Wishing every one a great Holiday and hope to see everyone back for the double digit years!
*T*
Monday, December 7, 2009
End of the Semester at UT
Well, my zero years are over for classes at UT. Now comes the double digits, 2010, 2011, you get the point. It is always amazing what I have learned over the course of the semester in the more technical software classes or classes like I had this semester - blogs, podcasting, and vodcasting. I definitely will be using them in the future to enhance some of my social networking "stuff" and hopefully even in my job on the UT IT HelpDesk (I hope to do a Blog). Anyway, I just want to make a New Years resolution for the double digit years, to go back and keep using the stuff I have learned in the zero years. I need to get back in Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop and keep a handle on this podcating and blogging "stuff."
Monday, November 30, 2009
Social Networking and Business
I found a great article on social networking and business. It is about what a Harvard Business professor found when he researched what people actually do on Facebook and also the stats of Myspace. Using these findings, the professor advises businesses how to market. Harvard Business Professor Mikolag Jan Piskorski spent years researching the social networking sites. He found that there are gender differences, site differences (such as Facebook vs Twitter), as well as other surprising findings. It seems that Piskorski researched the web logs on what people do on these sites (i.e. Facebook, Myspace) and found that what most people are drawn to is pictures and profiles (70%). He believes that people post pictures to show they are having fun and that way don’t have to boast that they are. People view because it is a way to look into someone’s live without really prying into really private information. Even in photo viewing there is gender differences. Piskorski stated that mostly men look at women they don’t know, followed by women they know. Women on the other hand look at other women they know.
When looking at a more text based SN site, like the new kid Twitter, Piskorski also found gender differences. He states, “Women actually say things, guys give references to other things.” In addition to all these findings, he also found that even though people are saying that “No one uses MySpace,” that after analyzing the database of 100,000 Myspace users that smaller populated cities and communities in the south participate in Myspace. Hotspots for Myspace seem to be places like Fort Worth but not Dallas, Tampa but not Miami, and “Alabama, Arkansas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Florida.” Laura Lake reported some fascinating statistics about Facebook. She stated that from September 2008 to February 2009 the number of Facebook users between the ages of 35 and 44 increased 51%, between ages 45-54 by 47%, and ages 26-34 increased 26%. The data shows that Facebook users are not just for the high-schoolers and college goers, in fact there are 140 million Facebook users out of college.
So what does all this data show and mean to businesses? Can and how do businesses market on these SN sites when there are differences in gender and other ways they communicate? Probably the best conclusion that was found is through the man who has looked at the difference extensively. Harvard Professor Mikolag Jan Piskorski states that these types are not to be thought of like other social media sites, where people just click through to a business site. He believes it does not work that way. He advises business to develop a “social strategy” that involves fulfilling social needs. This is what has made the SN sites so popular from the beginning. The SN fulfilled the need that the offline world did not meet – this is where the strategy begins. His words in a concise phrase are, “…come to the table and say, Here is a product that I designed for you that is going to make you all better friends” and make your product more social.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Look at all the Wireless Mice!
Buyer beware at the wireless mouse market! Take a look at this page: http://www.bizrate.com/pointing-devices/products__keyword--wireless+mouse__sort--7.html As you can see, there are a lot of wireless mice out there. I was thinking about purchasing a wireless mouse for my work desk, but I don't have much money to spare so some of the sales for Black Friday looked pretty good. Since I have used this site in the past and it worked out fairly well, I thought I would try it again to make sure I don't get a low quality mouse. You can sort on ratings, or price, and also look at the shipping by putting in your zip code. Although I like using this site for ratings, I don't like some of the companies they have to order from so you may want to check out nextag: http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/OutPDir.jsp?nxtg=2d170a280512-9FB424F89DB7D0B1&search=wireless+mouse&psort=10&node=300245. I like this because you can also sort on other factors and the stores it brings up to buy from are more familiar (Office Max, Newegg, etc.). I guess my point is this: If you see an ad for this shopping season for a cheap wireless mouse, check out the ratings first and the prices on line before you bite. You may save your self some frustration.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Blogging Classes & Books
Blogging classes and books can be so helpful. My class in blogging, podcasting and vodcasting had an assignment this week on enhancing your blog. I had no idea you could do so many things to your blog that could potentially make you money! With AdSense ads and Amazon banners for people to search and shop, you have income potential! Wow.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Facebook Privacy Settings and Making Group Lists
Facebook is an extremely popular social network site that has millions of users all across the world. With this much traffic, it is wise to pay close attention to privacy settings to protect your personal information. Recently I read an article posted by a fellow student in class where I discovered how to establish friend list groups that work perfectly to apply privacy settings to several people at one time. Since then I have been telling and showing several people. Through this vodcast, I hope to establish why it is so important to be concerned with privacy on Facebook, and also show you how to create groups to be able to protect your information easier. You can check out my Vodcast on this subject at http://thagedorn.podbean.com/
Monday, November 2, 2009
Skype
Skype has been around for about five years. Skype allows people with a pc, Internet, microphone and speakers to make free calls to other Skype users and you can also pay a nominal fee to use Skype to talk to someone on a land line. With a webcam, video calls are also free. Additional features of Skype include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing. Oprah has used it for both nationally and international interviews on her show.
Skype was bought by Ebay in 2005, but it did sell 65% just in the last two months. It is the largest international phone call provider in the world. Skype revenues are expected to double to $1 billion by 2011. In 2008, international calls shot up by 40% compared to 2007, with 25 billion Skype to Skype free internet calls and another 8 billion paid minutes that come from Skype to land line phones. From Telegeography’s research, International call volume (of all calls) have jumped from 71.7 billion in 1997, to 343 billion in 2007. Because of Skype, profits were significantly reduced.
Skype has allowed me to keep in touch with my nieces in Texas and my cousin in London. Check it out some time! www.skype.com
Monday, October 26, 2009
What do you think IT means?
What exactly is Information Technology? What does this area include? Check out the following links and see what you think. It seems that IT is a very broad term that encompasses so many different areas.
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