Take a Stand,

Think about the Future

Not a lot of individuals are familiar with the fact that the most extreme form of poverty is hunger where people cannot meet their most basic need for food. "Over 16000 children under the age of 5 die from hunger - related causes every single day or one child every five seconds" states Bread for the World. 852 million people across the world are hungry which is ten million more than a year ago. Globalization lead to a greater perception of the problems around the world making more and more individuals aware of their significance and realize that they are the ones that need to stop this trend because children are the future. UNICEF, a non - for - profit organization, mandated by the United Nations to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential, tries to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behavior towards children. UNICEF insists that "the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress".

Having such a significant and positive vision, UNICEF have gained millions of supporters around the world leading to its Webby Awards nomination and being Webby People's Voice winner. Its website captures viewers' attention by making each individual who opens it to feel the hardship and pain of all those disadvantaged children who are victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, and all forms of violence and exploitation. Relating to the Internet World Statistics, the growth of the Internet usage for the last six years is 200.9% , leading organizations such as UNICEF to create websites which will educate people around the world about their vision and hopefully gain support from individuals who believe that every single person can make a difference in helping the children in need. The criteria according to Webby Awards that makes a website frontrunner are implemented in UNICEF's website. It is successful in informing the audience and it is innovative with a distinctive design and engaging content that gives the viewer the chance to easily interact with its features without having any technological impediments. However, the manner of attaining its goal in helping the children in need by attracting people to give donations or get involved in some of UNICEF's campaigns is not completely clear at first glace. This issue needs to be addressed because according to Web Style Guide making "the tactical design decisions about what [the] audience wants from [ the site], and how to arrange the content to best meet [the] audience's needs" will lead to the overall experience which has the greatest impact on people's experience.

UNICEF's website, starting with a very attention getting animation accompanied by a very deep and sad - sounding song, depicts the state of the world's children in 2006 and how they make their way through life "impoverished, abandoned, uneducated, malnourished, discriminated against, neglected, and vulnerable". Its content is engaging and takes a very important stand that concerns the well - being of children not only in the developing countries such as Cambodia and Nepal but also those in the developed ones such as Great Britain and Venezuela which is exactly what Webby Awards judges seek in a website : "[a] good content [that] takes a stand." It does it in a manner that is informative giving an example of eight children who are struggling in life working or roaming the streets to get their basic necessities and who are looking for help so they can have the opportunity as the rest of the children to attend school and most importantly have a normal life which is adequate for their age. This information is supported by charts, graphs, maps, and tables both as a single file or in parts. Moreover, there is a 2006 State of the World's Children report focusing on the "excluded and invisible" children who have no access to essential services, protection and participation. Those children are called "excluded and invisible" because they are prematurely in adult roles and lack formal identity and parental care. The information on the site is credible because the domain type is for noncommercial purpose; however, when dealing with statistics we need to check how the data was gathered.

The visual design of UNICEF's website is very effective using contrasting colors such as blue, pink, and grey. It also incorporates a lot of photographs which are very helpful in showing the suffering of the disadvantaged children. There are tables that support the message the website conveys which can be customized for a specific continent, country, or even a region and whose data can be chosen from an array of options according to its importance. The web design completely supports UNICEF's framework which is informing people around the world about children in need and it meets users need of finding all the information and statistical data they want about those children. Moreover, it is done in a way that is clear and concise that does not overload the readers with unnecessary information. Web Style Guide emphasizes that "visual and functional continuity in your Web site organization, graphic design, and typography are essential to convince your audience that [the] web site offers them timely, accurate, and useful information". UNICEF is very successful in organizing the content of its website. The spatial organization of graphics and text is logical and creates a balance between the visual impression and the graphic information. In addition, the information on the website is prioritized leading to a more logical transition from one set of data to another.

Webby Awards' understanding of a good structure consists of qualities such "consistent, intuitive and transparent". UNICEF' s website has those qualities because it is consistent with the image of the reader's mind after following the set of information presented by the animation when the website is first opened. These features are reinforced by the ease of use of the navigation which helps the reader get the information they want fast. Consequently, the audience can take full advantage of the information and the features of the site. However, according to Web Style Guide the "rich set of graphic navigation and interactivity links within [the] Web pages [that] will pull users' attention down the page" are missing. The information is not dense but it lacks visual relief which would otherwise make every link stand out and give the first impression of its context. Graphical images are not present which does not draw any attention and motivate the audience to follow those links.

The technology on the site functions extremely well considering the fact that it starts with audio and video effects which is another criterion that Webby Awards judges consider. They highlight that "good functionality makes the experience center stage and the technology invisible". UNICEF's website downloads extremely fast no matter whether it is a dual - up connection or a broadband and the flow from one page to the other is almost invisible leaving the audience highly satisfied. All the links are functional and most important extremely relevant to the idea of the site.

UNICEF's site gives the reader the chance to interact with it by allowing choosing freely what page to be opened next and giving the option to make a personalized table. If the reader is interested in getting the facts fast but not adapted, he or she has the choice just clicking on Fast Facts option. As an example, the audience can get a summarized data about the least developed countries consisting of the most common indicators. Relating to Figure 3.6 , on average 30% of the children between 5 and 11 years of age, do at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work.However, to get a more personalized set of data, he or she can choose Customized Statistical Tables. This is a great option because it allows the audience to safe time looking for the exact information that it is interested in. The reader can choose only his home country and then select the statistics he or she wants to be displayed such as under 5 mortality rank or rate. There are only 3 easy and straightforward steps that will lead to the appropriate table. For example, Bulgaria ranks 131st among the countries with a high under - 5 mortality rate.

UNICEF's website is very interactive and an individual can learn a lot of interesting facts about the lifestyle of the children in the developing countries as well as choose whether to become a volunteer for the organization. UNICEF gives a chance to every person to act by joining the World Fit for Children Campaign or becoming a UNICEF UK Youth Voice advisor. Webby Awards criteria emphasize that "good interactivity is more than a rollover or choosing what to click on next; it allows [the] user, to give and receive". UNICEF's audience can observe videos of the profiles of some of the children which represent their unfortunate lives in a way that can be seen, heard, and accordingly felt. In addition, an individual can order a video news package that reveals the state of children in locations such as Cambodia and Uzbekistan. UNICEF's site also offers audio interviews with UNICEF experts such as The UNICEF's Editor of the State of the World's Children report and UNICEF's Senior Advisor on Child Protection. Just with one click, the audience can visit UNICEF Radio, featuring news and in-depth stories from around the world. The numerous options to be involved with UNICEF contribute to the audience overall experience as being a part and in a way responsible for the lives of the disadvantaged children. However, the viewers who intend to get involve have to browse many pages to get the proper one which may discourage them to look further. UNICEF's mission is to inform the audience about the hardship of the children in the developing countries in order to motivate people to aid them. However, UNICEF does not make its point clear because they do not accentuate the fact that they are non -for - profit organization based on external support since they do not provide a link on their homepage of the different options concerned people have. If this flaw is not corrected it may cost a loss of supporters.

What makes a website stand out is the overall experience that the audience gets when it surfs through it. Webby Awards emphasize that it is"more -- or less than the sum of their parts, the overall experience encompasses content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, and interactivity, but it also includes the intangibles that make one stay or leave". UNICEF's website is mostly design with this single criterion in mind. It makes the viewer sense something that is so distant to him or her such as the privation and the suffering of "the excluded and invisible" children around the world. Moreover, UNICEF does not only present to the audience these facts but it also provides the solutions of making this world a better place to live by giving options to get involved with the organization. Overall, UNICEF presents a hope for saving the lives of all disadvantaged children around the world.

Is it the Era of New Imperialism or Not?

Globalization involves liberalization of national and global markets through "widening and deepening of the international flows of trade, capital, technology, and information, within a single integrated market" as argued by James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer. Moreover, according to them, globalization does not represent anything but "imperialism in a new dress". In their book Globalization Unmasked: Imparialism in the 21st Century, Petras and Veltmeyer try to indicate that the existing world economics are in a process of creating optimal conditions for "the free play of greed, class interest and profit making" leading to a worldwide terror. One supporter of their understanding of globalization is Toni Solo with whom I completely disagree by criticizing his blog. He argues that globalization requires terror because imperialistic nation such as the Unied States can sustain its leading position only through the means of political chicanery and terror.

Claiming that globalization is imperialistic is like claiming that "liberating slaves imposes a particular lifestyle on the former slaves"*1 . Globalization's most significant purpose is to free trade. Barriers are abolished and restraint on trade is removed, both the opposite of any kind of imposed imperialism. Amartya Sen whose point of view is presented in a blog sees that globalization's accomplishments are very significant. Moreover, free trade fosters prosperity which prevents the tendency of war.


*1 http://www.hoover.org/pubaffairs/dailyreport/archive/2855136.html

Internet Advertising
Reach The Unreachable

Internet is the newest of the media types which scope of audience is enormous and keeps growing every single second. However, it is often isolated under the spotlight of the highest intensity medias such as magazine advertisisng and TV advertising and has not been included in the breakdown of advertising spending.

Within such a fast peace and technologically advanced society that we live in, we do not have time and means to waste. The advantages of Internet advertising far excess that of traditional print publications through cost, wider consumer markets, and most importantly the potential of increased profit margins.

In contrast with traditional print publications, while the initial startup costs of an Internet website may be at times comparable to that of a one - time promotion in traditional print media, the costs are considerable lower for the following reasons such as no expense bared for storage, delivery, or repeated design fees for each new promotion. The Internet website is reusable, recyclable, and rarely falls into redundancy with outdated materials. When considering the advantages of Internet - based advertising, the error modification incurs little to no cost to repair typographical errors and wrong promotion dates. It's much easier to fix an oversight like this at the spur of the moment, and only takes a moment.

The availability of the Internet website allows consumer access to information, and more importantly sales twenty - four hours per day, seven days per week, throughout the entire year which is known as "24x7x365" availability. According to Nielson Net Ratings "Online shopping population to double in the next 5 years".

In weighing the advantage of Internet versus traditional print methods, the consumer market potential is extremely limited in the traditional venue with geographical restrictions in most media being only available to local viewing area, and when larger budges allow, national markets can be approached. By comparison, the Internet is extremely the opposite having no physical or geographical limitations and broadening the consumer base on the massive global scale. For an example, sometimes, when a person goes to his e-mail he or she can see different sponsorship links such as Victoria's Secret, Expedia.com, or Time Warner Cable.

Finally, the overall picture can be viewed in financial terms, or specifically, the profit margin. For each dollar that is spent in advertising, a business will take for granted, it will acquire a potential, paying customer. For the traditional advertiser, it may seem like little with two dollars expended to reach a new consumer, but not nearly as impressive as the dime or quarter it required for the Internet advertiser to reach an infinite number of potential customers.

The fact that the opportunity for creativity in online advertising are limitless is one more advantage to consider including target marketing, message tailoring, information access, sales potential, exposure, and speed, when we are to decide what kind of media to use when we want to advertise.

Globalization:

An Opportunity for The Developing Countries

Every single action that a human being undertakes requires a tread - off. The same phenomenon is true also for the different processes such as globalization which is the increasing world - wide integration of markets for goods, services, and capital. Globalization leads to the integration of economical, cultural, and political social systems across geographical boundaries and it has been regarded as beneficial providing the key to world economic development. Nevertheless, it can be also destructive decreasing equality between and within nations by threatening employment and living standards.

Deciding whether globalization is more advantageous than disadvantageous requires a prolonged analysis of the trade, the capital movement, the movement of the people, and the spread of knowledge and technology. The gaps between rich and poor countries and between rich and poor people within a country have grown, but the global average per capita income has risen strongly leading to a considerable progress of the developing countries because of the medical advances and improved living standards.

Originating in a small European country, Bulgaria, where people used to struggle through their entire life just to satisfy the need for their necessities, I acknowledge the advantage that globalization conveyed in my country. It brought international capital flows, technological innovations, and lower priced import goods. Bulgaria's GDP has risen by an average of 5.1 % in the last few years considering the fact that Global GDP imcreases by 3.8%. Moreover, Bulgaria is on its way to be accepted as a member of the European Union, an intergovernmental and supranational union, having the chance to benefit from its free trade, foreign investments and incomes and profits, a more diverse European labor market, and exploitation of economies of scale from supplying to a larger market. " The economy has turned 180 degrees from the midst of despair during the mid 1990's with a large economic restructuring and reforms administrated" states BankIntroductions.com. It is also mentioned that thanks to the country's increasing popularity, the tourism in the country is valued at $1 billion dollars per year.

Another positives aspects of the globalization are the rapid growth and the poverty reduction in China and India, and other countries that were poor 20 years ago.

The negative aspects of cultural assimilation via cultural imperialism are not as significant and detrimental as the positive outcomes such as economic growth, improved living standards, and increased employment opportunities that will be experienced in every country which goes through the process of globalization.