Social Media: Under the Microscope

After taking a look at a few social media sites, I have toggled through and explored to give an in-depth look at my experiences with them. Here's what I have found...

FaceBook/YouTube/Pinterest Compare & Contrast

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a wonderful site that allows people to connect with one another on a professional level. It can be helpful to your career by giving you a great platform to show your professional and educational accomplishments, similar to that of a résumé format. The best way to utilize this site to the fullest is to make sure that you generate high quality content that covers all of your best attributes and work experience. 

Skype

As a great medium to utilize VOIP technology, Skype is a way to see people while you talk to them. It is beneficial because it allows friends and family who may be geographically distant from one another, stay in touch in a special way. An advantage is that you can share things with them almost as if you were talking to one another in the same room. However, one drawback is that both parties need to have the software installed and a decent Internet connection to make it work.

How is this program beneficial? Who can benefit from using it? What are the advantages and 

Instant Message (IM)

Instant Messaging is a relatively easy way to connect with people, instantly. That is what sets it apart from other electronic communications, such as email. I think of it like the computer cousin to text messaging on a cell phone. Having a network connection is what makes the collaboration possible. You can stay connected with your peers by downloading the software and saving each others profiles in your list of contacts. When they are online the same time that you are, you can communicate back and forth with one another. Personally, I enjoy the classic (and nostalgic) AOL Instant Messenger. 

Podcast: Freakonomics Radio

AMU-WEBD220 Week 6 Assignment

Part Three:

On the website called podcastalley.com, I found three interesting podcasts that I listened to. The third one is about launching a major change in behavior that is supposed to improve the way that we make decisions and therefore solve all of our problems.

The reason why I chose this podcast, is because certain psychological topics such as behavior, is something that I find very interesting. One of the leading researchers on this project, Angela Duckworth, states that people "repeatedly make decisions that undermine their own long-term well-being.”

In order to understand complex or abstract concepts, it always helps me personally to make comparisons or real life examples so that I can fully comprehend what the meaning behind a concept really is. In this podcast, they gave the comparison of the decision of a college student to skip class and go buy a $10 cheeseburger. That is a decision that is subtly harmful to their own success in the future, as small as it may be. A better option they could chose would be to go to class, and instead of spending $10 on a cheeseburger, investing that money in their future. I would also go so far as to add that they could chose to make their own lunch and bring it from home, maybe like a PB&J sandwich and chips, for pennies on the dollar!

Image courtesy of Freakonomics Radio

RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio

Podcast: Fighting Fire with Fire "HACK BACK!"

AMU-WEBD220 Week 6 Assignment

Part Two:

On the website called podcastalley.com, I found three interesting podcasts that I listened to. The second one is about a wide range of topics from lawsuits in the tech industry to political issues with Russian hacking and such, by TWiT.tv. However, an interesting tidbit that caught my attention was that of a new bill proposed by Congress, called the ACDC Act, that essentially allows businesses to get back at hackers by hacking them back in return. 

This Act comes from two congressmen from Georgia and Arizona, and stands for the Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act and the Host and guess speakers do seem to laugh about this proposed bill in that it seems like a bad idea or a storyline from a poor superhero movie. They also note that it doesn't seem like a good idea try an eye for an eye approach to cyber problems.

While the problem with cyber attacks is very real, and seems almost to be a growing nuisance, I am not sure if this would be a step in the right direction and sounds like it may be stemming from a place where the folks that thought of it may not have the best understanding of what cyber warfare actually is. The plan to stop hackers by "hacking back" doesn't make much sense to me, and I am not sure how that would stop future threats.

Photo courtesy of TWit.tv podcast

RSS feed: http://feeds.twit.tv/twit.xml

Podcast: Autonomous Vehicle Evolution

AMU-WEBD220 Week 6 Assignment

Part One:

On the website called podcastalley.com, I found three interesting podcasts that I listened to. The first one is about the growing technology of Autonomous Vehicles by Geek News Central. Among various tech news stories related to Google, Lyft, and more, they covered information about a new company in Silicon Valley that has developed an autonomous bulldozer. 

I chose this podcast because I think that the industry of autonomy, particularly that of autonomous vehicles, is probably going to be one of the most important and ground-breaking technological developments of our time, similar to the development of the car in the early 1900s. 

According to this podcast, this new bulldozer comes from a company out of the San Francisco Bay Area, called Build Robotics. Their autonomous bulldozers utilize various radar technologies to visualize their surrounding terrains. They are also much quieter than traditional construction equipment, so that paired with the fact that they can operate autonomously means that a job can be completed in a fraction of the time that it would take a human operator to do, because it can work quietly non-stop 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, which would save the construction company time and money. 

Image courtesy of Geek News Central

RSS feed: http://geeknewscentral.com/podcast.xml

Computer-using 4-year-olds

Week 5 assignment of WEBD220 at AMU

Part Three:

Based on an older video from 2007, called "Did you know 2.0?" it is mentioned that More than 70% of 4-year-olds have used a computer. This is alarming, because I am sure that those numbers are a lot higher today, being that the statistic in the video is ten years old. The only thing that is probably different (it fact, I would place a bet on it) is the fact that it they aren't using computers anymore, but rather smart phones and tablets instead. 

Having two little ones myself, a 4-year-old girl and 2-year-old boy, I know that there are some occasions where it is perfectly understandable to let your young child hold on to a phone to watch a cartoon on youtube or play a game, such as when you really need them to be quiet and still for the sake of your sanity or you are driving from Georgia to California, for instance! However, I have seen first hand all too many times, that parents prefer to have the screen raise their kids to make it easier for themselves. 

In fact, one of my friends, who has two children of her own the same ages as mine, has bought her kids their own separate tablets that they both use by themselves, which even takes away interaction among themselves further. 

This creates a situation where kids become selfish, not learning to share or take turns, and stifles their ability to communicate and negotiate with one another, which are crucial social skills that are necessary for interactions in work and personal life as adults. 

As a parent myself, it is a huge disservice that parents are doing to their kids, all in the name of ease. 

Image courtesy of dailymail.co.uk

21-year-olds

Week 5 assignment of WEBD220 at AMU

Part Two:

Based on an older video from 2007, called "Did you know 2.0?" it is mentioned that 21-year-olds have either sent or received up to 250,000 emails or instant messages (among other stats related to the number of things they've done such as watched 20,000 hours of tv or talked on the phone for 10,000 hours). 

I am not exactly sure how they arrived at these numbers or who exactly they surveyed--21 year-olds of the US or Europe or all of the above? It is unknown, but if those were the figures 10 years ago, then I am sure that the numbers are even higher now. 

I'm also not positive if it is known statistically or not, but it sure seems as if younger people these day prefer to text each other or post info on social media sites as their preferred method of communication vs any other means. I don't even know if friends call each other on the phone or if that's a thing anymore. 

It used to be that parents would receive a phone call on their landline home telephones, from a nervous-sounding young lad asking to speak to their daughter. But now that nearly every person gets their own cell phone by the time they turn eight-years-old (my own made up statistic, by the way) I imagine that tradition is long gone.

Image courtesy of Pinterest 80s board games

Many of today's college majors didn't exist 10 years ago

Week 5 assignment of WEBD220 at AMU

Part One:

Based on an older video from 2007, called "Did you know 2.0?" it is mentioned that Many of today's college majors didn't exist 10 years ago (which that would mean 1997 since the video is from '07). Some of the majors that were listed were New Media, Organic Agriculture, e-business, Nanotechnology and Homeland Security.

I believe that every few years, there are more new degrees added to reputable colleges and universities as our workforce changes and adapts due to new advancements in technology and the needs of our culture as a whole.

A great example of a career field that is nearly non-exsistant today, but was a booming business in the past, was that of travel agencies. There used to be designated, brick and mortar offices that one would go into in order to sit down with an agent to plan and book a vacation package.

However, thanks to popular sites, such as Hotwire.com and Travelocity.com, anyone can easily go online or visit their apps and book everything you need from airfare to hotel rooms. And you can do so 24/7 all from the comforts of your pajamas!

Courtesy of Google Images

***Wiki Assignment Link:***

The Wiki I created is called "AMUWebd220projectwiki" and here is the link....

https://amuwebd220projectwiki.wikispaces.com