Linkedin hits 100 million

The professional facebook site has reached a member population of over 100 million users. The site estimates that they gain roughly 1 million users every week. At reaching 100 million users, the site has plastered an informative picture depicting how much 100 million really is.
Linkedin is a site that is mostly used for networking within the professional working environment. It's surprising to see such a social media site blow up so quickly. Just under a year ago, Linkedin wasnt as popular as the other social media giants. Now, it holds more members than Myspace. That reminds me, I need to join Linkedin myself!

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/linkedin-hits-100-million-this-week-in-social-media/

MyDailyDJ.com

 
   A few people have asked me about the Blog I used to run with a buddy of mine in which we sold a few years ago. It was an online blog that focused on Hip-Hop, R&B, and other various genres of music. The site consisted of underground music and upcoming musical artists and producers and DJ's. We started the site as "FashionRnB.blogspot.com" in the middle of 2007 and later changed the name because it sounded extremely stupid.
   My buddies friend thought of the name MyDailyDJ.com and that later became the site name. We offered free music to subscribers and fans of the page. The free music was given to us by the underground artists themselves to display their music and to get their name out there. Everything was free donations were considered as the site was run just because we wanted to.
   We later sold off the site to a European company who also did what we were doing. He renamed the site "Urbanmusicdaily.net" and ever since then, the site has been doing very well! We both haven't spoken to the new owner in a while but from the look of the site alone, it looks as though the site receives great traffic. Although I do miss the site, blogging does take an incredible amount of energy and time. This was our first attempt at blogging at the time. The site was updated every single day and each day we had to sift through new music and see which ones were actually good to add to the blog.I did enjoy the profits we made from selling the site though!

If you want to visit the new site, here is the link:

Urbanmusicdaily.net

Social Media Networking

 
   I was reading a pretty interesting article today. Today, it seems as though everyone is somewhat linked with a social media site. Today, social media sites are a useful tool to find and create jobs. Now, if one doesn't have a social media account, it can actually limit your capabilities in terms of finding a job that suits your criteria.
   Showing companies that you're interested in their company through joining their social media sites will improve your chances in being considered or even hired. UPS for example hired only 29 people in 2009 through social media sites. Recently, UPS hired 955 people through the use of the social media sites!
   Although social media sites have been a huge help to people looking for jobs, connections and personal ties with people already within a company is still the best way to get a job. Other sites that are on a more professional level but are still considered a social media site is LinkedIn. Many professionals only consider candidates through LinkedIn as it is a more professional outlet to finding qualified employees.
   Things to consider when joining a social media site are to locate and focus on people or companies that suit what you are looking for. Consider the companies social media sites as an outlet to show what and who you are made of. Make them notice you. Don't place anything you wouldn't want them to see on your profile.
   Social media sites are the wave of the future.

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/social_media_networkinguse_it.html

The English Language is Ruined

 
   Thanks to teenagers, texting, and social media sites, the english language has officially been demolished. It has been announced that "LOL", "OMG", and "<3" (the symbol for heart) have all been added to the Online Oxford English Dictionary.
   These words first came across through texting and the likes of social media chat rooms. LOL stands for Laugh out Loud. We first began to see this used through AIM, and other various chat rooms. OMG stands for Oh My God and we also see it used throughout the same sources. The words or abbreviations have been around for way before the social media sites popped up.
   The English language has now changed due to technology. The abbreviations were used to speed up the typing process and to basically explain their thoughts without actually explaining their true thoughts.in addition, <3 isn't even a word, more a symbol and is still being added to the Dictionary.
   In some ways, this really does anger me. But in a real sense, these abbreviations are used more than any other word in the English Dictionary. I'm happy to say that I am probably one of the few people who do not use LOL, OMG, and <3.

The Power of Social Media

   If anyone has paid any attention to anything in the last month regarding social media sites and upcoming artists, you have to have heard about a girl named Rebecca Black who has instantly become famous because of an online YouTube music video she made. The video was posted just 2 months ago and it has recieved well over 52 million views! She stated that the video was a present from her parents.
   Rebecca Black has been a laughing stock on every single social media site and has also been the target for comedic giants such as Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Tosh.O, and other blogs and forums. She has even been claimed to be the next Justin Bieber.
   If we can see what social media sites can do to people, Rebecca Black has become a celebrity overnight and celebrities such as Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest are behind the 13 year old female artist. In a recent article, it stated that just through the views in YouTube alone, Rebecca Black has received 63% of the profits, which account to just over $36,000. She told Jay Leno on the Tonight show that most of the proceeds will go to the Japan Relief fund and the rest would go to her schooling. Rebecca Black received many hate comments on her YouTube account and also received death threats. She told Good Morning America that she cried for days and wondered why people hated her so much.
   As I'm writing this, I'm actually sitting on the floor since I could not figure out which seat I should take...

MySpace Loses More and More

  
   MySpace has lost over 10 million users between January 2011 to February 2011. Before January, Myspace accounted for well over 73 million users. MySpace has really fell off the boat this year with its user base dropping well below the estimated number in previous thoughts. Chief Executive Mike Jones stated that MySpace.com is no longer a social media site but is now an Entertainment site. Where will MySpace be by next year? 
   Much work is needed at the MySpace facility in order to boost users again. It seems as though there is a negative image with MySpace. For the first time user, why would they chose to join MySpace over Facebook when more users are using Facebook? There just doesn't seem a need for the MySpace site anymore than to build relationships with other musicians and artists.

Protecting Facebook and It's Users

 
   I came upon an interesting article that stated that Facebook, on average, deletes over 20,000 accounts per day due to underage members and ads or spam that generate viruses. The Facebook team has been on the grind in finding these accounts. Facebook chief privacy advisor Mozelle Thompson stated that it will help clean Facebook up and so it's user friendly.
   As of now, Facebook is only available to users who are 13 years of age or older.  The Facebook teams sifts through many accounts and deletes the ones that will be a safety hazard. The Facebook team has also joined forces with Australia to talk about safety and the uses with large social media sites. These accounts have been very tricky in tricking the system in order to gain access to the site to spread unrelated and often illegal items.
  As with everything, be on the lookout on these social media websites. I recall a friend of mine telling me that a celebrity had a Facebook account and that they had friend requested him. It seemed pretty risky. Later that day, the account was closed and everyone who received a friend request received a warning message stating to be cautious on who they were acting friend requests from. Through accepting anonymous 'friends', the users of the anonymous accounts can find detailed information about the users.
   The Facebook team plans to add more more employees to their headquarters in Australia. Currently, there are a dozen employees working.


http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382462,00.asp

The Sartorialist

   I follow a lot of fashion blogs but the one that sticks out and is followed by millions of users is one called 'The Sartorialist'. His blog was started around 2004 and today, it is one of the most famous blogs in the fashion industry. His pictures have influenced top designers and his inspiration to find the best dressed people are what makes him such a hit. He responds to most of his comments and each picture is taken with grace and clarity. He also adds a brief summary as to how he was able to capture the images of these people.
    His professional pictures are filled with dramatic still images of the person being photographed. Comments are often posted right as he posts his blog and his audience seems to always come back for more pictures or just to gain a little inspiration.
    Another thing to note is that he writes monthly articles for GQ magazine. GQ magazine is a major magazine for male fashion and inspiration. I pretty big feat being only a blog writer. He travels the globe in search of fashion and has made a pretty successful living from it.
 

Here is  link to his Blogspot:
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

Serious Blogging for Bloggers

  
   If you're serious about blogging and want to actually make something out of it, I'd recommend reading this article I found. It shows ways to improve your blog and make it come to life. It shows how to gain more viewers and to actually improve the ways you post content. As with most things, Content if one of the key pieces the article stresses to improve. Another way of improving your blog is by actually answering questions your audience asks. Basically, the way to go is to put down everything you're doing in life and devote entirely to blogging!

Here is the link. Enjoy!

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/17-ways-to-grow-your-blog-from-top-bloggers/

Social Media Drives Stocks!?

   I read an article today stating that Social Media can and does influence the stock market. That article stated that three brands (coke, nike, and starbucks) were researched over a 10 month period and noticed a trend through facebook, youtube, and twitter feeds that the more people who were involved with the fan-base of these companies, the higher the stocks drove for those companies. Consistent interest in these companies through profile pages on these social media sites may well be the new way to build profits of the stocks!
   The article also discusses brand loyalty and how it plays a massive part in how a company can build off these websites. If more users are accounted for and use the sites to generate a user interaction, it influences the users to purchase and it also sheds greater light for the companies to learn from the users and their spending habits.
   I wonder what this does as a general business idea? Maybe I should invest in some of these stocks as well. Well, I must say, I may need to do more research on how to invest. One question I'll leave with is if these social media sites have an end to what kinds of possibilities they can perform? As social media grows, so does its surroundings.


Here is the link to the article. Enjoy!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382391,00.asp

Earthquake in Japan

  
   Recently, a lot of social media sites have been used to donate or spread awareness of the earthquake in Japan. What we see is that many people are involved on facebook, myspace, twitter, and other various sites. I think the social media sites have been used in every possible way now.
   As a moderator of the MY.IS forums, we've decided to open up a Japan relief thread to help and donate money to the people in need in the various provinces in Japan. We've had hundreds of dollars donated already and we're now able to spread awareness as well on the forum to the members all around the world. I think forums are a good place to spread awareness because we have people with similar interests focusing on one cause. Forums are used to discuss and inform users of various topics and using that to inform members about Japan is awesome.
   To the families in Japan who are homeless, scared, hungry, etc., MY.IS is doing it's part in helping you all. Our blessings are with every single one of you and please keep your heads up as we continue to do our part.

Social Media Sites: Safe?

  
   I was watching "To Catch A Predator" a few days ago on youtube (short clip). The show basically tries to catch online child molesters with undercover cameras and uses young boys and girls to target the them. I notice that they start off with the youngsters talking to sex offenders through various social media sites and chat rooms. As we know, there are thousands of sexual offenders on these sites who create fake profiles in order to attract a specific type of individual to fulfill their sexual fantasies. Usually, these perverts would force the children to meet up in a distinct location and meet and have a good time. What the molesters don't know is that they are actually being monitored.
   Are these social media sites safe enough for teens to use? We see and hear news stories about myspace, facebook, craigslist killers everyday and it's extremely disturbing. Social media sites are often used for dating and meeting new people. Who knows who you will meet and what kind of person they are? Be safe and use your gut instinct to figure out if these people are what they put themselves out to be.

The FTC suggests these tips for socializing safely online:

• Think about how different sites work before deciding to join a site. Some sites will allow only a defined community of users to access posted content; others allow anyone and everyone to view postings.
• Think about keeping some control over the information you post. Consider restricting access to your page to a select group of people, for example, your friends from school, your club, your team, your community groups, or your family.
• Keep your information to yourself. Don’t post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or bank and credit card account numbers — and don’t post other people’s information, either. Be cautious about posting information that could be used to identify you or locate you offline. This could include the name of your school, sports team, clubs, and where you work or hang out.
• Make sure your screen name doesn’t say too much about you. Don’t use your name, your age, or your hometown. Even if you think your screen name makes you anonymous, it doesn’t take a genius to combine clues to figure out who you are and where you can be found.
• Post only information that you are comfortable with others seeing — and knowing — about you. Many people can see your page, including your parents, your teachers, the police, the college you might want to apply to next year, or the job you might want to apply for in five years.
• Remember that once you post information online, you can’t take it back. Even if you delete the information from a site, older versions exist on other people’s computers.
• Consider not posting your photo. It can be altered and broadcast in ways you may not be happy about. If you do post one, ask yourself whether it’s one your mom would display in the living room.
• Flirting with strangers online could have serious consequences. Because some people lie about who they really are, you never really know who you’re dealing with.
• Be wary if a new online friend wants to meet you in person. Before you decide to meet someone, do your research: Ask whether any of your friends know the person, and see what background you can dig up through online search engines. If you decide to meet them, be smart about it: Meet in a public place, during the day, with friends you trust. Tell an adult or a responsible sibling where you’re going, and when you expect to be back.
• Trust your gut if you have suspicions. If you feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, tell an adult you trust and report it to the police and the social networking site. You could end up preventing someone else from becoming a victim. 

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec14.shtm

Social Media Sites: Which is the most Popular?

   When we talk about social media sites and the popularity within them, every individual site is used for the specific purpose or their intended user. We see artists mainly using myspace to popularize themselves, Facebook to connect with people,  and twitter to update everyone on yourself. But what site is the most popular and used the most out of the giant social media blogs? If you're wondering, I pulled up one of the more recent graphs that depicts the popularity within the social media giants. Here it is:

Farmville

    Some of you may be asking what Farmville is. To the rest of the population, or Facebook users, Farmville is one of those annoying games that people on Facebook play. Facebook was just an ordinary social media site until a man by the name of Mark Pincus created the games we see on Facebook. Using games as a way to chat with other members around the world created a huge hit and interest in it as a whole.
   As he was just a video game creater, he also created the company Zynga. He joins the forbes list of billionaires with a net worth of 1 billion dollars. he is the brainchild of the popular Facebook games such as Farmville, Mafiawars, and Cityville. I often recieve these stupid invites to these games on Facebook and it's almost impossible not to join only to stop the invites from ever happening again. He has amassed a fortune. The company gains money by actually charging real wold money to those who want to boost their virtual farms.
   The company receives money from extremely wealthy investors. The company is said to be worth well over 7 billion dollars by the end of the next quarter. With this much success, why haven't more people actually taken the time to grow real gardens? We could possibly stop world hunger with how many users acre actually playing Farmville. Imagine, millions and millions of new farmers in the world!

Free: Why $0.00 is the Future of Business

   Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, has also written another best seller called "Free". The book talks about how businesses and people are making money by simply "giving away". How could something like this happen? How can we see profits from giving away "stuff"? What is the secret? Well, Chris Anderson knows how.
   We come back to the World Wide Web. As we know, using the web is free, for the most part. It's used to access millions of pages and millions of topics of interests to millions of people. What Anderson states in his book is that these select individuals and groups have made money by just using the web to outsource their ideas and and creative ability. If we go into description, just look at all those artists on myspace and youtube who have become successful. All they had to do was post a video or recording of themselves and post it on a free website. Offering free music to the world allowed them to put themselves out there.
   A perfect example is the in a blog post I did a few days back regarding Justin Bieber. He put numerous videos on Youtube and was signed by usher no more than 2 years ago. He is now worth well over 67 million dollars! And to think, Justin was only 14 at the time. Another artist group Anderson mentions is the successful is Radiohead. They offered free music online through myspace and hit it big.
   Anderson also discusses the Gillette founder and how he was able to cut the costs down for creating razors in which he essentially gave them away to the army so he could gain greater recognition for his other services (shaving cream). This ingenious method for marketing is why Gillette is one of the biggest corporations today!
   Although I haven't read the book yet, I will sure read it in the near future. The above information was gathered through blog posts and recent articles about the book. If this book is as interesting as The Long Tail, it will surely be a good read.

The Long Tail

   I recently googled "The Long Tail" and I came upon a blog devoted towards The Long Tail Book. The blog was created a few years ago and it was updated over a period of time in which the blog was updated by Chris Anderson himself.
   The blog contains information pertaining to the Long Tail and other news that correlates with the subject. The blog also incorporates promos on his articles and books which are in bookstores or through sites that have Kindle products. In his more recent posts, he talks about his new book "Free" and where and how to get it for free. I will discuss more on the book "Free" in a later blog post.
   Although the site has not been updated in the last 2 years (last post was on December 11, 2009), it still holds valuable information on the long tail and how companies have learned from it. If you scroll back, we can see the early stages of these successful companies and how Chris Anderson has dissected them. Such companies include Netflix, iTunes, and other various sites. Much of the information gathered through the blog posts are still used in everyday business. It's great to see how these business became as successful as they are today!

Here is a link to The Long Tail blog:

http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/

Social Media Sites and the Addiction

  

   There will be somewhat of a rant. I workout about 5 days a week. I go to Planet Fitness in Hadley Ma. This is a very big gym and it's usually always crowded by College. Usually, you only have to wait for machines on average of 5-10 minutes. As I approached the last machine on my daily workout, I notice a young girl walking towards it as well. Of course she gets there first as she didn't even notice me standing there. Her headphones were in her ears and she was using her smart phone to access her Facebook account.
  I waited a good 15 minutes and came back to the machine to only notice that she was still surfing Facebook and creating wall posts. The whole 15 minutes she had used on the machine were actually to work the muscles in her fingers. Why was I to be punished because a girl couldn't leave Facebook? Has this world come to a screeching halt where everything and everyone revolves around these social media blogs?
   I've heard many friends and coworkers who will totally be opposed to these social media sites. They tell me that it's just something that they don't want out there (their person information). Another person wondered where the old school ways of meeting a person face to face went. Of course, we all have our own reasons as to why we choose to be apart of these sites. Some can't live without them. Some can purely live without them and be happy. I sure as hell know that if I become obese one day, the girl on the "Facebook-workout-girl" will surely get hers.

PinStack.com

  

   I'm a member of many forums on the world wide web. I recieve most of my news from these websites as it gives me the freedom to surf around and ask questions relating to anything I need to know. Forums are a big part of my daily life as I'm a member to two devoted watch forums, an automotive forum, and a tech cell phone forum.
   Pinstack.com is a great site for smart phone users. Everyday, they have groundbreaking news on new devices and new software and applications. It's a very helpful site to the first time smartphone user, or anybody who just wants to dig up news on new devices that are being tested or customer reviews on specific phones, software, and applications.
   This forum is one of the largest forums in terms of dealing with every smart phone available on the market. Although there are many other forums that dedicate themselves to the love of cell phones, pinstack.com is highly ranked as one of the most informative and successful smart phone forums. They also include places where you can find cell phone accessories at extremely cheap prices; the forum is affiliated with many online stores and dealers.
   For the first time smart phone buyer in the future, I highly recommend this forum. It's very easy to navigate through and much of the news and information is no later than a day old. The amount of information that is available through these sites is amazing and most importantly, it's free to join!

www.pinstack.com

YouTube is Their Studio

  

   I love to sing. It's been in my blood since I was born. Before the internet was around, my way or showing the world my love for singing was doing live performances at talent shows or random small concerts around town. It was my of showing everyone my style of music and what kind of music was in me.
   While I was surfing youtube videos early morning, I stumbled upon a few videos of people singing a cover of a song I enjoyed. They had a very well edited video with actual studio equipment and amazing singers. It inspired me to do some recordings as they were able to get over 4 million views in less than 4 months!
   Youtube has made made many music sensations today. Artists such as Justin Bieber and Esmee Denters have signed and made millions just from placing videos on youtube. Bieber and Denters started their webpages early, when youtube was still in it's early pages. Today, both artists have millions of subscribers and Justin Bieber is pretty much littered all over youtube. His music videos have the most hits; his "Baby" video has close to 500 million views!
    It's amazing what these media sites can do to people. I plan to place some videos on youtube as well, but not to get famous, but just because I love to sing and have been harassed by many to do so. I will do it because of the pleasure I get out of it. I hope others will find the same pleasure when listening to me sing.

Social Media and Confidentiality

   Social media blogs are everywhere. It's extremely easy for anybody to search for a facebook, myspace, twitter, etc. account just by typing in their name in the google search field. I think it's become pretty crazy how easy it is to find somebody's personal information that quickly nowadays.
   I was speaking with my manager today and she was telling me that she had peeked at my facebook profile before she had hired me. I looked at her funny and realized that I had set my profile cautiously in order for strangers to find nothing about me. She had told me that she just wanted to see what I looked like and wanted to see personal information as well. The good thing was that all my information on my profile was hidden and has been hidden for reason like that.
   Today, facebook has over 600 million users and I can guarantee that more than 3/4 of the profiles out there are not restricted enough to outside users. Social media sites have given us a new way to stalk legally. Not only is it scary, it's easy to do and anybody can do it. I have some suggestions that might help keep your information private.

1. Keep profile settings updated daily to insure information is not leaked
2. Hide profile pictures and album pictures
3. Keep the people you know best or friends and only let them access your profile
4. Don't accept random friend requests from strangers
5. Don't discuss work or incidents at work in your status updates