Yet many people would argue that social media campaigns lack the action component of live activism — dubbing those who sign up for them "slacktivists."
Sortable created this infographic, which looks at the trend of sharing, posting and tweeting to make a difference.
Sortable says slacktivists are twice as likely to volunteer, twice as likely to ask for donations, twice as likely to take part in an event and four times as likely to encourage others to sign a petition or contact a politician.
The infographic points out that there is strength in numbers. But do you agree? Do you think slacktivism deserves its poor reputation? Sound off in the comments.
Original article and pictures take a.amz.mshcdn.com site
Why people interact with brands – Best social media facts, figures and stats
How and Why people interact with brands is without any doubt one of the most relevant questions that we, marketers, always try to answer. There is NO suitable strategy without a deep marketing behavior research. However, when the timing is short, many social media strategists are though using cool infographics and social media stats that can also help us to support our arguments and figure out why we should be using an specific social media amongst others . By this way, I bring you this other interesting social media infographic which shows 21 amazing stats about How people interact with brands. Even if the research (AYTM) carried for that is only focused on Twitter and Facebook and some few top brands, I consider the insights we can take from are pretty helpful. What do you think?
WHY and HOW people interact with brands - Social media stats
Why CEOs Should Allow Facebook in the Workplace [INFOGRAPHIC]
Many CEOs forbid use of social media at work, but recent research shows that web surfing leads to increased productivity.
This Keas infographic explores the benefits of social media in the workplace, showing that social connections make people happier and a brief recess involving Internet-browsing increases productivity.
An Academy of Management experiment gave three groups of people — a control group bundling sticks, a group taking an Internet-free break and a group browsing the Internet for 10 minutes — the simple task of highlighting as many letter A's as they could among 2,000 words of text.
The three groups then had their mental exhaustion measured. Those browsing the Internet were 16% more productive than the Internet-free break group and 39% more productive than the control group.
The study concludes that taking a break, particularly one spent browsing the Internet, should be encouraged by employers hoping to increase productivity.
Do you use Facebook at work? Does it negatively or positively affect your concentration? Sound off in the comments.
case for facebook Original article and pictures take a.amz.mshcdn.com site
Did you know that a 60-minute nap can improve your alertness for up to 10 hours? Or that Napoleon napped between battles while sitting on his horse? These are just a few of the many interesting facts in this infographic on napping via Patio Productions.
What do you think?
(Click on image to enlarge)
Original article and pictures take www.mindbodygreen.com site
The Warm Home Discount is a government programme that provides a one-off rebate to the electricity bills of UK homes that are at risk of fuel poverty. The rebate is applied via the energy supplier between October and March.
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As mentioned, the Warm Home Discount provides rebates on electricity bills. For 2016–17, this amount is set at £140, and takes the form of a one-off discount on your electricity bill if you are eligible for the scheme.
This means the funds are not given directly to you, but applied to your energy bill between October and March, meaning the discount is effectively handled by your energy supplier.
Am I eligible for the Warm Home Discount?
The Warm Home Discount, like the Social Tariff scheme it replaced, is designed to help those who are vulnerable or may need help covering their energy bills during the winter months, when energy bills tend to be the most expensive.
So who gets the Warm Home Discount? You are automatically eligible for the Warm Home Discount if on the 10 July 2016 you were:
In receipt of the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit (no Savings Credit)
or
In receipt of the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit (even if you get Savings Credit as well)
This group is referred to as the 'core group' of those eligible.
Aside from being eligible, you also have to check that your supplier participates in the scheme (small suppliers especially may not offer it); we've listed these suppliers below. You must also check that your name (or your partner’s) appear on the electricity bill.
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Find and switch to a better energy deal in minutes
If you don’t fall into the core group, you may still be able to get the Warm Home Discount, because some suppliers also offer the discount to a ‘broader group’ of customers who are vulnerable to falling into fuel poverty, such as low income households and those especially low income homes that contain a small child.
In these cases, each supplier has its own eligibility criteria and a limit on how many discounts it will pay out. Contact your current energy supplier to find out more.
How can I claim my payment?
Core group
If you are eligible for the Warm Home Discount as part of the core group, you will receive a letter in the post. This letter will confirm that your Warm Home Discount will be automatically deducted from your electricity bill.
Your supplier uses information obtained from the Department for Work and Pensions to identify the core group and automatically provide the discount.
However, if you haven’t received your letter and think that you may be eligible, then contact the Warm Home Discount Scheme team on 0345 603 9439, available Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm.
Non-core group
If you think you might be eligible as part of the non-core group, you must make a claim for the Warm Home Discount.
Start by finding out if your supplier offers the discount (see below). You can make a claim for Warm Home Discount on your supplier's website or by calling them.
Which energy suppliers participate in the Warm Home Discount scheme?
The following suppliers offer the Warm Home Discount in the 2016-2017 season:
Atlantic
Bristol Energy
British Gas
Economy Energy
EDF Energy
E.ON
Extra Energy
First Utility
Fischer Energy
Flow Energy
npower
OVO Energy
Our Power
Scottish Hydro
ScottishPower
Southern Electric
Spark Energy
SSE
SWALEC
The Co-operative Energy
Utilita
Utility Warehouse
Please note that some providers require re-application for the Warm Home Discount if you switch energy supplier.
Warm Home Discount and energy price caps
In late 2017, Ofgem announced it would expand the price caps it rolled out to prepayment energy customers to cover customers currently receiving the Warm Home Discount.
Ofgem estimated this would help around an additional 1 million vulnerable energy customers save on their gas and electricity costs.
“It’s absolutely right that Ofgem considers specific measures to help the most vulnerable households who need additional support," said Richard Neudegg, Head of Regulation at uSwitch.com.
"By focusing on the particular needs of a group of customers, rather than taking a one size fits all approach, we can identify those who need additional protection while helping others make active choices about their energy deal.
"However, there is more that can be done, and we urge the Government to consider broadening access to the Warm Home Discount for those currently eligible, and ensuring all energy suppliers are required to offer it. The Government and Ofgem should focus deeper support to those who need it most, rather than a broad and damaging general price cap.
“It’s competition which ultimately drives prices down, not price caps. So while it's encouraging that suppliers will now be able to move customers onto another fixed deal when their current tariff expires, consumers must not be lulled into a false sense of security. Ofgem should compel suppliers to do more to put the power in consumers' hands, by prompting customers to shop around for a better deal for themselves.”
Additional help for vulnerable energy customers
For those who do not currently qualify for the Warm Home Discount scheme, there are other financial assistance programmes available.
The Cold Weather Payment is a government payment when temperatures drop below zero for a sustained amount of time. Although it isn't paid out very often, it is worth keeping a note of. Learn more about the cold weather payment on our dedicated guide page.
You may also be entitled to the winter fuel payment or winter fuel allowance. The winter fuel payment is a tax-free payment of between £100 and £300 to help certain groups of people pay for their heating over winter. Whether you qualify or not depends on your circumstance, which in turn will determine how much you are entitled to.
There may also be energy efficiency grants available to you. Qualifying for these grants means you can get your home insulated for free. Home insulation is a great way to both cut your energy bills as well as waste less gas and electricity
You can also make small changes around the home and make adjustments to your energy behaviour to see savings on your bills. Get free energy-saving tips now.
Read more…
Energy Company Obligation There are types of funding available to you if you want to install energy saving upgrades
Energy Efficiency Grants There are funding grants available to people installing energy saving measures
Why pay more for the same energy?
Find and switch to a better energy deal in minutes
Original article and pictures take assets0.uswitch.com site
10 slow-cooking recipes for the colder months 8 quick and healthy recipes In pictures: fishing for sea urchins off the Catalonian coast A guide to sherry: this year's best bottles What's in season: January How to host the perfect New Year’s Eve party What we learnt from week seven of MasterChef: The Professionals 2017 How to reduce your Christmas food waste Tastes of the nation: how does British food fare in Paris? A guide to Croatian wine The best festive sandwiches in London for Christmas 2017 Our best-ever Christmas dinner menus: vegan Quiz: what's your perfect Christmas menu? Mead: a taste of honey Adam Smith at Coworth Park: classical cooking at its best
Moveable feasts
What we learnt from week six of MasterChef: The Professionals 2017 How to cook fish like a Michelin-starred chef Our best-ever Christmas dinner menus: gluten-free Our best-ever Christmas dinner menus: pescatarian Our best-ever Christmas dinner menus: vegetarian Our best-ever Christmas dinner menus: traditional The Great British Chefs NSPCC Dinner 2017 Original article and pictures take www.greatbritishchefs.com site
This Is Everything You Need To Know About Pinterest (Infographic)
Over the course of the past few months, what was once a colorful haven for Midwestern mothers and Mormons is now an even more colorful haven for even more pin-tastic peeps. The growth has been staggering, even in what many would call an overly social era. But surrounded by Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc., Pinterest has really made a name for itself.
And while many are scurrying to set up their pinboards for FOMO‘s sake, we in the tech world are curious as to what’s going on behind the scenes. What’s the growth rate? What does the demographic data look like? Referral traffic? Marketing? How does Pinterest really stack up against the big guys?
The questions never end, mainly because Pinterest kind of came out of left field and threw the entire model on its head. It’s not for women, but it is mainly women. It’s not overbearing in terms of rules or policies (at least not more so than its competitors), but still seems to be a very “white-bread”, nice place to be compared to the deep black hole of nasty awfulness that is the Internet. The epicenter of its popularity is in the Midwest — that’s not to say that Midwesterners aren’t tech savvy, but they’re usually not the early adopters of anything.
It’s this big question mark, Pinterest, and we all want to better understand it, especially considering that the network is still building itself out. Just recently, Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann teased an iPad app and revamped profile pages at SXSW this week.
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