OCR –

Level 3 Cambridge Introductory Diploma in Media

Unit 35: LO3Social Media Products

Candidate Name: Thomas HibbertCandidate Number: 2063Centre Number: 64135

ContentsPurpose of LifeFollower - Slide 4Competitors – Slide 5 – Slide 6Content – Slide 7 – Slide 10Profile Page – Slide 11Similarities – Slide 12Site Map – Slide 13 – Slide 16Target Audience – Slide 17Terms and Conditions – Slide 18Terms and Privacy – Slide 19Synergy – Slide 20Production Plan – Slide 21Signing up for LifeFollower – Slide 22Navigation Bar – Slide 23Revenue – Slide 24Pay Per Click Advertising – Slide 25Crowd Funding – Slide 26Sponsorship – Slide 27Legal and Ethical – Slide 28IP – Slide 29Data Protection Act – Slide 30ASA – Slide 31Health and Safety in the workplace – Slide 32Hazards or Risks – Slide 33Risks – Slide 34How LifeFollower will avoid the hazards – Slide 35Conclusion – Slide 36

The purpose of LifeFollower is to share their lives and the great moments they have with friends online. Those using the site will be able to follow one another and post things to their posting wall and others’. Every user can customise their profile e.g. colours, profile picture and personal message for others to see. A typical user for LifeFollower should be on average 15 years or older, this is because of the adverts and the age group they are aimed at may deem inappropriate for users under this age.The main function of LifeFollower is to connect people with each other’s lives. Users can do this by using the follow feature and the messaging service within the site itself.

Purpose

Purpose – Competitors (Facebook)The competitors of LifeFollower will be mainly Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is a competitor because LifeFollower uses Facebook as a main social media product of inspiration. Facebook has similar features and the audience for my social media product and Facebook will be using both sites or they will use one or the other. Facebook and LifeFollower will become ‘competitors’ over fulfilling our audiences’ needs.

LifeFollower offers its consumer base the interaction with other users where they can follow each other, post updates, message each other and share media with their friends. Facebook provides the same user interaction with its users which is why Facebook will compete with my social media product.

Purpose – Competitors (Twitter)Twitter is a competitor of LifeFollower because just like Facebook it is a social media product of inspiration for LifeFollower. The ‘follow’ feature on Twitter is what the product is built around, this is Twitter’s main feature and if LifeFollower is going to use this then there will certainly be competition with Twitter and my product.

LifeFollower offers its consumer base similar features that Twitter has such as following users. This meets the audiences’ needs which will make Twitter a competitor.

ContentPagesThere are 7 pages for LifeFollower, Sign-up, Home, Inbox, Friends, LF’s, Profile and the settings page. Home PageOn the home page there will be 3 tabs and a welcoming video. On the first tab the user’s profile will appear detailing the number of posts, LF’s and people they are following. There is a new post section to this tab where you can post a new status/message and choose the privacy for it and who can see it, you can limit the privacy to only those following you can see it.The second tab on the home page is a list of suggested people’s lives to follow, this will encourage more people to return follows and join in with others on the social media site.The last tab on the home page is where all posts will appear whether it is someone you are following or something you have posted for your LF’s to see.On the home page there is an interactive button to click for the welcoming video for those new to the site. This will personalise the experience and make the audience feel that they are welcome and that the site values its users.

ContentInboxAll of the messages received will appear on the inbox page. Users will be able to reply, compose and delete messages on this page. The inbox page as all of the pages will use the same colour scheme. When you click the inbox button you will be redirected to the page and there will be 2 boxes across the page.The first box will offer the option to compose a new message to one of your LF’s, this feature will let you type an unlimited amount of characters as a pose to Twitter which has a set limit.The second box will display your ‘inbox’ messages. All of the messages you receive will appear here and are available for editing by using the pencil symbol in the corner of said box, once clicking the icon you will be presented with a number of options for you editing such as deleting messages, reporting messages and blocking spam.FriendsOn the friends page all of your LF’s will be shown and those who you have added to your ‘friends’ list. This page will be a whole page dedicated to those that you are friends with and those you are following.

ContentLF’SOn the LF’s page all of the people that are following you will be shown here with a set of options to choose from, the options will include the option to block them, remove them from your LF’S and to follow them if you are not already doing so.ProfileThis will be the page where you can view and edit your profile. The features included on this page will be the ability to change your profile picture, edit any information on your profile, change the them of your page and layout and users will be able to change privacy settings.SettingsOn the settings page you will be able to twist the site’s layout to your advantage and add or remove widgets like the tabs on the home page. There will be more personal settings found on this page for example the option to delete your account or change any critical aspects of your LifeFollower experience.

ContentExisting ProductsLifeFollower is similar to existing products such as Facebook and Twitter. The content of LifeFollower is very similar to Facebook and Twitter because of its features and layout of the site itself for example the position of the logo, friends online etc.

Profile PageFriends OnlineThe tab to the right shows all of the friends that the user has online.

The user will be able to see if someone is online because there will be a green (online) or red (offline) LifeFollower icon under the friend’s name.

Like/CommentThere are Like and Comment buttons which allow other people to interact with an activity or something the user has posted.Touch Base

Touch base is a chat feature which will notify you when you haven't spoken to a particular friend for a certain amount of time and will

prompt you to message them. This keeps people in touch as the slogan for LifeFollower promises.

Navigation Menu

IdentThe logo of my social media site is remaining on the top corner of the banner to keep the brand identity across the whole website.

BioThis is a description of the person written by them.

StatusThe user can choose or write their own status to tell people how they feel or what they are doing.

SimilaritiesIdentFacebook have their logo in the top left corner of their page which is a hyperlink to bring the user back to the homepage.

Profile pictureFacebook allow you to change your profile picture which is shown on the user profile page.

Recent ActivitiesOn the profile page of the user it will show recent activities that the user has done e.g. shared, liked or commented on.

Friends OnlineFacebook has a tab that shows which friends are online.

Site MapLFLF

Site MapLF LF

Site MapLFLF

Site Map LFLF

Target AudienceKatzThe target audience for my social media product in Katz’ terms would be trying to fulfill education. The audience will use Life Follower to learn information about their friends and what they are doing in their lives.MaslowAccording to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs the audience have social needs, the need to interact with others and maintain friendships and relationships with loved ones. Life Follower can meet these needs as it has a variety of features that users can use to talk to and follow their friends.HartleyIn terms of Hartley’s seven subjectivities the audience will be 15 year old and male in middle class. The target user would stereotypically be white British with a low self image of themselves.Socio-EconomicThe users of LifeFollower will be in the socio economic category of E as this category consists of students, casual workers which are on average young which is the target audience for LifeFollower.PsychographicsIn terms of psychographics the users for LifeFollower would be an explorer as explorers are usually student and younger members of the community with adventure and energy for new things.

Terms and ConditionsThe terms and conditions are the policies and rules that the user has to abide by in order to ensure their membership at LifeFollower stays permanent.

The site’s terms and conditions will explain that:• If a LifeFollower user breaks the rules or ignores the

behaviour standards that are expected by LifeFollower, their account will be dismissed or suspended

• Copyright is not acceptable• Disrupting or ‘trolling’ other users will be met with

consequences

Terms and PrivacyTerms and Privacy is used to tell the users what information will be gathered and stored from the site.This is relevant to LifeFollower because by telling the user what information is collected the site will be gaining its user’s trust.

Personal information is very personal and private which users will want to keep private or to themselves. There will be various options for the user to take advantage of in order to keep their safety and privacy a priority:

Blocking a user – The user will be able to block others which stops the unfriendly user from messaging the user on the site.

No Name – The blocked user will not have the search result of the user that has blocked them.

Viewing – The blocked or unfriended user will not be able to look up information from the site on the user that has blocked them.

SynergyThere will be synergy with Facebook for LifeFollower. In the banner at the top of each page under the sign in box will be the option to sign in with Facebook.

By having this synergy with Facebook it will make it easier for users to use the site and it may help control the competition with Facebook

Production Plan

Signing Up for LifeFollowerHow to sign upTo sign up for LifeFollower you need to go onto the website (once launched) and click the register here hyperlink under the sign in boxes. This will redirect you to the sign up page where you will fill in your details for a free account with LifeFollower.Cost?It will be completely free to create an account with LifeFollower. Facebook and Twitter do not charge for membership ands in order to meet the competition with those two dominators of the social media industry LifeFollower will have to ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale - 1980) this feature.

Navigation BarThere was more than one type of navigation bar that I had to choose from. The navigation bars that I could use were horizontal, vertical and there were different positions on the page that I could have allocated this to. I decided to choose the vertical navigation bar because this would be easiest for the user.

FeaturesThe navigation bar I designed has only 6 buttons Home, Inbox, Friends, LF’s, Profile and settings. This means that the user interface is not overly complicated with too many buttons and confusing navigation through the site.

RevenueOn the homepage of LifeFollower there is an advertising space which is of clear and visible size. Facebook advertises things in a similar way but their adverts are displayed on the right hand side vertically.

With Facebook people/companies can pay to advertise at the minimum cost of $1.00 a day with the maximum cost of whatever budge thtey set as the limit for the advertising campaign.

LifeFollower will do the same and provide various prices determined by how much the company or individual would like to spend on the advertising spot on the homepage.

Pay per click advertising

LifeFollower will have pay per click advertising. For example when the user loads a new page up there will be a pop up advert. The advert will be triggered by the user clicking on the page button which will then load the desired page with an advert on screen.

Crowd FundingCrowd funding is gaining funding for a project by collecting contributions from a large group of people.

How to crowd fund (using gofundme.com)1. Create a fundraising campaign2. Share on other social media services3. Easily accept donations through preferred source of income4. Thank those who contributed

Applying to LifeFollowerIf after my pitch to the possible investors that I have on the 2nd of February in my production plan I do not have enough funds for a certain aspect in the LifeFollower project than I can use this method of crowd funding if needed to gain money to finish the project. This is only one method of backup funding.

https://www.gofundme.com/?pc=cf2

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is the exchange of money in order to gain the receiving party’s product or company for commercial use in association to the paying business.

There are 5 types of sponsorship that businesses use1. Discount SponsorshipThis type of sponsorship is where companies give their products or services at a discounted price.2. Shop SponsorshipThis is when a local shop provides its goods or services for free with discounts on other products the store offers.3. Flow SponsorshipThis is where free merchandise is given to you for free from a distributor or manufacturer on a regular basis4. Amateur SponsorshipThis is similar to flow sponsorship but the sponsorship will also help you with promotion and incentives.5. Professional SponsorshipThis type of sponsorship is the most used one and the one that people are most common with. This sponsorship involves entrance fees for events and competitions, money for travel expenses and even a paycheck.

http://getsponsoredfast.com/free-sponsorship-video/index3.

html

Legal and Ethic alCopyrightCopyright is the right made by the law of a certain country that means the creator has exclusive rights for its distribution and use. You have to apply for a license that stops copyright of your product. You can do this on GOV.uk .

IPIntellectual property is having the right to aspects of your company which stops people from stealing them or copying them. In order to protect the IP of the company I will check the laws and regulations and register my company for its IP rights.

PrivacyThe users of LifeFollower will be able to change their privacy settings which will show or not show the things deemed by the user and only their selves. This will help each and every user of LifeFollower keep some privacy as this is a concern to a lot of people that use social media.

https://www.gov.uk/copyright/stop-people-using-your-work

IPRegistering a trademark

https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm3-online/CompleterTypeQuestion/

Edit

On GOV.uk you can register a trademark. You must fill in survey like questions which will begin the process of registering your company’s trademark, this will protect its IP and help the company to stop people copying and stealing it.

Data Protection ActThe Data Protection Act 1998 protects people’s personal data and defines UK law on the processing of this data.

Everyone that uses data have to follow the Data Protection Principles, they are as follows:The information must be• Used fairly and lawfully• Used for limited, specifically stated purposes• Used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive• Accurate• Kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary• Handled according to people’s data protection rights• Kept safe and Secure• Not transferred outside the European Economic Area without adequate

protectionhttps://www.gov.uk/data-protection/the-data-protection-

act

Advertising Standards Association

The Advertising Standards Association applies to LifeFollower because the ASA restrict what is allowed and forbidden in advertising. The advertising for LifeFollower will be accessed by the ASA and they will determine if it has inappropriate material or not.

Health and Safety in the workplaceThe development of LifeFollower will require personnel which brings various health and safety concerns within the workplace.

Health and safety at the workplace is a serious thing and is a regulation that will need to be abided by whilst having personnel working for me in the production of LifeFollower.

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 is one of the largest legislations that protects health and safety of workers in Britain.

LifeFollower have to abide by this regulation because otherwise the employees that feel their safety has been compromised and feel that LifeFollower has not followed the health act can sue the company.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm

Hazards or Risks Case StudyRecently there have been people quitting Facebook and deleting their accounts because they fear that they are addicted to the site and they fear that they have no privacy whilst they are on Facebook.

LifeFollower will avoid this by having intense and advanced privacy settings so that the user does not feel like they have no privacy. If the user feels that their privacy is a concern then they can contact LifeFollower and report an issue or ask any FAQ’s that may re assure them of their safety whilst using LifeFollower.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2423713/Facebook-users-committing-virtual-identity-suicide-quitting-site-droves-privacy-addiction-

fears.html

RisksPredatorsOn social media sites there has always been a growing fear of whether or not the person you are talking to is actually them or if it is a predator.

CyberBullyingPeople bully others online, this is called cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is something that can only be prevented if the victim reports it to the site. Cyber bullying is present on all social media devices and LifeFollower will offer support and prevent this from happening if reported by a user.

TrollingTrolling can be technolgical abuse in one of the following ways: Verbal, insulting, hacking or just general disturbing of others online. Trolling can be considered a crime if they are ‘trolling’ something of a delicate and serious nature, trolls have been convicted for crimes against trolling grieving or un fortunate members of a site.

ExploitingExploiting is making use of a site in an unfair or unlawful way. This could be hacking or just ‘exploiting’ something for material gain to that person.

HackingHacking is a crime and people do it to exploit and sometimes to break down a website or technological device. For example there have been hackers that have hacked government property to gain information and then sell it on. This is illegal and they are prosecuted and sent to prison.

How LifeFollower will avoid the hazards

LifeFollower will avoid these hazards by checking the security or the website regularly to ensure that people are not abusing or exploiting the site in anyway. There will be an opportunity to report things that users have done or if users are concerned with anything whilst using the site, including their privacy and safety.

Regular maintenance will be performed ion the site to ensure that LifeFollower is not vulnerable to exploits or hackers. If hacking does take place and users commit such actions, then LifeFollower will report them to the appropriate authorities and an investigation will take place.

Conclusion

After deciding that LifeFollower was going to be my final idea that I take into production as a pose to my second idea GameFame.

In this LO I created a production schedule and site map for LifeFollower which would both prove useful in the production stage of my social media product. There are legal and safety considerations to take into account which have been discussed as well in this LO.