Social+Network+Update+1



**Update # 1**



//New Study Shows that "Checking In" is not the popular thing to do.//
//by Taylor Restaino// According to Mashable.com, Geosocial services, like Gowalla's Foursquare, has been rated as one of the least popular activities on social networking sites. A study by the Pew Research Center surveyed Smartphone owners on how and what they use their phones for the most. The data clearly showed that people preferred accessing social networks, checking email and uploading images as they were among the top activities. Only 12% of the surveyed users admitted to using the "check-in" feature provided by FourSquare, Facebook and Twitter. The researchers are not exactly clear on why this feature has been lack luster in creating a buzz but they feel with more insight into what Smartphone users really want they will be able to help out companies like Gowalla in order to create something that might tip the scale in their favor. Source

//**Amazon Steps Up Social Media Efforts [|Article]**// //by Drew Inabinet// Amazon.com Inc has decided to make changes to their already popular website by adding a social networking component to it. The company has recently hired John Yurcisin as the director of social media for Amazon.com. Even though Yurcisin's plans for the website have not been revealed, Amazon has already added social networking features to its best selling e book, the Kindle. These new features allows Kindle users to share what they are reading on their facebook and twitter pages. These new social networking features added to Amazon.com could change the the way people shop online, and demonstrates the importance of social media.

//**Students Find Ways to Thwart Facebook Bans**// by Ashley Cingolani

The New York TImes posted an interesting article that shows how students are getting around bans for social networking sites. According to this article it is said that, "While it is easy for schools to block Facebook on their computer networks (through methods not unlike parental controls at home), students say it’s just as easy to get around the ban." So, how are students getting around these bans? Easy! Search engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc reveal quick, easy, and thousands of proxy servers that will trick the school techies. Some of these proxy servers are unblock.com and proxypimp.com. Some educators feel that banning is not the answer, and that, " students should learn to use social media safely and productively for both personal and academic reasons,” said Phil Kassen, director of the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School in Manhattan." Other educators are not kine on that fact and believe that ,“Kids should be in school to learn, so we have a system that blocks all personal access." It is known that social networking sites may be distracting and hinder children from their education, but it is also proven that these bans are clearly not working to the advantage of the educators. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/fashion/students-find-ways-to-thwart-facebook-bans.html?_r=1&ref=socialnetworking

by Shoko Hachiya
 * Tweets from companies you don't follow, promoted tweets**

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo decided to start tweeting promoted tweets this summer, which are tweets from companies users don't follow but similar to the ones they do follow. The company's main revenue is from advertisement, so this is an attempt to secure its advertising revenue. Promoted tweets show up according to users' interest graph of the accounts they follow. For users who already follow the brands with promoted tweets, the only difference is the "stickiness" of the tweets. Promoted tweets, advertisement, stays on the top of timeline until users read them. Twitter was careful to make sure users get tweets only from accounts they follow, so this is a slight but big change.

mashable.com

by Kelly Wood
 * New Social Networking Site Takes On Big Boys & Tackles Privacy Issues, Anonymity and CyberCrime**

There has been cause for concern in regards to your privacy in the new age of social media. This issue is addressed in an article by the Digital Journal and discusses how safe are we really when it comes to our usage of social media. These sites collect sensitive information that is ripe for hackers, and regardless of promised security the potential still exists for sites like Google+ and Facebook to be hacked. The article claims you do not need to use your real information, but sites are collecting it to sell to advertisers or private interests groups. The article speaks of a new social media site called onlymeworld.com where, as claimed by President Carlson Yamamoto, you have some anonymity. While the platform is the same as other networking sites they put more stress on privacy and protection against Cyber Crimes. The site was launched in April of 2011.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/415101

By: Melissa Roldan
 * It is important to look for jobs using both social media and more traditional forms of self-advertising**.

According to Boston.com, the development and huge rise is not to be mistaken for the best way to get yourself out there in the career world. In fact, the old traditional ways of interviews are still the most crucial part of getting a job. Instead, social networks should be used as more of a tool in obtaining such an interview. For example, if a company sees you have a really professionally done profile, this could greatly increase your chances of even being asked for an interview, however, it also has the potential to cut you from the running. This is not only because you posted too many pictures of taking shots with your friend, though this obviously will not help, but simply because through your profile the company found out that maybe your interests are just not what they are looking for. While you do want to be aware of what you are posting on profiles, also be aware that is not a deal breaker, nor and automatic ticket to get hired. In other words, young professionals need to definitely be keeping up with the latest trending social networks, especially when going into the field, but it is just as crucial to not forget to perfect things like resumes and interviews.

http://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2011/09/11/job_seekers_should_work_all_their_networks/