Next year, the U.S government plans to enact a bill that allows law enforcement and security officials to monitor activity in all forms of communication on the Internet, this includes encrypted emails, social networking sites, and direct peer to peer messaging like Skype.  According to an article by Huffington Post, the reasoning behind the internet monitoring is the high use of messages being used by criminals and terrorists.

FBI lawyer Valerie E. Caproni states, “We’re talking about lawfully authorized intercepts.” “We’re not talking about expanding authority. We’re talking about preserving our ability to execute our existing authority in order to protect the public safety and national security.”

It is interestingly enough to say that this raises privacy concerns which was an issue for many social networking sites like Facebook, but now this new bill is deemed essential to protect the lives of citizens. I ponder how this will affect most social media sites. Will people still go on with the notion that although they are being monitored, will they still share, tweet, and email, or will they be a bit more mindful of what they are sending out?  These are some of the privacy concerns that are being debated. Not only is it a concern for users, it’s a concern for developers who are incorporating new technological features to their products. One main concern would be whether their information will be kept private or leak, allowing a flock of imitators the first glance of technological innovation before it’s even released.

It’s not all that surprising that the overall level of communication on the internet is being monitored, considering that this dates back to the wiring of telephones. I am all for protecting public safety, however, I am still a bit hesitate of what this will mean once this bill is enacted. I am quite mindful of what I say on the internet, nonetheless, I can’t help but feel concerned as every message is being monitored and viewed.

What are your thoughts on this new bill?

Bing’s New Social Search!

Great news if you are looking  for recommendations or reviews, Bing Social now has the ability to indicate who the influential users are, on any given or related search.  ReadWriteandWeb published a story recently about the most influential users on the web. For instance, when you search for MTV on Bing, a recommendation of Justin Bieber and 30 Seconds to Mars would automatically come up in the search results page.

This is a useful tool for users to find reviews on a specific item they may be interested in, but may need more information to validate their interest.  Not only is this tool beneficial for online shoppers, but also companies who use the social networking sites to get their brand across.  Bing Social offers real time updates of the latest posts written by users, which is similar to Google’s real time search.  So it’s important for marketers to be sure to post relevant content so users can easily find them and to get potential followers.

I have used Bing Social, and I was quite impressed by the results. I typed into the search bar the words “Social Search”, and within seconds I found results of users chatting about the term.

I believe this tool will be essential for all marketers who want to find out what users are saying about their company or anything surrounding it.  I definitely recommend this new feature, and I will be on the lookout for more updates to come from Bing.

What are your thoughts on Bing Social?

The quite popular iPad has hit new heights as it reached two million in sales in April.  It’s a wonder if these sales are conquering sales of the PC realm and more importantly is it cannibalizing that of Apple’s Macbooks? The popular use of a multi-touch screen has hit waves with many customers alike, although there are a few glitches with the gadget, including the lack of support for Flash, which coincidently hasn’t put off buyers.

Over a million of the touch-screen computers were sold in the United States within the first month  of its released.   A shocking report from Wall Street Journal claims, Best Buy’s CEO Brian Dunn said, “internal estimates showed that the iPad had cannibalized sales from laptop PCs by as much as 50%.”

Stephen Baker, the chief electronics analyst for market research NPD Group Inc. states, “It’s a very different environment now. The real cool stuff now will be the tablets, e-readers and probably the higher-end digital cameras.”

Before the release of iPads, notebook sales grew as much 70 percent in a month. In August, however, the year over year sales dropped nearly 4 percent. Eweek.com offers ten reasons why iPads are doing better than PC notebooks, which I have summarized and condensed in the top 7 reasons below.

1. Mobility Factor- The iPad makes it accessible for users to travel with the light weight computer device, unlike its competitor which can be bulky and a strain to carry. Many notebooks have yet to copy the mobile convenience.

2. Price- The iPad’s prices range from $499-$899 which is similar to that of most laptops, however, the iPad’s lowest model has more storage capacity than that of the lowest PC laptop.

3. Apple’s Allure- There’s a wide range of Apple enthusiasts out there who are willing to try their newest product, no matter the price. The brand itself will allure customers and keep them coming.

4. It’s Better than the MacBook- The iPad has the mobility factor over the MacBook , and the MacBook Pro  has the power factor. So many consumers will opt out of the MacBook and opt in for either the iPad or MacBook pro based on either discretion for power or mobility.

5. App Store-  The App store is convenient for most Apple users and has 250,000 applications and growing, which can be economically reasonable in comparison to the expensive desktop applications.

6.  It’s the iPhone without the Fee- Has the same functionality of the phone without the high payments included with data plans and phone coverage, although some iPads have a monthly rate of $30. It is still price conscious in comparison.

7.  The Coolness Factor- iPads have been widely viewed as “cool” especially because it’s a new toy to play with. Many consumers are jumping onto the bandwagon because of the look appeal of the computer gadget.

What are your thoughts on Apple’s multi-touch tablets; do you think it beats out the competition?

Sharetivity allows users to search through links that have been shared on most social networking sites.  We provide a social search which gives users the ability to connect with other users who have similar interests and likes. The sharing mechanism offers users what they have in common with others and gives them a chance to build their network.

Below are some steps on how to search through our site in finding the results you are looking for.

1. Enter our home page sharetivity.com. There you will see a search box.  You can easily type in a word that is relevant to what you are searching for. For instance “wine”
2. The search results will be entered and  will show a listing of what users are sharing on the topic of wine, under the ‘Friends’ tab, as well as a ‘Google’ tab that shows web results.
3. You can use Facebook connect to share your links on Sharetivity. This will give you access to all the links you have shared, under the ‘MyShare’ tab.

Upon visiting other sites, users can easily use our widget to share to friends and other users.

Here are some steps on how to download our widget.

You can install Sharetivity to your browser as the Share+ widget. It supports Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome.

1. You can find the directions on the homepage for our widget under ‘Downloads’, Just click and drag onto your bookmarks bar or favorites folder.
2. Once you find a page that you want to share, you can click on the Sharetivity bookmark, and instantly it is shared on the “MyShare” tab. You can also  share the link on many other social networking sites by checking the boxes, as well as the option of emailing a friend.

Myspace has seen better days, especially since they have been defeated by popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. In an article posted on ReadWriteWeb,  which covers a story of how Myspace has fallen with its ability to keep up with trends and their users.  Making a valid point that although the concept of young adults, as well as teens have the ability to socialize on a webpage that allows them to comment and post pictures was well thought out, these users began to age  and so did Myspace.  Had Myspace taken into consideration of their current users and not  on gaining new users, the social site might have stayed in the league of top social networking sites.

While News Corp bought out Myspace and spent $580 million in 2005, Myspace managed to lose $174 million recently in the fourth quarter. News Corp sealed the deal in 2005, claiming it was the fifth most popular site on the internet as well as having more than 8% of all Internet advertising. But Facebook dominated the then popular social network in 2008. The CEO of News Corp is still rather optimistic with their new management team stating, “We have great confidence.” Myspace is working on improving their news feed, and has recently begun their integration with Twitter.  News Corp has not stated when the site will be modified, but News Corp still has Fox News and DVD sales that keep them profitable.

In other news surrounding Myspace, Google and Myspace made it official by signing a deal that keeps  the search mogul a provider of search and online advertising technology to the social networking site.  Let’s hope that the new deal and the upcoming revamp of Myspace will keep users interested as well as bringing in new users.

What are your thoughts on Myspace? Will it ever be as popular as it use to be?

Have you ever found yourself browsing through a site only to find that you are distracted by a barrage of advertisements?  Well Arc90, an IT consulting firm based in New York, has created a tool that gets rid of all of the clutter on a page so users can clearly read the relevant content on a website.  The steps are quite simple, and the site offers a widget that is readily available to move into your current bookmarking folder. Once you have added the widget, the only thing left to do is visit your favorite site, choose an interesting article, and then click on the Readability.  Poof, that’s it!  You will instantly see only the content that you wish to read.

The widget is quite useful for most people who are browsing through sites to gain information about a certain item. It is quite hard to figure what site has decent content from just typing into a suggested topic into a search engine like Google.  Although there are excerpts that may discuss what the relevant content may be about, you would have to click on the actual link to gain more information.  And upon entering that particular site you are not sure what to expect, so it may be possible that a plethora of advertisements may ambush you. Or the site might drive you to one of their social media widgets that suggest you to “Add this”, “Tweet”, or “Like.” Although I find myself a victim of tweeting articles I like, or liking them on Facebook, there are certain instances when you just want to get through a page, and see if that page is worth reading.

I recently used this tool and I must say I quite happy with the results. The steps of adding the widget are quite easy to follow. The widget is compatible with most browsers and you can adjust the settings to style, size and margin. The widget is also helpful for the visibly impaired who may use a speech software to crawl through pages and read aloud the visible text without the clutter.

Many users have been using the geolocation feature that allow users to check in from their smart phone, or through Facebook’s touch site, although you will have to be in the U.S to use this feature. The Places feature is quite easy to use, just go into the Places tab on the iPhone application or touch.facebook.com. Then click “allow”, which will have you enter the Places interface. Once you are on, you can share your location with friends, and also find out where your friends are, but only if they are using Places as well.

The Places feature is great for those who want to check out new locations, but one concern that may be  of focus is the privacy concerns. For instance, the tagging portion where you tag your friends to the location you are currently visiting raises some concerns to users who are not willing to give out that information. The feature does give users the option to opt out, but it is a bit more complicated to figure out. The feature lets users select a “not now”  option when their friends check them in, but not a “never” option which would be viable for those who do not want to be checked in in the future.

This can raise several concerns surrounding whether people want others knowing where they were a couple of nights ago. It can bring them into a lot of trouble with spouses, significant others, parents or perhaps even employers. Many Facebook users will find a feed of updates of their friends using the current feature. It may be an annoyance for those who do not want to be tagged in certain locations, however, they may still want to use the feature.

The American Civil Liberties Union suggests that the Social Media site should make sure that the users information is under their control and they can choose at anytime who can check them in, who can see them if they are using the “Here Now,” feature. The ACLU has also formed a petition to tell Facebook to give users control over the information users share on the Places feature as well as other Facebook services.

What are some of your concerns of Facebook’s services?

Facebook Credits, a Hot New Trend of Virtual Currency!

I’m sure you have used or have heard of ‘Facebook Credits’, well now Facebook has joined the cause to fight cancer by having users donate their credits to the philanthropic organization Stand Up to Cancer . The organization also hosted an event that was live and televised on Friday, September 10, 2010; the telethon was broadcasted upon major television networks as a way to gain money for cancer research. Normally, viewers would call in and make donations, but now users can use their Facebook Credits to donate to the organization. Users can still donate money on the Stand Up to Cancer Facebook page.

Facebook Credits are quite popular within the social media gaming industry as well. Zynga, for instance created the phenomena known as Farmville. Farmville has captured the attention of so many Facebook users and Bebo that it now has 53,248,312 monthly active users.  The company is known to be the largest social game network that is on the web.  It was founded in July of 2007, by Mark Pincus, Michale Luxton, Eric Schiermeyet, Justin Waldron, Andrew Trader, and Steve Schoettler. The company has created a network of gaming applications that are made from traditional games like Poker, Battleship, and Attack! They have also created a network that allows third party developers to become part of the fast moving Zynga network.

Facebook Credits have been made as the primary use of payments for Zynga games on the Facebook platform, however, users can also wire transfer cash. Although the payment plans have not been perfect, many users have been complaining in the forums over an array of payment failures. Considering this, Zynga will not use Facebook Credits on other platforms like Yahoo. They did, nonetheless, go on with a statement saying, “Facebook and Zynga have transitioned Facebook Credits to be the exclusive method of payment for most Zynga network games on the Facebook platform. The companies are committed to working together to provide the best possible customer experience during this transition.”

Target has also invited their customers to buy gift cards that will allow them to receive Facebook Credits. The retailer will be the first to offer the cards. Target Corp.’s senior vice president of merchandising, Mark Schindele says, “With social gaming becoming increasingly popular, Facebook Credits gift cards provide an easy and convenient option for Target guests to purchase virtual goods.”

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Great news if you’re a Google fan, which most people are, you will find a new feature on Google’s site.  As you type in a search query you will find instantly, gray shaded words that appear next to the letters you type. The reason you may ask is that Google has discovered a way to capture what users are typing before they even type it fully on to the search bar, giving users an experience of bliss of not having to worry about the correct spelling that may hinder their results.

Google has been making several announcements about their ‘instant search’ especially through their creative logos featured not too long ago. My favorite is the logo that appears gray, but as you type in the search box, it goes back to the original Google logo.

The search engine mogul had many followers to their press event that was featured Wednesday morning in San Francisco about their new and upcoming feature to their site.  Executive, Marissa Mayer discussed Google’s record high of serving 1 billion users each week.   She mentions how the results of the search will be faster,  and  will have the real-time search option,  social search, spelling corrections, questions and answers, stars in search and as well as the redesign on the left panel.

Needless to say, Google has been gaining a lot of press for their current updates of their site. The company has been launching so many different features as well as products like GoogleTV, which I mentioned recently in The Next Frontiers of Social Media posting.  A great comeback for a company that is competing with so many different platforms!

Social media has intimately changed people’s lives socially and professionally. Companies as well as their  audience use it. It is an ingenious idea to be able to leverage yourself by discussing your skills on professional sites, such as Linkedin. Not only that, it’s a great way to keep in touch with your friends, share content, and product reviews and site reviews. There are countless ways to use social media, however, have you ever thought of what could be next?

Well according to an article posted on Mashable.com, television and radio are the next frontiers of social media.  Internet-connected television such as Blip TV has taken on the first trend of having internet content enabled onto your television set. Blip TV has grown immensely, reporting that thier shows have a hit 100 million each month. Google and Apple are also following the trend by providing their own spin on television.  Google will launch the same technique they use on their site to television.  The Google TV platform will allow users to social search, and surf the Internet, as well as search live TV listings. Also, users will be able to use voice command to change the channel. Apple TV has already launched their new technology providing users to rent TV shows that are commercial free and in HD, as well as stream photos and music from your computer to your TV.

Radio is providing a similar move. Companies such as Ford have made the move of allowing you to stream music from Pandora onto your radio. This will allow users to listen to their favorite songs or track list.

The next frontiers of social media will be a sure shot for other competitors to challenge the same idea. Everything will be within our scope with instant gratification since every medium will be personalized and customized to our liking. Isn’t technology great?