Friday, April 23, 2010

Marc Vasquez on getting connected

Marc Vasquez (@vasquez007) spoke yesterday to my Social Media class. He focused on Twitter. He made the following points.

Make it relevant.

No one cares about me, so don't talk about what iIm doing.
Instead provide information that is relevant to life.
The number one reward in social media is creating relevance to the audience.
Develop Informer habits, not "meformer"
Informers provide links to articles and relevant information that can
help others.
Informers invite others to join them in learning.
Informers direct others to where they can find what they need.
Informers have three times as many followers as meformers.

Pass the 70/20/10 test

70 percent of your time should be:
  • Transforming news and events into insight
  • Answering "Where does our company fit into this story/link?"
20 percent of your time should be connecting with others.
  • Engage in conversation, network and give others a chance to talk
  • Mention others in your tweets
10 percent of your time you can be chatting.
  • Chit chat about yourself on one in 10 tweets.
  • Leave out the most boring parts of your day.
  • It's okay to be a "meformer" once in a while, but keep it to a minimum.
Be interesting by providing entertaining information.
  • See @TheOnion or @SomeECards if you want to see entertainment.
Use good writing tips.
  • Find the drama: "You're sharing a story, right?"
  • Push the verb: "exploit vs. announces."
  • Choose interesting nouns: "sting" or "ring" vs. "yearlong multiagency initiative."
  • Getting tweeted is like currency on the web.
  • Share new information and novel ideas.
  • Include links if you want people to spread the word.
  • Use full words, don't shrink wrap.
  • Punctuate (but forget the semicolon).
  • Write like you're writing a headline.
  • Don't whine on the internet.
  • Make it all about the reader.
  • Have a personality.
  • Make it conversational.
  • Use the active voice, second person.
  • Keep it short.
  • Start with a headline.

Get clicked - Make your 140 characters go further.
  • Link it.
  • Make a serial of your messages.
  • Don't use all your characters so you can retweet (RT).

Friday, April 16, 2010

Jessica Seipel

April 16, 2010

YouTube

 

By Jessica Seipel

 

I recently joined the YouTube network but I do not actively use it.  I have decided to talk about my own experience with YouTube.  I really don’t use YouTube for a social network; mostly just for leisure.  But I decided to ask friends on Facebook how often they use YouTube and I got nineteen responses out of sixty-four people.  The question was, “How often do you use Facebook (daily, weekly, or uploading).  The results were, Daily-5, Weekly- 13, and only one person uploads videos.  I asked him how often he uploads and he said almost daily. 

 

I have not uploaded any videos myself but I have looked at others and some are pointless and funny and some actually have good information in them.  I don’t feel I will use this as a social media networking tool in the future but I am sure a lot of people will.  I think that YouTube can be used with other forms of social media to be effective.  People can post video links on Facebook from YouTube.  I did not develop a conversation through YouTube; I don’t really know how you would?  I will continue to use YouTube to watch silly videos but I probably will not upload videos I do not have the devices to do this.

Facebook Fan Pages: The New Word of Mouth

By Brandon Moore

A Facebook fan page is a company profile page that is utilized within
the company to connect to new and existing clients. Fan pages can be
used to introduce new products and services as well deliver a lasting
message to a mass audience. Facebook fan pages have become the new
word of mouth marketing for the online generation. These fan pages
allow people the ability to have conversation, discussions, post
messages, videos, and pictures. This is a great way to allow customers
to interact within your business.

The advantages offered by Facebook fan pages are plentiful. The fan
pages allow for a great range of accessibility and freedom.  One of
the biggest advantages that the fan pages has is that all pages are
public. Facebook allows the fan pages are visible to people that are
not yet registered within the Facebook community which extends a
companies' reach. Because fan pages are not behind a login it allows
the search engines (yahoo, google, etc) to index the data and your
profile will receive more recognition. The fan pages allow give
companies the benefit of free links. Because the pages are public, the
links will be posted on profiles and search engines the company will
get some free face time on Facebook. News feeds are posted live
therefore anytime someone joins your fan page it posts a link on their
profile. This makes fan pages somewhat viral. Like a Facebook profile,
the fan pages allow the administrator to send live updates to fans
whenever they want. This feature is a great tool when building a
companies' client base. The advertising promotion that Facebook offers
with the fan pages is a big draw for most companies.

With a reach of over 200 million people you are bound to find someone
that fits your ideal client profile. The Facebook fan pages can be
created into an advertisement that is displayed on the right side of
personal profiles. These ads are created personally, by you, the
administrator of the fan page. Ads are NOT free, but still are great
way to boost revenue. The last advantage to the Facebook fan page is
that it is FREE and Easy. Since making a fan page only takes a few
minutes there is no reason every company shouldn't have one.

Every action has a reaction, as does Facebook fan pages. There are a
few downsides to these public fan pages. The first of which is the
public posting. Because these profiles are all public this allows for
the conversations and discussions between your fans to be viewed by
anyone. Not only this, but fans can write whatever they want.
Administrators have the right to delete comments, but there is always
a chance you won't catch one. The second drawback to the Facebook fan
page is that until that page gets built up in numbers the company will
have to be doing a lot of posting. The posting on the page is what
keeps it fresh and up to date, thus incresing your fans and traffic.
One of the greatest fears of any business owner is the thought of you
hurting your own business. In this technology driven world a website
may be a companies' 'make it or break it' point. Therefore having a
good company fan page is extremely important. A poorly done fan page
linked to your company profile can hurt your inbound search engine
optimization and kill your site traffic.

Facebook utilizes a number of tools to measure the effectiveness of a
companies' fan page. Facebook implemented graphs that allow the
administrator to view different types of fan interactions with the
page over time as well as count of active fans this week, with a
age/sex/location breakdown. Facebook has made a name for itself due to
the high quality marketing it allows it users. Since Facebook is such
a stickler for quality it is only right that they have a post quality
rating system that rates fan pages from 1 to 5 stars.

Through my 'findings and test' I have found that the advantages of the
Facebook fan page far outweigh the disadvantages. The fan page allows
companies to get some free advertising and link placement. This is a
great way for new companies to get their name in front of a large
captive online audience. It is a great idea for every company big and
small to jump on this online marketing phenomenon.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Brandon-paper/blog

Paper and Powerpoint.
 
thanks.
 
Brandon Moore s200500@nwmissouri.edu brandon@codeworksplus.com

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Meet Up Dot Com

By Mandy Smith

Meetup.com is a social networking site that smoothes the progress of group meetings off the internet in various locations around the world. Meetup.com is facilitated by allowing members to search and join groups that are united by a common interest that is shared. These interests include singles, readers, hikers, tennis players, dog lovers, and even beer drinkers. Users can search groups by providing their zip code and browsing through groups that might interest them. Once a group has been chosen, the group will arrange different times and places to meet.

My experience with meetup.com has been recent and very successful. Being new to the Phoenix, Arizona area, I am not too familiar with the area nor do I know many people. So, I recently met up with the Valley Beer Drinkers group and met up with professionals around the area of Phoenix, AZ to drink beer over happy hour with great company.

This type of social media definitely creates conversation and in such a great way. I think that this type of social media reaches out to people who are over social media and want to get back in the real world and experience real people with real interests.
Social Media has taken away that one on one connection people seek in their lives. Not being in school and knowing hardly anyone out here made it hard for me to make friends. There are a lot of people who move to different cities and find this to be a common problem. I think that being able to utilize social media tools to connect people socially in an environment where they can share what they all love is one of the best ideas ever.

After meeting with the Valley Beer Drinkers group I was given volunteer opportunities around the area, other chances to go to Cub spring training games and even met some very interesting people from around the area. Unfortunately, I have been unable to make it to another event I would highly recommend going to anyone who wants to meet some great people.

Demetric Fane

OoVoo Usage

Social Media

The way that I have used the social network ooVoo is to create partnerships with people from other areas.   I found that after using the media many people want to find ways to save money. OoVoo is built for the users that are willing to trust technology to take care of their personal or corporate business.  As for me, I use the media for personal benefits.  It allows me to interact with my family that lives 8 ½ hours away, and it makes it hard for me to travel so much at a time because of the cost of the trip.  There are many aspects Oovoo that I do not like.  I don’t like the fact that it tries to make you attach your credit card to the account for the purpose of billing you for a plan.  I believe ooVoo could initially take over with families that need to have interaction at all times for any reason. This software could possibly take over even in ways that teachers interact with their students.  If a teacher wanted to create a video to send to the students or either if the teacher wanted to have a meeting with a student and could not show up.  The teacher with this program would have the opportunity to have a quick web meeting and save time in the process.  I really enjoy the uses of the software it has helped me in the long run to stay in touch with family and friends.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Skpye

I have recently starting using Skype to keep in contact with friends from school. When I first started using Skype I didn’t really use it often just every once in a while to check in on a few friends. I have now started using it quite often and have learned that not only is it a great way to communicate with others far away but to use for conference calls. You can chat and send files or faxes through Skype and this has come to my advantage when working with my Spanish partner, we don’t live in the same building so we let each other know a time we want to study for Spanish and both her and I send each other our projects to perfect them and ask each other questions. I have had pretty good luck with the quality of Skype as well; our calls have only been dropped a few times. My friend also informed me that you can have Skype money to use for your actually phone service and she will probably get this when she studies abroad in Costa Rica next semester, she says it’s a lot cheaper to do it  this way. As for me, I’m going to just stick with the free voice calls, video, and chat. This is a very good social media and I am glad I looked into it. I will now be able to stay in contact with my friends from school that live in different states and that are leaving the country.  My next step is to get my most of my family onto Skype so that I can see them and talk to them during my time away at school.  I have already gotten three of my family members to get a Skype account, one is even in Scotland. When I showed my family at a baby shower how much you can do with Skype and that they could talk to my cousin in Scotland they seemed very interested in getting an account. So far I have eight friends but I believe I convinced much more of my family to get one. I think this program is easy enough for all ages to use and would recommend it to many people.

 

 

Alex Huxol

LinkedIn: Social Networking Site
By: Monica Peterson

I have recently become a member of the LinkedIn Social Networking Community. For those of you who do not know what this website is, it is a business-oriented social networking site. It was founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003. This website is primarily used for business and professional networking. Even if you have only held part-time jobs up to this point in your life you are still able to find network connections through those companies. The search is very easy to use and almost every business has a LinkedIn account. There are over 60 million registered users who have multiple connections. I have been using this website not only to find previous connections from past jobs but as well as making new connections with prospective employers. I have found that you can learn a lot about companies by looking at their profile and being able to get a more in-depth look into how their company operates. While researching this company I came across the top ten ways to use Linked In.

1.      Increase your visibility by adding connections
2.      Improve your connectability by adding previous jobs not just your current one
3.      Improve your Google Page rank by making your profile a public website that can be found during Google searches
4.      Enhance your search engine results by promoting your blog or website to search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing
5.      Perform blind, “reverse,” and company reference checks. LinkedIn allows you to input a company name and the years you worked there and will find others that may have worked there during the same time period
6.      Increase the relevancy of your job search by using the advanced search to find people with educational and work experience like yours to see where they work
7.      Make your interview go smoother.
8.      Gauge the health of a company by performing an advanced search for company name and uncheck the “Current Companies Only” box
9.      Gauge the health of an industry by using the search to find people who worked for competitors—or even better, companies who failed
10.     Track startups
11.     Ask for advice through LinkedIn Answers



Monday, April 12, 2010

Flickr By: Kat Donovan

Flickr

By: Kathryn Donovan

 

I have become involved with Flickr. Flickr is used by organizations and companies to keep their stakeholders informed and interested. While using Flickr, you can upload photos and videos, view your own photo stream, create contact and friend lists, explore other people’s photos on the site and join groups with common interests. Each Flickr user can create a profile that is personal or for their company and build their profile to match their personal interests. It is completely up to the user to become involved with Flickr.

 

One organization that is using Flickr that relates to me personally is Northwest Missouri State University. Since I am a student at the University, I have found it meaningful to find Northwest’s profile on Flickr and view some of the great photos they display on the website. Any of Northwest’s stakeholders can benefit from their Flickr account. Say, for instance, there is a Northwest Alum who wishes to see the campus but cannot be on campus physically. Flickr is a great way to keep in touch and see the huge changes being made on campus.

 

There are a few ways to build a conversation on Flickr. Users can leave comments under individual photos to voice their positive and/or negative views. This can help an organization or company understand their stakeholders and what people or other users wish to see from their Flickr accounts. It is vital for companies to be transparent and to attempt to understand their stakeholders.

 

Another way to build a conversation on Flickr is to categorize your photos. There is an option on Flickr to make groups of photos in a way to organize them. A user can name their photo albums and insert descriptions for users to more easily navigate through a users’ site.

 

I would recommend that companies and organizations create a Flickr account. It is relatively easy to use, quick to understand and as long as the photos are already downloaded to your computer, it takes the user no time at all to upload photos. Since it is so easy, it is just an additional way to keep your stakeholders informed, which is a positive in many ways.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Twitter- a Good Possiblilty.....

By DeWayne McIntyre


For my project assignment, I have been using Twitter, a new social media tool that uses a minimal amount of words to connect with other Twitter users.  And while I have had some problems with the service, I also enjoy some of its attributes.

Negatives
I found that it is sometimes hard to keep track of everyone.  When you follow a lot of people, it is hard to keep current with people.  Sometimes I feel like I have to be on 24/7 to catch all of the new information.  So are people getting my messages?
Positives
        Good source of up to date information.  When I’m on twitter, I feel like I can be “in the loop” all the time, when I’m online.  I also feel like I can always be a part of a conversation.  It is easy to jump right into one, and get your voice heard.  
Recommendations
There are some ways you can use Twitter as a social media platform to build your personal brand. And building your personal brand is the primary benefit of developing a casual persona, as it establishes you as a “social personality” that is connected and approachable.   As Twitter adoption increases, new users will be drawn towards well established Twitter personas.
The first thing you want to do, is let people know that you are tweeting.  Don’t make people assume that you or your company has twitter. Instead, go out there and tell people that you do have twitter.
One thing that really helps you become a better “tweeter” is to understand that when you make a tweet, think  of it as a conversation starter and not a statement.  Because that is what you are trying to do, you are trying to start up a conversation with people.  This is where people often get it wrong.  You aren’t there to talk at someone, but to talk with someone. Big difference.
So as you can see, Twitter can be a powerful tool to use. Let people know that you have twitter, and get those conversation tweets out there today.  It can really help get your business some spotlight.


Google Wave


Christina Ewing

The social media I have been using throughout the semester is Google Wave. I think it can make communicating with group members or co-workers much easier when working on a project or developing a plan. ”People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.”

Create Conversation
I created a conversation using Google Wave by adding contacts as well as sending out invites to friends so they can join Google Wave. So far I have three contacts and I am actively trying to get more. Adding followers on wave is much harder than Facebook or Twitter. This is because it is fairly new and a lot of people are still not quite sure how to use it.

Progress Report
I have enjoyed researching and using Google Wave. However it would be more useful for me if I had more contacts to communicate with. I have reached out on Twitter and Facebook to find more followers for my Wave account.

What’s next?
My future with Google Wave will hopefully provide me with an easier way to communicate with others. Include more followers and contacts, as well as to provide a way to communicate with future co-workers or group members.

Monday, April 5, 2010

The specifics of Digg

By Bob Eskew

For my second blog on the popular website Digg, I will be talking about some of the various features that users can use. After a person logs into Digg in the header there is a lists of options for a person to choose their interests from and customize their list to better suit their “browse-ability,” and to give an exact lists of digged items for users to look at.

Another great perk to using Digg is the friends list that enables users to use for themselves. When one of your friends hits the Digg button, in your friends history, which can be seen on the friends tab next to the profile button, gives you a history of Diggs that they have liked in the past which enables their friends to see what they liked therefore allowing the original user to decide to Digg it or not.

One of my favorite features on Digg is the random Diggs that occur on the main page. What happens is at any given moment of time, an article is put up on the main page for two minutes and counts down the moment it is posted. Users like me have the deciding vote on whether or not it gets put on the front page for people to see or if it isn’t posted on Digg at all. How the people at Digg decide to put it up is if a certain number of people who actually view the article hit the Digg button, it gets put up on the main page or not. One of these events actually happened in the middle of class before I started my presentation.

 

 

Why do people "dig" Digg?

By: Bob Eskew

Why do people "dig" Digg? And for that matter what exactly is Digg?
Digg is basically one of the biggest online web-sharing sites on the
web today. They introduce members of Digg to new videos, blogs, vlogs,
images, and basically anything else that people want to see.

The way people use Digg is very similar to Stumbleupon, users who like
that video, image, vloge, whatever it is they can click the like or
Digg button saying that they Digg this particular item and anyone
looking for something along the lines of that video or image will be
suggested to that page and many others like it. Digg isn't used just
to show funny video of children liking turtles or some guy getting hit
in the nuts by a two-year-old either, Digg also sends important news
headlines and anything else that is sent publicly through the web and
the videos are never edited to give the viewers what they want. With
an estimated 3 million registered Digg members it's no wonder why it's
such an efficient site.

How could companies use Digg to promote themselves is really hard but
could be effective. The only way I've seen any Diggs about companies
is by either a bad form of publicity ex, Toyota recall, or an
announcement made by a company ex, a new item being brought out to the
market. All in all this new type of social networking tool could be
used in various ways and reaches numerous people. The best way to put
what this website really is about is by saying if Stumbleupon and
Facebook had a baby, this would be it.

Amazing Trackle

John Duncan

Trackle is an amazing tool which is grabbing the attention of many companies and PR professionals. It allows user to receive news, blogs, tweets, etc. as soon as they happen. I'd like to talk about my experience with this tool in hopes to promote trackles awareness to people who may have never heard of it or used it.

Trackle has provided me with the latest news and information concerning my interests. I have become more aware due to my use of this tool. I have also been following Dr. Drew and I have learned a slew of information about him and his latest work and achievements. For an example: "Dr. Drew Pinsky has decided to offer his expertise on the current state of Jesse James ... Dr. Drew Pinsky compares Heidi Montag's plastic surgery to dressing in drag (Access ... Source: okmagazine.com"  This is a example of a post and I clicked on the link provided and it provided me with the article. I then can take the article and post it on my facebook or twitter for everyone else to see. I did not do this because I didn't believe the article was main stream news worthy but I have posted article concerning Dr. Drew on my facebook in the past.

I also used Trackle to find articles about college tuition which I used to blog about. Trackle has helped me find valuable information and I will be using it in the future. I hope everyone who reads this decides to at least check trackle out and experience it for yourself. Write me a comment and tell me about your experience!!!

StumbleUpon

 

Kael Martin

 

                StumbleUpon is a great site for websurfers.  Users acknowledge their personal preferences from a list of 500 topics.  These topics include sports, philosophy, food, games, politics, and many more. By simply clicking “stumble,” web sites with these personal interests are displayed.  Users may also rate the site which also helps individuals find interesting sites. 

                I previously had experimented with StumbleUpon before being assigned this project.  After picking StumbleUpon from a list of possible social media sites, I began to research and use the site more often.  StumbleUpon is a very entertaining site that allows an individual to constantly experience “flow.”  Flow is psychology term that explains a persons state of mind when they are fully immersed and in what he or she is doing while feeling energized.  Myself, along with a few friends who use StumbleUpon, find ourselves using the website for up to an hour without ever thinking about the time.

                StumbleUpon allows users up to500 topics to choose from ranging from sports and music to philosophy and food.  After the user picks their categories, they simply click “Stumble” and a website will be displayed that has to do with their preference.  A user who likes the websites can click the thumbs up sign which will log the site into the favorites icon.  Websites that are uninteresting to the user can be given a negative rating by clicking the thumbs down.  After clicking this icon, the website will not appear again.

                Although StumbleUpon can be a very effective website for users who want to just browse the web, it also gives individuals an opportunity to meet others.  In the StumbleUpon community, individuals can search and connect with other “Stumblers” along with sharing sites they selected to be their favorites.  This is a great way to  meet and message new people while also viewing their profiles and the websites they found interesting or beneficial.

                StumbleUpon is an excellent Social Media tool that can assist a business or organization.   An organization working to promote and inform the public on a developing program would be able to reach a wide range of audiences.  It is a great marketing tool that could really advertise an organization and their products.  Users will also have the opportunity to learn about the organization as well as the intent of the program.

                StumbleUpon, in my opinion, is just starting to become a major player in social networking.  Users have found the site to be very entertaining while also helpful in meeting others and networking.  Organizations have discovered how useful this social networking site can be.  An organization can inform and  promote “stumblers” about their purpose and objectives.  StumbleUpon is a great way to increase the traffic of an organizations’ web site.  In the near future, I see StumbleUpon increasing the number of users as well as advertisers.  If one is looking to be entertained, network, or advertise their company, StumbleUpon is the place to go.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Reshape the Nation


By D. Heather Green

Recently, I have become involved with the Reshape the Nation online body transformation program.  This service has allowed me to have access to very knowledgeable information regarding health and wellness and to be engaged with others who share the same common interest.  I started this program so that I could learn about how diet and exercise can help me achieve a healthier lifestyle and to have the opportunity to be involved with others seeking the same thing.  To be honest I was a little disappointed in the fact I was not able to engage with other Reshape the Nation members liked I had hoped.  The blog postings are like a twitter format and a message board with limited the access to other members.  With the current time restrains I have it was hard for me to stay as consistent with the program as I would have liked but still think overall it was beneficial.  As a social media tool Reshape the Nation is limited in its current form.  I think if the program allowed members more access to actively engage in conversation with one another this program would be even more beneficial.  I also think it would give the feel of a community involvement which is what the creator of Reshape tries to communicate.  Losing weight and staying healthy is a difficult for most people but could be made a little easier when one has the support and involvement of ours.  It was difficult getting others involved with this social media tool.  I also tried using posts on my facebook account to help engage others in the Reshape the Nation movement but was not successful in recruiting any followers.

Friday, April 2, 2010

MobileTribe

Amanda Sevits

Social networking refers to a multi-media social structure that initially sparks communication between groups, individuals, and organizations. The most commonly recognized social networking web sites are Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. However, there are various other social networking web sites available to use with the high demand for them and their growing success rates.  Companies can use social networking to gain credibility, foster employee relationships, build a forum for communication with customers, and in most cases, boost sales (Brottlund, 2009).  My first blog presentation was on BlackBerry Solutions, and their importance in the business world.  When I was searching on BlackBerry’s Home Page, I found a link to their different Social Networking, or third-party, outlets.  One of the first choices on the page was Mobile Tribe.  Its description intrigued me because it claimed that I could share all of my pictures, music, and video’s across different Social Media networks, with one application.

Mobile Tribe lets you organize your own personal world by blending all of your online social and personal communities, address books, videos and music into one easy to use application (Mobile Tribe, 2010).  This allows mobile phone users who use Mobile Tribe to branch out to multiple communities such as Facebook, Myspace, Yahoo, Google, and more.  These communities enable users to communicate, socialize, share and enjoy different aspects of their lives, and Mobile Tribe allows you to share information between mediums on one screen.  By simply choosing the top five applications that you would like to appear on your Mobile Tribe screen, it allows you to personalize the application to fit your lifestyle.  Whether it is business or family oriented, Mobile Tribe can keep you organized and up to date on various different networks at once.  With its easy to use design and smooth operation, Mobile Tribe allows you to communicate with friends and family globally, receive alerts for events, read and post to blogs, download/upload pictures, play, recommend and share music and videos.

I downloaded MobileTribe onto my phone, and I was instantly impressed.  I had always thought that it would be so convenient if I could have just one screen with different pages on it to choose from.  Whenever I accessed the internet on my phone before, it was usually open to Facebook, but most of the time that’s not what I would want to look at.  I have accounts on two other Social Media networks, and this program allowed me to put them, along with Facebook, on one simple page on my phone that I could scroll through, and click on as I pleased.  I was able to develop and stay updated on my conversations with people as well.  Having access to share my pictures between the mediums was really convenient as well.  I don’t have to spend the time on my laptop waiting to upload albums to different networks because I can just do it one time, and share the pictures using Mobile Tribe.  I plan on keeping Mobile Tribe on my phone unless it starts giving me problems for some reason.  Until then, I am very impressed and would recommend this application to anyone who can download it because it’s so convenient.

Sources:

Mobile Tribe Management Corporation.  (2010). MobileTribe:  Your Online Messaging and

Communication Organizer.  Retrieved from http://www.mobiletribe.net.

Brottlund, B.  (19 Feb. 2009).  Companies using Social Media to Boost Sales.  Retrieved from

http://www.resourcenation.com/blog/companies-using-social-networking-to-boost-sales/.

Status Report for Google Docs

By: Tiffiny Towne

A conversation with Google Docs is private conversation with fellow co-workers or classmates. It’s a way for people to share work inside their Gmail account. It’s not like other social media where you have to make another login and password. So there isn’t a chance that you will forget your information.

Creating a Conversation with Google Docs for Fellow Classmates
In Nonverbal Communication, I am working with a group on a ten page paper about touching during different stages of relationships. Google Docs has helped us work on the introduction, conclusion and making the paper flow. Everyone has different writing styles so making the paper flow is very important. When someone is making edits for somebody else’s part, everyone can see who and what was changed.

Status Report
I did not want to connect with the whole class. I really need to focus on members in my group. The saying, “quality is better than quantity” is so true here. I successful convinced four people in my group to use Google Docs. It was not too hard because all of them already had a Gmail account. Since Google Docs was not my original social media, the class might not even know what Google Docs is.

What’s Next?
I will have my future organization try Google Docs to share up-to-date information about statistics of the organization because you can get to your Docs anywhere as long as you have the internet access.  It doesn’t even matter if you use Mac, PC, or even a Linux. Google Docs can also be seen on a Blackberry but it cannot be edited yet.

Using Tumblr

Jaimie Ham
 

I have been using Tumblr for a few months now. I check it a couple of times a week and have found in very useful in many areas. However, being a new user, I still have much to learn. I especially enjoy using Tumblr to follow certain blogs and read those blogs weekly. My favorite blog I follow is “La Cuisine.” This is my favorite blog to follow because I can get recipes and try my hand at them. The blog is updated almost daily, which keeps my interest held. I also enjoy following the “Travel Highlights” blog. I love to travel, and seeing beautiful pictures of places all over the world gives me ideas of where I want to travel eventually.

 

Following these and other Tumblr blogs has helped me to stay active in the Tumblr community. However, I am definitely more of a watcher and “listener” than someone who actively starts up conversations and creates posts. My personal Tumblr is usually only updated every couple of weeks. When I update, the information doesn’t really have a lot of relevance to anything; it’s just things that I find interesting. I re-post a lot from other blogs. One of my favorite blogs to re-post from is “Quote Book.” This blog has great quotes from many famous or historical people. The quotes are usually placed against photos.

 

Something that I need to work on is to become a more active participator in Tumblr. This proves difficult- I only have a couple followers. I need to apply some of the lessons learned in “Putting the PR Back in Public Relations” by Solis and Breakenridge to build a following. I need to learn to blog about what is important to a target audience, once I decide on what type of audience it is that I want to reach.

 

Tumblr is a very simple blog site that anyone can use. However, deciding how involved you are in the Tumblr community is entirely up to the individual.

 

Join reality, by going cyber.

By Andy Maddux 
Throughout our short lives everyone experiences fads and trends. These affect our personal lives, but don’t think our careers are immune. The recent trend of augmented reality will be discussed through this paper. It’s not only important to stay current as public relations professionals, it’s expected.
Augmented reality is a term slowly popping up on radar screens of many industries, including public relations. PC Magazine defines augmented reality as, “A type of virtual reality that combines real and imagined images” (PC Mag, 2010). AR combines the web with reality, presenting a perfect marriage between audiences and the messages trying to reach them.  AR can be used only in a limited fashion currently, through phones and webcams. This technology will incorporate operating platforms, but will also create new ones (Sullivan, 2010). 
The idea of augmented reality has been around as early as the 1970s according to Andy Cameron, executive director of Fabrica, an interactive design studio. “AR has been around for ages, maybe going back as far as the 1970s and art installations that overlaid real spaces with something virtual.”  AR took a major attempt to implement some of its ideas in 2002, but the internet being in one with reality hadn’t taken place yet, resulting in failure (Arthur, 2010).
With faster internet speeds, and smart phones this has provided the mobile, responsive platforms AR requires. This has catapulted an idea from just being a conception to implementation in the public sector.  There are several applications out there today that imbed data  into reality, by marking tweets, the location of mass transits entrances, and prices of houses, all by through the lens of a smart phone (Chen,2009).  The next reason and more importantly why it’s an emerging trend in public relations can be described by one word, interactive.
Public relations professionals are always trying to reach their audience in any way possible, and augmented reality promises them just that.  Imagine you’re career focuses you on tourism, and your job is to inform visitors of the great attractions of the city. The traditional method provides pamphlets, commercials and brochures to reach your audience. Augmented reality however would allow the visitor to hold up his phone and have information be provided on all he sees. You would not only be able to improve the quality of the visit, you’d also be able to maintain up-to-date information, and steer the conversation. (Chen, 2010)
PR has realized the potential of this and has applied it in a few ways already. The fashion magazine Esquire implemented AR when you can see Robert Downey Jr. coming to life on its cover, when put in front of a webcam. Books are already being planned with AR elements bringing them to life. The PR professionals will be able to incorporate AR into traditional mediums of communication to help promote their client. The interactive element of AR to attract and inform passing individuals is an element that if harnessed correctly will catapult the importance of good public relations (Arthur, 2010).   
Augmented reality will continue to not only advance communication between human to human, but also human-machine. Imagine that if you purchase an item that requires setup, and instead of lengthy book of complicated terms. PR professionals can use this to explain new products to an interested customer base. They can explain the benefits of the product, and make sure it’s portrayed correctly and messages can be tailored to different audiences.
Integration, it’s something that is becoming important as the world’s economies become ever more dependent on each other. Augmented reality not only embraces this new idea, but takes it to new limits. Imagine visiting a foreign country, where everything is in a language unknown to you, but it doesn’t matter because you have AR by your side. It will no doubt be able to present information to the traveler, breaking one of the hardest barriers, the communication barrier. The idea of being able to go somewhere and to get the insight that the locals have to the attractions located there, will create a positive synergy throughout the planet. The simple fact is that everyone will be held more accountable for providing the services at the top notch they say they offer. (Sullivan, 2010)
With any new technology there is always a downslide and augment reality is no exception. The simple and obvious problem is that for this technology to be successful it is going to require lots of money for the technology to be implemented in new platforms. There are luckily current platforms like cell phones and computers that can handle AR to a degree, however to be successful lots more money is needed to be invested. (Educase, 2005) 
The conversation about augmented reality is relatively new in the professional world, which makes starting my own even more exciting. The fact of the matter is this is a very exciting trend that will affect the way we see the world and definitely change the way public relations is done. The way I created a conversation was by posting articles on my Facebook and Twitter. The biggest way I spread the word is by sharing my excitement with my friends and public relations colleagues.
I not only informed people about the upcoming trend of augmented reality, I showed a few of its applications in the real world. The tool called Layar is an augmented reality tool on my phone, which is a prototype using basic AR. When I showed how Layar can show you what business are in the area by just pointing in the direction with your phone.
 This is a very basic version of the AR it has lots of kinks still in the product. I've found that Layar seems to not work all the time, however I believe as the technology becomes more widely use so with the stability of the platform. I am actually trying to create my own augmented reality business card, with experimental technology. This would provide to be more of a novelty at this time, but a way to get notice never less.
What next? Well the industry is on the verge of expediential growth. The ability to be able to insert your cyber information and ideas into the real world, for everyone to see will create a seamless connection between both worlds.


Bibliography
Arthur, C. (2010, March 21). Augmented reality: it's like real life, but better. In The Observer . 
     Retrieved March 22, 2010, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/21/ 
     augmented-reality-iphone-advertising 
 
Educause. (2005, September 21). 7 things you should know about Augmented Reality . In Educause . 
     Retrieved March 22, 2010, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7007.pdf 

Layar. (2010). Augmented Reality Browser: Layar. In Layar. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from 
     http://layar.com

PC Magazine. (2010). Encyclopedia: Mixed Reality. In PC Magazine. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from 
     http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=augmented+reality&i=47102,00.asp 

Sullivan, M. (2010, March 14). SXSW: Augmented Reality and the Outer Web. In PC World. Retrieved
     March 22, 2010, from http://www.pcworld.com/article/191505/
     sxsw_augmented_reality_and_the_outer_web.html





Skype Progress Report

By: Cherece Milton
March 31st 2010

Social Media Update

 

            As a recap, the Social Media that I chose was Skype which was founded in 2003. According to the Skype official website, Skype is software that enables the world's conversations. Millions of individuals and businesses use Skype to make free video and voice calls send instant messages and share files with other Skype users. Skype is a leading global internet communications company. And of course, Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls are completely free. With my social media choice, I vowed to make sure that I was using it to the best of my ability not only for this assignment but because I wanted to better acquaint myself with the program. While exploring and just playing around with Skype, I found that it indeed does some cool things. I was able to customize my settings, and the biggest thing that was beneficial to me was that I was able to conduct free classes on Skype to learn a new language.

There were several techniques that I used in order to initiate a conversation. The first technique used was to add friends that I know was in fact using the site. The next method that I chose was to add mutual friends. From then I posted a status on face book and told people to add me on Skype and gave them my Skype name. This was definitely a big step for me considering the fact that I am not a person who is big on social media. It is not because I don’t like it, but it’s merely because I don’t have time and because the media outlets are being used in an alternate way (negative) other than what it was and should be used for such as business.

The ways in which I used in order to initiate conversation really worked. In fact I started to receive request for me to add people to my contact list from all over the world. I had people in places such as Jamaica, China, and South Africa. At this point I went from one contact to 21 contacts.

In regards to me learning a new language, I was able to get connected with a mutual friend from Mexico who was able to video chat me and help me with Spanish. We used the method of video chat as well as the typing function that Skype has available free of charge. This is definitely beneficial, because it is not only free but time efficient and convenient.

At this point and time I plan on expanding on learning my new language through my Skype tutor as well as searching other things on Skype that may be beneficial to me. In the near future, I plan on using Skype to conduct a group project meeting during the week before finals so that the group members will not have to commute back to campus considering the fact that we all live off of campus.

Upcoming.org

By: Katie Adkins               

I originally wrote my blog on the web tool Wiggio.com. Wiggio is a tool that helps to make it easy to work in groups. It allows groups to share common calendars, folders, and documents. While I feel this is a wonderful tool, I wanted to explore something that I felt was a more traditional form of social media.

                Upcoming.org is a site that merged with Yahoo! in August of 2005. It allows users to post information about upcoming events in their area. This site displays times, prices, and other details for all kinds of events such as concerts, conventions, and science exhibits. Users can keep calendars to display all the events they are attending and share calendars with friends. There is an opportunity to explore all kinds of events that the user may have never even thought about. Upcoming.org offers an opportunity for users to comment, ask questions, and travel around interactive maps. The site itself is easy to navigate and neatly presented. The events are categorized by event type or by date. And anyone with a Yahoo! account can participate!

 

TUMBLR AS A BUSINESS?

BY: Brent Rice
 

In my last blog, I talked about the social media of Tumblr and what it is. Now, one may ask themselves “Ok, I’ve got Tumblr…what’s next?” This is a common question when new social media arises, everyone wants to know what is it for. As stated in the last blog, users engage in what is called microblogging. Which is simply blogging that gets straight to the point, usually in the form of a picture or short and sweet sentence. As with any major movement in media, businesses jump on board. With Facebook we see pages dedicated to musicians, businesses, organizations and more. With myspace we see pages dedicated to the same. Twitter we see several news stations updating their followers with headlines, authors and others promoting their business or product.

            The CEO of Tumblr, David Karp is starting to notice how widespread his website has become in the short 2-3 years of its existence. Tumblr, is starting to create a new wave of advertising. This wave of advertising is known as “interactive advertisements’. This allows the audience to have an active participation in advertising, “These kinds of interactive advertisements that share your social gestures are a lot cooler than banner ads” says Karp. Karp also notices that Tumblr is starting to become a launch pad for budding authors. The popular College Humor Site http://collegehumorlive.tumblr.com/ recently was noticed by publishers and earned a book deal. Karp is also attempting to turn Tumblr into a business venture for bloggers. The future may open up a new career field or expand it. That field is “Professional Blogger”. Tumblr is joining forces with financial businesses allowing bloggers to make money based off of their blog posts.

            However, people don’t like paying for things. One more thing to pay for is not everyone’s cup of tea. Tumblr is also pondering charging its users for premium services. Those premium service may include, more themes, color icons, blog enhancements etc. That premium service can also allow bloggers to receive “priority” in searches and push them to the front of the line when it comes to promotion.

            Of course business are starting to unravel the uses of Tumblr. But it looks like in the future, Tumblr will become a hub for entrepreneur bloggers who are looking to make a career in blogging. It sounds to be a promising venture but only the future will tell where this will go.

 

Sources:

http://scobleizer.com/2008/12/16/tumblrs-ceo-brainstorms-microblog-monetization/

http://www.blahblahtech.com/2007/05/tumblr-for-businesses.html

Apple's iTunes Store

Justin Yates

 

                With the emergence of Apple’s iPod becoming one of the most prevalent devices in popular culture today, the online iTunes store has also become a dominating marketplace for music lovers worldwide.

                In 2003, Apple introduced its iTunes store.  The initial website was plain and uncomplicated compared to the online store today.  The early store offered only 200,000 tracks and was only available to users who owned a Mac computer.  PC users were not given access to the site until nearly four months later.  (Harris, 2010)

                However, Apple’s plan was far from half-baked.  When the initial site was launched, Apple had already been in contact with multiple high-scale record labels.  These labels included Universal Music Group, Warner, and Sony.  (Harris, 2010) This would increase user demand for iTunes music as well as provide outstanding marketing and publicity for Apple.

                The site has grown over the past seven years, and only shows more potential in the future.  Throughout its existence, the iTunes store has expanded to provide more than just billions of tracks, but movies, television shows, games, class lectures, and much more.  The assortment of devices for playing such media have expanded as well, such as the iPod, iPod Nano, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPod Shuffle, iPad, and more. 

                What’s most convenient to users, however, is the incomprehensible variety of music as well as interactions amongst other viewers regarding music content.  As an iTunes user, what I enjoy most is being able to hear short previews (30 second clips) of song tracks prior to purchasing.  Also, rather than simply purchasing an entire album, I have built a diverse collection of music by purchasing only songs I would like to have one-by-one.  Other users who have purchased or listened to albums are able to post their comments and criticisms about a particular album as well as rate the music.  While the ratings are typically subjective, they can be useful when searching for a variety of genres.

                The iTunes store differs from more traditional social media such as Facebook and Twitter in that the content is not necessarily designed to be interpersonal.  Rather, the focus is on the content itself.  And users can communicate and rate music in order to give their own perspectives on the content. 

                But the site does offer plenty of interpersonal activities if a user wishes to participate.  For example, users have the option of sharing their music collections with other users, similar to other music sites.  Also, users can comment and rate music, movies, etc. and express their thoughts and opinions for others to utilize as well.  And even schools are using iTunes in order to make things like class lectures and public speeches available to populations. 

                The iTunes site shows no signs of slowing.  It has quickly become the largest digital music sales site in the United States.  Over 700 million songs were sold in the first year, and billions have been sold over the years—a stark contrast from the initial 200,000 tracks available beginning in 2003.  In 2006, iTunes gained nearly 88% of the legal music download market share in the United States.  In 2007, it became the most popular movie download site in the world.  Over 2 million movies have been sold.  The store recently passed the 10 billion download milestone in February 2010. 

                In conclusion, iTunes is the biggest digital music sales media for a reason.  Due to exceptional business planning, support, customer base, and a variety of available features, it has dominated the better part of the past century for good reason.  The iTunes store only continues to grow, and more and more people are utilizing the store than ever before.  It’s become a lucrative business based upon a common interest of billions—music.  Apple’s great customer service and relations make it even more likely to continue its success for a long time. 

 

 

WORKS CITED

 

Harris, M.  (2010).  iTunes Store History-The History of the iTunes Store.  Retrieved from:

                http://mp3.about.com/od/history/p/iTunes_History.htm

Facebook

Kathleen Ostby

I have been using Facebook since sophomore year of high school to keep in contact with friends that were leaving for college and to re-connect with friends that I hadn’t seen in awhile.  When I first started using Facebook in high school I was not a very big fan of it and did not use it very frequently but as the years progressed I found myself checking Facebook at least once a day generally many times a day.  It is a great way to keep in contact with friends across the world, across town and even just across the room.  The quality of Facebook has been very good and there hasn’t been much problem with loading pages or with the ability of the pages.  This is a very good social media and I am thankful that I use it daily, it makes my life much easier and gives me a quicker way to converse with my friends who I don’t seen on a daily basis.

 

Skype blog

I have recently starting using Skype to keep in contact with friends from school. When I first started using Skype I didn’t really use it often just every once in a while to check in on a few friends. I have now started using it quite often and have learned that not only is it a great way to communicate with others far away but to use for conference calls. You can chat and send files or faxes through Skype and this has come to my advantage when working with my Spanish partner, we don’t live in the same building so we let each other know a time we want to study for Spanish and both her and I send each other our projects to perfect them and ask each other questions. I have had pretty good luck with the quality of Skype as well; our calls have only been dropped a few times. My friend also informed me that you can have Skype money to use for your actually phone service and she will probably get this when she studies abroad in Costa Rica next semester, she says it’s a lot cheaper to do it  this way. As for me, I’m going to just stick with the free voice calls, video, and chat. This is a very good social media and I am glad I looked into it. I will now be able to stay in contact with my friends from school that live in different states and that are leaving the country.  My next step is to get my family onto Skype so that I can see them and talk to them during my time away at school. I think this program is easy enough for all ages to use and would recommend it to many people.

               

                Alex Huxol

Advancement in Social Media

Emily Wilkins
Advancement in Social Media-Plaxo

Plaxo is a free online address book that has been taken over by business publics from all over. The Social Media serves as an online contact list and calendar that is able to combine contacts from other profiles and accounts online such as: Facebook, Hotmail, MSN, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Outlook and LinkedIn. In many cases, it can be challenging to store updated phone numbers, addresses, events, and companies into the same channel. Sean Parker, founder, has made it possible for this online syncing system to accumulate these items into one place, making access much easier. Certain mobile devices such as Blackberry and iPhone also offer a Plaxo application you can purchase for your phone, making it easier to be notified with change of dates, times, phone numbers and companies.

        Businesses have taken a specific liking to Plaxo for its opportunities through the various functions. Some of those functions Plaxo offers are: blogs, profiles, video sharing, picture sharing, calandars, eCards, groups, messaging, music, polls, reviews, jobs, bookmarks, and link sharing. This online address book is keeping big businesses and corporations close and up to date. It’s giving major corporations the chance to keep in contact with clients and other big businesses. Through Plaxo they can also keep in contact with their contributors and suppliers. It will inform the company on any changes in locations or phone numbers in the meantime.

        Some of the road blocks experienced through the use of Plaxo have been finding students and other peers to connect with on the site. In order to receive feedback on blogs you’ve had to have found connections willing to contribute input. My goals were to have found Northwest students to engage in conversation over blogs, polls or reviews and shared that with the class. I have yet to make connections or share feedback on other profiles until I have been accepted via e-mail by requested connections. I learned a lot through this social media and plan on continuing my use of Plaxo through college and thereafter. In my attempts to establish the name for the company I will be interning for this summer I find that this is an excellent Social Networking tool that could be of some use.
       
www.plaxo.com