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.