Social Networking

Social networking technologies have many different uses both corporate, personal and recreational. Social networking is useful for work, hobbies, health, games, and purely social motives. They serve both personal and business purposes. People are relying on media such as Facebook, Twitter, and other forums. These networks engage people in a way that was never possible before this technology. They bring the world together in a simple and easy way. Most social networking is free and therefore is good for both large and small businesses.

Small businesses really benefits from social networking. By using social networking online, there are very few overhead or advertising costs, outside of the cost of a website. Some businesses even use social networks for low cost banner ads because this can be highly effective on websites that attract many visitors and that can allow for good exposure for the company. In addition, social networking websites allow management to speak and interact with customers like they were never able to before. They can ask questions and answer questions. Small businesses can personally interact and connect with their customers. It is very cost effective to use advertisements on social media forums rather than paying for television ads. Social networks are also really good for online meeting places for people to discuss areas of their business and allows for growth.

Social networking technology can also be used for many personal purposes. They connect family and friends. They allow for idea sharing and creating conversation. They are also great as a way to entertain oneself and pass the time! In addition, educational materials can be used via these technologies. But on the other hand, there are also negative aspects of social networks and there is a "dark side".  Social networking prevents face to face communication and many people waste time on pointless activity. People say that the overuse of these technologies is hurting children's brains and development and this can cause problems later in life. It is also very easy for people to spread false information. Jeffrey Young discusses the detrimental effects that social networking has on college students in his article They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Sites. He explains that because of technology advances students now have more ways than ever to attack classmates online and harass them anonymously. Students can leave mean messages about one another and go even further by putting up embarrassing pictures and videos. This is where bullying gets taken to a whole new level that can really be harmful to people, especially easy targets. It allows people to bully without being caught and there is more opportunity than doing it face-to-face. This can jeopardize a student's future for their career as well as personal life (Jeffrey Young). This is a clear example of the "dark side" of social media and how it can really negatively impact people in a way that may not be worth the benefits for society.

According to Stephen Dubner in his blog Is MySpace Good for Society, he analyzes whether social networking has a more positive or negative impact on society. He obtained different individual's points of view regarding this question. Some writers find that social networking has benefited society by bringing people together by connecting ideas and conversation. Social networking has the ability to shape human behavior in a way that can really benefit society as a whole. Another writer explains how social medial can offer ways for people to communicate, share ideas, and socialize. Judith Donath, an associate professor at the M.I.T. media lab, explains both the good and bad as well as the ugly of social media. The positive aspects include making it easy to keep up with people and provide an avenue for socializing as well as planning for face-to-face interactions. On the other hand, social networking technology also minimizes what it means to be a friend and the traditional view of friendship as changed dramatically. It is harder to trust people because of these technologies. The "ugly" can be really bad especially for teenagers. Those who are malicious and have bad intentions can use social networking for evil and bullying. This can cause negative impacts on people especially at such a critical age in development, which can in turn cause mental disorders or mental health problems (Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics). 

I think that in the future we will be way more advanced and in a completely different place than we are in right now. Just think about how much society has progressed in just the past ten years with much of this technology. I think it is only going to continue to grow and expand. Who knows, in twenty years everything could look completely different. There may not be a need for teachers anymore as kids may be able to learn completely online. As little as people communicate now in person that may diminish even more as social networking expands further until that is the main mode of communication. There is so much that can happen.We may have self-transporting modes of travel, which if that is where technology is headed, then social media technology will definitely be evolving in a huge way. I don't know if things like Facebook will really be around in the future because I think we will have a more sophisticated form of technology and this will be outdated.

References:

Dubner, By Stephen J. "Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum - Freakonomics." Freakonomics. N.p., 15 Feb. 2008. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.
http://freakonomics.com/2008/02/15/is-myspace-good-for-society-a-freakonomics-quorum/

Young, By Jeffrey R. "They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus Gossip Web Sites." The Chronicle of
Higher Education. N.p., 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 28 Sept. 2016. 
http://www.chronicle.com/article/theyre-backtheyre-bad-/48220

Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs: A blog is short for "web log" and is considered a shared online diary. The blog tools can be shared to whole course or the settings can allow for sharing between specific student groups and the instructor. Blogs can be used for more engaging content than the text-based. Blogs are open to the public and viewable by all members of the course or within specific groups.
Common uses for blogs include: individual projects specifically using multi-media links, virtual proposals, reflective entries to be shared, and peer review and feedback

Wikis: A wiki is a collaborative online space for students to view, contribute, and edit content. The instructor can see the process and evolution of the collaborative work and grade each participant individually. Wikis are collaborative and viewable by all members of the course or specific groups. Common uses for wikis include: group projects, research projects, team writing assignments, student filled in study guides, student generated vocabulary lists, and group editing.
Ezra Goodnoe discusses how wikis can be beneficial for business. This article is so important because he demonstrates how we can apply the online world to the real world in practice. Goodnoe explains the benefits of using a wiki, which he defines as "collaboration software that solves all these problems, yet unlike many traditional content management systems, remains simple enough for non-technical employees to use." That is key; anyone can use wikis they are approachable and simple to manage. Goodnoe speaks about the financial benefits of using wikis and how the can help promote a business in a cost-effective manner. Wikis are web pages that anyone (sometimes with permission) can create or edit.

Convergence is extremely important in today's networked world. There are so many outlets today that allow for an interaction using networks like never before. This convergence brings people together and information can be conveyed in so many different forms. We have the Internet and various mediums that converge all this information in a way that is accessible to man. Knowledge is now out there for everyone to take advantage of. People from anywhere in the world can converge with others in a way that was never possible before because of the network system we have created. Even if people are not physically connected, they can converge and interact on different forums and we have developed as a society greatly because of these advancements. 

Blogs help you to share what you’re doing with the world. Blogs can provide direct collaboration when you put ideas out there and ask people to respond by adding their point of view. Blogs encourage collaboration by allowing education about one's expertise and allowing others to apply that information to themselves. People can get recommendations from blogs and get conversations going. It can become a team effort and a network of people interested in the same topic sharing thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and feedback. Kathy Gill conducted a research study How can we measure the influence of the Blogosphere. In this study, Gill investigated the influence that blogs have on media and what public opinion of blogs. Blogs have a global and larger impact than simple collaboration between people. Gill's paper shows that blogs are impacting the "mainstream press by stimulating professional journalists to blog, on or off their employer site." In addition, blogs are shaping stories in the news and political agenda. This is the scope that blogs have on our society. As Gill found, bloggers are influencing the outside world.

New use for wiki: I'm not sure if this has been used before with wikis or not, but it would be cool if people can use wikis for weddings. Create a page let's say Sarah's Wedding and then I would put all the vendors I used and everything I had at my wedding and definitions or explanations for everything. That way, if someone went to another person's wedding and like certain things all of the information would be on a wiki page for them to look up. I am in the middle of planning my wedding right now and I know that I would definitely use wikis for this purpose. 

References:

"How to Use Wikis for Business," by Ezra Goodnoe.  

How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere? by Kathy E. Gill.


 

Social Media For Better or For Worse

For my project, I would like to do an analysis of social media forums such as Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. I will analyze both the positive and negative effects on society and provide a minimum of five effects each. I want to start by looking at the trajectory of these applications from the time they started until the present. I will evaluate the number of users and activity for each forum. Then, I will begin the research by searching for scholarly articles on this topic. I will pick the articles that focus on how these media forums have either had positive or negative effects on the individual as well as society. I want to find, if any, the positive effects that social media forums can have on humans. Of course, there are negative implications and those will probably be easiest to find and evaluate, but I really want to focus on the positive impacts on society because I believe there are as well. I will hone in on specific impacts such as behavioral, psychological and social implications. The goal of my research and analysis is to see whether social media forums are more beneficial or harmful to society.