Attracting and Retaining Dedicated Donors: The Digital Quest and Beyond

 Attracting and retaining donors in a non-profit organization is a complex process that requires continuous engagement, networking, and a strategic spread of awareness. Before the digital era, such efforts were done mostly in person, through direct mail campaigns, and community events, the least. If one could afford it, media outlets such as radio and television were also used to spread the word. 

The basic requirement remains the same, however: your story should be convincing and instill resonance in the hearts of listeners and viewers. If this is about a struggling child who lives in а dysfunctional family, where one or both parents are alcoholics or narcotic addicts who neglect their kid, then it should be described vividly, in colors, with some introductory background, a rising action: challenge or injustice that is happening to the character, and the climax, the critical moment where the character is now. Then we bring our listeners’ attention to this turning point and tell them that the character’s destiny is unwritten yet and could be improved with collective efforts. This is where the cause, mission, and goals of an organization are articulated and where the importance of raising funds can be explained. 

The listeners are intrigued, and some want to become remarkable figures in the story, impacting the way future events are unfolding for the main character. Once the donors are looped in, they anticipate hearing and witnessing the continuation of the character’s story. What has been done? How did it affect the child? Where is he now? 

With the introduction of digital spaces, the logic behind donor-cause correlation hasn’t changed: there must be some sort of emotional and cognitive alignment between the first and latter; the only difference is the vastness and magnitude of information spread and the tools that must be used strategically to disseminate information and attract the right people to the corresponding cause. Therefore, when we try to optimize an organization’s website and make it stand out in the digital ocean, we must think of ourselves as authors who write a captivating story that instills genuine interest in readers and keeps them on their toes, craving to know more and hoping to witness a happy ending. 

With this logic, it is easier to stay tuned and focused on the main goal, because then you know that anything that is articulated on the web pages, within their intermediary layers and outskirts, is a cohesive story where no fragment or word is at random but is interconnected meaningfully. So, regardless of what page you start on, the way the journey is designed can make you read anywhere and still get you to the right destination. It requires consistency in the way the text and terminology are used across the organization’s web pages, ensuring that links are functional, sources are accurate and not misleading, and the content presentation is visually accessible. 

A lot of content creators struggle with words, and as a result, the names that they assign to different sections of the website and the terminology that they use to describe certain activities on it are all weak and inconsistent. As a result, visitors' time on page is low, session durations are short, and the bounce rates are high. 

In one case, a youth support organization does not have one solid word or term to describe the target group, consisting of legal guardians, social workers, and crisis workers who want to help minors. There are no guidelines on the main page on where they should go. One way to resolve this is to add “Help Seekers” to the main menu next to “Donors,” or simply “Get Help,” if it is next to “Donate.” 

For those visitors who represent both the help-seeker and philanthropist groups, the story is abruptly interrupted, and instead of continuing their journey, they activate their long-term memory in the search for an answer, and if patient enough, they could rummage through the pages for some time in search of answers. This is a rather frustrating experience for them that can eventually demotivate them from continuing or even returning to the website.

The visual clutter and poor design choices are also distracting factors that interfere with the smooth user journey. Some designers dismiss the importance of a good contrast ratio between the background and text colors, which should not fall below 4.5:1 (for the body text), causing readers' eye strain that stops them from continuing reading. A good story shouldn’t have distracting factors, whether they are visual or conceptual. 

Perhaps a good analogy to a poor web storyline is shooting a bad movie where the background decorations are irrelevant to the movie plot and represent a different sentiment, era, or culture, and where the dialogues between the actors are mediocre, unconvincing, and at times very confusing. Ideally, the background decoration (interior, landscape), actors’ outfits, and other accompanying requisites should reinforce the storyline and not dilute it. As for the movie script, not only does it have to be consistent and have a logical structure, but there must also be something genuine and believable about it, something that could keep the viewer’s attention. 

For the donors, the story does not end with chipping in and receiving a confirmation message with warm gratitude. We shouldn’t forget about the story resolution. How can we ensure that the donors are kept in the loop and willingly so? One natural and unobtrusive way to do it is to ask them in that confirmation message directly: 

Would you like to stay in the loop and get impact updates and behind-the-scenes progress? 

 yes | no 

Any person likes to feel that he has the freedom to choose, and nothing is enforced on them. He can opt in or out at any time, but it is almost always the case that they want to be looped in. After all, it is thanks to their generous and attentive contribution that those vital life changes were possible. 

Through the compelling stories of rescue, survival, and escape, we want to find a deeper meaning for ourselves. It is the light at the end of the tunnel that keeps us going, and continuous examples and variations of this phenomenon – the happy ending - make us relive this experience over and over, reminding us of some universal goodness and an overall optimistic future. For some, this is achieved through professional accomplishments and career growth; for others, this feeling is relived through artistic or literary imagination; and for others, it is supported by continuous charity and philanthropy. 

To understand the charity and philanthropy personality types better, we need to acquaint ourselves with their inner (deeper) motivations and aspirations. What is the light at the end of the tunnel for them? One of the answers is the accomplishments of others whom they helped. At the very basis. But there could be variations of these answers: 

• self-actualization through helping others, 
• emotional and spiritual satisfaction through giving, 
• and maybe for some, an ego-boosting experience. 

Based on those inner motivations, it would be easier to formulate words that create emotional resonance with our target donor group, incorporating them into the organization’s language purposefully and using the language on the web pages strategically, without disrupting the smooth flow of our story. 

It is important to remember that donor experience does not end in the digital space, as this is just one of the mediums through which an important message is communicated. When an event is advertised on the organization’s website or a social media page, the actual event must deliver what it promised. It solidifies the relationships between donors and an organization, signals trustworthiness and credibility, and helps build a good reputation.

Habit-Forming Designs to Eliminate Behavioral Addictions

There's an ongoing debate about whether the habit-forming designs are ethical at their core, and we've seen what modern designs can do to an ordinary user and his attention:

• Gradually develops dependence on virtual validation through likes, positive comments, and an increased number of followers, which is all a surrogate and replacement for real connections
• Encourages behavioral addictions related to gambling, dating, shopping, and news
• Reduces user attention span because of how unchallenging and simplistic the content gets, for example: video reels, shorts, and tweets. 

Designers serve companies' interests, ensuring that their targeted users engage with the offered services continuously and, in some cases, develop behavioral patterns that would keep them hooked on the given app or website. Such designs have an intentionally strategic approach that taps into the user's goals and pain points. 

The Hooked book, written by Nir Eyal, explicitly discusses the model that helps designers build applications for user retention and their continuous engagement with these apps.

The author taps into human vulnerabilities that are the foundation of their internal triggers, such as fear, loneliness, boredom, or any other negative emotional experience that would motivate users to do something to alleviate such feelings.

The Hooked Model demonstrates stages in user engagement that lead to habit formation:

Considering how well this model works with user retention and their habit development, it may serve an even more important purpose: to help fight behavioral addictions. To name a few that are very popular these days:

• Eating disorders
• Gambling
• Impulsive spending
• Attachment issues
• FOMO (fear of missing out) in dating

Below is an example of how the Hook Model can be applied in creating an app to help someone with spending addiction:

Hook Model for Impulsive Spending Recovery App

The hook model and the design example above demonstrate the continuous loop of four stages that keeps a user engaged with the app. The internal triggers that this model accesses are at the core of every user's needs or scarcity of these needs. This means that regardless of the surface reason behind the user's motivation, such as:

        "I need a reliable, high-performance car."

...there is another one that lies a little deeper:

         "Life feels dull - I need a change."

But this isn't the final explanation, because there is one that is even deeper:

         "I can't change everything, but I can choose this."

And if we narrow it down to the very basic, we get the root cause of all the above reasons:

        "I can't change everything around me, but with this purchase, I reclaim control."

Another example that showcases social media addiction:

Surface layer: "I want to be notified when I receive a new comment."

Deeper layer: "I want to ensure that my post resonates with many."

Even deeper: "I need to feel validated because I want proof that my existence is meaningful."

The root cause: "I am afraid to be rejected and stay alone."

Identifying the root cause of users' pain points is what makes the design impactful, and at the same time, it offers users the promise that their life quality can be significantly improved.

Speak Like a Native or Not

Accents at the Workplace

Depending on the industry where you work, attitudes towards accents may be more forgiving in the fields where the focus is primarily directed at your technical aptitude or overall professional expertise, and less accepting in areas where higher public stakes are involved, such as law, politics, and broadcasting. 

On the other hand, certain special-interest channels may attract the type of audience who are purposefully looking for a unique kind of experience. Perhaps placing themselves outside of a habitual framework and exploring other forms of informational intake, the ones that may involve certain voice pitch, tone, resonance, a funny word choice, and generally something unconventional and possibly mind-opening. Why could this be the case? Because a foreign language could mean more cultural and social contexts, to begin with...

There are applications that were developed specifically for the purpose of improving language pronunciation to sound like a native speaker. They can be very handy for someone who is too busy to register for and regularly attend a formal language course that specializes in such training. Below is a comparison between the two effective English pronunciation apps:

 Speakometer vs. BoldVoice

Both of these apps help train proper English pronunciation. On a very basic level, these apps allow you to try their training for free, and once you approach a certain threshold of usage, you choose to stop there or get a paid version to continue your practice.

Speakometer can evaluate your pronunciation and provide just graded feedback, from not quite there yet to perfect, without any elaboration on what part of a word had weakness and how to tweak it to sound more like a native.

BoldVoice, on the other hand, attends to every mispronounced syllable, and once it captures your voice, it explicitly tells you in which part of a word or a phrase there was a weakness and provides recommendations on how to fix it. 

In the case with Speakometer, regardless of the number of times you rehearse to master a pronunciation, there is no guarantee that you get it right, because after all, there is no explicit guidance on how to do it. 

With BoldVoice the story is different: if you rehearse while following explicit recommendations, there is every chance for you to succeed and leave no trace of a foreign accent. 

Skepticism Toward the Credibility of Non-Native Speakers

There are instances when native speakers exhibit mistrust toward non-native speakers, and it doesn't happen intentionally. It is related to an unconscious kind of bias where non-native speakers are perceived as "others" who may have fundamentally different ways of functioning and interpreting things within the social and professional contexts. 

One of the most potent ways to overcome skepticism and bias is to simply know your subject well, be assertive about it, and be generally sincere in your intentions. 

How Help-Seekers Interact with Non-Profits on the Web

There is no single way of presenting information for help seekers that would be considered intuitive and user-friendly; however, if we, as designers, follow the rules of thumb, it never fails to work the way it is intended: clear and conscientious guidance that helps a user to complete their task and achieve short-term (or long-term) goals.

Help seekers, when it comes to the care and protection of minors, are usually legal guardians, social workers, therapists, or any other formal representatives who advocate for minors. They are the ones who come to the organization's web page to find a solution, and it is important that the information is there at their fingertips. One of the ways to tailor it to them effortlessly is to prompt them to answer a questionnaire - an approach that many for-profit organizations use to sort out their clientele and push them further in the recruitment and sales processes. 

The same approach can be applied to resource and assistance distribution tasks. When done consciously, it reduces a cognitive load and ensures that help-seekers only receive guidance that is relevant to their specific case and nothing beyond or in excess.

Organizational Fragmentation and How it is Reflected in User Experience

One might think, if we have all the available outlets to interact with one another remotely and our message and information transmission are instant, then any informational or communication gaps could be eliminated. However, this is not the case. The digital interaction merely extends the inaptitude and fragmentation of different departments within one organization.

It does not really matter what organization is focused on or what service or industry it is in; they all have one thing in common: promoting and priding themselves in tribal knowledge, where valuable information is contained within a closed circle of people and is not shared with the external groups within the same organization, even though this information is vital for performing a task or completing a process efficiently and error-free.

Example #1: Public College

• The student reaches out to the registration department, asking for help registering for an online summer course to later transfer it to her home college.
• The registration department advises reaching out to the pathway advisor.
• The student reaches out to the pathway advisor via Zoom, and she tells the student to send an email to career coaching.
• Career coaching replies back and suggests scheduling an appointment with a career coach, and provides a list of available coaches.
• The student books the next available appointment with the career coach.
• Later, the student receives an email reply from someone else on the email list requesting to provide transcripts via email.

Example #2: Online Marketplace

• The customer calls to process a refund for something that he does not need, and wants to return it to the seller.
• The operator transfers him to another department.
• Another department listens to the customer's inquiry once again and transfers him to yet another department.
• One hour later, the customer is still getting passed from one department to another in circles, returning to the status quo: original operator.

It really does not matter what industry or service is involved in the process; the problem persists on all levels of hierarchy and structure. For reasons that are hard to identify firmly, people hold a tight grip over valuable information with fierce stubbornness, refusing to share it with colleagues even when they know that it would maximize the overall benefit of the greatest number of people both within and outside the organization, as prescribed by the utilitarian principle.

Is it a competitive spirit that stands in the way of efficiency?

Does it involve a fundamentally individualistic mindset where we separate ourselves from the rest?

Or maybe both?

Thanks for reading! #UXDesign #DesignForAccessibility #Communication #UserExperience

Digital Interactive Book Clubs

I've seen some readers' platforms on the internet, such as Goodreads, StoryGraph, and more personalized versions of book clubs that populate the digital spaces.

I personally use GoodReads to plan my reading ahead of time, to ensure that I do not forget about the book titles that interested me a few years ago. It doesn't necessarily mean that I will commit 100% to reading them, but at least it leaves an imprint of the history of my interests and how they have evolved within my lifespan.

If I end up reading some of the planned titles, I can leave my book review, which is publicly accessible and can be replied to by any registered user.

However, with the indisputable value of such platforms, it is missing one important extension: the real conversations about the books to which we were able to connect and process emotionally. It would have been helpful to create more localized book clubs that are attached to the user's residence so that they can find each other to eventually meet and discuss their impressions in person.

It is not to say that there aren't any existing physical book clubs in the regions, but it is probably about the missing element that would connect digital spaces with the existing groups of readers. How do they find the book clubs that actually align with their unique interests and that aren't arbitrary in their book selection and culture?

AI in Wireframes and Mockups

 Sometimes companies are pressured with deadlines and are forced to deliver products to their clients within a very short timeframe. In such cases, it wouldn't be optimal to completely shy away from AI tools that can save a company's and clients' time. 

AI tools do not have to remove from a company's vision, values, and integrity, but merely support it with better time management while creating impactful products that are still unique in their design and interaction, and are representative of the company's professionalism and standard of care and delivery.

Some of the recommended free AI Mockup & Wireframing tools are:

                                       

My favorite wireframing AI tool is Visily because of its robustness, flexibility, and straightforwardness. It helps me to organize my ideas and goals into visual concepts in the early stages. For example, I enter my criteria into the AI box: 

  "Create an engaging explainer for minors that teaches them about internet safety and smart and prudent online behavior".

The tool immediately builds a sitemap based on these criteria:

Of course, nothing is set in stone, and I can always rebuild my sitemaps manually, the way I see fit; however, such prompts are a great kickstart that helps me think further and explore more.

Attracting Donors through Visual Design and Translating It into Physical Experience

Attracting and retaining donors' interest in nonprofit organizations requires continuous engagement. Some of the ways to do it are through recognition of their efforts, showcasing the considerable impact that such efforts have brought to the lives of others.

If there are events that are dedicated to donors' appreciation, they have to be informative and rewarding, and at the same time, ensure that no time is wasted. One thing is to market such events to attract donors' attention, but another thing is to keep them interested and engaged. What happens outside of the digital spaces is crucial because this reflects the level of integrity with which something was advertised. If the physical experience falls short of the anticipated one based on good and catchy visuals, then the goal of the visuals has not been achieved. 

The engagement does not end on a well-marketed cause; it only provides the introduction to the real experience. The conceptual one that many donors want to keep in their minds, the one that aligns with their own values and aspirations.

Online Censorship to Eliminate Hateful Language

 Although it is impossible to censor and scrutinize every user's utterance that is out in the digital space, it is helpful to utilize moderation tools that can diminish offensive online behavior. 

Some of the most common tools that assist with these efforts are:

1. Google Perspective API
2. Microsoft Azure Content Moderator
3. Two Hat (Community Sift)
4. Hive Moderation
5. Meta's AI Moderation

Each of these tools is tailored to specific platforms with their unique needs. For example, Microsoft Azure can detect profanity, adult content, or personal information in social platforms and enterprise-level applications. It is also good at scanning images and videos, and not just simple text. Two Hat is good at real-time chat moderation and is suitable for gaming and youth communities. And Google Perspective API supposedly identifies toxicity in online comments.

Google Perspective is interesting because it is trained both by Labeled Human Data and Machine Learning Techniques such as Natural Language Processing, User Feedback, and Supervised Machine Learning. Labeled Human Data is a collective effort in which the word labeling is done by a varied group of people and experts to ensure low bias rates. They determine the levels of toxicity of a word and assign a particular category to it, such as: toxic, high level of toxicity, hate speech, identity attack, somewhat toxic, etc. This labeling isn't arbitrary but is powered by socio-cultural context and nuances, tone, and intent. 

Modern Website Layouts and How We Interact With It

 Lately, many businesses have uniformly chosen long scrolling, wide pages as their main website layout, justifying it by a great way to tell a story, reducing click fatigue, and the ability to present a large amount of information on one page. Those decisions appear to be backed by some user research, however, it is a well-known fact that a person can absorb information in fragments, and not in its endless flow. Just like we need time to digest one book page at a time without any distractions, before flipping to the next page, in the same way, we need to be able to concentrate and not be visually distracted or overwhelmed by any other visual elements, such as giant photos that take up most of the space, and/or a scroll bar (without borders, so to speak) that moves the wide page with its heavy content endlessly up and down.

It seems like most of the businesses that make such choices are merely focused on the trendiness of visual representation, and not necessarily on its friendliness and digestibility. I personally get scroll fatigue when I view some of these trendy websites, filled with large, attractive commercial photos that are scrolled with text endlessly up and down. 

Traditional print designers and a more contemporary digital design expert, Jacob Nielsen, suggested that a user can read the content comfortably when it does not exceed 45-75 characters (700-800 px) per line. In this case, why do so many UI and web designers make such strange choices of dispersing the content, text + image mixtures, throughout the page horizontally? Shouldn't we try to keep the text more or less at the center and ensure that it does not exceed the 700-800-pixel threshold? 

...And what if we try to keep it more organized by reintroducing and emphasizing a center-forced three-part layout, where we still use the spaces on either side of the centered content in a more organized and readable manner? This way, a reader understands what the page's primary content is, and where he can find secondary sources to aid him with information when needed:

Technology: A Pure Surrogate to Relationships or a Potential Aide?

When we engage in heavy texting with our potential partner, it gradually and seamlessly replaces a real interaction; it becomes the ultimate surrogate to real intimacy, and because of the amount of effort that is put into these texts, there is a deceitful sense of accomplishment that demotivates further efforts to meet in person.

By the same token, if you step onto the path of a complete digital experience, eliminating even the remotest sense of connection, such as texting someone you know already, you build yourself an alternate reality, where your world is built of appealing male and female avatars and where you play by rules that do not necessarily replicate the rules, norms and traditions of real world. It may be creative and very inspirational; however, if this becomes the world to which you resort during most of your idle hours, it can be concluded that most people from your nearest circles and a potential love partner have all lost you to the world of pure fiction.

In this alternate world, you satisfy all of your urgent needs: from camaraderie interactions to intimate fantasies and love aspirations. By the time you exit this reality and find yourself back in the very physical, pragmatic, and even cynical environment, you may find yourself unprepared and exhausted in advance. 

But what if we design tools and spaces that would, on the contrary, aid our relationships and make them more enriching and satisfying? The kind that would encourage you to always stay present and explore more of it, instead of resorting to the alternate reality that is built on pure algorithms? 

Addictive Technologies - Should They Be Controlled?

There are a lot of conversations around the topic of addictive technologies, such as gaming, social media, and the internet in general, and how designers create digital products that are purposefully habit-forming. It is not a secret that in the past twenty or more years, we've inherited generations that think and engage with the world differently than their predecessors. Is it necessarily worse? Depends.

Engaging games with storylines and multiple lifecycles of an avatar, for example, create a parallel reality where societies have their own rules, stakes, and friendships. Eventually, this reality may not only become important to a user, but sometimes even more substantial than the realities of a physical world where we have to navigate. Our brain's neural response does not really discriminate between a virtual and physical reality, and therefore lives the experience that is offered to it. After such an intense and engaging digital exposure that demands users' cognitive and emotional reserves, there is no time or energy left for real life, and although a user may not miss out the perceived important experience in the digital world, they end up missing out their physical life with its real circumstances and its own complex systems. 

When the time spent online is accumulated into a critical number of hours per day, per month, and per year, we can observe individuals who are somewhat disoriented in physical spaces and struggle to build a meaningful rapport with others. 

It has been determined that such behavioral patterns indicate a formed habit that has unnoticeably turned into addiction. And this type of addiction stands in line with other formally recognized behavioral addictions such as food, shopping, or thrill-seeking activities.

Every behavioral addiction has a remedy or common methods to moderate and control it. For some, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy may be a solution, for others it could be something else (ex., Motivational Enhancement Therapy or Exposure Therapy). 

The critical question, however, remains current: Do we need a system in place that will monitor the use of technology to ensure that it does not become compulsive? And if so, who will be responsible for it, companies that offer the platforms themselves, formal intermediaries, or will it be strictly the users' responsibility?

Texting about Delicate Matters and Losing Context In the Process

 Resorting to texting about topics that require constant emotional feedback is pure barbarity. It strips two people of their fundamental right to fully express their feelings and emotional states that are directly associated with a particular phrase or a message. Those assistive communication cues provide rich context to the conversation, and without them, the messages are interpreted poorly and sometimes entirely differently than what they meant to convey. 

For some reason, many users do not see or recognize the importance of such vital contexts and never offer to step up their game and meet in person to clarify the matter and talk over it candidly and attentively. As a result, friendships or romantic connections that would otherwise have high potential never develop further and end abruptly, without the chance for rehabilitation.

It feels like adults in their conscious years of existence may benefit from a 101 Digital Communication workshop where some fundamental elements of human interaction are articulated in plain English, repetitively and methodically. Maybe then, a lot of relationships that have been reduced to mediocre text interactions could be revitalized and given a fresh breeze of life.

Coding Bias and What It Can Do to Our Future

Ideally, the way programmers train the algorithms should make our lives significantly easier and more manageable, saving a lot of waiting and processing time across all systems and functions.

However, because machine learning mechanisms, especially their early forms, were designed by a homogeneous group of individuals with their own biases, the algorithms included flaws that would compute information at someone's disadvantage and undeservedly so.

Some of such examples were well demonstrated in the Coded Bias (2020) documentary:

Scenario 1, where citizens of Britain were monitored and screened without an explicit announcement. It was not mentioned anywhere within the jurisdiction and was done in a rather sneaky way. The algorithms with which the human profile was analyzed were severely biased towards individuals of a certain race and demographics. And the mere fact that such surveillance could take place in a civilized democratic society is alarming. What if it signifies the beginning of a totalitarian government form where human rights are systematically violated, and where prejudiced judgments are made swiftly, without a chance to appeal and rehabilitate one's good name and reputation?

Scenario 2: Candidates who applied to Amazon (tech?) jobs were filtered by gender, and the ones who got hired were predominantly male because of the way the AI tool was trained to discern information. For example, the Resumes where the word woman was present in any form or context were weeded out.  This also meant, however, that candidates with more gender neutral Resumes, where first names could belong to either gender, and where organizations' names did not mention the word woman, had the chance to be invited to an interview.

Both of these scenarios demonstrate dangerous trends, and we do need systems in place that will overcome such biases and ensure that they won't penetrate our social infrastructure so deeply that it would be nearly impossible to eradicate in the later stages.

Coding should replicate the real world with its sentiments and help meet its vital needs, and not copycat its existing problems into new algorithms.

 

Cyberbullying and Trolling

Although the internet can provide a safe space for those who want to express their ideas, feelings, and points of view without exposing their personal details, it can also become an outlet for the ones who play out their darkest traits uncontrollably and unpunishably. 

Trolling and cyberbullying have become so widespread that it created the need to come up with stricter laws and regulations through which victims of such attacks could prosecute their perpetrators.

In the early 2000s, I was subjected to trolling on a few separate occasions. Most of the time the attacks came from anonymous male figures who questioned, mocked, and insulted my intellectual abilities as a female. Some of their comments were so coarse, cynical, and vulgar that I’d feel as if the ground had been pulled from under my feet. I’d question my own existence and the degree of trust and openness with which I can perceive the world around me.

And because back then there weren’t any widely used mechanisms to detect and prosecute anonymous bullies/trolls, the only possible way to control the situation was through banning a specific account through which a person executed such activities. However, this measure wasn’t always effective since a bully could create multiple accounts through which he continued to troll a person or multiple individuals. This way a moderator of an assumed public space would be overwhelmed by the never-ending virtual battle.

Regardless of the covered timeframe, whether it is the early 2000s or our days, the bullying that takes place on public forums or social media accounts, mirrors the same type of bullying that happens in real life, with the only difference that its virtual version is magnified in number of active participants as well as witnesses, and may therefore have a stronger effect on a victim.

Through trial and error, and in response to countless cases of cyberbullying with tragic outcomes, new mechanisms have emerged on technical and legal planes to mitigate its impact.

These are great advancements that we can appreciate on one hand, but on the other: the fact that cyberbullying continues to emerge in its new forms and harm younger users, means that the remedies should be found within the boundaries of one’s own family and physical community, where young minds are shaped with a certain belief system, mentality, and countless biases embedded in their intimate and social circles.

Expert in This, Guru in That, and Sense of Integrity

Digital technologies gave us the freedom to disseminate information with minimal monetary and time investment. Everything happens instantly and does not require someone's scrutinized moderation or approval. We are the sole moderators and police of our own content, unless it involves something utterly obscene or illegal that must be reported.

If you are an avid user of digital media and tools and are enthusiastic enough to create and share daily content, there is a high chance of establishing a strong online presence, attracting an impressive number of followers.

There is no problem with publicity and followers whatsoever, however...:

There is a widely used term on the Russian segment of the internet (RuNet), known as инфоцыгане, which literally means: info-gypsies or information gypsies. This term has a negative connotation that describes any publicly ambitious online enthusiasts who, in one way or another, lure an audience to their channels and accounts with questionable ideas, products, and services that make an instant impression on the viewer. 

The only constants that appear to matter in this equation are the power of conviction and personal charisma, while the true value of the advice, product, or service provided isn't subject to any scrutiny. It is not to say that some of the bloggers or other public enthusiasts aren't insightful and inspirational, but the main issue that is laid out by the skeptical sector of online users is the possible harmful consequences for the naive and inexperienced portion of the audience. What if a superficial piece of advice from someone you admire and follow will do a great disservice to you in the long run? 

To become a successful influencer, you don't need any certification or license, nor do you need a formal educational background. There is no degree in Blogging or Influencing, after all. With this informational freedom, one can think that there is no obligation to do something with integrity in mind, ensuring that there is a true value behind the delivered message or material. As a result, many ambitious wannabe experts produce superficial content that does not pass critical scrutiny.

Perhaps online influencers, especially the ones who claim to be life experts without any formal education, must be explicit about it and provide disclaimers to ensure that the viewers do not take any of the pop-culture advice at face value.

Perhaps it would be helpful to incorporate virtue ethics into this whole process of content-sharing, as it considers the personal characteristics of an influencer regardless of the final outcome. It ensures that a person acts by the innate character traits that are virtuous, and therefore, by default, cannot cause any intentional harm to others. One would always and consciously choose the right course of action through the practical wisdom (phronesis in Greek).

AI and Creative Expression

How we formulate our phrases depends on the automatic grammar checker fed by AI algorithms. We've become heavily dependent on this automatic process and haven't even noticed how much faith we've lost in our own ability to express ourselves in many unique ways. It is possible that sooner or later we will see some uniformity in language, as if everything were dictated by one accumulated intellect or individual without any spontaneous variations. 

It is just like with heavy copy-editing that attempts to simplify words and make them more accessible to read, but with even more uniformity. I wonder if, with the diminishing self-reliance and the sacrifice of one's creative properties in the name of a uniform kind of orthography, our ability to talk will be depleted eventually as well.

Online Reputation and the Job Market

There is a common recommendation to minimize your online presence when it comes to the part of your personality that does not involve professional skills, because there is a risk of being eliminated from the job pool. This recommendation, in my opinion, can be limiting and damaging because it puts unreasonable constraints on your creative expression and the right to be authentic and spontaneous through whichever outlets you choose.

Present-day professional expectations of how the candidate should be seen have a discouraging factor because of their stifling effect. Don't say this, don't do that, don't be publicly YOU under normal circumstances... To be able to land a reputable job, you must have a professional presence at every turn, or else...

As a result, recruiters have a high risk of bringing on board someone featureless. There is only so much that you can grasp about a mysterious, reserved, and well-behaved new hiree. Not that it is not important to have good manners and exhibit respect toward your surroundings, but there will always be some grey area, something that is not fully understood and that later may take everyone by surprise, sometimes an unpleasant one.

However, if hiring managers have a generally sober understanding of who they are hiring, based on the candidate's both: professional skills and personal peculiarities, they will most likely bring on board someone who would fit in professionally and culturally. Personal peculiarities may divert one employer, but attract just the right one in turn, who receives your personality well, and maybe the kind that brings the exact values and vibes that they precisely need in their company.

Of course, it would be sensible to moderate your public presence that does not represent you from the professional side, but completely removing it just for the fear of being weeded out from the candidate pool is a little personal betrayal. 

...How far should one go to create a perfectly acceptable social profile?