Social media and the future....???

• One in five people on the web use Twitter or some other service to check status messages.
• 94% of enterprises plan to maintain or increase their investment in social media tools.
• Social media conversation is no longer considered a Web 2.0 fad -- it is taking place in homes, small businesses and corporate boardrooms, and extending its reach into the nonprofit, education and health sectors.
• A growing number of people now speak of social media as simply another channel or tactic.

How do you think social media will change in the future?
Social networking sites of the future will have to tailor their content to context; the right content to the right audiences at the right time. Social media has become a norm to include friends, family members and employees.  These people use social networking sites to connect with each other wherever they might be in the world.  With the holidays approaching some people might turn to skype to see relatives across the country, or use their new Iphone 4 face time video calling services to connect with a child away at school.  People have been using social media for years, and throughout it hasn't changed a lot, it's just been modified to incorporate people of all ages, skills, and their locations.
There has been a lot of news about privacy lately; I think people will be more cautious about what they post on the web in the future since every blog, status update, email, letter, etc. gets stored and is public despite the settings we may change to protect ourselves on certain sites.
I believe the traffic flow will increase as the generations get older and learn about Facebook, Twitter, My Space, etc thus increasing the popularity of social media.

Radio Frequency ID tags....we might have an ID tag that we use to scan ourselves in whenever we go somewhere like the mall, school, events, etc.  This tag will then store our information and connect us to other people it believes has the same interest as I do.  Take for example if I always go to the Eaton Centre and only walk the second level.  The tag will connect me to other people who do the same.

Are there any specific technologies that you think will gain popularity or emerge?
As technological barriers come down, people will increase the use of their phones to access social networks, search, read content and find location based information. Our phones will be used as a central hub enabling a slew of new capabilities and experiences.  There are millions of apps available for people to download and use like Facebook, Twitter, BBM and more.  Even gaming consoles allow networking like XBox which allows its gamers to join XBox live and chat with other gamers.  Apple is on a roll with their new technological advances they've created thus far.  The Iphone's, Ipad's, Ipod's, etc. are all ways consumers can connect with friends while on the go with its slim designs.  Our televisions might be replaced with a computer since many of our favourite shows can be watched online at our own convenience.

Our cell phones are always upgrading....hence the name smart phone LOL.  I think in the future our cell phones will play a bigger part in our lives than just us chatting away racking up our bill.  It might take on the role of our wallet, allowing us to pay for items by just pressing a button or something.



The future has a lot in store that we just don't know about yet.  Remember back in elementary school when our teachers would ask us to write/draw what we think the future will be like in 2010...well looking back, is it what we thought it would be?


http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/10_ways_social_media_will_change_in_2010.php
http://socialmediatoday.com/igiedrius/172558/future-social-networks

Commons Based Peer Production Methodology

Commons-based peer production is a term coined by Harvard Law School professor Yochai Benkler to describe a new model of economic production in which the creative energy of large numbers of people is coordinated (usually with the aid of the Internet) into large, meaningful projects mostly without traditional hierarchical organization (and often, but not always, without or with decentralized financial compensation) (Wikipedia).  In other words when people collaborate on social media, the action of the individuals produces something new, which adds value to the people.  Benkler defines Peer Production as sharing resources and outputs among widely distributed, loosely connected individuals who cooperate with each other without relying on either market signals or managerial commands. 
An example is open source software products like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and the OpenOffice.org Suite.  Open source software is the most visible instance of commons-based peer production software development that depends on many individuals contributing to a common project who share their respective contributions without any single person owning the rights to the project or controlling the project.  Wikipedia is another example of this as many people can share their ideas on a topic.  However, commons based peer production is not always the best way to go.  Sometimes there may be topics that require a professional opinion and not a response from an average joe.  Topics such as health care like what medications work best for soft tissue injuries or a runny nose.  Also giving legal advice may not be the best opetion to take from a site like Wikipedia unless you know for sure the person giving it is a lawyer.  Taking information from a commons based peer production site like Wikipedia for example should be taken with cautious because you do not know the accuracy of it, and you do not want to rely on it and then you dig yourself deeper in a hole.  There are times when this methodology works well like if you're trying to fix your car and many people have had the same problem before, they post blogs or discussions to help you fix it by telling you what worked for them.  Overall, you just have to be mindful when using information found on the internet because like they teach you in school....Wikipedia is not always your best friend and you can't always rely on Google to get you the information you're looking for.

Social Media...Does it increase or decrease the quality of news and information available to citizens?

I believe social media has increased the amount of news and information one can find on the internet.  Many people now have the opportunity to become their own publisher, author, and editor of information they wish to share with the general public.  With Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Wiki, etc. people can hear about breaking news on a television station, and then go and elaborate on the story informing those who may not have heard about it yet.  Although social media does increase the amount of information out there, it also decreases its quality and credibility.  Some people tend to exaggerate when they hear something, thus making something small seem like it’s something big. In other words social media tends to have a biased point of view, which in return results in a misrepresentation of the actual problem.  

 Social media can be described as a cheap way that has brought fundamental changes in the way we communicate news and information to each other. With the variety of social media sites available people today want to be able to voice their opinions on matters they believe in.  Nobody listens to just one source of information anymore.  With TV stations, newspapers, blogs, podcasts, pictures, etc. there are so many places for one to follow up news information with.  It’s like the experts say “75% of online news consumers say they get news forwarded through email or posts on social networking sites and 52% say they share links to news with others via those means.”  Many credited news publishers like CNN, CBS, Washington Post, etc. are turning to YouTube and podcasts to advertise their information and allow the public to comment since this is the top trend right now.  It is also said that the media published by citizens include groundbreaking news, stories, pictures, and information that is sometimes neglected or forgotten by mainstream media organizations.  Many media companies are also allowing their viewers to participate and have a say in what news is shown.  For example CNN created iReport which allows citizens to send stories, videos, and photos of breaking new wherever they are.

This then goes to show that social media does increase the amount of information available to citizens since large well know companies are jumping on board to accommodate its viewers.   

Social Media: fad or the next best thing?

Social media as we have learned plays a big part of how we carry on our daily lives.  Statistics show that facebook could be the third largest country if it were a country, and youtube is the second largest search engine.  What does this say about the generation now....younger people are choosing to communicate via blogs and texting rather than face to face communication.
 
So, is social media a fad or the biggest shift since the industrial revolution?  My opinion....it's the biggest shift.  But then again, is it social media that's the biggest shift or is it the tools that allow us to use social networking sites the next best thing? 
Many critiques would criticise that the internet was the foundation and gateway to social networking.  Without the internet one could not access social networking sites, and this blog being a form of social media would not exist.

In the past people communicated via telephone, writing letters, or simply sitting down in the living room and catching up.  Now, social networking has infringed on people's communication skills as people do not have to call or see an individual.  Social media sites allow for people to see what goes on in others personal life by viewing their pictures, reading their blogs, and seeing "what’s on their mind."  E-mail was once a way for people to communicate and share photo's, but as we have seen people are no longer choosing that route, as the experts say "generation y and x consider it a passe."  Now people of all ages are choosing social media networks such as facebook, flickr, twitter, and podcast to communicate.

In a nutshell social media is the biggest shift that won't last.  People will see the drawbacks of using these social sites as many employers do use this as a point of reference to determine your personality and professionalism.  As the stats show 80% of companies use social media for recruitment.  Many people tend to post pictures of the stag they went to the night before, or a bachelor party that went out of control.  People are not being cautious enough when uploading or blogging things that are not privacy protected and can be viewed by just about anyone....hence criminals can never hide for long.

All About Me =D

My name is Amanda, and I am in my third year of the Legal Administration program.  I work part-time as a hairstylist, and will be starting hairdressing school in May.  I enjoy shopping, going to car shows, and travelling.