Real money, virtual product

The premise of buying virtual product with real money is quite intriguing.  But I do not feel it is a trend that will catch on quickly, or in mass scale.  At least not in the United States.

Years ago a new phenomenon in social networking came to the United States.  It was called Cyworld.  The premise as I remember it was to have users sign up and build a profile (alah facebook, myspace).  The unique feature was the ability to customize your own personal virtual 'room', which was essentially a cartoony box that acted as the center piece for your profile.  It was unique and people would comment on your room, could send you gifts, and do all sorts of other things I really do not remember now.

The kicker was these objects had to be purchase using real money.  Not directly of course, but by paying x-dollars you could buy virtual currency (acorns) which was then used to purchase objects, people, animals (dolphin anyone?) for your room.  Want to know what happened?  See the picture below.

 

The idea just did not catch on in the US.  Not too surprising if you ask me.  I played around with Cyworld when it first came to the US and was in trial mode and could not see myself paying cash money to pretty up a page.  Especially since there are a number of free alternatives.

Interestingly enough it is HUGE in Korea.  The Korea CyWorld cite claims to have 25% of the population as users.  Considering South Korea has 48 million people that is a significant following.

More 'A' vs 'B'

Several statements stuck with me after watching Lawrence Lessig's Keynote on privacy and the internet.  One of which was the lingering information on the internet that never goes away.  To think that one wrong click could harm you 30 years from now is a scary proposition.

A statement that I feel is debatable is the younger generations ability to triangulate multiple sources of information, the so called "Soviet Problem" in his discussion.  Lessig's stance is kids growing up today will be better analyze multiple versions of news and draw a good conclusion based on looking at various sources of information.

The problem is one that Lessig also identified in his presentation, but did not factor in to the proposed renaissance he expects to see our kids go through.   A person, whether it be a man, woman or child, has a limited capacity to pay attention.  The initial news received will probably be what is believed regardless of the source.  And really, why not?  Unless the topic is worth looking into most people tend to take information at face value.

What will cause our kids to become great aggregators and objective analysts of multiple sources of information?  Probably something that resembles a video game... that may be our only hope.  Until an innovation with artificial intelligence comes along to make information easier to accurately gather and summarize (not just search for via google) then our children future is likely to resemble our present. More 'A' vs 'B'.

Who REALLY uses LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is currently touting that they have over 60 million members, but I truly wonder how many of these users are active.

I consider myself the typical user.  I signed up for the account a few years back at the suggestion of some colleagues, built a simple profile and added a few connections... then did virtually nothing.  Every few months I become re-inspired to update my profile, respond to some invites and send some more to new connections.  As far as I can tell all this has done is give me a professional web presence that I really do not use for anything meaningful!

Realizing a significant amount of my time has gone into building my profile and connections over the years it is now time to take action and see what LinkedIn can do for me.  I would like to hear real world, personal responses for how LI has helped or will help you in your career.  Hopefully your responses will send me down the path to enlightenment.

For those not aware of what LinkedIn is, here is a 2 minute video introduction:

What Social Network Fits You Best?

Ran across an interesting blog asking the same question and thought I would share.

I am still trying to determine how twitter fits into my life, but facebook seems like it is a keeper.  Dropped myspace some time ago because it became a little ridiculous.

So what social network fits you best?  Scroll to the top of the blog and cast your vote!

Is More Mobile Better?

Being able to access your life from one little device has its advantages.  Talking, texting, web surfing and gaming all from one device you can carry around.  Is this the key to happiness?

We all love convenience and truth be told, I have a hard time remembering life before the internet.  I frequently use a computer to purchase textbooks, do online banking, read news, email and socialize.  But I have not made the jump to doing all these things on a mobile device (Speaking of which I remember when a laptop was considered mobile...how things have changed).

The future of mobile social media is going to involve doing something that has not been done before and is unique to mobile technology.  Transferring all the capabilities of computing to a smaller mobile device is a good start, as we have seen with iPhone's, Blackberries and similar devices.  The iPhone really has been huge for showing US consumers what a mobile device can be capable of.  The problems AT&T has experienced providing service for the iPhone has also made mobile service providers aware of bandwidth issues that can come with allowing applications with high data demands to operate on lines originally designed for voice only traffic.

The future of social mobile media is something bigger then Twitter, Facebook, Myspace or even keitai-shosetsu novels.  It is likely that the huge innovation in mobile social media has yet to be invented?

What are your thoughts?  Do you have any ideas for the next generation of mobile social media?

Smarter or Dumber(er)

Options!  No more, no less.  That is the answer.  So what is the question?

Does the internet make us dumber or smarter?  This is a running debate with no scientific answer.  I am inclined to believe the internet has not changed the smart/dumb ratio (for lack of a more intellectual term).

For instance, does having access to books in a library inherently make you smarter?  Of course not.  Nobody has ever stood in a room of books and boosted their IQ.  The internet has the same kind of effect.  Having access to google (aka search) virtually limitless information at your fingertips does not make you smarter (or dumber).  It all comes down to how you intend to make use of the resources.  A guilty pleasure of mine is laughing at fails, which has a neutral impact to my smart/dumb.

I really do not know (and do not much care) whether the internet makes you smarter or not.  But what I do love the speed at which information can be provided.  It is not always good or reliable information, but its up to us to navigate through the noise and make sure future generations know how to do the same.

Related Posts:
Dumb & Dumber...or Lazy and Lazier?
Does the internet make us dum... i mean dumb?

Blogging: More Then Entertainment

We focus a lot on the entertainment and business value of social media for this course.

So as something to think about here as an excerpt from We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs by Nasrin Alavi (2005).

"Blogging in Iran has grown so fast because it meets the needs no longer met by the print media; it provides a safe space in which people may write freely on a wide variety of topics, from the most serious and urgent to the most frivolous.  Some prominent writers use their blogs to bypass strict state censorship and to publish their work on-line; established journalists can post uncensored reports on their blogs; expatriate Iranians worldwide use their blogs to communicate with those back home; ordinary citizens record their thoughts and deeds in daily journals; and student groups and NGOs utilize their blogs as a means of coordinating their activities"

Food for thought.

Tips for Corporate Blogging

 

Picture: from http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/

Corporate blogging comes with its own set of challenges.  Here are some simple guidelines that should be followed to make a blog unique from other media outlets.

• Do not try and imitate newspapers or scientific journals.  A blog should be more personal and provide a unique perspective.
• The point of the blog is to communicate the companies initiatives and objectives to the customers. 
• Find an audience and stick with it.  You can not please all of the people all of the time.
• Ensure the designated bloggers for the company know what is and is not an open topic for discussion (ex. no proprietary information should be published).
• Realize developing a blog with a clear message and audience takes work.  Do not expect overnight success.

Links to other corporate blogging resources:
Will you be my Facebook "friend"?
Corporate Blog - Wikipedia
Corporate Blogging Book

'Spec' Design, Crowdsourcing Controversy

How harmful is crowdsourcing to the designers?  Really, should only 'professional' designers have the right to sell photos, create clothes, and have a say in other creative ventures!

It would be naive for me to take a firm position based on reading a few articles/blogs/web sites, but clearly this is a hot topic for designers.  Organizations such as NO!SPEC are adamant that designs should not be created 'on spec'.  Designer and blogger Steph Doyle defines designing on spec:

• "This practice occurs when a designer presents a concept or idea that hasn’t been paid for in hopes of winning a pittance for their effort.  Spec work has become a major force in devaluing the perception of graphic design in the business world and the major players involved in accelerating this practice are the novice designers themselves."

Now, I am not sure if this is a completely black and white issue.  How can soliciting a community for a design be such a sin?  There has proven to be a market for this type of work.  Yes, this does drive down the prices of career professional designers, but does that mean it is inherently wrong?  How will the variance in overall quality of crowdsourced content affect the design profession?

Does Reality Mining Concern You?

The topic of reality mining stood out to me as an interesting phenomenon coming out of social networking research.  It is essentially a way of using a variety of location aware devices to monitor peoples movement.  Scientists believe this can help them better understand human behavior and how we interact.  A particular study of reference was performed by MIT with a partnership with Nokia.

The implications for this type of research extend to many areas ranging from homeland security, traffic management, and targeted marketing.  However, a concern I personally have, and one that has cited in a number of articles discussion reality mining, is what is the trade-off with gathering all this information?

The most prominent point is the privacy implications.  There are some studies performed with opt-in participants, but with the advancements in technology the same type of studies can be performed on involuntary subjects.  What protections are in place to notify and protect the average person from abuse of the information?  I tend to be a little cautious (some would say paranoid), so I am curious to have some other opinions on the subject.  Does the rise of reality mining concern you?  If so, what specific concerns do you have?

For more information visit the, There's Gold in 'Reality Mining' article over at Businessweek.com

Blog Disclaimer: This is an educational experience

This is my first post for the blog started as a requirement for a social media course I am taking this Spring.  On my honor, all posts on this blog are my own.  More posts coming soon, so stay tuned...