Week 10-Reading

This chapter of New Influences really hit home for me. Just this past weekend I was talking to my dad about the importance of him, as a self owning business man, needed to start a blog. He had no idea what I was talking about. He has a small tax business in which he is always thinking of new ways to market to those in need of tax help. He has written books, made tapes and just recently started a Web site. I told him he was on the right track but he needed to get on the blogging train.

I showed him the basic format, what time he would need to commit to keeping the blog up to date and how to link to his site. I really think he is now considering starting up his own. I told him if he simply took twenty minutes every morning to answer a question, talk about a confusing topic or just give an example of the previous days events he would be well on his way to a successful blog. I was surprised when he said he had heard other tax practitioners beginning to follow this new path of social media. Maybe my dad is cooler than I thought?

In closing, I would totally have to agree to the importance of blogs to a corporation. What a better way to reach the public. Blogs are cheap, easy to maintain and simply take just a few minutes a day. Refusing to keep up with the times or adapt to this new social media is not smart for companies that want to remain or become successful. The growth of blogging has continued to expand over the past few years. This is a definite sign blogging isn't going any where soon.

Week 9-Reading

This chapter (NI) was hard to follow. I realize social media is in transition and has been since the beginning but I don't understand all the lingo that they use along the way. What I got out of this chapter was that communities are important, PR needs to learn as much as possible about these continually changing marketing techniques and press releases may be on their way out.

Certain men and women helped pave the way in which I am in awe. I wish one day I would wake up and decide to be the first (fill in the blank) to make some discovery that would change the face of my generation. People like Blodgett, Abramson, Schwartzman and many others used simple ideas to create an entire way of life.

The public has done a great deal to improve how we communicate. Their impute is necessary for expansion and is a gateway between what people want and what is created. Every day new ideas hit the airways, figuring out which ideas will work the best and help the most amount of people.

Listening to your peers may not be what you were taught while you were growing up but in today's world it works. People are more likely to listen to their friends, family or someone credited than some random person that supposedly knows all about the topic. I think this is why podcasts, blogs and the Web work so well. Keeping eyes and ears out as to who the up coming firecrackers are will probably have more affect on you than one might think.

Week 6-Reading

I have begun to think about things that I always took for granted before, in the the technological world that is the Internet. Search engines and the many advantages they offer. Now i'm not just talking your everday Google, what's the weather, search. I am talking the in-depth, who is posting now and what big names are popping up, alerts. Now a days we can all we have to do as Internet savvy users is type in a name, company or link and BLAM, the alerts come screaming! Not only does this save time but it prevents us from having to deal with the hassle of research. I'm not saying I know how to use all the "new-finagled" operating tools but either way it still beats the old school research methods. I've got to give some praise to companies like Technorati, Feedster, BlogPulse and others for making my life a heck of a lot easier. If we can do all this now, imagine what the future will bring in online research.
I feel like this also gives companies an easy way to check up on what others are saying about them, whether it be good or bad. They can keep track of their employees, stocks and other important issues such as competitors. Companies are only smart to stay one step ahead of the competition if they wish to be the, "alpha dog" so to speak. Imagine a job where all you did was sit and see what people were blogging about your boss or company. I think that would be pretty sweet. Where can I sign up?