The Biggest Thing Since Google??...The Most Ads Since Google

For a free website, like Facebook, it is difficult to make money through advertising, but protect users privacy at the same time. They need to make a profit, but how? Beacon was a tracking program used by Facebook to target what users buy online, and fit them into an ad, to directly communicate to the users.

In a 2008 60 Minutes interview (link above) with Facebook owner Mark Zuckerburg, he responds to the use of Beacon on Facebook: "When you put that information in your profile...that you like a scarf...we might show that information to your friends, as an add." This sparked controversy because users felt their privacy was highly violated. Zuckerburg, was forced to put more privacy settings on the program, Beacon. Ads are still targeted towards users interests, but not as intrusively. Zuckerburg believes that these sorts of ads are a new, better way of targeting users, rather than posting banner ads. People are more likely to view ads that are catered to their interests than any random ad at the top of a page. Zuckerburg remains hopeful. Facebook must use ads to make a profit while keeping the site free for users. These "special interest" ads seem to be the lesser of the evil.

There may be a better way to use ads on social media sites, but I have not yet come across it. Advertisements are always a bother when they consume the pages of every website we see. We have almost become blind to many of these advertisements. I think it is a good advertising strategy to use user targeted ads, but is it a good strategy for Facebook?

Podcast with Janis Krums

Click on the header of the blogpost to open the link to our podcast.

This is our social media podcast for the St. Edward’s University course, COMM 4352, Internet and Social Media for Public Relations. We interviewed Janis Krums, who posted the first breaking picture of the Hudson River plane crash, on the social network, Twitter. We ask him about the actual posting, and about his thoughts on social media.




00:10 Ben introduces the show, speakers, and special guest, Janis Krums.
01:58 Ginny interviews Janis about his experience during and after posting the famous Twit Pic.
5:28 Reanne and Janis discuss social media and citizen journalism.
09:15 Austin presents concluding thoughts, out-tro, and our Thanks to Janis.

Podcasting Stars!

Our podcast was a very interesting experience. We chose to interview Janis Krums, the Twitter poster of the first breaking Hudson River plane crash picture. He lives in Sarasota, FL. We conducted the interview via Skype.

Our first dilemma was finding a way to record our conversation. We could not find a program that would adequately record both sides of our conversation. Skype does not have a recording feature. So, we brainstormed to record each side separately on Audacity. We had Janis download Audacity and the proper applications to send us his recorded side of our Podcast. He was very patient as we struggled with our computer issues!

The interview went well, for students rather than professional reporters. Janis made a really interesting interview and I am so glad we chose to do our Podcast with him. I hope that people outside of our class will hear our interview too, because he really is an interesting guy. After he exported his recorded side of the interview as an mp3, he sent that to us. We cut the two recorded sides together, and began to edit all of our mistakes.

I was very surprised with the clarity of the recording, considering we did the interview through Skype. Listening to the edited interview, you can not tell that we did the interview over Skype, or that we recorded both sides separately. I am so glad it worked out perfectly!

These programs continue to impress me the more I learn of them. It is amazing that we are able to interview Janis all the way in Sarasota, FL, and then send it to him to listen to. We are very happy, and very impressed with our finished product!

One small step for Skittles, one giant leap for Social Media.

The Skittles website has gained a lot of talk and controversy. This only adds to the publicity that the company receives. I think the website is a great idea because it plays on what people love right now; transparency. It looks like they are confident of what anyone has to say about Skittles, which makes me feel like people must not have many terrible things to say. And when I think about it, I don't think I have anything bad to say about Skittles.

The best part of the website is the "chatter", Twitter page, which I think should be the opening page. I like this page because people are actually talking about Skittles. I would have never thought that Skittles could be such a hot topic, but with about one comment every four minutes, this site has proven me wrong.

I think this is a great idea for Skittles. I really do not think this page will necessarily add or subtract from sales, since Skittles is a pretty stable candy, but it is definitely a fun idea. It spurs more talk amongst people who would have maybe never thought about talking about Skittles (like me). I believe other companies could benefit from tasting a little of this social media rainbow.

Now all this Skittles talk is making me want some gelatin-filled, partially hydrogenated, bug coated candy!

Podcasts

I had never thought making a Podcast could be so hard. After trying out a section of podcasting, I have realized it is kind of an art.

All elements of a good radio show, plus many more, are needed for a good Podcast. Having a good radio voice and interesting subject is not even half of the battle!

Being able to cut jingles, adjust volume, transition clearly, make clean cuts, and control content are all balanced in a good podcast. Matching jingle volume with voice adjustments can be tricky. Editing all of this, and paying attention to all the elements such as background noise, voice/music volume, clear cuts, and so on, is much more difficult than Podcasters make it seem. It is especially difficult after finishing an entire podcast, then going back through to edit the entire thing, and make sure every second is perfect. Although it can be tricky, a good podcast should sound professional, smooth, and easy, just like a radio show.

This art takes a lot of practice. I have a much higher respect for Podcasters.

Filter for Netflix

After reading the section of chapter one in Citizen Marketers about "Filters", I decided to check out Mike Kaltschnee's HackingNetflix.com blog.

The website is well organized with an option to submit a story, RSS Feeds, polls, links, etc. This truly does blur the line between journalist, blogger, and the common public. With blogs such as HackingNetflix, any normal person can become a journalist.

Filters, as mentioned in the chapter, wrap up people's rants and raves, and some traditional media stories, into journalistic packages complete with sources, links, observations, etc. Some remain, as Kaltschees strives to, objective. HackingNetflix seems to do a good job remaining balanced without coming across as complete marketing for Netflix. A few stories are posted by Kaltschnee weekly, with credit to the people who submit them. Though most of the stories relate directly to Netflix, some are about other renting services or things to do with DVDs.

Filter blogs are an interesting blend of journalism with every day life. I still have not decided how this will affect media journalism and the general public, for the better or worse. But it will be interesting to watch how this continues to evolve the way we view news and how we receive information.

Social bookmarking

Social bookmarking services are the new answer to endless searches. These can help for specific searches for information especially those that have many results in engines such as google. It helps to label the web and make our searches easier and quicker yet.

Folksonomy is the new power behind social bookmarking, powered by the people themselves. This online collaboration is a bottom up way of spreading information. It produces information that is being used and shared by normal people faster than it could be produced in the old world.

The systems used for social bookmarking continue to grow including, del.icio.us, digg, magnolia, blue dot, simpy, blog marks, reddit, etc.