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.
I liked your comparison of business shelf space and "The Long Tail." Traditionally, when it comes to advertising you pay for space. The more space the more money, the more colors, the more money, the more graphics, the more money, etc. It forces small business to stick with the black and white business card sized ad in the local Coffee News. A facebook page encourages colors, graphics, and diversity. It is also free and reaches a much larger audience than most other traditional advertising outlets.
ReplyDeleteTruly awesome! That's what Facebook has been for me. It has allowed me to connect with people I have wanted to connect with for literally 30 + years. I am quite a bit older than the average student in this class I believe and older than many users of social networks. Although I have recently learned that social networking is becoming quite popular in senior citizen apartment complexes and centers everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWhen trying to convince someone or a company who do not know anything about the benefits of the social media, that advertising on Facebook and other social networks is the way to go and to prosper - it is nearly impossible to get them to listen. I just have to believe that they will learn at some point and make the good decision to take the steps to learn what to do to get their advertising out there to a wider audience. Out there on the Long Tail of advertising, that unending, wide and vast arena of consumers. The free part is the best part and it should be the past that gets through to the tough sale.
Creative Commons is another awesome tool. Ilove that I don't have to worry about someone using my stuff without my permission and that I can use other people's stuff without violating copyright.
I have to say though that sometimes it seems that Twitter and Google Buzz and other social networking sites seem somewhat voyeuristic to me. I'm not yet sure I like the idea of everyone knowing my every move - that's why I don't use Twitter - I don't think I really have anything to say and I don't think that what others think they need to say is interesting! I don't want or need to know that Jo Shmo is taking the dog for a walk in the woods and I feel rather silly saying I just finished my essay. Who cares? Just my opinion. I just wonder what all of this social media is doing to nature - I like the idea of being in nature and it just doesn't feel natural. If it does for the younger generation, great. Go for it. I'm taking as much as I want from this class and I'm sharing what I feel is worthwhile with others - for instance I just asked my supervisor if she has thought about putting the company I work for on Facebook. Her answer is No, she doesn't use Facebook but if I want to work on it "go ahead". I might.
First of all, I liked your use of the word "fantabulous" lol. Anyways,I really liked how you gave a history of Facebook and Twitter, I didn't even think of doing that, good idea and interesting!I wanted to mention the cupcake place too! I actually went on their Facebook from the article and that made me want to visit their site because of the free cupcake offers :)(look it does work!)but unfortunately, they dont have any locations near us :(. I also appreciated how upbeat your post sounded. You did a really good job relating the use of social networking sites to The Long Tail, addressing the "shelf space". I feel like you caught a few things that I missed. Good job.
ReplyDeleteLike other people have commented before me, I also like how you gave a history of the websites. In my blog, I just briefly described the social networking sites and provided a link to their main pages. Since you included this description, it gives the reader (who may never have used social networking sites) some background about the companies. Good job.
ReplyDeleteGreat job. I most certainly agree with you that more social networking sites will be popping up in the future. I wonder too how having to pay for these services will affect the sites? I heard a rumor that facebook will soon be charging for their services and I'm interested to see how many people will pay to stay on if the rumor is even true.
ReplyDeleteI see Google Buzz as something of Google's answer to Facebook, remember they tried to purchase Facebook a few years ago without success. I've always been wary of Social Networking sites, and I was hesitant to join Facebook and Twitter because I didn't see the point in letting the free world know what I was doing at 4:00 in the afternoon on a Tuesday in May.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how many posts I've made on Facebook, but in the 9 months or so I've been on Twitter, I've made almost 2200 tweets!
The usage of these sites by Businesses also is amazing, and soon pages on Facebook may be a requirement for a business to survive. Not to mention pages on YouTube, or Twitter feeds, or the usage of Google, the "Big Brother" of the internet.
Very informative blog overall, keep up the good work!
Great blog I think that it is important that the cyber "shelf space" provided to smaller business or self employed is emphasized. These networking sites are free and reach a lot of people. I personally have a friend that has used facebook to gain clients for her independent photography business. She uses it to let people know when she has time to schedule photo shoots as well as post some pictures from current clients. This is "shelf space" that she has to market her self that would only be available through word of mouth in the past. It is amazing how useful these sites have become to us all in various ways.
ReplyDeleteYour paragraph on the long tail distribution and shelf space is one of the highlights of your post. The way you wrote about Creative Commons and wrote an example between two companies really helps clarify the licensing features that CC provides.
ReplyDeleteI think GoogleBuzz is just to compete with Facebook. I don't think I'd use it as of right now. There's just so many social networking sites out there, too many places to spread yourself over.
I had no clue stat.us was going to be the name of Twitter! The history you provide in your post conveys that you did extensive research.
This was a great post to read. Great work!