Project Link

After weeks of research and wrtiting this paper it is finally finished. When I sat down to write this paper I found out that I tried to tackle much more than 1700 words could contain. So I was able to narrow down my research and look at celebrity use of Twitter for advertisement of themselves and fame. I created a new blog for my project which inlcudes my paper and bibliography. Here is the link to my paper, enjoy.

Facebook “Revamps” Privacy Settings…

A couple of days ago I walked into my friends room and she was so concentrated on her computer screen that I had to ask her what she was doing. She tried to explain to me that Facebook.com has changed their privacy settings and she was trying to change her settings  back to what she had. All she could tell me is that “Facebook lets everyone see everything in your profile”, which of course concerned me, because we do not want everyone looking at our pages.

So I looked into what Facebook was doing with their privacy settings, because this effects us all. (but first I changed my own privacy settings) After reading Facebook Revamps I learned more about these new privacy settings.

First off, Facebook says they are trying to give its users more control over what other people can see. Some people, like me, disrgaarded the one time warning to change their settings. This “revamp” forces people to change their settings and chose what they want people to see. There are more options for what people can and cannot see, depending on what you select.

Secondly, Facebook wants you to be post certain information so that everyone can see. For example they want you to post your work and education information so that it is open for the public. This is where the new privacy controls allow you to just show small amounts of information, but completely hide other posts and tagged pictures. Though when you change these settings you have to be careful about what you decide to post and which settings you chose.

When you decide to change your settings you will chose who can see what, “friends”, “friends of friends”, and “everyone”. You will go through about 10 different sections, like your wall, photos, posts etc. and decide who you want to allow to see what. As of this week Facebook has your settings changed to “everyone”, even if your settings where just “friends” before. It is not as easy as they make it seem, because there are different settings for everything now. Be as thorough as possible.

So as of right now, if you have not changed your settings, people can see all of your page. This includes, your wall, tagged photos and albums. I would suggest that if you have a facebook page that you go into your privacy settings and change your settings to what you want.

Convergence for efficiency and cost

Your Television is Ringing

The title of this article made me think about how my TV at home actually does “ring”. When someone calls our home phone the phone number comes up on the television screen and gives you the choice to answer it or ignore it by using your remote to navigate. This new feature only makes my parents more lazy and not have to get up when they see someone they do not want to talk to is calling. This article helped me answer the questions of why this new technology was now being used.

With convergence we are seeing companies spending billions of dollars to make it possible for “Your Television to Ring”. Their idea is to make it efficient and cost effect for their customers to use. With this idea of bundling services together you can get; internet, cable, a land line, etc. Now it is possible to get all of these services from one company.

This idea of bundling makes me think of Comcast. Their television commercials talk about the ease of bundling all of the services for one low price. It is an intriguing offer when you only one person has to come in to your home to install all the services you need. My parents use Comcast and that is how they are able to get phone numbers to show up on their television. Our phone line, internet provider and cable all come from Comcast. The ease of using Comcast and the ability to add new services when they come out is part of the tactic of convergence; as well as the low monthly price.

We are seeing the effects of convergence with other companies, and even cell phone providers. Cell phone providers are now offering internet service for your home. They are moving from a mobile company and now working their way into your homes with the internet.

This makes me wonder if wireless providers will be able to offer services without the use of a land line. For many homes the only reason they have a land line is because you must have the internet hooked up to it. It seems that the popularity of wireless companies would rise if they are able to bundle all of these services and get rid of the land line. Though this means that companies like Comcast wouldn’t be as appealing if because no one wants to pay for a land line that they are not using.

What do you think the next step is for convergence? What will companies try to add to their bundle packages and how will they use it to their advantage?

Do you think we will see companies that are monopolizing the industry by using convergence? Will this create company mergers?

“Inside the Mind of Google”

I was flipping through the channels, looking for something to watch and came across a CNBC documentary called “Inside the Mind of Google.” I am not sure if I would have been as interested in this documentary if I had not been enrolled in this class, but I learned almost everything there was to know about Google. It was an hour-long documentary that covered the Google work environment to how the economy is effecting Google. And not to forget the segment on the future of Google.

Even though I could not find the full length documentary (because you have to purchase it through CNBC) but I was able to find a few clips. Luckily one of the clips that I found was part of the documentary that I enjoyed. It was the segment on the Google work environment. Google looks like one of the more enjoyable places to work. They have created a marble track which is “remarkable”, they also have volleyball courts, foosball tables, ping-pong and seven executive chefs in their cafeteria. What more could you ask for from your job?

The next time the documentary airs is Saturday the 5th at 4pm and then again on Sunday the 6th 7pm  (if anyone wants to check it out)

Twitter craze

This long weekend gave me the chance to do some more research for my project and start a rough draft of my paper. I spent a lot of time on celebrity Twitters, looking at what they where posting, how often they posted, what they where saying and who they where tagging. (It became addicting to click from one person to the next to see what they where saying) But between Thanksgiving, black Friday an Apple Cup I finished an outline and started the rough draft of my paper.

What is new media doing?

Afterword: What struck me in this article was the analysis of corporate decisions. Even though I know that large corporations have a great deal of say in certain decisions, I was surprised that it was considered the “most powerful single force socializing and politicizing the American public.” I can see where they would be able to make decision sin the entertainment industry and control what we see. It makes me wonder what they do not allow us to see and what “reality” we are being shown. This goes back to high school when my teacher told us that everything in your history books are not completely true. So in retrospect we are given news that other people want us to see and not the real news.

Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape: Of the eight traits two of them where most interesting to me; everyday and generational. These two traits are known to most people. Media is part of our everyday lives and we rely on it and take it everywhere. Though when the power goes out or we are in a place with no cell phone or internet service it is like the world has stopped. When we lose our connection to new media we do not know what to do, and we always find ourselves asking “what did people do when they did not have TV or the internet?” It forces us to be more resourceful. The generational aspect of technology changes the way information is usually passed down. I find myself teaching my parents about technology rather than them teaching me. As we grow up we are growing as technology does and our parents are learning from us.

Why the News Media Became Irrelevant-And How Social Media Can Help: It is true that news media is running to social networks to help out with their popularity. When you go on a newspaper or news channel website you can follow them on Twitter and get instant updates. We are getting used to getting instant news and information. News media is now starting to become part of the social media. We rely on those that we trust so most of the time people are getting information from their peers and learning from what they have heard from someone else. The relationships that the news creates with their followers becomes even more important because they need us to trust them and want to follow them.

What parts of the news do you think we are hidden from and do you think these large corporations have the right to block what information we receive?

What is the next step for journalism, What will social media do to effect their flow and distribution of the news?

social media fatigue

On Thursday, Thanksgiving night, I was watching King 5 news. I was thinking I was only going to get updates about the shopping frenzy that was going to occur on Friday. Instead there was a small segment on social media fatigue. I had never heard the term before and tried to look for the news clip online, but was unable to find it. So I searched the internet and got a definition and use of the word. We are getting overwhelmed with social media and all of these networking sites. Even if it is a good way to keep in touch with friends and family, it is difficult to keep up with all of our accounts. I wonder if social media fatigue will cause networking sites to lose popularity.

searching through wikipedia and delicious.

On Wikipedia I searched through a few pages about Twitter, but for my project the most helpful was an article that gave me a lot of information about Twitter as a whole. It gave me anything I wanted to know about Twitter. What I liked about Wikipedia is that I was had the ability to navigate away from the page to other topics. This can be helpful when you want to know about something that was talked about.

I enjoyed navigating through delicious. While looking at articles I found an interesting one about Twitter personalities. This gives you 14 different types of Twitter personalities and how their tweets differ. One of the personalities is “The Celeb Who Keeps it Real” describing celebrities and how they use Twitter. Some of them use it to promote themselves, while others use to have fun and stay connected ith fans.

 

information overload.

Social Media: The Ground Shifts
I agree that the web is not just a one-way broadcasting tool, it is a way of connecting with people. Whether it is people connecting with people or companies and businesses connecting with their consumers. With the increasing online social networks, online social communities are taking over. The article focuses on Twitter and Facebook and I think that these two are continuing to shape peoples online experiences. Facebook connect confused me because I was unsure of how people would be able to connect to Facebook without even logging in. It makes me wonder how privacy settings will work. Something that I think was overwhelming was the list of other social networks coming about like; OpenID, Friend connect and Open Social. There are too many social networking sites out there today. I only use Facebook, and maybe I’m in the minority, but I only think I need one site to connect with people. I understand the competitive nature that companies have, but so many people are going to sign up for these networks. Even though we want to connect with people and it is becoming the way of web 2.0, I think we are bombarded with these internet communities.

Web Mashups Turn Citizens Into Washington’s Newest Watch Dogs
What really struck my about this article was that it seems people now have access to any information they want. This can be both a positive and negative thing. I can see it as being positive because it allows citizens to get a hold of the information they want when it comes to politics. The access to information may also cross over into other aspects of our lives, but could this mean people will have access to our personal information? The article did bring up a good point that this can expose certain things that may not have ever been brought to anyone’s attention. Though we can also see it as a negative that it might turn into people trying to harm someone campaign or getting a law passed.

How do you think the open access to political information will change how people vote? Do you think people will go to these websites to get more information?

In what ways have social networks and connecting with people through the internet changed the face and experience of the web?

Who wins? Android vs. IPhone

http://www.navigadget.com/wp-content/postimages/2008/12/android-iphone-gps-game.jpg

I have been an avid Blackberry consumer for many years, but the Android has sparked my interest. More often now do I see people with the Android. But what is the Android and what does it have to offer that its main competitor, the IPhone does not? Since the holidays are coming up this means these two phones will be battling it out for smartphone supremecy.

To begin, the Android is available through more than one cellphone carrier. One of the greatest downfalls of the IPhone is that only AT&T customers can own an IPhone. (Many people have found ways to unlock the IPhone, but the legal rights belong to AT&T) T-Mobile is a carrier of the Android and like Verizon has released the second version of the phone. Right now the Android is more accessible to customers because they are available with two carriers.

Looks wise, the two phones are similar. Both of them have have similar sized touch screens. The IPhone is thinner than the Android and only has one menu button. The Android has several buttons on the bottom of the screen and a track ball, the resembles that of a Blackberry. Though one major difference between the two looks of these phones is that the Android flips up to expose a keyboard. This is something that some may say is unnessary, but other consumers like this. It gives them a chance to use the touch screen and a keypad.  I personally like having a keypad to type on, so I think the Android looks and features win.

Now the fun part, the applications and entertainment. After watching this news segment I found out that the Android has only 10,000 applications to its competitor, the IPhone, which has over 80,000 apps.  Now I am not sure why anyone needs 80,000 applications, but people find a use for all of them. Music features are another aspect that we all know the IPhone has imense capabilities for. And I agree that the IPhone is easier to download and upload music. The Android requires that you navigate through applicatins and will link you to music. I would say that the IPhone beats out the Android for applications and entertainment.

The GPS systems on these two phones is something that rival any other phones. Both phones use Google maps. This may give the Android a bit of an advantage, since its creater is Google. Each phone uses a simple interface to enter addresses for directions with maps. Though the Android allows you to move with the map to see where you are. Maybe it is not necessary, but it is a nice feature and it gives it the edge over the IPhone.

So who wins? It all depends on what features you want. Even though I like the look of the Android, I would still purchase the IPhone. It has the ability to do everything you want in one device. You can carry around your life in a phone and have the ability to keep your music with you too. We will see what happens to IPhone sales after the Android 2.0 is released.