RyanJin.me

Today, Apollo Group, the owner of the ginormous, University of Phoenix, fell 4.71 points to $56.71 today out of news that they were below street estimates. The prime culprit you ask? Bad debt.

Now remember back in the day when people were foreclosing on homes, losing their jobs, yadda yadda yadda? Well to combat this, our government decided to issue some  stimulus into our economy. More money to people means more money in our economic system right? Not necessarily, but the idea is good. In addition to that stimulus, Obama told people, “Go back to school!”, “Get a higher education,” and so on and so forth. Again this is a great idea and an important tool to increasing the prosperity of our nation.. but what do you think happens to the schools when you have people who can’t pay for this education?

Another bad day on Wall Street.

High Education, For Profit Education.. it was a nice little alternative for people who lost a lot last year in banks or financials… but looking forward to this year and beyond… my only suggestion is to take caution. UofP mentions that they’re trying to focus their efforts from Undergraduates to more Graduates and Doctoral students… this does make sense, but if you are seriously considering a Masters or higher, I’d try and find a reputable University that focuses on Masters or higher.

For a long time, UofP and their undergraduate programs were a behemoth to not get in a battle with, but is it crazy to think that the idea of ‘Online University’ is moving more along the lines of ‘Online Graduate University’? I think it should, or at least play a more substantial role.

Online degrees (undergraduate) were a good idea, but as people become more and more independent within their own personal education system, so do their mentalities once they began their career. Now, with high school diplomas available online, are kids supposed to think that all higher education is easier AND better online? I hope not. Traditional universities with a campus, athletics, coffee shops, etc. are an important lesson ground for everyday life.. aside from a career perspective. Giving students that kind of experience is almost impossible for online universities to do.. this is why I believe online education should be a post undergraduate thing.

What do you think?

Peace.

If you’ve been floating around the internet lately, especially those social networks that shan’t be named, you might have seen some posts that start with the ever so popular “Top 10…”, or “10 Reasons to…” or “10 Ways to do…”. Is it me or do these kinds of things begin to get a little irritating?

With that said and done, here is my Top 7 Reasons Top 10 Lists are So Popular!

1. They are Quick. – The thing that many bloggers don’t have a lot of these days, is time. If you’re like me, you’re always looking for little 10 or 20 minute windows to pump out an entry in between the day job activities. Although I don’t really do this I have to admit, I do. But this is not a problem with Top 10 Lists! The beauty to writing out a in-depth and well thought out Top 10 List, is most of the work is already done. In in all reality, its really like writing a top 3 list!

2. Its great content that everyone loves reading! (tiny bit of sarcasm there) – If you can pull a top 10 list out of your butt and have it be at least somewhat engaging, people out there will read it. Let’s just say you do a top 10 list of the reasons why H tags are important in SEO…. If you do SEO, I’m sure you can think of 10 reasons why H tags are important, and if you can’t, I’m sure you know how to find those reasons out. The point being made is… these so-called lists are the quickest and most informative way of expressing content in a post. I bet I can do a Top 10 List every day and the average amount of traffic I get to my site will increase day after day… which brings me to point 3.

3. They are quick to read. – When someone is looking through some author’s hugely engrossing Top 10 List, if they don’t want to spend the time carefully uncovering those treasured facts, they can skim through the headings and get the gist of the post. Bold your headings or at least do some sort of thing to make your list look like an easy read.. even if it isn’t.

4. You don’t need any creativity.. Just find someone else’s top list and just jumble their list items around to make your own, it’s really simple actually for you lazy bums out there. On that same note, creativity does actually help when trying to persuade your audience why your specific list item is there, but in all reality.. they’re not reading your thought out reasons… am I right? (In this case, I hope I’m wrong).

5. They make you look informed. Although I have to say my top 7 list does not really do me any credit when it comes to social media, I just wanted to add fuel to the fire.. like I always do. Believe me, I am not an informed social media guru… I’m not even that big of a D-Bag. I’m just an individual taking both sides of the social debate. The talker and the listener… its quite fun and revealing when you are on both sides.

6. Its a nice Thursday morning write-up when you can’t think of anything else to write. – While professional bloggers might think they are future novelists and great thinkers of the Web2.0, there are times when writer’s block strikes the best of us. The beauty behind Top 10 Lists is that they are mindless. A good way to come up with a new list… 1) Take something you like. 2) Find 10 reasons you like it. 3) Spend 2 minutes writing them out. You’re done. Congratulations!

7. They are the easiest way so-called “social media experts” can get you to their content. – Sorry, but its true. When people are looking to be informed, they are looking for simple easily readable information. If that person thinks you’re credible or at least likes your list.. well great. On the other hand, those who disagree with you from time to time will also enjoy reading your lists and explaining back to you why your list is wrong and totally screwed up. Hey, but at least I’m getting traffic right?

So there you have it. My Top 7 Reasons Top 10 Lists are So Popular. If you skimmed through this and didn’t take the time to read the actual post, well then thanks. My writing isn’t good any ways.

Peace.

As December suddenly made its way into my hectic lifestyle, a few important and very exciting things have started occuring to me… and I guess it centers mostly on family.

Being away from my family this past Thanksgiving was a little difficult, but Andrea and I made the most of it through spending some quality time at Disneyland. Honestly, it was a really fun trip, and I’m still going through withdrawls. (the car ride home was horrible) But that being said, I can hardly wait for Christmas to come. Not only will I get to go home, but I’m totally excited to see my family, friends, and eat good food. Just thinking about it now makes me ansy.

And although I know this has no relevance to anything in search or social, I’ve really felt the strong desire to tell you now just how I feel. Actually, I was visiting a blog of my friends who is in Japan teaching. Recently, Julia has been updating her blog on holiday plans, food posts, and pictures of her daughter, who is just too cute. It is the highly personal things (from family and friends) that really make me come back to a blog to read more and continue to stay updated. I may think I’m more into reading up on my professional area of expertise, but I think when it comes down to it, friends, family, and thoughts of comfort (home) is what makes me the most happiest.

And so I guess this brings me back to my blog. No personal pictures, no stories of my family, and not even a steady post rate. As a blogger, I’d have to say I deserve the grade of a strong C-. There is a lot to improve upon, but more importantly, I’m thinking I don’t really want to lecture in my posts anymore, but communicate more along the lines of talking and discussing. I know I’m a month early, but I think a good new years resolution for me is to push out 5 times as many posts as I did this year. (I don’t think that will be too hard) I’ll try more.

Peace