The issue with Internet privacy has been popping up all over the place in recent weeks. Google and Facebook are currently the two largest targets, but the issue at hand now isn’t one that hasn’t already been dealt with before. Eleven years ago, in 1999, Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy told reporters that consumer privacy issues were a “red herring,” after their competitor Intel disabled identification on their Pentium III chips. He said, “You have zero privacy anyway…Get over it.” (Sprenger, 1999).
Should We Increase Online Privacy, or Increase Professionalism?
June 24th, 2010 § 0
The Golden Rule of Social Media: Don’t Miss the Point
June 20th, 2010 § 0
I’ve experienced many frustrations with Twitter since joining last year. But, I’ve learned a few things through those experiences. I’ve noticed that some companies bombard people with tweets every few minutes. Sometimes the promotions they offer are special, but most of the time it seems they’re just trying to keep their names at the top of your feed. Some people I’ve followed tweet the stupidest information, like, “Cool! Did you know it’s physically impossible to lick your elbow? Try it! LOL!” (Needless to say, those people are quickly un-followed).
Second Life: Effective Educational and Networking Tool? Or Free World of Warcraft Clone?
June 15th, 2010 § 0
It has been interesting for me lately to hear mention Second Life and how highly some speak of it. I’ve been hearing a few things from various corners about its potential for collaborative learning. It turns out that one English professor at a major university here in Korea has been pioneering a combination of Second Life and Moodle (“a Free web application that educators can use to create effective online learning sites” (Moodle.org)) for a better English language educational experience for students. The professor, Chris Surridge, says that his combination of Second Life and Moodle “promotes creative problem solving, student centered exploration, and unique, personalized learning experiences.” However, as I watched his video describing energy crystals, zombies, and classic gaming puzzles, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was all, as Kayne on WiseGeek writes, “an instant guilty pleasure.”
Make Social Media Work for You
June 13th, 2010 § 0
I was quite surprised by a posting I saw on Flickr.com by Brian Solis and Jess3. It was a poster titled “The Conversation Prism” that breaks down every current social media network into various categories. The thing is massive. Check it out.
It would take a full day just to investigate every site listed there, and that’s why it is important to choose carefully the right social networks to be involved with. Each network has its own pulse, purpose and body of users. That’s why Janet Fouts writes in Social Media Success!, “You’re going to want to identify where people are talking about the topics you are interested in, what types of networks they are using and where the biggest concentration of interest is.” (Fouts, 2009, p 37). This way, a designer can join a discussion that is already underway, to glean information from it, or add value to it.
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Does Social Media Buzz Paint an Accurate Picture of Consumer Opinion?
June 9th, 2010 § 0
I personally am quite interested in the topic of connecting with users and customers through social media. It sure beats traditional methods of researching customer bases, such as surveys and interviews, although there can be some privacy concerns as to how much information is able to be shared and researched. I’ve noticed a few articles online recently that discuss the privacy concerns both Facebook and Google are facing these days as they stockpile user data and make it easier to share all that data between services and sites online. I even talked to one friend who was vehemently against joining any social networking groups as, in his words, “Companies can search those sites like Facebook and Twitter and use that stuff against you. If they see something they don’t like, you could get fired, or not hired.” However, if user data is used carefully and not sold to companies, then researching customer buzz through social media can greatly benefit a company.