10 posts tagged “social networking”
For another class I'm in on "Environment and Society", we were asked to find ways that we can reduce our ecological footprint. An interesting option that I came across was BeGreen, a social networking site dedicated to reducing their users' carbon footprint. I love the design and idea of the site and many of the suggestions that they give are practical and easy to apply to everyday life. The only part that I don't like about it is that when you are unable or unwilling to change certain parts of your life, the site suggests a certain amount of money to give in order to reduce that impact. While I'm sure this money does help, I think there are better options such as giving more suggestions to how a user can help actively in their community on these issues instead of forking out the checkbook. Overall, I think this is an interesting take on the social networking phenomenon that will hopefully have an impact on the environment.
Since I'm a totaly layout/design nerd and my sister knowing this reccomended Tabblo.com to me. It's sort of ahodepodge between photosharing, layout, and blogging all in one.
You can integrate your flickr account with it which is cool and it allows for collaborative layouts. This is really perfect for those people who are really into scrapbooking etc. (never got into it but I guess I can see it's appeal). This is definitely more interactive though and it's neat that you can design a whole album for a theme and your friends can all design a page or something like that. So yeah, I like.
You now have a home for all your sports needs! (so you can spare uninterested parties from talking about everything from how so and so's pitcher is soo much better than the rivals' or how you're definitely gonna win your fantasy sports league)
There are many examples of this new trend but one I looked into was Sportsmates.com. SportsMates holds itself as "an environment where fans of all cultures, languages, and geographical locations can share their passion for sports with likeminded fans."
Announced in July, the site is still in beta but it seems to have some interesting aspects. For one, they've combined many things together in this site such as social networking, message boards, blogs, and an email system. The design leaves something to be desired but perhaps they will debut a flashier layout once they've worked the basic kinks of their system out.
Other sports social networking examples are popping up including many sports teams creating their own websites where fans can mingle, vent, and cheer. From what I can tell from the random new members they show on the home page, SportsMates is lacking in the female department which is to be expected. But, I'm sure those that join will get more than their share of messages. This might even become the new hot spot for single women (since they often frequent sports bars with little to no interest or knowledge in the area).
FashMatch Social Fasion Site in Beta
Ok. Sounds pretty good...
The site has an extensive array of retailers linked to the site where you can create an outfit and share your match with the other users of the site. It took me a little bit of time to figure out exactly how to do it and I think some of the controls on the site aren't really as intuitive as they could be.
I can definitely see how this site could become addicting for those especially proud of their fashion tastes. You can choose to publish the outfits you make and other users can vote for them giving you a cyber - "oooh. I love you outfit!" type of gratification.
Only drawback: I created an outfit I could never actually afford. But it's still fun to see what my closet would consist of it say, I win the lottery.
"Mommy Myspace" to be launched
MothersClick, a new website to be launched in a little less than 2 weeks (October 17th), is targeted as a "myspace for moms." Sounds like a good idea especially for younger more techie type moms who want to socialize like their kids do. However, what about Mr. Mom aka Dad? I'm guessing he's not allowed...
I tend to think that a parents social networking site would have been a smarter plan. I mean, obviously, the parents would tend to socialize with the same sex but hey, what about single parents? It could be a slightly less creepy way of meeting other single parents? Not gonna lie, that would be pretty cute.
In any case, discussion about strollers, baby food, and teenage angst will soon find its home off the sidelines of the soccer field. (a stereotype, I know--but hey, it does have some truth to it). Let's just hope good old Dad finds a website for himself one of these days too.
Nielsen Ratings of Social Networking Sites PDF
Blogging sites took 3 of the top 10 spots which is somewhat shocking to me but then again I am new to the whole blogging thing so I wouldn't know alot of people that do it in the first place.
I was also surprised to see Classmates online in the list since by the sheer number of ads that they have online I always assumed they were struggling to get people to join...obviously that was wrong haha.
Surprisingly absent is Facebook, which seems so prevalent in the University setting but then again there is a world outside of UNC (shocking, I know). It will be interesting to see if Facebook climbs this list after it opens to the public as a competition to MySpace.
It is also interesting to note that many in the Top 10 also appear to have the best retention rates of users. Facebook is in this list as well which isn't surprising since I know that if I left my friends would be mad that they had to call or IM me to get in touch with me (it's a lot more effort).
Either way, this is an interesting survey of what everyone is looking at online and which sorts of sites prevail in the end in tallying the most users.
Lawmakers take aim at social-networking sites
A proposed federal law, Deleting Online Predators Act, or DOPA, would soon make many social networking sites such as Myspace, Blogger, and others from being accessible on library and public school computers for minors. This is not the most disturbing part, as there are other programs that would be blocked under this legislation including AOL and Yahoo Instant Messenger.
As always, the idea behind this proposal is that it would protect children from online predators. Ah, yes because online predators unlike those in real life can reach out and grab your children and kidnap them. OH WAIT, the child has to provide personal information and in most cases establish contact with the predator? Hm.
In the talk I saw from danah boyd last Thursday, she discussed how online predators aren't nearly as mysterious and rampant as we might think. Most of the time, the girls that get into trouble with these creepos are fully aware before they meet their "online friend" of their age difference (and through this revelation would be able to ask themselves - "Why would a 40 year old want to hang out with a 15 year old?") and choose to meet them anyhow.
Libraries, schools, and *gasp* parents could provide information about how to protect oneself from predators--both online and otherwise. Instead of blocking these websites and messaging services that are principally used for communication among already established friends (because parents won't let them go out because their baby needs to have 500 extra curriculars to get into ___ University...ok that's really beside the point but whatever.)
Blocking this social outlet for young people is not only destructive and extremely unneccessary. Being under 18 does not make one socially incompetent. Minors haven't forgotten the "dont' talk to strangers" policy and if one worries they have, all they need is a simple reminder.
http://www.dooce.com/ - "Having Dated Walking Red Flags"
My sister sent me this link (it's the September 15th entry I'm referring to btw) and it mentioned how a blog about relationship dealbreakers is a great way to spice up your material. Now, I won't go into detail about what mine are but this tip is absolutely dead-on (just look at the comments for evidence)
As I wrote before, knowing someone's dislikes are definitely a great way to get to know more about a person. What would be funny and interesting to see is a social networking sites that comes up with more creative categories in the 'about me' section outside of the typical 'interests'. I know I freeze when people just ask me what my 'hobbies' are but if they're like "What's your favorite reality show?" I can pop out my completely embarassing response, "Top Model" just like that.
Personally, I'd rather see "favorite meal of the day", "relationship dealbreakers", "favorite childhood tv show", etc. Those are really what make a person unique and lets face it, I'm so tired of people putting in their interests that the like 'having fun'. ("OMG. look! ___ is interested in having fun too?! God, finally someone who isn't interested 'having an absolutely miserable time'!")
And it'd be cool to meet another girl who also can't date a guy who wears gold chains.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2422125 - Como What?!
I know I already did my generic facebook complaining post but seriously, why would they do that?! (By that, if you are too lazy to read the article they're going to open up facebook to people not in college or high school who receive invitations from current users)
Facebook's whole appeal is its exclusivity.
- Before (When only college students were on facebook): "Yay! I'm going to ___ College! OOh I'm gonna get a facebook now!"
- Later (When they introduced high school facebook): "Yay! I'm out of middle school! I'm so awesome that I'm getting a facebook and a myspace!"
- Now (Or atleast after they introduce this change): "Wow, this is so convenient! This site was made for stalkers like me! I get first names, last names, all online activity--vital tools necessary to keep up with my creepy lifestyle all in a convenient place!"
Ok maybe that's not always true but anyone with friends who are not in high school or college and are interested in being in a social networking site are already on myspace anyways.
It will be very interesting to see what the effects of all this are since Facebook profiles often contain a lot more personal information than on other sites (i.e. - residence hall, cell phone number, class schedule, etc.).
Either way, I probably won't be creeped out enough to change until I get a message that says "Hot pics" or an equally disturbing message from someone who I really don't even know or could possibly know. Not sure what a message would say that would creep college boys out...but I'm sure I'll hear about an instance of one after this debuts and it will be hilarious.
