Thursday, June 23, 2011

BGSU SISO Promotion - Lessons Learned and Tips for the Future

The number one thing  I learned when contributing content to the sites we chose, was to make the posts interesting. Even if the subject matter is interesting, users may not read simply because it looks boring. By using images and videos, we can attract users to our site and hope they will read and comment on our posts. I also learned that asking questions and encouraging interaction is important. By interacting with our followers we give them a sense of involvement and in turn give a purpose to the organization. If no one interacts with us it may appear that we wasted time, but in fact we are just building our foundation to promote more in the future. It was very cool to see people actually like our pages and was good motivation for us to continue our work on the sites.

One of the recommendations I have for future classes is to start early. One has no idea how much time is lost over on the course of a few days of not posting. Also, viewers may begin to drop off if no updates are made over the course of a few days. Another recommendation I have is to keep the interaction at a steady pace. If a group interacts with its users intensively for two days then stops for five, users can get frustrated and leave the site. My final recommendation is to post meaningful posts. Don't just post or write on a blog to do it, make sure what you are writing has meaning and is important or insightful to others.

Overall, I learned how to organize and collaborate with others to promote on social media sites. It was a good experience and I learned some important tips if I ever need to promote an event or group in the future using these tools.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Prezi - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

Prezi is a web based presentation tool that can integrate text, videos, and images all into one to create an experience that is entertaining and rich with information. The information on the "slides" are grouped together in a such a way that all can be seen but individual item can be zoomed in on and panned to create a visually appealing presentation. When compared to PowerPoint, it simply blows it our of the water. While from a zoomed out view the information can seem unorganized, but once the show actually starts everything is shown in the proper order making the whole presentation smooth.

The presentations I have seen using Prexi have been more entertaining overall than those that used PowerPoint. Power point slides are simple click and continue presentations which usually are boring and can blend together. Prezi aims to break up the monotony and give those who have to view the presentation some entertainment as well. Prezi can also use the whole picture of the presentation as the presentation too. For example, if a site says "look at this and make sense of it", it may be hard to do so, but if you drill down and go in order the show becomes easy to understand an informative. It is up to the presenter to set up the show to be this way and can have great benefits for those watching.

Businesses can use Prezi to show their new products and services to the public in ways they haven't seen before. Instead of a boring conference where something is announced, they could instead incorporate a Prezi presentation to make the whole experience visually appealing and more interesting overall to consumers. Businesses can also use Prezi to make interactive guides for consumers that are fun to follow instead of long boring pamphlets or instructions to read. Setup guides would be much more entertaining when done in Prezi versus looking through the pages of different languages in instruction books.

Quora - My thoughts, its purpose, and its business use.

Quora is a site that allows users to post questions about anything and answer questions other users may have. The questions and answers are sorted and stored according to topic and can be edited or have suggestions proposed for edits by other users. This site is somewhat similar to other services like Yahoo Answers. When a user answers a question other users can upvote or downvote the answer, allowing the most popular choice to be at the top, usually meaning that it answers the question better than other answers available. This voting method is very similar to that which has been implemented on Reddit.

I think Quora is a neat site since it integrates with Facebook and Twitter. This allows users to see what their friends have questions about or may be able to answer themselves. I can tell that Quora may not be that popular as only one of my Facebook friends is using Quora, although, others may have chose not to connect with Facebook or Twitter. Quora offers a unique way for users to get answers to their questions that they may not be able to find anywhere else on the web.

Quora could be incredibly helpful for a company. A person with a question about the company's product or use could ask on Quora. The company could then answer them directly on Quora. This allows not only the person who asked the question to see the official answer from the company but also others who may be searching for the same information. A business could also pose questions to the public about what the public would like to see happen with products or services. Many companies have educated guesses at what the public wants. With Quora, the company could instead ask the customers directly.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Google Reader/RSS - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

Google Reader is a site that allows users to have rss feeds compiled all in one place. These can be blogs, videos, audio, news pages, or anything that has updates often. These feeds allow users to save time by not having to visit each site individually to see what new content is available. Instead, these rss feeds compile all new content automatically from chosen sites to one place, like Google Reader, saving time. A neat feature on Google Reader is one that marks what the user has seen or not, making only new content visible so there is no unnecessary time wasted scrolling through items that have already been viewed. Users of Google Reader can also share feeds they have enjoyed with others, share notes with others and view others' notes, and view trends in their internet usage on the site.

I have used rss feeds in the past for shows when they came out on Hulu with delayed releases. This way I wouldn't have to keep checking back for the show's new episodes, I could just wait until I was notified. Other than that I have not used rss feeds much but Google Reader appears to have interesting features to set it apart. It takes simple rss features and adds the social aspect of sharing and messaging to make the experience more enjoyable to use.

Businesses can use rss to keep up on the latest trends of the business's industry. They can have the stories delivered right to them through rss and can also deliver their own feeds to customers and the public. Once they have customers on their feeds, their customers will see what new articles or media they have to offer and will be able to read them as soon as they are available, all without having to search around. Overall, Google Reader and rss feeds can save both business and customer time when using the internet, which means more time for producing goods and more time for buying.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

StumbleUpon - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

StumbleUpon is more of a toolbar than a whole site. For example, should a user choose to not install the StumbleUpon toolbar, they will instead be taken to a page where there is a toolbar inside the window itself. You can "stumble" while in this view but if you see something somewhere else on the web you like you cannot "like it" if you do not have that toolbar. The site allows you to select topics you are interested from which the site will pull from to give you images, video, or whatever else the web has to offer that deals with those topics. you click "stumble" to move to a different item and can like or dislike an item. You can can also share what you stumble upon on Facebook or Twitter by clicking their respective buttons.

Being a new user to the site I found it very easy to use and setup my preferences for topics. I then actually used the site without the toolbar. After a few clicks I liked most of what I saw and can now say that I have the toolbar installed. The site had me stumbling and made me not want to stop. It has this sort of appeal of wondering what will come next that kept me hooked. It is easily one of the new time wasters of the web, in a good way. In fact, this site has had me procrastinating on this very blog while I stumble in the background.

The best use for a business is to create something, whether it be a video or image that is tagged as humor or dealing directly with their industry. If users check the box pertaining to their tag, they may get stumbled on. The challenge after being stumbled upon is being able to get people to like it. The business will still need a good marketing campaign but I have seen people recommend certain stumbles through Facebook and a good find on the web can spread like wildfire.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Digg - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

I used to be a Digger before I found Reddit. Digg, before v4, was a user submitted news site which had users either "digging" or "burying" submissions. Those that were liked received a digg and those that were not received a bury. Essentially, whichever stories were receiving the most diggs would be front page. Digg was very unstable during the transition from v3 to v4, which displeased many users. With the implementation of v4 Digg went from user submitted news to publisher created stories and links with some user submitted news. Many users saw this as straying away from the core of what Digg was supposed to be.

Today Digg can be used to find interesting news stories and can be integrated with Facebook connect. The stories on Digg can be broken down into categories, such as business and gaming. Digg is meant to spread news through social media, and it does its job.

Businesses can use Digg to see how people are reacting to news that may be happening in their industry or even with their company and use those reactions to gauge what steps the company should be taking next. Businesses can also follow certain publishers that may be useful to their industry and gain an insight into current events. Other categories, such as technology could even help businesses expand their operations and stay on top of new advances in technology that could help advance the businesses.

Monday, June 6, 2011

LinkedIn - My thoughts, its purpose, and its business uses.

I have been on LinkedIn for the past few years. When I had my internship with Therma-Tru, most people there had accounts on the site. I was encouraged to create one as well due to the fact that many of my coworkers wanted to keep in touch with me in a professional yet social manner. I found the site easy to use and liked the fact that the site was able to pull information off of my resume without having to have me type out all that information again. I have not had to use LinkedIn to contact any prospective employers and have used it sparingly, but always try to keep it up to date. In the future, I plan on looking to LinkedIn to see if any of my contacts have positions open in their companies that I might want to look into.

LinkedIn is a business related social site. It allows coworkers or contacts to stay in touch in a professional manner. It also allows for recommendations that others can see and lists that persons contacts. It opens new doors for people and takes networking in the business world past business cards. It allows people who may have not met, but may have a professional relationship with one person they both know, and possibly start a new business suiting both. Some people may even have recommendations sent to someone over LinkedIn due to its convenience and professional setup. I know past employers have said they look on LinkedIn for potential candidates which really changes the landscape of job searching. Instead of waiting a week to hear back on a resume that was mailed, someone can send a resume and hear back by that afternoon or sooner from prospective employers.

Businesses looking for help can see who is reliable and trustworthy by checking their LinkedIn before interviewing them. Much time can be saved by screening on LinkedIn before interviewing candidates. If they have amazing recommendations, they may even skip a round of interviews, one never knows. A business can also have employees writing positive things about their place of work, making the business more desirable to work for in the eyes of LinkedIn users. The site has over 100 million users and with numbers like that, I'm sure many great workers can be found for companies willing to look.

Check out my LinkedIn profile here.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Delicious - My thoughts, its purpose, and its business uses.

Delicious is a site that helps people store, discover and share the web through bookmarks. I had never used Delicious before writing this blog, but had heard of it. The last time I heard of Delicious it was in its old form of del.icio.us. When using the site I noticed how easy to navigate it was. Also, the site was friendly to many browsing platforms, which is a must for a social networking site. I like the idea behind the site of sharing everyone's aspect or favorite part of the internet. It helps people discover what they may have been missing from  the web that they would probably want to ad to their own bookmarks.

The purpose of the site is to have users share their favorite bookmarks. Say a user reads books often and has favorite sites, such as an author's site. If there is a site related to that author's tag, it can be listed on Delicious, letting that user explore a site they may not have known about. In turn, that user can share a site on Delicious others may not have known about, making the whole experience beneficial for everyone involved. The site serves it purpose and does so quite well.

A business could use Delicious to tag their industry, their service, their product, an event related to their company, or any other tag they want to come up when searched. It can help spread the news about their business or service not by word of mouth, but by word of web. Something someone saw and bookmarked can be shared and visited by a whole new audience that may have been searching for a company just like theirs. This also puts a sort of trust behind the links on Delicious. If a person went out of their way to bookmark a business, others will be more likely to check it out.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Reddit - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

Reddit is "The voice of the Internet -- news before it happens." Reddit contains user submitted news stories on its site. The site has a system of upvotes and downvotes which determine whether or not a story will reach the front page of Reddit. New submissions by a user can be found in the "new" tab. Most posts on Reddit contain clever titles to lure others into clicking on their submission. If those users like it they will upvote, if not the submission gets a downvote. Reddit also contains subreddits which are categories inside the site that users can post directly to, like Pics or Videos, so not all submissions are mashed together in one place. Reddit also has a "random" linkn that one can clikc to be taken to a random subreddit, which can yield some surprising results.


The main reason I go to Reddit is for the humorous submissions. I rarely post myself but enjoy lurking on the site often. If I had to pick between Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit, I would pick Reddit to visit daily. Most of the people on Reddit share the same geeky humor as I and can make some pretty ridiculous comics and memes which have me laughing for quite some time. Reddit also has a serious side with people sharing their life stories and looking for support from other redditors. I tend to shy away from those kinds of articles. Many submissions I enjoy are simply a picture that was taken at the right time and unintentionally becomes hilarious.

Reddit can be used for advertising or even creation of a subreddit for a company. People could post to that subreddit with questions, concerns, videos, pictures, or any other type of electronic media, and the company would be able to respond to them. Reddit also has an advertising section where verified users can post a title and URL of their ad. The site reminds those advertising that "A good title is important to the success of your campaign. reddit users are an intelligent, thoughtful group, and reward those who engage them".  If a business plays its cards right, Reddit can be an invaluable resource when it comes to advertising.

I had created my own subreddit a while back. If you go to reddit/r/BGSU you will see the subreddit I created.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Google Docs - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

Google Docs is a collaboration site for users to post, share, and create word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and PDF files. I have used Google Docs in the past to work on a resume with the aid of someone else. It was very useful to have the updates happen and be able to view them without having to email back and forth. I think Google has done a good job of making a useful tool for basic office tasks, that doesn't have Microsoft's stamp on the site. More and more, professors in online courses have encouraged me to use this tool, which has indeed come in handy.

Google Docs is meant to be a one stop office suite which can be accessed anywhere. It allows users to download all files in their most popular of forms, including OpenOffice and Microsoft standards. Users can store up to 1GB for free on the site or pay $5 for 20 GB or $20 for 80GB per year. It is a very good deal for those who use the site often enough to warrant an upgrade in space. The site could also be solely used as a backup service for documents similar to DropBox, but with the option of editing and collaborating with others.

A business could sign up new hires instantly with a Google username so that they are more encouraged to use Google Docs. Also, since a business may also have its own backup solution, it could used only as a collaboration tool. For small businesses looking for inexpensive backup options, Google Docs could be the way to go. The site's Wikipedia page also mentions offline versions of Google Docs coming in the future, which could save businesses a lot of money in licensing to Microsoft for office products. This could change the way Microsoft handles the pricing and packaging of their office suite.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Wikipedia - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

Wikipedia is a go-to site for me when researching a topic. Often, when I find something on Wikipedia, the article will have all the information I need in order to complete an assignment or just learn more about a certain topic. In high school, we were banned from using Wikipedia as a source for any papers we wrote. While it is understandable that the idea of "user submitted" information can be incorrect, Wikipedia is usually pretty good at verifying sources. For example, instead of actually citing Wikipedia as a source, I would look at the in line citation in the article, then find that source at the bottom of the page and use that as my source. I enjoy the fact that Wikipedia is a threshold of information that anyone can contribute to, from school kids to research teams at a University. As long as the information is correct, it will stay up. I think this gives the site a kind of "soul", like it's not just one persons thoughts and ideas flowing, but instead, a collective knowledge at our fingertips. To show how easy it is to create a login ID and a wiki page, I have don just that, and uploaded it here.

The purpose of Wikipedia is to be a collaboration tool for everyone and anyone who is willing to share their knowledge about any topic. While some people may contribute false information in order to prove how people shouldn't use Wikipedia; if the site is used properly, it can be an invaluable resource for information seekers.The site also verifies information submitted through sources provided by the user. Also, if people constantly are spamming the site with false information, their IP can be blocked and anyone on that IP will no longer be allowed to edit on Wikipedia. A funny story about that, my high school librarian was trying to prove a point and ended up getting the whole school blocked from editing Wikipedia pages, which was humorous to me, because she kept submitting false information as examples.

A business can use a Wikipedia page for project collaboration, social messages, logs, and many other uses. Since Wikipedia is free businesses should also use it to save on expenditures for similar software packages. While outside users may be able to see their information and even edit it, the site should not be a primary source, but can be used for simple message board posts. Overall, Wikipedia is a fantastic tool when used properly and has many possibilities for information and knowledge sharing.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Youtube - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses

Youtube is a video sharing site where users can upload, view, and comment on videos. I personally love Youtube. If there is a video on the web, which isn't illegal, Youtube probably has it. I often will search the site for a video before I even think of going to Google. Many people also like to use Youtube for playing music, since many music videos are hosted on the site. To me, Youtube isn't trying to be a social network. While I understand that it has some aspect of a social site, such as subscribing and messaging, it is concentrated on videos, and I think it does a superb job.

Youtube's purpose is to host user uploaded videos. Simple as that. The site was purchased by Google and has only gotten larger since then and has expanded its viewing features. Originally all videos were in SD, but now videos can be viewed in 1080p or even higher when available. To me, a service that is as reliable and as good of quality as Youtube is a definite bookmark.

A business could use Youtube to show off a new product with description. For example, my previous internship was with a door manufacturer and they had many videos that instead of sending a customer a pamphlet or dvd video, they would simply ask if they had the internet and then point them to the proper video. Youtube can also help or hurt businesses by listing user reviews of the product under the video (even though this feature can be disabled).  Businesses could also respond to user's questions by having the customer showing on their own Youtube channel how they are using a product and perhaps having the company respond with a video showing proper use or installation. There are many possibilities for business application for Youtube, and the possibilities can only grow over time.

To show the ease of Youtube, I uploaded a horribly done video from an accounting project my sophomore year.... here you go.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Facebook: My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

Facebook is a social networking site that aims to put your face on the web. Back in the day I was on Myspace, as were many of my friends. As I got older and Myspace seemed to be riddled with ads, I decided to close my account since I never visited it anymore. The first time I saw Facebook was when my sister, who was in college at the time, was able to get an account because she had a ".edu" email address to register. At the time, I remember I could not create an account due to that fact. Once I was in high school it opened up to more people and I created account. Ever since then, I have had the same account and just upgraded my contact email to reflect my bgsu.edu address.

To me Facebook is how I connect to my friends and family. I usually will contact them through the site before I email them. I enjoy using the site and the fact that the site updates often with new features, even though some users despise the fact.

The purpose of Facebook, as I mentioned, is to make our social lives, online. When people go to a party, they can relive the moments of the party, they may or may not remember, on Facebook the next morning. Events can be planned with friends or the public and people can even sell items on Facebook's Marketplace. Chat functionality keeps people who choose to have their presence shown online in contact, and a messaging function is also available.

Businesses can use Facebook like any other person would. They can schedule events, advertise sales promotions, show their products, interact with customers, and even chat with them one on one.  While at my previous internship at Therma-Tru Doors, in Maumee, Ohio, the company rolled out their own Facebook page to advertise and keep in contact with customers and employees. Therma-Tru also utilizes Facebook to inform the public of its history and has an invitation to its main site to learn more. To see their site you can follow the link here.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Twitter - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

Twitter allows users to send a read messages of others of up to 140 characters. These messages are not long and are not intended to convey much information. The messages sent out by users are called tweets, in relation to the sound a bird makes, which is short and quick. My experience with the service so far is mixed. When twitter first came out I signed up for the service when I saw a positive post about the site on Digg. However, at that time, none of my friends really used the service so it was kind of pointless for me. When I created a new account, I noticed how easy it was to follow those you know, keep them updated on what you are doing, see what they are doing, and post little messages for everyone to read. I also enjoy how simplistic the site is in design. It has large buttons, is easy to read, and is self-explanatory.

The purpose of twitter is to provide users with a way to converge their current social networks. In a, one tweet can replace IM away messages, location statuses, and light blogging. While twitter cannot replace full-scale blogging sites, like blogger.com, it isn't trying to. The site, and its users, seem content with twitter and its features. While twitter does server its purposes of enabling people to send simple messages to those that follow them, some may find the service pointless. Other sites, such as facebook, implemented similar status updates in their site after twitter gained popularity on the web.

I think twitter is best for small businesses. It can help start-ups or small businesses establish relationships with customers. If customers have easy questions for the company, the company could just reply with @customer's name. This gives the company a personal feel and that's what people want. They like to know that they are listened to and by directly responding to a tweet, the customer would know they are being heard. Another use for a business could be a custom catering or other custom service. A customer could tweet a last minute request and those monitoring the twitter site within the company could quickly make the change, all without the need for a phone call and possibly being put on hold and wasting the customer's time. Overall, twitter is useful for both customers and businesses wishing to communicate quickly and effectively with each other.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Blogger - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

Blogger is a service which allows its users to post messages for free and provides public links for others to read. I personally have never blogged. I have in the past used a site called SquareSpace, which helps users launch ready made websites which can include a blog as an option but I only did that to play around with the technology. Blogger seems like a fairly straightforward service, as its name implies. It has some templates available, as I have applied to my blog.  Overall, I find the service very easy to use, which is good as I will be utilizing it over the course of the next few weeks.

Blogger's purpose is simple. Allow its users to empty their thoughts onto a simple and easy platform and allow others to read their thoughts. According to Wikipedia, some features of the site were originally fee based. After Google acquired Blogger.com's creator, Pyra Labs, Google allowed all features to be used free of charge. The purpose of that move was to encourage more people to use their service. Blogger also offers a "Monetize" option. This can be beneficial for those who may have many readers, to generate revenue for them.

Blogger could be crucial for small businesses and large alike. Small businesses could keep a blog to help establish and maintain relationships with customers and suppliers. Large businesses can also benefit by being able to easily communicate official messages to the public in a quickly and with great ease. People may also implement a blog on Blogger in order to test out a new idea and possibly build a customer base by taking suggestions or even finding potential partners through other blogger's interests.