A few years ago, the rise of the virtual world Second Life become a popular trend among many people. Not being familiar with the game, I quickly became confused as to what all the hype was about. All I knew was it was a game rather similar to Sims.
After doing some research I found that it is a virtual world that allows you to control your uniquely designed individual and live a "second life." Many people have become extremely involved in this game and have a hard time determining the difference between it and reality. They have a disconnect from the real world and are happy to be in control of their virtual world.
Newsweek found one young man who spends 16 hours a day gaming, sleeps by his computer and than does it all over again the next day.This is when gaming becomes extremely dangerous. I also learned that within this world one has the ability to get money. According to BusinessWeek, a young lady in 2007 reached one million dollars just by playing the game. She developed her fortune in a period of two and a half years and only invested the initial $9.00 to play the game.
Since I am not much of a gamer it is hard for me to relate to the addiction that some people get playing these games, but I do see it becoming a problem and ruining people's lives. Those who are lacking certain experiences in the real world, are easily infatuated with one where they aren't. Their lives are consumed by this fantasy world and there usually isn't much that anyone can do to fix it.
As a women who wants to have a family someday, I find it very important to teach your kids at a young age the importance of enjoying life and having friends. They need to be taught to play outside and interact with the real world rather than create a fantasy one and take the easy way out.
Second Life is not for me, but I seems to work well for many individuals.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Determination of Our People
Today marks a day in history, May 1, 2011. Osama Bin Laden is dead and the world responds. People take to the social media channels to share the news and report their feelings. Within minutes of the release of information, I knew that Bin Laden was dead and I didn't even have to turn on my TV.
Between CNN, Facebook and Twitter, this is what the American people had to say......
-"Osama bin Laden is dead, CNN John King's reported Sunday night, citing sources. Watch CNN for the latest"
-"Osama Bin Laden death >Adolf Hitler death "-Twitter
-"
Between CNN, Facebook and Twitter, this is what the American people had to say......
-"Osama bin Laden is dead, CNN John King's reported Sunday night, citing sources. Watch CNN for the latest"
-"Osama Bin Laden death >Adolf Hitler death "-Twitter
-"
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
This week I have an interview for an internship at a social media marketing firm called SocialMedia Pilots. I wanted to brush up on what I know and what I need to know about social media. I stumbled across an article that described what marketers plan to do with the quickly changing pace of social media trends.
According to Effie Worldwide and Mashable, 70% of marketers plan to increase their social media budget by 10%. With this increase the goal is to increase the number of Facebook "Likes". Reaching out to its audience through Facebook is a growing trend that many companies have accounted for. It is relatively easy and costs next to nothing.
In 2010, according to Mashable, marketers spent 11.9% on their overall budget compared to the 13% that was spent for TV. They also spent $68.7 billion on TV advertising, where $28 billion was spent on Internet advertising. It would seem that with where the Internet is going, in the future more money will go to online advertising.
In the next year marketers will use social media to achieve their largest marketing goal of the year. In the past year the top brands that used social media as a successful campaign for their product were Old Spice, Pepsi, Starbucks and Ford.
Going into my interview tomorrow I will keep in mind the important aspects of marketing through social media and how advertising may be leading in this direction. Many careers are beginning to develop because of this trend and I can see myself being successful in this type of business.
Wish me luck!
According to Effie Worldwide and Mashable, 70% of marketers plan to increase their social media budget by 10%. With this increase the goal is to increase the number of Facebook "Likes". Reaching out to its audience through Facebook is a growing trend that many companies have accounted for. It is relatively easy and costs next to nothing.
In 2010, according to Mashable, marketers spent 11.9% on their overall budget compared to the 13% that was spent for TV. They also spent $68.7 billion on TV advertising, where $28 billion was spent on Internet advertising. It would seem that with where the Internet is going, in the future more money will go to online advertising.
In the next year marketers will use social media to achieve their largest marketing goal of the year. In the past year the top brands that used social media as a successful campaign for their product were Old Spice, Pepsi, Starbucks and Ford.
Going into my interview tomorrow I will keep in mind the important aspects of marketing through social media and how advertising may be leading in this direction. Many careers are beginning to develop because of this trend and I can see myself being successful in this type of business.
Wish me luck!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Viral Video
In light of discussion this week, I chose to blog about viral video sensations. Millions of Americans watch videos daily and find great entertainment in watching other people. It's obvious that if you have a special moment that is caught on tape, you must instantly post it to the viral market. Many have become instantly famous through the likes of YouTube by doing this very thing.
I know that in my household we usually conjure up one video a week that we find ourselves putting on repeat. Last week I become totally obsessed with a little boy, age 2, who new every word to the Justin Bieber song, "Baby." His mother caught him in the act while riding in the car. Something as simple as that has recieved over 100,000,000 hits! He has been featured on the Today Show and made his way to appear on Jay Leno.
It is amazing how one video can be seen by millions of people within minutes. They aren't hard to produce and they don't cost much. Yet, people have made extraordinary amounts of money by allowing the world to view them.
I stumbled across this new video on Mashable.com . I have yet to see it anywhere, but on Mashable. It features a young lady that does animal impressions extremely well. I would assume, based on it's uniqueness that it too will be in the category of viral videos.
Animal Impressions
I know that in my household we usually conjure up one video a week that we find ourselves putting on repeat. Last week I become totally obsessed with a little boy, age 2, who new every word to the Justin Bieber song, "Baby." His mother caught him in the act while riding in the car. Something as simple as that has recieved over 100,000,000 hits! He has been featured on the Today Show and made his way to appear on Jay Leno.
It is amazing how one video can be seen by millions of people within minutes. They aren't hard to produce and they don't cost much. Yet, people have made extraordinary amounts of money by allowing the world to view them.
I stumbled across this new video on Mashable.com . I have yet to see it anywhere, but on Mashable. It features a young lady that does animal impressions extremely well. I would assume, based on it's uniqueness that it too will be in the category of viral videos.
Animal Impressions
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Mystery of Facebook
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to disappear on your Facebook news feed. Or how you constantly see some of your friends status updates, but not others? Over the years the creators of Facebook have created a behind the scene system that allows you to pick and choose what it is that you see. When the "like" button was created, it enabled you to pick what you thought was interesting and deny what you didn't want to see. They also created an option in your news feed to hide, un-like or mark as spam any material from others you didn't like. This is a way to customize your profile so that you see only what you prefer.
Another aspect to Facebook is affinity which measures the amount of interaction you have with others. The more you visit some one's page or the more they visit your page, the more information you see about them. This contributes to the weight factor and why you see posts in your recent news feed from two days ago from certain people. The more you comment, like, tag or post on some one's wall, the more of them you will see.
I do enjoy this part of Facebook and it allowing you to customize who you interact with, but this also causes me to spend more time on Facebook then I need to. This is because I become interested in why other people haven't posted a status update in a while. I then spend time finding them and catching up on their life by going directly to their page, which takes more time then reading a status update.
But there you have it, the basics of how the behind the scenes of Facebook works. What is the future of Facebook? What will be their next invention that will cause us to be even more involved in each others lives than we already are?
Another aspect to Facebook is affinity which measures the amount of interaction you have with others. The more you visit some one's page or the more they visit your page, the more information you see about them. This contributes to the weight factor and why you see posts in your recent news feed from two days ago from certain people. The more you comment, like, tag or post on some one's wall, the more of them you will see.
I do enjoy this part of Facebook and it allowing you to customize who you interact with, but this also causes me to spend more time on Facebook then I need to. This is because I become interested in why other people haven't posted a status update in a while. I then spend time finding them and catching up on their life by going directly to their page, which takes more time then reading a status update.
But there you have it, the basics of how the behind the scenes of Facebook works. What is the future of Facebook? What will be their next invention that will cause us to be even more involved in each others lives than we already are?
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
GroupMe
Remember when texting was the new big thing and if you weren't doing it you were a total outcast. Now texting is a thing of the past and mass communication methods are being developed to allow people to reach large groups of people all at once. The newest trend is Groupme which allows people to communicate with a large group of friends all at once with your phone.
GroupMe is the best among its competitors and can be used on any phone, but is especially fun on the iPhone, Droid or Blackberry. All you have to do is visit your app store and download the version for your phone and then convince your friends to do the same. Group members are then assigned a unique number that can be used for both group texting and conference calling. Using the mobile apps, you can also share your location or pictures with members of your group.
The initial idea is to bring a chat room right to your phone with your closest friends. If you choose to text a specific group they all can receive the message simultaneously. If you choose to call that group it turns into a conference call. You can also share your location with friends and locate where they are on a map.
The idea of allowing people to know what you are doing at all times is a growing trend that is very popular. Although, I think this idea seems rather basic and simplistic, but the industry claims it will soon take off and be very successful. Mobile Facebook already has all these features, so it's hard for me to imagine GroupMe being anymore successful. But of course I will download the app to my phone and see how this app works among my friends!
GroupMe
GroupMe is the best among its competitors and can be used on any phone, but is especially fun on the iPhone, Droid or Blackberry. All you have to do is visit your app store and download the version for your phone and then convince your friends to do the same. Group members are then assigned a unique number that can be used for both group texting and conference calling. Using the mobile apps, you can also share your location or pictures with members of your group.
The initial idea is to bring a chat room right to your phone with your closest friends. If you choose to text a specific group they all can receive the message simultaneously. If you choose to call that group it turns into a conference call. You can also share your location with friends and locate where they are on a map.
The idea of allowing people to know what you are doing at all times is a growing trend that is very popular. Although, I think this idea seems rather basic and simplistic, but the industry claims it will soon take off and be very successful. Mobile Facebook already has all these features, so it's hard for me to imagine GroupMe being anymore successful. But of course I will download the app to my phone and see how this app works among my friends!
GroupMe
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Internet Phenomena
Through the years we have seen the infamous boy bands and all the young girls hearts that they have captured. In the 80s there was New Kids On the Block. During my teen years I was obsessed with N*Sync and Backstreet Boys. Now a new star has erupted, Justin Bieber. Looking back, we saw the struggles that both New Kids and N*Sync had. It took them many years to make their presence known. Justin Bieber on the other hand, through the power of social media was able to make it big in only one year!
Growing up Bieber's mom watch him play the guitar, piano and drums before the age of six. She knew he was something special and decided to place him on YouTube. She uploaded videos of him singing on the street, playing in her basement and preforming in church. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Bruan, who happened to come across Bieber's videos on YouTube. He eventually convinced Bieber's mom to come down to Atlanta where he was signed to Island Records. To keep this story short, he released his first single in 2009 and his album went platinum within that year.
No other artist has become this famous in this short of time. Justin is an active member on Facebook and Twitter. He has millions of fans from across the world and I think that social media has something to do with it. Facebook and Twitter make it easy for him to connect with his fans and keep them connected. In his recent movie Never Say Never, you can see Bieber making Twitter updates and making sure his fans are happy at all times.
As a Justin Bieber fan myself, I find it encouraging that a 16-year-old boy was able to pursue his dream through the power of the Internet. If you have a gift or something to say, don't be afraid to use it or show it off because you never know who will be watching . :)
Growing up Bieber's mom watch him play the guitar, piano and drums before the age of six. She knew he was something special and decided to place him on YouTube. She uploaded videos of him singing on the street, playing in her basement and preforming in church. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Bruan, who happened to come across Bieber's videos on YouTube. He eventually convinced Bieber's mom to come down to Atlanta where he was signed to Island Records. To keep this story short, he released his first single in 2009 and his album went platinum within that year.
No other artist has become this famous in this short of time. Justin is an active member on Facebook and Twitter. He has millions of fans from across the world and I think that social media has something to do with it. Facebook and Twitter make it easy for him to connect with his fans and keep them connected. In his recent movie Never Say Never, you can see Bieber making Twitter updates and making sure his fans are happy at all times.
As a Justin Bieber fan myself, I find it encouraging that a 16-year-old boy was able to pursue his dream through the power of the Internet. If you have a gift or something to say, don't be afraid to use it or show it off because you never know who will be watching . :)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Egypt Gets Cut Off!!
The major crisis in Egypt has created a new uproar on Friday, when the government decided to shut off all Internet access and cell phone service to the 80 million people residing there. The shut down caused a 90 percent drop rate in traffic to and from Egypt. With the government's interference it makes it hard for protesters and anti governments to stay in contact with each other and form assemblies. This imposes on the Egyptians civil rights.
Limiting access to the Internet for millions of people is a global crisis that effects many people in other countries as well. Many businesses in Egypt use digital communication to run their business and sell their products and services. Without digital communication they steadily loose money.
Many citizens who use social networking and blogging sites express their opinions online. Since this privilege has been taken away, they are now heading to the streets to voice their opinion. This can lead to riots and larger protest that may not have happened if Internet access was allowed.
It's hard to imagine a world without Internet, social media and blogging sites. Without it, people feel that their opinions are not being heard and they go to new extremes to have them heard. I don't think that turning off all Internet access to the Egyptian people was a good idea. It is just one more way to get them upset. It is such a major part of peoples lives that with out it, we find it hard to communicate and go about our days. I hope that soon the government will realise the major impact this has had on Egypt and the surrounding countries and reboot all Internet and cell phone services.
Limiting access to the Internet for millions of people is a global crisis that effects many people in other countries as well. Many businesses in Egypt use digital communication to run their business and sell their products and services. Without digital communication they steadily loose money.
Many citizens who use social networking and blogging sites express their opinions online. Since this privilege has been taken away, they are now heading to the streets to voice their opinion. This can lead to riots and larger protest that may not have happened if Internet access was allowed.
It's hard to imagine a world without Internet, social media and blogging sites. Without it, people feel that their opinions are not being heard and they go to new extremes to have them heard. I don't think that turning off all Internet access to the Egyptian people was a good idea. It is just one more way to get them upset. It is such a major part of peoples lives that with out it, we find it hard to communicate and go about our days. I hope that soon the government will realise the major impact this has had on Egypt and the surrounding countries and reboot all Internet and cell phone services.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Superbowl Smackdown
Everyone, every year, looks forward to the Superbowl -eh rather the Superbowl commercials. Remember when you were dipping your chip in mom's famous guacamole and your buddy said, "Oh man! Did you see that," and you completely missed the commercial that everyone will be talking about for the next week. Now with the help of YouTube and Facebook, we have the ability to watch any commercial, if not all! With the help of these fast growing trends researchers at Viral Video Chart have complied a list of Superbowl's greatest commercials based on Internet sharing. They are able to measure how many times a video is embedded and shared since 2006. Of course the Old Spice commercial (one of my favorites) was in the top three. The Volkswagen- The Force commercial is currently in the number one position!
It's hard to remember the days when we didn't have the Internet and weren't able to re-enact that hysterical moment. I find myself searching videos on YouTube almost every other day. I watch videos people share on Facebook almost everyday. This fast growing trend is one that I enjoy and can't get enough of and who knows what we will be able to do next!!!
http://mashable.com/2011/02/06/super-bowl-ads/#R55e-uHQna0
It's hard to remember the days when we didn't have the Internet and weren't able to re-enact that hysterical moment. I find myself searching videos on YouTube almost every other day. I watch videos people share on Facebook almost everyday. This fast growing trend is one that I enjoy and can't get enough of and who knows what we will be able to do next!!!
http://mashable.com/2011/02/06/super-bowl-ads/#R55e-uHQna0
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Netflix Integrates with Facebook
Netflix is integrating with Facebook! An article I stumbled upon claims that Netflix has decided to join the social media trend. Netflix has continually outdone many rental companies and joining Facebook will allow them to be one step ahead of their competition.
The idea is that one can log into Netflix, using their Facebook ID and instantly create their own personalized queue. Each individual under an account can separately watch a movie under the same account. You can also share on Facebook what movies you have recently watched. The added feature will increase the monthly fee to $7.99 a month.
Being a college student I try to save money as often as i can. I love the idea that even though I don't live at home, I can still log onto the account and watch movies on my computer. I think that integrating with Facebook is a great idea. Not only will it help market Netflix, but I can see what movies my friends are watching and get new ideas.
Facebook and Netflix Integration
The idea is that one can log into Netflix, using their Facebook ID and instantly create their own personalized queue. Each individual under an account can separately watch a movie under the same account. You can also share on Facebook what movies you have recently watched. The added feature will increase the monthly fee to $7.99 a month.
Being a college student I try to save money as often as i can. I love the idea that even though I don't live at home, I can still log onto the account and watch movies on my computer. I think that integrating with Facebook is a great idea. Not only will it help market Netflix, but I can see what movies my friends are watching and get new ideas.
Facebook and Netflix Integration
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