The iPad Strikes Again

Recently, Mashable.com posted a story about a 99-year-old woman’s new experience with the iPad. Virginia Cambell, a 99-year-old woman from Lake Oswego, Oregon, purchased the iPad to access online books. According to reports, Cambell suffers from glaucoma, which affects her eyesight. The video below shows Cambell’s first encounter with the device:



This story really made me start to question the effects of new media and trends on older generations. How do they perceive these new devices? In the video, Cambell appears quite perplexed by her new iPad but delighted at the same time. If given the opportunity and guidance could older generations benefit from devices like the iPad, just like Cambell? It is also brings into question if older generations would accept or reject the advances of new media trends. As a people who grew up with computers and cell phones, most of us tend to be open to new technology. How do kids these days feel about technology? I recall getting our first family computer in 1995 and the excitement of Microsoft Paint. Do kids feel the same excitement about the iPad? Or are they already so jaded to new technological advances? I recently spent time with my friend’s family and learned that his 6-year-old cousin had an iTouch. I must admit that I was a little perplexed and jealous (I’m still rockin’ the original iPod video). But really, a 6 year old with an iTouch?! Makes me wonder what my kids might have one day. On that same thought, it makes you wonder how Cambell might feel about her children’s interaction with new technology (and their children!).

How do you feel? Do you have experiences with family members or friends that have different views on technology?

Be Careful on Craigslist!

The Statesman recently posted information about two men accused of robbing people with the help of Craigslist. Apparently the two men placed advertisements on Craigslist pretending to sell an iPhone. Once the buyer was lured in to a location, such as a parking lot, the men would rob the person. According to police, four different meetings were set up between the robbers and unsuspecting buyers. All of the meetings were set up in business parking lots between the hours of 10:15pm and 11:30pm.

The men, identified as Arthur Anderson and Kent Jenkins, were both 18 years old. They have only been charged with robbery in a Braker Lane incident but police believe that the men were involved in several other similar incidents.

I found this new report somewhat disheartening. Of course we all know to be careful when dealing with individual sellers and buyers on Craigslist but it is despairing to see people use the site in such a negative form. I am personally a huge Craigslist fan and have been lucky to have positive experiences. I found my current job on Craigslist about a year ago and have been very fortunate. However, it seems that trusting Craigslist is not enough when dealing with certain individuals.

Below is a list of tips provided by Craiglist to help ensure safety:

When meeting someone for the first time, please remember to:
• Insist on a public meeting place like a cafe
• Tell a friend or family member where you're going
• Take your cell phone along if you have one
• Consider having a friend accompany you
• Trust your instincts

It is important to note that these tips can apply to any encounter organized via Internet. Many people will often trust social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook to be reliable sources for meeting new people. In reality, individuals must always use caution when meeting people outside the realm of the World Wide Web. Of course this seems like common sense, but many people fall victim to online predators. Remember to always practice caution and safety when communicating with strangers via the Internet and social networking sites. What have been your experiences using Craigslist? Do you have any tips for other Craigslist users?

Is Facebook Affecting Your Romantic Relationships?

Like many social networking sites, Facebook has become a highly used resource for both professional and personal use. Many of us, including myself, frequent Facebook many times a day resulting in what I like to call Facebook overload. When one spends so much time of Facebook lines between friendship, relationships, and reality begin to blur. Sometimes the content we post on Facebook can end up affecting different aspects of our lives, like professional image, friendships, and for some, their love life. In recent article by Mashable.com, they look at how Facebook has changed dating and the rules of dating in a negative way.

“We all know from experience that one threat is real: Facebook makes dating far more complicated than it used to be,” says author Samuel Axon.

Below is a list of 5 reasons why Facebook has affected dating for the worst (found on Mashable.com:

1. Overanalyzing Will Drive You Crazy
2. You See All the Action Your Ex Is Getting
3. Relationships and Breakups Are Public
4. It’s a Record of Every Relationship Mistake You’ve Made
5. Other People’s Comment Will Make Your Date Jealous

From this list, it seems fairly clear that Facebook has created many difficulties for those in romantic relationships. Many of us may have even experienced one or two of the events on the above list. How do you feel about the effect of Facebook on relationships? What has been your experience?

Measuring Success in the Social Web

In Deltina Hay’s “A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization”, Chapter 14 looks at measuring one’s success in the Social Web. It is necessary to measure your success in the Social Web to better understand the effect of your efforts and to discover room for improvement. First, Hay recommends narrowing your goal. What is your goal for using the Social Web for your business practices? What is the reason for your investment in utilizing social media? Below is a list of possible goals provided by Hay:

- Increasing Website traffic
- Driving sales or new business
- Monitoring brand awareness
- Improving customer relations
- Managing reputation
- Establishing credibility
- Creating buzz
- Improving public relations

Once you have defined your goal, the next step is to try to determine the success of your efforts. Hay describes two different ways to look at measurement: qualitative and quantitative. Below is an excerpt from chapter 14 of Hay’s social media guide describing qualitative framework for measuring social media engagement:

1. Attention. The amount of traffic to your content for a given period of time. Similar to the standard Web metrics of site visits and page/video views.
2. Participation. The extent to which users engage with your content in a channel. Think blog comments, Facebook wall posts, YouTube ratings, or widget interactions.
3. Authority. Ala Tecnhnorati, the inbound links to your content – like trackbacks and inbound links to a blog post or sites linking to a YouTube video.
4. Influence. The size of the user base subscribed to your content. For blogs, [it is] followers on Twitter or Friendfeed; or [it is] fans of your Facebook page.

Another way to measure success is through quantitative measuring. In order to use quantitative measuring, you must have a goal with specific numbers. Below is an excerpt from Hay’s chapter 14, outlining a quantitative framework:

- Placement in Website search engines
- Placement in blog search engines
- Placement of social networking pages in searches
- Ranking in social bookmarking sites
- Popularity in crowd-sourcing sites
- Popularity of shared multimedia within media communities

So if you decide to measure your Social Web success using either a qualitative or quantitative framework, it is necessary to first establish a goal. Which method do you feel is the most effective way to measure Social Web success?

Apple iPad Sales Continue to Increase

Over the past few months there has been tremendous hype for the new Apple iPad. People all over the world have turned their attention and focus on Apple’s new creation and its introduction into the market. The iPad, which was made available in the U.S. on April 3rd, sold around 300,000 opening day. In addition, new iPad users were reported to have downloaded 1 million iPad applications and 250,000 e-books.

Since the first day of sales, iPad sales continue to flourish. At the April 8th Apple iPhone OS 4.0 press event, Steve Jobs announced the new sales and statistics for the iPad. Jobs reported that a total of 450,000 iPads had been sold since Saturday.

Jobs also reported the following statistics (found on Mashable.com):

- Since the iPad launch on Saturday there have been 600,000 iBooks downloaded
- Over one million applications were downloaded to iPads on day one
- A total of 3.5 million applications have been downloaded to iPads since the launch
- There are now 3,500 iPad-specific applications available for download, with 185,000 total applications available across all devices
- Total app store downloads, across all platforms, have surpassed the 4 billion mark

So there you have it. Apple’s newest creation achieves success in a short amount of time. Although I believe this was expected by all. We are all intrigued to see what device Apple will launch next. What do you think? Will you invest in the new iPad? Why or why not?

Media Communities

This week our assigned reading out of Deltina Hay’s social media survival guide covered media communities and the importance of utilizing them for increasing exposure. Hay defines media communities as "social sites where you can save, share, and comment on multimedia items." Basically, media communities bring together people who want to share their photos, videos, music, etc. Media communities are just another example of social media and new ways to connect with people via the Internet.

Apart from using media communities as a new way to connect with others, they can also be a very useful tool in promoting and drawing interest to specific content. Hay uses an example of Dalton Publishing’s use of Flickr to promote various events related to newly published books. Dalton uses Flickr to post pictures of different events such as book signings and book readings for people to access. For those of you unfamiliar with Flickr, it is a image-sharing site that allows you to upload images and pictures to share with others.

Another example of a media community is the well-known video-sharing site, YouTube. Much like Flickr, YouTube allows users to upload video content to the site to share with others. YouTube also serves as a resource for organizations to upload video content of events or promotional videos to reach a high number of viewers.

One of the most important aspects of media communities is the ability to connect the content with blogs or websites. A user can simply load or link the content from a media community such as Flickr or YouTube to their personal or professional website. In my last blog, I discussed the web video I created for The Big Event. This is a perfect example of how you can create content, upload it to a media community, and then add it to your blog.

What are your thoughts on media communities? Do you have a Flickr or YouTube account? If so, describe your experience!

The Big Event 2010

It’s that time again…THE BIG EVENT 2010! Are you ready? Join students in the community service project on April 10th 2010. This year, the annual St. Edward’s service project is bigger than ever! The event, which is sponsored by the Student Government association, is expected to bring in around 200-250 students to help improve and cleanup neighboring areas. Each year, students participate in The BIG Event to give back to communities and neighborhoods surrounding St. Edward’s University. St. Edward’s was founded on a mission statement that reflects giving back to others and having a positive impact on one’s community.

“The BIG Event is so important to the university and the student body, as it is a reflection of our commitment to being good neighbors. People in the community look forward to The BIG Event each year, and truly appreciate our help,” says Krista Heiden, director of Service for Student Government Association and main coordinator for The BIG Event.

This year also marks the 125th year anniversary of St. Edward’s University. Part of the yearlong celebration includes the 125 Service Challenge, a campus wide goal of achieving 75,000 service hours by the end of the year. Students are encouraged to participate in various campus service projects to help reach this goal. This year, The BIG Event service hours will be counted into the 125 Service Challenge.

Sign up for The BIG Event today by registering online or by stopping by The BIG Event table in the Ragsdale lobby.

For more information go to The BIG Event info page or email bigevent@stedwards.edu.