Food, Family and other things Archives

June 1, 2014 By Fiona Lucas

When the reviewer becomes the reviewed

Restaurants are finally getting a chance to even up the score. For years we as customers have been able to comment, praise and critique restaurants via various forums (ie Trip Advisor, Yelp, Urbanspoon etc. A recent article by Inga Ting on Goodfood.com.au outlines how Restaurants are now using social to gain insights into their customers and even give them ratings!

Now from what I can see it’s not a public viewing so no need to panic that your public reputation might be damaged, but certainly it does mean that we need to be more considerate when reviewing our experiences and make sure we are being fair.

I have some reservations in that if a customer does have a bad experience I would hope that the restaurant would make note of real issues and perhaps even place a note to make sure that the next time the customer is in, they have a truly positive experience. Marking a customer as a PIA (pain in arse!) is unfair where standards are not being met, but it is all relative. Most of us have come across someone who will complain just to try to get a free meal even when the service was great after all!

One area I noted was the comment that people stayed on the table after dessert, I guess it’s a sign of the times that restaurants want you to eat up and move on, but I’m of the old school type. If I am fine dining and I want to linger over coffee because I’ve had a great experience, then I don’t like to be pushed out. I understand in an era of line up and no reservations you do have to be mindful of the next sitting, that is just manners, but don’t book me at 8pm and expect my party to be out at 9pm – it’s not good for the digestion!

What I do like is that if you do have your likes and dislikes in your online profiles you just might find you get an even better restaurant experience. By posting your reviews and opinions a better picture of the experiences you like to have will be found. If a restaurant knows you are a foodie, avid instagram poster of food pics etc, then it is in their best interests to make your experience a great one – lots of free promotion for them! You can find out more about one of the new review sites Dimmi here.

It’s an interesting side to the picture and I will be interested to see what others think. Please add your comments and let’s get a conversation started!

September 10, 2013 By Fiona Lucas

The Connected Family: 5 Fab ideas for safer social media FUN

Author and online reputation educator Fiona Lucas shares 5 ways to balance “real” life and social media to connect with your family for the best of both worlds!

Families are so busy these days that it may seem easier for parents to leave children playing with smartphones, ipads and other devices to keep them entertained. These devices and online games can be highly addictive and once habits form, it can be very hard to break them.

We need to try and find a balance so that we remember that our devices are merely tools to help us to achieve a goal, and are not more important that spending time with each other. We don’t want our future childhood memories to consist of the high score they got on “angry birds”! Further the “good” use of the internet and social media platforms is becoming more and more integrated into the way our children learn at school, so we must ensure that we are able to support our children as they learn and not allow a ‘digital divide’ to grow.

We have put together some suggestions to help parents find ways to engage with their children using a balance of “real” experiences and online fun. This allows us to create an environment where our children see that our online tools are just that – tools that can add to an overall experience, but they are not the only experience.

Here are five ways that you can start engaging and having fun with your family, mixing up both online fun and real life fun to make a much more complete experience and create memories to last. By enjoying time together you can make the online experience safer because you are there to guide and monitor your child’s online time.

1. Create a family day trip scrapbook:

Organise a day trip, to the local zoo or fun park, you might like to involve extended family or friends.

Take photographs on the day (make sure you ask for parental permission if you take photos of other children). When you get home, or the next day or so, put aside a couple of hours to play with the kids and create a scrapbook album on your chosen social media platform. You might like to use Pinterest or Facebook.

If you are involving your children we highly recommend keeping the albums private – just for you and your family (you might choose to allow access by extended family). Have your children help you make up titles for the photos but don’t “tag” any of them with names.

Sit with your children and look up information on some of the animal or activities that you did during the day. You could then help your children to make comments on the photos with some of the facts. For example a title on the photo might be Mummy Giraffe and baby. The comment could be: A baby giraffe is called a calf. Giraffes can have necks up to 2 metres long. They have really long tongues too.

You might then look for fun (and age appropriate games to play). For example at Africa games there is a hungry giraffe game and they also have interesting facts about Africa.

2. Go on a real life treasure hunt! Geocaching experiences can be lots of fun!

Ever tried geocaching? Its fun, gets you outdoors and is a great way to show how your smartphone is really just a tool! Did you know that around the world geocaching enthusiasts have been hiding various “treasures” and marking them via GPS for others to find. Little trinkets (stickers, balls, toys from things like kinder surprise) are hidden to find and trade, along with a log book so you can mark when you found it, and leave something else for others to find. There are now over 6 million geocachers worldwide and over 2,214,540 active geocaches (treasure spots) across the world.

All you need is a GPS or an iphone. You can download a geocaching app for around $10 or create an account here and discover what’s hidden in your area (and around the world). A basic account is free, but if you really find you are enjoying it you might choose to join (annually around $30). Find our more here geocaching.com Beginners experiences are marked in green on the site. Check the details as some are more complex than others. Don’t do microcaching to start – they are very tiny and hard to find. Start with the bigger ones.

The only rule is that when you find a cache, whatever you take you replace with something of similar value.

Why not don your pirate gear with the kids and head off on a geocaching adventure!

3. Get APPY!

Hold an APP party where you all compare and talk about the different apps your children are playing with on their mobile devices. This is a great opportunity to talk about safety of apps and to check out just what your kids are playing with online. Take a good look at the types of advertising particularly on free apps and consider whether some apps are “grooming” for future gambling. You might discover some great new apps, and you might find there are some you decide to delete as well. Make sure you discuss with your child the pros and cons and help guide them to make the right decisions about the apps they are using.

4. Paper Chain Family

Here’s a bit of fun. Create some paper chain people or paper dolls and decorate them to represent your family members. Have fun posing them in places like around a tree and take a photo – then take a photo with the actual family doing the same thing. Stay safe, but you can have lots of fun. (add some of the photos to the family scrapbook you created in number 1 above. This is a great opportunity to have a few silly photos taken and then discuss what it might mean to have them online. There are bound to be a few that the kids say “oh yuk, no don’t post that”, and that is exactly what you need to bring a discussion into the space about respecting the rights of others and not posting pictures without their consent.

5. Savvy Shopping skills

With so much of our spending being online and via card, it’s hard for our children to understand that there is not an never ending supply of money. Play “online shopping” but use toy money and see how “savvy” your little budgeters can get. This is a great way to teach your children that money runs out and that prices vary. They will start to understand concepts around making better choices when they can see that the money doesn’t last. If you want to, you could give a small real prize for the one who shows restraint and compares prices (maybe some pocket money or a new money box!).

With more and more of our time being “screen time” it is vital that we seek to educate our children (and ourselves) early in finding balance, not just for on and off screen time, but balance between onscreen play and enjoying family activities offline.

Guiding our children as they grow up online can be tricky for parents. If you have enjoyed this post you may be interested in Futureproof your Kids – a parents guide to the social media playground.

To stay up to date with news for your connected family subscribe to our blog now and watch for our free app coming soon!

We hope you enjoy our suggestions and would love to learn of other ways you use social media to engage effectively with your child. Please let us know in the comments below.

You are most welcome to share this post on your social networks and parent groups. Help to spread the message for safe and balanced social media use.

Fiona Lucas

Fiona Lucas is the founder of iRespectOnline, providing education, training and strategies on managing your online reputation and social media. She is passionate about making the online world a more supportive and happier environment for all. She is the Author of Future Proof your kids.

www.fionalucas.com.au

July 6, 2013 By Fiona Lucas

Gambling and your child

Accessibility and availability of games and applications which encourage or simulate gambling are saturating the market for children in the 12-17 age group.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling foundation (VRGF) is working hard to generate awareness of the possible massive social issues which our children may face in the next few years if we don’t get proactive on this important issue.

Often we don’t even correlate the games our children are playing with gambling, however any game which rewards with credits and bonuses may be actually “grooming” our children to have issues in the future. According to research collated by the VRGF there has been a huge explosion in online and mobile gambling apps which are created in such a way as to avoid the regulation of the traditional gambling market. They do this because winnings cannot be rewarded as cash. We should be concerned.

Many parents and teachers see gambling games as being a good learning activity, and in the right environment, with controls this can indeed be true. What is vital is that we ensure we are monitoring the usage and behavior of the children when they are using such apps, and providing education on the addictive nature of such games.

The term “free to play” is deceptive as certainly early levels may have no cost, but quick rewards encourage the purchase of add on credits and upgrades, and many apps also are saturated with in app advertising which is designed to appear as part of the game. In Australia alone in 2011 the free to play industry turned over more than $60 million worth of business – that’s a lot of upgrades and addons.

With a choice on iTunes alone of over 50 million apps (all apps – not just games – May 2013) the lack of industry regulation is certainly raising its head. Add into this the many games available on facebook and we can see the increasing risk of potential gambling problems. The addictive nature of games can be seen in the longevity of apps on facebook such as Farmville2 and Candy Crush saga both of these apps have over 40 million users per month, with an average daily user count of 15 million for Candy Crush and 8 million for Farmville2. Here’s a fact that might really make you sit up .. King who own Candy Crush and who do not release their profit figures, is believed to have turned over more than 500 million in profit last year – staggering!

The fact the apps are portable and readily accessible on multiple devices means that once a player has a problem, the problem can follow them everywhere!

Behaviours and symptoms to look out for in your children include:

spending more and more time playing
conversation revolve around the app or around wins and losses
skipping school or work
falling grades at school
lying about using the app or how much game play is actually occurring
concealing actual spend on the app
borrowing or stealing money to be able to continue playing
mood swings, depression, irritability, particularly when not able to play

As we stress at irespectonline, when it comes on online behaviours our children tend to imitate what they see. Be very wary of gambling or celebrating wins in front of young children, who may not yet be able to understand the risks and the poor odds of winning.

For more information regarding apps and safety you can download our tip sheets (written in collaboration with our colleague Mel at Social Ediquette)

Join the 100 day gambling challenge now! If you or someone you know has a problem with gambling, seek help here or call the gambling help line 1800 858 858

Fiona Lucas

iRespectOnline® – Your Social Media Mirror

Have you checked your reflection lately?

*information for this post was sourced from the Responsible Gambling Guide, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation 2013, iTunes and the writers own opinion.

July 5, 2013 By Fiona Lucas

Please – the forgotten word . A small rant for the day.

Why is our society becoming so negative? After several recent difficult family matters, I have begun pondering upon why our society seems to be becoming stuck in a “complaints” mode. Rather than approaching issues with friendliness, but directness, it seems the first avenue for many is to make threats, and then if you haven’t actually complained to a higher authority, it seemed expected that you will before any positive action is taken!

My father recently had a stroke and we are trying to keep both parents in their home as much as we can. My parent’s home has rambling trees which they love, as Mum always preferred to have a very natural garden. In their area, as seems to be the way in Australia, most of the homes nearby which have been there for the last 50-60 years have had new owners move in. The first thing they do is remove all the trees and make their yards so “low maintenance” that there is nowhere for birds to go, no shade and I’m sure the air purity is affected. All the birds hang out at my parents place!

The past few weeks my parents had a period in respite, only coming home this week. Today a handwritten letter was posted in their mail box demanding that the trees be cut down, saying that this person had personally received 4 separate complaints about the trees being too low. They then went on to say that children had been injured(?) and umbrellas stuck in the tree. The letter went onto to demand that if the trees had not been attended to by this persons next “inspection” legal action would be launched! There was no date for this inspection, we have no idea who the person is, they did not leave their address and we don’t know who this person is in order to be the one receiving complaints! We are not aware of having anyone complain, or injured, although Dad recalled helping someone get their umbrella out one day. Dad has reduced vocab and cognitive ability although he recalled the incident and was quite cheerful and thought that the lady concerned was fine. He did forget to tell us about it or we might have already attended to the trees.

We have no issue with trimming the trees back on the pathway side, but why the need to immediately threaten an elderly couple? Can we no longer respect one another and assume in the first instance that people are approachable? A simple first letter, or a door knock asking would be have enough. We have been so busy with trying to make the house more accommodating to their later years that we haven’t been looking at the trees. It is something that is regularly done anyway. A simple “please are you aware that your trees are getting low and impeding on the airspace above the common footpath” would have been all that was required.

The second issue is an ongoing issue with a phone company who my parents were with and who keep billing despite the numbers being transferred to another company. This has been going on for months and I was actually told on about my second call that I had to complain to the ombudsman! Then they will respond!!! What the?? Why must a problem be escalated immediately to be actioned? As it was despite me asking them to please look into it because this company keeps calling my Dad and confusing him while he recovers from his stroke, I started wondering if not only do people not want to say please, they actually don’t know what it means when someone else uses it. I have actually begged them, I had friends use their contacts to this company and it still goes on. Yesterday I had both a call from someone who will be the case manager and then another email billing us again within minutes of each other!

All I can say is PLEASE – enough!

Fiona

Fiona is the author of futureproof your kids . She is committed to bringing respect ethics and values back into the online space.

fionalucas.com.au

May 8, 2013 By Fiona Lucas

New ways to enjoy your connectivity – virtual dinner date!

A friend and I had been trying to catch up for ages since she returned from overseas, but we are busy and we live in different states. After saying “we must we must” but never finding time, I said to her – ok that’s it – we need to make a firm date – we are always finding it hard before or after dinner so let’s have dinner together! So we set an evening and decided that we would skype during a meal time (yes I know I usually say turn off the technology during meal times – but bear with me!).

We set the date and time and as we poured a glass of wine and served our meals, we turned on our skype. It was so lovely. It truly was just like going out! We had a wonderful time chatting through our meal and it made me so aware once again of the many positive benefits of social media which are happening by the millions every day, but always overshadowed by any negatives.

It got me thinking – that there definitely can be times when you can have technology on during meal times! For example, if you can’t be with your Mum for Mothers day – how about cooking lunch and skyping her with the family around the table. You will need a reasonable internet connection and some ground rules so people don’t talk over everyone. How about placing Mum at the head of the table and enjoying a “virtual” family get together?

It is not as wonderful as being able to touch and hug – so I would never advocate giving up really visiting each other because I strongly believe it is important for humans to connect with each other . We have such defined sense of touch and nothing beats a hug.

If you have a friend you haven’t seen for a while – get in touch and make a date – it’s such a lot of fun!

I will finish with this statement:

the beauty of social media is that when you really can’t connect because of distance – there is no reason to become distant.

Fiona Lucas

http://www.futureproofyourkids.com new book just released “Futureproof Your Kids” the definitive parent guide to keeping your children safe in the social media playground.