The Samaritans was founded in the UK by Reverend Chad Varah who had always wanted to help those who are in distress and has nobody else to turn to. The Samaritans was named in reference to him.

The Samaritans of Singapore was first established in 1st December 1969.  It is a non-profit and non-religious organization which aims to prevent suicide and provide emotional support to those who are in despair.

The vision of the organization is to be an available lifeline to those in need.

And their mission is to provide 24hour emotional support by trained volunteers to people who are in crisis(thinking of suicide or affected by suicide).

Below is the statistics of suicide rates in Singapore.

The Samaritans of Singapore website actually provides alot of information about the organization and it also provide information about suicide.

However, I feel that the web layout is too complicated for those who are in distress. It doesn’t exactly help the person to be calm and the complicated design of the layout might contribute more to their stress. It is also not user friendly as those who are not familiar with the use of computer might find themselves stuck and would not know where to click on.

Another problem is that the website is targeted more towards the volunteers rather than those who are suffering. There were also no recent updates to the website.

Therefore, the solution to the problem is to create a more simpler website which is less complicated and user friendly. 

We can also make use of social media tools so as to generate more public awareness among the community. Some example of these social media tools are Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and also Youtube.

Through twitter, they will be able to provide short updates to public.

Facebook is also effective in way that it known to generate a lot of traffic. Therefore, creating a group on facebook relating to this organization might actually help in getting more publicity. There will also be a network of volunteers and also those who are in need of help. Facebook is effective as it will be able to spread the message about the organization around through friends.

Creating a microsite is also another way in creating awareness. Microsite, such as blogger, will enable the organization to update about their events and past experiences. It is a great way to interest the community as a blog is less formal and easier to understand.

By using youtube, it can also generate publicity. as it will enable them to videos of events held such as talk and campaigns. One of the features of youtube is that users can post their comments regarding their video. Through that, viewers can share their thoughts about the video.

Below is the ranking of the most visited websites in Singapore. As you can see, Facebook is ranked #1 as the most visited website overall. 

Campaigns can also be held to create awareness as well as posters. Putting up advertisements on the internet, radio as well as television can also create more awareness among the public.

So in conclusion, social media is a very effective tool that helps to generate awareness among the public as most of our population are using the internet and it is part of their daily lives.

References:

www.samaritans.org.sg

http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/papers/people/ssnsep02-pg21-22.pdf

Youtube was first founded in February 2005. Even within its short existance, Youtube has definitely become an example of a modern internet phenomenon as it is a video-sharing website that is used daily by people from all over the globe. Youtube has certainly made its way into becoming one of the most popular internet portal whereby users are able to upload videos, share, watch and create channels whether for personal, entertainment or promotional purposes.

 The plus point of Youtube is that users do not need to download special software in order to view videos. Instead it can be viewed directly on the web makes it very easy to view and watch the videos. Another key to Youtube’s success was that viewers are able share the video by sending a link via email to their friends, which enabled the creation of a community of users. And it also easy for bloggers to embed a video from Youtube to their own webpages or blogs.

One of the difficulties Youtube faced is that how to generate revenue. It was a challenge for Youtube as they will want to do so without alienating its existing clients. Therefore, Youtube came out with a bunch of solutions. Some of them are sponsored brand channels(which are specially designed Youtube pages that  allow users to view branded content), display advertising, contests(run by companies, where viewers rate videos), Youtube video ads(companies are  able to advertise their products on the site), as well as Youtube in-videos ads(placed in Youtube partner’s video content). Youtube also controls the ‘Featured Videos’  on its homepage which can dramatically increase the video’s popularity. 

This feature can actually help those companies who wishes to generate more publicity towards themselves or their products. Through videos posted, organizations or companies are able to interact with customers through ratings and comments. The comment feature is an easy way for customers to ask question, share their experiences as well as sharing their ideas.

Despite Youtube’s success and popularity, critics have argued that many of the videos are of dubious quality and are barely watchable in comparison to Metacafe, which makes an effort to be selective and promote only good videos. Therefore, eventhough Youtube is currently successful, the future is still uncertain for Youtube. This is because Youtube has been in a series of major legal issues over copyright and it also has a wave of aggressive new rivals. Hence, Youtube might become the next Napster, a company that pioneered the digital downloading of music but was shut down by legal action undertaken by the major music labels.

The Autism Resource Centre(Singapore)(ARC(S)) is a non-profit organization created by volunteers dedicated to serve children and adults with ASD to help them lead meaningful lives in the society. They provide a range of services, such as therapy to those suffering from Autism.

The mission of the organization is to actually help those suffering from autism spectrum disorder by maximising their potential in life through advocacy and provision of services in education, employment and empowering of family caregivers / professionals.

Their aim is to to empower individuals with a better understanding about autism. Therefore, some of the services they provided is training & consultancy, early intervention, student enrichment so as to create more awareness about autism to the general public.

Through training & consultancy, they are hoping to equip professionals and caregivers with knowledge, skills and tools in order to effectively teach support and guide persons with autism.

They also created the weCAN intervention programme which aims to maximise the learning potential and the development of life skills of young children with ASD.

They also offer children and youths with ASD quality enrichment and ASD-friendly programmes.

They also have a mailing list for the public to join so as to get updates about the organization and the upcoming events.

In their website, they provided a FAQ section which answers questions of which people are curious about. They also accepts donations as well as volunteers.

Some of the recommendations that can be used to publicize and generate public awareness is by making use of social media such as twitter and facebook. Posters can also help to generate awareness.

Reference:

www.autism.org.sg

The National Archives of Singapore(NAS) is first established in 1968 and was first known as the National Archives and Records Centre (NARC). It is located at somewhere near to the Fort Canning Park.

The NAS houses the collective memory of our nation.It showcases information and memories of Singapore from then to present allowing future and younger generations to explore our heritage and appreciate our nation.

The history of Singapore is stored there for education purposes so as let the younger generation understand, experience and learn more about Singapore through history, culture and process of building up the nation through the times.

During the field trip, we firstly went into the Archives Services which manages our archival holdings. Over there they store records of national and historical significance which is open to the public in case they want to use the information for their research or just out of curiousity.

We visited the Archives Conservation Lab which conserves and preserves paper documents which have deteriorated due to time, physical wear and tear, or insect and fungal infestation. We also were shown the process and method of preserving those paper documents.

We also went into the Image Preservation Lab which reformats images of fragile paper records onto microfilm and digital media for effective long-term storage. We were able to watch the workers in action as they scanned documents into the computer.

Our next stop is the Audio-Visual Archives and Exhibition. There, they capture and preserve moving images and recorded sound heritage of Singapore. We were shown the different type of tools used for audio and visual recordings.

Overall, I find the trip interesting and I have learnt alot more about the history of media and how they progress to what it is now.

From the lecture, I have learnt more about new media. The guest speaker managed to show us some of the works that his company, Ripplewerkz, have done. Some of these included the design of Xiaxue blog, nuffnang and more.

The guest speaker also mentions about the difference between freelance and employee. If working under employee, we have to fulfil the clients exact needs for his or her website under a limit of time and as for freelance it more free and you would only handle the job if you have the time. He added that a static website will cost about 1.5k on the other hand, a database website costs ranging from 5k to 10k.

He also mentions about the improvement from web 1.0 to web 2.0. One of the most common new media tool that people are using today is twitter. Twitter is a tool which enables users to send messages, upload photos and their current status online. It is convenient for iphone, blackberry or smartphone users to use the tool to communicate with others online.

He said that in the working environment it is different than in school. It is infact more complex and not so simple as passing and failing. In the working environment if we do not manage to meet the needs of the client we have to improve on our work further or even redo everything as a whole again.

Overall, I find the lecture interesting as I have learnt more about the uses of new media. And I also got to know about the competetiveness in the working world.

4 Reasons As To Why Organizations Should Embrace Social Media

It has been stated that social media is a factor that can help to shape business and it can also have a positive effect on any organizations. The article simply states the 4 reasons as to why organizations should embrace social media.

There is no denying that the social media trend is rapidly growing with the immense popularity of social networking sites and applications such as Facebook and Twitter. Due to its growth, the impact of social media on business cannot be ignored.

Social media or networks can come in many different types. Wiki, for example, allows users to share information on best practices, tips and advice. While Facebook and Twitter allow users to interact with other people.

 So, what are the reasons that made some companies turn to social media in order to establish their enterprise?

The first reason is the use of Twitter because it popular, you can get quick reaction from interested parties and it is also a new way to develop and improve customer relationships. The advantage of using Twitter is that it gives a free voice for your company or product. However, the disadvantage of it is that it requires regular attention and consistent application of the company message. And also if there were to be any missteps or mistakes, it will publicly broadcast.

The second reason is to build a knowledge base as it is quick to set up and easy to add and link information. The advantage is that it helps place contrasting information in one place and it is often free or low-cost to implement. The disadvantage is it requires positive staff acceptance and input to work well and it can also be an easy source of information for departing staffs to take with them.

The third reason is to strengthen distributed or virtual teams as social media tools are great for creating a focal point for distributed offices and project teams. The advantage is it acts as a central office for remote staff and it also maximizes the availability of people and information. The disadvantage is that wrong or bad information can be spread just as quickly as good information.

And lastly, the fourth reason is the expert blog. Some companies might only be interested in fishing for a limited number potential clients hence, a blog can be the social tool of choice. The advantage of it is it’s a good way for companies with information and knowledge benefit to generate awareness and it is also a great way to encourage public dialog. The disadvantage is that it requires some time to build the content and awareness required and there is already lots of competition in most fields.

Reference:

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/social-media/4-reasons-your-organization-should-embrace-social-media-005816.php