Just Another Blog…Or Is It?

For MIS 375, our class has an emerging technology project in which our group has decided to analyze microblogging and see how businesses can use this strategically. While we talked about Twitter, I found out from wikipedia that a new “enterprise microblogging” tool called Yammer was introduced this past September 2008. Yammer creates a microblogging network within a corporation or organization. The basic service is free but the company charges money to any corporations who want to control their own administrative tools. It is called a “Twitter with a business model” allowing Yammer to win the TechCrunch50 Conference this past 2008.  If microblogging begans to really take off (especially when the price of the Iphone goes down), I could see Twitter giving Facebook a little bit of competition, in terms of fast status communication. In this case, Yammer has huge potential to give the professional social networking tool LinkedIn some competition.

Read the article at: http://www.techcrunch50.com/2008/conference/presenter.php?presenter=53

and the Yammer website: https://www.yammer.com/

A few days ago, Judd Bagley came to speak to our class. I did a little research and read about him, not understanding why he didn’t have his own wiki page. However, nothing could have prepared me for his passion, drive, and the authentically animated character that he was! As he unraveled the story (in true journalist nature) about the naked short selling wikipedia article to his cyber-stalking detective work on Gary Weiss, who Judd found out to be was posing as several different screennames for wikis, blogs, and amazon reviews. That is the short of the story.

What I found extremely interesting from all of it, was the question of whether we really know that wikipedia isn’t being biased and banning certain people, or that an elite few are controlling the content. It is not limited to wikipedia either; but blogs, reviews, social networking profiles, all user-generated content should be taken into account. We can’t all be cyberstalkers and track down each person and his/her IP address to see if their Internet activity is legit. How can we trust UGC? and How can we prevent fraudulent users from using the Internet as their mask? How will we address security issues in the near future? Should cyberstalking be a respectable job? hehe I would find it quite entertaining. It’s like Nancy Drew via Internet.

To be honest, I have some difficulty between telling the difference between what we categorize as Web 2.0 or 1.0. I think there is a line of gray when it comes to the matter, but it also depends on your definition of Web 2.0. I find it interesting that our class categorized Netflix as more Web 1.0, but I can understand that when our Web 2.0 definition is collaborative sharing.

Even though our generation experienced the move from 1.0 to 2.0, I barely remember Web 1.0. I remember logging into AOL, chatting on IM, and even entering chat rooms. I was a huge fan of Nsync (yes I admit it), and made my own fan page on Geocities. Other fans would come leave messages of my guestbook occassionally, but that was as much sharing as there was. [Interestingly enough, Geocities is the reason why I still have my main Yahoo email address.] Then it gradually moved to  getting a livejournal, blogspot, and then xanga…and coincidentally I had all 3 to keep up with the links with my friends. We shared about our lives and that was it. I wasn’t completely Web 2.0 savvy, until I went to the UT orientation week when I finally received my .edu email address and signed up for Facebook in July 2005. Profiles, pictures, friends, notes, and anything else I wanted to share was out in the open. In college, I’ve learned to Youtube everything (including the box step from my ballroom class), ask Wikipedia when Youtube fails, and Facebook stalk any classmates that are assigned to your group projects. I believe the change has been gradual and continues to be so, as more and more is being collaboratively shared.