Ok, who really has not heard of Facebook, Twitter or Google Buzz?? Anyone?!! Well almost everyone at some point has heard of these fantabulous social networking sites. But for the people who seem to be living in a hole and unaware of the greatness going on, I shall explain these to you and give you a brief history. Facebook is a social networking site that was created by a guy named Mark Zuckerberg. He created Facebook in his college dorm room at Harvard University. His intentions were to make a student directory where people can connect to other people and to keep it in the walls of Harvard, but ultimately it spread to universities such as Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Stanford. One bad thing and I have to agree with Poynter Online, is that with Facebook, you have to act from "within the platform". This meaning that you have to be connected to each other in order for someone else to view your information. And if you are in advertising, you are going to have to risk privacy issues in order for someone to click on to your site and see what you have to offer. Maybe this will change soon, but for now we can only wait.On to Twitter, this was created by Jack Dorsey. His intentions for this up to date news feed was so that people could instantly find their friends and see what they are up too at that very moment in time. Who doesn't want people knowing what your doing every second of everyday, we are nosey people! Anywho, back to Twitter....it was originally going to be called "stat.us (LA Times.com)". That was later changed, obviously, to Twitter. This was done because the creators wanted to capture "that feeling: the physical sensation that you’re buzzing your friend’s pocket (LA Times.com)". They came up with Twitter by finding it in the dictionary and realizing that the definition for Twitter, "a short burst of inconsequential information," and "chirps from birds (LA Times.com)", worked perfectly and so came Twitter!!! And now to Google Buzz, this is relatively new I believe, this was created by Google to allow users to share updates, photos, and start conversations (GoogleBuzz). Pretty Cool!!!!! What else is Google going to come up with? Those network savy people! Watch this neat little video on it, you'll like it I promise!!
Individuals and people alike are using these networking sites to get the word out about their company, it's like a free way to advertise...almost! For example, in this article from the NY Times, there is a couple that shows how Facebook has helped them build their small business of selling cupcakes. The way that it has helped them is that they can posts passwords on Facebook, these passwords when brought into the store, can be used for FREE CUPCAKES!! So they are using these social networking sites to bring business to their store. And besides who doesn't like free cupcakes? Twitter is using its capabilities by helping the unemployed search for jobs. This is done by utilizing TwitJobSearch. People go to this site, type in what they want to do and it helps them locate jobs!! How cool is that?Another way that non-profit organizations are using these sites is by adding fan pages and streaming their app usage (WSJBlogs). These pages are being used as profiles, where people can come and check out companies and what they stand for. For example, Target and a few other companies polled the millions of users on Facebook to see where they thought their money should be more wisely spent. There are also different pages such as memorials, like the one for the Virginia Tech shooting. You become "friends" and you can post on their sites.
Social networking sites relate to Chris Andersons "The Long Tail", (Here is a link to his video!) by taking advantage of the the "space" available to them on the internet to get their word out and to help thousands of businesses grow. When the businesses have this "shelf space", they have almost infinite possibilities. They have as much information as they want relating to their site, they can have as much inventory as they want and they have the abilities to reach hundreds more people than they would without the internet and these social networking sites.Along with Chris Anderson's, "The Long Tail", Creative Commons is also being used. Small businesses and other individuals can now legally have ownership of their products and services without having a ton of restrictions on them. For example, if company A created a song and posted it on Facebook, and company B comes along and wants to use it they can, as long as they follow the appropriate guidelines that the owner has put up.
Overall, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Buzz are changing the way that communication is taking place in the world! People now have access to these sites everywhere they go. You can get it on your phone, laptop, and who knows where ever else! I have a facebook app on my android phone, although I barely use it, its there. Possibilities are endless and there is bound to be more social networking sites popping up!!
Here are the sites and references that I used to make up this great blog of mine :)
Benkoil, D. (2010). Why News Organizations Need a Facebook Strategy. Poynter Online. Retrieved from http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31&aid=168485
LaVallee, A. (2009). Facebook to Non-Profits: More Pages, Fewer Apps. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/08/28/facebook-to-nonprofits-more-pages-fewer-apps/tab/article/
Pattison, K. (2009). How to Market Your Business With Facebook. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/business/smallbusiness/12guide.html?_r=2
Sarno, D. (2009). Twitter Creator Jack Dorsey illuminates the site's founding document. Part 1. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/02/twitter-creator.html
http://www.twitjobsearch.
Facebook Users. Image retrieved from http://www.crunchbase.com/company/facebook
Google Buzz Image. Retrieved from http://code.google.com/intl/xx-pirate/apis/buzz/
Stat.us Image. Retrieved from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/02/twitter-creator.html
Anderson, C. (2006). "Identifying the Long Tail". [Video File]. Video Posted to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yku0GTrcuw Retrieved on 2.19.2010.
Google Buzz Video. (2010). [Video File]. Video Posted to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi50KlsCBio&feature=player_embedded Retrieved on 2.19.2010.
