I didn't want to join you anyway, Google+

This has been something that I have debated on writing about. I am kind of (really) upset that I cannot join Google+. The site looks really cool how you can organize everyone into different categories and upload quicker than Facebook. What I am not excited about (and kind of mad about) is that I was invited, but when I went to sign up they had exceeded capacity and it is in "limited trial" mode only. Seriously? This is my major, and I can't even get on the site to check it out. Don't get me wrong, I have gone through the demo and done my research about the marketing side of the site, but I like to get in there and learn by actually using the site.

I am so frustrated with the fact that I cannot join. I have gone through the motions and have gone through the site clicking every join button, but it will not let me in!! I am kind of put off with the site, and I am sure I am not the only one. I wonder how many people will actually come back to the site now that they have been turned away. I know that for me, Google+ has put a sour taste in my mouth. If they weren't ready to launch the site fully, they shouldn't have launched it at all.

I guess in a way, this is like when Facebook first launched to Harvard, and then moved on to more schools, and then finally went public. I think that if Google+ had a better way of launching (maybe regionally) I wouldn't be so upset. I will probably join the site, but it won't be out of excitement.

StumbleUpon....who knew?

I know I talk a lot about Facebook, but I would like to switch gears for a little bit and talk about StumbleUpon, known informally to my friends as Stumble. I was first introduced to this site my senior year in college, by a friend that I thought was clueless about social media. She made me download the iPhone app at lunch and set up my preferences. After I went though this long process of telling the site what I did and didn't like, I was ready to "stumble." My friend didn't even tell me how to use the site until after I had it set up. When you hit the stumble button, either on your computer or your phone app, it stumbles across your interests and takes you to a site that it thinks you may like. I was amazed! I immediately fell in love and have been stumbling ever since.

I had to tell you that story to get to the main point of this week's blog. It seems as though StumbleUpon is getting more traffic than Facebook with only 12 million members (Facebook has 750 million members). In all the research I have done, I have only heard how Twitter is going to take over the market and be the new Facebook. According to these numbers that I found on Mashable.com in the graphic above, Twitter is nowhere near the numbers for Facebook and StumbleUpon. 

I think that Stumble is gaining popularity online because it truly is like flipping channels on a television. It is mindless and many of my friends would pick the internet over their TV any day of the week. With online TV sites like Hulu and Netflix, who really has a use for their TV anyway? It is in my opinion that Stumble is the social site of the future, and Facebook better watch it's back.

Facebook Law?

Now that you all have read my view on social media laws, I will talk about this new law in Missouri that bans social media relationships between teachers and students. The law is supposed to ban communication that cannot be accessed by school officials or parents, and must be adopted in all school districts by 2012. This law is kind of vague. First, they use the term "inappropriate" without actually defining what that means in the law. Then, they don't make it clear if this law applies to colleges. The law makers also do not answer the question of "What if a student befriends a teacher in a different school district?" or "Can you add your teacher as a friend after you graduate?" With a 35 page law, you would think some of these questions would have been answered.


How do I feel about this law? I think that if parents know what their kids are doing online, it isn't a problem. I think it is terrible how the lawmakers think all teachers are potential cyber bullies or pedophiles. Next, they may do away with the entire school system. Just kidding, but I think this law is bogus! How are the school officials going to enforce this? If you know what privacy settings to set on Facebook, you can hide a lot from people. Does it say in the law that if you are a teacher you have to give up the right of privacy online? That's a little extreme!

Do I think this will catch on? Probably not! It isn't feasible. The very idea of someone sitting around and creeping on the teachers to make sure they aren't creeping on the students is just weird!! What if the student needed something? People rarely use email, instead, they just send a Facebook message. In addition, I am friends with many professors. They help me with jobs and school. Facebook is the modern day address and phone book that my generation does not know how to live without.

Let's get legal...Facebook as a separate state

 

With 924 million registered users on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, we have a serious legal problem on our hands. With that many people on social media, you start having issues such as cyber bullying, pedophiles, rapists, terrorism, and stalking. Many people do not know how to go after these people because they are protected under the 1st amendment right. This gets tricky though, many of the offenders are in different states than their victims. Does the case get thrown to Federal Court or do they throw it back to the state level and tell them to fight over jurisdiction? Having people fight about where a case is tried can take up a lot of time and money. This is why I think it would be wise to make the internet its own jurisdiction and have Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other sites be like the states in the online nation.

I know it would be chaotic at first, but think of all the time that we could save. It would break the international boundaries and save people from wondering if one person in the case is in China and the other Russia, which laws to follow. A new set of people from all over the world could be elected to create new laws for this new jurisdiction, and they could be based off laws that already exist.

Although this would be time consuming, I feel like people would be better protected from each other in this way. I know this will probably never happen in my lifetime, but this idea could potentially create thousands of jobs as well as create a new niche for lawyers and judges. I think this would be a win-win!

The death question...who really reads the obituaries?

At 23 years old, you really don't think about your friends dying. In the past 3 years I have lost at least 10 people my age or younger. It is pretty sad to think about, but when you hear of people dying you already know the protocol and which black dress you are probably going to wear. Recently, my generation has used Facebook as a coping tool. We write on their wall and tell them how much me miss them, or we post old pictures of them and remember the good times. It used to be that people would write real letters to the family or make scrapbooks, instead of turning to Facebook. My generation only turns to Facebook, we don't read the paper or have any other way to know whether or not people have passed away.

When my grandfather passed away, I remember my grandmother calling the various family members, business partners, and friends to let them know of the passing of my grandfather. I thought it was cold how she was just calling everyone to let them know that he had died. I didn't think about how this was the only way some people would find out so that they could attend the funeral. Now we learn about these things through Facebook and Twitter.

Recently, I got a text from one of my really good friends asking what was wrong with someone because she had seen something on Facebook. Since I am an amazing Facebook stalker, I looked into the situation and found out about the tragic passing of a classmate. An event was made for a memorial and the only way people found out about it was from their Facebook.

What if you didn't have a Facebook for whatever reason. One of my friends and her boyfriend do not have a Facebook because it doesn't fit into their lifestyles. Her boyfriend missed a funeral of one of his good friends because no one thought to call him because he wasn't connected through Facebook. This prompted the conversation, "If you died, would your best friend know who they needed to call?"

I know this is kind of a dark topic, but it makes you think about the evolution of communication in the past 20 years. We have gone from phone calls and newspaper articles, to a site that can tell us everything about everyone.