My SEO Terms Post

When you read this student blog post, you might be thinking about what you might have for your next meal, or what you've been reading in the New York Times about Syria and Iran. You might also be thinking about if you could study better or watch that new documentary about eating healthy and exercising. All of these would also be valid when you talk about Search Engine Optimization. Which is what this post is all about. And that's six SEO terms in five sentences. I believe that's all I needed for this assignment.

My Kingdom for a Government!

I decided to do the blog assignment on the recent and ongoing government shutdown by republicans throwing a temper tantrum and stomping their feet. I’ve read a few articles and watched a few videos on why this is happening, and I’d like to try to explain it to the best of my ability. Here we go.

Ok. Let’s start off with the fact that both the House of Representatives and the Senate are terrible at their jobs. The current shutdown crisis came from the fact that the House and the Senate need to pass a continuing resolution; that is, an act that says, basically, “we need money to do things, so we need to pass the budget. However, none of us feel like doing anything right now, so we need this act to say that we need more time to pass the budget. Eventually.” The Senate (controlled by democrats) said “sure, let’s pass this act, because this is probably the least amount of work we can do and still be technically doing something.” So they pass this continuing resolution to the House. The House, which is of course, republican controlled, say “Sure, we’ll pass this thing, so we don’t have to do really anything but sit back and enjoy our millions rolling in. Except that we don’t want Obamacare to go into effect this year. Maybe next year.” So, the Senate says “Well, Obamacare has actually been a law since 2008, it’s been picked through by the Supreme Court, it’s one of the greatest pieces of social policy change in the last fifty years. It’s not going anywhere.” So the House comes back with “Well, if we don’t get to stop the implementation of Obamacare, we’re taking our ball and going home. Phooey.” The continuing resolution doesn’t pass, and due to lack of funds (because no extension of the budget has been made), the government shuts its doors. It “furloughs” (a fancy name for indefinite firing) several hundred thousand employees, and everyone sits on their hands. That’s where we are now. Welcome to the miracle of the American Legislative system.


Sources:

The Lowdown on the Shutdown. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTJubcZFA78 )

No deal yet: Government shutdown, debt limit talks continue. ( http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57607188/no-deal-yet-government-shutdown-debt-limit-talks-continue/ )

United States federal government shutdown of 2013. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013 )

No deal to end shutdown but talks continue between Obama, GOP. ( http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-government-shutdown-20131011,0,791104.story )

Obamacare and October 1st: Healthcare Triage #1. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBr3fniyb4w )

Seventeen Magazine Assignment

My assignment was to study Seventeen magazine, get feedback from the intended audience of the magazine, and evaluate if the magazine is reaching their intended audience. My first course of action was to read Seventeen magazine. I have a friend whose sister had a few issues, and I was able to skim through those to get an idea of the target market and reader. From what I read, the main buzzwords for Seventeen magazine are “Sex”, “Clothes”, “Makeup”, and “Boys.” Their established target market seems to be age 15-19 developing young girls, middle to upper class, usually white, with disposable income and on the lookout for a boyfriend. 

I spent some time in Valley City High School for an Education Practicum course I’m taking, so I was able to get some feedback from the intended audience of the magazine. The girls I interviewed about Seventeen Magazine asked to keep their names and identities out of my interview, and I agreed. Overall, the girls believe that Seventeen magazine is trying way too hard to fit a girl that doesn’t exist. None of them, and they were from different walks of life, different sports, different socioeconomic situations, knew a girl like the one that Seventeen was looking for. They called the magazine cool to read, but way over the top in terms of the topics and advertising. They didn’t really take Seventeen seriously, instead looking to magazines that are more grounded to their situation, like Teen Vogue and J-14. 

I found that Seventeen magazine is not reaching their target audience in their current format, in that they're marketing to a girl that is in scarce supply in the current social and economic markets.