My Final Post....For now atleast

So its been a long 15 weeks and this semester has not been easy in any way...Taking 5 business classes might have been a bad decision but in the end i think it was worth i learned so much...This class six degrees of social networking has taught me so much...

The one thing that I really got out of this class was that the Internet was more then just a place for fun and joking around...There are so many sights out there that can help make a business more successful...Lets look back at some of the things that have taught me in this class..

The guest speakers also helped this class...Tom Kyte and his famous ASK TOM blog was amazing...it was such a honor to hear him and all the speakers speak...

The snow day..a day where no one wanted to walk to class cause it was cold and snowing so professor melander sent us an email saying we will have an online class..She should us technology where we can view her slides and hear her lectures while we were able to ask questions in real time...This helps for when we need to have meetings with people all over the world...

LinkedIN....A facebook for business people...ENOUGH SAID

The murder mystery...a way to use online tools to complete a task showing me that these online meetings might not be easy..trying to find for all people to meet and keeping attention when we do meet....

Lateral Thinking Puzzles...Every morning professor melander tired to get us starting to think with a puzzle...these puzzles gave us something to think about and get our minds ready while letting us have a little fun...

The in class discussions...thanks to the class and professor melander these discussions went really well...Through other kids in the class i was able to learn about technology and how its used on a personal level...Thank you everyone

The purpose of blogs...This class let us get an inside look on companies are using blogs putting ideas into our heads for when we go into the business world...

This class was amazing and i enjoyed every minute of it...So whats next?...This summer I plan to get an internship with NASCAR which should be fun...And next semester Ill be back learning about business at American..What's next for you?

Finally got web 1.0..Trying to get web 2.0...Dont Worry heres Web 3.0

So for those people who are not tech savoy and have trouble adapting to new things life is about to get a little more difficult...When web 1.0 came out it was new yet primitive a way for for a website to allow people to read what they thought left little or no room for user interaction with each other...Basically it allowed people to have a new place to read news...

Then after a while the web we see it now web 2...this took web 1.0 and increased interaction...with such sites used in this class like blackboard, facebook, myspace, basecamp, camp fire...These sites have given users a way to communicate with each allowing users to post, comment, and become friends over the Internet...It took a while to get used to and people still have problems using such sites...We thought we would stay with this web 2.0 for a while but guess what?

We were wrong just recently web 3.0 was introduced...While this Web 3.0 is still in development many can already see where its gonna be headed...With mobile devices becoming just as popular as the Internet ways to integrate the two better will be a huge part of the new web...Search will becoming easier then ever people seem to think linking many more sights searching will produce new and better search results...

When will the evolution of new web eras end?...There is really no answer in my opinion as technology improves and new things are introduced linking them will help the web and all things with it...WHAT DO YOU THINK?

A Special Post~~Remembering those at Virgina Tech~~

This weeks blog post wont be giving an insight on new social networking sights but something more important...The way social networking sights let people come together in the time of need....

Monday morning April 16th started out as an ordinary day just as every day did I got up for my 830 class went there came back and took a nap before my 1245 class..When I woke up and turned my computer on i sat there in shock reading "Massacre at Virgina Tech" in the matter of minutes it went from one confirmed dead to 20 confirmed dead to over 3o confirmed dead....30+ students who lost there life on Monday April 16th..Tying this post somewhat into a social networking blog post just look at facebook...Within minutes these people who lost there life walls filled up with messages remembering them...Within hours groups mourning the loss of all people that lost there life..The rest of time the memories these people have given them...While personally I did not know any of these people something like this hit home for me just a few months ago when two of my personal friends were shot and killed at school in Arizona...Within hours on facebook there profiles filled with memories that will last forever...Facebook allowed all people that knew these people in both schools to come and join and mourn together....Social Networking sites have given a new way for peoples life who was unfortunately cut short and let there memories live on for ever....Please look at these and keep these people in your minds its a terrible tragedy..And its even harder when it hits home....When looking at your friends list on facebook just go down and look and the amount of people who have changed their picture to mourn this great loss...Facebook has given one more way for people to mourn a loss at a time of great loss

Now on a personal note as i refereed to earlier in my post...As i sat in my room about to turn on the Daytona 500 i got the worst news ever...My 2 friends shot and killed in school in Arizona was a message i recivied from one of my friends....You watch it on the news you read the posts on facebook it just never hits you as hard until you know people involved...Thanks to facebook i was able to communicate quickly with all of my friends to organize rides to make it home service arrangements etc...These are just other ways new social networking sights have given people today a way to communicate...

Remembering my personal friends and those who lost there lives at Virgina Tech forever

So How Much Email is Really Saved?

So a few weeks ago i wrote a blog post about your emails and how private they really are and in the end emails relaly get svaed to a huge document and are really never deleted...But how true is this? The article (http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/13/white.house.email/index.html) on www.cnn.com shows that many emails that include emails on very important topics show as the cia leak may be gone forever...These emails sent in the past few years already gone forever? Come on the goveremnt doesnt even save there own emails cause we know that they are saving ours...Some other emails that are missing including the karl rove issues...For all of you who didnt hear Karl was the center of a huge protest at American Univeristy (http://www.nbc4.com/news/11516096/detail.html) and these emails may be the answer but where are they?

Emails now Blogs will get you fired

So 2 weeks ago i wrote a post on how companies can fire an employee for a email they sent(http://leibner-class.blogspot.com/2007/03/are-emails-really-private.html) now it appears that companies are firing employees for posting to much on there blogs...

Mark Jen the most famous for this after being employed by Google for only ten days he was promptly fired...Why you ask? He was fired for putting up company secrets on his blog...

Or the Microsoft contractor that was fired for putting up pictures of apple computers that were in Microsoft's offices on his blog...

This blog is short as its trying to prove a serious point...if this blog and the one on emails don't get the point that you need to watch what you say then nothing will...Companies are so big and if you do something to try to hurt them you will be the one that's hurt on the unemployment line so think before you write...More people thne you think actually read what you write.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Jen

Customer Relationship Managment and New Ways Business Are Watching This

Customers are the one thing a business must have in order to succeed. Without them no matter how innovative there product is, how much this product can help them there product will not sell and a business will go under. Managing the relationships between a customer and the business will help the business grow...It now with the Internet that new technology has been created that makes these relationships easier as ever to follow....

One of the leading innovators in this kind of software is Lexis Nexis that creates the relationship intelligence that helps a business uncover new opportunities....Now what is relationship intelligence one may ask Lexis Nexis defines it as is a firm wide asset that reveals the complex connections between people, companies, relationships, experience and expertise, empowering professionals to uncover, extend and leverage their relationship networks, transforming who and what they know into new revenue opportunities.

To go further into CRM and what the web has done look no further then SalesForce.com...It is being described as a myspace for business...Salesforces.com is a model for sites how companies can directly engage customers with on-demand technology." It allows companies to "elevate the customer experience and improve internal productivity. This is how the site is described on the web.

The Internet and WEB 2.0 has given business new ways to communicate with there customers who are the most important people....The data they get is up to interpretation but done right is very beneficial to the business success.

http://www.interaction.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_relationship_management
http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=013000RQU3J4

where is my co-worker?...in the next office or acroos the globe?

Being co-workers use to mean being in a cubicles next to each other, or close enough if needed you can walk to them...Then it evolved into more distance with the telephone and now today that co-worker can be anywhere in the world with the help of the Internet and collaboration tools available...

The article TeamWork supercharged uses the program basecamp as an example...This company wanted to change their design off a promotion they were running so they posted there plan on the site and within minutes proposals were popping up...This site now allows company's to post all aspects of there proposal online for the new company to see...With the ability to post Crystal clear documents it now eliminates the need for face to face meetings...

Even the military has used some form of collaboration site to help there operations run smoother...Military vehicles are now starting to be outfitted with antennas that can send signals back to there base and even to the pentagon across the world...This data now lets generals and the president see whats going on in real time allowing them to make better decisions that will make the world easier...These collaboration sites allows meetings with all parties involved at one time to make decisions together...

Our class used a very simple form of a collaboration tool on our last project....We used Google docs...This allowed each member of a group to post there parts on a website that allowed the others to view it before publishing the final copy...This site made group work easy when college students don't have time to actually meet...

Where does collaboration tools help you?

I had enough of business networking already....JUST FOR THIS POST!!!!

So this class I'm taking is really focusing on social networks and how they relate to business but while watching ESPN I saw an ad for a new show..The show is called The Missing Link so i went to the shows website to see what its really about.(http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/espnShow?showID=CSML) This show is defined as how sport figures who could not be more different are actually very similar and linked through other places and people...This all connects to what I'm learning in class and the project we did(the small world project) were we are trying to link to some one we don't know through six degrees. This show starts on Wednesday at 10 on ESPN classic and will link Joe Pa the coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions and Anna Kournikova...Think you know how they connect go check it out then...

Its not what you know its who you know!!!!!

Many people in this world including me go with the saying its not what you know its who you know...Its the people that you know who help you get those business contacts and how through people making new contacts...Its keeping these contacts what makes it the difficult part of business....

When you say social networking sites people think of the two most famous mysapce and face book....But the truth is that new sites aimed at business employees are popping up every day...New website http://www.linkedin.com/ is one that is new to the social networking scenes...This site lets people search previous companies to find ex-coworkers and rekindle there friendship...It also allows people to search for jobs that companies have posted...But most important the ability to find ex-coworkers and see where they are no providing new insights and possible no possibilities....

Business networking sites are now being used to see how your contacts can be used to find others...When you want to do business with a new company you can now see which of your associates have contact or relationship with that company to give you a heads up...

Social networking sites have really helped business grow...Don't you think?

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3373520/1/c_3375606?f=111504MagazineMonthly
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Careers/story?id=1071049&page=1&Business=true

are emails really private?

so having www.cnn.com as my homepage when i open my browser really pays off sometimes....So when i got on the Internet tonight i saw a video that was titled Emails could be career enders. (http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/business/2007/03/25/intv.office.email.etiquette.cnn&wm=11) I decided to watch this movie and what I found out really relates to this class...Basically real quick what i found out was that emails can be read by more people then you think...This email was more focused on business email accounts but really apply for all email..Emails are stored on giant tapes that can be read by many people down the line years away....This goes along with IMs and any other messages that you send over the Internet..So before you write your next email make sure what you put in it wont get you in trouble at all.

what is to far?

More and more we see different companies and organizations taking blogging to new levels to help there business grow...But how far can they take it is the question?

Many people say the government should step you and start using social networking sites to help them...That problem with government using blogs to promote there views is that people have political views that are never likely to change..In Naked Conversations a example is brought up Howard Dean created a blog to start his campaign based on the numbers everyone thought he was gonna win...Except no one realized that the only people reading his blog is his own political party..Why would some one against his views head his blog..His comments trying to get people to switch political parties in essence were having convos with people in his political party...

Daniel Rosen a candidate for Nevada's Second Congressional district promised to create a blog and create laws based on the blog...Now both Debra D'Agostino, the author of How the Web Polarized Politics, and I both believe this is taking it a little to far...How can he let people who sometimes know little how the government actually runs tell him what laws to make...I mean use the blog to see what the people want and let that help you but not make the decisions for you..

In the end how far is to far for Internet social sites?

http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,2052119,00.asp
Naked Conversations Robert Scoble

To take six degrees or not? I say YES!

Six Degrees for social networking is a great class that I feel all business students should take. Personally I am an information system and technology major and this class really helped me fully understand the different programs that help a business socially. I like learning about the social networking sites past the more famous ones such as face book and MySpace. We learned about second life and other social networks that provide interaction with people on a personal level. I like learning how to use blogs to communicate and reading what people have to say about similar topics. Going on with blogs this class taught me how different business use social sites to promote their business and do different things that these sites have helped them do. Now to the negative side of the class I do not fell this class would be useful for students have no interest in business or computers. At some points the discussion got very technical and even got me lost sometimes. This class has a decent amount of reading that helps understand and make you able to participate in class discussions. This is a great class and professor melander is a great professor.

The Tom Kyte Experience

Last week i was lucky enough to have a presentation from Tom Kyte from Orcale. This presentation was a way to show what we are learning in class and show it in the real life from a man who has took blogging to new levels....

I was really amused when tom shared a comment he got on his most famous blog AskTom...This blog is on the oracle site...The email he shared with us questioned who was really writing the blog...While tom assured us that all the posts on his blog were created and written by him but then he said some other companies blog may not be written by who they say they are written by...This leads to a few good points...What can you really believe on the Internet because you really do not know who is writing these blogs...What will stop me from going online and posting something i know not one thing about...If i present it in a way that is clear and in good format people will believe anything...So how much do you believe that is on the Internet?

Tom also shared a story how he was sued a few times because of information posted on his blog...This raises a major concern of what can you post on your blog...A website that anyone can create and say they are any one they want how can you sue someone? Will you sue someone if they hurt you on the Internet?

Check out toms blog at http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2007/02/what-i-want-to-be-when-i-grow-up.html for his summary on our class and what he is thinking about..and find out if indeed he does quit oracle and become a teacher!

What does your reputation do to you in the LONG RUN?

Did you ever think something that you did during college would come back to haunt you years after? Did you ever think missing one payment on a credit card would hurt you that bad? How about failing to pay for that ebay item you just bidded on would really hurt you in the long yes? The answer to all these questions really should be thought about because they all do affect you in some way or other?

Take your face book or my space account...Those pics of you at a frat party playing beer pong, doing a keg stand, drinking underage, and many other pics that seem to pop up of you doing inappropriate things...Why facebook and myspace have become so popular among college students as a form of social networking as a way to keep friends and look at those pics people put up of you it has also come a huge tool for companies investigating new employees...Those pictures notes and other things your names are tagged in come up in search engines across the Internet and now for the first time we see employers using these search engines to find out about you...Its no wonder when a survey was done 1 in 4 hiring managers said they look for people in search engines before making a decision on hiring...

Ever wonder what happens when you click submit after putting all your information in an online ordering site?...Ever wonder what happens after you swipe your credit card at a store?...By swiping your card or hitting that submit button it now gives the store permission to search all of your "reputations" which include credit histories and stuff like that...After looking at numerous information in a matter of seconds the company databases then decide based on your reputation if they want to give you the product on credit...So companies see all of your past problems in those seconds before they tell you if your credit card has been accepted...

And now ebay all of those feedback...many people argue this is not a reliable source of your reputation as people sometimes fear of putting bad feedback...But if you have a bad feedback even from years back sellers will be scared to sell you there product...

Reputations are huge and with the help of the Internet it is becoming such a huge debate...The Internet has helped get your reputation across the entire world with the click of a button...So please think twice about what you post on your wall, what pics have your name connected to it, think how many people know you missed your credit payment...These all do affect you in the long run

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2005/11/are_online_repu.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6462504
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Presentation_of_Self_in_Everyday_Life
Smart Mobs Howard Rheingold 113-128

Where is News HEADING?

Before the world of the world wide web and blogs we were used to the old school way of news....Those newspapers where editors choose the frontpage stories, pictures, and layout were what everyone was used to....Those were the old days...Today along with the internet news has changed thanks in part to a site called DIGG...This site used internet users as the editors putting the news the viewers say is most important on the front page...What makes this site even more amazing is the fact digg doesnt even publish the news the website relies on the same internet users to put the news on there site from other news sites....How rich is this new form of news people may ask?..People value DIGG is worth over 300 million dollars...

Blogs and internet posting have come along way in forms of being found easier....In the book Naked Conversations a good example is raised...Kids going to camp all wearing the same type of clothing need a way to be found easier...So there parents put a name tag inside it...Thats the same kind of thing used on a blog...So many blogs will talk about the same thing dirrectly or indirectly so making a way to find your blog easier is a must...This is wear tags come along by taging your blog by jkeywords its now easier for your blog to be found...

Whats the purpose of blogs? The Answer seems to be Changing each and every day

What is the purpose of a blog? People first used blogs to document there life's and give people an inside to the life they live. That's when blogs first came along...But ask that question to a CEO of a company today and they will give you a different answer....Today more and more blogs are popping help to help a companies PR department

Talk to the CEO of Verizon wireless and he might not be to happy the entire blogging ever came about...his company was sued after a blog popped up complaing about a feature on a cell phone that wasn't working...the blog allowed everyone who was having the same problem to come together and post about this leading to a lawsuit after some many people complained.

One website estimated that anywhere from 3-6% of fortune 500 companies use blogs in some form..What form you ask?..Companies use blogs to allow customers to post feedback on products, introduce new products and lets there employees have a place to communicate to each other...

Just how much do CEO's read these blogs...More then you think...Just ask some employees who were laid off for blasting other employees or putting out "secret" info of new products on these blogs...With the Internet being accessed by almost any one how can a CEO be sure he is firing the right person...One employee from Goggle was fired after she went off about the lack of goggles health care policy compared to Microsoft

Blogs let companies into a new from of marketing...first the first time companies can see what there customers think on a relaxed level...companies can take this information and make there products better..Blogs also give companies free advertising getting there product name out to the public

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8f142dce-78ad-11d9-9961-00000e2511c8.html
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_18/b3931001_mz001.htm
http://www.cluetrain.com/book/markets.html

different forms of networks all helping this cause

Business relay on customer contact to help there business succeed and in today's age the best form of this type of communication is in the form of blogging...The authors of naked conversations say blogs are the most essential form of communication for a business to its customers and for business that do not blog are trying to hide something from the public...

Everyday blogs pop up at a rate of nearly one per second..and many analysts say if people are not talking about your company they will be soon and if they don't you have a serious problem...companies can see what people are blogging about and see the praises, fix errors that are written or see what customers are complaining about....

Blogs are so informal that most of the time grammar and spelling are not taken into account and are used for the facts inside of them...A blog pioneer likes the informal blog style stating it shows authenticity and the work of a "real person"...While blogs may seem so amazing there are many issues such as legal and giving away company secrets that need to be watched when using a blog.

Kiehne exposed us to a new form of social networking...He introduces (SN'S) Social Network Servers which have really taken off in the last few years such sites of face book, and my space have really taken off with the pioneer friendster not far behind...While these sites incorpoate blogs in there sites they offer something more...these sites produce direct links between people linking them by areas creating numerous amounts of social network linking groups of friends together creating these huge networks...

Networks really started with the invention of the telephone and networks took off with the invention of computer networks in the 1960's letting people cement there relationships...

Networks in the end let a company monitor networks keeping an eye on the outer bounds and all of the members behaviors

Sources
Smart Mobs Howard Rheingold
Naked Conversations Robert Scoble
https://blackboard.american.edu/courses/1/ITEC-333-001-2007S/content/_615594_1/_Kiehne__2004__Social_Network_History.pdf

Dont know how to read a network diagram? Heres Help

As seen in my last post networks can be very useful in a business and should be used often...Except when looking at these diagrams it can be difficult...

At the first look a network diagram can be very confusing...What are all those lines, names, who gets connected to who? Who is that lonely person all by himself...Why is he there what is his purpose?

It all starts out with those lines that there seem to be so many of...The arrows represent the flow of information between people or groups...AND yes the directions of those arrows actually do mean something....When the arrow is going towards the person it means they are a source of information and when the arrow goes away from there name it means they are looking to the other person for information....

Ever want to be that person who everyone comes to? be the center of that group of people which seems without you it will fail...Well that's true in a network that Central person will all the lines going to....He links all divisions in the company...and without him the company fails

Ever fell all alone on the outside? As in life networks have these people also called peripheral people...These people are on the outside who nobody comes to...Although these people also hold a key part to the network being out there for reasons like family or these people can be out there for the lack of work skills.... Rob Cross further explains how networks can show managers what people are costing there companies money and shows who may be further outside then they thought...

With different divisions in a business sub groups are formed...Groups that link together with one person contributing to the group as a whole...




Cross goes on to show how managers can see other networks that they might not see everyday...By tracking emails companies can now find out exact paths of information and use this to make there business even better...Companies can now find out who may be over worked and causing a drop in work potential and find ways to get them back to there top...With people doing less work a company can see what there problems are and help them to succeed...Cross said "People who are stuck on the edge of a network are three times more likely then people better-connected to leave the company" this shows the importance for companies to understand there networks and fix the errors

Networks and how they help business?...Or do They?....

Social Networks are being used more and more everyday...Social networks now lets higher managers who through promotions have left the work floor the ability to see how these areas are working...Analyzing social networks for companies show upper management where resources are how they are used and where might they be needed...Why do business need to use social networks? The answer can vary by person but it shows companies are more productive when analyzing and using that information they gather from social networks....Is this answer enough for every company to use them?..Social Networks can be linked with many users that also help business realize problems...While looking at a social network upper management can see who is the center and that hero who no one thought was important but without them there company would be nothing or that person who has so much responsibilities there slowing down the company and those who are just holding the network together who's positions might be Small and on the outside but without them the company would be nothing....In the end computer networks have the same principles...linking two or more people, companies, sections, tasks etc. together through a common bond...How will comparing your social network make you a better person, Friend, and student?

My first post a little introduction

Hi my name is Jordan i am a student at American University in Washington DC...I am taking a class in social networking...On my honor all of the blog posts i make are my own feelings and are done on my own with out help from outside sources.