Social Media in American Business

It seems that as of lately social media is taking a larger role in American businesses. Everyone is online and this strategy of finding out what a businesses reputation online is, can prove beneficial. They are using twitter, facebook, and their own website or other websites to check their products. Determining what other people are thinking about your products or what you are producing depending what your business is can help you turn your company into something better. You could create a product that everyone wants just like apple did with the iPod. They turned the iPod into one of the greatest devices a person can own. Then they looked at the customer feed back and found the small things that need to be fixed. When they came out with the second-generation iPod, they made the changes that everyone complained about and now everyone has an iPod. I feel that if your company wants to be successful that this new technology of social media can really help get the company off of its feet. You can access everyone in about an hour by just placing an ad on facebook or MySpace. And it’s not like a billboard or a commercial where they may or may not see it. If you’re on facebook your interacting with a sight and with that interaction you are noticing that there are ads. These ads catch your attention and promote the company better than billboards ever will. And with everyone having the ability to skip commercials with DVR’s and Tivo, it just doesn’t seem like commercials are worth having. If you can sell advertisements to these social media outlets then you might have a bigger advantage over the other companies in your field. All im trying to say is that you adapt or die. This new technology can either help you or destroy you, and its ridiculous to think that this can’t help a company especially if your in PR or products that deal with high competition.

Murdoch Response

To certain points I agree with Rupert Murdoch’s statement in this opinion peace. But I do feel that technology is killing the print side of the newspapers. But the entire aspect of this digital medium can be a positive thing for these companies. The real question should be how much does it take to print all those papers? Why print them? When you have online free digital paper to publish to. If they start to minimize their paper sales and start pushing their digital sales then they will tap into the entire younger crowd. It makes perfect sense to tap into the mobile phones market if you’re a newspaper, it seems that media is turning that way. You bend with the technology is the basic rule, you adapt or you die. I’ll say it over and over again because it’s so true. If every company has the chance to go online and have a web presence and your company doesn’t, then your company will do poorly. Cell phones have boomed in the last few years and will continue to grow. But technology aside, newspapers need to bring the excitement back to the newspaper. They are focusing on being the best writers in the area when deep down we as the reader don’t care about the awards, we care about news that will catch our eyes. We want news that we can compare our lives to, something that shows us “wow that’s my community” or “this affects my life.” If newspapers can grab us show us that they care about us as a community then it may get a bigger base. They don’t seem to understand that these new generations of adults are always on the go. We don’t have time to stop and we need news yesterday not tomorrow. So by taking technology and taking the stories that are interesting to us, they will be able to grab that second-generation of newspaper consumers. And as for the government regulating once again, I can’t really say anything about. Would multi-ownership help the newspapers? Yeah it would bring more money to the papers. But to say that’s the solution would be reckless. These comments just seem like a temporary solution, sort of like the fossil fuel discussion. I guess the newspaper just became a forgotten resource and they are focusing on being about themselves just as Murdoch said. They care too much about what they want out of the paper instead of what we want. Taking this in a new direction for the people and the communities they live in might turn these papers around.

Podcast Ft. Steve Marcum & Jonathan Zimmerman

Its funny to see how perspectives have changed and how two people can look at life from two different points in their lives. This podcast shows how a graduate who has been in the field looks at the job market compared to an undergraduate. As we float through this life and find our ways people will change we see how everyone fights to survive. And even though the job market has decreased from what it once was in this field there are still opportunities to flourish and make a profit.
Podcast 1.0

Nanook Midget Video

This Video is Not ment to offend anyone. Its an old joke from a comedian and I believe its from Rodney Dangerfield. The lesson of this joke and life in general is to just laugh.
~Nanook Video~
And don't take yourself so seriously. It seems that everyone in America has a problem with someone else because of misunderstandings. If everyone took a step back and looked at themselves and just laughed, this world would be so much better and full of less hate. So i guess im asking you to just go out and laugh. Have a good time and just take life in, its a drink that goes down easy everytime.

IGN PODCAST BEYOND 113 REVIEW

I reviewed Ign Podcast Beyond 113, which is located at www.ign.com. They have a very well put together podcast with four people including Greg Miller, Ryan Clements, Colin Moriarty, and Chris Roper. These four are the editors for various video game systems such as Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Playstation 2, and the various portable systems. They went through and explained certain aspects such as up and coming news for each system, what is coming out this week, new features, reviews on games, rumors for new games and games that have the best trophies and achievements.
I found very little problems with the podcast, it seems that they had very good editing down so that they are constantly talking. Little overlapping within the audio and they keep you involved in the podcast the entire time. They place new up to date news that pertains to the audience they are targeting. They have sound effects and music that adds to the presence of the podcast. Small mistakes make themselves known such as umms and some parts where they overlap but for me that makes me feel like its more casual and I feel like I can relax and just listen to the podcast. It is somewhat random with the topics but it works in a way. Overall the podcast does a great job of informing you to the week’s better topics.
In this podcast they touched over a variety of areas. They started off introducing their selves. They then pushed on to God of War, which is a huge exclusive for Playstation 3 that everyone owning a Playstation 3 should be interested in. They tell you about the game and how a downloadable demo will be in District 9’s blue ray when it releases. District 9 is a movie that came into theatres as a science fiction movie dealing with aliens from another planet that live on earth. They then proceeded to Rock Band and the possible creation of Rock Band the Who edition, which is a rumor that is floating around. Netflix is also coming to the Playstation 3 and you will be able to watch Netflix for free if you just use your Netflix account on the PS3. They then switch to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, which is coming out in about nine days to the PS3 and XBOX 360. They bring up a controversial scene that takes place in the introduction of the game. There is a spoiler alert in this so if you don’t want to hear it they give you the option to skip forward to a later time. They switch to reader mail later and answer questions, which also allows for audience involvement. The readers will ask certain questions that these four will answer for them also giving more topics to the talent. I find that this podcast was very successful and they were very entertaining. For a scale of rating I would give this podcast a 4 out of 5. Let’s just say they know what they are doing.

Smoking Ban? Or Not?

On June 13th, 2008 the Pennsylvania Smoking ban was put into effect. This ban stopped smoking in public places such as bars that have 20 percent or less in annual sales of food, as well as cigar bars, college state universities, sports facilities, theaters and other performance establishments. There is a long list of exceptions but the campuses are not one. Campuses have smokers just as any other area of Pennsylvania although students will go to any lengths to take a smoke break.
The State Universities students have questions on if this ban is ever going to work. The smokers went from designated areas to nowhere at all and most students are not even abiding by the rules because cops aren’t enforcing them. So now instead of smokers going to an area to smoke and out of the way of non-smokers they are now hiding it right outside the building entrances, blowing smoke into our faces.
Alex Thomas a senior at Shippensburg University sat down with me stating, “As a non-smoker you can’t stop smoking from happening. So instead of banning it completely there should be designated areas so they can smoke away from the building entrances and keep it out of our faces.” The campus police on the University of Shippensburg University seem to just keep on patrol even when someone is smoking in plain sight. So how do the students even take this law seriously? Why is this law causing the unlucky few hundreds of dollars when police are picking out only certain individuals?
Even college professors are making light of this situation, Kutztown University geography professor Steven Schnell stated, “This law, the clean indoor air act, very explicit defines its terms. I suggest a grammar class for your legal counsel.” This remark makes a good question. How can a Clean “Indoor” Air Act stop us from smoking outside? How can we sit back and let legislation take us for granted?
Other campuses are talking out on the issue as well. Steve Dugan, a 20-year-old freshman at Clarion University stated to Kathleen Kingsbury of Time, “Do we really want an 18-year-old girl walking by herself off-campus at 2 a.m.? All we’re asking is for a compromise that considers students’ needs here.” Dugan does raise some good points, as safety can be an issue. If someone were to head off of campus on a nearby roadway and get hit, then that could pose a huge problem for a campus under the no smoking ban.
Should this ban stay in place? Or should it be expelled? Is it right to stop people from smoking in an open area if it was designated for it? Or should we keep hiding it, keeping it towards the building, or can we find a compromise? People who smoke will never conform to the ban it’s been almost a year and 4 months and nothing has changed except the area in which they will smoke.

At Its Core, The Job Of The [Working] Journalist [Today] Is Unchanged

At its core, the job of the so-called working journalist in today’s setting is unchanged. This quote came across me as striking, but in all honesty the truth is there to an extent. The main idea stays the same, find a story, report on it and come up with good content to grab the attention and make it a compelling story. The only thing that seems to change along with everything in this world is technology. It seems that today most people don’t pick up a newspaper unless your pass a certain age. It also seems that the average male would rather watch television then read. So how do you get the attention of a reader in this world? You find them through the Internet while keeping the amount of hardcopy readers that you’ve already established. Newspapers and now even television and radio seem to be switching to the Internet to solve these problems. Today the Internet can allow for so much more. We do everything from entertainment (facebook) to getting our news or television programs can be streamed or at free online websites. So now instead of just having the basic skills that are needed to become a journalist, you need to have electronic skills also. It seems that what ever type of technology comes out we must adapt to, so being that you can get your information and your media fix online, then we as journalists need the basic skills that also go along with this media. We need the basic skills of how to set up a webpage, manipulate the content and find a way to make our content more accessible. If we can learn to effectively use the Internet, as we want it and to grab more subscribers, then we will have another different area to work in. With the economy the way it is we are seeing a shift in jobs, layoffs and freezes in hiring. But if the Internet can open up jobs and as the media we are just starting to scratch the surface of these possibilities then more jobs will open up. The economy will shift and we will adapt, finding new ways to put our content out there. This also makes a good question though, what will become of television and radio? Will it one day all be on the internet? And will antennas and cable be obsolete one day? That can only be answered in due time. But as for now we need to adapt to this medium and should we understand it, this could be the start of something better for all journalists. I should warn you about what type of content you put out there. Although this technology has shifted us to the Internet, you should also be weary about who can see it. Everyone from your mom to your dad can see it, so whatever you post make sure it is professional. Make sure that what you put out there is not going to jeopardize any type of professionalism that you may have created. But remember at its core, the job of the working journalist today is not unchanged. The world is flat, anyone anywhere can do the job that you can do so to change is good and to adapt could land you a job.

~Just Some Food For Thought~