Comments on "Facebook - Friend or Foe?"

See blog"Facebook - Friend or Foe?"

I totally agree with you about the ‘adding friends’ topic that you and Axel brought up. I was put in the situation where someone from my high school added me as a ‘friend’ and I could describe him as anything but a friend. I think that people add you as there friend simply to feel loved and a sense of belonging (Maslow's hierarchy of needs), in hope that you will post something nice about them and make them feel better about themselves. Although, I do acknowledge that not all Facebook addicts are that bad… Another grip I have with Facebook and mySpace is that you spend hours upon hours getting your profile to look great and then another SNS comes along that is better than yours and you have to start from scratch again. Has anyone else had this problem?

I did find your opinion on the business side of these sites very interesting but not lacking in supporting research. There are other ways of making money on websites besides advertising. For example, websites can participate in affiliate marketing programs as well as selling the information on their members to companies. This is probably not the case with the larger SNS because of privacy and security issues but the smaller ones like Meetup.com and Threadless.com would actively engage these tactics. You can read more on these methods on this blog (http://platinum-success-systems.com/blog/?p=7).

Comments on "Are we Google dependant?"

See blog "Are we Google dependant?"

I could not agree with you more Elyse… I use Google for everything, to tell you the truth I feel that I have am learning more off the internet than my entire 2 years of university. Information is becoming so accessible that it is scary. I don’t know how people can be computer illiterate because Google has made it so easy; all you have to do is type in your question and Google does it all. I wonder what would happen if Google was targeted by terrorists?

Another trend I have also noticed is the uptake of ‘Googling’ in the corporate sector. I work as a marketing and sales manager for an IT company and we are dependent on Google and the Internet. I find it funny that universities and academics try to force their students to have book references rather than internet ones. There is information on the internet that you would not have access to otherwise.

“The Google Era”, has definitely begun but I feel that it is only the tip of the iceberg I have a feeling we will be relying on Google a lot more in the future. Lucky it is free otherwise we’d all be broke.

Comments on "Is the Myspace promotional system all its hyped up to be?"

See blog "Is the Myspace promotional system all its hyped up to be?"

I think what Derek said about Myspace being “the single greatest marketing tool we have as of right now” is very true, however I still believe that there is much room for improvement. I was in a band also (in the good old days) before Myspace and it definitely would have made promotion a lot easier but I still think that time and effort is needed to undertake a successful marketing campaign. Myspace has made it easier but it has made it easier for everyone so you don’t have the competitive advantage.

Perhaps you could have mentioned in your blog that, if anything, it has made it easier for consumers to find bands and music that they like rather than having to rely on your local events and promotions. You can now check out bands from across the world from your room all thanks to Myspace and the Internet.

I feel that bands need to put in the time and effort to reap the rewards, especially in relation to Myspace. A few bands might have had success from Myspace but in a global market place a few just isn’t that much…

Anonymity: The Double Edged Sword

Anonymous said:

“Sometimes its is hard to tell whether all citizen journalists are telling the truth, but I most definitely am”

Citizen journalism has enjoyed massive growth over the past decade thanks to the use of blogging and the Internet. It has been described as the act of citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. One characteristic that has been widely discussed and debated in media circles is the issue of anonymity and how the credibility of a source cannot be validated. This issue has presented a challenge for the citizen journalism community as opinions on the matter are varied and differed greatly.

One of citizen journalisms greatest hindrances is the posting of irresponsible, unprofessional, partial and inaccurate article by anonymous authors. There are no checks or balances in place to ensure that these media channels are not abused by users. These articles hinder the growth of the free voice that has been made possible by the Internet and tarnish citizen journalism on a whole. Citizens journalisms is also weakened by the credibility of the source, in order to counter act this anonymity, serious citizen journalist attempt to keep there actions as transparent as possible to build credibility within their networks.

On the other hand there is a degree of tolerance in the community for anonymity among certain groups of authors. These include people whose confidentiality is considered to be justifiable like political dissidents, corporate whistle blowers, victims and potential targets of hate crimes, and domestic violence victims. Articles of this nature tend to gain huge support due to their inside knowledge or exposure to certain events. A recent example of this is an anonymous American living in Beijing who posted articles pertaining to the riots in Tibet on his blog. This valuable news would have never been available if the author could not remain anonymous. Another example of how anonymity has been used to benefit citizen journalism is Army of Dude blog. This blog is written by an American soldier who fought in the war in Iraq. This insight into a global event could not have been achieved through traditional media channels or journalists.

I feel that although citizen journalism has it’s role to play in the freedom of information, it will never replace the authority of major media organisations. I feel that a healthy balance should be established between citizen journalists and media organisation to protect consumers of the media from deliberate acts of deception. Having said this I don’t really know if we can trust the big media organizations, sometimes even they get it horribly wrong.