Social Media to Come (The Future of the Advancement of Social Media)

     Where will social media be ten years from now? Prior to writing this current blog post, I came across this blog entitled, "What's the Future of Social Media?". I was definitely interested in the blog because I was preparing for this blog post. The blog includes a list of three things that social media would be affected by in the years to come.
     The first point was, Complete decentralization of social networks: The concept of a friend network will be a portable experience. I took this a meaning, the ways of accessing social networks will advance to portable form, which is already has. The advancement of technology has created ways that, in my opinion, has popularized social media. For example, modern cellular phones, specifically smart phones, have things called "applications" that are applied to the mobile device. The application is software that is usually downloaded and used as a direct link to a certain websites, books, games, etc. This is very accessible for those who are frequent social networkers.
     I personally, have an iPhone, and I am available the purchase and download applications to a network that I am most familiar with, Facebook. With the press of one button I can immediately go to this network as much as I want. I believe that this make certain social networks more popular, because they are easily accessible. I have become a frequent "twitterer" because of the fact that I can access it at any point. Twitter is a social network that enables its users to send and read other users' messages called tweets. I have known about Twittter for about 3 years now but just recently became a fan. Most tweets contain people's thoughts, their where abouts, random information, etc. I am the type of person that he I can not be fully involved in something I do not want to be involved as much. However, after I received my application software filled Mobile device I definitely wanted to be a part of the the "twitter society", so to speak.
     Portability is just one aspect of the advancement of social networks, and I am sure that there is more to come with the extremely popular form of entertainment and communication via Internet.

Social Media Networking outside of the U.S.

     Since social media is a group of Internet-based applications created in the U.S. it never occurred to me that social media networks were readily available outside of the U.S. When I discovered social media existed in foreign countries, I read an articled that discussed how social media uses marketing tactics as a key strategy for any business's global marketing communication strategy.
     According to data published by Internet World Stats in June 2010, the top five countries with the highest proportion of Internet users are China with 21.4%, the USA with 12.2%, Japan with 5.0%, India with 4.1% and Brazil with 3.9%. I was definitely shocked that the U.S. was not number one, however I was not shocked that China beat put the U.S. because it is the world's second largest economy.
     When I stumbled across an article entitled "Majority of Twitter Accounts Are Outside the U.S." I was very interested because I never would have thought that an American Phenomenon would be so popular outside of the country. When I started thinking about it I thought, well maybe this is not as absurd as I would think. American entertainers are famous over seas so why not the social media networks? The article states, According to stats just released from Twitter more than 60% of Twitter users reside outside the United States. International expansion has been on the rise since last year, when Twitter began launching in languages other than English.
     With this being said it brought up a conversation that I had with a family member of mine as we discussed how Wikipedia, user-contributed online encyclopedia, plans to open its first non-US office, Wikimedia,  in India as it seeks to take advantage of the country’s open Internet culture. This shows how popular Americanized networks are becoming more an more used outside of the U.S. that they have to create a foreign operating office. In my opinion its only a matter of time when all major American social media networks become direct to foreign countries.

Myspace vs. Facebook

     I signed up for a Myspace account in 2005 when I was a sophomore in high school. In my opinion I was a late Myspace bloomer, so to speak. Most of my peers had Myspace accounts since we were in middle school, eighth grade to be exact. At that point in time I would have to say that my social life was in limbo and there was no need, in my opinion. During those years I felt that Myspace was a network for middle and high school students to create a profile for themselves and communicate via Internet with people they were going to see in first period the next morning. Therefore, I felt that there was no need for me to be involved in that aspect of social media networking. However, one day the investigative journalist came out of me and I began to become curious. I then created an account and it was fun for a while. When I say fun I mean, creating the page with several visual effects for backgrounds, and threading information, videos, songs, pictures etc. After changing my back ground several times and uploading every picture I had ever taken, Mypace became boring for me. I realized that I would be wasting so much time out of my day for no apparent reason. In my opinion I feel as though people who used or currently still use Myspace had no "real' reason for that particular network.
     Then came Facebook. I learned about facebook when I was a senior in high school, and just like Myspace I was a late bloomer. However, I created and still have a Facebook account because in my opinion it is more than just a social website, it is business and personally oriented as well. I feel that the limit of manual graphic, and the ability to communicate with the event setups and the status updates gives this network an age limit. My roommate once told me that she did not get involved with Facebook until late high school because she thought that it was ultimately for college students. I believe that although it should not have an age limit, certain people should reframe. Facebook has opened so many opportunities for me as far as networking is concerned it saddened me to see how students are being bullied and loosing there lives over a simple status update.
    Ultimately, I believe that Facebook is for a more mature audience, and has certain aspect to it that can obtain that audience. I would not consider it a network that has come to override Myspace, but for it to be more of a more developed version, or "upper echelon of media networks" as a classmate stated to me one day.

Maintaining Privacy in the world of "Social Media"

     Privacy is the ability to seclude certain information about yourself, from public and private viewing of others. When a person creates something as minuscule as an email account you have to provide personal information for identity verification such as; full name, address, phone number, date of birth, alternate email address, etc. Depending on the information given anyone can receive this information and use it ti their advantage. These people or "things" are called hackers.
     A hacker is a person who breaks into computers and computer networks, to "steal" personal information. I say the word "steal" because one who "hacks" into someone's personal accounts is doing so without the consent of the owner of the account. There has been instances where these "hackers" get a hold of this personal information and either publicly humiliate people or ultimately track them down to their front door. To avoid becoming a victim of "hackers" I would advise people to change their passwords frequently. If this is not possible then simply differentiate your passwords, if there are several, so that they are not all alike. I had to learn this on my own. Some people may be like me, where they may use the same password for everything. This is dangerous because if you were a victim of hacking once you are definitely a target, therefore constant change in your passwords is needed.
     When describing "hackers" above, I used the word "things" as well as people. I say this because, yes people are hackers, as well as systems. There are computer generated systems that are more advanced in "hacking" as well. For example, when I have been on the social media network Facebook, I have gotten instant messages from some friends that would tell me to go to a certain websites to view certain objects or just to get information. This is not real! This is an example of a computer generated "hacker" who has gotten into one of my friend's account and is sending out messages to get people to either view these web pages as a form of advertisement, or for the most part, to view a virus. This has happened to me on several occasions when I would follow the link given to me, which resulted in my computer receiving a virus.
     With this being said, there is a new way that applications preserve privacy. After signing up for an account most people now are given a box with words that are written in a very weird way with letters and numbers, which is a way to identify computer generated hackers.
     As far as privacy is concerned for Facebook, their are several ways to preserve privacy not just for the account, but just for viewing purposes. I have ways of blocking people from viewing my status updates, pictures, wall posts as well as the whole entire page. Ultimately you should be very careful with the information that you provide on the internet because there are several ways for this information to be taken and used in many ways without your permission.

Rapper's success based on Social Media Stardom

     Above is a video of Rapper Soulja Boy, speaking about how he is the product of social media fame. Soulja Boy's smash hit “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” in 2007, made him one of the youngest performers to have a number one hit on Billboard’s Hot 100, has used social media to become a hip-hop star. I thought that this interview was very interesting because it is rare that people become such eminent entertainers just from being social media stars.
     Soulja Boy actually began putting his music on Myspace, I social media networking website. From there he began to receive several listeners and fans. He he then used music download service soundclick.com, a website for free music download, to launch his career while still in high school. From broadcasting his music on many social media networks as well as creating mixtape and songs made for download, his listener rate skyrocketed and he was finally signed to a record label. Although he gets flack about how his talent does not overpower his fame, it still stands that he seems to be a very successful former social media star, who has progressed to the music industry as well as Hollywood.

Socialmedia.com

     With the topic "social media" fresh on my mind, I became more, and more curious. I wanted to know more about it. Not just the history of social media such as who started it when it began and why, but specifically how has it advanced over the years and its different aspects.
     When I googled the term social media, one of the websites that comes up is socialmedia.com. When I first saw this website I thought maybe this is a website that had something to do with the different types of social media networks, and their components. However, it seemed to be something totally different. The website socialmedia.com is basically a website for people powered advertising. According to Kurt Abrahamson, "SocialMedia.com increases advertising effectiveness by incorporating social features and functions into conventional online creative units." This website allows online retailers to publish high-performing ads to be viewed for specific products. It was started in 2007 and has been successful for four years now.

Are You a Skyper?

    While I was sitting at a session during a journalism forum someone asked me if I was a "Skyper". As I am thinking of a way to answer this question, I then as myself, what is a skyper? Before actually verbalizing the quesition I figured out that the root word in "Skyper" was Skype. Skype is software that enables the world's conversations, (skype.com). I then aswered, "well occasionally". I have a skype account, however I very rarely use it, and when I do, I only use it to talk to my friends back home who I would not see for months living in a city that is a three hour drive away.
     The person that asked me if I was a "Skyper" was a very professional person who has been successful for years. I wondered how did they know about skype. It boggled me that someone of her magnitude would interest themselves in an activity that was popular among college students. Little did I know, there was more to Skype then I thought. The woman explained to me that several people around the world as well as businesses use Skype to make free video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files with other Skype users. I did not know that something I thought was just a social aspect amongst my peers was a new technological resource that has not only molded friendships, but sustained business deals and produced important interviews as well. This shows that social networking goes beyond websites, but has made technological advancements as well.