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Congress Proposes Changes of Living Adjustments Costs, Benefits inTaxable Income and Increased Tax Rates to Improve Social Security

According to this article, written by Jamie Hopkins of the Forbes Magazine, issues among retirement income continues to be a prominent concern among U.S. retirees. In response to the retirement crisis, Congress has initiated a proposal that relies on a metric system that is catered to the elderly, a change in threshold limits on provisional income that provide retirees with more retirement money and a gradual increase in the Social Security tax rate which would offset income shortfalls facing Social Security.

Unlike many online news sources that simply display information in a bland and boring manner, Forbes Magazine utilizes three out of the four P-I-C-K model components to clearly explain three proposals by Congress that is said to secure and improve the Social Security system. The information about the proposals is presented in an engaging and interactive manner that is relatively easily understood for the seekers, engagers and scanners of digital users. Through successfully embedded links, a conversational style of writing, distinct and concise subheads and the attempt of "marrying" image and text, this article represents a successful model of engagement that not only informs but engages its readers.

Personalization is utilized in targeting a broad audience through conversational style writing and the use of limited jargon

Instead of writing in a manner that over-complicates and confuses the readers, this article tailors the information to the average individual through easily-understood vocabulary and informal writing. When reading this paragraph, it is clear that reduced social security benefits is the issue at hand (a drop from 77% to 72% of benefits), which is considered to be "a major blow" in which Social Security is "at a crossroads." Technical terms are not heavily ingrained in this text and statistics are provided to justify the claims.

Embedded links, distinct subheads and a concise explanation of proposals engage readers, allowing them to participate in interactivity 

A key component of interactivity is the use of effective and embedded links sprinkled throughout the article. These sections provide hyperlinks (as circled in yellow) that direct readers to a page or a study that provides them with more information on the highlighted subject. The use of embedded links helps to minimize excessive information in order to reduce chances of cognitive overload. Moreover, audience members become active rather than passive readers through their ability to engage in the text. Alongside the margin, Forbes includes a picture of the author himself with links to his most recent and popular posts, full biography, Twitter, personal website and contact information (as seen on the right margin). Readers can take the time to explore the contributor's previous work and history to get a better idea of his experience and credibility. Although bolded subtitles may be a small help in locating the main sections of this article, the author does a good job in numbering the main three
proposals and the topics of each discussion (as boxed in red). A suggestion that could be made to assist the scanners of digital users would be to write explanatory, rather than descriptive, headlines for each section. That way,
people could easily learn and take away a "nugget of news" without reading the entire paragraph or article. Lastly, the links relating to Social Security and retirement plans shown at the bottom of the article encourages readers to participate and engage more in the text (as shown in the upper-middle box above).

The author attempts to utilize contiguity in the marriage of image and text but fails to provide a clear explanation of the diagram

Although this isn't the best visual aid that could have been used for this article, the image attempts to portray figures that embody the workers and beneficiaries of the Social Security System from 1960 to 2009 and 2030. Within the caption, it states that the data was taken from the "Social Security Administration Trustees Report" (with picture credit to Wikipedia) but it is somewhat unclear as to who the beneficiaries are and what these ratios signify. If readers wanted to gain more information, they could research the source of the diagram to get a better understanding but that can be tedious and somewhat of a nuisance. I believe the contiguity component of the "PICK" principle was the weakest aspect of this article which could use the most improvements. It is unclear as to which paragraph this image is referring to and the numbers and ratios are not explained in either sections. In order to enhance the reader's comprehension, the image should be presented alongside (not below or above) the text with clear and explanatory captions that coincide with the given information. I believe the author attempted to include a visual to aid its readers but in some respect, it was more less effective than not.

Successfully embedded links, easily-understood terminology and a six-step slideshow on how to "bucket your retirement" encourages user engagement and reduces potentials of "kick-out"

Within this article, no pop-up advertisements were displayed on screen. Additionally, every embedded link successfully directed readers to a working site/page which eliminated any potential of kick-outs. Overall, I believe this article was one of the more engaging and user-friendly sites according to PICK model components. Despite the failure of the contiguity principle, the article contained elements of personalization and interactivity that was helpful to the readers. The "Six Steps to Successful Bucketing" slide that was displayed at the end of the article (which directed users to a different page) was relevant and useful and the use of easy-to-understand terminology allowed people to more easily understand the topic of Society Security and its current implications and issues in the U.S.