About NoteScribe: A Hopeful Online Collaboration Tool

Searching For a Better Organizational Method: NoteScribe

In trying to seek out an even better way than Google Docs to keep an organized system for the research I am currently conducting, I stumbled across a product called NoteScribe (www.NoteScribe.net) available both for your computer as well as for use online. This product offers a simplistic, yet very structured manner of storing information. It allows the user to create workbooks both on and offline containing notes for both viewing and editing purposes. The workbook(s) created offline using the program may also be synced with an online account. Although online collaboration with this is not yet available, NoteScribe claims on their web site to be in the process of creating a feature to allow this. The product offers a free 30-day trial and is a worthy time investment. I used to squeeze all of my information into a large word document and attempt to create an index in the beginning to organize all of my information. This former system would easily take up an extra three hours of my time, depending on the project and often resulted in over-sized documents, making reviewing the information also a tedious task. Finding this new tool has made note taking a much quicker, effective, organized, and efficient task. If you are someone looking for a fast and simplistic way to solve similar issues, NoteScribe is a product to try out.

Using the Tab Feature on NoteScribe

NoteScribe allows users to store notes under what the product calls “levels,” referring to a topic. There are various levels, beginning with “L1” being the main topic and decreasing as sub topics as you reach such levels as L2, L3, L4, etc. Each note has the ability to be stored under up to three separate locations. These locations represent different topic areas within the workbook.

---FOR EXAMPLE---

I currently use NoteScribe to store information for my research on Social Media.

I have created a note titled "NoteScribe" to document all of my information on the product’s current features, upcoming features, and uses as part of my research. I have multiple “L1” topics within my workbook, which is titled “Social Media Research,” that I would like to be able to access this note from as it pertains to more than one category within my studies. In order to accomplish this need, the individual note, “NoteScribe,” is placed under two series of L1 topics (categories). Starting from the main workbook title (overall topic) to the lowest level under these sets of categories, here is an example of the two listings I used for this note.

1. The first listings goes as follows:

*(WORKBOOK TITLE) Social Media Research – (L1) Social Media Blog – (L2) Topics – (L3) NoteScribe

In this case, the note “NoteScribe” is considered level 3 (L3). It is under the level titled “Topics” (L2). The title "Topics" refers to a category within the topic in Level 1 called “Social Media Blog” (L1), which is a subcategory of my overall workbook, “Social Media Research.”

Having this note stored like this allows me to locate NoteScribe information when searching under research I have done and plan to use for future blog posts. (See Figure A below for a screenshot of the note editing as it relates to this first example.)

2. The second listing goes as follows:

*(WORKBOOK TITLE) Social Media Research – (L1) Social Media Platforms – (L2) Productivity Applications – (L3) Upcoming Tools – (L4) NoteScribe

In this case, the note “NoteScribe” is the L4 topic under Upcoming Tools (L3). This L3 category is a subtopic under Productivity Applications (L2), which is under Social Media Platforms (L1). Similar to "Social Media Blog” (L1), Social Media Platforms (L1) is a subcategory of my “Social Media Research” workbook. This tab allows me to locate that same note used in example one under a different level, or category. (See Figure B below for a screenshot of the note editing as it relates to this second example.)

Had I needed to, I have the capability of storing that note in one other location, making a total of three separate locations. In a situation where notes you make refer to multiple categories you have already or ones you wish to create, NoteScribe breaks the limitations of needing to use that information only in regards to one topic by allowing you up to three correlations. It is important to note that although my example only went down to L4, you may add over ten levels for each of the three allowed locations.

Ultimately, this system creates an easy to read index for use in referring back to information, coordinating information shared by multiple topics, editing and adding more notes under each topic, and creating an organized system for information storing. The tab index is collapsible, making a large-sized workbook less overwhelming to navigate through. (See Figure C below for an example of what the index looks like.)

Other Features

The basic note-editing window allows a limited, but sufficient enough, list of options. Text may be bolded, underlined, or italicized. Font size, color, and style also may be chosen using the editor. The alignment settings allow the user to chose between left-justified, centered, or right-justified. Highlighting is also a provided option, offering a list of several colors. Lastly, bullets, numbering, and outline styled formatting are available. First time users should be aware that the formatting capabilities for lists and outlines are limited and partially confusing at first. When going from one line of noted information to the next line of information below it, where the bullet is to be decreased in indentation, you must manually use the up and down arrows next to the numbering button to choose the proper number correlating to that bullet in its sequence. In addition, the simplistic bullets (not the outline formatting) are preset to only offer one standard circular bullet making that feature mainly only useful for a simple list as opposed to an outline. (See Figure D below describing the editing window, tool bar buttons, and limitations in lists and outlines.)

The premium account, offered for a free 30 day trial, allows a user to store multiple resources correlating to each note using a detailed source generator. A drop down menu lets the creator choose what type of source it is: book, dissertation/thesis, journal article, lecture/speech, multimedia, online, and periodical. Another menu lists styles for displaying the resources including "generic by author", "generic by title", ACM style, ACS style, AMA style, APA style, APSA style, CSE/CBE style, Chicago style (author-date), Chicago style (humanities), Harvard style, MLA style, and Oxford style. As information is typed into the provided fields or chosen from a menu a sample of what the source listing will look like appears on the bottom of the window. The authors, publishers, and completed sources are stored in the system for selection in future source generation making source creation easier and faster. The sources correlating to each level are shown when viewing that relative note. (See Figure E below showing the basic source-editing window.)

Notes may be accessed using four different search methods. First, each level and its note or notes associated with that level may be found using the basic index located on the left toolbar created as a result of the use of different categories. After creating one or more sources, a person may also search for notes that correlate to that note or to multiple associated notes. For each written note, a field box is available on the bottom-right of the note-editing window offering a user to add relevant keywords, which may later be used to search for relative information. The final organizational feature allows information to be color-coded and searched using this method. You will find on the left-hand side of the main workbook page, on your NoteScribe main window, a frame with the four tabs: categories, sources, key words, and colors. These tabs may be selected to search according to each of these four methods. (See Figure F below showing each of the tabs for locating information based on the four categories.)

Limitations Of NoteScribe

There are a few immediate issues noticeable by a user. Unfortunately, the document editor on this program is even more limited than that of Google Docs, as shown in the section title “Other Features”; however, its organizational capabilities do make it more effective than other means of information storage when there is an abundance of content regarding a similar topic. It also cannot be directly converted to documents readable by other programs at this point causing users to need to take alternative steps to format the information in a separate program for sharing purposes. These issues do make the product slightly less attractive, but still worth the investment if you are willing to see past these flaws.

What Does This Mean for Social Media?

If NoteScribe’s claim to create an option for sharing notes proves to hold true, it will become a perfect tool for information organization with collaborative capabilities. Having this type of organized collaboration available may, to use the education example again, assist students and teachers in information sharing in a way that most other commonly used tools cannot. It may also benefit business professionals in organizing and sharing company information, for example a conference agenda or notes from a meeting. If NoteScribe implements proper settings, organizations could soon be resorting to NoteScribe for most of their information sharing.

Suggestions to NoteScribe: Organization Portal

An idea for NoteScribe to consider is to create a system that allows organizations to create an “Organization Portal,” similar to a large company file, capable of having subgroups and categories (various workbooks with many levels). The organization will designate one or more head moderators (President, IT staff, CEOs, managers, etc.) who will:

(1) Have the privilege to choose which individuals are members of the organization, granting them access to the portal but not necessarily access to all content on the portal

(2) Oversee, control, and grant access to all workbooks posted by the head moderator(s), which, it may be assumed, will often times represent general company content as well as information form upper management

(3) Oversee all workbooks posted by the individuals given “membership” to the organization

The head moderator may create what is considered general organization content through the use of workbooks, serving as subcategories to the organization as a whole, choosing which members of the organization may view each individual workbook. The purpose is to give the head moderator the opportunity to share certain information with designated groups of members within the organization as seen fit.

Even if the head moderator doesn’t grant a member of the organization access to view all of the moderator generated content, or even any workbooks by other members, being an approved member allows the person to still create content through the use of workbooks. This individual may also be granted access to another member’s (outside of the head moderator) workbook allowing for team collaboration within the organization. Workbooks created by individuals not acting as a head moderator will still be supervised by the head moderator but are now given a sub-moderator position having the right to designate access and control content.

Five levels of accessibility will exist:

(I) This is the highest level, allowing a person to view and edit all information on the workbook that he or she is granted access to as well as control which individuals may see and edit the information: a moderator (not necessarily head moderator) position.

(II) A step below (I), this person is granted similar privileges but without being allowed to control other individuals’ accessibility.

(III) This is the third level of access allowing the individual to view and make changes to content in a manner that will resemble the “track changes” option seen in many word processing programs; Changes made by level (III) members will need to be approved by the immediate moderator of that workbook before becoming an actual part of the content.

(IV) This level grants an individual rights to view documents but not edit them.

(V) The last Level designates an individual without any access to view or edit any content. This person may be a member of the organization who is restricted from that workbook or someone who is not a current member of the organization.

Having distinct levels will allow an organization to implement a system, when seen fit, to ensure information has the opportunity to be reviewed before considered accurate.

Final Words To NoteScribe

Lastly, to make this product even more effective, adding a more detailed menu bar for document editing will help really push this product towards popularity. One step further, allowing the creation of other types of files will greatly increase interest and help NoteScribe, once it allows sharing and collaboration, to compete against other file sharing tools such as Google Docs.

Why Use This System?

Items such as paper, emails, and simple unorganized documents may easily be lost. Often times, using means such as these for collaboration, may allow for error in translation from one person to the next without a controller to see over the information. Multiple duplicates, which may slightly vary, could result from emails and sending documents the traditional way. With a system like this, all information can be stored in an organized manor and easily viewed and edited when needed. Also, in an eco-friendly generation, utilizing digital means of communication helps reduce our carbon footprint and produce a healthier environment.

I strongly urge each person to check out this growing application. Although many features seem basic now, it has potential to one day greatly assist in the sharing of valuable information among users and already proves to be a great tool for note sharing.

Taking a Step Back to Introduce Myself

Since I’ve been talking a whole lot about Social Media but haven’t taken the time to introduce myself, I figured now is a perfect time!

Kick-Off To My College Career

After graduating high school after three years at the age of sixteen, I chose to immediately begin my higher education. I am currently a student at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana planning to graduate in August of 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in Media Studies and a certificate in the Professional Pilot Program. The first question I always get is: Media and aviation – how does that work? The Professional Pilot Certification is a two-year program designed to give students an opportunity to attain at least a private pilot’s license as well as an instrument rating alongside basic aviation knowledge while studying a major of their choice. Knowing my passion for media, I chose to study in the four-year Media Studies program. While aviation has a place in my heart, I hope to pursue a career in the Social Media Industry. In preparing for this big step from college to the working-world, I have had the privilege of working alongside Professor Patrick Vargas at the University, studying the topic of Social Media Marketing for Self-Promotion.

The Beginning of My Passion For Media and Marketing

My interest in marketing, media, and social media has grown over the years. It began at the age of sixteen and continues through today as I have been doing independent contracting work as a promotional representative through various agencies working with a variety of companies including Cadillac, Lexu, Axe, Pantene Pro-V, Target, and many other well known organizations. This jumpstarted my passion for marketing and the means of communication that contributed to brand awareness.

At the end of my high school career I was honored with the title of Rose Queen 2006, allowing me to speak publicly at many schools about the D.A.R.E. program, deliver speeches at town events, and serve as a role model to the community. Although public speaking had never been an issue for me, this event helped guide me even further towards a focused study full of communication, demonstrating to me that, to the public, every sentence you speak can have an impact.

Impact of My Corporate Experience

I gained corporate experience, seeing the inter-workings of a large, multinational corporation while interning for three consecutive summers for Bosch Rexroth. As a Human Resources Intern I was given the opportunity to create research compilations, design training programs, spend a summer working abroad in Germany, assist in event planning, and help with other various company tasks.

Putting Social Media Knowledge to the Test

Having set a goal of promoting support for senior citizens during my reign as Miss Roselle, I took the knowledge I had gained thus far on social media and marketing and used it help create, promote, and generate interest for a charity organization I created in honor of my grandmother called Purple Roses. With the help of the members of Kappa Alpha Theta and my family, Purples Roses gained enough publicity for our organization and our 3-on-3 volleyball tournament that we were able to exceed my goal and raise $1000 for Alzheimer’s research, support, and awareness.

A Big Year of Experiences

My Junior Year of college was a big year for me filled with many experiences that solidified my chosen field. It began with my promotion to Brand Manager of Marketing at Illini Media. Although I had already used social media for promoting the University Concert Choir, Purple Roses, and various other activities and organizations, Illini Media was a big step towards learning the full capacity of online media. I was able to incorporate social media platforms, such as Facebook fan pages and youtube, as well as our company website, the217.com, into our marketing efforts alongside the usual promotional events to generate brand awareness.

Later that year I hoped to continue my work on Alzheimer’s awareness and decided to compete in a Miss America Organization Scholarship competition with a platform of Alzheimer’s Awareness. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to serve the community with the title of Miss Champaign Urbana 2009 from which point I continued to use media to leverage my position within the public eye. Through the use internet communications, social media, and basic face-to-face communication I was able to arrange opportunities to volunteer at the local nursing home, assist in raising money for the Make A Wish Foundation, support local philanthropic activities, and aid in many other community events. Although that era of my life ended, I continue to stay enthusiastic about Alzheimer’s Awareness and encourage all to learn more and engage in this worthy cause.

Future Plans

Finishing up my last few classes this summer, I am very excited to enter the world of Social Media in less than a month. I have encountered numerous helpful blogs, a great array of twitters to follow, and wonderful books guiding me in my studies of Social Media. Each of these resources have helped me feel more confident in my abilities, motives, and selection in career path. I have many people to thank for their support and guidance through this important chapter in my life.

The Blog: Offering A Voice

Before the late 1990s, the term “blog” did not even exist. Blogs refer to a website managed by one or more individuals, allowing this owner or these owners to post information. Content can range from commentary and review to even simple day-by-day overview personal journaling of an individual’s activities. Used both in a professional and personal level, this tool has offered a chance for more voices to be heard and has changed the way media operates.

Former Press Offered Public Little Say

Before blogs existed, the news corporations exercised nearly all of the control in determining what news would be delivered to the public. Journalists and news corporation employees regarded only partially what the public expected to hear while confining to industry limitations. Limitations included availability of personnel at events deemed newsworthy, money, space, time, corporate sponsorships, and many other restrictions that affected what was delivered via the news. One of the biggest challenges with the press, prior to such tools as blogging, included the issue of timing. If a story had not been discovered early enough, referring to the notion that after 24 hours news is old news, it wouldn’t be told. The public had little control over content and had to succumb to the news industry’s selection of material. This was the way the news operated prior to the abundant use of blogs.

Blogging at Work: Trent Lott Case

Trent Lott, former Majority Speaker of Congress, was witness to the power of blogs when the news media failed to step in. After making what many considered a racist comment at Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party, Lott found himself in a position least expected. News covering the event did not take Lott’s commentary to the press, viewing their coverage as reporting the celebration itself as opposed to seeking out controversial statements. While the press failed to report his comments, the bloggers sought to bring the issue to discussion. Shortly after the celebration, bloggers began creating posts discussing Lott’s speech. National press finally recognized the public’s need for coverage on the story and began publishing the information. This coverage eventually led to Lott’s 2007 resignation as Majority Speaker.

Freedoms Offered To Blogs & Power in Numbers

This is a classic example of how blogs may accomplish what the traditional press may not. While Lott’s story was old news a day after it happened, a time before it was even thought to analyze his comments, the bloggers thought differently. Conveniently, bloggers don’t follow the same restrictions that the press falls under. Blog posts do not operate under a time interval where news becomes old news. Participating in this form of discussion is virtually free and much quicker than in a professional reporting setting. Because of the large discussion that took place via the web following Lott’s commentary, the public became engaged forcing the press to take action. The power of numbers, seen in this case, plays a major role in almost forcing the press to become engaged in a topic the public deems newsworthy.

Blogs As Tools Of Collaboration

Blogs offer collaboration. This is an essential component to creating networks and news that can be reviewed and discussed. Although many may argue the validity of web based content, it is important to recognize that while anyone may post information, in doing so it is up for public scrutiny. To engage in this sort of debate, typical blogs often offer a “comment” option, allowing viewers to publicly post opinions of that particular post. Even while content may arguably not provide the exact truth, keeping in mind that blogs are often based on opinion, it does draw to the public eye topics worthy of discussion. While the news used to be purely in the hand of “professionals,” this tool has offered “nonprofessionals” to take an active role in the distribution of information.

Educational Uses For Blogs

Although offering a means of distributing more news and helping demonstrate what the public views as valuable discussion, other purposes for the use of blogging exist. Another use for blogs has been in the educational department. They offer an interactive portal for learning. Many classes now use or encourage the use of blogs. As Robert Godwin-Jones discussed in his journal article, having students publicly post a journal entry opens up commentary from others to offer praise and constructive criticism. Godwin-Jones also suggests that using this tool may help demonstrate a student’s progression throughout his or her studies by tracking improvement. Aside from these obvious educational benefits, blogs may also be used to provide a link to other educational resources for students to access and serve as a means of communication outside of the classroom.

Corporate Uses For Blogs

With the increasing popularity of this tool for communication, many companies are now looking to blogging as a quick and easy way to communicate with consumers. Many websites for organizations offer a link to a blog that displays information on upcoming products, customer support, and general topics of interest on their products and services. For example, http://googleblog.blogspot.com is Google’s blog providing product and industry information to users. Often times, consumers are first directed to a blog to locate topics relevant to question that may concern them. This demonstrates the growing corporate understanding of the power of using this communication tool to engage with consumers.

Political Uses For Blogs

Political use of blogs seemed to emerge greatly due to the effects of 9/11. From this point, they continued to gain exposure and use. Blogs also gained exposure during the 2004 election. Although the primary user of this service, Howard Dean, saw just as great a fall as he did a rise from blogging and use of internet resources, it is important to see the significance of his online presence in gaining attention.

Many other examples of its use and cases demonstrating its capabilities exist and would take numerous hours to define. Consider this: How often do you type in a search query that doesn’t return with at least one blog article? It is difficult at this point in our society to search the web without coming across this type of journaling. With endless opportunities and the constant growth in use, Blogs have and will continue to gain popularity within the social community.


REFERENCES

Adamic, Lada, and Natalie Glance. The Political Blogosphere and the 2004 U.S. Election: Divided They Blog. 4 Mar. 2005. Web. 21 July 2010. .

"Blogs Make the Headlines." Wired News. Web. 21 July 2010. .

Godwin-Jones, Robert. "EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Blogs and Wikis: Environments for On-line Collaboration." Language Learning & Technology 7.2 (2003): 12-16. May 2003. Web. 21 July 2010. .

Official Google Blog. Web. 21 July 2010. .

Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody the Power of Organizing without Organizations. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.

"Trent Lott Announces His Resignation - Politics - Msnbc.com." Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- Msnbc.com. Web. 21 July 2010. .

Changing the Way We Organize

From Hierarchy to Network

The organization of individuals has greatly changed over time from a hierarchal system to a more flat and network style. One definition, according to Webster, for an organization is “an administrative and functional structure.” Meanwhile, Webster refers to a network in one part of its definition as “an interconnected or interrelated chain, group, or system.” Separating these two definitions is the beginning of defining the former main means of communication from the modern. Early organizations represented an organization with a functional structure having a hierarchal set up to help manage its components. New media takes on a network approach opposing this definition by interconnecting its parts to collaborate together as opposed to working through a chain of command. Networks represent a much more complex system when compared to a hierarchy (See diagram below). From the introduction of organizational charts to the creation of the Internet and social media, our society has adapted to the changing styles of organizing. As the way we communicate changes, our society and means of organization also alters. Clay Shirky’s book titled Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations discusses the origins of organization and the impact of new technologies.

Beginning of Hierarchies: The Railroad

The traditional way of organizing can be greatly attributed to the start of railroads. In the 1800s, railroad companies were dealing with the issue of sharing one single set of tracks for traffic flowing both ways. After a collision that killed two and injured several, it became apparent that a better system of organization was needed. This fostered the organizational chart and the presence of hierarchies seen in organizations to come.

In the basic organizational set up of railroads created to overcome previous issues, the route was divided among regions, which were then divided among even smaller sections, each having a designated overseer to report to. A hierarchy determining which person reported to who was developed to ensure the safety and smooth running of the railroad organization. This system accomplished many goals in resolving problems, yet it created one crucial issue: higher costs.

Tradition Organization is Costly

The largest issue with traditional organization is cost. As noted by Shirky, it costs to manage an organization. In this traditional organization, smaller groups may profit over larger groups because the cost of managing the larger system is high enough to drop the profit margin compared to the smaller institutions. In other words, it costs less to manage a smaller group of people and a smaller system. Shirky refers to the “Coasean Ceiling” as the point at which an institution no longer profits because of the cost of managing. For this reason, the book discussed how smaller railroad companies often profited more than the largest institutions.

Formerly: Two Options to Starting An Organization

This is one of many constraints, yet a very important issue, that traditionally organized companies face. Until recently, there were two options: (1) Deal with the costs of managing a group and survive, or (2) don’t create the group. Many clusters of individuals wanted to organize but couldn’t because of costs. This explains how many times institutionalization served as a filter for determining which organizations succeeded or never even saw creation.

A New Means of Congregating

New technology and social media has offered a third dimension to the mix: provide the tool to be used or organizing, but let the users group themselves. New media circumvents the constraints of management and especially costs of doing so that previous organizing suffered from. Shirky’s book did a wonderful job in illustrating how social media steps in to do what former institutions could not.

Example of New Media's Structure: Flickr

Flickr is an online tool for compiling photos by individuals using tags. Shirky’s example using Flickr spoke of a small parade that took place every year. Before the use of Flickr, many photographers, both professional and personal, would come to the parade and take photos. At the time it was too costly for one individual or organization to assemble a way of grouping all of the photos together for others to see. For this reason, many photos taken at this event would go unseen by anyone other than the person taking the photo. Resolving this problem, Flickr came about allowing users ranging from professionals to individuals using phone cameras to post the pictures and link the picture to similar photos with a tag. The tag allows people to search a word bringing about search results with pictures tagged to that word or phrase. Visitors of the parade are now able to organize the photos creating and gaining more views without an institution in place to organize the photos for them. Because of the lack of management needed, the costs were low enough to allow such an organization to exist.

New Means for Global, Open Discussion

Social media has also opened a platform of public discussion and a means to gain support on a global level that didn’t formerly exist. For instance, when a tragic event occurs, social media is a way for individuals across nations to gather for discussion, support, and reflection. Before social media, the news served as the primary source of information, information that often didn’t come as quickly and as abundant as it does now. Think of the power of twitter. Within minutes, more than hundreds may post news, information, and opinions for others to read regardless of that individual’s location. The same may apply to blogs. These tools offer a way to stay informed, engage others, and share in open thought and discussion.

We are only beginning to see the power of social media. It grows so rapidly that it is impossible to know where we will stand in years to come. One certain fact is that social media is changing the way we communicate and operate in our current society.

REFERENCES:

"Organization - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 21 July 2010. .

Miller, Katherine. Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.

"Network - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 21 July 2010. .

Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody the Power of Organizing without Organizations. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.

Social Media Overload?

Since the start of MySpace to the introduction of FourSquare, it has been useful and entertaining to keep up with the various platforms of social networking. It can be noticed that each person’s use of these tools tends to only extend to two to five different types; however, hundreds of platforms, which could be considered social media tools, exist today.

Recognizing Similar Social Media Platforms

I first noticed the difficulty in having one individual tool during my time spent in Germany as an intern for the summer. At the given time, social media users I related to tended to seek out Facebook as their main form of staying connected. Without stepping back and thinking of cultural differences I assumed the same and began searching for all of my newest contacts from Germany on Facebook. This search quickly ended as less than 5% of them could be found, an unusually low number I thought. I soon found out that many of my friends were using a site called StudiVZ.com and MeinVZ, platforms that upon approval could be linked together. Members of StudiVZ had to belong to an already approved school network. All other users could join MeinVZ needing to then request users of StudiVZ to allow the connection between sites to occur. The interfacing of both of these platforms nearly mirrored that of Facebook.com, however it could be described as the “German version of Facebook” in that it mainly attracted German users and was only in the process of reaching out to other nations.

An Abundance of Social Media Tools

In beginning my research on social media it came again to my attention the abundance of available tools that I had yet to take advantage of. I was introduced to FourSquare by a friend a little over six months ago and became an avid twitter user around the beginning of 2009. Slowly, I’ve been adding platform after platform, attempting to use igoogle and TweetDeck to aggregate them all into one to ease the pressures of keeping up with each. Although each tool I used helped a little more in binding these together, it was impossible to accomplish staying updated on all of them constantly.

How Do You Balance A Healthy Variety?

Soon I came to realize: I spend more time keeping up with Social Media then I actually spend enjoying it. This poses my biggest questions: At what point do platforms decline? Will one application ever truly dominate? What is the best way to utilize Social Media and stay current without spending every moment attempting to master it? It’s easy to say that Facebook is at the top, if not the top of the list. Think then about Digg. Digg serves a purpose that Facebook hasn’t grasped full user attention on yet. Further, if a person began using Facebook the way Twitter is to be used, it is easy to say many of his or her friends would get quite aggravated seeing as that isn't the standard form of communication for Facebook . Each social media tool serves its own unique purpose that often is shared with another tool, but is mastered only by one.

Social Media Aggregates

Aggregate tools came about to help solve this problem. From experience, I can note that TweetDeck begins helping with the issues of social media overload; however, this device hinders the full capability of each device as it takes more of a “Twitter” approach to each of the connected platforms, by specializing in "status" type of updates as opposed to the complex inter-workings of sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn

Are There Solutions?

My best solution to this problem is that one day a tool will be created to best connect users to all forms of social media, from even the smallest tools with less than a hundred followers to mega platforms such as Facebook. It is either this or the decline of some of the other platforms that needs to happen before people get too overloaded with networking that they give up. A main purpose of social media is to allow organizing without the need of costly management. It can be quite beneficial in connecting our world. I see the benefits in each platform and agree that diversity is important. I do think that collaboration between platforms or some sort of aggregation can help ensure that users from all different backgrounds can still stay connected without the separation caused by the selection of one platform over another by an individual user. What do you feel needs to happen in the future to ensure it continues to support networking the way it does now?

Tweeting Is Not Just for Birds: An Intro to Twitter

About a year ago, a friend of mine convinced me to try out this website called Twitter. At the time, I was convinced it would be a waste of my time. I had heard the news talking about this new social media platform where people “tweet,” and how it was estimated to grow exponentially in popularity. Still, the idea of constantly telling people what I was doing by updating a status, called tweeting, seemed ridiculous. Regardless of my hesitations, I gave it a try. Within a week I was tweeting, retweeting, following people, and most importantly seeing the benefits of twitter.

The Basics

First, it’s most important to explain the basics of twitter. Twitter is a social media platform made available to the public in 2006. A “Tweet” is a post of 140 characters or less, including spaces, made by a user of twitter. Users of twitter may follow other users allowing them to choose whose posts will show up in a feed displaying, with the most recent tweet first, all of the tweets by those they follow. Users are also capable of seeing who follows them. There does not need to be a mutual relationship between two members in order for one to follow the other. In other words, just because one user follows the other, doesn’t mean the other must follow them. Each user may choose a username that will represent posts he or she creates by placing an “@” followed by the username in front of each post. Other users may also “tag” another person in their post by using the format @username within the tweet. For example, let’s assume @JohnTwitter wants to talk about @SaraTweet:

@JohnTwitter: I really enjoyed the presentation by @SaraTweet

In this example, @JohnTwitter is the person tweeting while @SaraTweet is being referred to in the tweet. Multiple people may be tagged, or referred to, in a post.

You may also stumble across an “RT” in the front or contained in the tweet. This stands for “retweet.” Retweeting is used to publish a tweet you found interesting for your followers to see while giving credit to the original author. Think of it as the equivalent of forwarding an email. It may also be used to respond to another tweet. Using the example from earlier, let’s assume @SaraTweet wants to thank @JohnTwitter for his comment:

@SaraTweet: Thank you! RT JohnTwitter: I really enjoyed the presentation by @SaraTweet.

This is an important concept to understand, for on Twitter it makes conversation less confusing when you make clear what you are referring to in your response to a post. Keep in mind some users may even update their twitter every few minutes. If you respond to a post from an hour ago and they have tweeted over twenty times since then, without designating what you are responding to, the user may get confused.

How to utilize Twitter

So what’s the point in tweeting? To those who see twitter as a means of purely telling people every single move you make throughout the day, there is much to be learned. Did you know that you could stay up to current events using twitter? Did you know that recruiters and companies post job openings on twitter?

Twitter Cofounder Dom Sagolla said in his book, 140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form, “We defined a mere 1 percent of what Twitter is today. The remaining 99 percent has been, and will continue to be, created by the millions of people who make this medium their own, tweet by tweet.” Twitter is a user-generated portal of information. From links to news articles, scores for a sports game, beauty tips, product reviews, and company news to the simple day-to-day activities of an individual user, Twitter can be a powerful tool. Relationships may be built using twitter as it allows a user to really get to know a person they follow. Networking, a vital tool in the business world today, is made easy thanks to this social media platform. Twitter enables users to build and maintain brand image. Many stars use twitter to create, or at least attempt to create, positive publicity. Companies are seeing the benefits of using twitter as well. It allows them to interact with consumers and quickly respond to any questions or negative publicity on twitter. When used correctly, twitter can deliver unbelievable results.

If this evidence isn’t enough to convince you to try out twitter, consider this. A coworker of mine told me a story of how she once tweeted that she was leaving the city of Chicago to head out to a concert that night. The performer saw this tweet and asked her to purchase some specialty popcorn made in the city and bring it to the side of the stage before the concert started. Because of twitter, my coworker was able to meet the performer!

Social media is becoming a prominent feature in the Web 2.0 era. When used appropriately, Twitter can be a great communication tool for people of all backgrounds.

-Denise J. Hibbard

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