So... I'm finally on Google+

In my last post about Google+ I was excited to join the site, and I also wondered if the new service would ever replace Facebook. After joining the service, I added people to my circles and finished my profile. Now what? I get that it is in trail mode and that you are supposed to invite your friends through email, but honestly I don't think  it is going to replace Facebook anytime soon. I know that I do not have a big email base because all of my friends are on Facebook and I can message them.

Google+ is a good concept, but the execution is a little bit off. If there was a way to transfer your Facebook friends over, it would be a little bit better. What I really like is that if you start a huddle, you can finish the conversation on your phone kind of like a mass text. But what is the fun of doing this if people are not leaving Facebook to adopt Google+?

All in All, I am pleased. Although, I feel like I will have to wait until they go completely public before this new service blows up. Facebook, beware! Google+ will pick up users left and right, and if you don't keep up, you may end up like MySpace! Rest in Peace!

NOT AGAIN!!! Facebook revamp

I will be the first to admit that I don't care for change. Facebook has yet again, tried to reinvent its self by updating the mobile version and the online newsfeed. Why had Facebook decided to do this? Because everyone complained the last time about how the "Top News" wasn't really what the users wanted to see. The users felt like there was a glitch in the algorithm that decided what stories were posted and which were left off.

I personally like the new changes to the newsfeed. Instead of liking a celebrity, you can actually subscribe to their feed. I feel like this is Facebook's way of competing with Twitter. With the new subscription button, it goes right to your rss feed so that you can make your own version of a newspaper. The updated online version also allows you to put your close friends on their own feed, so you do not miss a minute of what is going on in your circle.

As for the updated mobile version, the only word that comes to mind is FINALLY!! You can now tag people that you are with and put a location on your status! I also like the mobile version because you can see what the person does more easily because it is right next to their picture.

Not all change is bad! Some advice to those who are complaining yet again, just suck it up and get used to it. Facebook is like fashion, it is always evolving and is never finished!

Blog etiquette, rules for the real world

Since I am so far away, and I don't really feel like explaining the same story on the phone to 8 different people, I started a blog about my new life in Orlando and working for Disney. Since I am friends with people from work (and my blog is on Facebook), and since Disney would probably shut my blog down if it was bad or negative. I have come up with a few tips to keep your company, friends, and bosses happy with you and your blogging.

• Some people on the blogosphere do not realize that their blog is public and that some things they write could get you into trouble. People who blog need to mindful of what they are putting on the internet. A good example comes from The Social Network: "The internet's not written in pencil, Mark, it's written in ink. And you published that Erica Albright was a bitch, right before you made some ignorant crack about my family's name, my bra size, and then rated women on their hotness." What people say on their personal time is their business, but when you start writing your true, ugly feelings people get hurt.
• Do not for whatever reason bash your company, your co-workers, your parents or any relationship that you hold dear. Blogs can be searched on Google, Facebook, or any other site, and there are people whose sole job is to search the web and find people bashing the company. If you value what you do, keep your feelings off the web.
• If you have positive feelings, SHARE THEM!!!! People LOVE to be on the internet in a positive light. It is only appropriate to write about people online if you are praising them for being fabulous, or you get their consent. If you aren't sure if you should name them or not, play it safe! Use a code name or describe how you know them.
• Finally, keep it classy and PG. I know in my last post I shared how you can block certain posts from certain people. Same concept applies here. If you are going to talk about people, or break any of these guidelines, just be careful, smart, and be willing to deal with the consequences. 

Friend-ing people from work? Why you should and shouldn't

Why friend-ing people from work may seem like a good idea:

When you move to a new town, step out of your comfort zone, or start any new career you have the need to bond and make new friends. You fall under a false sense of security that the people that you work with care about you and genuinely care about you. This may be true in some cases, but most of the time it is not. You are working for a company with people that want to get ahead of you. In some cases they will even use what you post against you.


Why you should:
Some people are genuine. These aren't the people that you have to worry about. Some people that you will work with will become your close friends out of work. A good rule of thumb is that you should only friend people on Facebook that you have gone out with at least twice. Feel out the situation and do what you think is right. At first, I personally, put the new people on a limited profile and as they earn my trust, work them up to viewing my whole profile. Being in a sorority taught me about keeping it classy on Facebook and keeping my pictures, posts, wall, and general profile PG. This should be a good practice for everyone.


Why you shouldn't:
Some people use others to get ahead at work. People will sit on Facebook waiting for you to screw up so that they can bring it up at work, causing you embarrassment and a loss of respect. Which leads me to my next point: NEVER become friends with your boss. Nine times out of ten you will slip on a post and it could potentially lose you your job!! Again, use your common sense! Feel out your surroundings, get to know people before you let them in, and always use your best judgement online. Never vent about work if you have co-workers as friends. If you do vent, use the appropriate privacy settings! Happy posting!

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.

Hi...my name is Laura, and I am addicted to Facebook games

The only thing that keeps me on Facebook (aside from keeping up with friends and my various marketing jobs) is the applications and games. Recently, I am addicted to Sorority Life because they have created a new side to the game. A very exclusive side that I must conquer. They call them "Study Abroad" missions and they only stay open for a certain amount of time, so you have around 2 months to buy all the items, complete all the challenges, and unlock all the prizes. I know what you are thinking.....I've lost it! But, for my friends and I it is a serious addiction. In my last blog post when I went offline for a week, it was in the middle of one of these Study Abroad missions. I almost didn't finish it because I did not have access to my Facebook. This got me thinking about it. Would anything happen to me if I didn't finish one of these missions? Of course not!! Games like Sorority Life offer exclusive gifts and rewards to those who loyally play the game. For years I have rotated between this game and many others such as Pet Society, Monopoly, Draw My Thing, and Snake.

What people do not realize is that marketers are catching onto the giant audiences these games capture. Advertising could be anything from Welch's Grape Vines on Farmville or Covergirl mascara on Sorority life. Marketers now have the advantage of a highly targeted and captive audience, something they have never had before.

In my opinion as a marketer, I think this is the way that social media marketing should go. By putting actual products right into the games, the player is subconsciously exposed to the brand longer than if that same person were exposed to the product by a TV commercial.