This is the screenshot of a way to grow Facebook Following. It first seemed like a source that is not credible. But, I actually got useful advice from this site. It called social media examiner and it aims to explore what social media is and how can people improve their profiles. Unlike other sites that gave ambiguous advice, this site actually gave me technical advice that I can implement right away like tagging my page, adding facebook in my email signature, and more.
Obviously, Time is a prominent source of information. It had a very flamboyant report on how to increase followers in social media. The report contained charts, comparisons, and other detailed statistics on how the methods increased the followers. However, the advice I got was very generic. They were general advice like staying active, posting interesting topics, and more. I found Time less helpful than blogs surprisingly.
It was almost an advertisement to join a platform of exchanging likes. I did not get into the website, but the idea was that a user likes the ads of others then the others like the users' page as an exchange. It was an initiative to promote everyone's social media campaign by exchanging "likes." I found the website not credible, but the idea was very intriguing. The idea of exchanging likes among users to promote causes was new.
MY FACEBOOK CHANGE
This is the initial page of my followers in Facebook. I did not implement a technique I learned in the articles yet.
I applied Linking profile in my page. So I linked "Boston College" in my profile to gain attraction from Boston College Community. But, nothing changed.
Since the first technique did not work, I liked other page managers and expected them to feedback like Twitter. Again, nothing happened. Growing followers in Facebook required more effort and time.
This was a website called TNW and it gave advice on how to grow Twitter followers for social media campaigning purpose. I found this website similar to the article I read in Times. It was not helpful rather it was filled with generic advice. Although the statistics and the writing were informative, they did not have critical methods to actually increase the followers.
Forbes was the only major website that I found helpful to increase the followers. The techniques were new and seemed effective. I was especially attached to the idea of sharing linkedin profile to increase the following. Although, I don't think I will use this technique due to privacy issue.
Again, it was another major website called Entrepreneur that did not help me at all. It had same generic advice like the ones in Time Magazine and TNM. I prefer the ones listed in Forbes.
MY TWITTER CHANGE
This is the initial page of my followers in Twitter. I did not implement a technique I learned in the articles yet.
I started following followers who are currently following me. Once I followed they followed me back. It was very effective.
I started retweeting and tweeting inspirational or interesting posts. I did not get a response yet but seems promising.
On February 9th 2015, Paris was selected to be
the next site for Immersion 2015. Immersion 2015 is a conference held in many
places that aims to develop new immersion techniques such as Oculus Rift and
virtual reality. Many famous companies like Microsoft and Google attended
previous conferences. This year Immersion 2015 will probably cover new
technologies like Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, and more. More information can
be reached at http://summit.ImmersiveEducation.org.
Apple Watch is a smart watch produced by Apple. It was first
introduced on September 9th 2014. It has 512MB memory and Apple S1.
Its main operating system is Watch OS with Sapphire crystal display. It is
scheduled to begin shipping in April 2015.
Again, Apple challenged Samsung in the wearable device
market. It was inevitable that both companies will indulge in the same market.
The idea of wearable device is creating a network of hardware made by the same
company. Therefore, two giants in electronics industry are destined to compete
in the wearable device.
Apple and Samsung have advantages in its own way. First,
Samsung is a dominant player in all consumer electronics from dish washer to
mobile phone. Therefore, creating this network of electronic devices managed by
one wearable device can be easily implemented. On the other hand, Apple does
not have wide product range. Nonetheless, Apple has wn software: OS, that can
manage limited amount of electronic devices.
Whether one is better than the other is very difficult to
measure in term of wearable device market. However, it was interesting to see
the difference in initial reception of the products by the public. As I
mentioned in the last report, Samsung Gear met criticisms all around. On the
other hand, the general response of Apple Watch was positive.
One of the response was that the Apple Watch is “much more embedded
into our lives.” The difference may be the processor that Apple implemented:
Apple S1 Processor. Apple S1 Processor is considered as a single chip that
incorporates the technology of a desktop.
Moreover,
Apple wanted to keep the device simple and targeted healthcare as the watch’s
major functionality. The fitness tracking and health oriented capabilities have
been received positively by the public. Moreover, the seamless design perfectly
depicted the Apple’s unique appeal. Along with high performance processor and
realistic functionalities, Apple Watch seems to have won the initial battle
with Samsung.
On February 9th 2015, Paris was selected to be
the next site for Immersion 2015. Immersion 2015 is a conference held in many
places that aims to develop new immersion techniques such as Oculus Rift and
virtual reality. Many famous companies like Microsoft and Google attended
previous conferences. This year Immersion 2015 will probably cover new
technologies like Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, and more. More information can
be reached at http://summit.ImmersiveEducation.org.
Samsung gear is a smart watch produced by Samsung
Electronics. It was first introduced in Berlin on September 4th
2013. It has 512MB memory and single core 800 MHz ARM. Its main operating
system is Android with 1.6 inch AMOLED display. Gear 2 came out on April 11th
2014.
Samsung Electronics experienced both heyday and deficit
years due to mobile market. The Galaxy series were all successful, but they
were met with intense competitions by other mobile manufacturing companies.
Moreover, despite its strong presence in the hardware market, its dominance in
software is minimal. This raised concerns, since Samsung had to find new
product group to generate revenue.
Therefore, as an effort to diversify its products, Samsung
entered into wearable device industry. Vice president of Samsung claimed that
the company put effort into the wearable device, which led to the release of
Samsung gear. A smart-watch that has an access to the internet and calls. The
response from the public is mixed so far.
After the release of the Gear I, Samsung electronics met many
criticisms from the media. The journalists pointed out short battery life, loss
of Samsung’s unique design, lackluster performance of the software, and more.
This naturally translated into very poor sales figures in the earnings report.
Despite the negative response, Samsung continued research
effort to improve upon Gear I. This led to the release of Gear II on February
22nd 2014. It was unveiled in Mobile World Congress and the response
reflected the effort to improve. Generally, the media still criticized high
cost despite lackluster functionalities. However, it was considered much more
relevant wearable device for ordinary users.
In the
end, Samsung gear seems to have far way to go in terms of developing a device
that can boost sales. The battery life and limited functionalities are still
problems to be solved. However, with Samsung’s prominent R&D facilities,
those technological limitations will be overcome. Samsung electronics will be
satisfied to confirm the potential of wearable device market.
On February 9th 2015, Paris was selected to be
the next site for Immersion 2015. Immersion 2015 is a conference held in many
places that aims to develop new immersion techniques such as Oculus Rift and
virtual reality. Many famous companies like Microsoft and Google attended
previous conferences. This year Immersion 2015 will probably cover new
technologies like Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, and more. More information can
be reached at http://summit.ImmersiveEducation.org.
Google glass is a wearable device with an optical head
mounted display. It is an idea that stemmed from Bluetooth, which allowed
pairing two different hardware in a wireless manner. However, Google Glass is
much more sophisticated in that it connects user to the internet. On top of
access to internet without a smart phone, it features voice command, display
though the glasses, and more.
The origin of Google glass started in the Google X, a
research facility within Google. It first started as a heavy head mounted gear
like Oculus Rift. However, with further research, standard glasses with display
replaced the original gear. In April 2013, the first explorer edition was sold
for $1500, and started getting media attention after that. There is not an
aofficial release date for the consumer version of Google glass.
There are three main features in the Google glass. The three
are touchpad, camera, and display. Each technology is considered a high
technology, and Google glasses amasses remarkable technologies into one device.
Despite many adjustments and new features Google continuously adds to the
glasses, the major features are still core technologies that identify the
glasses.
As a powerhouse of software development, Google Glasses has
its own software. It is based on Android and IOS application called MyGlass.
MyGlass allows efficient configuration and management of applications. Along with
MyGlass, Google Glasses contains Voice activation software. The device can be
managed through voice recognition, which transforms this device into truly
mobile-free hardware.
So far the Google Glasses received positive and negative
responses. According to John Naughton, Wolfson College professor, the glasses “frees
humans to do what they do best.” It is considered as a significant achievement in
hardware and networking industries. On top of functionality, the minimalist
appeal shows significant effort to consider overall design of the device.
On the negative side, many raise the concern for privacy.
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, claims that the glasses is a way to be
isolated from the public. However, the recording functionality of the glasses
can result in intrusion of privacy.
On February 9th 2015, Paris was selected to be
the next site for Immersion 2015. Immersion 2015 is a conference held in many
places that aims to develop new immersion techniques such as Oculus Rift and
virtual reality.
Many famous companies like Microsoft and Google attended
previous conferences. This year Immersion 2015 will probably cover new
technologies like Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, and more. More information can
be reached at http://summit.ImmersiveEducation.org.
Oculus Rift is an upcoming virtual reality head mounted
display, being developed by Oculus VR. It is important to note that the device
is “upcoming.” Although Oculus Rift received hefty amount of investment from
Facebook. There is still more work to be done to make the product. The device
features head tracking, positional tracking, high definition graphic, and
wireless operation.
Oculus Rift started out small by the founder of Oculus VR,
Palmer Luckey. At age of 18, Luckey first initiated the Oculus VR and came up
with Developer kit. The Developer kit
was solely financed through a Kick Starter campaign and was available for $300.
The rift developer kit used 7 inch LCD screen.
After continuous development of the development kit, Luckey
came up with a prototype that weighed 379g including headphones, dial, screen
and more. Then in January 2014, Luckey introduced Crystal Cove. It is an
updated version from Developer kit with new motion tracking system. It was
first shown in Consumer Electronics Show.
On March 2014, Developer Kit 2 came out. Again, the new
version focused on better resolution. This time the LCD screen was changed to
AMOLED display with clear resolution. So far, 100,000 devices have been sold.
In September 2014, Oculus yet again held a conference to
introduce new product. Now on top of high resolution, the weight was reduced,
360 degree tracking motion was implemented, and more. This time it was obvious that
Oculus Rift was close to perfecting the resolution, which led to development in
other areas. Yet this is still not considered a consumer version.
The complete consumer version is still in process of
development. First, the consumer version has to be easy to use for ordinary
users to use the device effectively. Second, Oculus Rift has to sync well with
devices already owned by the consumers. Lastly, it has to be something that
consumers think it is necessary to have.
It is in different language, but I did subscribe to IED page. I had no trouble looking for a page, and the subscription tab was at the top right corner.
I was able to fit in both posts that have "unlike" buttons, which indicates that I "Liked" the posts.
It was not difficult to see the posts in the IED and make sure I like two posts.
This is the twitting function, in which the user "tweet" whatever is on his or her mind. It is then shared with the followers and the public. It truly a collaborative feature, since the statement you send out has no life without an audience. However, once people start noticing the tweet and comment on it, the "tweet" is alive. It truly a collaborative platform where the users interact with the others for gathering information, network, share ideas, and more.
These are all the list of accounts whom I can follow. Without the followers, twitter is loses its meaning. Having followers means having an audience, which is a key component in "tweeting." By following certain account, similar to Youtube, you agreed to receive news and tweets of that person. On the contrary, if somebody else follows you, then you have gained larger audience that will have access to your "tweet."
This is a feature in which tweeter account sync with the contacts from other websites. By making syncing with other sites available, the users can access many people without difficulty. This collaborative feature with other sites make tweeter very unique. It is a inclusive platform where the users can access diverse information.
This is similar to a news feed in Facebook. After following others, the user receive news and important tweets. More followers you have more ample will your "newsfeed" will be. This constant expansion of the users' network with others, the newsfeed will have more information and meaningful "tweets." This circle of followers is a collaborative quality of Tweeter.
This page shows recommended people to follow and notifies who followed the user's account. It is programming that analyzed the users' preference, but it is the user who chooses to follow someone or write a tweet. The programming can guide the user to expand his or her network and use the tweeter account wisely. However, the users are the decision makers. Also, the network of tweeter is not governed by a single decision maker. The collaboration of many users in expanding the network, writing tweets, and sharing ideas are truly the fundamental value of the social media.
The screenshot shows my channel with diverse functions I can use. Among many functions, the discussion section allows unlimited posting of opinions. Moreover, anybody who follows my channel will be able to discuss freely. YouTube is famous for the vast library of contents and with the discussion forum, the users will be able to share ideas after seeing the content. By making more collaborative platform along with many contents, YouTube will be able to become more than a media-centric website.
This is a screenshot of a function that allows users to comment on a specific video they saw. Unlike discussion page where the followers freely make posts, the comments are usually a response of a video you have just watched. Again, it is a collaborative platform to share thoughts on the media. Moreover, the comments that are written all over the world are constantly updated in the Youtube page. The enormous number of people sharing comments show the dominance of youtube in the media world and it is a sign that people started to recognize youtube as a social platform.
There is a "like" feature in Youtube. "Like" indicates that a user is satisfied with media, writing, or files they have seen. For example, if an user watched a Nike commercial via Youtube, and found it interesting then he will "like" the nike commercial. It is a collaborative feature, since the number of "likes" are accumulated and shown to other users. It is a form of expression of what the users, public, wants.
This is a screenshot of popular videos trending in Youtube. Without a wide network of people using the sites and accurate analysis of the people using this program, there wouldn't be a function like "Trending in YouTube." It truly a collaboration of users, programmers, regulators to bring comprehensive understanding of what the public wants.
This is a screenshot of a channel being subscribed or followed. Following a channel indicates that I am willing to receive updates regarding certain channel. It might be because I like the videos, comments, layouts, philosophy, and more. Again, it is a collaborative relationship between the owner of a channel. Moreover, there is a wide network of people engaged in this relationship.
