New Technology

Somehow writing about a new technology seems to be harder for me than writing about a Police Officer playing basketball with some kids. This blog post is one that I should be able to knock out of the park. I happen to be a really big nerd when it comes to future technology its almost like I cant get enough of it. I could write about the many Virtual Reality machines that are coming out, the balloons that Facebook wants to send up into the upper atmosphere to give the world a high speed internet, or the rockets that SpaceX and Blue Origin are trying to make "re-usable" by having them go into space but able to come back to earth and land upright in order to be used for another trip to space. There are so many different new technologies come our way that its hard for me to pick just one... The last time you actually wrote something to a disc, remember those silver round things that we used to load with music to listen to in our car or stereo, did you wish you had more space on the disc? I remember saving a lot of my files to disc and getting really annoyed at how little data I could put on it. Well, if the researchers at the University of Southhampton have anything to do with it, the days of running out of storage on a physical disc is about to be turned around. Meet Femtosecond laser writing, a process which creates small discs of glass using an ultra-fast laser to generate short, intense pulses of light. This little disc can store upwards of 360 Terabytes of data and can store for what they are guessing some 13.8 billion years (however they figure that number out...). Now the researchers are creating this for institutions that have large archives such as museums, or data centers like Facebook or Google. Imagine the amount of data that could be stored if data centers had this kind of technology available.

Unless you have been living under a rock you have most likely heard of virtual reality and how it is becoming a a large part of the electronics future. One of those virtual reality sets is the Microsoft HoloLens. Unlike other virtual reality sets that are trying to take you to another world through video, Microsoft HoloLens brings the wonders of a computer directly to the world you are living in. Microsoft is putting images into our living rooms. Instead of creating 3D images, HoloLens will show images only the wearer can see. You will be able to walk around without worrying about running into a wall or hitting something with your hands. The HoloLens will track your movements, watch your gaze and transform what you see by pointing light at your eyes. It will be able to see what is around the room, it will know where the tables, chairs, and other objects are. It will then use that information to project 3D images on top of these items. Here is an excellent video to show what HoloLens can do

                                          Oculus Rift on left / Microsoft HoLoLens on right Imagine being able to connect to someone across the world and have them show you in a 3D image how to fix a sink or a toilet. Imagine how this would allow you to use this as a media device that would allow you to watch a movie anywhere you wanted and have it be the best visual you have ever seen. The way we could interact with others and things around us would be life changing for a lot of people. I work in the healthcare industry so its a dream to be able to see something like this come into healthcare. Imagine an open heart surgery that no longer needs to be 'open'; it would reduce the recovery time dramatically, it would also eliminate a lot of error that we hear about in healthcare. To be able to have something that allows us to see images without the object actually be there would help a lot of industries. Unfortunately, future technology is not cheap. The Microsoft HoloLens is on sale to developers for  a whopping $3000! Even though the HoloLens is revolutionary $3000 is a lot of money if they are wanting to get this into homes.  What are some new technologies that you are excited about for the future? Share them in the comments below! http://www.sciencealert.com/this-new-5d-data-storage-disc-can-store-360tb-of-data-for-14-billion-years http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-hololens-explained-how-it-works-and-why-its-different/ https://www.wired.com/2015/01/microsoft-hands-on/#slide-1  

Stand-alone Mobile apps versus Internet Browser Apps

How many of you have the Facebook application on your phone? I think I would be safe to say that 98-99% of all of the you who view this blog post have the Facebook app on your phone. I am really curious to know why you have it on your phone, comment below?

About two years ago I did a little trial to see how much time I was spending on my phone each day. I was also checking to see which apps I was using most often, and how long I was using them per unlock of my phone. I was actually shocked by what I found. Looking at the report, I had used my Facebook app over triple of any other app on my phone. Its usage was just also over three hours longer than any other application including emails, phone app, and calendar all of which I use regularly. I was also amazed that I checked my Facebook app on average of every 10-15 minutes using it for no longer than one to two minutes on some occasions. I decided I was using it way too often and needed to find something better to do, so I deleted it and have yet to install it back on my phone.

Some people look at me weird and ask "cant you just get onto Facebook on the mobile browser?" my response is always, "Have you ever used Facebook on a mobile browser!!!?" If any of you have never used Facebook via the mobile browser on your phone, I would recommend doing so right now. It is quite possibly the worst experience EVER! When you login to Facebook through your mobile phone you will notice a tremendous difference in the feel and usability of Facebook. In the mobile app when you click on someones post, then wish to return to your feed it will take you back to where you were so you may continue viewing your feed from where you left off. In the browser it takes you back to the top where you get to scroll through all of the posts that you had previously viewed to get to the posts you have not seen. It can be really annoying if you were a ways down your feed and you find something you are interested in viewing further.

Now that you are looking at Facebook in the mobile browser try and post a picture or a video to your profile, or even try to change your profile picture. Just a heads up, get prepared to wait a while, and don't be surprised if it doesn't work. I have had to retry changing my profile picture four times before it would even show as uploaded to my profile. Then it was another hassle to choose the picture to put as my profile picture, because of course you cant do it in one fellow swoop.

Those are only a few things that make Facebook on a mobile browser annoying, which is why I choose to use it... I only go on Facebook when I am super bored, or as of right now, need to look at my social media class assignments or discussions. I will occasionally get on when I am bored to see what is going on in the world around me, but am quickly reminded by the lack of usability why I deleted the Facebook app in the first place. Now not only do I have more time on my hands, the battery life on my phone has gotten a lot better! I found an article that shows that the writer had as much as 15% more battery life at the end of the day by deleting the Facebook app and using the web browser.

So, what are you thoughts? Did you try out the mobile browser, if so, what did you like/dislike? Do you use the web browser for other applications like Twitter or Instagram? Share your experiences in the comments below!







http://www.howtogeek.com/239363/forget-the-facebook-app-use-the-mobile-site-for-a-less-annoying-experience/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/08/uninstalling-facebook-app-saves-iphone-battery-life

Viral Videos

When was the last time that you heard the word "viral?" Was it used in a context of health, or was it mixed in with the context of media and online videos? I recently asked my neighbor, who is in her late 70's "What is a viral video?" Her response, "Isn't that one of those things that doctors use to spread the knowledge about a bug that is going around." I then continued to try to explain what a viral video was. "It is an online video that becomes popular due to people sharing the video through Facebook or email." She cut me off and said, "You mean the one about the pooping unicorn?! I laughed forever when my girlfriend sent me that one, I just watched it over and over again!" I couldn't help but shake my head and laugh along with her.

After the experience with my neighbor, I could not help but to think about what defines viral videos and what makes them so "Viral.” As I did the research I found a few things that help a video go viral. Think about the last time you shared a video online. What was your thought process when watching the video? I am pretty sure you were not looking blankly at the screen because the video had no relevance to you. You were probably excited to share it; you wanted other people to feel the same emotion(s) that you felt while watching the video. Viral videos go “Viral” by the amount of viewers they have, the mentions on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and how long they are remembered.

Webtrends gives us 10 tips to going viral:
1 – Focus on current events and trends
2 – Make a video
3 – Pay attention to keywords and tags
4 – Get noticed by someone big
5 – Start a contest
6 – Use Humor
7 – Be Shocking and Controversial
8 – Use photos and visual content
9 – Submit to Reddit
10 – Don’t be boring!

Have you ever created a video that has gone “Viral?” If so, please share. What are some of your favorite viral videos? Put the link(s) in the comments!





http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/what-makes-a-video-viral/62414

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_video

http://webtrends.about.com/od/howtoguides/a/Viral-Online.htm

Search Engine Optimization

What is Search Engine Optimization, what is it used for, and what are the benefits of Search Engine Optimization?

Let me start by asking you a question. How do you make yourself look better to others? Lets say you are preparing to go on a date. Are you going to do your hair or wear crummy clothes? Are you wearing something shiny or something that would draw attention to a certain part of your body? How are you going to smell, will it be like you just got back from the gym, or are you going to take the time to clean yourself up so that you can make a positive impression on the person you are going on the date with? Most likely your goal would be to impress the person you are going on the date with.

Enter Search Engine Optimization, a technique of optimizing a website to make it rank better in search engines. By optimizing your website it will increase the visibility of your website and will help bring a lot more traffic towards your webpage. A study showed that 93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine, 75% never navigate past the first page of results. If your company has a webpage or you have a personal page that you want everyone to see, you cannot afford to have your webpage on the third page of the search results. When you perform a search on lets say Google, the order the results are displayed are based on algorithms. These algorithms take a number of factors into account to decide which web site should be shown in the top spot, second spot, etc. By optimizing your website for search engines you will be given an advantage over non-optimized sites and will increase your chances of getting higher on the list; Therefore, increasing the traffic your website gets.

Here are a few benefits of Search Engine Optimization:

1 - High Return on investment

2 - Long term positioning, if done correctly a properly designed website will maintain a position in the top rankings for a longer period of time.

3 - Targeted traffic, by optimizing it will increase the number of visitors who are actively searching for products or services that your website has to offer.

4 - Increased Brand Visibility

5 - Higher sales

6 - Cost effective

7 - Usability

Now if you have a website that you want to optimize know that it wont be an overnight success, as I often say, "Everything is not lollipops and rainbows." It takes time and money in order to optimize your website, as well, the internet is ever changing so it will be a continual battle if you want to reach the upper echelons of the search engine world. Here is a rough timeline from Forbes on about how long it takes for an optimization to work, and the results you might expect.

Month 1 – Research and discovery, website audit, keyword strategy, and planning. If research and discovery can be done quickly, then technical changes may start being made to the website within the first month. In other cases a thorough research and discovery phase can last more than one month.

Month 2 – Begin technical SEO work, that is, making modification to the website based on site audit results. In some cases the website needs to be overhauled, and this of itself can take months. Other SEO activities such as working on the link profile and building content can be done at the same time the overhaul is happening. If you find yourself in this overhaul situation, you’ll be doing “SEO” but you still won’t be seeing any results at all, since the changes being made will only start to have an impact once they’re finished.

Month 3 – Start focusing on content creation. Blogging, FAQs, whitepapers, articles, expanded product and company information, etc. Ideally you would have started on this right after the strategy and planning, but often budgets restrict what can be done at once, and so a technical overhaul needs to come first. This being the case, you might start seeing some improvements in rankings by the end of this month. If those rankings are translating into leads or sales then even better, but you wouldn’t necessarily expect them yet.

Month 4 – Continued content creation, technical optimization of the website, and development of a healthy link profile (which may include cleaning up low quality links). By this month you could expect to see a marked increase in rankings, traffic, and lead generation. It won’t be anywhere close to the improvements you should 12 months into your SEO efforts, but it should be significant enough that you know SEO is working.

Month 5 – By this month or perhaps earlier in the process you may have started incorporating social media management into your plan to amplify your content and increase direct traffic to your website. This can lead to a healthy, natural link profile, and of course generate leads in and of itself. You would continue with content creation and perhaps engage in some PR or media outreach. You should be seeing more and more traffic coming in from SEO at this point, and your leads should be growing as a result.

Month 6 – If your traffic has reached 5,000 visitors per month or more by this point, you could benefit from adding conversion rate optimization to your efforts to improve how the traffic you’re receiving converts into leads and/or sales. From this point on, your activities may be consistently focused on content creation and promoting that content, or you may be doing things that are more creative. The specific activities can vary greatly depending on what type of company you are and what kind of website you have.

Many Search Engine Optimization firms will tell you that it takes 4 to 6 months to start seeing results. That’s generally accurate, but bear in mind this is when you start seeing results, and SEO results grow over time. Whatever results you’re getting at 6 months should be considerably less than what you’re getting at 12 months. At some point, you may see your results taper off, and then it may be a matter of maintaining results rather than growing them.

What are your thoughts on Search Engine Optimization? If you had a website would you optimize it? Do you already have a website that is already optimized, how did you optimize it, please share your story!

http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

http://www.businessinsider.com/10-basic-seo-tips-everyone-should-know-2010-1

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-search-engine-optimization-sid-gandotra

Management Platforms and Tools - Hootsuite

Do you have a business that is online? Do you use social media to promote your business? Are you like me that has an account on every major social media site and wants to be on top of what is going on? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to check out Hootsuite.

Hootsuite is a social media dashboard where you can keep track of and keep on top of multiple social media platforms all in one place. You are able to schedule posts and manage every major social media platform, all without having to switch between each social media account.

While using Hootsuite you are able to setup different topics of information that you want to see on each dashboard. Lets say you want to see anything about your online business, a certain video game, or a band. You can setup these 'streams' as they are called, to break down the information that is relevant to that individual stream. Hootsuite is exceptional for businesses that have an online presence. With the ability to sort keywords in to an individual stream that are important to that type of business. My personal favorite is being able to create a stream for scheduled posts, this allows you to schedule posts every day for the upcoming week without having to login to each account and post this information. There are an almost infinite number of ways that you can use these streams to your advantage. With a social media management system like this there should be no reason you should be missing a beat on social media.

Now talking about missing a beat... You are not truly connected with the customers you serve if you are not using an automated social media management system. 79% of the top performing companies use these management systems because they know that the information on social media is crucial to what they are trying to accomplish. They know they need to be able to listen in order to grow and serve their customers. Social listening is a crucial part in having an online presence. Look back at a time that you were searching for an answer from a company how do you feel when it seems like no one is listening, or you are never getting a response back. Now look back at a time where you had great service and a quick response. What did you feel like, which would you rather choose? That is where social media management systems come in to play. When someone asks a question it doesn't matter what you are doing, you get notified that someone made a comment or asked a question and you are able to respond quickly and effectively without missing a beat.

What are your thoughts on social media management platforms? Is this something only for the business folk? If you don't own a business would you use it, how would it be helpful to you??



http://iag.me/socialmedia/reviews/7-reasons-why-you-should-use-hootsuite/

http://www.steamfeed.com/hoot-hootsuite/

http://www.business.com/social-media-marketing/back-to-basics-social-listening/

Organizational Uses

Have you ever wondered how and why some organizations use social media? For some companies without social media they might not be a company. Take Beachbody for example, here is a company that makes workout videos. They do not have gyms, stores, or ads in a newspaper. Almost all of their business now comes from social media sites. Beachbody invites people from around the world to become coaches in helping them spread their message of happiness through good health. These coaches are the ones hitting the social media sites and spreading their stories about how Beachbody has helped them become fit and for some turn their lives around. This past week I had the opportunity to interview one of these said Beachbody coaches. Growing up, this coach was surrounded with a family plagued by diabetes. At one point in his life when the thought everything was going really well he was told that he was in the realms of being pre-diabetic. His life got turned upside down, he even lost his life insurance policy due to the diagnosis. He decided to turn his life around and was able to do so using some of the Beachbody workouts. He is now spreading that message with everyone that will listen. His main source for sharing this information and helping people succeed... Facebook!

Social media has transformed the way everyone communicates. From marketing products to spreading breaking news social media has been a game changer, and most organizations are utilizing it. Lets take the Beachbody coach that I interviewed. Every day he posts three to four posts about something uplifting or about exercise, then one of him doing his daily exercise. He puts together challenge groups on Facebook for those interested or needing a support group to give their motivation a jump start. The use of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google , will contribute to the bottom line of most businesses that use them correctly and effectively. The challenge that these companies face are linking the business objectives, social media strategies, and the bottom line all into one package. They want to be able to grow, reach out to more people, and stay afloat all at the same time. For companies such as Beachbody there has to be purpose put together with tangible results. If Beachbody just sold home workouts just to make money, or sold them in a kiosk in a mall, they would not be where they are today. There is a purpose in what they do, they have a mission, a vision, and values that helps their results be driven with purpose. They want their customers to be healthy and happy, when their customers are healthy and happy their friends will want in on the action and Beachbody then gains more customers.

Beachbody also uses social media to their advantage in the way of reviews and ratings. If someone makes a post on a social media site that says how hard or easy a workout was, that is a rating to other viewers telling them how good or bad a workout really is; Its like a bunch of small infomercials floating around social media.  Companies like Beachbody love reviews and ratings because it lets them know more about the product(s) they are distributing. If someone gives it a bad rating because of the level of difficulty they now know that they need to create a more simple exercise program or make changes to the one they have out. Beachbody is only one small example of hundreds of thousands of companies that utilize social media sites every day to reach out the masses. Utilizing the many social media uses for an organization is key to success in almost every aspect. In this post I only hit upon a couple. What do you think are some other areas that social media helps organizations utilize social media? What are some other companies that you think of? I would love to read your comments!






http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/12/17/how-social-media-can-spur-organizational-transformation/#304ece411852

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/social-media/social-media-workplace-research-roundup

Class Cloud

The class cloud was an interesting experience. I have had a Twitter account since 2009 and I think I spent more time on Twitter during that hour and a half of class than I have the entire time I have had an account. From my Tweets there was not much that happened, I did converse with a lady about Donald Trump and what he stood for, but it did not last very long. She stopped talking to me when I asked her specific questions about why she wanted to vote for Sanders. I really wanted to know about him and she shut down. I can see how people could spend a lot of time on Twitter tweeting back and forth between other people or even a group of people. I also see it as a dangerous place as I noticed how many bad things were being brought up that people posted in previous tweets. It has actually made me think about things I post on any social media sites before I post them. You never know if it will come back to bite you later on. 

I found it pretty amusing at how quick a tweet can spread. I watched as a CNN reporter tweeted something about Mitt Romney’s upcoming speech. Within minutes the single tweet from a single person was re-tweeted over 1,000 times and liked over 2,000 times. It never ceases to amaze me how big social media has taken over everything these days. It would be interesting to see how things would have changed in the previous presidential elections if Twitter and Facebook had been around.

Another thing that caught my attention was when my professor brought up a twitter profile name that has some meaning and background. It is a name where people look at it as a confident and polite user. The individual tweeted something about cats that would have looked suspicious and maybe unacceptable under that username. I had never really thought of how a single tweet could but a bad image for not only the person posting the message but everyone after that person that would carry the same mantle or responsibility.

As I was waiting and refreshing my Twitter feed I looked up support feeds for placed like Nike and Microsoft. It was truly a light that I had never thought of before, instant help through a single tweet. People would ask questions to @NikeSupport and within minutes have an answer back on how to fix a problem or where to go to get something fixed. I think that is something that will continue to grow in popularity as companies continue to go to the online route of selling goods and services. No longer having to wait hours or days for support to get back to you will be a great stress reliever for me in the future.

https://twitter.com/sparker24/status/705201306722398209

https://twitter.com/sparker24/status/705143389654650880

https://twitter.com/sparker24/status/705202837660143616

Reflection 2 - Bobbie "Basketball Cop" White

When was the last time you read or heard of an article that began with the title "Cool Cop Responds"? I dont know about you but for me I'm not sure I have ever heard it, especially in the last couple of months. I give props to anyone that would want to be a Police Officer today with everything that has been going on, it seems that on a daily basis we are hearing about how a cop shot this person or beat up this person. They have been receiving such a negative rep that people are starting to become afraid of what Police Officers do and what they represent. Enter Bobbie "Basketball Cop" White.

For those that do not know the story, Officer Bobbie White responded to a call of kids playing basketball "loudly" in the streets. As Officer White arrived at the scene he noticed a bunch of boys playing basketball on the street. So being the super cop that he was he turned on his sirens and chased them off, right? wrong. Bobbie White knew exactly what to do: play a little basketball. Imagine having a cop pull up to you when you are playing a pickup game of basketball getting out of the car and start to approach you, where would your thoughts go? "What did I do?" "Is there something wrong?" Now imagine if this cop started playing basketball with you, how would your mind change towards the image of cops? Officer White played basketball for around 10 minutes. As he was leaving he mentioned he would bring some "backup" to get a game going.

The Gainesville Police Department uploaded the dash cam video to their Facebook page where it became an instant viral video, getting over 17 Million views. Imagine how one simple video can change the prospective of cops around the world. This would not have been possible 10 years ago, but because of social media millions of people have seen that not all Police Officers are bad. This story became so big that Shaquille O'Neal, a police officer himself, decided to come join in the "backup" game. "These kids will never forget the day Shaq rolled up to their house to play ball," the police department said. Now talk about the power of social media and how it can effect the outcome on something as simple as a game of basketball.

As I have been reading about this story, I have learned that its not all about how something looks or how you perceive something. I wonder what Officer White was thinking when he first got the call to check out a rowdy group of kids playing basketball, what do you think his state of mind was. I'm pretty sure it wasn't negative, but was more along the lines of how he could make a routine check, more meaningful. Always looking to see how you can improve a situation is not always the easiest thing to do. How easy could it have been for Officer White to drive up with his lights on, park under the basket and tell the kids to be quiet. Unfortunately, that is probably the normal way a police officer might handle those kinds of situations. Officer White has been known to do goo deeds such as this one. A few years ago Officer White suggested that the Police Department purchase footballs and basketballs to keep in the patrol room. Anytime they saw kids out that needed something to do, they would give them a ball to play with. Don't we wish more Police Departments were like that?

This story also makes me think of the power of the media. When the media wants to make someone look bad, they can do it, and very easily. As I mentioned earlier the only thing that we hear about in the news these days is how a Police Officer has shot and killed another person. This is ultimately destroying the way that we view all Police Officers. If you met Officer White without knowing his background and what kind of a person he is, you would probably judge him according to what you see on TV or read in a news article. Are all cops that way? The media wants us to think they are, but they are not. Any Police Officer that I have been able to meet and talk to have been some of the kindest most generous people. That is why I loved hearing about this story, its proof that not all Police Officers are bad and the media is not always the best place for information and news. Get out and meet your local Police Officers and see for yourself what they are like, I think after you do that your mind set and attitude will change about them.

Here's a question. When do you draw the line with media, when do you go find out the information for yourself instead of relying on them?







http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/news/cool-cop-responds-to-hoops-noise-complaint-with-savage-dunk-20160122

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/24/us/florida-shaq-police-officers-game/

http://www.today.com/news/florida-police-officer-joins-basketball-game-kids-following-noise-complaint-t68521