Twoddler

To wrap up my time in Com 435 I presented an emerging technology called Twoddler -- Twitter for toddlers.

Makes perfect sense right?

The idea is a tricked out fisher price activity center. When the toddler plays with the activity center his or her actions are streamed to an online twitter account that is updated with their activities. (Check out an article and video demonstration here.) It is an interesting concept in theory, but in reality you end up getting pointless updates from a 2 year-old that says things like "brian is excited to play with music." Even still to think about how far technology has come, and how social medias (such as Twitter) are being integrated into our everyday lives.

I actually have enjoyed my Twitter account and will continue to keep it even after this class is over. I can honestly see how for business, Twitter is a great way to pass along concise information quickly. For example, it is the perfect type of media for Newspapers and New stations to quickly get out breaking news. Also for companies, its a great way to keep employees in constant communication. Personal use was a little questionable to me, but I believe that every human has a desire to share their thoughts and feelings ... which is why updating status on Facebook and maintaining a Twitter account are so popular. I am okay indulging ever so slightly in this type of frenzy. It is quite satisfying knowing that somebody else is aware that morning traffic was bad today on I-65. Also, it was a really unique was to share information about other people's posters. I actually enjoyed reading the other comments and it was very neat to see how fast the information updates.

Technology has come SUCH a long way and it is very interesting to see where it will end up taking us over the next 100+ years!

The Waiting Game ...

... And the games continue. I was contacted by ExactTarget and notified that they would not be able to let us know their decision until sometime early this week.

What really qualifies as "early?" Because I'm fairly certain that at 5pm on Tuesday the "early" part of the week has officially passed, and we are moving towards the middle.

So now the waiting game continues on. I have all my plans (A & B) figured out, but now I may have realized that I really want Plan B to be Plan A. Maybe I really don't want to take this job after all? And I am currently stuck in this time continuum, unable to advance any further until I know the decision of the company.

Welcome to the real world I guess.

Social Media Research

The past few weeks I have been doing quite a bit of research on social media. I know I have mentioned the use of social media a few different times in my blog, and currently I am doing a project for a class where I will present the idea to hire me as a social media coordinator. Overall I am intrigued at the idea of being paid to coordinate the various types of social media that are utilized on the web today -- from Facebook to twitter to YouTube. Knowing how to effectively use these concepts can really impact the way your company or organization is viewed in the cyber world.

I found a few studies that have been done on the effects of social media. One study found that 34% of people associate more positively with a organization that effectively utilizes social media. Another study found that 18%-20% of young adults 18-34 use social media, so from a company's stand point it is an excellent way to pull in the younger demographic. I found a report by Universal McCann that analyzes the use of social media. If you are interested I strongly suggest checking it out, they have found some very interesting research. Also the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth found that social media has had a positive trend in Fortune 500 companies from 2007 to 2009. All of this proves that social Media is here to stay and it is important for companies and organizations to learn how to effectively use it. If companies and organizations are able to do that, then they will open new doors that will allow them much more visual access within the Internet and their communities.