or media. I also like it because I can see when my friends or family like, react to, or share different news stories, or posts.

                                                              https://www.facebook.com
             

4. NBC News- Growing up, I would always remember coming home from dinner and watching the news with my parents and sister. To this day I still prefer NBC news as a news outlet for me. I can watch them on TV, check their social medias, etc. to stay up to date with all things news in my area. I even know the news anchors by name for the NBC channel in Chicago! I just prefer this station, because it is what I grew up on, and it has been a favorite station of mine for as long as I can remember. Plus, excellent shows like Saturday Night Live are on this channel!

                                                             https://www.nbcnews.com

5. Snapchat Discover- Moving onto the iconic application that is known as Snapchat- There is a part of the app where you can discover various news sources, articles, trends, gossip, etc. There are hundreds and hundreds of things to click on, so the options for your information intake is endless. It is entertaining, and sometimes there will even be celebrities on their too! I prefer this method of news most of all, because it is part of an application, meaning you can access it from your phone anywhere at any time! Convenience is great because then you can be in the loop 24/7. Must Download Snapchat to access!!