As social media use continues to escalate around the world, you might be surprised to learn who is leading the pack. Even with over two billion users, Facebook isn’t growing at the rapid rate of Instagram, who last year gained 100 million users in six-months. Farhad Manjoo for the New York Times dives deeper into the intricacies of our love for (and frustrations with) social media in his article, Why Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook.
Tag: New York Times
Last Minute Tax Prep?
Did you wait until the last minute to prepare your taxes this year? You do have an extra three days, the deadline is April 18th. Have questions? Need to know about forms and deductions? Try this article from the New York Times and if that doesn’t get you where you need to be,
give me a call!
Employee Manipulation?
After a string of issues involving both customer and driver dissatisfaction, Uber has vowed to make new investments into the driver experience. But even as they talk about changes, the company is still engaged in a massive behavioral experiment in order to entice drivers to work more and longer hours, at times in less lucrative areas.
Noam Schreiber for the New York Times thinks that, “By mastering their workers’ mental circuitry, Uber and the like may be taking the economy back toward a pre-New Deal era when businesses had enormous power over workers and few checks on their ability to exploit it.” Read more here: How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers’ Buttons
Pink Collar?
As more and more traditionally male, “blue-collar” jobs disappear, a new trend of “pink-collar” work is on the rise. This is causing an interesting divide in the workplace where unemployed men are not willing to move into these jobs such as health aide. One that takes soothing and calm, a “woman’s touch,” one man quipped in the article, Why Men Don’t Want the Jobs Done Mostly by Women. Even as factories continue to close or automate, men are not seeking these types of middle-skill jobs. Although lack of training and need for extra schooling play a part, researchers and sociologists are finding that the biggest reason is how the jobs are viewed. At this point, many employers are turning to rebranding to encourage more men to apply. One such ad in a hospital compared the excitement of being a surgery nurse to the rush of mountain climbing.
Hidden Monopolies?
The attempted merger of AT&T and Time Warner has drawn a lot of attention lately. So much that a Senate hearing was held last week to investigate the possibility of the combined companies forming a monopoly. During the meeting of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, Mark Cuban, internet entrepreneur, made the comment that people should not be concerned with the waning phone business but internet giants, Google and Facebook. Jonathan Taplin, Op-Ed contributor for the New York Times, investigates this further in, Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.
Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn?
Many teenagers are now creating LinkedIn profiles in order to share a more “adult” view of their achievements with colleges and universities during the admissions process. Some question the health of having our children so future-focused, while others make a living teaching students how to tailor these profiles to best showcase their skills and achievements. What do you think? In the current climate of highly competitive college admissions, should you pull out all the stops in an effort to land the college of your dreams?
New Item on the College Admission Checklist: LinkedIn Profile
Truth or Meme?
During this election season especially, the public has employed more and more tools to influence the online political narrative, or so it seems, according to Amanda Hess for the New York Times in, Memes, Myself and I: The Internet Lets Us All Run the Campaign. What a fascinating read and another look into the ways social media continues to inform our views as a nation. Now, if I could just find the perfect Accounting meme to steer clients my way.
Hope For The Urban Worker
But small manufacturers like Marlin are vital if the United States is to narrow the nation’s class divide and build a society that offers greater opportunities for everyone — rich and poor, black and white, high school graduates and Ph.D.s.
Factories such as Marlin Steel who make very specific products, are still providing jobs in the urban setting where there is a great need for employment. As more and more jobs are lost to automation and outsourcing, these smaller companies are making a difference and creating hope in cities across the U.S.
Read more about this current development here: Small Factories Emerge as a Weapon in the Fight Against Poverty. Maybe there truly is a light at the end of the tunnel for those seeking skilled work in urban settings and for the crisis of unemployment in our country.
Buy Only What You’ll Use
Give yourself time to think about every purchase. That’s what Carl Richards, for the New York Times suggests in his article, New Rule: All Purchases Subject to a 7-Day Mental Quarantine. We have a similar process in our house for purchases made at Goodwill. If you bring it home, you must clean it and incorporate it into your life within seven days or it goes back to Goodwill. In many ways, this compares to the seven-day item quarantine Carl’s family is currently using.
During the quarantine, the person desiring the object must answer the following questions: How much did it cost? Are you replacing something you already own? Why do you think it’s amazing? And if it’s food, are you sure you’ll eat it? Once the time limit has passed, it is much easier to make an ‘informed’ decision and not end up with something you’ll never wear, use or eat. Give it a try and let us know if it works for you in the comments.
Have You Written a Money Letter?
Dear Reader,
Did you know that writing a simple “money” letter to your children will have more of an impact on their spending habits than just telling them your thoughts and feelings about money?
This week, why not think back to your biggest money successes and failures (these are often most helpful), put pen to paper and send your child a note that can have a deep and lasting effect on their lives? If you’re lucky, they’ll listen to your advice and you might even find yourself featured in a book, like Gail Shearer did when her daughter Kimberly wrote the book, Smart Mom, Rich Mom, based on the money letter she received from her mother.
Need advice on just what to say? Check out this article from the New York Times, The Money Letter That Every Parent Should Write.