Keeping up with the times: Pandora radio makes a move to smart watches.

My favorite app bar none is Pandora. They've taken it a step further this time. Recently, according to a mashable.com article, an app for Pandora was released to Pebble users. Pebble creates smartwatches and now they come with the Pandora app installed. Will this be the tipping point that will drive people to everyday wearable technology? 

For the first time, the new app will allow users to interact with Pandora from a wearable smart technology. It allows the user to do all the things they would do from an iPhone or iPad. With the smartwatch users have the ability to provide instant feedback, building their favorite play lists  and all from a hands free device! I haven't had any interaction with a smartwatch yet, but having an app as popular as Pandora could be reason enough to start shopping around.

Why You Should Still be Cautious on the Internet

I feel it's safe to say a majority of the human population spends a large amount of time on the Internet. I think it's even safer to say that more and more people are spending large amounts of money on the Internet due to the convenience of shopping online. As a result we have learned to feel pretty safe on the internet when perhaps we shouldn't have. 

Although the internet has many security measures set in place there has been a bug sitting in one of the most important measures for years. Essentially this bug gives attackers the "keys to the kingdom" and is called the "Heartbleed Bug." Secure transactions on the internet rely on a pair of technologies called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TSL). Basically they keep your private information between you and whatever site you are using. However there has been a breach in the software called OpenSSL which allows people to get TSL/SSL easily. The breach is a minor coding error that allows attackers to use OpenSSL to see private data that should be secured by TSL/SSL. 

Every now and then we see bugs and internet fraud, however, this error has been out there for a long time. So what does this mean for a majority of the population that uses the internet frequently? Assume your credentials are out there for the taking and make sure to change all your passwords. Also, if you aren't already make sure you're frequently check your credit card statements. This Heartbleed bug is the reason why we should continue to be cautious on the internet. Even if you're not using the internet for shopping other things such as personal profile information may have been exposed. I'll admit this Heartbleed bug has made me feel vulnerable on the internet and I'm left wondering if I should stop shopping online for a while. 

Photo Credit: nydailynews.com

Read more on Gizmodo.com 

Viral Videos are a Marketer's New Dream

Viral videos might be the next best marketing technique. On April 2, Sarah Ang posted on Mashable all the reasons why these viral videos are priceless to companies and organizations. First, viral videos don’t require a time limit, they can go on for as long as the company wants and they don’t have to pay for a time slot. The only expense is in the actual making of the video. Secondly, the videos can be more promiscuous or emotional in any sense of the word. This intensified emotional dynamic creates a better relationship with the audience which makes them more apt to pay attention. Thirdly, the videos go viral because of the viewers, not because the company is pushing them. The viewers can share and embed them in all different interfaces for viewing which helps the company to reach even more people than if they were to rely on TV ads.  Ang also touched on the fact that these videos can take attention away from recent bad publicity which always helps in a company’s image or even liven up instructional/safety instructions like this video from Virgin Air.

There is always the chance that the videos will flop rather than fly, but I think that the risk is worth it. Organic views beat out the best paid views and are more meaningful because the viewer actually wanted to see the video of their own free will. I think that more companies should take advantage of the viral video industry because they have so many more possibilities in regards to the film making. Plus, they also can spread their company image in a more effective way than simply planting their brand name on an image, much like Chipotle did in this heart-tugging short.

Vine's use expands with the addition of new messaging service.

Since Vine appeared on the social media market, its six-second videos have drawn millions of users from the Twittersphere and beyond. This tool was recently expanded upon by the addition of a new sharing feature in the Vine 2.0 app. Upon opening the app for the first time, a user is invited to try the app’s new direct messaging service. The new addition allows users within the vine community to share a vine through text message with one or more contacts. From there they can continue to have a private conversation with each recipient about the Vine in question. Along with this, it also is possible now to send private vines to other users similar to Instagram or Twitter’s direct messaging features.

This service adds a bit more to the “social” aspect of Vine due to the fact that, before now, the most social interaction between users was comments and tags on the videos. Messaging between users allows more personal interaction, and I for one am looking forward to seeing how it changes the use of Vine as a whole.

To read more: http://mashable.com/2014/04/03/hands-on-with-vine-messages/

Will iPhone 6 rumors live up to the hype?

Picture from read.bi/1emPM1K 

We all do it. We go on the internet and look up the latest technology to come out of Apple. One of those technology updates that I know I look up is when the new iPhone 6 will come out and what it will look like. Well, according to Adario Strange, the rumors that have been circulating on this topic are starting to solidify. A popular feature of the current Android phones is the size of the screen. This is, hopefully, something that iPhone and Android users will have in common when the iPhone is released. We could soon be seeing an iPhone with an increase in screen size from 4.0 to 4.7 and possibly 5.5 inches. They are still working out the kinks, though. Currently, they are only working on the 4.7 model, due to problems with the “in-cell production technology”.

I don’t know about anyone else, but due to the lack of technological advancement in the past several iPhones, when it came time for me to upgrade my phone, I switched to the phone that touted that it had the best camera on the market, the Nokia Lumia 1020, and my sister switched to an Android. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my iPhone, but I wanted more out of it than it could supply. To make a long story short, we both ended up switching back to the iPhone because there was too much of a difference in the operating systems. 

My point with this slightly off topic aside is that, with all of these rumors on how different and better the new iPhone 6 is going to be, loyal Apple consumers, such as myself, are hoping that most of the rumors are true, and that it will be as different as they say. However, until the launch date, when true phone specs are released, we will just have to keep guessing. 

Article posted on mashable.com on April 2, 2014

One of Marketers Biggest Secrets? Branded Viral Videos

Everyone has seen viral videos - from the Chocolate Rain music video to the Harlem shake videos to the Call Me Maybe parodies, viral videos are known for exploding in popularity, but often don't stand the test of time. That's all changing with the advent of branded marketing videos, according to mashable.com.

Sarah Ang wrote that brands looking to stay current with social media trends should try their hand at making branded videos. These videos should be short, compelling, "shareable" and, perhaps most importantly, engaging. Surprisingly, the brand need not be front and center in every shot - the power of the video comes from its message, according to Ang, and that in turn will make the video jump from 'interesting' to 'viral'.

I agree with Ang - I think videos produced by brands in general are important nowadays, simply because users spend so much of their time watching videos online at websites like YouTube, Vimeo, and Hulu. It's rapidly becoming a necessity for brands to have videos online for their continued longevity. Some of the best branded videos I've seen have been short, online clips from big names that lead me to their website in an effort to learn more about their product.

I like that Ang pointed out in her article that product placement isn't essential. I myself tend to like videos more when I can watch an ad without seeing the product and it's "amazing new features" every three seconds. Brands that have a strong social media presence online already know this and are working it to their advantage - and those are the brands that are here to stay.

Pinterest is Relevant Folks!

In the past year, social media sites have been making additions to their programs, creating new apps and services while also fixing bugs and hiring “hackers” to help. In an article on Mashable.com we are informed of how much these fixes, innovations and additions are actually helping the sites to stay relevant and popular. More specifically; sites wanted to see how popular they were on the mobile front.

I personally don’t have a smart phone but, I have an iPod and iPad which are slaves to wifi. Therefore, my social media access is limited especially from a mobile standpoint. It was interesting to see that from a report from comScore, “Instagram users in the U.S. spend 98% of time with the network on mobile”. This apparently wasn’t surprising to Matt Petronzio, the author of the Mashable article because Instagram was actually a mobile-only site when it first came out and then later became desktop friendly.  

The second highest ranking mobile social media site is Pinterest which I thought was amazing. Users spend 92% of their time on mobile whereas Twitter users only chose the mobile experience 86% of the time.  This makes my inner Pinner sing with delight. I thought that Pinterest was mainly used by women who were crafting at home on their desktops. I feel so in-with-the-times now because whenever I latch onto wifi, I make additions to my boards. I also thought this was surprising because I always assumed that Twitter users essentially only used mobile because tweets are normally in “real-time” and not many people carry around their desktops.

Private Messaging on Vine

Vine made some changes to its app. Now Vine users can add messages and send their videos to each other right though the app.

Previously there was no private message feature on Vine and although they have made the changes Vine users can only send one on one messages because Vine does not support group messaging yet.

I think this is a step in the right direction. I myself use vine and sometimes I would post silly videos to send to my friends, but then would take it off because I didn't want it out there for anyone to see. Being able to send the videos privately makes it easier to share things to just one or two people instead of the whole world.

I think Vine is just catching on. Private messaging is very big with social media. Instagram added a private messaging feature in December and both Twitter and Facebook continue to update their private messaging feature with Twitter updating theirs so users could send pictures through messages.

Vine messaging may not be available to all users just yet and Vine may be testing it in-house, but I am confident that there will be many more updates to come, not only to Vine, but all the different social media platforms as well.

You can read more about the new Vine messaging feature in an article posted April 3, 2014
at: http://mashable.com/2014/04/03/vine-messaging-camera-roll/

A serious announcement on the funniest of days!

Today is April Fool's day, the day where people decide to play funny pranks on their friends and family members to get a really good laugh. Well apparently Twitter decided today would be a perfect day to launch their way into the wearable device world! Today they announced their new helmet  that will cover the whole head and allows for people to interact with the world through a special custom aviary interface. The device of course, also allows people to be able to tweet by using a simple pecking motion much like that of a bird. The device is set to come out in September at a surprising low price of $139.99 and will also include various items that are bird related.

I honestly am not at all sure if this is a very clever prank by the Twitter organization or not; but I don't know how many people would be interested in this product. It is a very cool idea but something still seems a bit sketchy to me about this all. The article from Mashable has pictures of the images of what this device will look like but each photo is captioned at the bottom saying " photos taken by secret source." I guess we will just have to see if more news comes out about this later down the road, but if you're interested check out the article here. Mashable

Read this before Tweeting or updating your next Facebook status

When traveling to a new community, it is important to be aware of cultural faux pas and general attitudes about certain topics. The online world functions similarly. From the land of LinkedIn to planet Pinterest, there is certain content that is not acceptable to be shared and can even be damaging to your own image.

If we're honest with ourselves, we've all violated at least one of the cardinal rules. Some of us may even be friends with constant offenders. Lida Citroen on socialmediatoday.com gives us a friendly reminder of information you should probably refrain from sharing on the internet.

I want to share just a few of my top favorites from her list, but for the complete article you can read it here.

This one was Lida's number 6 faux pas, but it's number 1 on my list. Do not post vague, self pitying comments that are a mystery to everyone. This never turns out well. You maybe disappointed when you're friends don't respond with the clearly wanted response of sympathy. Making your friends try to drag out the full context in which you post is based just screams "pay attention to me!"


This next one has effected some of my personal friends. Posting about your job. Specifically, posting about how much you hate your job, or how you are playing hooky for the day, or heaven forbid, personal thoughts on sensitive information about projects and/or clients. This is a sure fire way to find yourself without that job that you hated so much. I guess in firing you they were really doing you a favor.

The last one from Lida's list that really gets my goat is about watching what you say about others. On all platforms of social media, please don't say anything about someone that you wouldn't say to them in person. There is a difference between constructive criticism and cruelty. I have seen online battles of passive aggressiveness wage on for days. These kinds of posts can make you appear as a petty person who doesn't know how to effectively handle confrontation.

Social media has given us access to share our immediate thoughts and feelings. While this can be great in communicating efficiently, it's not always wise to post your first reactions. Think through the consequences of your posts, as you know, they can and will have far reach.

Pay for promotion? How a new app is "paying" users to promote their app.

Smug Messenger, the latest app from AppRedeem. Check out the article on TechCrunch! 

Imagine sending a link to your friends to download an app, and then earning points from it to turn into things with real value like Amazon gift cards, or bitcoins. It sounds like a way to make  quick buck, right? Well, it may be, but is this really the best way to get people to download an app? Shouldn't people download it because it offers them a great experience and it's worth downloading? 

This tactic of luring people into downloading something is what the company AppRedeem was built on. Their first app was an app called AppTrailers and let people watch videos trailers of upcoming apps to boost downloads. This worked for the company for a while, but this act of watching app trailers was not something people did on a regular basis, and the app stagnated. 

So will this new app work? The mobile messaging app market is already cluttered with too many apps like Snapchat, Whatsapp?, Kik Messenger, among many others. I personally think that this new app will not last long. When was the last time that you were thrilled to get yet another Candy Crush request? I don't think pushing people to download an app, especially one they may have lots of the same kind of is not the answer. The pay factor may be good motivation for people to send out requests, but it will not turn into more use. 

First March Madness, Now April Attack

Throughout last month, we have witnessed many incredible basketball games and potential NBA basketball players. These players not only gain our pride, but they also gain our respect. These players show up everyday to play the game they love and bring in money for their school. In regards to revenue, college sports and the NCAA highly unrecognized the real sources that help sky-rocket a school's financial lane: the actual players. The NCAA continues to ignore this fact that is staring them in the face.

Due to the failures of the NCAA for not rewarding their athletes enough, some football players from Northwestern University are gathering a union to gain power in regards to college athletics. Forming this union, these college football players are asking not for money, but for medical coverage for their futures. They want to make sure that a career-ending injury will not haunt them for the rest of their lives. If student-athletes are not being compensated for fiesta bowls, championships, or for the whole March Madness event, then they at least deserve a security blanket for their future. Think about it! Every NCAA college athlete performs approximately 40-60 hours a week in their sport, on top of their massive workloads.

As a college athlete, I believe the Northwestern football players along with every other NCAA college athlete should be secured under there school for injury purposes. We should see the NCAA start to protect their student athletes (source of income) more often then not. If the NCAA continues to ignore this union, then this might result in an April Attack month. If students attend a school to play a sport, then they represent that school. The school needs to protect all their representatives including their student-athletes. Due to the fact that the NCAA is a single organization, they will most likely ignore this union because if they permit their request, then the NCAA must make it permanent for everyone to earn medical coverage. Obviously, the NCAA does not want to fund that reward. Do you think the NCAA should cover any future medical concerns for NCAA athletes? What about the school? Or do you believe they just should be rewarded for a trophy or pat on the back for fighting their hearts out and bringing in revenue into their schools? For more information on this huge dilemma, please click on the following link.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddavenport/2014/03/28/the-real-march-madness-unions-money-and-power-in-college-athletics/

Is "Glass Journalism" the New Face of Journalism?

A web-based journalism professor, Robert Hernandez, teaches at the University of Southern California. This year Hernandez created a new course for his journalism students, called "Glass Journalism." This course is the first of it's kind at USC, and challenges students to tell stories using Google Glass. So what was Hernandez's reason for creating this new course? To change journalists from followers to leaders by using this new platform. "As someone who hijacks technology for journalism, I want to be proactive about shaping what journalism will look like on this," said Hernandez.

The syllabus for this "Glass Journalism" course includes students creating apps for Google Glass to help enhance storytelling and story consumption.  However, this is not the first time Google Glass has been used at the university level. Syracuse and Northeastern University in Boston tasked their students to create Glass Apps relating to social media and healthcare.

Ernest James Wilson III, the dean of USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism realized the courses being taught needed an upgrade.  Wilson created a new strategy that would include updating curriculum to reflect emerging technologies and give students more holistic skill sets. Hernandez and Wilson hoped that this new course would fulfill the goals of the schools new strategy.

Photo retrieved from Mashable.com

This is just the beginning for the use of Google Glass in the classroom. I believe that once the product becomes more available it will spread like a wildfire. Although it has a hefty price tag of $1,500 it is extremely beneficial in the field of journalism. Google Glass would create new opportunities for journalists to record and take photos. Having experienced older methods of journalism involving bulky cameras, and endless cords, I truly appreciate the creation of this new platform.

Read the full story at Mashable.com

Introducing Flappy Bird...again

Photo taken from appadvice.com

It wasn’t until I saw all of the tweets going back and forth on our class blog about Flappy Bird that I decided to find out what all of the hype was about. It was after it was pulled from the market by the creator, Dong Nguyen, so it was a different version, but I was hooked. I just kept thinking that I could do better and “I almost made that one!” I am not as obsessive about this game as some others, which is why the creator decided to do what he did.

Not very long after this app was erased from the store, Nguyen has gone on record saying that there will be another Flappy Bird, even “better than the original”. You have to wonder why, with not much time having passed, has he decided to do this. Could it be that all of the fuss was purposely made to get more publicity for him? That this was his plan all along, to get people to want the app even more because it was gone? It just doesn’t make sense to me why someone would create a second version of something that seemingly caused him so much stress.

 I’m sure that many of us would like to see another “original” Flappy Bird, but only time will tell if people will respond to the up and coming app like they did the first one, and, if they do, then what? Will the creator pull this one like he did the first? However, the creator is quoted in the article as saying that, when and/ or if the game is released again, he will likely put a "warning" to, "please take a break." I don’t foresee people actually paying attention to this, however. The author states that Nguyen nearly disappeared on Twitter after the app was pulled, for what reason it doesn’t say, but it does make you wonder.

Article posted on mashable.com on March 20th, 2014

#Hashtag #Overuse #Causes #Users #To #Lose #Interest

Since the hashtag was introduced back in 2007, it has spread all over the most popular social media sites and networks from Facebook to Instagram to Vine. With the vast popularity, it can be unsurprising that social media advertisers have started using them to help sell their specific brand. That being said, it can also be unsurprising that overuse of these hashtags can lower engagement from users.

In data released by social media marketing company Socialbakers, it shows that the more hashtags used to sell a brand on Facebook, the fewer interactions users have with the post in question. As determined by Statista, a post containing one to two hashtags may receive interactions with 593 users, which decreases to as few as 188 users if the number of hashtags increases to 10 or more.

Chart illustrating how hashtag use affects user interaction

Data like this could cause someone to reconsider the use of hashtags in selling their own personal brand, as well. If overuse can cause users to lose interest, then it could create a negative image of someone’s personal brand that would hurt their opportunities in the long run.

Mashable article: http://on.mash.to/1fSSuvh

To read more: http://bit.ly/1nUodpS

Flappy Bird is Coming Back!

Flappy Bird may soon arrive… again.

By now we all know the story. Flappy Bird was the number one app for most of January and February 2014. It became a craze, and people lost their minds trying to play the game. Flappy Bird became so successful it brought reportedly brought in $50,000 a day in ad revenue. But then its creator, Dong Nguyen, rather abruptly took the popular game off the market. Nguyen said that Flappy Bird would never return, stating he couldn't handle the pressure from its irate game players.

 It seems that Mr. Nguyen spoke too soon. This past Wednesday, in an article on mashable.com, Samantha Murphy Kelly wrote that the Twitter account of Flappy Bird's creator had some buzz-worthy activity. Responding to his followers, Dong Nguyen wrote in several replies that he is re-releasing Flappy Bird and it "will not be the original game [but] a better one." The cryptic game developer, when asked for a release date, tweeted only that the game would be released soon.

I think the entire ordeal surrounding Flappy Bird is overdone. We've all heard about the game repeatedly, and I think part of the hype was the fact that Flappy Bird was taken down at its peak. Even if Flappy Bird was truly taken down for the reasons asserted by Mr. Nguyen, it's a brilliant marketing strategy. Taking away the most popular game in the iTunes App Store at the height of its popularity doesn't make people disinterested - it makes them more determined to play the game. Now, this 'new and improved' version of Flappy Bird has to be spectacular. It has to blow everyone's mind because we're all expecting it to live up to the hype that was placed on its infuriating predecessor. It seems Flappy Bird’s reign of frustration isn’t done quite yet.

Too Many Hashtags

We all know what  a hashtag is. Most of us probably use them on a daily basis with our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts. I personally use them all the time.

Social Media is growing and companies are using it as a way to promote their brands. One would think that the more hashtags used on a post would draw more attention but this is not the case. According to the social media marketing company Socialbakers, the more hashtags on a brands post, the less engagement it receives.

Hashtags are meant to group together topics that are related. I think to many hashtags may take away from what the main point of the post is about. This may be why there is less engagement when too many hashtags are used.

An article posted on March 22, 2014 on mashable.com shows a chart created by Statista that shows how hashtags affect a brands audience engagement. The article can be found here
http://mashable.com/2014/03/21/facebook-hashtags-brands/

Everyone is a Reporter-The Ukraine

Anyone can be a journalist or news reporter these days, all they require is an internet connection. Through an article posted on mashable we are currently finding that when it comes to the political crisis in the Ukraine, social media is providing immense amounts of information. Twitter has provided the world with images of the crisis, but YouTube has provided more than 90,000 videos in relation to the crisis.

These videos have been uploaded since Feb. 1, and they represent 82% more videos than were shared to the service over the previous two months. They also give a look at the mayhem in the streets with unfiltered eyes. More than 200,000 people watched Espreso TV’s live coverage of protests in Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev. Furthermore, the YouTube videos and live streams have reached more than 25 million views between them.

Tom Sly, YouTube’s global head of news partnerships said in a statement, “YouTube is critical to giving people access to immediate and unfiltered information about what's happening on the ground from multiple perspectives…Eyewitness reporters, traditional broadcasters and new made-for-digital news organizations are playing a big role in moments such as the protests in the Ukraine and Venezuela to enable information to reach more corners of the world via YouTube."

I think that the people involved in the crisis or those that have access to information about it, including video should unquestionably share it with the world on any medium they have. News coverage is a business be it print or video, and as such they often have slants and don’t provide proper coverage or filter the information before it reaches the general public. When individuals share their findings there is less chance for bias or slant especially if it is just a live stream of chaos. 

Physical printed media may be making a comeback, knock on wood.

    Social media and everything online is the future, right? Well, according to this TechCrunch article from December, Instagram is thinking of taking a step back in time and offering their own printing services to transfer your favorite square, filtered snapshots onto physical "things" like paper, wood, glass, or canvas. This service is currently available from other websites, but not directly through Instagram. The problem with our recent online lives is that much of the stuff we create calls the cloud or hard drive home. It is rare if any picture taken on a iPhone makes it to a glossy or matte photo print that is safe from something traumatic that may happen on the inter-webs. 

Printing Instagram photos can also be a huge money-maker for the Facebook-owned company during holidays and birthdays. There is undeniably something more personal than tagging someone in a photo online, or writing them a message on their Facebook wall, or an e-card, and it is a physical card with a picture and a hand-written message. Around these times of the year, a picture capturing a special moment can be mailed to someone on a card, or make the picture the gift itself on a piece of glass or wood. This is a huge opportunity, not just for Instagram, but for any social media website who can find a way to make their intangible product a physical reality.   

The Perfect Bracket

An incredible way to personal brand a company can be through advertisements, billboards, as well as sporting events. For instance, March Madness receives enormous amounts of popularity, recognition, and of course, money and a lot of it. Well, one rich man and one rich company teamed up and created a little twist to the NCAA bracket. If one can correctly choose the winner of all the tournament's games, then one will win a billion dollars. 

First, create a Yahoo account and be one of the first fifteen million contestants to enter. After completing your bracket, sit back and enjoy the tournament. Sounds easy, right? Well, a math professor at DePaul University, Jeffrey Bergen told USA today that if you know something about college basketball, your odds are one in 128 billion. Quite frankly, this seems impossible. Since 1998, there have been over 30 million entries in ESPN's competition and none turned out perfect. So, if the chances are so ridiculous, why is Warren Buffet and Quicken Loans creating this opportunity?

Well, Warren Buffet did this for his own personal pleasure. He wanted to be creative and develop an impossible competition for fun. He told ESPN's Rick Reilly, "I just sat right in that chair and I did the calculations. Took me about 10 or 15 minutes. I hope I did it right." This challenge seems literally impossible. However, Quicken Loans is awarding the top 20 contestants a $100,000 prize. 

Quicken Loans teamed up in attempt to personal brand. Before people even can begin their bracket, they must fill out a questionnaire or survey developed by Quicken Loans to broaden their target market and get their contact information. In other words, a big company name participated in the development of the competition in order to gain popularity, publicity, and ultimately, money. 

For more information about the contest or challenge, please click on this link. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/03/16/why-you-wont-win-a-billion-dollars-with-warren-buffetts-bracket-challenge/

Steve Case, Predictions of the Internet

This thursday American Online Chairman Steve Case reflected on the history of internet and it's future. Case started AOL in 1985, when it was launched only three percent of households had access to internet and they averaged one hour of weekly use. During this time internet users were charged for each minute of network use, and it was illegal for the general public to have access to internet.

More than a decade later the internet has grown substantially due to the creation of the World Wide Web. Case stated "our world is arguably more peaceful, more prosperous and better connected as a result of this global medium that breaks down walls and builds connections." The question, however, is what will happen next.

Case based his prediction off of Alvin Toffer's book The Third Wave. Toffer's book discussed the progression from the agricultural wave to the industrial revolution and then predicted the creation of the "electronic" revolution. Case believes that we are experiencing the third wave of internet companies. The first wave of the electronic revolution occurred during the 1980's and 90's. This is when the internet was being built and connectivity began. It was at this time that AOL carried more than fifty percent of internet traffic in the U.S. Once companies began building services on platforms such as Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Netscape this marked the second wave. From here the second wave companies developed such as Google and Amazon. Then the social media revolution took hold, as well as the creation of apps.

Lastly this leads us to the third wave. Case believes that the third wave will be about integrating the Internet, meaning it will become increasingly invisible. This will create even more opportunities, especially for health care, education, and government services. Collaboration and alliances will be at the heart of this wave. Case believes entrepreneurs will have to learn to work with governments, and governments will be able to weigh in on issues like security and privacy.

Read the full article at Mashable.com

Make social media work for you: finding job openings.

Social media sites are a great way to pass the time, share events,
photos and thoughts instantly, but is it possible to make these time
warp sites actually productive for professional growth? Absolutely!
 From Twitter to Pinterest and Tumblr to Facebook, there are creative ways to network and find jobs that match what you're looking for.

Job searching has changed an incredible amount in the past years as social media sites grow in number, popularity and user friendly interfaces. Gone are the days of scouring the newspapers and circling ads in the Pennysaver. Mashable.com recently released an article with tips and tricks to better networking for open positions. View their article here.

Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, LinkedIn and Pinterest, are some of the big names in social media today. Use that to your advantage! Because these sites are among the most popular, the possible reach your network can extend is endless. Put some thought into each profile you create on these sites too. It's important to consider who has the potential to see the information. As much as we all would like to think that we can assert privacy over our online lives, it isn't always guaranteed.


Of course with the popularity of these sites it's important to make yourself shine and show your unique attributes. Not surprisingly, mashable.com has an article for that too. Make sure your resume is the most up-to-date and relevant to the position you're looking for. Use this article to help create your perfect your resume.

Good luck!

Creative uses of Snapchat helps company spread their advice

The Do Something organization always strives to empower young people through a variety of social causes. The nonprofit program’s main demographic falls in the 13 to 25-year-old age range, and it didn’t take much time for them to realize that the typical Snapchat user falls in the same window. In following this similarity, Do Something decided to have a little fun while still working towards helping others.

Sending out interactive Snapchat stories, the organization encouraged their followers to text in and vote on a cheap Valentine’s Day date idea for their “snapmaster” Bryce to go on to save some money. After this, the voters were encouraged to enroll in the group’s Would You Rather campaign. This campaign challenges users to make money-saving choices in return for personal finance tips, which many people in their target group do not tend to know. The organization is utilizing the social media in a creative manner in order to help others as best they can. It’s going to be interesting to see if and how other companies follow in their wake.

An example story sent by DoSomething.org

More about Do Something and the Would You Rather program:

http://www.dosomething.org/wyr

To read the Mashable article including a Q & A with the organization: http://mashable.com/2014/03/09/dosomething-snapchat/

Most Americans would choose Internet over TV or cellphones

This article poses the questions, “If you had to choose, would you rather give up Internet access or TV? Email or social media?” So, what were the results? A study conducted by Pew Research found that 46% of adults in America would not want to give up the Internet, followed by cellphones at 44%, then TV coming in at 35%. This is different from years past when people said that they would want to keep TV over the Internet. 

So what caused this change in people’s attitude towards the Internet? I think that it is the rise in social media and internet related activities. Facebook has recently celebrated its ten year anniversary, and is just now starting to show signs of waxing in popularity. I myself know a few very tech savvy people who have gotten rid of their cable service completely and replaced it with technology such as Chromecast and Netflix. This was very interesting to me to hear because, although I don’t typically watch live TV anymore, I still use a DVR to record my shows and watch them later. 

I have found that companies such as Netflix and other sites like Hulu don’t always have the episode that I want to watch the day or even the day after it has aired, and in order to see it, I would need to pay for the Hulu Plus service, which is not something that I want to do as a college student. Having said this, though, I really don’t think that I could choose to give up one over the other. They are both a big part of my life, not only as a college student, but also in my everyday life. I could see why people would choose the internet over TV, though, if you don’t mind paying for the services to be able to get instant access to pretty much any TV show you want, and watch it anywhere, it would probably be worth it. So, if given the choice, which would you choose?

Article posted on mashable.com on February 27, 2014

Twitter Predicting the Future

Social media is at it again! A few months ago Google was able to predict flu outbreaks and now mashable reports that Twitter can predict HIV outbreaks! Where does our privacy fit into these data collections?

UCLA researchers have harnessed the power of social media for detection and prevention efforts of HIV. Their work “suggests a link between geographic outbreaks in the U.S. and tweets with phrases that indicate drug-related and sexually risky behavior.” Words such as “sex” and “get high” were some of the phrases that the researchers’ algorithm used in order to predict outbreaks. They collected more than 550 million tweets that they ran through the algorithm and they then ran statistical models to assure if the locations matched places where HIV was reported.

There was a significant relationship between the tweets and locations, but they used outdated data from 2009 which is obviously a weakness in their study. The researches would require frequently updated HIV data in order to predict future outbreaks.

Sean Young, the co-director of the Center for Digital Behavior, stated, "This is the first [study] to suggest that Twitter can be used to predict people's health-related behaviors and as a method for monitoring HIV risk behaviors and drug use."

President Obama on YouTube?

Even the President of the United States wants to be YouTube famous.

An article posted Thursday on mashable.com stated that President Obama recently met with young celebrities in a kind of "who's who" of YouTube to discuss the current cultural issues that are plaguing our country. President Obama met with 15 of the creators of some of YouTube's most popular channels for about 45 minutes to discuss such weighty issues as health care, anti-bullying, and economic opportunities: and then the YouTubers created and uploaded videos about their experiences. Estimated to collectively have at least 35 million subscribers between the channels, that's a lot of lives reached by a fairly simple experiment.

It's certainly a good idea for the President to reach out to the public - particularly the younger demographic, which YouTube specifically targets (defined in the article as ages 18-34). These are just the kinds of videos that I find myself watching on a day-to-day basis. It's definitely interesting that the President is choosing the middle of his second term as a starting point for what could have previously been a spectacular campaign tactic for young people; however, if the President wants to start publicly discussing the issues with America's youth, there is no better (or more trafficked) website than YouTube.

This makes me wonder about the future of our Presidential campaigns and what it will mean for our youth. Will YouTube soon be inundated with 2016 Presidential candidates vying for our attention with popular YouTube celebrities? Having political figures featured on young  influential YouTube channels could certainly be a game changer for those of us now old enough to vote in the elections. I'm not sure how I feel about having someone whose opinion I value on cultural topics as a sponsored spokesperson for a political candidate.

U.S. Couples Sharing Passwords

There a lot of couples have joint social media accounts, but now couples are going even further and sharing their passwords with each other.

According to a recent survey done by Pew Research Center, couples are more willing to share their their social media passwords with each other than ever before. They are more willing to share passwords than their calendars.

According to the survey 59% of users in a relationship five years or less share passwords and the number goes up to 79%, for couples in relationships ten years or more. Only 10% share online calendars with each other.

I wonder if this is because social media has been blamed by many for breakups and divorces. Many people use social media as a way to find out if their significant other is cheating. Maybe couples think that by sharing their passwords, they can avoid the questioning from their partners.

To view the story posted on February 18, 2013  http://mashable.com/2014/02/18/couples-share-passwords/

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