Thanks for informing me! December 9, 2009

I liked Kendra’s blog post on the wedding couple that paused during their wedding ceremony to update their facebook status and twitter. Seriously people? Obviously, I love social media and think that it’s a vital tool to communicate and stay connected with your family, friends and acquaintances these days. I couldn’t imagine not belonging to any social networks. However, I think that this wedding example has taken it to a whole new level.

My sister recently got married and I just couldn’t imagine her or her fiancé busting out their mobile devices to update facebook, I’m pretty sure it would not only be rude and obnoxious to the guests, but would also ruin an intimate and important moment. I think your facebook update and tweet can wait a few hours or maybe even a day, since your actual friends and family are already most likely at your ceremony.

Using twitter during a conference to share information with everyone is completely different then using it during a personal ceremony or event. Like Kendra stated, it’s important to live in the moment and not be obsessively compelled to rush to your mobile device and update your status.

Something funny that I came across by was a post entitled “When your guy is obsessed with Facebook and Twitter.” This quote cracked me up because we all know it’s so true! “Before the scent of Girl’s perfume had faded, Boy had already changed his Facebook profile to the always gossip-provoking “single,” Tweeted some lovelorn emo song lyrics and even changed his Gchat status to the male equivalent of “girls rule, boys drool.” I think that this is what social media has evolved into in relation to our personal lives. I know whom my friends are dating, who got engaged, who is pregnant and who broke up thanks to twitter, facebook and gchat status. You would think that its teens who are airing their personal laundry on facebook, but it’s actually also an older demographic who engages in this kind of compulsive need to share everything.

Back to weddings, this clip is hilarious. Groomsman trips and takes bride down with him. Now this is entertaining.

Response#13 December 9, 2009

What Will it Take to Win the Election in 2012?

The recent presidential election was a shining example of how effectively the Obama campaign used social media and Web 2.0 tools, to not only engage the public but to also mobilize citizens and increase voter organization and turnout.  And it didn’t end there, the Obama administration has still continued to use various social media outlets to engage citizens and encourage dialogue on issues that are being addressed and facing potential legislation.

The Obama online grassroots approach was very successful and candidates in the 2012 elections will have to be even more tech savvy and creative, to reach the masses in the way that the Obama campaign did. The fact that people were downloading phone numbers from the Obama website and personally making calls on behalf of the campaign from their own personal mobile devices, just proves how powerful a grassroots approach is and how it engages and motivates people to do something and be part of a cause.

The Obama campaign used video and social networking very well and in a way that was not seen before in any prior elections. So what does all this mean for future elections? I think it sets a precedent for effective campaigning and what will be expected of candidates in the future. Candidates will have use social media, Web 2.0 platforms and digital strategies; there is really no going back after the last election.

MotherJones states in his blog that “The next campaign managers must decide: Follow the online-offline hybrid model used by Obama in 2008, or use technology in new ways to scale grassroots and field organizing beyond what has yet been possible.” Personally, I think it will be a combination of online, offline, grassroots, and the usage of new and emerging social media tools and platforms; that will make it an even MORE engaging campaign. For those who follow social media and trends, the next election will be an exciting one to watch and analyze. Who knows, maybe some kind of augmented reality applications might be involved to further increase grassroots efforts and mobilize the masses.

Twitter.. here to stay? December 8, 2009

Reading through the class blogroll, I came across Katie’s post on Twitter, which was really insightful and did a good job at showcasing the broader picture of what Twitter is. Twitter’s microblogging platform and social networking allows people to share and view updates, as they happen, with their followers.  Many people  have become tired of and annoyed by mindless tweets, (like what you ate for lunch or what you bought at the mall!) but there are many people, organizations and media outlets who tweet important and relevant information worth following and paying attention to.

The bigger picture is that twitter is a valuable source of social media marketing, messaging, engagement and branding. Twitter also allows you to keep in touch with all of your friends and many organizations are coordinating fundraisers, contests and events via twitter. Twitter is one of the fastest platforms for mass real time updating and messaging and twitterfeed enables users to send blogs and RSS feeds. The nature of the game is that you sometimes have to sort through or just ignore pointless tweets. The tradeoff being that followers have access to quickly connect to the masses, especially with all the new applications that are out there for mobile devices.

A great example of how powerful twitter has become is to look at the recent presidential elections and how effectively is was used by the Obama team or just look at some Fortune 500’s, most of them are using twitter and reaping the benefits of social marketing and consumer engagement.

Bing added Twitter to its search engine and recently Google stated that it had reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in their search results, which I think means that Twitter is here to stay, for at least a little bit longer.

I came across an article in Time magazine entitled; 10 Ways Twitter Will Change American Business. The article states that “Twitter will probably evolve into both a community of individuals and a community of companies that provides goods and services,” and it’s  going to be really interesting to see just how Twitter will continue to develop and be used in the near future. I’m including the list from article below.

Profitable Microblogging

“10 ways in which Twitter will permanently change American business within the next two to three years, based on an examination of Twitter’s model, the way that corporations and small businesses are currently using the service and some of the logical extensions of how companies will use Twitter in the future.”

1. The Future of Twitter
2. Hyper-Local Marketing
3. Making Old-World Advertising Work
4. Turning Wall Street on Its Head
5. Making Blogs Count
6. New Ways to Get Consumer Data
7. Helping TV and Print
8. Expanding the Power of Micropayments
9. Changing Telecommunications
10. A New Way for the Government to Reach You
11. Charity Begins Online

*Source:  Time Magazine

This is a video of author Clay Shirky giving a presentation on “How Cellphones, Twitter, Facebook Can Make History” at TED.

Worth checking out!

New Year’s Resolution December 5, 2009

Shana’s post on New Year’s Resolutions and goals got me thinking about what I plan on changing in 2010 (which is literally around the corner!) Sure, there’s the usual past failed resolutions such as working out, loosing weight and eating healthy, so this year I may try something totally different.

I will still try to workout more and eat healthier, but I think that I’m going to dedicate more of my time in 2010 to brushing up on my Polish. I’m fluent in the language but my reading and writing skills are still at the elementary level at best.  Ideally, I would like to sign up for a language class or maybe purchase Rosetta

Stone and see if I really get my money’s worth. Classes are offered at the Polish school through the Polish Embassy here in DC, so that might be an option.

Reviews for the Rosetta Stone are impressive and people are pleased with their products so maybe it’s worth investing in. These days, knowing another language fluently is a valuable asset in many job sectors. Maybe before I dish out money for a class or the Rosetta Stone, I should first try some free and cheaper resources that are out there on the web.

For example, xLingo is an online community for the exchange of foreign languages where you can register to offer yourself as an instructor of the languages you speak, as well as finding others that can teach you other languages. Mango is a site that lets you take language lessons for free and the interactive slides allow you to click on words to hear them spoken. I also found WizIQ, an online collaboration tool for teachers and students where you can create profiles and sessions for online tutoring. You can even find local tutors in your area and set up a meeting date.

I hope that in 2010, I finally get serious about brushing up on my Polish, at the very least take advantage of the free E-learning tools and Social networks that are out there.

Response #11 December 2, 2009

The International Front

For this week’s class assignment we are suppose to “explore the international landscape of the internet and bloggers from around the world.” So many countries that begin with the letter A……. so I think I’ll explore the blogosphere of ARUBA. I personally have never visited there, but my sister just got back from her honeymoon in Aruba.

Browsing around Global Voices Online, I immediately noticed many posts on topics such as weather, tropical storms, tourism and elections. Arubagirl discusses the recent elections in Aruba and her opinions of newly elected officials and the election process. She is also into photography and has posted some really cool landscape photos on her blog. Global Tastes & Travels is a great resource for authentic Caribbean recipes, culture and spice. If you are looking for a recipe for banana mango tarts then check out this site. Janine Mendes-Franco has blogged about the tropical storms in the Caribbean and includes photos of storm damage along with witness accounts in her blog. Aruba Real Estate Updates (Real Estate Agent’s blog from Aruba) showcases properties for sale and activities that are going on around Aruba. This windsurfer’s blog has a category solely dedicated to Aruba, where his posts discuss topics such as windsurfing, competitions and  surfing conditions in Aruba. Flickr has AWESOME photos of Aruba (almost 200,000 of them), definitely worth checking out too.

Interested in traveling to Aruba or tourism? There are many travel blogs on Aruba and on this site you can scroll through many pages of them and see other traveler’s thoughts, pictures and recommendations.  The Aruba official tourism site (90,000 friends you haven’t met yet) has a forum that let’s people discuss anything Aruba. Topics such as; beaches, weather, airfare, accommodations, shopping, nightlife are just a few but there are many more. You can also view photos in the community gallery.

There’s a lot of good stuff out there on Aruba and good internet presence. There are many good sites that people can find, if they are interested Aruba, planning a trip there or just want to look at some amazing landscape photos. I thought that there would be less but I was pleasantly surprised.

                                                                                 ohhh how I wish I was there right now!!!

The Rise of Social Media December 2, 2009

I recently came across an interesting post on the future of social media and the importance of the value that we can derive from it. The author goes on to say that the online social media revolution is similar to the Industrial Revolution, which I think is a valid comparison. Social media has transformed that way that we interact with people, maintain dialogue and communication, form relationships and communities and send/ receive key messages. The opportunity for people and businesses to access and use various social networking sites and platforms, has increased visibility, messaging, and brand associations.

Today, on average, people are exposed to almost 5,000 ad messages, and as social media continues to develop that number will surely increase. Businesses need to continue to listen and learn about media. A new study by AD: Tech found that found that “almost half of twitterers who have been introduced to a brand on Twitter have subsequently gone on to search for more information about it.” I find that news to be really exciting and encouraging. It shows the close correlation of the growth of messaging and brand association by using social media effectively. The study also showed that 44% of people have recommended a product on Twitter, and 39% have discussed a product on Twitter. 46% of respondents said they would talk about or recommend a product on Facebook and 40% of online users use YouTube. This study shows that the growth of social networking/ media platforms, like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are a valuable resource to increase brand awareness, association and loyalty.  

Take a minute to look at the chart below on Effective Social Media Tactics from eMarketer.com. The statistics that show that blogging and social network advertising is accurately measured at 32%. The stats also show that some of the very effective social media tools to use are user ratings/reviews, forums/discussion groups, company blog, and blogger/online journalist relations.

 

 

 

So what does all this mean for businesses and the ongoing social media revolution?

I think that these statistics and studies prove that in order to be successful and remain a competitor in the market, businesses need to utilize these social media platforms and embrace the ongoing changes in the ongoing social media revolution. They also need to listen and maintain dialogue with their customers.

Response #10: The experience of editing Wikipedia December 1, 2009

  Before doing the wikipedia project, I had never edited a page on wikipedia or created a new one. To be honest, I was a little intimidated of how to present content, what resources to use, how to use the site’s editing formats, and fearful that someone would take my edits down or that they would not be approved. With all that said, I was relived when I realized that it wasn’t as intimidating as I thought it would be and my edits are still up. It feels good to know that I contributed to a free open source encyclopedia that anyone can access.

What really helped me was the wikipedia step by step tutorial, it really makes the whole editing process much easier and it really is user friendly. I think that anyone who is interested in editing or posting on wikipedia should read over all the tutorial steps because not only does it simplify the process, but it also eliminates room for error in editing formats, citations, links and resources.

After I posted my edits, I was pretty excited to see that they were still up there, and that I was able to add more information on something I was interested in. It was also reassuring to see that the page editor had seen my edits, citations and resources. After seeing the internal workings of wikipedia, I still think it’s a great free information resource. I also think that people who spend time learning about the editing process and actually research a topic, are most likely serious about the information that they are intending posting. In class we covered the issue of inaccuracies on wikipedia and the lack editing guidelines, but after doing the project I really think that the majority of people editing on wikipedia are serious about what they are doing, because it can be a time consuming process. There is always room for error and for some inaccurate edits to slip through the cracks. This has led to restrictions on editing to certain pages, such as articles on people.

 I think Wikipedia is a very impressive project that has a lot of potential for more growth. I encourage people to play around with Wikipedia; I’m glad I did!

Interested in who these “editors and contributors” are on wikipedia? Check out this video from CBS News.

Black Friday is Almost Here! November 25, 2009

It’s almost here, the dreaded Black Friday. A day of intensive shopping, madness, sales and chaos. Watching the news this morning I was surprised to hear that some department stores were opening at as early as midnight and 3 am! I know stores usually open early at 5 and 6 am, but this is just crazy! Some stores are even open on Thanksgiving Day and extending their hours on both Thursday and Friday. Personally, I wouldn’t wake up this early but stores are going to be indeed packed with customers all eager to get money saving deals on appliances, electronics and toys.

I just hope people remember last years horrible incident at Wal-Mart in Long Island, where an employee was trampled to death by a swarm of crazed customers. I hope that those planning on waking up early to go shopping remember to be courteous and respectful of other customers, so that we don’t see another fatality this year.

Black Friday info allows you to create shopping lists and find deals online on items that you are looking for. There are also Black Friday updates and deals on twitter with almost 3000 followers. At sickdeals.net, you can scroll through all the deals from featured stores like Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart and Sears. There are also some amazing deals online at Amazon and big time retailer Wal-Mart, but be careful because some items might end up on backorder or out of stock. Apple also plans on having its biggest sale of the year this Friday and extending their store hours.

Early predictions are indicating that Black Friday sales will be very good, even during the current recession and unemployment hardships. A new survey indicates that 134 million people plan to shop on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. That’s much more shoppers compared to last year. Many department stores are still hiring additional staff for the holiday season and expecting more shoppers to turn out.

I know one thing and that is that I plan to stay at home on Black Friday. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting deals and saving money but for me all the chaos and hassle is just not worth it. I might take advantage of some online deals but I most definitely will not be waking up at 4 am!

To all of you heading out on Black Friday, good luck and stay safe!

Response #9 November 18, 2009

Wikipedia a Good Resource..

I know many people question the accuracy and validity of Wikipedia, for good reasons, but personally I’m a fan of both the site itself and what Wikipedia stands for. Founder Jimmy Wales’s open source enclyopedia allows anyone to create and edit articles on just about any topic. The goal of the project is to give everyone with Internet access the other opportunity to access this free encyclopedia, which is also available in many languages. As of today there are a total of 3,097,167 articles, and 18,586,975 pages in the English version. Wow!

 

I think that the concept of Wikipedia is great and the cause is noble, but since it is an open source platform and anyone can become an expert and make tweaks, this is where users need to proceed with caution. Users should be aware that there will be information that is inaccurate and maybe even false altogether. Personally, I use Wikipedia to get background information but since I know that people can make edits at anytime, I would most likely not use it as a primary source or my sole source of information. Wikipedia attempts to verify the posted information but sometimes not everything can be confirmed.

 

Just because there can be inaccuracies on Wikipedia doesn’t mean it’s not a good free encyclopedia, and Wikipedia has the potential to be even better if there was more of a review process and more restrictions and guidelines for posting articles or making edits. Browsing around Wikipedia I came across a page that catalogs mistakes and omissions in the Encyclopedia Britannica. It’s interesting to check out!

 

There is always room for error and Wikipedia does have a general disclaimer stating “to be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information.” With that said, users should be smart about what they use Wikipedia for.

 

Check out this video of news personality Brian Williams as he discusses his biography entry posted onWikipedia!!

Response #8 November 11, 2009

Last week’s class lecture on crowdsourcing and open source software offered good insight to how these platforms work and their rise in popularity. Two great examples that we examined in class were Wikipedia and Threadless. I had heard about threadless before and we have also talked about it in my branding class. I think it’s really cool that people can display their own designs, that people have the option of voting for their favorite design and that you can also purchase your favorite t-shirts. The top selling t-shirt designs were the ones with the most votes and it’s the threadless community that drives these t-shirt sales.

I did some exploring this week to see if i could find some other crowdsourcing networks that have strong communities and where the communities votes can turn your design into a top seller! On Minted, a recently launched site that sells stationary and paper products, allows designers to submit designs where they are voted on.  The top designs get to become part of the inventory, similar to the way threadless works. Another interesting site is Designbyhumans, which is also another t-shirt site where people submit their designs and the community votes on their favorites. It’s also a community that discusses art and Design by Humans holds contests to find the best t-shirt design in exchange for a cash prize.

Online Merch Table launched on Nimbit, is a place where you can sell your songs and merchandise such as t-shirts, hats and posters. You can also create a bio page for fans to find out more about you and  your fans can sign up for your newsletter. At spreadshirt, users set up online shops to sell t-shirts, hats, and mugs. Users can also browse by topics such as humor and holidays or by products such as bags, caps and aprons. Users can also leave feedback on products they like.

There are many sites out there (i just mentioned a few!) that encompass the elements of crowdsourcing and it’s really interesting to see how these interactive communities work and how they have the ability to essentially change someones life by making their design into a top selling t-shirt or stationary paper. There are also many open source applications out there that are pretty cool.