From Smartphones to smartwatches

Smartphones have been one of the biggest and best forms of technology in this generation. They have taken over as our daily source to use for just about everything! They have been around for quite some time now, and I'm sure that everyone has begun to wonder what would take over as the next big thing.
Well, for those who are wondering,   Samsung has something in store for you! At a recent conference Samsung unveiled 3 new products to the world.

The Samsung Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit, are wrist wearables that basically act as watches with many other features. The main focus of the article below by Mashable, is the Gear Fit, which has many of the Smartwatch functions, but seemingly is being used to target more of the fitness band users. The article explains, that the demand for fitness bands is slowing increasing and that this new creation might be big in the next few years. I personally am not a fan of watches but I have come to see that a lot of people have taken a liking to fitness apps of all sorts. This product seems to be a perfect fit for what.people are looking, for based off of the feedback people have about the fitness bands already out like the Nike Fuelband. I think this product by Samsung will be huge seeing as it takes the next step by allowing the band to work in sync with your phone. It will allow for you to receive calls, e-mails, and push notifications while being able to track all the important fitness uses.

http://tinyurl.com/mrjdtr3

Social media and the deceased, what's the protocol?

A decade ago, when someone passed away their online presence pretty much went away with them. Today, this is not the case at all. When someone dies, their tweets, Facebook posts, any photos they have posted online, and videos remain on their social media accounts like a living memorial to that person's life.

For the people who are closest to someone who has passed away, the question of who now owns, controls, and has access to all this information is brought up. Even in our local region, situations like this are making news.

In Wayne County, a man whose wife passed away on Valentines day left him videos on her Facebook account for him to view after her death. Facebook's policy on so-called "memorialized" accounts is that no one is allowed access to them when they receive a valid request that the person has died; they can only be deleted by a family member's request. This poses a problem for situations just like the one in Wayne County. Should it really up to different social media sites how a deceased person's information is dealt with? What if the person left a video will on Facebook, and their spouse needed to view it to fulfill their loves one's final wishes?

Death is a very serious and personal issue, and in my opinion, should really be left to that person's spouse, or a close family member to deal with the still-living memories of that person on social media, not a giant internet company. Whether they choose to keep the accounts open and viewable to friends to post farewell wishes, or view private videos and photos before deleting the account, it should be up to them. If a universal law or rights for this new situation is passed, many difficult situations of ownership of content on social media can be solved.

To view the story posted on February 23, 2014 visit:  http://bit.ly/1o48rU1

LinkedIn vs. Twitter & Facebook

Everyone seems to forget about LinkedIn due to the massive popularity among other social media networks including Twitter and Facebook. These two social networks have been in control of the marketing and media world, especially in the United States. However, LinkedIn has made the decision to further expand into China. On a side note, Twitter, Facebook, as well as Google are all generally blocked by China's government. As a result of LinkedIn's growing presence in China, LinkedIn has already acquired approximately four million new users. 

The new Chinese-language website aims to broaden the LinkedIn business world. "Our mission is to connect the world's professionals and create greater economic opportunity—and this is a significant step towards achieving that goal,” Derek Shen, LinkedIn’s president of China, wrote in a blog post. In addition, Shen wants to continue upgrading the technological world at the same rate and pace of the business world. Because of China's hands-on government, this could become very difficult. 

Due to China's strict government regulations, censorship will definitely come into play. The company must regulate and censor any content from the users in China. Any information outside of China will not be censored. The creation of the Chinese website makes it much easier for the Chinese government to control the content of their users. Traditional LinkedIn users do not typically or traditionally censor content. However, this massive expansion into a huge business-oriented economy is a major step forward for LinkedIn. 

In my opinion, social media networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook all can not only serve as personal profiles, but as well as business profiles, professional portfolios, and any other business-oriented utility. LinkedIn's expansion into China really sets them apart from Twitter and Facebook, especially in the business world. In general, this is LinkedIn's opportunity to finally become the definitive professional publishing platform.

For more information, here's the link to the whole story.
http://qz.com/180755/linkedin-is-doing-what-facebook-google-and-twitter-cant-expanding-in-china/

How to avoid experiencing a #overload.

Hashtags are nearly a language all their own. They can be helpful tools to find related topics and conversations. They've found their way from Twitter to Facebook, Instagram and Google Plus.

Let's be honest though, we all have that one friend who just doesn't seem to be doing right. #Every #word #they #write #needs #to #have #a #hashtag. Annoying, right? There is help!

There are multiple resources on the Internet on how to better use the  overworked hashtag and start making more sense of your posts.
Ken Mueller on socialmediatoday.com provides insight on how to make better use of these overabundant markers.

Mueller warns his readers to "use your hashtags sparingly". Your friends and followers will greatly appreciate your selectivity and your results will greatly improve.

Not sure if you're a compulsive #hashtagger? Watch this video, and see if it sounds familiar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA

















http://mashable.com/2014/02/24/hashtag-etiquette/

http://socialmediatoday.com/kenmueller/1613406/hashtags-proper-use

From Sky Drive to One Drive, It's More than a Name Change

After loosing a legal dispute Microsoft changed the name of it's cloud storage service SkyDrive to OneDrive. Microsoft has gone through an extensive list of names for it's storage services such as FolderShare, Windows Live Sync, Live Mesh Beta, and Windows Live Mesh. However, OneDrive is more than just a name change. This service includes new features and emphasizes that OneDrive is the one place for all of your content.

The old SkyDrive offered automatic camera uploads from your iOS and Windows phone but now OneDrive is opening up this feature to android users. Anyone who turns on this feature will get an extra 3GB of storage, including existing users. Additionally, anyone who signs up for OneDrive receives 7GB free, and the more friends you invite the more storage you can get. However, they did put a limit on this bonus for a maximum of 5GB.

Microsoft has made some other changes to specific features such as their Office 365 app, a web based collaboration software. The change allows for instant collaboration by letting users see characters others are typing. OneDrive has also decreased uploading time for videos by using something called MPEG-DASH, which allows for high quality streaming. Also, Microsoft is offering monthly payment options for this service which used to be sold yearly. Lastly, to promote OneDrive the first 100,000 customers will be given 100GB of storage for free. How long will Microsoft stay with OneDrive? I guess we will have to wait and see.

Read the article at Mashable.com

Image retrieved from techspot

Love is in the Tweets!

Valentines Day is a great excuse to share adorable pictures of you and your loved one. Sharing updates on your love life has always been a part of social media and this year politicians got on board.

Subscribers of twitter were no doubt bombarded by messages of love and romance; two things hardly associated with politics. So, this year seeing the human side of some of the most powerful men and women in the country was a simple reminder that at the end of the day we all want to be loved. 

For this blogger, it was refreshing to see a human side to people that can come of cold, uncaring and down right scary sometimes. On this day that we celebrate the loved ones in our lives, it's a good reminder that we all have people we love and maybe, just maybe, if we let the spirit of Valentines day carry on throughout the year, we'll all be a little sweeter to each other.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/02/michelle-obama-tweets-a-valentines-day-love-note-to-potus/

Facebook's new gender options provide trans* recognition

New gender neutral options on Facebook provide more options
to its trans* community users, among others.

If you were to ask someone who uses social media frequently, they would most likely tell you that sites like Facebook and Twitter seem to make changes every day. Formats to profiles, the layout of the site itself, even the logos of sites can change in a heartbeat; it comes from having a platform that needs to adapt and adjust so often to a changing environment. Recently, Facebook made one such change that works in the favor of a large section of its user base. Until recently, when someone signs up for a Facebook profile they would have had two options for gender: male and female. These would be reflected both in their profile and in other, smaller ways across the site: write on Bob’s wall for HIS birthday, send Marie a gift for HER anniversary, things like that. After the most recent change, though, Facebook has now made gender neutrality an option for its transgender, genderfluid, and other nonbinary users (users who may not fall under the traditional “male” or “female” identity). Allowing the input of a “custom” gender makes it so users can now identify themselves to their friends as a transgender male or female, bigender, gender questioning, and a number of other options. The change may not seem like all that large of one, but for those whom it affects it makes a great deal of difference. Now those who do not fall under a binary umbrella can accurately and authentically express their identity, and maybe help raise awareness of the trans* community as a whole. If you'd like to read more: http://on.mash.to/1eKxPc6

Hackers can be Heroes

The article this blog is based upon was posted on February 11th and can be found at mashable.com

The term “hacker” automatically has a negative connotation, but Christian Lopez Martin turned his name “hacker” into “hero.”

Martin is a self-identified freelance security researcher and as such, he found an intense bug in the coding of mobile Instagram. The bug would have allowed strangers to view users’ personal photos, but Martin brought his work to Facebook and they have since corrected the problem.

Martin reported the problem through part of Facebook known as the White Hat Program, which is known for compensating the security researchers that show responsibility. The minimum payment is actually $500 whereas Martin was able to receive a number within the four-digit realm due to the “severity and creativity” of the bug.

Apparently the fix time on the bug was six whole months, but the majority of the problems were resolved only a month after Martin brought it to their attention. The article urges that “given the fact that Instagram rolled out private messaging in December, it seems as though Instagram dodged a bullet when Martin brought the bug to light before the new feature was introduced.”

I actually question if security researchers like Martin, look for companies that are launching something new or even just ones that are well off and then plant their own bugs to which they can provide the solutions to and receive compensation. I can only imagine that if they are smart enough to find and stop a bug, they can make one. 

Facebook Knows About Changes To Your Relationship

     Facebook knows about the changes in your relationship - before you even tell the website.

     We all know Facebook collects personal data. The company tracks our locations, how often we post, what we post, what websites we visit, etc. What you might not know, perhaps, is that Facebook tracks our relationships. Now, according to an article posted Friday on mashable.com, Facebook can predict the status of our relationship before its public.

     Facebook has been collecting data about our relationships since 2010. They now have enough metrics, they say, to predict when a relationship will start, when it's at its peak, and when it will end, all based on the amount of times we post on our significant other's wall.

     I always knew to be cautious about what I post on Facebook, and I knew that Facebook collected some personal data. I did not know that Facebook stored that data, however. It's a big leap, at least in my mind, from keeping data that's relevant to website metrics and storing data for extraneous studies. I can't think of anything useful that would come from Facebook knowing about our relationship statuses - they aren't a part of our relationships, so why should they care what our personal relationship statuses are? I think this is the new beginning of 'privacy' on the Internet: everything we post, no matter how inconsequential, will be used for new "studies" that are actually just invasions of our privacy and personal lives.

If you want to read the mashable article it can be found here.

Using a smartphone app instead of a PC

More people are spending time using their smartphones instead of using a PC. According to the article "Twitter Usage Depends on Mobile Experience" published 2/11/14 on mashable.com people are using their mobile apps more than any other way to get on these sites.

Both Twitter and Facebook have their own mobile apps and according to the U.S. Digital Consumer Report these apps are used much more frequently than a PC. Twitter users spend 36 minutes using a computer, 11 minutes using their smartphone browser, and 3 hours 7 minutes using their smartphone app per month. Facebook users are spending 6 hours 24 minutes on a computer, 40 minutes on their smartphone browser, and 7 hours 43 minutes using their smartphone app per month.

We can see that there are differences but the biggest difference shows in the twitter app instead of using a PC to access these social media websites.

I myself use all of these apps much more frequently than I use my computer. I think it's much easier and with our smartphones we are able to access these sites anytime and anywhere. Using a computer requires having internet access and carrying around a laptop or being home with a desktop. Our cell phones are almost always on us, giving us easy access and with the app we just click on it and we are instantly on our page.

http://mashable.com/2014/02/11/twitter-facebook-mobile/

SNL is making a comeback with social media

Saturday Night Live, or SNL, as frequent watchers of the show call it, is in a transition period after losing many of its regular and loved cast members. The replacements for those cast members are generally young, and there has been some hesitation as to whether these cast members are true replacements for the lost talent. While they are still setting down their roots, the cast had started heavily participating in social media, which could not only help their popularity, but the popularity of the show as well. Such social media include a YouTube channel called #AskSNL, #Freshman15 on Instagram, and a Twitter account where cast members can give current and potential viewers a personal look into the show. All of these social media outlets seem to have given the show a freshness that could really change the way that people view SNL.

This article immediately caught my attention because I have grown up watching SNL and continue to watch it every week. I have watched through cast changes and the in between times, including this one. I have to say that I did not know about any of the social media outlets that the cast participates in. That being said, I think it is a really good idea. It is good for the show to branch out and create new interest.It is also good for these social media sites to have a well-respected and liked show to keep people using them.

I have always wanted to go to a taping, and this is a good way of being apart of the show, if you can't get around to actually going to New York City. In terms of the new cast members, I think only time will tell. I think that it is still too soon to tell, and it will take some time for people to solely look at their comedic abilities and not compare them to the people that they replaced.

Article posted on mashable.com on February 15, 2014

From Addicting to Gone!

I remember when I first heard about the game called 'Flappy Bird', I didn't understand all of the hype. That was until I downloaded the app and began to see why it was so addicting. It almost seemed like as I was beginning to engage in the game, everyone who I followed on Twitter was also feeding their 'Flappy Bird' addiction. The game took over social media so much that it caused the creator of the game, Dong Nguyen, to take it down. In the article by Mashable, it explains how people's comments on social media is the reason why we lost such a fun and addicting game. The article even shows some examples of post on Twitter that described the game in a negative manner; and unfortunately all the negativity just became to much for Nguyen to handle.

I have seen first hand the many comments of how the game has taken over people's lives. I myself have even been in on some post with friends about the game. My friend Eric was in the top 1% of leaders playing the game and he would often post pictures of his incredible scores. I honestly don't think that the post were meant to really degrade the game but only to show just how difficult of a game it is! This is the first game I have ever played where reaching a score of 10 was considered to be a "good score". I think most of the negative post were people explaining how their hatred for the game is based solely off how difficult it is to get even a score of five, in what seems to be such an easy concept of a game. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has experienced frustration by playing the game; but I never failed to have the urge to want to keep playing. I think Nguyen had the wrong idea from all the post and it is unfortunate that the game is gone; unless you still have it on your phone or tablet.
http://mashable.com/2014/02/11/flappy-bird-no-nice-things/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link

Will Facebook's App Paper Survive?

Facebook recently released it's much hyped app called 'Paper.' This app collects news feeds from your Facebook timeline and is laid out like a magazine. Sound familiar? Well it may for some of you who know of another app called 'Flipboard' that allows people to choose what news they want to read and collect. Facebook has already been accused of stealing the name of this new app and is now receiving criticism for copying Flipboards layout.


Paper and Flipboard share a very similar tiled design that displays news in a grid pattern. However what separates the two is that Paper accentuates interacting with your friends and timeline. These two apps are also very similar in their navigation with Paper's being slightly more complex. Where both of these apps really differ is in their method of finding and reading news. Flipboard makes personalization its first priority and and discovery second. Also, Flipboard focuses on what the users want by allowing them to pick and choose the topics they want to see. While Paper concentrates on alerting readers with trending topics, interaction with your friends, and using broader themes.


Another difference between the two apps is their emphasis on socializing. It's obvious that Facebook's Paper would put social media at the center of their app, while Flipboard's approach to social media is much more subtle. What I find bothersome is it seems that just about anything you can do on the Paper app you can also do on the original Facebook app so why even download it.

This leaves me with a few questions; was Facebook copying Flipboard? Will Paper survive as a news app? Will apps like these replace traditional news websites? Let me know what you think.



Paper vs Flipboard

No more Flappy Bird! A genius move, or a cry for help?

       Whether you have played it or not, in the last couple of weeks you have probably heard of the game "Flappy Bird". It has been the number one downloaded game on iOS and Android for a few weeks. But the real shocker came when the game's creator, Dong Nguyen announced via twitter that he "Cannot take it anymore" and would remove Flappy Bird from the stores 22 hours from Saturday.
       "Cannot take it anymore", like you are probably thinking, I thought, "Really, how much misery could this game have caused this guy to say something like that about a little app?" Especially since Nguyen claimed to be making more than $50,000 a day from in-app advertising from the game. After I thought that no one can really be miserable from making that much money, I began to think, in contrast to Greg Kumparak in his post, that this is a way to bring about a surge of app downloads.
       Humans tend to value things more when you can no longer get them, and even I, who wanted nothing to do with this game, downloaded it right before it was taken off the app store. Keep in mind, that anyone who has downloaded the app for now, can keep it even though its not available for download. And Nguyen will keep making money off the ads in the game. He has also become famous from his stunt, gaining thousands of more followers on Twitter. So after all this, Nguyen is still making boatloads of money, people keep playing Flappy Bird as best they can, and soon another Internet story will come about and make us angry all over again.

Original Article  posted by Greg Kumparak on February 9, 2014.

Facebook is Stealing Again!

We have all seen the movie The Social Network, the movie that immortalizes the creation of the social media site; Facebook. In that movie we were thrown into the world of Mark Zuckerberg, maker of Facebook, and we witnessed the events that led up to his extraordinary success. Some of those events consisted of blatantly stealing ideas from others and now, in 2014, we are witnessing this again, but in the news.

In an article by Jason Abbruzzese, I learned that Facebook released a new app on Monday called Paper which is the name of an already highly acclaimed app that does essentially the same thing.  The original Paper was created by a company called FiftyThree and has since been named the iPad app of the year in 2012. The app launch brought CEO Greg Petschnigg to publicly ask Facebook to change the name of their app, but Facebook refused and simply apologized for not notifying FiftyThree sooner.

Petschnigg  described Paper as a “computer application software for smart phones and tablets, namely, software for use in writing on smart phones and tablets with either a stylus or finger." While Facebook’s Paper doesn’t allow the user to draw within the app or use a stylus, Petschnigg urges that the similarities are too strong to be ignored.

This is not the first incident of a trademark complaint with Facebook and I doubt it will be the last.  Theft of ideological property is the base of the network, why would they change it now after we allowed it to become a multi-billion dollar company? They seem to have gotten away with every stolen good and the question I am facing is, “how does one even stop an ideological thief if they alter things slightly?”  

The article was posted on February 3, 2014 and can be found at Mashable.com. 

73% of Teens Still Use Facebook

A recent study by the Pew Research Center stated that only 73% of teenagers still use Facebook, according to an article on mashable.com. The article, published today by Samantha Murphy Kelly, noted that the social media website will celebrate it's ten year anniversary in the near future, and some media experts have noticed the decline in users as other platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn become ever popular. 64% of Facebook users access the site daily, according to the article, and of that percentage only 44% like and comment on other's posts and a mere 10% update their own statuses. This is a staggering change from how we, as the 'social media generation' have used Facebook in the past - every Facebook user I knew updated their status as often as changing their socks. Unsurprisingly, teenagers still update their statuses - they just don't use Facebook.
Ironically, I learned about this article from the new 'king' of social media status updates: Twitter. The website is known and branded as being quick to access, easy to browse, and simple for older and younger users alike. With a (some would argue) superior, streamlined platform, why wouldn't the younger generation be switching over to the latest and greatest? Already Generation Y and it's younger counterparts are branded as having short attention spans and for being fickle - it fits then that teenagers, (classified as ages 12-17 in the article) would move from a platform now 'uncool' and positively clumsy in comparison to the ultra-simple Twitter. I think we're beginning to see an emerging trend in the world of social media; it happened with MySpace, it will happen with Facebook, and it will happen with Twitter. Social media platforms must constantly evolve to stay current - and at the rate Facebook is losing users to Twitter, it's not going to make the cut.

If you'd like to read the article on mashable.com, you can find it here.

Superbowl Tweets Add Insult to Injury for Manning and the Broncos

I spent Sunday night in the same way most people did. I sat on the couch, ate enough chips and dip to probably give me a heart attack, yelled at the TV when Seattle intercepted the ball for the dozenth time. While I was doing all this, though, I was doing one other thing: scrolling through Twitter to see how everyone I follow was reacting to the game.

    

Clearly, I wasn’t alone in doing so, because last night the twitterverse was abuzz with comments about the game, including thousands upon thousands of references to Peyton Manning and his… less than stellar performance on the field. Once the Seahawks lead reached 35-0, the critics (and fans) turned brutal. Images of Manning from the game, including one of him on the phone on the sidelines, quickly went viral and evolved into memes with captions like “Mom can you come pick me up?” and “No Eli, put Dad on the phone!” Over the course of a few hours, Manning went from one of the most prominent and popular figure in the NFL to a simple joke. Not exactly the biggest confidence booster for the quarterback.

It’s interesting to think about how much Twitter reaction there is to these games; clearly it’s one of the most talked-about events in the beginning of the year. Of course, with that much chatter there’s going to be a lot of backlash connected to something like Manning’s performance. Really, it seems that it would just add insult to injury; the team was already doing poorly in the biggest game of the year, now thousands of fans and critics have taken to the internet to openly criticize them even further. Seems that it’s becoming far too common for this to be the case in the modern, social media driven era.

If you would like to read more: http://on.mash.to/1ajPqw3

Google Glass App Could Help Firefighters

Patrick Jackson is in the process of creating an app for Google Glass. Even before this new technology is out on the market, people are saying that Google Glass has a lot of potential, and an app like this, is only one of the reasons. Patrick Jackson is a firefighter and programmer who saw the need to create something that would help firefighters do their job better, and more efficiently. The app would help with a multitude of issues, some of which include floor plans, and a way to know how to get people out safely. Jackson has made a few apps in the past relating to firefighting, which his engine uses. The app could possibly be ready to test in the next six months.

This app seems like it could have the potential, in later developments, to seek out trapped people, furthering the ability of firefighters to save lives. I think that Google Glass could be a very useful product as we move into the world of voice activation. Certainly, apps such as this will help its success. I am interested to see how people will adjust to seeing things, such as diagrams in their field of vision, though. Also, a downside that I could see with Google Glass, is the price tag. At each unit carrying a price tag of around $1500 dollars, it could limit who it is available to.

Article posted on mashable.com on January 21, 2014