Social Media Use is Soaring—Time to Reconsider Your 2013 Strategy

What did you learn about the growing trends in the use of social media?

There are amazing trends in the growing use of social media. More people are connecting to social media for longer periods of time. Mobile apps of social media are used more often then on a laptop or computer because it is easier to access on your phone. Many people use social media to gain their information on whats going on in the world rather than watching the news. Social media has seen a bit of a decrease but it still dominates modern society.

What takeaways do you see from the data?

Social media is easier to access on one's phone because everyone always has their phone on them. Any chance people get to use their phone, they will. They will use their phone for a few seconds when their teacher isn't looking or for a few minutes while they are going to the bathroom. The society we live in is addicted to their mobile devices and social media. Tons of social media is specialized to certain demographics which keeps people coming back if it appeals to them. The world may be addicted to social media but it is free and people will keep taking advantage of these free opportunities to be connected with people and the world around them. 

Technology & Internet:  10 Social Media Tips Every Business Needs to Know

How does business uses social media?

Business's use social media to promote their product because they can send out coupons and advertisements which are much more accessible digitally and consumers who receive these will spread it around to their friends. Marketing and networking enables business's to grow and increase popularity. 

Where you surprised by what “social media is NOT?”

I was not surprised what social media is not. Social media hinders business's to have more face to face relations with consumers. This turns away a lot of people but sometimes it is a necessary sacrifice. Many people ignore emails from business's about products and sales which is not helpful in advertising products. Social media only adheres to a younger generation so you will lose business from older people and people that are less tech savvy. Social media networking also takes a while to build up from the ground, the takeaway may be worth it but you have to put in the time and work in order to have your social media sites grow. 

Describe some of the things that "social media IS?"

Social media is fast growing, a time de-railer and FREE. Social media appeals to the younger generation who is constantly on social media. They will share the advertisements and other promotions they receive with everyone. A major benefit of social media is being able to reach people from all over. With constant access to consumers, your business and its popularity will constantly grow and evolve.

What are the takeaways for business from this article?

Social media helps business's grow and evolve. From advertising, promotional materials, email campaigns, websites, blogs and personal networking, social media is a key way for business's to connect with consumer about products and tons of other things. The society we live in is all about innovation and growth, social media is the #1 way to become innovate, grow, expand and connect.

Web 3.0

Web 3.0 or semantic web is very complex but a simple new medium for viewing, consuming, and sharing media. Basically, Web 3.0 is the internet being able to understand everything. For example, Web 3.0 is like Siri on an I-Phone but much more complex and has a greater understanding for detailed knowledge. 

Web 3.0 is able to see the big picture that is the human condition and everything it embodies. This applies meaning to any and all information. The future is very exciting and Web 3.0 is in it. We already have numerous elements of Web 3.0, we must now put it all together. Web 3.0 is the definition of modern media convergence and the transformation into the future of media and technology.

Blogging on Politics

The second 2015 GOP debate took place at Simi Valley, California on September 16th, 2015. A little over a month since the last debate, many of the candidates were eager to get more air time and go up in the polls. Every candidates goal for the evening was to try and make strong points and appeal to the people of America on the road to the 2016 presidency. The eleven candidates that took part in the debate on CNN were Scott Walker, Donald Trump, Marc Rubio, Rand Paul,  John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Jeb Busch, and Ben Carson. The debate was the highest-rated broadcast in CNN history with 23 million viewers. The main highlights of the night were Iran, abortion, Carly Fiorina, Donald Trump and much more.

Many of the candidates took to trashing each other on things the other candidates have said and on other candidates past achievements or lack there of. Carly Fiorina was the main standout of the debate. She did a fantastic job of defending her appearance after Donald Trump's negative comments towards her. Her true character showed after her moving words on her stepdaughter that passed away due to drug abuse. Fiorina then continued to help herself in the polls by denouncing abortion and showing her intentions for it if elected. I thought Fiorina did a fantastic job of hurting Trump's appeal towards women voters and raising her popularity with well spoken points.

Donald Trump continued to bring tons of entertainment with his campaign. He has done a great job of stirring up the other Republican candidates and making them worried and aggressive. Trump had numerous battles with Jeb Bush throughout the night which helped and hurt both at the same time. Trump's views on immigration led to Bush asking Trump for an apology on his comments towards his wife as well. For the rest of the debate, Trump didn't seem very eager to jump in on discussions about real matters. Trump spent most the time defending himself or insulting other candidates, however Trump is still the most popular candidate currently.

The rest of the pack had many positives and negatives. The Iran Deal was a huge topic for Mike Huckabee and Nelson Cruz to talk about. They both gave their own opinions for why they hate the deal and what they would do if elected in office to help the Western civilization against nuclear weapons. All the candidates had mixed opinions on foreign policy. Marc Rubio explained how Putin is a "gangster" in Russia while Trump believed he would get along very well with Putin. This gives voters different views to consider on candidates foreign policies. 

The Republican candidates have many mixed opinions and views that make dividing the pack very difficult. Ben Carson and Chris Christie had solid points to contribute but neither of them helped themselves in the polls. Many candidates spoke about personal experiences to connect with viewers and try to rise from the pack. About a year from the election, the GOP debates are proving more of pure entertainment rather than conversations on serious matters from our future countries leader. The candidates are still in very preliminary stages for a long presidential run and a hopeful career for one as President. The next few debates will hopefully prove more showing and hopeful than the last two.

The link below is for a video that provides a summary of the second GOP debate. The video focuses on main points from the night and other drama that arouse as the debate continued.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XLQIy0bBdg 

The link to the picture below is a great summary of the night. We see Donald Trump and his punching bag Jeb Bush arguing. Bush seems to be Trump's favorite target to go after so far in this campaign. This was one of many times in the night the two were seen arguing and going at each other. 

http://twt-thumbs.washtimes.com/media/image/2015/09/16/2401bc25d7df3829820f6a7067003b7d_c0-19-3627-2133_s561x327.jpg?6c237130b2ff54a9797d7cb52e26cb91527e1592 

Questions for the documentary “Virtual Revolution” part 1, 2, and 3.

1. 

The web is celebrated as the revolutionary technology that is great

leveling of humanity creating equal opportunity, equal access, and equal

potential. However, there are only a quarter of people on the earth who

can use it. How do you explain the controversial argument here?

-The web is indeed considered the revolutionary technology that is the great leveling of humanity creating equal opportunity, equal access, and equal potential. Three quarters of the world has access to the revolutionary tool of the web, however the other quarter does not. There are places in the world like Africa where people do not have access to the web and other places where people don't have enough to afford a computer.

2. 

How is Wikipedia the best example to implement the leveling ideas of the

Web rooted in the cultural revolution of 1960s, namely the

Libertarianism in the counter culture? How does it explain some of the

digital convergences?

-The Libertarianism movement was against censorship and state control. Wikipedia always everyone and anyone to post, share, and edit content. This is an example of media convergence because it shows many individuals can connect and share information all over the world. 

3. 

How does the Web make it possible for different kinds of digital

convergence?

-The Web makes it possible for different kinds of digital convergence because there are numerous websites where one can share videos, blogs, posts, pictures, etc. The ability to view and share all of these options enable many people to spread this capability all over the world.

4. 

How can the Internet become a challenge for traditional authority? Use

the political landscape changes in some counties to illustrate your

answer.

-The Internet can become a challenge for traditional authority because they have no say what people post and share on the Internet. The Arab Spring is a huge example of using Internet to defy authority and spread a point. The series of protests throughout the Middle East were made public after Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire. The Tunisian resident lit himself on fire in protests against the government. The video and pictures from this event went viral all over the internet. Traditional authority has no protection against different media outlets getting their hands on these videos and pictures and making them more available to the public. 

5. 

Do you believe that getting information free can set us free eventually?

Why or Why not? Do you see any concerns of the complete freedom or

self-expression without limit on the Internet? Why or why not?

-There is a lot of freedom and self-expression on the Internet. The culture of the Internet revolves around anyone being able to post and share content. Information is readily available to anyone which is a positive and negative. In addition to information being readily available, many people can alter certain information posted to the Internet. There will always be people who abuse the power of freedom, in this case it would be the freedom of Internet. 

6. 

In traditional media communication, it has the “vertical” authority. In the

Web communication, it becomes “horizontal?” How do you explain the

change? How does this create the possibility for digital media

convergence?

-Media communication has "vertical" authority which allows more credibility to what people post on the Internet. Media communication that is "horizontal" has more freedom to post and share any content. This creates the possibility for digital media convergence because now people don't have to deal with the "vertical" authority of media. "Horizontal" media is the way most people go now a days. They can post anything they want which leads to an endless amount of content having the ability to be posted. 

7. 

Why is that the Web is free critical for the success of the Web itself? How

does that clash with the corporate business ideology? How does that pose

challenges for copyright issues at the same time? What will happen if the

Web is not free?

-The Web is free which leads to success because with it being available to many people, digital media convergence and "horizontal" media is more readily available to people and can be spread around. This clashes with the corporate business ideology because corporate business aren't making money off of the "horizontal" media. Corporate business's would love to have people pay to use Internet but this would deter people from posting and sharing all over the Internet. Digital media convergence would be hindered with the lack of use because the Internet would be no longer free. TV and Internet are for to us,  however business's are able to have ads all over which leads to them gaining revenue while everyone else is able to enjoy the freedom.