The Internet Life: 2010

Forums VS. Blogs VS. Social Networks

Forums are like social mixers, where everyone is at equal level, milling about and discussing with others. These many to many communication tools allow anyone to start a topic and anyone to respond to one. Members are often at equal level, and content is usually segmented by topic. (rather than by people).

Blogs are like a keynote speech where the speaker (blogger) is in control of the discussion, but allows questions and comments from the audience. Blogs are journals often authored by one individual, and sometimes teams. In the context of business communication, these are often used to talk with the marketplace and to join the conversation that existing external bloggers may be having.

Social Networks are like topic tables at a conference luncheon. Ever been to a conference where different lunch tables had big white signs inviting people to sit and join others of like interest? It’s like that. Social networks allow members to organize around a person’s relationships or interests, rather that just focused on topic. People that know each other (or want to meet each other) will connect by a variety of common interests. These are great tools to get people of like interest to connect to each other and share information.

What Facebook Is For

This is one of the true realities of Facebook. It really does explain how many of the people on Facebook use it.

Twitter in Plain English

Frequency of Updating Social Network Page

Twitter

Twitter is a site that allows you to post one-line messages about what you’re currently doing—via the web interface, IM, or SMS. You can limit who sees the messages to people you’ve explicitly added to your friends list, or you can make the messages public.

What Twitter does, in a simple way, is merge a number of interesting trends into a single social software usage—like personal blogging, lightweight presence indicators, and IM status messages. It is also very good at getting a simple message across to many people at once. Other people like to use it to say what they did throughout the day because they feel the need to do so, like Kanye West.

Looking Forward...To The End

As a Freshman in St. John's University's Pharmacy program, things haven't been very smooth as I expected it to be. With the work that we have to do for classes and situations occurring at home, it has been a bumpy ride. This blog didn't really turn out to the way I expected it to be. It is sad to be ending this blog in early development stages, but things that start out and continue to be rocky shouldn't continue because they end up being worse (the universe favors entropy!). I have learned a lot from this project and hope to carry out those teachings to future projects. And with that, this is an end.

The New Myspace

The new Myspace is a complete overhaul compared to the older version. It symbolizes the start of a fundamental shift in focus for what was once the world’s preeminent social network. MySpace roll out a completely revamped interface to its users since october 27th, and completed towards the end of November. Because so much has changed, it is very difficult to list all the changes from the older version. Everything from the homepage to profiles to the new Topic Pages focus on transforming MySpace from a social network into a “social entertainment destination.” The site is now focused exclusively on the 13 to 35-year-old demographic — Generation Y, in other words. Its new goal is to become “the leading entertainment destination that is socially powered by the passions of fans and curators.” This is in contrast to its old goal of being “a place for friends.” It reduces the amount of design bloat from 152 templates and 81 button styles to just seven templates and two buttons.

Some changes include:

A new left-hand navigation: Profile navigation has been condensed into the left hand navigation menu under the profile picture.
Focus on the stream: MySpace Stream — the site’s version of the Facebook News Feed — is the focus of the new profiles. You can view a user’s recent activity, comment on items and share content with friends.
Follow on other social networks: There’s a new module giving you the option to follow a user on not only MySpace but also on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. Whether this is a standard module remains to be seen.
A vastly improved User Interface : Without doubt, the new profiles feature better design than their predecessors, which themselves have been the scourge of social web app designers for a few years now.

Edmodo: A Social Network for Teachers and Students

Edmodo is a social network designed for teacher/student interaction with an emphasis on quick communication, polling, assignment sharing, and more. It was founded in September 2008 by Jeff O'Hara and Nick Borg. The site was acquired by the Fusion Projects, a subsidiary of Revolution Learning in February 2010. Chuck Rosendahl is CEO/COO of the Fusion Project. The site has undergone continuous growth since launch, and more than 200,000 students and teachers have signed up for the service since launch.

Edmodo made to be a teaching tool that is modeled after other social networks like Facebook with a focus on communication and not just a way of sending out grade reports from the teacher to students —although you can certainly use those functions easily enough. If you sign up as an educator, you can share files, links, assignments, and grades as well as issue alerts and updates, dialogue with your students on a Facebook-like wall, survey your students, and manage map out your class syllabus on a public calendar. As a student you can contact your instructors directly, message other students, interact in the public discussion spaces, and even access Edmodo from your mobile phone via their mobile-optimized page to check assignments and more.

There hasn't been any other social network that seems as simple and useful as Edmodo turned out to be. Maybe because of its Facebook like colors and other designs? Or perhaps the simplicity that you can post info up that makes it such a success. But out of all other social networks, this seems like it won't affect your business life at all.

What Is Social Networking? - Review

There is a website called whatissocialnetworking.com (really creative for a website name). Its sole purpose it to give a definition of what social networking really is. It also talks about online social networking which is what we are going to focus on more. While some of the definitions are on point, others aren't so correct.

"Social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision, if you will. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in the workplace, universities, and high schools, it is most popular online. This is because unlike most high schools, colleges, or workplaces, the internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other people, to gather and share first-hand information and experiences about cooking, golfing, gardening, developing friendships or professional alliances, finding employment, business-to-business marketing and even groups sharing information about the end of the Mayan calendar and the Great Shift to arrive December 21-2012. The topics and interests are as varied and rich as the story of our world.

When it comes to online social networking, websites are commonly used. These websites are known as social sites. Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies, religion, or politics. Once you are granted access to a social networking website you can begin to socialize. This socialization may include reading the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them.

The friends that you can make are just one of the many benefits to social networking online. Another one of those benefits includes diversity because the internet gives individuals from all around the world access to social networking sites. This means that although you are in the United States, you could develop an online friendship with someone in Denmark or India. Not only will you make new friends, but you just might learn a thing or two about new cultures or new languages and learning is always a good thing.

As mentioned, social networking often involves grouping specific individuals or organizations together. While there are a number of social networking websites that focus on particular interests, there are others that do not. The websites without a main focus are often referred to as "traditional" social networking websites and usually have open memberships. This means that anyone can become a member, no matter what their hobbies, beliefs, or views are. However, once you are inside this online community, you can begin to create your own network of friends and eliminate members that do not share common interests or goals.

As I'm sure you're aware, there are dangers associated with social networking including data theft and viruses, which are on the rise. The most prevalent danger though often involves online predators or individuals who claim to be someone that they are not. Although danger does exist with networking online, it also exists in the real world, too. Just like you're advised when meeting strangers at clubs and bars, school, or work -- you are also advised to proceed with caution online.

By being aware of your cyber-surroundings and who you are talking to, you should be able to safely enjoy social networking online. It will take many phone conversations to get to know someone, but you really won't be able to make a clear judgment until you can meet each other in person. Just use common sense and listen to your inner voice; it will tell you when something doesn't feel right about the online conversations taking place.

Once you are well informed and comfortable with your findings, you can begin your search from hundreds of networking communities to join. This can easily be done by performing a standard internet search. Your search will likely return a number of results, including MySpace, FriendWise, FriendFinder, Yahoo! 360, Facebook, Orkut, and Classmates."

Alright so it does give an exact, point on definition of what a social network is in general, but it lacks to show some of the true nature of online social networking is. Online social networks are generally a place where you can sit back, relax, and have a conversation with someone that you either never meet before or would never talk to in person. With that aside, online social networks are also a place where you can vent and release all you emotions without having to be afraid of what others reactions would be if you actually vented in person. You can put as much or as little information you want without others bugging you about too little or too much info.

Other than those key points, the website is very good at describing what a social network is.

http://www.whatissocialnetworking.com/

Voices From The Outside

I conducted an interview among my friends. Some questions included:

- Why did you decide to get a Facebook and/or Twitter? (Whichever one is relevant)

- Is Social Networking necessary?

- What Social Networks do you take part in?

The reason I asked these questions is because I wanted to know my friends’ input on the topic of Social Networking. I was hoping to gain an insight on others’ opinions other than my own. My friends were the people answering these poll questions. I met them at St. John’s University. Most of them are in the 6-year pharmacy program with me as well. I wanted to get opinions from people similar to me and see how our viewpoints compare.

Some of my friends stated that they wanted to get a Facebook to branch out and make new friends. Also in order to stay connected with their friends in different states and countries. That is the exact reason why I joined Facebook – to stay in contact with family and friends in America and other countries. Some of my friends joined Twitter just because they conformed to society. Everyone had it – so why not? Some of my friends also have twitter in order to follow celebrities.

Through my poll questions, I’ve learned that Social networking is apparently necessary. Most of my friends believe that social networking is very important in order to socialize and present yourself to the world. It is also a means of self-expression. This ties in with another one of my questions of which social networks people take part in. My friends take part in social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Xanga, and Tumblr. These are all great ways to express your emotions and who you are as a person. It’s a great way to show people who you are and what you’re all about – especially for people that have a hard time expressing themselves in person.

From choosing these questions, I learned that most of my friends think the way I do. I was hoping to learn more about social networks and reasons as to why people do it and that’s exactly what I gained from conducting this poll.

Connecting with the World Inside and Outside 1000c

Student Doctor Network

Student Doctor Network (SDN) is a non-profit educational organization that provides information to past, present, and future students that are thinking about or are already in a field of medicine/health. On the front page it provides weekly posts of current news in the medicine/health field. This site also hosts a blog and a forum in which readers can interact with one another and the writers of the site. This site is related to this blog and me since I am in the Pharmacy Field and this blog is about social networking.

Top Ten Reviews

Top Ten Reviews is a site where they try out various different services or products and makes reviews on them. Every year they redo their reviews since products and services change on an average of every year. They have a section called web services and under that there is another section called Social Networking Websites. There the try out all the various popular social networks and see what is available at their disposal. They then rate them from 1-10 based on what they think is the best.

Traffikd

Traffikd is like a mass listing of all the possible social networks that you can join. The have all kinds of networks listed in their directory so you don't have to go looking for them. The have them listed in a manner that it would be easy to look for a network just by looking up categories and it lists all the networks that are under that category.

What Is Social Networking

What is social networking is a site where the main page provides a long definition about what social networking really is. They also provide you with information about whether or not social networking is for you and which networks you should join. On top of that they also provide various other information about cyber-bulling, networking for work, and various other stuff.

Inside CRM

Inside CRM is a site that give the latest news that every industry should know and has various other information that can prove to be helpful to any business. This specific link leads to a post that talks about Social Networking sites that every business needs a presence on. It shows how social networking can help a business and also provides which ones can be helpful.

TechCrunch

TechCrunch is a site that provides various posts on information about various tech like apple, andriod, microsoft, and other companies. This link send you to a post about how you can build your own social network in nine different ways. They go on about how various other social networks can to be and what steps they took before the established themselves. Many people have been inspired to make their own networks thanks to this post.

SocialGo

SocialGo provides a basis on what you need to make social networks. If you have an idea of what social network you are going to make but you don't have the hardware, you can go to SocialGo for various pricing that fits you needs.

Nathan

Nathan's main focus on his blog is about technology. He shows how technology has a positive affect on humans in general. He also portrays the direction in which technology is going and what recent inventions are that are mostly used by society. Since social networking is a form of a technological advance, our blogs have a direct relationship with each other.

Angela

This blog created by Angela is about how the Mass Media affects todays society. Specifically she talks about how it affects todays youth. She shows how celebrities, like actors, musicians, and TV hosts, have an affect on what the popular trend is in society which is picked up by the youth first.

Sakib

You can't have social networking without connections! Sakib talks about the App Store and the many apps it provides to it's users made by users. I believe the App Store is one of the best creations made in awhile. People are now able to do this that they never thought was possible before within the grasp of their fingertips. There is an app for almost anything these days and many of them make life easier. How this relates to my blog is that there are many apps in the App Store that make going on social networks a lot easier.

The Social Network

The movie, The Social Network, is a great example of social networking. It depicts the founding of the social networking website, Facebook. This film was directed by David Fincher. This movie discusses many aspects of social networking, such as the creation of a few internet websites, and I will talk about a few that had an impact on me. “FaceMash” was one of the websites. The way it works is that two images of women are shown and male students can pick which woman is more attractive. A student named Mark created this website was put on academic probation because of the way it brought down his school network, and because of the way it was disparaged by the female community. Personally, I think a website such as “FaceMash” is very demeaning and unnecessary. Despite the fact that this website failed and was disowned by the community, in the movie, Mark gained a job as a website programmer due to his capability of simply creating this website. His discovery and exploration into the Internet world helped him to gain this job, so his endeavor wasn’t a total loss.

Another website that was involved in this movie is the creation of “The Facebook.” Regarding this website, lawsuits get involved debating who the real creator was. It was made to let people share social and personal information securely. This is definitely not true nowadays. With my experience of facebook, every wall post, comment, “like”, friend request, event invite, group request, etc. is very public, and almost anyone can find out what you’re doing, as well as when and why you’re doing it as well. Facebook has come to be – for a lack of a better word – stalker central. It is very easy to find out about peoples’ lives. I think it’s great to explore the social networks on the internet, but people should keep in mind that many random people can find out many things that you might not want them to know. In a sense, Facebook should be like a resume. Sharing your personal information is great to socialize and find new friends, but people are always watching. People get busted for pictures that come up on facebook all the time, especially for under-age drinking. Facebook has its good and bad impacts, but people should just be more careful when dealing with such a big and well-known social networking site such as this.

The Social Network Trailer

Clip on Facebook Stalking

Myspace: A Space For Friends

MySpace can be a fun place to spend your time online. It’s a nice way to connect with friends and family and has some great features. The advantages to MySpace include the ability to upload and share video, audio and image files as well as a blog. But blogging is not the main business of MySpace, MySpace’s central focus is social networking. With that said, it’s not a very safe place for children. Parents who allow their kids to access MySpace should take the time to make sure their experience is as safe as it can be.

MySpace is one of many parents’ worst nightmares, although there is nothing really wrong or bad about the site. It’s a social networking site, which means if you’re my friend and he’s your friend, he should be my friend, too. MySpace can be a lot of fun. You can connect with old friends, make new friends, support great bands, share your favorite things and maybe find some new favorites. You’re bound to find someone you know; MySpace consistently ranks at the top of the list of the most popular sites on the web, according to popularity tracking site, Alexa.

MySpace has gotten some bad press about their lack of safeguards for kids, but the fact is that it’s not much worse than any other site with similar features. The sheer number of people using MySpace ensures that it’s going to end up in the news more than some other lesser-known sites. This is hardly a consolation to parents whose children have gone missing, or kids who have faced serious consequences from their online posts, but it is an important reminder to keep an eye on your children regardless of what they’re doing online.

Facebook

It’s nearly impossible in these years not to know about Facebook. Literally more than half the world has a Facebook. Even your Mom has one! Ok back to being serious because that is what the internet is all about.

Facebook is a social network site that started out strictly for college students and was available by invitation only. It is now a cultural phenomenon stretching across the world. With more worldwide users than MySpace, Facebook has taken hold as undisputable leader amongst social networking sites.

The network is made up of hundreds of separate networks based around schools, businesses and regions. Although registration is now open to the public, the site still caters to a college and high school demographic focusing on networking through groups and social activism. Facebook encourages using the site to establish relationships with people you already know and/or friends of friends.

Through "profiles", users are allowed to post pictures, comments, blogs and use apps! Additionally, it has some of the "best" privacy options on the Internet. To be honest the privacy settings aren't that amazing if you don't know what are you doing. The typical user won't even realize that there are privacy settings or won't even use them till they realize that a family member or a friend of the family can find out what they are doing just by search their name.

One of the major downsides to Facebook is it's lack of customization options. However, most users like the design and uniform feel of the site the way it is (you can find info a lot easier!). Choosing between MySpace and Facebook is really a matter of interface preference and going to where your friends are. Even though there is a choice, I believe the best choice is to not have one at all. You end up wasting a lot of time posting random information about yourself that you are going to regret when you apply for jobs or anything else in life.

What's the situation officer?

So what is the situation officer? Most people already criticize social networks since most of them (especially Facebook) lack any sort of sense of privacy. Nowadays, you can literally google someone up, find them on Facebook or any other social network, and you'll find a whole bunch of information in just 5 minutes by looking up their name! But I'm not here to talk about that (even though I kind of already did). I'm here to talk about how social networks have benefitted and harmed our so called "Internet Life" and our "Real Life". So far I haven't found any website that specifically targets this topic so I hope to be the first one to enlighten you on views on social networks.

Introduce the untroduced

Hey, my name is Omar Awadalla. I was born and raised in The Bronx. I went to Brooklyn Technical High School and now attending St. John's University. I'm in the 6 year Pharmacy program (future pill pusher in the making). I love my electronics and can't live with out the Internet.

The purpose of this blog is to discover and explore the social networks that are in the cyber universe and how they affect teenagers and adults alike (like Facebook, myspace, and various others). By doing so, I hope to show others and myself how social networks can benefit and harm one's self.

Btw is untroduced even a word? Comment below what you think.

The Internet Life