Checking Out Some Social Networking Sites

I've been part of the social site community for a while now and one thing I definitely notice about networking sites is that it is trendy. Back in the days xanga.com was very popular amongst my group of friends. People would post weblogs and their friends will comment on it. I remember one ting about xanga that made it really popular was the "eprops" you received for your post. Everyone would try to get as many eprops as possible. But then xanga just kinda fell off.

Then after xanga came friendster. I guess at that time friendster was the revolutionary form of social networking. It allowed your to add pictures and have all your friends to comment on your pics. It was different from xanga because it allowed more interaction with your friends. I remember friendster becoming very popular in brooklyn and then like xanga it sort of just dwindled away.

I think myspace took over the place of friendster. It is funny watching your friend just migrate from one site to another. I think the best feature about myspace was the ability to personalize your profile, like changing the templates, different color and most of all adding your own music. When this feature became available I think this is what pushed music artists to create myspace. If I can remember correctly I think Sean Kingston found through myspace.

And now, amongst my friends myspace is seldom used. All my friends migrated to facebook. It is unbelievable how much im's i receive from facebook from a friend inviting me. Here is an interesting fact I discovered from alexa.com.
These are the data as of 10/28/2008:

Xanga.com users come from these countries:

Hong Kong42.7%

United States23.5%

United Kingdom3.8%

Singapore3.4%

Australia3.4%

Friendster.com users come from these countries:

Indonesia37.7%

Philippines21.1%

Malaysia10.8%

United States7.0%

Singapore5.5%


these two sites are no longer popular among my friends but yet they still maintain a fairly high traffic ranking and the reason is be cause other countries began to take light from these sites. As you can see 40% of users of xanga are from Hong Kong and 23% from United States. And for friendster only 7% in US .

Social Networking and Virtual Worlds

What are some ways these technologies can be used?
As mentioned on some of our readings these social networking sites can be used to keep in touch. I can use myself as an example of "keeping in touch" during the years of my overseas duty. I served in the united states navy for 5 years and 4 of the 5 years I was stationed in overseas in Japan. Because I seldomly return to the States my only means of staying in touch with my friends at home is via social networking sites; in my case I used MySpace.

What are the benefits of these technology to society?
There are millions of people in the United States and these social networking sites can connect people from different parts of our country. It allows us to find similar commonalities among ourselves and others through theses sites. One of the major benefits to society is the business aspect. In reference to the article "What's next you future in social networking?" by Chuck Hamilton, businesses are taking advantage of these sites by means of expanding and finding new customers. And more importantly business utilize these social networking sites to test market their brands and ideas. It saves companies large sum of money and even possible losses. If say, an idea or brand fails in these virtual market tests a company will suffer zero loss. Or if the results were positive then it it is an opportunity for the company to expand on that idea or brand.

Is there a dark side?
Of course, with every advantage there are disadvantages. Social networking sites can allow individuals to become preyed upon. As an extreme case young teenagers, females, and even older folks maybe stalked or some how manipulated be a sex offender. In a less extreme case it allows everyone to be preyed upon by businesses. We become victimized by constant advertisements. Because companies have the ability to target their audience we are prone o be "bother" by constant bombarding of advertisement.

In the future.
I believe that social networking will continue to grow, but more for businesses. As far as social networking for individuals? I believe that we've exploited every aspect of it. But this is just my opinion. Who knows with 6.7 billion brains on Earth something new is bound to be created in the near future.

Baruch New Media - Our Class Wiki - So Far

Part of my assignment for the class wiki is to contribute in advertising and marketing section of "Marketing and Advertising Using New Media". Though my findings may seem very similar to articles in "How Business is Using Social Networking" section, there is rather a significant difference. In that section it describe how the communities within the structure of social networking websites. What that article does not mention is the new Cost per Click advertising program that myspace and facebook recently launched. This was my contribution to the class wiki. I also believe that it was appropriate for me to add my findings in the "marketing and advertising" section rather in "business using social net working" section even though business benefit from social networking sites. The reason that my findings belong in advertisement is because particular user profiles are paid for exposure, and the sponsor has the ability to target specific audience for impressions.

Blogs vs. Wikis

There is a fundamental difference between blogs and wikis. Although they share a commonality, internet content, sizable difference can be visible. Blogs consisted of personalized messages, more like a web journal. It only has one author. On the contrast, wikis include multiple authors. Wikis are usually used as group collaboration to achieve a specific goal as a group. Blogs does not necessarily have a goal. Instead it is the voice of the author.

Aside from their differences they both play a part of the internet's vitality. That is that place assist and enhance social networking. Blogs converge individuals together through topic of discussions. People who share a similar interest in a particular topic may join the discussion via blogs. The exchange of ideas or debates may take place. In the example mention in one of the readings about Walmart blogging, merchandise managers are able to get quick feedbacks on services and/or product reviews.

Wiki's unite people in a similar way. It is a collaboration of data and information from all sources to finalize its product. It is a collection of information from a variety of groups. The finalized product is the ultimate source of information that the group sees fit. These groups maybe limited to a few authors or to the entire world. Wikies usage can almost be limitless. I believe that when multiple minds are place together magic is created.

My New Media Class – So Far

What kinds of technologies are part of the new media?

Computer technologies and the internet are the main players of new media. It provides a new concept in distributing information and connecting people from various countries. It is the concepts that is called new media.

How important is the internet in New media?

As stated before the internet is a vital part of new media. The internet offers a new dimension in the media world. In many sense it can be seen as a virtual world of information. As a virtual world new media may seem limitless.

Why and how are are the new media replacing/enhancing the old media?

Replacing - With new technologies that are developed it tends to assist new media. New media becomes more accessible and convenient to everyone. Because of its accessibility old media are replaced. Another factor that replaces old media is the availability of content. The internet stores a large variety of content and has more to offer than the old media.

Enhancing - Old media can be enhances by technological advances. Although the old methods of old media maybe replaced it is also gaining somewhere else. Technological advances allows old media to evolve into new media in a way it still carries the fundamentals of the old. Ex. newpapers maybe seem to be replaced by internet blogs and internet news content, but newspaper companies can take advantage on the technological advances and "go online". Providing their news columns online and on paper.