The Ab Fab of Social Networking
Just as we get used to Google being part of our venicular, we discover there is another gene pool of IT words that are working their way into the fabric of our life.
Taking pics of Mary’s birthday, how delightful… must put them on FaceBook. Got a new boyfriend or girlfriend? Must tell everyone on Beebo! Promoting your band’s events… then MySpace is the place to be. Unless they recently found you on Mars, if you are reading this you would have heard of one of the many social networking sites that have become part of our society.
No longer do people have to climb the wall when they have no one to tell good news to. It doesn’t matter about time zones, boundaries, ages, socio groups, sex, location or many times even language, it’s to social networking that people are inevitably turning to. It’s all about communication. The ability to communicate with someone or no-one at any time of the day.
We’re also telling the word what we like, when we like it, how we like it & how much we are prepared to pay for it. So who is the most interested to hear that? Advertisers. Whether I am advertising a Condo or a second hand pram, I want someone to sell my goods to, so by what better method than genetic advertising. Age, sex, race & location all boiled into one place which ranks well with search engines. What more can the consumer world ask for!
But nothing comes for free. Social networks require huge expanses of bandwidth & power. Who pays for this use? We do indirectly every time we buy something from an ad. Does the advertising costs cover the cost of running such networks? You bet it does … and then some! It hasn’t attracted huge investers such as Rupert Murdoch, Microsoft & Google for nothing. Networks such as MySpace & YouTube have been purchased for many millions of dollars.
So where do social networks go from here? Who knows. Like the early community portals of the late 90’s they could fizzle out. Social network software developers such as Boonex are continueing to push the limits of social networking. So I say, sit back & enjoy the journey!
The Cesspool of Cyber Society
“Bullshit and hysteria have a long and proud history on the internet, one that should never be under-estimated”
I read this quote today in a forum & after being dragged through the anal cavity of the Web today, it has to be the most refreshing statement I have heard for eons!
Dodgy SEO’s, incompetent web designers, and unreliable web hosts combined to form the bowels of the Internet. This is where unsuspecting users are getting lost in the slums. Roads that lead to undesirables. Highways fall into ruin from the pressure. Infrastructure crumbles at our feet.
So how to we save these lost people. We can shout them directions, but unless the understand they get even further lost. We can put ourselves on a pedestal as the best, but that just makes it further for us to fall. Or we can show them our badge, take their hand and guide them through the dreggs of society.
What is this crazy woman talking about you ask???
Licensing! There has to be something that shows the public that you can be trusted. A mechanic has to be licensed, so does an electrician, a builder a plumber. I’m not talking about formal qualifications. A License that says you can do as you claim.
There are mega bucks exchanging hands for websites & their infrastructure, with unsuspecting clients not knowing that they could not be getting what they pay for.
A license wont save the day, but it may provide street lighting so that it gives the unsuspecting user a fighting chance!
Firefox 3 - Download Record Day
June 17, 2008
If you haven’t yet done it, then now is the time to try out Firefox 3! We don’t have sing it’s praises anymore. Firefox has continued to gain momentum as one of the more popular browsers on the market, and now they are going to see exactly how popular, by setting a World Record for Downloads!
Don’t be content with prepackaged browsers, step outside the box and try out what most of the professionals in the IT industry use. You’ll be surprised how you can customize Firefox to what you need it for, not for what some software giant has decided you need.
Take back the web!
SEO Myths
Read a Google/SEO rumour, need to verify it? I know I have many times!
I’ve always found Matt Cutts to be a fairly practical kind of guy, and he is full of valuable search engine info! So I just had to share this. Because I think it’s just too valuable to be buried. He has made a series of videos that answer pretty much every question you can think of. So make sure you check it out!
Microsoft/Yahoo v’s Google - Clash of the Titans
If you have happened to be hiding under a rock for the past week of so, then you will have missed on learning that Microsoft has offered to buy the search engine company Yahoo for $44.6bn (£22.4bn) in cash and shares, which is 62% above Yahoo’s closing share price on Thursday. This came after Yahoo apparently declared that an additional $300m was required this year to try to revive the company, after it’s been struggling against Google & MSN. Microsoft’s Kevin Johnson stated that the combination of the two companies would create an entity that could better compete with Google, who currently dominates online search and advertising.
This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo. Last year they were in talks, but Yahoo remained firm that it’s new plans would keep them above water. Unfortunately though, the shares continued to fall.
However, Google isn’t very happy with this prospect, and competition authorities both in the US and the European Union would be likely to investigate the tie-up, if it should occur.
There also seems to be some concern among financial analysts about the price that Microsoft is offering, that its rather over the top.
If it does come to fruition, it’s going to be a clash of the titans. Which only spells out good news for us as they compete for throne.
Be interesting to see what happens with the affiliation with the TV networks in Australia. Nine + MSN … Yahoo+Seven … and I am sure I saw something last year about something between Foxtel & Google. It makes you wonder if you should be choosing alliances now.
