LJ4

This has probably been my favorite module by far. We learned about different types of social media and then within social media, the web tools that they incorporate.  Probably the most popular form of Social Media is Social Networks, or it is in my opinion. The most popular web tool in social media probably is Facebook. Social Media is becoming the main form of communications in this generations. It will probably take over all forms of face-to-face everyday conversations. There are programs, such a Skype, where you can video chat over the internet through a computer or a phone. It's actually a neat program, because if someone in your family has moved away, say overseas, it's an easy form of staying in contact with them and the best part is that you will still be able to see them through a webcam. Some companies do web seminars using programs like Skype. It will be the way of the future and you won't even have to leave the comfort of your own home eventually all together.

We learned how to use a tool called Delicious, which is a Bookmarking Site. What you do is download Delicious to your toolbar. You find websites that you think are useful for whatever you want people to see, you bookmark them and tag them to a specific list, that way when you're done finding what you want, you give the link to your bookmark list, and people can access the websites that you have found.

Another thing we learned was about LinkedIn and Twitter. Twitter is a microblogging website where you can "tweet" a small update. It can consist of anything, from how you're feeling, to what you're doing, or you can "retweet" what someone else has said, that you are following. LinkedIn is more for businesses. It's like the professional version of Facebook. You can pretty much put anything and everything about you on there. You can put what schools you have gone too, what honors you have received, where you have worked, what kind of jobs you have done, and you can list qualities that you have. A lot of businesses are looking at LinkedIn profiles and are offering jobs on there. It's a good website to set up an account on and list all your background information for a professional field.

There are six types of social media.

1. Social Networks (Facebook, LinkedIn)
2. Bookmarking Sites (Delicious and StumbleUpon)
3. Social News (Digg and Reddit)
4. Media Sharing (Youtube and Flickr)
5. Microblogging (Twitter)
6. Blog Comments and Forums (Blogger, Wordpress)

Here's a video about the revolution of social media which I thought was really cool!




One of the social media tools that we used was Glogster.com . With that website you can make an online digital poster about anything that you want. It can be used for school, businesses, or anything actually. I made mine on Instagram.

Here's my Glog. http://bmerritt717.edu.glogster.com/merrittsocialweblab9

What amazes me is how many businesses use social media to help promote their businesses. Like on Facebook, they can set up a page for their business so people can check out what their business is about, the location and they can review, whether it be a product or a restaurant. It can help a business with no reputation, earn one. Some of the businesses I have added on Facebook, they have online coupons that are only through Facebook. So you have to like their Facebook page in order to have access to the coupons. Some companies do contests through Facebook, they also do them through Twitter.

The Facebook discussion we had, had to do with Digital vs face-to-face conversations. It had to do with what we preferred, face-to face conversations or through texting and digital communication. Personally I prefer face-to-face that way I know exactly what the person means behind what they say, like their emotions. I also stated that kids today are becoming more and more reliant on technology and digital sources to communicate with people. Pretty soon, they're not going to have a clue how to interact with each other face-to-face. Kids are starting out way too young using technology. What happened to hanging out with friends and going outside on an adventure or making a fort in your bedroom. Technology can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Terminology:

Social Networking- sites that allow individuals to create online personal and professional network

Content Sharing sites- allow users to recommend their favorite news story or other web content by clicking a link on a web page

Short Message Service (SMS)- text messaging

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)- messages with audio and video

Social Opinion Sites- sites where you can check out user reviews for products, movies, books, travel accommodations, local restaurants and local service providers