Comments on: US News and World Report, Media Literacy and Social Media

By: Favorite Tweets, 2008 at Richard Mondello

Favorite Tweets, 2008 at Richard Mondello — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:47:02 +0000

[...] a huge fan and active user of the micro-blogging social media juggernaut, Twitter.com. I’ve argued for its uses in brand-building in the past, but I’ve neglected to clarify why I find the service useful [...]

By: Financial Aid Podcast Daily Free MP3 Internet Radio » FAP776: US News and World Report, Free Stuff Friday

Thu, 15 May 2008 12:07:33 +0000

[...] Financial Aid News + Hey, we’re in US News and World Report! + An article by Kim Palmer and a followup blog post by Richard Mondello + I thought it was a good piece, informative, except for this paragraph: + “But consumer [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:10:42 +0000

I’m not sure if your comment was directed at my post, John, but since we all pay taxes, how the weak are manipulated is of interest to the strong.

By: John Wall

John Wall — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:39:04 +0000

Only the weak are easily manipulated, marketing to anyone with some intelligence is communication and persuasion.

By: Marketing Sucks

Marketing Sucks — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:22:03 +0000

[...] an example of what I mean. Richard Mondello, a high school senior in Dover Plains, New York, recently wrote on his blog: In my opinion, marketers will always be marketers. It’s their job to manipulate you into [...]

By: Richard Mondello : Feedback Time

Richard Mondello : Feedback Time — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:59:36 +0000

[...] just had a huge week in terms of blogging. I wrote two lengthy articles: A Dover Dilemma, and US News and World Report, Media Literacy and Social Media. On both posts, I got some awesome feedback in the comments; although I usually address feedback [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:59:10 +0000

I don’t like how the article associated the Student Loan Network with deceptive marketing. As I don’t find the tactics of th SLN to be deceptive, the article’s insinuation is in itself a little sneaky. But I’m also not sure if we should be bashing the article that hard. Ignorance, especially in the context of loans, is extremely dangerous and terribly volatile. Look at the housing crisis. The clusterfuch of the loan market led to quite a lot of action on the part of the Federal Reserve to fix it, and the market’s collapse led to a dive in the dollar. The article is right about one thing. If you’re taking out a loan, you need to know everything about anything you’re agreeing to. I think it’s perfectly justifiable to call attention to this fact in the manner they did, although I would have chosen different examples.

By: Edvisors Online Education

Edvisors Online Education — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:52:03 +0000

Very thoughtful and intelligent response. It would be fun to turn the table on Kimberly Palmer (the author of the USNews article) and ask her to justify the fact that her article is sponsored by several student loan companies (via Google Adwords).

I work with Chris Penn and we are all very proud of the work we do. We have a clear mission of “providing a richer, more fulfilling education experience to students, educators and parents worldwide”. We do this by providing a wide range of educational resources, including the Financial Aid Podcast. Believe me, it is not inexpensive to do this as the article implies – it is a lot of work. However, it is worth it as it build good will, helps students further their education, and yes, generates customers who appreciate the added value we can offer.

Good luck in school. We don’t need you to take a loan out with us – there are millions of student who we can serve. But definitely – keep talking about us!!!