7 best ways to manage your instagram account like pro

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The internet plays a huge role in our social lives today. We are always surrounded by smartphones loaded with the internet. For many, it is becoming harder and harder going about without being online for some reason and in some quantity. There are a lot of things you can do on the internet for many purposes. One such component is social media. More than half of the total internet users are active on one platform of social media. One of them is Instagram. With more than a billion users, Instagram is among the biggest social networks today. Whatever the purpose might be, for properly using Instagram you need to manage your account. Here are 7 ways that will make the management of your Instagram account easy.

Maintain An Attractive Account 

The overview of your account is the first thing anyone sees upon visiting you. It creates your first impression and determines if the visitor would stay or not. The first aspect of the presentation is your Instagram bio. The bio contains your name, username, and brief details of what you have to offer. The name and username should be standing out positively while keeping the bio short and sweet. Next up is your display picture. It is advised to keep a good picture of yourself or any brand that you represent here. You can take advantage of various features of this platform to make your profile look better. You can create permanent highlights and temporary stories that not only look good but speak your story for you as well. 

Create A Publishing Schedule 

Publishing content is an integral part of any social media platform. If you have something to share, you need to put it out for the world to see. You do that through content. For that, you not only need publishing material but a schedule as well. A schedule equals organization which is essential for management. More important than just creating a schedule, you need to follow it regularly for better management. Schedule saves time and takes away the sense of urgency, letting you focus on your content freely. 

Create Content In Advance

When you have created a publishing schedule, having the required content stored in advance makes things even better. Publishing schedule lets you know what you need to post and when. It is convenient if you create the required content in advance. It makes you keep up with the schedule and makes sure you never run out of content. Collect photos, write down hashtags and come up with captions some time before you are going to be using them. 

Use Automation Tools

When it comes down to posting, using automation tools can ease down your pressure. With these tools, you can schedule posts in advance while matching it with your publishing schedule. These tools are proven to be beneficial in boosting productivity. It saves your time and eliminates the worries of forgetting when something was supposed to be posted. With these tools, you can schedule content worth of months at once. AgoraPulse, SocialPilot, and Jarvee are some of the best Instagram automation tools. 

Manage Engagement 

To keep your account up and running, you need to manage the engagement you are getting. Through creative content and other strategies, keep the number of likes, comments, and followers increasing. If you are finding it hard to do so, an easy approach is to buy Instagram followers. There are many websites that sell legitimate followers at great prices. Not only does it increase your followers but helps you get more likes on Instagram posts organically as well. 

Use Social Monitoring Tools

Monitoring tools or social listening tools help you realize how you are performing in your fans or competitors. Through them, you can always know when and where your name is mentioned online. They even alert you whenever that happens. It lets you become a part of the discussions about you, letting you know the improvements and changes you need to make. 

Insights And Analytics 

Like monitoring tools, insights and analytics help you assess and improve. Unlike monitoring your mentions, here you directly study your own performance. It can include factors like the time when your posts perform the most of the location you get the most engagement from. This helps you optimize and grow your entire Instagram presence. 

Conclusion 

Instagram has risen like nothing else in the past decade. It is only getting more popular with time on top of that. One of the reasons behind its popularity is the ease of use and accessibility. Instagram works in two straightforward approaches, posting visual content or consuming it. It might not be complex but managing an Instagram account can be tiresome. That stands especially true if you are using an account for marketing or promotional purposes as it requires regular publishing and management. But with the ways mentioned here, you can effectively and efficiently manage your Instagram account, however big it is.

5 Advantages of Buying Facebook Followers

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Social media is no longer as we knew it to be. Within just a few years, algorithms have changed, layouts have changed, the focus has changed; the internet itself has evolved far beyond our wildest expectations. Boomers recall websites like G+, Orkut, Yahoo Messenger, etc. as channels to help keep up with friends and family over the world. While that is a perfectly valid and common reason for joining social media, it is no longer the sole one. In fact, it is not even the most common one.

Now, brands and influencers, marketers and creators, artists, and musicians, and so many other professionals, creative or otherwise, have joined social media for a plethora of reasons that do not involve family. With this shift in focus and priorities has come a shift in the way people receive engagement on social media. Now, there are more platforms to buy Facebook likes than there are social media platforms on the internet. 

These social media engagement platforms allow you to gain more engagement and generate organic growth through paid services like “buy Instagram likes”, “buy Facebook followers”, and whatnot. But why? That is what we will discuss here: the top 5 reasons you would want to buy Facebook followers.

  1. Popularity

Regardless of which industry you are in, popularity on Facebook is essential if you want your social media campaigns to be successful. Whether you are trying to generate awareness about your company or trying to be an influencer, or whatever else you are doing, you need popularity. Buying Facebook followers ensures you this popularity. At the very least, it lays the groundwork.

People tend to trust a popular page more than an alienated one. Once you have achieved a significant number of followers, your page will automatically start to kick off and reach more people. Your audience will pay attention and your target will draw rapidly draw near.

  1. Reliability

Imagine you visit an influencer’s Facebook page, and it only has a couple of hundred followers. In what world will you consider such a page a reliable source of influence? My guess is none.

In various situations, a large number of followers also brings a sense of reliability with itself. People visiting your page for the first time will feel that they can trust your opinion if such a large number of other users already do. This boosts your career as an influencer, a brand, etc. Basically, it improves your social media personality. Thus, reliability is an important reason to buy Facebook followers.

  1. It increases your reach

This is quite a clever point indeed. When you buy Facebook followers, especially from trustworthy sources like these ones, these followers do not just magically appear out of nowhere. These are actual Facebook users that companies hire for this specific task, which means that these users have friends of their own. If you average out ten friends per paid follower, and you buy a hundred followers, that is easily a thousand extra people you can reach. This is because when a Facebook user likes your page, their friends see it in their newsfeed. Even if ten percent of these friends are interested in your page, you gain a hundred extra followers for no cost. That is a double win. 

  1. Attract advertisers

No company wants to approach a page for advertisements if the latter is not popular. Why would they spend their money when returns are guaranteed to be null? 

Brands are always on the lookout for potential social media partners. Thus, if a brand visits your page and discovers that you have a large following, they are more likely to ask you for a sponsored post, advertisement, affiliate posts, etc. than if your followers are limited, Hence, buying Facebook followers is a great way of ensuring that your page attracts advertisers. With enough advertisements and sponsored posts, you can generate income in the range of several hundred dollars a month.

  1. Search results

This connects directly to point one. Most points here do. See, when a user searches for something on Facebook, the website sorts the results according to several factors, and popularity is an important one of those. A Facebook page with several followers is more likely to appear at the top of search results once a user queries for something relevant to it.

This puts your page in the limelight and ensures increased visibility and easier popularity. Note that this point is useless without proper SEO (Search Engine Optimization). That is, you must include keywords in your Facebook posts, ensure your name, section, profile picture, contact info, and other such details are up to date and, more importantly, properly optimized. 

Conclusion

Buying Facebook followers has several benefits and most of it involves popularity in one way or another. Popularity is key on social media and thus, once you buy engagement, your social presence will receive a tremendous boost.

If you can think of more interesting points to add to this list, let us know in the comments box below.

Enjoying Sports From Home During the Pandemic

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The coronavirus pandemic has forced many changes upon the way we live our everyday lives. Among those changes is the way in which we enjoy sports. While many venues are opening stadiums ups some more in 2021 than they were in 2020, there are still going to be regulations in place for a while. Hopefully, late in the season, stadiums will be able to operate at full capacity again, but that might not happen until 2022.

In the meantime, going to enjoy your favorite team live will continue to be difficult, if not impossible, with far fewer seats available. Going out to enjoy the game at the bar could continue to be a bit of a struggle as well, with the regulations still in place. Beyond regulations, you may simply not be able to fully enjoy yourself with the looming possibility of contracting the virus hanging over your head.

For the first half of 2021, at least, enjoying the game from home is likely going to be your best option.

Make the Game an Event

Depending on what sports you watch and how often you watch them, this might not be a possibility for every game. However, try to do it as often as you would attend a game in person or go out to watch the game with friends under normal circumstances.

Sports help to lift us up during times of struggle. However, sitting alone and watching the game while drinking a couple of beers might not do too much to help you get over a coronavirus depression. If, on the other hand, you make yourself some good game day food and drinks, throw a jersey on, and get a few of your friends on a video call, the game can be much more enjoyable. 

Play Fantasy Sports

Another way to make the games more enjoyable while stuck at home is to participate in fantasy sports. Joining a fantasy league can add another level of entertainment to the game. During the time you save by not going out, you can delve deeper into the statistics behind the game you love.

With the growing importance of statistics to fantasy leagues and real teams as well, many sites offering sports datasets in real-time have been growing in popularity over the past several years. Beneath the overall competition, fantasy sports offer two main avenues to game enjoyment, gambling and statistical analysis.

Gambling

One of the main reasons people play fantasy sports is that it offers a more complex way to bet upon the games. It also puts the power in your own hands. With fantasy sports, you are betting on your own ability to assess multiple players’ value in a given matchup.  What people bet on in fantasy leagues ranges widely. Some leagues play for big money while others play for bragging rights.

Fantasy sports have always been a particularly enticing option for fans of less successful teams. The ability to feel like a winner while supporting the Jacksonville Jaguars is a welcome option.

Statistical Analysis

While the words statistical analysis are unlikely to sound like fun to many people, for those who love numbers, they bring a whole other level of enjoyment to sports. Getting deep into the numbers and comparing players, both past and present, can lead to fascinating discoveries. You may simply be collecting this data at home for your fantasy league. However, it is exactly what professional teams do to give themselves an edge.

Teams have turned heavily towards analytics over the past two decades. Only a handful of teams were utilizing this tool 15 years ago. These days, though, it guides so much of the decision-making for nearly every team in every league, both professional and fantasy.

Get a Bigger TV

If the pandemic didn’t hit you too hard financially, consider using part of your stimulus check to purchase a bigger television. Viewing the games on a larger screen can make you feel closer to the action. Complementing the new TV with surround sound audio can help as well. However, a better sound system may also further accentuate the lack of a full-size crowd in the stadium.

What is the Role of a Personal Injury Lawyer

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Need a Personal Injury Attorney? Let us delve into learning about the role played by a personal injury attorney in your case. They are civil litigators representing clients, mostly referred to as plaintiffs. They would handle the claim resulting due to the injuries caused by the negligence or careless acts by another person, entity, company, organization, or government agency. Personal injury attorneys would practice in an area of tort law. Such an area of law specializes in private or civic wrongs or injuries, non-monetary or monetary damages. 

The specific responsibilities and roles to be taken by a personal injury attorney would be based on the types of cases along with facts surrounding the accident. However, there have been several general steps taken in every case. 

Find following some of the actions performed by personal injury attorneys. 

  • Collection and examination of evidence 

Be it a car accident, construction accident, truck wreck, sidewalk fall, or a product liability case, rest assured that the initial stages of the case deal with acquiring the essential evidence quickly. It may entail – 

  • hiring an investigator for obtaining statements from witnesses 
  • taking pictures of the condition that causes the injury 
  • obtaining police reports 
  • collecting medical records 
  • retrieving surveillance footage 

The initial stages of any case have been often vital for litigation. Find an attorney that does not take shortcuts. Look for an attorney offering free consultation services. Moreover, the attorney should be willing to handle your case on a contingency basis. They would be paid only when they win the case for you. Until then, the attorney has to bear the expenses incurred on the case. He or she would be paid after he or she has won the claim for you. 

  • Dealing with the insurance company and its lawyers 

Another important role of an injury attorney would be to interact and negotiate with insurance companies. From the time, your insurance company receives the notice of any claim, they would conduct their investigation and invariably reach out to the counsel of the plaintiff and discuss the claim. After you have hired an attorney, an insurance company or their lawyers would prohibit you from getting in touch from contacting you along with all communication that goes through the personal injury attorney. Your attorney must work in your best interests when dealing with an insurance company. 

  • Preparing and filing pleadings 

Your lawyer should initially prepare and file a complaint with the applicable court where your case is maintainable. Your attorney should contact you and confirm specific information that might be requested in most of the pleadings. These pleadings would be created and finalized by your attorney. 

  • Representing a client at deposition and trial 

Your attorney would represent you at the time of deposition and during the trial. Depositions have been vital for every case and the job of your attorney would be to prepare you for the deposition and for attending or representing you at the deposition. The attorney should also represent you in the court of law to help you acquire the deserved compensation amount. 

Charlotte Real Estate Leader Pete Frandano Releases New Book To Inspire Success

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One of Charlotte’s most seasoned real estate professionals, Pete Frandano, who is also an experienced endurance athlete, has written a book that combines both of his passions to help seasoned and aspiring real estate professionals, fellow small business owners and entrepreneurs, while honoring his two sons in the process.

“Endurance Real Estate” conveys Frandano’s 30-plus combined years of experience in the both the Fortune 500 and real estate industries – the good, the bad and some of the ugly from his own experience and the front row seat he had the good fortune of having to some of the industry’s top performers. He provides some “what to dos” and “what not to dos” with the hope it can help readers cross whatever finish lines they choose to cross in their business and life.

“Endurance Real Estate” started out as a chronicle for Frandano’s sons and has evolved over the past two-plus years into something much bigger. The book is real estate centric, but its lessons and message will help and interest seasoned or aspiring real estate professionals, small business owners, entrepreneurs, business managers, leaders and endurance athletes.

“My book started out as a chronicle for my two sons, my ‘if dad got hit by a bus document,’ but has since evolved into something I hope can help you or others in your world,” Frandano said.

“‘Endurance Real Estate’ is a true story, my true journey,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of help along my journey in life and I’m hoping this book can in a small way do the same for others, maybe even provide an extra set of what I call ‘life’s guard rails.’ It provides real and actionable advice and will provide hope and inspiration to my readers. It is about at times falling down, picking ourselves up, dusting ourselves off and crossing the finish lines of our business and our lives. A lot has been written about the 2% on Wall Street. While this book will be interesting to them as well, it is written primarily for the rest of us 98 percenters.”

Frandano is grateful for his 30-plus year journey in the Fortune 500 and real estate arenas, two industries that have given back to him in ways unimaginable. As a former Fortune 500 Logistics/Supply Chain Executive who bounced all over the globe for quite a few years, he made professional detour after what he calls a couple of life’s “right turns,” one being 9/11 where he was in the air heading from Boston to Pittsburgh the morning of the tragic event. Soon thereafter, he left corporate America to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams and entered the real estate industry, eventually purchasing the real estate company with his partners leading up to the Great Recession.

Frandano has participated in more than 100 endurance sports events over the years, including marathons, triathlons, 5K – 8K – and 10K runs, and charity cycle rides.

Frandano, CCIM, MBA, is President of River Sound, Inc. which is a real estate consulting company that he has owned and operated since 2005. He also is proud to affiliate with Coldwell Banker Commercial MECA in Charlotte for his local brokerage business and T.B. Harris Jr. & Associates in Charlotte where he practices commercial appraisal. Frandano has recently launched Frandano Incorporated with a focus on helping other seasoned and aspiring real estate professionals, small business owners and others run from peak to peak and cross their finish lines in their business and in their life. He spends time in both the Queen City and the southeastern North Carolina coast.

Frandano has served in industry leadership for over 15 years, has been named as a Deal Maker by the CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) Institute, and is a proud member of the North Carolina CCIM Hall of Fame.

The book is now available in both paperback and e-book format on Amazon.

FUJIFILM Diosynth Investing $2 Billion To Build America’s Largest Biopharma Facility In NC

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FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies USA Inc., one of the world’s largest contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), just announced plans to invest over $2 billion and create 725 jobs in North Carolina.

The company now plans on building North America’s largest end-to-end biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, NC.

“Today’s decision shows once again that North Carolina is a world-class location for the most innovative biotech companies in the industry,” commented NC Governor Roy Cooper. “Since FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies already operates a facility in our state, they have complete confidence this new plant will succeed as well, thanks to North Carolina’s skilled workers, our commitment to workforce training, and the growing strength of our life science industrial cluster.”

FUJIFILM Diosynth brings North Carolina over 30 years of experience of creating life-saving products, including; recombinant proteins, viral vaccines, viral vectors, monoclonal antibodies, and other large molecules and medical countermeasures.

“We are delighted to expand our footprint here in North Carolina as we fulfill our mission to help our customers accelerate development and supply of high-quality medicines to patients,“ noted Kenji Sukeno, president of Fujifilm Corporation.

Positions at the new facility will include engineers, scientists, manufacturing personnel, and other support positions and will generate nearly $85 million in payroll impact to the region each and every year.

You can apply for any of the new positions in North Carolina here.

NCDIT Releases First-of-Its-Kind Plan To Create Digital Equity Across North Carolina

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The North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Broadband Infrastructure Office (BIO) today released the Digital Inclusion Plan Template and Guide, a first-of-its-kind resource to help communities create digital inclusion plans to reduce the digital divide and prioritize digital equity for their residents.

“As the necessity of the internet has increased, so have the inequities for people who do not have access to or cannot afford the technologies, tools and skills needed to participate in our  digital world,” Jim Weaver, North Carolina Department of Information Technology secretary and state chief information officer, said. “Closing this digital divide and achieving digital equity is critical for our residents and our state to thrive. As we work toward this as a state, our goal is that the Digital Inclusion Plan Template and Guide serves as a valuable resource to help communities to strategically prioritize digital equity and help level the playing field for their residents.”

‘Digital equity” is achieved when individuals have digital literacy skills, access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet service and a device to access and fully use the internet and the ability to fully participation in our society, democracy, and economy.

“Digital Inclusion Plan Template and Guide” aims to assist communities by simplifying the process of creating a digital inclusion plan and expediting the implementation of digital inclusion activities. It includes a template with recommended structure and categories for consideration as well as a guide with questions and tips to help community members create and customize the plan.

This resource is a first-of-its-kind, scalable tool released by a state broadband office to help communities create digital inclusion  plans that reflect their community’s unique needs, assets, and goals.

The plan has been used as part of digital inclusion workshops, and thus far, 14 N.C. communities have used the template to begin building plans—nearly doubling the number of plans that exist nationwide.

In 2020, BIO partnered with the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) to launch the Building a New Digital Economy in NC (BAND-NC) grant program to provide funding to NC communities to support digital inclusion projects, including creating community digital inclusion plans, with a goal of being the first state in the nation where every county has a digital inclusion plan.

“We are excited for the official launch of BIO’s ‘Digital Inclusion Plan Template and Guide,’” IEI Director Leslie Boney said. “We hope that communities applying for grants in this upcoming round of the BAND-NC grants will use this resource to create digital inclusion plans to benefit their residents.”

The resource was created in collaboration with The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband USA program, which promotes innovation and economic growth by supporting efforts to expand broadband access and meaningful use across America..

The plan is available for download.

The Carolinas Rank Among 2021’s Most “Sinful States in America”

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Every state has virtues and vices, and vices are especially hard to conquer during the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic. Harmful behavior on the individual level can result in staggering economic costs, considering that gambling addiction costs the U.S. $5 billion per year and smoking costs dwarf that with over $300 billion per year.

In light of these statistics, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s Most Sinful States. To determine where the U.S. has the most moral growing to do, the site compared the 50 states based on a wide range of data points* that they fit into seven sinful categories: anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity and laziness.

South Carolina ranked the 8th most sinful state (with exceptionally low marks for ‘anger and hatred’ and ‘jealousy’) and North Carolina ranked the 13th most sinful state in America (fairing worst in the ‘jealousy’ and ‘lust’ categories).

Most Sinful States in the U.S.

Overall Rank  State WalletHub Vice Index  Anger & Hatred  Jealousy  Excesses & Vices  Greed  Lust  Vanity  Laziness 
1 Nevada 55.69 9 2 5 1 4 29 6
2 California 54.22 12 7 46 21 2 2 31
3 Texas 52.00 25 9 36 29 1 6 30
4 Georgia 51.52 14 1 26 49 5 11 10
5 Florida 51.30 31 3 39 46 7 3 20
6 Louisiana 51.07 4 6 1 25 6 35 2
7 Tennessee 50.26 1 12 6 9 9 24 18
8 South Carolina 48.54 3 4 11 14 14 26 13
9 Illinois 47.49 8 24 21 43 3 7 28
10 Mississippi 47.21 11 23 14 3 8 49 1
11 New Jersey 46.02 43 28 49 8 24 4 23
12 Alabama 45.18 10 11 10 34 16 34 3
13 North Carolina 44.64 33 15 27 19 12 16 27
14 Delaware 44.61 29 5 4 2 32 37 22
15 Missouri 44.43 7 16 7 31 20 23 9
16 New York 44.40 15 27 43 50 23 1 15
17 Michigan 43.99 13 36 9 15 19 15 17
18 Arkansas 43.97 2 19 12 39 10 44 7
19 Pennsylvania 43.82 36 31 18 28 25 5 33
20 Maryland 43.34 28 8 16 44 11 12 37
21 Oklahoma 42.47 17 22 29 4 17 38 21
22 Arizona 42.34 22 10 41 32 15 18 25
23 Ohio 42.30 30 25 3 45 18 13 19
24 Virginia 42.26 40 29 44 11 21 8 38
25 New Mexico 41.71 16 13 30 17 26 43 4
26 Washington 40.45 38 18 47 13 33 10 43
27 Colorado 39.71 18 17 32 33 28 14 47
28 Hawaii 39.26 49 21 25 6 13 28 36
29 Kentucky 39.18 21 37 2 24 22 36 11
30 Alaska 37.58 6 20 20 16 37 39 40
31 Indiana 36.86 20 35 13 41 27 22 12
32 Oregon 35.91 26 14 24 42 36 25 32
33 Wisconsin 35.33 24 42 34 26 31 20 35
34 West Virginia 35.15 35 41 8 22 30 50 5
35 Massachusetts 35.08 46 43 19 40 42 9 34
36 Rhode Island 34.15 39 39 23 7 48 33 8
37 Kansas 33.19 27 30 33 37 29 32 41
38 Montana 33.07 5 32 22 23 43 48 46
39 Connecticut 32.37 47 34 37 36 46 19 26
40 South Dakota 31.37 19 50 45 12 41 47 16
41 Minnesota 31.26 48 33 48 30 38 17 49
42 Nebraska 30.86 34 38 28 27 34 31 48
43 North Dakota 30.32 41 45 40 5 44 40 42
44 Maine 29.21 45 49 17 20 47 42 14
45 Iowa 29.03 32 44 35 35 39 30 44
46 New Hampshire 28.38 50 40 15 18 49 27 39
47 Utah 28.36 44 26 50 48 40 21 50
48 Vermont 27.32 23 48 31 10 50 45 29
49 Idaho 27.15 42 46 38 38 45 41 24
50 Wyoming 25.19 37 47 42 47 35 46 45

Note: With the exception of “WalletHub Vice Index,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative tank of that city, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

*Here is how they scored each category:

Anger & Hatred – Total Points: 14.3

  • Violent Crimes per Capita: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Sex Offenders per Capita: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Bullying Rate: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Share of Public-School Students in Grades 9–12 Who Carried a Weapon on School Property: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Hate-Crime Incidents per Capita: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Hate Groups per Capita: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Share of Maltreated Adults: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
    Notes: This metric measures the prevalence of rape, physical abuse and or stalking (emotional abuse) among men and women by an intimate partner.
  • Share of Maltreated Children: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
    Notes: This metric measures the prevalence of physical, psychological or sexual abuse and maltreatment among children.
  • Teen Dating Violence: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
    Notes: This composite metric includes the percentage of teens that:

    • Were ever physically forced to have sexual intercourse
    • Experienced sexual violence by anyone
    • Experienced sexual dating violence
    • Experienced physical dating violence
  • Share of Internet Comments that are Hostile: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Road Rage Ranking (Share of Rude Drivers): Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Discrimination Cases Filed per Adult Population: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Number of Mass Shootings: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Deaths due to Firearms per Capita: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Share of Persons Arrested For Aggravated Assault: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)
  • Share of Elder-Abuse, Gross-Neglect and Exploitation Complaints: Full Weight (~0.89 Points)

Jealousy – Total Points: 14.3

  • Thefts per Capita: Full Weight (~4.77 Points)
  • Identity-Theft Complaints per Capita: Full Weight (~4.77 Points)
  • Fraud & Other Complaints per Capita: Full Weight (~4.77 Points)

Excesses & Vices – Total Points: 14.3

  • Share of Obese Adults: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
  • Fast-Food Establishments per Capita: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
  • Excessive Drinking: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
    Note: This metric measures the age-adjusted prevalence of binge and heavy drinking among the adult population.
  • Share of Adults Who Have Reported Having Driven After Drinking Too Much: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
  • Share of Adult Smokers: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
  • Share of Adult Coffee Drinkers: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
    Note: This metric measures the percentage of adults who drank ready-to-drink coffee in the past six months.
  • Share of Population Using Marijuana: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
    Note: This metric measures the percentage of residents aged 18 years and older who used marijuana in the past month.
  • Retail Opioid Prescriptions Dispensed per 100 Persons: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
  • Drug Overdose Deaths: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
    Note: This metric measures the number of deaths due to drug poisoning per 100,000 residents.
  • Debt-to-Income Ratio: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)

Greed – Total Points: 14.3

  • Casinos per Capita*: Double Weight (~4.77 Points)
  • Gambling-Related Arrests per Capita: Full Weight (~2.38 Points)
  • Charitable Donations as Share of Income: Full Weight (~2.38 Points)
  • Share of Population with Gambling Disorders: Full Weight (~2.38 Points)
  • Persons Arrested for Embezzlement per Capita: Full Weight (~2.38 Points)

Lust – Total Points: 14.3

  • Teen Birth Rate: Full Weight (~3.58 Points)
    Note: This metric measures the number of births per 1,000 female residents ages 15 to 19.
  • Google Search Interest Index for “XXX Entertainment”: Full Weight (~3.58 Points)
    Note: This metric measures search interest for online adult entertainment.
  • Average Time Spent on Adult Entertainment Sites: Full Weight (~3.58 Points)
  • Persons Arrested for Prostitution and Commercialized Vice per Capita: Full Weight (~3.58 Points)

Vanity – Total Points: 14.3

  • Beauty Salons per Capita*: Full Weight (~5.72 Points)
  • Google Search Interest Index for “Top 5 Plastic Surgeries”: Full Weight (~5.72 Points)
    Note: This metric measures search interest for the five most common plastic surgery procedures (breast augmentation, liposuction, rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty and facelift).
  • Consumer Expenditures per Household on Personal Care Products and Services: Half Weight (~2.86 Points)

Laziness – Total Points: 14.3

  • Share of Adults Not Exercising: Full Weight (~2.60 Points)
  • Average Weekly Hours Worked: Full Weight (~2.60 Points)
  • Volunteer Rate: Half Weight (~1.30 Points)
  • Average Daily Time Spent Watching TV: Full Weight (~2.60 Points)
  • High School Graduation Rate: Full Weight (~2.60 Points)
  • Share of Disconnected Youth: Full Weight (~2.60 Points)
    Note: “Disconnected Youth” refers to the population ages 16 to 24 who are neither working nor in school.

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Trade Commission, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, TransUnion, National Council on Problem Gambling, Corporation for National and Community Service, Esri’s Updated Demographics (2020 estimates), Parents For Megan’s Law Inc., The Crime Victims Center, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Wired, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Gun Violence Archive, Fraser Institute, PornHub, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Center of Education Statistics, United Health Foundation, Google Ads, Kars4Kids and The Southern Poverty Law Center.

North Carolina State House Passes Resolution to Term Limit Congress

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Today, the North Carolina House of Representatives passed HJR172, a resolution calling for a national convention to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution establishing term limits on Congress. The effort, sponsored by NC House Speaker Tim Moore, is being spearheaded by the nonpartisan, grassroots nonprofit, U.S. Term Limits.

“I sponsored House Joint Resolution 172 because I think term limits for members of Congress is an idea whose time has come,” explains Speaker Moore. “ We can strike a good balance to get something done on a good term limits proposal, because when you talk to the American people, they support term limits for the U.S. Congress. So I am proud to sponsor House Joint Resolution 172 to advance an important proposal that has broad bipartisan support,” says Moore.

A 2020 poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates shows that an overwhelming 73% of North Carolina voters approve of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that will place term limits on U.S. Senators and U.S. House Representatives. This includes strong support across party lines: 79% of Republicans, 68% of Democrats, and 71% of independents. Large majorities also say that Congress members stay in power for too long, and that they’re more likely to support state lawmakers who help advance congressional term limits.

U.S. Term Limits President Philip Blumel commended Speaker Moore for putting forth the resolution. Blumel said, “The people of North Carolina are lucky to have public servants who see what is going on in D.C. and are willing to take action to fix it. They know that Congress won’t set term limits on itself. Therefore, it is the obligation of the states to do so.”

HJR172 will now make its way to the NC Senate. Once passed, North Carolina will join other states in the call to convene the states for the exclusive purpose of proposing term limits on the U.S. Congress. Thirty-four state legislatures must pass similar resolutions on the topic and approve the term limits amendment, before it goes to the states for ratification.

This is Currently The Fastest Growing Job in North Carolina

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As our state continues to expand beyond textile and banking jobs, we’re starting to see some unique new industries dominate Tar Heel career sites.

Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and projections from the government-backed Projections Managing Partnership (PMP), Yahoo Finance just released the fastest-growing jobs in each state.

North Carolina joined Florida, California, and several other states in having ‘Solar Panel Installer’ as the fastest-growing job in the state;

According to Yahoo’s new report, “A solar panel installer is the fastest-growing job in eight different states, including California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina, Missouri, Minnesota, and New Jersey. It is also known as a “PV installer,” and “assembles, installs, and maintains solar panel systems on rooftops or other structures.””

In 2017, the occupation saw a median pay of $18.98 per hour, or $39,490 per year. It’s projected to grow 105% by 2026, which is significantly faster than the national rate.

North Carolina is second in the nation for overall solar capacity. Currently, in North Carolina, there are over 6,000 residents with private solar systems – with a total capacity of just over 50 megawatts.

New solar systems can now be purchased for between $1-$1.50 per watt here.