Social Media Project

After completing this project, I have learned a lot about social media within a large company. I personally only use Facebook when it comes to social media sites, but made a Twitter account for this project. I do not have a full understanding of how to use Twitter, and do not have many friends, but now that I have an account, I plan on using it a lot more. I have also learned that one single company can have many different accounts on a social media site. Ford has 13 by themselves.

I have also learned that YouTube is a very large site when it comes to social media for large companies. The good thing about using YouTube is that people enjoy watching videos, and know how to use the website. Most everyone has been to YouTube to watch a video of some sort. Not only can you find videos from the company them self, but also from other private sources that have done reviews for certain products.

This video from LotProCars shows and example of review that they have put on YouTube for viewers to see.

Lastly, I learned that working online with a group is not very easy. Getting in contact with everyone in the group can by very difficult. For example, some of our members did not respond to any emails or messages until the last day of the project. I feel that group work in person is much easier because you can sit down and talk face to face, not hoping that you can get a hold of someone through email.

This is the link to my groups project on Ford.

https://ism3004socialmedia.wikispaces.com/Ford

Week 13- Clear: Social Media

Welcome to my Week 13 blog!

This week we talked about social media. Most everyone in todays world is in some way part of a social media network. Wether it be Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Etc. There are many different views of these sites. Some say that they are great because you can keep in touch with your friends, while others feel that they are dangerous for younger children to be a part of.

I feel that one problem that will become with these websites is the amount of users. Every once in awhile you can see that the websites are running slowly from the amount of users that are on at one time. Metcalf's Law states that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users. This can become false when the amount of users becomes to high for the network to withstand.

This photo from Mirnabard.com shows different examples of social networks and how they are classified.

 The largest social network to date is The Facebook. This video from Sony shows the official trailer for the 2010 movie titled "The Social Network". Not only has this website been quite successful through their initial use, but are now expanding to many other areas. Recently The Facebook bought Instagram for $1 Billion. With 850 million users, does Facebook really need more?

Thank you for reading my blog, I hope you enjoyed it!

Week 12: Clear- Telecommunications

Welcome to week 12's blog!

This week we focused on telecommunications. Although there is alot to talk about when it comes to this subject, I want to focus my blog on the security of the internet. In recent years uses of the internet have become much more personal. I do not mean just through social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, but more along the lines of online banking, and other extremely personal applications. I use online banking all the time, and always fear that someone will be able to tap into my personal information. If this were to happen, it could become a serious problem. One way I try to avoid this is by not logging on while on an unsecured wireless network. Although this is just one small step, I try to keep my information private as much as possible.

This video from Norton explains one system they have come up with to help protect internet users. Norton is a very farmiliar name when it comes to internet security along with McAfee, BitDefender, and many more. Although these different software packages can be useful, it is impossible for them to protect you from all hackers.

This is an image from Gadgetmeter.com that shows one way that they have come up with to protect your personal information in a public setting. Although this is meant to be just a humorous example, I am sure that some people would go to these lengths to protect what they feel is private information.

Thank you for reading my week 12 blog, see you next week!

Extra Credit: Google+

After creating my Google+ account, I have seen alot of nice features. Although not many of my friends have Google+ accounts, which is very different from Facebook. The article from PC Mag seems to be far fetched to me. Google+ might be an up and coming idea, but the volume of people that are on Facebook cannot be overcome. I personally would keep my Facebook page as my main site for social networking. Many people have become farmiliar with the format that Facebook has set up, and do not have trouble using its features. The fact that Google+ is new, it is still working out the bugs, and is not as ergonomic to most.

Avator Extra Credit

Creating my own avatar was a neat experience. The steps we're fairly simple and quite easy to follow. I created my avatar based on own personal style. I decided to put a hat on him, with some facial hair and to dress him as I may dress. When one is given the opportunity to create something solely on their imagination, it's likely that that something is going to come from what you know and who you are. I wanted this avatar to represent me, and I feel that it completely does just that.

Week 11- Data Asset: Clear

Welcome to my Week 11- Data Asset blog post!

 This weeks lesson was about Data Assets. For most, a "data asset" does not have much meaning to it. I personally did not know exactly what a data asset was before this weeks lesson. Some examples that were given by Professor Olson were CRM and ERM. These two examples made things very clear to me. CRM as a data asset means that the information you receive from a sales call can be recorded and used for future reference when someone else is learning how to make sales calls. This could also mean that it can be used to look back on as a reference for the outcome of the call.

This photo from EBIZQ.net shows how data can be used throughout a whole business environment, and how it can be used as an asset.

I also found a video from IBMInfoGov on YouTube that also explained how data can be used as an asset for security.

One more thing that I learned about data is the difference between structured and unstructured data. The most useful data that the common person uses in the world today is unstructured data. Almost everyone either texts, emails, or watches a YouTube video in a day. A class like this would not be possible is there was no such thing as unstructured data.

Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope to have such a good time with next weeks class!

Database Project Blog Post

Welcome to my Database Project blog post!

Throughout this project I was amazed at how much Access has to offer. From queries, to forms, and even regular spreadsheets. To me it almost seemed like Excel with a lot more features. The function that I learned the most about is the Form function. Before this project I never had the opportunity to use this part of Access. At first it seemed that creating a form would be a complicated task. Now that I have completed the project, the functionality of this feature and the program as a whole are completely user friendly. Also, being able to create the forms from tables and queries is quite useful.

One thing that I would add to the program is video tutorials about the different parts of the program. I know that there is the help link that explains different functions, but watching it done is much more helpful. Being that this was the first time that I used a couple of the different functions of the program, being able to go back and watch Professor Olson work through it step by step was very helpful. If there was a way for Access to put these types of tutorials in their help section, it would be much easier to work through new parts of the program.

Thank you for reading my post, and I hope that Access becomes more useful in future business!