Author: Shepherd Yaw Morttey

  • Blogging in Ghana: 3 Misconceptions about Blogging and Bloggers

    Blogging in Ghana: 3 Misconceptions about Blogging and Bloggers

    Blogging in Ghana has become very popular. These days, there are a lot of bloggers everywhere, and with them, their blogs. Some people blog on issues and some do lifestyle.

    A lot more people blog on news, and there are some who do the very unreasonable “copy and paste”. But hey, everyone is blogging!

    There are about a whopping 173 million blogs worldwide and this is just an estimation. It is very difficult to tell the number of blogs in the world but one thing is for sure there are a lot more some alive, some dead and some on and off. With a huge interest in blogging nowadays, there is also a lot of misconceptions about it, especially about Ghanaian bloggers and blogging in Ghana.

    Today we look at some of the misconceptions associated with bloggers in Ghana and blogging in general. At the end of this post, don’t forget to tell us what you think by leaving a comment.

    Misconceptions about blogging and bloggers in Ghana

    1. You can start a blog and make money quickly

    How much money can you make from Blogging in Ghana?

    This is a very big misconception here in Ghana and it’s as well funny for me. A lot of peeps think when you start a blog, that’s a sure banker making easy money. Well the whole mechanism of making money with blogging is not as easy as it sounds. Ghanaian readers are discerning enough to know who really is providing them with information and value and who just wants to bait them to visiting their site.

    To think of making money with your blog, you have to provide good value for your readers, build a strong reading community and let you readers identify with you. This is not something you can do overnight, right?

    You can have a fair idea of how much a website is making online. Just search the website on $itemap.org

    1. Bloggers just sit around all day behind their computers and tablets

    Bloggers have a whole different life than you would imagine

    I personally have not met any blogger who sits behind his or her devices all day just blogging! The truth of the matter is most bloggers actually have a job or are students who are busy most of the time. True bloggers have the passion to share information with their readers and therefore make time to do this. They do not have all the time in the world like most people assume. Even full-time bloggers are most of the time not behind the computers. They go out to meet people, have social interactions and look for other ways to advertise their blog and make a business out of it. From experience, I realize bloggers are some of the best volunteers ever. S/O to Skinny Rahim of 247filla.com

    1. Blogging is the easiest thing you could do

    Blogging has never been easy
    Blogging has never been easy

    Hahaha! This one is very funny yet very understandable too.  For a lot of people it takes 2 to 5 minutes to read a simple blog post but have you thought about what goes into just one blog post? Especially for bloggers like myself who are not very gifted writers, you could spend about 3 hours minimum on a blog post. You need to write a blog post, edit and proof read it. Then you need to look for images that are relevant for the blog post; if you don’t get any you might have to take them yourself, edit them to your satisfaction and then add them to the post.

    One of the most difficult things about blogging is getting fresh ideas each and every day or on a regular basis. And sometimes when you have these ideas you do not even know how to present them. After all is done you need to share your blog posts to your audience and that’s another big job. Next time you think blogging is easy, it may be because a lot of work and effort went into it each post to make it “easy” for you to read and comprehend.

    Blogging is not an easy path to success, and most people blog because they have the passion to do so. Professional blogging is expensive and not so cheap like is assumed by many. Any questions for a blogger? Ask below. Don’t forget to check out out “Learn to Blog” Series.

  • Ghanaian Online Habits – 5 Things Ghanaians Do Online

    Ghanaian Online Habits – 5 Things Ghanaians Do Online

    Ghanaian Online Habits have not been well documented like it has been done in other places around the world.

    In fact, in Ghana, there seems to be very little or no research into what we do online. One of the many ways to measure what people do online is to look at the websites they visit.

    Alexa provides this data by ranking websites based on the amount of traffic they get. Website traffic simply refers to the amount of Internet data that is sent or received on a website or different websites by the website’s visitors. Web traffic is the highest form of Internet Traffic globally.

    Let’s look at what people in Ghana do on the internet based solely on web traffic.

    Ghanaians love to be informed

    ghana online news

    The greater percentage of Ghanaians are reading news online. Most of these are local news websites mainly ghanaweb.com, yen.com.gh, myjoyonline.com, peacefmonline.com, citifmonline.com and modernghana.com. BBC and The Daily Mail are also represented on the list.

    The news websites on the list also have a high rank with the local ones collectively reaching an average rank of 16.6.

    Search, Search, Search! Ghanaians are always searching

    Google, YouTube, Yahoo and Ask? Well, Ghanaians seem to understand how search engines work and are using it quite often.

    Google.com.gh ranks highest in Ghana and this comes as a no surprise, especially with a lot of people on Google’s Android platform. A lot of video searches too on YouTube (YouTube is a search engine too, the second biggest in the World, actually) means Ghanaians are not left out on the video search scene.

    It’s fair to assume most of these YouTube searches happen over office Wi-Fi and ethernet. Search Engines have a combined rank of 5. Impressive! Sadly, none of these search engines is Ghanaian.

    Ghanaians love Social Media

    Social Media Influence in Ghana is huge. Photo by Asempa FM

    Ghanaians are in love with Social Media; but you already knew that, didn’t you? Facebook ranks at number 6, Instagram at 25 and Twitter at 45.

    What’s surprising about social media is the rank of LinkedIn – at 15. A lot of people in Ghana seem to be taking the professional social networking site pretty serious nowadays. However, think about this – LinkedIn is an employment-oriented social networking service.

    It could just be we are all on LinkedIn to search for jobs, considering the unemployment rate in the country.

    Ghanaians are picking up on doing business online.

    online business

    AliExpress, Alibaba, Amazon and Jumia? These are all shopping sites and they have a combined rank of 33. Tonaton and OLX are also on the list of websites frequented by Ghanaians.

    You should read the comparison we did: Tonaton or OLX? Also on the business scene are a lot of Ad websites. Well, bloggers are at it again, delivering ads and making some money. Online shopping, online classifieds and online ads, Ghanaians certainly are doing some business online.

    Ghanaians are into sports; they prove it by betting.

    Goal, Livescore and Flash Score? Sports are a big thing in Ghana and it’s no surprise we have taken this online.

    It’s a pity my favourite sports editorial site is not on this list but these sites are visited by the sporting community to satisfy their insatiable need to know whether Hazard is going to be transferred to Real Madrid or not.

    Ghanaians have also taken to betting and this is quite good – proving you love the game by putting your money into it.

    Here is a graph showing categories of websites in the top 50

    50 most visited websites in Ghana April 2017
    50 most visited websites in Ghana April 2017

    Find below the list of the top 50 Websites visited in Ghana

    1. google.com.gh – Search Engine
    2. youtube.com – Search Engine
    3. google.com – Search Engine
    4. ghanaweb.com – News
    5. yahoo.com – Search Engine / News
    6. facebook.com – Social Media
    7. yen.com.gh – News
    8. wikipedia.org – Educational Resource
    9. onclkds.com – Ads
    10. myjoyonline.com – News
    11. peacefmonline.com – News
    12. ghanamotion.com – Entertainment
    13. live.com – News / Mailing
    14. ask.com – Search Engine
    15. linkedin.com – Social Media
    16. tonaton.com – Classifieds
    17. floralinvestment.com – Business
    18. ug.edu.gh – Educational Resource
    19. ***********.biz – Adult Content
    20. thepiratebay.org – Peer to Peer / File Sharing
    21. www.aliexpress.com – Shopping
    22. goal.com – Sports
    23. blogspot.com – Blogging
    24. livescore.com – Sports
    25. instagram.com – Social Media
    26. knust.edu.gh – Educational Resource
    27. bet365.com – Betting
    28. msn.com – News / Mailing
    29. myway.com – Internet Portal
    30. popads.net – Ads
    31. citifmonline.com – News
    32. amazon.com – Shopping
    33. savefrom.net – Video Downloads
    34. olx.com.gh – Classifieds
    35. flashscore.com – Sports
    36. modernghana.com – News
    37. jumia.com.gh – Shopping
    38. bbc.com – News
    39. microsoft.com – News / Mailing
    40. *******.com – Adult Content
    41. wordpress.com – Blogging
    42. go2cloud.org – Ads
    43. alibaba.com – Shopping
    44. reimageplus.com – Software
    45. twitter.com – Social Media
    46. ghanasoccernet.com – Sports
    47. betway.com.gh – Betting
    48. softonic.com – Software
    49. dailymail.co.uk – News
    50. office.com – Productivity

    These website ranks are ordered by their 1 month Alexa traffic rank. What do you find surprising about the ranking?

    Are any of your favourite websites on the list?

  • Vodafone X – A Comprehensive Guide to Bundle Plans and Subscribing

    Vodafone X – A Comprehensive Guide to Bundle Plans and Subscribing

    Vodafone X has been around for a long time now, evolving at great speed and impressing many on its voyage. Ever since I heard “Vodafone X” in the latter part of 2013, it has remained one of the best data plans in the country. In this post, we look at the whole “Vodafone X thing” and which plan may be best for us.


    Who can use Vodafone X?

    Vodafone X, in short, is a “group of youth-centred data plans by Vodafone Ghana”.

    Vodafone X packages can be subscribed to by Ghanaian youth between the ages of 15 to 24. If you registered your Vodafone SIM with an ID that puts you below 15 years or above 24 years, you cannot register for the service. This makes sense on the part of Vodafone, especially as most of the people in the age bracket of 15 to 24 are active online and use data a lot more. This means that Vodafone X will give them the opportunity to do more when they pay less.

    What happens when you are over 24 years?

    As mentioned earlier, you cannot subscribe to any of the Vodafone X packages when you are over 24 years of age. If you are still interested in using Vodafone X even though you are above the age of 24, you could go buy the “already made Vodafone X sim cards”. For users who were already on Vodafone X before passing the 24-age limit, they shall not be affected and will continue to bundle and enjoy the Vodafone X packages so long as they remain active.

    As of now, you can subscribe to Vodafone X regardless of your age.

    The Vodafone X Plans

    There are currently 10 very unique plans you can choose from. 4 of these plans have a duration of a month – and an indication that the monthly plans are very popular. Only one app – the X-treme Monthly Plus provides free app data for Snapchat. All of the plans, however, provide free app data for WhatsApp.

    Check out the table below for full plan details:

    Vodafone X PlansPrice Duration Browsing Data Free Apps Data Cap on Subscription Brought to you by Mfidie.com Quick Fix GHS 1.00 1 Day 50 MB 25 MB - WhatsApp - Quick Fix Plus GHS 1.50 1 Day 100 MB 50 MB - WhatsApp - X-Social GHS 2.49 3 Days 200 MB 50 MB - WhatsApp & Facebook - X-Social Plus GHS 3.49 3 Days 300 MB 100 MB - WhatsApp & Facebook - X-Weekly GHS 5.99 7 Days 500 MB 150 MB - WhatsApp, Facebook & Twitter 3 Times a Week X-Weekly Plus GHS 7.50 7 Days 650 MB 250 MB - WhatsApp, Facebook & Twitter 3 Times a Week X-Monthly GHS 11.99 30 Days 1.20 GB 500 MB - WhatsApp, Facebook & Twitter 3 Times a Month X-Monthly Plus GHS 15.99 30 Days 2.00 GB 700 MB - WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram 3 Times a Month X-treme Monthly GHS 24.99 30 Days 3.00 GB 1.50 GB - WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram 3 Times a Month X-treme Monthly Plus GHS 35.00 30 Days 4.00 GB 2.50 GB - WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Snapchat 3 Times a Month
    Vodafone X Plans Table

    Explanation of the Table Items

    • Vodafone X Plans – These are the names of the plans
    • Price – The cost of each plan
    • Duration – The period (in days) for which a plan is active
    • Browsing Data – The amount of data that can be used to browse any site on the internet. When the “Free Apps Data” has been fully consumed, apps in that category will use data from the “Browsing Data”
    • Free Apps Data – This refers to data that can only be used by the apps mentioned as per the plan.
    • Cap on Subscription – The number of times you can subscribe to the particular plan within a specified period. However, there is a total of 4 times for any mix of the monthly bundles within a month.
    Vodafone X TV Commercial
    A snapshot from the Vodafone X TV Commercial

    Which Bundle is right for me?

    This is a very tough question and for most people, it is difficult to answer. I would recommend that you start with the “smaller” bundles and see how long it takes you to exhaust them. A good way to start is with the X-Monthly plan which gives you 1.2 GB of Browsing Data and 500 MB for WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter for roughly GHS 12.

    With this plan, it is easier to assess what your needs are. If you are able to exhaust the X-Monthly in just 2 weeks, you should definitely move to a higher plan. On the other hand, if the X-Monthly bundle is exhausted after in or after the third week, then with a little tweaking of your browsing habits, it should be the perfect plan for you.

    One mistake a lot of Vodafone X users (those on monthly bundle plans) make is that they think they have “a lot of free data” and hurriedly consume more than 50 percent of their data limits in the first week of subscription.

    As a Vodafone X user, you should always watch your browsing limits and abstain from downloading unnecessary content just because you have “a lot of data”. Remember, photos and videos consume bundle the most so you should be mindful of apps like Snapchat and Instagram.

    We wrote an article on how to use less data on your mobile. You can read that here: How to Stop Snapchat and Instagram from Using all your mobile Data.

    How to Subscribe to Vodafone X

    Subscribing to Vodafone X is fast and easy although some people do face problems sometimes. You can subscribe by dialling 5888 or *5888# and following the prompt. For a complete Guide on How to Subscribe, click here: How to Subscribe to Vodafone X

    What happens when my duration is up, yet I still have a bundle?

    Although this does not happen frequently, a lot of users, at the end of their duration may still have some bundle left. Sadly, Vodafone X does not support “data roll-over”. This means that all your remaining data will be lost once you renew your plan or activate a new plan.

    The Bottom Line

    There are a lot of data plans from the various network operators but quite a lot of people seem to be interested in Vodafone X. This may be due to the “difficult to resist” offers or a good marketing strategy or a combination of both. However the case, Vodafone X does not look to be going away soon and will continue to remain the favorite of a lot more people.

    Do you use Vodafone X? What Package are you on? Any Experience to share? Hit the comment section below.

     

  • Twitter’s 140 limit no longer affects @usernames in Replies

    In a blog post today, twitter has said it it is no longer counting usernames against character limits on tweets. If you are an ardent user of twitter, you should know tweets are limited to 140 characters (and even videos to 140 seconds). Usernames, especially when mentioning tweets or replying to tweets had the tendency to limit the user on the amount of characters that could be tweeted.

     


    This update to twitter comes as no news, especially when twitter has already stopped counting links and images against the 140 rule.

    We wrote an article on how you can take advantage of the new rules to tweet better. You can read that here: How to use Twitter’s new 140 Rule

    Here are excerpts from Twitter’s original blog post earlier today:

    With this change, we’ve simplified conversations in a few ways:

    Who you are replying to will appear above the Tweet text rather than within the Tweet text itself, so you have more characters to have conversations.

    You can tap on “Replying to…” to easily see and control who’s part of your conversation.

    When reading a conversation, you’ll actually see what people are saying, rather than seeing lots of @usernames at the start of a Tweet.

    With this change, we expect a lot more people to enjoy the twitter experience. Keep in mind however that replies can display up to a 50 people only!

    Don’t you love twitter now? Tweet at us: @mfidiedotcom

  • Tecno Camon CX (2017) in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria: Buy, Swap, Price, Specs

    Tecno Camon CX (2017) in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria: Buy, Swap, Price, Specs

    The Tecno Camon CX  (a.k.a Tecno Camon C10) was launched yesterday in Accra. Since the Camon series was introduced in 2015, over 5 million handsets globally have been sold, helping consumers experience high-quality selfie technology at the touch of a button.

    Apart from the 16 megapixels front camera with dual flash and the 16 megapixels back camera with ring flash, the Camon CX runs on Android 7.0 and has a 1.5Ghz octa-core processor.

    The Tecno CSeries are a family of camera-focused phones, but they do good on productivity and the Tecno Camon C10 looks to be no different.

    Tecno Camon CX Key Specification

    • Body Build: Metal
    • Operating System: Android 7.0 Nougat with HiOS
    • Network: 2G/3G/4G
    • Screen Size: 5.5 inches
    • Resolution: 1920×1080 pixels Full HD
    • Display: 2.5D display with Gorilla Glass 3
    • Weight: 140g
    • SIM: Dual Micro SIM
    • Processor: 2.0 GHz Octa-core (Helio P10)
    • GPU: Mali 860 GPU
    • Front Camera: Front: 16MP with Flash
    • Back Camera: Dual back 16MP with LED flash
    • Memory: 16GBROM Expandable via MICRO SD up to 128GB
    • RAM: 2GB
    • Connectivity: GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB 2.0
    • Battery Capacity: 3200mAh battery; 9V/2A fast charging
    • Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity, and Compass Sensor, Temperature sensor, Hall sensor
    • Fingerprint: Yes
    The Tecno Camon CX is for the Slay Kings and Slay Queens too
    The Tecno Camon CX is for the Slay Kings and Slay Queens too

    Pricing and Availability of the Tecno Camon CX

    Tecno Camon CX Price in Ghana

    The TECNO Camon CX is now available at retail outlets near you for the price of GHS 771.00 and you get 1 Gigabyte free Data each month for 6 months on MTN.
    You should go get this phone if you are big on selfies.

    How to get Free Data on MTN after buying the Tecno Camon CX in Ghana

    Compose an SMS with the words “MBS” without quotation marks. Send the composed SMS to MTN short code 151 and it will be processed for you. Having problems getting the data? Contact your seller.

    Hold your CX in style with a wide array of colours
    Hold your CX in style with a wide array of colours

    Tecno Camon CX Price in Kenya

    Tecno Camon C10 is available in Kenya for Ks 19,100

    Tecno Camon CX Price in Nigeria

    Tecno CX in Nigeria sells around 65,000 Naira.

    The Grey Tecno CX is everyone's favourite
    The Grey Tecno CX is everyone’s favourite

    Swap deals for the Tecno Camon C10

    For swap deals on the Camon CX call George on +233 24 526 9141

  • Samsung Galaxy S8 – Specs and Price

    Samsung Galaxy S8 – Specs and Price

    Samsung Galaxy s8 is here with us. A few hours ago, Samsung announced the Galaxy S8 in all of it’s glory. We take a look at the specs of this amazing phone and how much it is going for (pre-order).  There are two versions of the S8 (as expected): the standard Galaxy S8 with a 5.8-inch screen and the larger S8 Plus with a 6.2-inch screen. Check out the specifications below.

    Specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus

    Processor

    US: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa core (2.35 GHz Quad + 1.yGHZ Quad)

    International: Samsung Exynos Octa core (2.35 GHz Quad + 1.9GHZ Quad)

    Display

    Galaxy S8: 5.8-inch OLED, 2960 x 1440, 570ppi

    Galaxy S8 Plus: 6.2-inch OLED, 2960 x 1440, 529ppi

    Samsung Galaxy s8

    Cameras

    Rear: 12-megapixel, OIS, F1.7

    Front: 8-megapixel, auto focus, F1.7

    Batteries

    Galaxy S8: 3,000 mAh

    Galaxy S8 Plus: 3,500 mAh

    Dimensions

    Galaxy S8: 148.9 x 68.1 x 8 mm, 155g

    Galaxy S8 Plus: 159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm, 173g

    Other specs

    Android 7.0 Nougat

    USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack

    NFC and MST for Samsung Pay

    IP68 water and dust resistant

    Wireless charging

    LTE Cat.16

    Bluetooth 5.0, can stream to two devices

    Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac

     

    Price of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus

    Starting at an average of $750 and $850 full retail on most carriers in the US. Converting that to GHS, that should be GHS 3,300 and GHS 3,800 for the Galaxy s8 and the Galaxy s8 plus respectively.

     

  • 3 things you should never Google even if you are forced to

    3 things you should never Google even if you are forced to

    Things to never google are exactly the ones people go out to google? Curiosity? Well there are very good reasons not to google these words and phrases. From my personal experience, when someone tells you not to google something, you should actually listen.

    Today, I present a list of 3 things not to google; from not so good experiences. I know some of you guys would go ahead to google them even though this post clearly says “never google”. Well, “Does I care?”.

    Enough of the blah blah blah! Let’s move on to these 3 things you should never enter into Google’s search box.

    1. Trypophobia

      Well, what is Trypophobia? According to Wikipedia, Trypophobia is a proposed phobia (intense, irrational fear or anxiety) of irregular patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps. The term is believed to have been coined by a participant in an online forum in 2005. Those images that show up when you search “trypophobia” are really freaky! You can check them out here: Trypophobia Image Search Results

    2. Peanut, the world’s ugliest dog

      Well, as descriptive as this search term might be, you should really prepare your eyes if you want to see some really ugly stuff! Peanut is just more than ugly and the sad part is once you see this dog’s face, it lurks in your memory for a very long long time. You should really not google this but if you are curious, click here to be taken directly to the search page: Peanut, the world’s ugliest dog.

    3. Skin Condition

      This search term seems so innocent and generic, but it is definitely a term you would rather not search. Due to the fact that it is not specific to any kind of “skin condition”, this term curates the worst of images. This is a strong one, don’t even attempt it. Want to have a look at “Skin Conditions”? Just click here and happy yourself.

    Do you know of any terms that provide very unpleasant results? Well, I don’t want to know!

  • Airtel – Tigo Merger: What we know; General Expectations

    Airtel – Tigo Merger: What we know; General Expectations

    It all started as a mere speculation in the middle of 2016 – Millicom International Cellular SA (Tigo), and Bharti Airtel (Airtel) are going to merge. A lot of people did not think that would be possible. However, as the days turned into months, it became clearer and clearer that the merger between Tigo and Airtel would see the light of day.

    It was therefore not so surprising when on 3rd March 2017, the two telecommunication operators announced that they have, through their respective subsidiaries, entered into an agreement to combine their operations in Ghana.

    Although the transaction is subject to obtaining approvals from the relevant authorities in Ghana and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, we believe the merger would see the day of light. The merger, when finally completed, is expected to push the new entity (whatever it may be called) to be a real strong force in the telecommunications industry in Ghana.

    What do we know so far about this merger?

    1. Equal Ownership

      Tigo and Airtel are currently the third and fourth biggest telecommunication networks in Ghana. Together, Tigo and Airtel provide millions of Ghanaian residents voice and data services. One would think that the “bigger company” would own more of the new company once the merger is done. However, that would not be the case. Once the merger if complete, there would be equal ownership. As per the agreement on the 3rd of April 2017, both companies are to have equal ownership and governance rights in the combined entity. Good for Business though.

    2. Airtel – Tigo Merger takes them to number two

      What is the number one telecommunications company in Ghana? Quite Obvious. What this merger will do is to bring the new entity to a number two position. The joint entity is expected to be a strong number two operator with nearly 10 million customers, including over 5.6 Million data customers. This means increase in revenue, which is also estimated to reach $300m.

    A lot of Ghanaians are very happy about the merger. Some are of the view that the merger will create greater competition in the telecommunications industry. Such competition would then lead to better services of all consumers and maybe some very cool data and voice deals. We should be looking out for deals that would likely be competing with Vodafone X or an improved version of Tigo Tribe.

    Another general expectation is that after the merger is completed, network coverage of the new entity will be extended. Most people in areas that previously did not have good network connections will want to have a feel of this merger. People will be expecting not to climb ORANGE trees before they get a good network reception.

    Hopefully, this merger is done soon, then we can judge whether it has been for better or for worse on the side of the consumer. After all, we all know entities are always looking at how to satisfy shareholders. What do you make of the merger? Let your view be heard in the comment below.

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  • 3 Reasons why Snapchat is still way better than the new WhatsApp Status

    WhatsApp Status – the latest addition to the popular Instant Messaging App seems to be fun for a lot of users. Snapchat, on the other hand, is still very much popular and I personally have not seen any significant drop in the number of snaps my friends send in.

    This morning, my friends were speaking about how WhatsApp is killing snapchat and why snapchat will not survive the hit. I personally think when it comes to the art of storytelling on smartphones, Snapchat is leading the way. Today, I look at 3 ways snapchat is killing the storytelling game. Maybe in the future, WhatsApp may catch up. For now, snapchat is doing it all right.

    1. Photo and Video Filters

      In the world of mobile photography and videography, filters seem to be almost everything. Snapchat has made massive improvements in the scene of filters. Geofilter, Data, Color, Rewind, and all those funny faces and emotions – Snapchat is all about the filters. It’s quite sad WhatsApp does not offer any filters as at now and this results in a lot of people posting saved snaps via WhatsApp stories. What a pity!

    Filters are present in Snapchat but WhatsApp status does not have the feature
    Filters are present in Snapchat but WhatsApp status does not have the feature
    1. Snapchat Discover

      Snapchat combines the best of social networks, magazines, and television in a way that keeps users informed about the stuff that matters to them. This feature allows you to see stories from popular publishers like IGN, Buzz Feed, Cosmopolitan and Daily Mail. This helps users to get more from the app when stories get boring (which is gladly never the case for me). WhatsApp status does not have this fine feature, although I suspect it will be added soon – for the ads.

    The Snapchat Discover Feature
    The Snapchat Discover Feature
    1. Privacy

      This is one reason why it may take a long time for me to send a status on WhatsApp. Privacy is a big issue nowadays and WhatsApp’s privacy settings are just not enough. For one, a lot of people have contacts on their WhatsApp because they have saved their numbers one way or the other. Imaging sending a status that can be seen by your boss, friend, family, business friend and workmate? Snapchat solves this by giving you maximum control over you even add in the first place. Snapchat certainly handles privacy on stories better than WhatsApp.

    Well, WhatsApp just entered the storytelling game and sure has a lot of ways to improve; but right now, I would choose snapchat over it for a lot more reasons than the three mentioned in this post – including the lack of a data saver.

    Have you used the WhatsApp Status feature? What’s the experience so far?

  • 3 Free Websites to help search for Accommodation in Ghana

    3 Free Websites to help search for Accommodation in Ghana

    It has always been a daunting task to secure your preferred accommodation whenever you find yourself in a new city.

    Most times, we simply need to move because of new job offers or even because we are actively seeking employment.

    For a long time, the traditional way of seeking new accommodation was to go round, asking people in your preferred neighbourhood if they knew any available homes.

    Another option was to rely on Housing Agents who usually charged high and exorbitant agent fees for accommodation that may or may not be exactly how these agents have described it.

    In fact, a lot of agents have done more harm than good, and it is a common saying to hear people clearly stating they do not want to deal with “agents”.

    Like I have always said, it’s the 21st century and websites and mobile apps are running things. Last time, we looked at some mobile apps for Job Seekers and we have had a lot of positive reviews from all of you.

    Today, we look at 2 websites (technically 3) where you can freely search for accommodation mainly to rent in Ghana. Some of these websites have listings for buying, leasing and selling of other properties as well.

    MeQasa

    I first heard of MeQasa in 2017, when I had just moved back to Accra. A friend in a WhatsApp group had just recommended it to another friend. I was truly impressed by the features of the website.

    Currently, MeQasa has improved so much that it attracts the best of home buyers and accommodation (short stay and long stay) in Ghana.

    The Meqasa interface is well designed and has options for one to choose the number of bedrooms, baths, the minimum and maximum amount as well as the duration of stay. What I like about MeQasa is that it provides an option for people who would want to do a short stay.

    Tonaton and OLX

    Sometimes, I wish I do not have to write about Tonaton and OLX anymore. Anyway, the two classified sites are a good way to start your accommodation search.

    Tonaton and OLX have leveraged on their popularity to provide listings for accommodation to individuals who may need it. The truth is, searching for accommodation on these two is easy and usually yields very fruitful results.

    You will need to search for keywords like “House” or “room” and choose your preferred location. You will be presented with results which are often relevant.

    However, beware! The Accommodation Agents have taken their crafts to Tonaton and OLX too so when you call, be sure you are not dealing with an agent unless of course, you want to deal with one. They are not “that bad” after all.

    Renthauz

    This is a new online portal mainly for renting and was launched in late February 2020.

    The platform provides Ghanaians with the opportunity to surf through hostels, apartments and houses and choose which ones to rent. Agents are able to directly post on the platform via their account.

    As a new startup, you may want to try Renthauz as they seem to give more up close customer relationship. They also offer tips and advice on renting in Ghana.

    Conclusion

    Do you know of any other online resources that can help one search for accommodation in Ghana?

    Have you used any of the websites listed in this post?

    Let us know in the comment section below.