The results of the APOC Program may very well dictate the next few years of my life. The information I learn, the people I meet, the connections I make, and the opportunities I am provided with will without a doubt serve a very useful purpose now and in my future.
As an entrepreneurial, young mind, I am very proactive in pursuing my goals in business. On a daily basis, I come up with an assortment of ideas that relate to business. I envision new online marketing tactics that utilize social networks, or even come up with ideas for an entire innovative online company.
While I have had many of these ideas (which I have been told could have promising futures), I have typically gotten stuck and never actually gotten them up and running. I hope that the APOC program will provide me with the tools and connections to turn these ideas into reality.
I hope that every step that I need to take, whether it relates to technology, to business, or to the legality of it all, is covered so that I know how I can get a business of my own up and running.
In addition, I hope to get know and befriend all of my fellow peers in my class, who will undoubtedly will be very valuable resources in the future. With the variety of different backgrounds and interests that are brought to the table, I believe we can collectively come up with some very big things.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Twitter and Facebook Status Comparison
I finally took the dive.
"Bnicks11" is officially a registered username on Twitter, and I'm not sure what to think of it. To start, I love the search browser on Twitter. I see unlimited marketing potential through this search bar. Want to sell caps and gowns on your new website? Type "graduation" into the search bar and you've already pinned down your target audience!
Facebook has nothing like this. It simply has the same feature as Twitter in that The "Newsfeed" basically streams the status changes-- made by only your friends (or on Twitter who you follow). However, while this seems like a direct similarity, the culture on the two sites is different. On Twitter, based on the prominence of celebrities, you don't need to actually have to be their "Friend" to follow them. While celebrities in the past have pushed away from the public, through Twitter they embrace the closer connection.
For whatever reason the same does not hold true on Facebook. A Kim Kardashian or John Mayer Facebook profile does not provide the same appeal to the hundreds of thousands of fans following them on Twitter. For whatever reason, celebrities and people in general feel more open and demand a lower amount of privacy with their use on Twitter. To me it almost seems it is used as a release.
While some people find the same benefits in Facebook Status updates, it is becoming increasingly clear that the culture that Twitter has developed has made Twitter a better destination for users who are looking solely at changing their status or viewing others'.
People view these status updates, both on Twitter and Facebook, for a variety of reasons. However, one thing for certain is that it spreads information extremely quickly. Look no farther than the recent earthquake in Haiti to see how fast word got out to the general population.
This online tool is very young and powerful. I see an unlimited amount of potential for both Facebook Statuses and Twitter to impact businesses. It will without a doubt have a serious impact on almost every industry in the world.
"Bnicks11" is officially a registered username on Twitter, and I'm not sure what to think of it. To start, I love the search browser on Twitter. I see unlimited marketing potential through this search bar. Want to sell caps and gowns on your new website? Type "graduation" into the search bar and you've already pinned down your target audience!
Facebook has nothing like this. It simply has the same feature as Twitter in that The "Newsfeed" basically streams the status changes-- made by only your friends (or on Twitter who you follow). However, while this seems like a direct similarity, the culture on the two sites is different. On Twitter, based on the prominence of celebrities, you don't need to actually have to be their "Friend" to follow them. While celebrities in the past have pushed away from the public, through Twitter they embrace the closer connection.
For whatever reason the same does not hold true on Facebook. A Kim Kardashian or John Mayer Facebook profile does not provide the same appeal to the hundreds of thousands of fans following them on Twitter. For whatever reason, celebrities and people in general feel more open and demand a lower amount of privacy with their use on Twitter. To me it almost seems it is used as a release.
While some people find the same benefits in Facebook Status updates, it is becoming increasingly clear that the culture that Twitter has developed has made Twitter a better destination for users who are looking solely at changing their status or viewing others'.
People view these status updates, both on Twitter and Facebook, for a variety of reasons. However, one thing for certain is that it spreads information extremely quickly. Look no farther than the recent earthquake in Haiti to see how fast word got out to the general population.
This online tool is very young and powerful. I see an unlimited amount of potential for both Facebook Statuses and Twitter to impact businesses. It will without a doubt have a serious impact on almost every industry in the world.
Response To Bruckman Article
Kling and Courtright write that “casual use of the term community to characterize groups that are engaged in learning, or groups that participate in e-forums, is seriously misguided." I'm guessing that Kling and Courtright would agree, however, that neighbors in a small town are part of the same "community."
To me, this is flawed rationale. In my mind there is no question that social networks, forums, and other web tools of the same nature are communities. It is more essential to forming a community that individuals actively share ideas, beliefs, and values, which can be done online and in person, than simply existing nearby each other (like neighbors).
I am interested in Bruckman's logic that a community is dependent on a prototypical individual, and the community is made up of slight deviations from this prototype. I am curious to see what our class thinks as far as its application to social networks. I can see how it would apply to forums and online gaming, but is there a "prototypical" Facebook or Youtube user?
In addition, I think Bruckman makes a good point about the feeling of "a degree of membership" to the community. There has to be some sense of membership, or the community would have no boundaries and everyone would be included in the community.
Defining "community" is a completely subjective thing. Every person will see what defines a community differently, and some may say that with no face-to-face interaction, it would be a sin to call it a community. Which I can understand, but to these believers I ask: "When was the last time you had a face-to-face interaction with your neighbor?"
To me, this is flawed rationale. In my mind there is no question that social networks, forums, and other web tools of the same nature are communities. It is more essential to forming a community that individuals actively share ideas, beliefs, and values, which can be done online and in person, than simply existing nearby each other (like neighbors).
I am interested in Bruckman's logic that a community is dependent on a prototypical individual, and the community is made up of slight deviations from this prototype. I am curious to see what our class thinks as far as its application to social networks. I can see how it would apply to forums and online gaming, but is there a "prototypical" Facebook or Youtube user?
In addition, I think Bruckman makes a good point about the feeling of "a degree of membership" to the community. There has to be some sense of membership, or the community would have no boundaries and everyone would be included in the community.
Defining "community" is a completely subjective thing. Every person will see what defines a community differently, and some may say that with no face-to-face interaction, it would be a sin to call it a community. Which I can understand, but to these believers I ask: "When was the last time you had a face-to-face interaction with your neighbor?"
Finding A Job Made Easy
There could not possibly be a better time than now to have a tool that is up-to-the-minute with posts about job openings. In this economy, expediting the process of pairing an unemployed person with skills suitable for an opening at a company would be extraordinarily beneficial for both parties. Who would've thought that "Twitter" could be somebody's saving grace?
According to an article posted on TechCrunch, "TwitterJobSearch" is pairing up with "TweetDeck" to form a desktop client. "Job Deck" will allow users to directly access newly posted Job openings directly from their desktop, to expedite the jobs search for employees and vice-versa.
While this news article was more about pairing of the two companies, I had not even realized that a Twitter filter that identifies job postings even existed. As a 21 year old college student likely to be on the job hunt in the near future, this unique tool is extremely appealing. Pair this Twitter filter up with LinkedIn and we may find ourselves approaching the job search a lot differently in the future than we currently do.
Wouldn't it be nice if instead of working tirelessly to get your foot in the door somewhere, a recruiter instead found YOU? Based on the availability of work related information on a social networking site like LinkedIn, the potential for this new technology-based job hunt is growing rapidly.
To find more, check out the article!
According to an article posted on TechCrunch, "TwitterJobSearch" is pairing up with "TweetDeck" to form a desktop client. "Job Deck" will allow users to directly access newly posted Job openings directly from their desktop, to expedite the jobs search for employees and vice-versa.
While this news article was more about pairing of the two companies, I had not even realized that a Twitter filter that identifies job postings even existed. As a 21 year old college student likely to be on the job hunt in the near future, this unique tool is extremely appealing. Pair this Twitter filter up with LinkedIn and we may find ourselves approaching the job search a lot differently in the future than we currently do.
Wouldn't it be nice if instead of working tirelessly to get your foot in the door somewhere, a recruiter instead found YOU? Based on the availability of work related information on a social networking site like LinkedIn, the potential for this new technology-based job hunt is growing rapidly.
To find more, check out the article!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Day 1--Jeff Cole
Wow. What a week! Starting my final semester as an undergrad at USC, embarking on a new journey with the APOC program, and finally beginning work at what may turn out to be a dream job of mine (Fox Sports) has made for an exciting but exhausting week. I never expected myself to be in this position (masters program and internship), but I am really happy with how everything has gone so far. What's more exciting to me is what the implications of my current situation are for my future. I'm intrigued to see how all this plays out. Will I continue to work at Fox Sports once my internship semester is over? Will I start my own online businesses with the knowledge I gain in this semester at the APOC program? Will I pass my last undergrad class so I can graduate? (joke--I hope). I guess time will tell. But if everything goes according to plan, all of the above will happen.
Back to the program itself.
The first day of class was pretty awesome. Getting an idea of what exactly to expect, meeting my peers, getting connected with old APOC students, and hearing from Jeff Cole were all very cool aspects of the first day. In particular, I was intrigued by what Jeff Cole had to say. While I found him to be just as interesting as the first time I heard him in my class last semester, I was able to pick out and take away different aspects of his speech this time.
Based on his knowledge about communication media and how it is evolved, whether it be radio, tv, dial-up internet, or broadband, I found it particularly interesting that he was so convinced that social networks and online communities were not just a fad. To me, as a dedicated user of these tools, it is hard to distinguish whether I am just part of a temporary trend, or if this new source of communication is here to stay. He explained that lives are so fully interwoven and connected to the fabric of social networks that it would almost be impossible for them to disappear.
However, while he explained that social networks are permanent, he also explained how they would change. As he so comically described, once the un-cool kids (or parents) start showing up to the party, the cool kids will want to leave. He may be right. However, when I received a "Friend Request" from my Dad, it was laughable. I hit "Ignore" and told my Dad to forget about it. But it was that simple. Because all deciding power is in the hands of the user, this may not be as big of an issue as Jeff may have stated. Put simply, the cool kids don't have to let the un-cool kids into their party if they don't want to. As a result, it is likely that they wont feel the need to leave.
On another note, I loved Jeff's description about the "Twitter effect" on entertainment. The movie industry is going to have a hard time getting away with releasing "crap." Once upon a time, word of mouth actually took some time to spread info. And that was just to a few people at a time. Now, one status update can reach, hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands (celebrities).
This instantaneous reach is intriguing to me from a marketing standpoint. This is free, unbias information. If one is able to grapple with this technology in order to promote their product subtly, it will garner unparalleled success.
I can't wait to continue to learn about these aspects of the social network landscape, and look forward to receiving comments about the opinions I shared above.
Have a good one,
Brian
Back to the program itself.
The first day of class was pretty awesome. Getting an idea of what exactly to expect, meeting my peers, getting connected with old APOC students, and hearing from Jeff Cole were all very cool aspects of the first day. In particular, I was intrigued by what Jeff Cole had to say. While I found him to be just as interesting as the first time I heard him in my class last semester, I was able to pick out and take away different aspects of his speech this time.
Based on his knowledge about communication media and how it is evolved, whether it be radio, tv, dial-up internet, or broadband, I found it particularly interesting that he was so convinced that social networks and online communities were not just a fad. To me, as a dedicated user of these tools, it is hard to distinguish whether I am just part of a temporary trend, or if this new source of communication is here to stay. He explained that lives are so fully interwoven and connected to the fabric of social networks that it would almost be impossible for them to disappear.
However, while he explained that social networks are permanent, he also explained how they would change. As he so comically described, once the un-cool kids (or parents) start showing up to the party, the cool kids will want to leave. He may be right. However, when I received a "Friend Request" from my Dad, it was laughable. I hit "Ignore" and told my Dad to forget about it. But it was that simple. Because all deciding power is in the hands of the user, this may not be as big of an issue as Jeff may have stated. Put simply, the cool kids don't have to let the un-cool kids into their party if they don't want to. As a result, it is likely that they wont feel the need to leave.
On another note, I loved Jeff's description about the "Twitter effect" on entertainment. The movie industry is going to have a hard time getting away with releasing "crap." Once upon a time, word of mouth actually took some time to spread info. And that was just to a few people at a time. Now, one status update can reach, hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands (celebrities).
This instantaneous reach is intriguing to me from a marketing standpoint. This is free, unbias information. If one is able to grapple with this technology in order to promote their product subtly, it will garner unparalleled success.
I can't wait to continue to learn about these aspects of the social network landscape, and look forward to receiving comments about the opinions I shared above.
Have a good one,
Brian
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