Social networking sites driving away networking community!

(theBivingsreport, A Blog by The Bivings Group, Facebook Applications Analysis - Part3)

According to one blogger, there are many challenges with social networking sites. There are some things that personally bother me about networking sites, but I never realized how much of a negative affect they had on users. Some problems are stalkers on these sites, the bombardment of advertisers, and the fact that there are tons of different sites out there that it makes it hard to compete with one another. One that I find interesting, that also is a problem with cell phones and blackberries are that social networking sites are a distraction from work.

After everything we have talked about in class, I've become more careful what I say on that sites I visit often. I've become more aware of the privacy issues on these sites and updated those to make sure only friends can see what I do and say. At the rate these sites are going, they are going to become less and less popular until they were something of the past. However, when they go down, will others pop up knowing that they are most likely going to follow the same path?

What will cell phones do next?

(Nokia N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition Debuted; mobiledia.com)

The new word to describe cell phones: MoSoSo (Mobile Social Networking Software). People are obviously not using phones just to talk and text. They are sending photos, using GPS to meet up with other people, and many other uses. The most interesting is connecting to campus safety to make sure you will get back home safely. I think some of the new tools can be very useful in phones, however there are concerns with the results of these tools. A couple are self-absorption and the threat of hackers.

Personally, I think there is a bigger issue which we have discussed in the past, and thats the lack of face to face communication. Although this is the direction of technology and seems to be non stop, I think there needs to be a balance between technology and face to face communication. In terms of phones, I don't know where you should draw the line. Being on your phone constantly seems like it can be a distraction, so how much is too much?

My Blog Resume?

So apparently your blog is a new way for companies to look at a person for a potential job. Is this a good thing? I think right now it looks like it could be, but then again when you started a Facebook account, you probably never thought it could be used against you when job searching. I'm guessing the same could be for blogs, however, blogs could be helpful at the same time. I think it's similar to social networks in that you need to be careful in what you put out there, but at the same time, your thoughts could get you notice.

According to nytimes.com and monster, there is a list of 10 simple rules when looking for employees, some of which include the person's attitude, sense of humor, and someone who you can change in terms of skills. It is hard to find a person that can be changed in terms of personality, but you can train them in certain skills. You could easily see someone's attitude or sense of humor by looking at their blog and getting a feel for what they think about certain topics. Blogging is a new way to compete with people who are searching for the same type of job.

Social News Meets Business

Social News websites are starting to pop up in the internet. These sites are a way to pick out important news and see people's opinions and other comments on the issue. According to the article 'A Beginer's Guide to Social News Websites,' "these social media channels will give you a platform to showcase your content and website to a large audience." It takes topics that get the most attention. A popular example of this is Digg.

(Digg.com: What is Digg? Take a Quick Tour!)

I think these sites can be helpful towards businesses. First, blogs in general are very random and not very organized. By having this kind of site that limits what it brought in, could make it more organized. Second, it picks important topics or products, especially things that get some attention. This could be helpful to businesses because they can go to a specific cite and get more reliable information and opinions on something that can relate to them.

Digg is one example of a site that does this and as the photo shows above, you can pick and choose what kind of information you want to look for.

Virtual Teams are the way to go...

It seems virtual teams are how today's company's are running. It makes it easier to communicate with others without having to be in the same place. There are many positives to doing this, in that people don't need to leave their families or do extensive traveling. However, I still find there is an issue that is important to consider. First, you are not getting the same face to face communication with the people you are working with. In a way, you are sometimes working with a faceless person. I think this virtual teams are crucial fore businesses today to help get things done at a faster pace, but I still think in some ways communication is becoming less important.

According to an article from MIT Sloan, there are 10 rules for helping make virtual teams more productive. Some of these rules even work with this issue, in that when working with a virtual team, you should start with a group of people who know each other. Another is increasing the amount of communication between workers. With these tips I think communication can become as important as it used to be. Who knows what will happen next...

Second Life Wedding Bells and On the Go

I was searching the internet for information for a project in another class and I happened to see an article relating to Second Life about a woman who had a virtual wedding in Second Life. The article compares Second Life to Facebook, MySpace, and even matchmaking sites that connect people to each other in different ways, especially on Valentine's Day.

Anyone interested in virtual life on mobile phone?! Well you might just have that chance! People who want to be in Second Life on the go may be in luck!

Not quite sure what to think of all this; any thoughts?

Chat to Virtual

(http://secondlife.com/whatis/)

They've done it! Real world and chat rooms have met The Sims!

Does this seem familiar? From experience, this reminds me of The Sims game. You create characters and live their lives through school, works, activities, etc...

Currently I have only heard about Second Life and other virtual worlds and done a little research, but from what I've read, it seems to be the same basic concept, except that the other characters are controlled by other people throughout the world.

When thinking about Second Life, it seems to add to the idea that face to face communication is not being used as much and will continue to do so. According to Gartner research firm it is predicted that "by 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users will have a "second life" in some sort of virtual world." If this is the future of communicating and networking, it will seem more like a game. I can't help but look at videos and pictures of this and think of playing a game. If this becomes a common view, communicating will not be taken seriously and where will we end up? What is the future of communication and networking?!