Blog Post #5

1. My best understanding of the long tail theory is that products can be placed in two broad categories. At the head, there are popular or trendy products. These products can be seen in a lot of places and are sold almost everywhere due to high demand. In the tail, however, there are certain niches or very specific products. These products are harder to find because they are not in a high demand. Example: a high school student is searching for a very specific prom dress for her high school prom. She has the style and designer she wants, but it isn't popular at all. She goes to numerous prom dress shops and no one even carries the designer she's interested in. She has to go online to buy her dress because it is in such low demand, stores aren't carrying it. 2. My online consuming behavior would mostly be routine. I rarely shop online, but when I do I return to the same websites, such as amazon, forever21, and other clothing sites. The behaviors described in the powerpoint in class definitely matched up with my own, especially the that stated routine consumers browse for twice as long as other consumers. I definitely take my time.

Blog Assignment 4

Privacy is a very important issue for a lot of people. Online security is something you constantly hear about because with the Internet evolving and it being such a young technology, society is still figuring out how to deal with it. What amazes me is that a lot of the time users aren't aware of how their information is being tracked or used. Most of the time when people talk about privacy and online security consumers automatically assume internet providers and websites use one's information for the wrong reasons; however, personalization is one of the main reasons sites track your information. Even though personalization may seem like a harmless reason to track information, users should still take precautions. There are many concerns one may have when they notice their information being used to for personalization or customization. The article listed several examples, but here is something I have always thought of: When I purchase things online I tend to see similar items pop up in advertisements while I use other websites. Even when I am on social media pages, such as Facebook or Twitter, the item I bought online or was looking at comes up everywhere. I get really concerned about this because if I am putting my debit card information on a website that tracks other pieces of information, what is to stop me from thinking they have access to my card info? In the article it states that "internet users find it important to know how their personal information is being used, and to have control over this usage." I think this extremely important as well. The more we know, the safer we'll feel.