"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive." Anaïs Nin
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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Engage - Interesting New App for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

My friend, Stephanie Jo Kent (check out some of her research work from November's #DEMX 2011 here http://www.reflexivity.us/wp/?s=demx ) asked me if I had heard of this new App, Engage. It is supposed to link the Deaf and Hard of Hearing up with events and activities wherever we may live. I downloaded the app, but it wouldn't work unless I fill in all the fields regarding my personal information. Because someone close to me works for the Office of Attorney General often warns me not to give out too much information on online forms such as this one, I am hesitatnt to provide such information, or open email from unfamiliar people. As I looked at the fields that required input befor the app would work, it had the appearance of behing very "phishy". I would think it would be a great app if the more "personal" information could be bypassed when signing up. The idea of this app is fantastic, otherwise.  What do you think?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzm2PgoWPtI&feature=player_embedded#!
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6 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 10, 2012 at 9:21 AM

    Investigated a mite. From their website (http://www.engagebyeview.com/terms ), it seems that they claim to send you up to 3 messages a day through sms and mms. "message and data rates may apply.".

    SMS 'subscriptions' are a well known scam method of billing you through your carrier (ie -- there will be an additional 'third-party' charge through your cell phone bill.) So the methodology they use sounds very suspicious. They may or may not be trustworthy, but my suspicions have been raised.

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    Replies
    1. Xpressive HandzOctober 10, 2012 at 9:50 AM

      Thank you, Brein, for looking into this and sharing your thoughts! I'm curious to see if the idea if this app catches on, and if one will be developed without the privacy questions and 3rd party issues.

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    2. Corey Axelrod, Director of Social Media at EngageOctober 10, 2012 at 2:23 PM

      Xpressive Handz, thank you for posting this article for people to read in regards to Engage. I am the Social Media Director for Engage and wanted to respond accordingly to the comments made above.

      Please know that at Engage, we are committed to providing our members with an excellent product. We wanted to share that the reason we have the 'message and data rates may apply' is because some people do not have unlimited text and data plans, and because we send our messages through text, we want people to be aware of this potential charge. We currently are paying the phone companies to send our messages for us.

      Please also know that the reason we ask for information is to ensure that all of our messages are relevant. For example, we do not want to send a message designed for a man to a woman, and vice versa. There are many different examples we could list here, but that's simply one. We will not sell anyone's information - it's secured and not accessible to anyone.

      Please feel free to take a look at our Terms and Conditions page at http://www.engagebyeview.com/terms.

      If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at caxelrod@eviewconnections.com.

      Thank you,
      Corey Axelrod

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    3. Xpressive HandzOctober 10, 2012 at 2:47 PM

      Thank you, Corey, for dropping by and explaining this a little further for us. Perhaps some of us wouldn't be so leery if instead of asking for personal information, you gave us a general check list to click, something by age groups, areas of interest. This way, with a broader sprectrum, someone may see something that may interest their spouse and tell them about it. It also loosens the privacy issues if we checked a box for age group. Also, a little peek at the app without requiring all the fields to be filled in would be nice. If I have a few privacy concerns, there are probably others who will, as well, when they check out your app. These are just suggestions from someone in your target audience. :-) Engage is a GREAT idea of an app!

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    4. Corey Axelrod, Director of Social Media at EngageOctober 10, 2012 at 3:25 PM

      Thank you for your kind words! I'll be sure to pass this message along to our Developers. We're always looking for ways to improve our user experience.

      Please know we provide screenshots in the App Store of our App. There also is a video that can be viewed - this video explains what we do.

      Again, thank you! If you have any additional concerns, you can address them to me via e-mail at caxelrod@eviewconnections.com.

      Thank you,
      Corey Axelrod

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  2. Xpressive HandzOctober 10, 2012 at 6:48 PM

    You're very welcome, Corey. :-)Thank you for clarifying for us. :-)

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