Monday, July 2, 2012

Twitter

      Microblogging is different than blogging in the sense that instead of posting information based on an individual you are now doing the same thing and it is now viral. In a usual blog an individual would just post information ranging in variety from their daily activities, etc. With microblogging people now post information that variates from daily activities to sports,etc. A great example of microblogging is the social phenomenon Twitter. Twitter is a way for users to post information in a shortened blog of 140 characters where that information can be shared with hundreds and thousands of people worldwide for them to see. The subject doesn't matter and there are certain privacy settings that can be made as opposed to bloggging.
      Microblogging is different from social networks like Facebook because it's more professional in a way. When you think of Facebook you think of friends and contacts and a more relaxed personal network. On Facebook you can post information for friends and relatives to see along with finding other people in different states that you may or may not know. Facebook is a way for people to stay in contact with others and a way for people to express their feelings good or bad and there is no limit of characters in a post or stat. In microblogging or Twitter theres a sense of a more professional aspect to it. Yes you have friends and people you can contact but in microblogging you have more posting of information and things that are happening worldwide instead of saying how you feel today. Especially on Twitter the subjects variate everyday all day but it's often the latest in what is happening in the world and it gives people a chance to stay in touch with the world and what is going on while posting things which is restricted to 140 characters.
       Before this project I did have a Twitter and I use Twitter for personal gain such as learning about what's going on in the world, sports, etc. I also use it to stay in contact with certain people who may or may not left Facebook. I use it as a way of entertainment because not only can you hear about things but you can also post reactions to things for everybody to see. Also the obvious celeberties, athletes, polotical figures, organizations, etc. are all on Twitter so it's a way to react with people of that nature as well.
       Twitter has been used beyond socialization because it's being used as a marketing tool more than ever. Organizations, businesses, etc. now are using Twitter to promote their brands, slogans, etc. because they know millions of people rely on Twitter for information so it's a great way to catch people's attention at the same time without having to pay for the publicity. Public figures such as athletes, celeberites, etc. while may use Twitter for personal reason or gain it also give them the chance to relate with their fans. In the sports aspect analysts, reporters are now using Twitter to a great extreme in posting what is happening as it's happening leading to the decline of print media.      Twitter is the newest phenomenon and it's giving people and groups the chance to publicize their brand to millions of people worldwide without having to pay a dime. Politically Twitter is a way for voters to stay current with political representatives along with hear campaigns, etc. through links sent to Twitter so voters feel more involved especially for young voters just starting to vote like myself. Overall Twitter is a great way for people and groups to market and promote themselves by interacting with the people all over by getting and gaining information on a daily basis.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Social Networking


The first time i used Facebook I though of it as nothing more than an updated myspace. I thought it was confusing because of all the things you could do but at the same time I thought it was a great way to meet new people preferably girls and a way to interact with peers. It was a place to post pictures of yourself and post stats everyday on whatever you wanted to talk about and people all over could read and comment on it.

Now years later of Facebook i use it in a whole different way in the sense that i use it to my advantage. Instead of posting dumb things, and posting dumb pictures, and trying to pick up girls I instead use it to advance myself in life along with having a little fun as well. I watch myself now and what i post because jobs are now starting to look into people's facebook to find out the real person they are looking to hire other than the things they tell them. I post pictures but now I use facebook to post pictures of internships, places, organizations, my stories  in a way that i publicize myself in a positive manner where future job employers can look and see that outside the business world im still in business mode. I also use the website to keep in touch with family members that don't live in the state of New York and it's a good way to just meet people without giving out numbers and looking people up.

There are many ways to use Facebook other than the ways I use it such as freedom of speech, talking about others, posting videos, trademarking a company or event, etc. and it can be good or bad.

Yes it was acceptable for my instructor to friend me on Facebook because it was part of the project and it gave me a chance to trademark myself to my teacher that in the future could help me. I think in general it depends on how use Facebook that determines if you think whether or not it is acceptable for your instructor to friend you. If you have inappropriate pictures, stats, and videos it wouldn't be smart to friend your instructor but if you post good and positive things then it would be a good idea to friend your instructor. It all depends on how you use Facebook when deciding who can and can't be your friend.

No matter what you do if you post anything to Facebook that thing is automatically public and not private. When you post a stat it is posted for others to see. Same thing goes for pictures, videos, etc. when you post something onto facebook privacy is at risk. Even though you can post pictures, videos, stats, etc. to be private or in sight of only certain people that still doesn't make it private because SOME still can see it. Younger generations grew up in a society where it's hard to be private therefore the younger generation has no problem posting their business because they are used to it while older generations see this as a disgrace and negative exposure that is not needed. So when it comes to privacy there's honestly no real privacy but the effectiveness of privacy is taken two different ways based on the age of the person and what they believe benefits them.

Depending again on the way a person uses Facebook there are rules of etiquette or tips that you can use while on social networks. One is refrain from having business and pleasure under one account. If you want to have a professional profile and still want to use it to stay in contact with people or have fun make two separate accounts that way there is no confusion and you avoid issues on the professional aspect with employers and others. When posting information about yourself make sure everything is accurate because if somebody looks you up that is what they are going to think about you no matter what crazy information is on there. Everything you post make sure it is something that you'd be proud of and someone else wouldn't question such as your account name, etc.

Don't constantly write about yourself but instead write about others and other interesting subjects going on in the world because it opens up your mind to other things and shows others that you have an extensive urge for knowledge especially employers. Credibility wise don't request strangers and ask them to support you or what you do because that diminishes your credibility. Never post things when you are sad, or angry because you can say something that you may regret and as we all know whenever you post something you may delete it but people have still seen what you said before so.

I haven't had an awkward moment but just last week i posted a stat on Facebook asking if my cousin and I had a pool party who would come just to see how many people were interested. After getting lots of likes with people agreeing to come some asked when were we thinking of having one and my cousin posted some possible dates. Come to find out it was the dates that my aunt and uncle were going to be out of town and my aunt saw it because she has her own Facebook page. I wasn't aware those were the dates so my aunt asked me about it without my cousin being around so it was pretty awkward and caught me off guard so I'd consider it awkward lol.


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Family Video


When we were given the assignment of making a video based on something that we valued the first thing that came to my mind was family and sports. After thinking it out I decided to go with family because I thought it was the best topic that I could get the most information out of. Who better to talk about family then your own family?
While preparing for the video it was a little hard coming up with some questions other than the obvious what do you think about family? After some serious thinking I came up with three questions that I thought were clear, concise, but at the same time different. The questions I came up with were:
1. What do you think when you hear the word family?
2. What do you value most about family?
3. Where do you think you would be without family?
I thought with each question it gave the subject the chance to really sit and think about their family and kind of bring back memories at the same time. It really gave my family the chance to express how they feel about the family good or bad and I think that's what made the video even better because every person who spoke was honest and really took their answers to the questions in full detail. 
When interviewing I knew automatically my mom was somebody who was great to talk to because she is teacher so she has a great voice, has a lot to say, and really is involved deeply with our family. When asking her the questions you can see she went beyond the question with every one and gave you real insight to how she felt about family and gives credit to the family through good and bad. My sister was a little nervous shown by her short interview but what was good about it was that my mom wasn't in the room so she couldn't just say the same thing that my mom did but she spoke on how she felt even though it was short. 
Two of my aunts also were interviewed during the process and I thought they did a good job as well in answering the questions and they both had different answers that were different from my mom and sister as well so it wasn't the same old boring tired answer. I separated every bodies interview instead of of combining all three of my families answers to each respective question because since they had all different answers I thought it was better to focus on what were they were saying more so then the question itself. I tried getting a male's perspective, which didn’t happen, but at the same time I wanted to get three different age groups in the family and I was able to do that. The age variation was from 14-60 so I thought it was a great opportunity to get a different perspective to the subject from different people. 
Overall I loved doing the video because it gave me a chance to go inside the mind of certain people in my family that had it not for this project I would not have been able to. It was fun because my family all have their differences like any other family but when I needed them the most they were there for me to help me with the project on such short notice and I think that itself is what the video was all about and they showed family before even answering the questions by agreeing to help me with something and taking time out of their days to help me and that to me is what family is all about and I tried to envision that in my short video. Also something I thought that expressed family to a great extent that really supported my video as well is http://www.grandmascraftguides.com/Family_Corner/ because they also talked about family and the importance along with myself.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Buffwiki

    
My first time using Bufwiki was defiantly an experience and progression if I had to put it into words. I honestly never heard of Bufwiki and was not aware that there was a Wikipedia specifically for the Buffalo region. At the same time I was excited to see what was being written about Buffalo because it being my hometown, Buffalo is often perceived as a negative city so to see some light shined on it defiantly had be excited.
            I found many categories from events in Buffalo such as the Juneteenth to places to eat such as Duff's wings. There were so many categories you could choose that when given the assignment of creating a new wiki page I thought there was nothing left to write about. After hard thinking by my partner and me and just coming from the event the past weekend we decided to write about the Gus Macker tournament.
 The Gus Macker tournament is an international 3 on 3 tournament that is hosted every year in Buffalo in the month of June where players from the city of Buffalo and around the world compete in a basketball tournament to the delight of themselves along with those watching. I thought it was a great event to write about because it is successful and it is something that has been around for years back to 1974 to be exact.
            I've participated in the tournament for years while my partner had never played in the event but living in Buffalo knew about the tournament. With that we pretty much had a player and a spectator writing on the tournament which gave the post multiple views on the event. From my view as the player I was able to write about the different rules, regulations on the event more on the court things while my partner wrote on the off the court things such as specifics on registering, where the event is, who sponsors it, etc.
            Throughout the process my partner and I didn't clash but we had difference on opinions in terms of what should be written and how it should be written. We clashed a little in terms of the rules and how they are regulated, registration process, because again we had different views on these topics but overall we came to a conclusion on what should be written and how it should be written.  When it came down to it I wrote primarily what I knew both on and off the court and the same went for my partner, we combined our ideas, and we edited upon that and came up with our wiki page posted on Bufwiki.com on the Gus Macker.
            Overall I thought it was a progression because it was new experience to me to see all the different things people had to say about Buffalo and it was a chance for me to put my stamp on Buffalo my hometown. People always say if you have something to say to speak out and I took it as a way for myself to speak out on a positive event that is held in Buffalo every year that is used as a non-profit organization in a way to fund and help our youth in Buffalo in multiple areas. As we all know Buffalo has not been quiet recently in the death category so anyway we can try and help our youth is a success because at the end of the day they are our future.
            Even after making the page a couple day later I realized as I was trying to bring up the page was that our page along with any page on Bufwiki could be edited. One of the main reasons people feel wiklipedia isn’t reliable because anybody can go in and edit a page no matter if it’s right or wrong. I noticed that the picture we posted along with a lot of the information was either deleted or edited. I thought it was ridiculous because it didn’t seem like the person who edited it had even played in a Gus Macker none the less been to one. I didn’t read over the edits which could’ve been right because I knew that it would be something dumb. It made me a little mad that someone would delete some of the work that my partner and I did but at the same time you have to expect that being on Wikipedia. It being my first time I learned from it so hopefully it won’t happen again.
            Taking so much heat being from Buffalo I enjoyed writing the post even if was simply writing about a basketball tournament because I seen it as a campaign that Buffalo has successful events and that even if you aren't from Buffalo outsiders see that hey Buffalo has things going for themselves and maybe it would encourage others to participate in the event and come to Buffalo and see all the other good things we have to offer.
            Overall though I probably wouldn’t make another wiki page because I feel like no matter what you have to say there will always be others who have a difference in opinion and in this case they can go in and change what you say without any permission or authorization. I know the Buffalo area very well so I don’t have to go onto Bufwiki to find things out necessarily. Through it all though it was a great experience learning about a new site along with working with a partner from the area and getting different feedback and thoughts on events and the Buffalo area in general. If I could do it all over again I would probably go more into facts then necessarily what I knew and having the information to back it up more to prevent editing and feedback.
            To learn more about Bufwiki and what it has to offer go to google.com where you can get the link to Bufwiki and all the different Wikipedia’s there are to offer.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Web 2.0

Aubrey Gibert

          When talking about "Web 2.0" in a journalistic view along with other perspectives journalists and other organizations, businesses, corporations, etc should be careful with the idea of this new brand of technology. With the advancement of technology the inter net is being pushed to a whole new level where the internet would be seen as a "free and user friendly" environment can bring up a warning sign to those that aren't users in terms of privacy and protection.
            In one article Ajax is one major component of the new "Web 2.0" which in short means web-based applications will be much more in effect than desktop ones. Now this would obviously bring a change as users will have to adjust to a new sense of using applications such as google and Microsoft as organizations look to make more websites based off of google as a free and user controlled website. Another point that was brought up was democracy. With the advancement of technology and internet we are already seeing a rapid change in the process of news and how it is being publicized on a national stage. The advancement of technology has made it easier for people to read news and find out what is going on via web where it is free and easily accessible and it is directly affecting newspapers and print dramatically to the point where newspapers are going out of business because they cant keep up with all the social media that is going on online such as blogging, facebook, and twitter where you can find out information 24-7 and on a daily basis. This has brought up the question is the internet better or more reliable than newspapers or is it just that the internet is easier and more accessible? The answer could go both ways but either way it goes with the internet already dominating the world "Web 2.0" could only push and eventually eliminate newspapers and print copies as a whole.
           While talking about newspapers journalistically "Web 2.0" can only be seen as a negative to them and what they do. As a journalist you're job is to report on events and write about them and present you're information via print to the world. With the internet taking over news it's already making it near possible for journalists to keep. The internet has forced businesses such as The Buffalo News to cut back on the amount of workers therefore increasing the jobs of those still employed to do the same amount of work plus more for the same pay. It leaves a journalists job near impossible in a time where journalists are in the rear view of the audience to have to catch up with the time of technology we are now in. It forces journalists to have to do more broadcasting, video, blogging just to keep the newspaper relevant and bring some of the attention back to newspapers and their organization. With a new "Web 2.0" where the user would have more control that can only hurt a journalist because it puts the user in the drivers seat in terms of what they want to read and allows them to have their say in what they read. It leaves journalists in flux on how to do their job at a high rate while dealing with pressures of the internet. In terms of businesses, organizations, corporations, etc. "Web 2.0" is a 50/50 toss up.
               If users are given more control via web on what they can do it could be detriment to these corporations because it opens them up for criticism and it would hurt them financially. For instance if a business opens a website where they allow people to give them feedback on their respected business either you can get positive feedback or negative feedback making it a 50-50 tossup on what could happen. As stated in money.howstuffworks.com Brian Solis a PR consultant further backs businnesses saying that with this new age of social media businesses should invest in community managers that will track and mange clients online.
           If businesses start to give out free things which users love it opens up businesses where scams can come into play by fellow users who would be allowed to do this due to them having control. In this case businesses would have to be on the lookout because it could put them in position where there privacy and protection could be at stake. On the other hand "Web 2.0" would allow business to advance their brand as they could offer more services, offer new ways of participation from the consumer, and a new sense of knowledge. Therefore either way it goes businesses are 50-50 when it comes to a possible "Web 2.0" advancement in technology.
            From multiple viewpoints "Web 2.0" can be seen as exciting but also seen as detrimental in various ways based on the perspective you look at it as. Technology is constantly increasing year by year but when you increase in one area you decrease in another so with the advancement comes a decrease somewhere else meaning with every positive there's a negative.