A Look Back

Where have I gone this semester? It went faster than usual. I returned from Australia with only a 2 month summer which eliminated many opportunities for me. I came to AU feeling like a freshman all over again, because it all seemed new since I was gone so long. I found a house to live in for the year and didn't know what to expect living with three other people.

The search for a job began within a month or two. After seeing people celebrate their success, I decided it was my turn. In doing so, I stumbled upon what I believe I want to choose as my career path. I would like to be a technology consultant. I learned about it during a Deloitte Information session on campus one night.

I took what I learned in this course and applied it to my life. I created a linkedin profile to expand my network. I took advice from recruiters regarding interviews. I created a blog in the hopes of creating an online persona. All these tools are meant to help me and I intend to take advantage of them. With one semester left in college, I intend to make it my greatest.

Is IT In You?

Throughout the past few weeks, I feel even I have lost touch with the purpose of these social networks. The point is to connect people through similar interests. This can be done in many ways and through many venues. Some of the ones we have looked at focus on a personal gain, whereas social networks for the social good aim to help others. That is a crucial difference that makes linkedin look selfish compared to something like Razoo.com.

It is important that these "social good" networks are not for everyone. Similar to volunteer work, some people refuse to devote their time and talents for others. It serves as a constant reminder to me that there is truly something for everyone on the internet.

I do think this is an important aspect to our culture. We need to be more responsible and accountable for our actions. Since we are spending more and more time on the computer than ever before, it has become the place to get news and spread news. It is where people can come together from all over the world to communicate about a particular topic. There is no limits or boundaries, just endless possibilities. It's up to us to take advantage of that.

Our Contribution to the Internet

As more and more people are becoming comfortable with the internet, it is now the first place to seek information. Whether you are looking up a term on wikipedia or reading what john smith has to say about a topic, more than likely, you are reading "User Generated Content" or UGC. UGC is anything published by an individual on the internet. As Lisa Barone, in User Generated Content & Search, pointed out, UGC comes in many different forms, such as blogs, reviews, forums, media sharing, webpages, profiles, and news comments.

There are two obvious sides to this topic. On one hand, you have information from users just like you. More often then not, they are looking for similar services and quality in products. These other users will help you in your search for whatever you are looking for.

On the other hand, you don't know these people. There is this sense of trust that you instill in their information. I must say, we seem to trust other users more and more as we rely on these reviews and forums. Since they have become a first source for many, we sometimes forget or choose to forget that we don't know these people.

I admit, I'm one of those people who rely on UGC. Growing up using computers and internet, I never sought information from alternative means. It's important to be conscience and aware of what you're reading on the internet. Blogs are usually opinions as well as reviews. Remember, don't believe everything you hear, especially when you don't know the person who said it.

Who Needs a T.V. Anymore?

For starters, although I decided to go to American University, in Washington, DC, I am not into politics. Many people are surprised to hear that, which I understand. I never followed politics in high school and even here, I just pay my attention to the primary's. I came to AU for reasons other than its location, but that's another story.

The discussion this week is about how politics is taking over the internet. I am not surprised to see this happen. I view politics as a business, which has a budget and a workforce. They have strategies and game plans in which to campaign their candidates. Using the internet is simply another tool in which to do so. They are finding innovative ways to get their names out to the public and to display their views. From the Pickled Politics article, Sunny writes, "The supporters understand politicians need them to sustain their campaign, so they donate money and volunteer their services after watching targeted messages."

The other issue addresses the fact that people, usually young adults, are using the internet to spread a message and create a plan of action. In ABC's, "Person of the Week: Ana Slavin and Nick Anderson", Charles Gibson talks about how these two teenagers raised money for Darfur through web 'friends'. This is very similar to politicians trying to gain an edge in today's world. More and more people are connecting to the internet, and teenagers realize that. I am in fact very proud of what they did and commend their actions. It just goes to show how powerful the internet can be.

Accept My Invitation...Now Hire Me

As a senior in in college, I am currently looking for a job post graduation. I have taken the usual approaches, such as checking in with the career center on campus, attending job fairs, and asking friends if there are an available positions where they are now. The newest method is over the internet on Linkedin. You create a profile fill it with all of your information, such as past experience, age, expertise, and your contacts. For example, in the article, Workforce Management "Using Social Networking to Fill the Talent Acquisition Pipeline " "Crawford Hentz recently sourced six of the seven finalist candidates for a senior-level position from LinkedIn."

I recently signed up for Linkedin and initially wasn't impressed. I was expecting something like facebook, whereas this is much different. It serves a different purpose and attracts a different audience. I now believe that it benefits both parties, the employer and potential employee. The employer gets another avenue to research its candidates and the potential employee further gets his/her name out to the public. It's simply another resource for everyone to share and I urge someone to show me the downside to this. I feel the advantages outweigh the negatives by a landslide.

It's like Facebook, but for Business

Professional networking is nothing new. I personally have always been told, "it's not what you know, its who you know." I agree with that too. I've had too many experiences and heard too many stories of people getting their friends a job or internship. Personal references can make or break an employers decision and if you know someone in the company then you have an edge at getting the position. With that said, I have recently joined linkedin, one of the popular professional networks.

Though I see many similarities to Facebook and other social network sites, I had the same question as John Tinker, a research analyst at ThinkEquity Partners. He said on ABC's "Will the Web Replace the Business Lunch?", "The question I'd have is how often do people go on and use it. If it's just once to set up their account, then they're not that attractive." I feel unless the web designers can develop a way to get people to consistently visit these professional network, they may fade and be forgotten. Facebook users will admit that it has become part of their daily routine to check their updates (if not daily, very often). Since it is different than social networks, they should consider adding tools on them, such as collaboration functions for teams, a medium to talk via internet, or something else that would be approved by managers to allow their employees to use it.

Making Money From Your Couch

As the world gets smaller and smaller, we are finding ourselves in a globalized economy. This requires an integration between different countries, some that are halfway around the world. In the past, one would be required to fly there and conduct business as a representative with minimal communication from their home office. Today is much different. Now, one doesn't even need to leave his/her own bedroom. Well, that may be an exaggeration, because you'd probably have to be in your office, but you see where I'm going with this.

New technology allows you to set up web cams and video conference calls. This is advantageous, because you can physically see who you are talking to. Google has google docs which is useful for me at the moment. I am in NY and need to work on our group assignment from here. We have set up google docs where each member can modify the paper online at their own leisure. Gerrit Visser in "Coworking is (also) : Working Together Online", would call this "coworking" because most of its success came outside from scheduled meetings and informally.

I believe virtual teams can be as productive as those that meet in person. It all depends on the group members. They need to be self motivated, independent, and punctual in regards to deadlines. They all must share similar interests in getting something done, according to Gerrit Visser. "Lastly, in Working Together...When Apart", by Lynda Gratton, at least some of the team members must know each other. Familiarity helps facilitate building networks among members. With these characteristics in place, one can be in an effective virtual team. Hey maybe we should use Second Life...

My Biography Online

After reading NPR's "Startups Help Clean Up Online Reputations", it really made me think about all the pictures of me I recalled seeing on the internet. The scary thing is that the article said, "Even when you delete images from the Web, they sometimes live on search-engine files." I did not know that. In addition to creating positive content about yourself through blogs and webpages, my first solution would be to initiate privacy features on facebook and any other social networks I belong to. You can restrict what certain people see on your profile and limiting potential employers is essential in today's age.

On the same topic, Mark Cuban discusses in his blog, "Your are what your search results return and so are your kids", an online profile using search engines. The difference is, Mark likes the fact that these pictures and details are online and shared, because it is an easy way to document his children as they grow up. I would have to agree with Mark, because today, it doesn't make sense to pay to print out every picture you take. We are in the digital age and we should take advantage of our technology. The old physical photo albums are obsolete and are being replaced by sites like snapfish, flickr, picturetrail, and smugmug. I'm ok with this change, considering I rarely ever processed pictured the old fashioned way.

America's Funniest Home Videos

Who hasn't heard of YouTube at this point? I am still amazed how fast things spread over the internet. We have now gotten used to these videos on youtube. The thing is, these videos aren't edited by professionals or screened prior to releasing them. They are created by individuals who have the freedom to say what they want and thousands of people watch them. In fact, most will believe whatever message they are trying to get across. This is now called "peer production." Will this be allowed to continue or are these videos going to be restricted or limited?

I think they are a great means of self-expression. There is a lot of freedom as to the content of these videos. Additionally, the speed at which videos are viewed is remarkable. This has never been possible and I think is beneficial. The only thing to keep in mind when viewing "peer produced" videos is that they are made by regular people. It is important to remember not to believe everything you see and hear.

Online Living

This week is all about "Second life." It is an online based program where you create a character and interact with other people in this virtual world. It reminded me of the video game World of Warcraft. That is primarily a game where fighting is a major focus, however in Second life, it is used as a networking and communication medium. I am very interested to see how it works and who is currently on the network. I have never heard of this program before so it is all new to me.

I find it interesting that it is being used by businesses and their employees. I think it is a valuable tool that can be used by many different organizations and age groups. For example, fraternity's can hold meetings online or parents can hold PTA meetings from their living rooms. A major advantage to this is leaving yourself time for other things that fill your schedule. It never seems that there is enough time in a day to do all the things you planned to, so second life helps facilitate that.

Word On The Street

This weeks section from Naked Conversations, by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel focused on "word of mouth" advertising. They talked about how ICQ started and was the basis for AOL's AIM. In addition they brought up the introduction of "Skype", an internet-phone program. The main strategy to advertise these programs is through blogs and conversations, instead of the old approach of "interruption Marketing", as Scoble and Israel put it. I personally don't agree with this method of mass marketing to unsuspecting audiences and essentially bothering them. We've all been annoyed by telemarketers in this day in age and I don't know one person that actually listens to what they have to say and take them seriously. In fact, most people play jokes on them and make a game out of it; some say thats cruel, others say they deserve it!

With everyone being so well connected through the advent of the Internet, the best way to spread news is through blogs, posts, comments, and direct conversations. As I read the section, I recalled how I found Skype. I didn't stumble upon it or read about it in the paper; I was showed by my dad, who discovered it from a friend living in England. It's the same idea for AIM. I was 13 and in middle school when it caught fire in my community, simply by word of mouth.

This is so important for managers to understand because for them, they are able to save thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars through this method of advertising. With low expenses should come low rates for their services , which for anyone else, is nearly impossible to compete with. One critical thing to remember is that you need a two way discussion. To only blog about a program's or product's advantages can potentially hurt the company. As we learned from last week, be honest and quick, and the rest will follow.

Scoble, Robert, and Shel Israel. Naked Conversations. 1st Ed. Hoboken, NJ: Jon Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006.

lab work

hey mike,

let me know if this worked

http://auono.blogspot.com

The Two To Remember

This week I read the two sections from our text book, Naked Conversations, by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. In the introduction, they talked about what the book is about. It is basically made up of real blogs from employees at companies spanning many different industries. They believe that blogs cannot be ignored and have taken a prominent role in marketing. In class we discussed its importance for companies, but Schoble and Israel brought up some new points, such as "It's the first to decentralize corporate communications, wresting it from those who historically controlled it, and it eliminates many of the geographic barriers that have restricted relationships between people sharing similar interests."

Later in the book, they created a list of thirty four suggestions on how to blog effectively. Since blogging is new to me, I found it to be very helpful. Two things that were consistently mentioned were quick response time and honesty. In my opinion, I believe these are the two most important pieces of advice they offered. As they say in business, "Time is money." If someone has a question or comment on your blog or about your company, how quick you respond will influence their view on you and your company. Also, blogs can be seen as conversations over the internet, so why should it be any different than a conversation in person. To lie in a blog is as if to lie in person. Personally, I would never trust that blogger in the future if I caught them lieing. Seeing as I agreed with Schoble and Israel on this section, I am excited to read what else they have to say on social networking.

Scoble, Robert, and Shel Israel. Naked Conversations. 1st Ed. Hoboken, NJ: Jon Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006.

3 For All

With a solid first post under my belt, I think I'm ready to tackle my second. After skimming some of the other articles, I found myself intrigued by, "A Practical Guide to Social Networking", by Rob Cross, Jeanne Liedtka, and Leigh Weiss. They discussed three types of social networks: customized response, modular response, and routine response. Each are designated for their respective industries.

I do believe it is important for a company to strategically choose a method that works best for them. In addition, each department within the company may take alternative routes to the same result but the types of social networks must be clear and known by everyone in the company. Though some communication methods may be informal, there needs to be a good amount of organization. These different types generate a game plan for an effective communication flow. I have to wonder if there are any other types of social networks.

Lastly, I feel that more connectivity is better. This article claims that is not always the case, however I believe in todays world with key terms like globalization, teams, and work groups that social networks and connectivity are the oil to a car--they make it run. The spread of knowledge, in my eyes, can only be a good thing.

http://sixdegrees.wikidot.com/local--files/reading-history/practicalguide.pdf

The Introduction

The first assignment in most courses is usually daunting and of unfamiliar territory. Interestingly enough, this class seems to take a different approach and coincides with the current technologies. Though I personally have never written a blog, I have read a few of my friends'. I am interested to learn such along with other social networking tools, so here goes.

I have read two articles tonight. The first is called, "FIRST HAND: Connecting to Collaborate: An Interview With Rob Cross." Essentially Rob cross explains how things really get done in corporations today. Though in the past we have used organizational charts and diagrams that appeared to depict the organizational flow, however, things aren't always as they seem. Rob claims that there "informal counterparts to organizationals charts." One thing that surprised me was how effective instant messaging can be for organizations. I used to think that was purely a social software that only teenagers and young adults used to keep in touch with one another. Additionally, I wished Cross would've been more specific about the survey he used. What sort of questions are asked and is it the same for each company?

The second article is called, "Saguaro about Social Capital." Although the article was short, it introduced a new phrase to my vocabulary list. Social capital is defined as, "the collective value of all "social networks" [who people know] and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other ["norms of reciprocity"]." The term networking to me means, who you know. Growing up, I constantly heard the line, "it's not what you, it's who you know." I knew from the start that it would be important to keep in contact with almost everyone you meet for there are opportunities around each corner. For example, a friend of mine currently works with a company (unnamed for privacy reasons) and heard of an opening, so he is personally handing in my resume to the office to give me an edge in the selection process. My only question is are there any negative aspects to social capital? I can think of so many positives, but not many negatives.

Interview with Seppo Joe

I am a senior at American University in the Kogod School of Business. My major is Business Administration with a specialization in Information Technology. I am from Great Neck, New York and recently studied abroad in Australia for 6 months.

"On my honor, all posts on this blog are my own"