Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content”. In simple terms, social media refers to tools and platforms people use to produce, publish and share online content and to interact with one another. These tools include blogs, podcasts, and videos, etc.
According to Wikianalysis, News Corporation (NWS) owns Myspace and Photobucket, a photo-sharing website. Yahoo! (YHOO) has been attempting to enter the social media segment via Flickr photo-sharing website and 360 social networking sites. Google (GOOG) purchased YouTube. Microsoft (MSFT) announced a minority $240 million investment in Facebook in late October, valuing the company at an estimated $5 to $15 billion overall. AOL announced on March 2008 the $850 million purchase of Bebo. At that time, Bebo was the third largest social networking site behind MySpace and Facebook in terms of page views and unique monthly visitors, both key metrics for online advertising.
Some examples of social media software applications include:
Communication• Blogs: Blogger, LiveJournal, Open Diary, TypePad, WordPress, Vox, ExpressionEngine, Xanga
• Micro-blogging / Presence applications: FMyLife, Jaiku, Plurk, Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous, Yammer
• Social networking: Bebo, BigTent, Elgg, Facebook, Geni.com, Hi5, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Orkut, Skyrock,
• Social network aggregation: NutshellMail, FriendFeed
• Events: Upcoming, Eventful, Meetup.com
Collaboration
• Wikis: Wikipedia, PBworks, Wetpaint
• Social bookmarking (or social tagging): Delicious, StumbleUpon, Google Reader, CiteULike
• Social news: Digg, Mixx, Reddit, NowPublic
• Opinion sites: epinions, Yelp
Multimedia
• Photography and art sharing: deviantArt, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, SmugMug, Zooomr
• Video sharing: YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo, sevenload
• Livecasting: Ustream.tv, Justin.tv, Stickam, Skype
• Music and audio sharing: imeem, The Hype Machine, Last.fm, ccMixter, ShareTheMusic
Reviews and opinions
• Product reviews: epinions.com, MouthShut.com
• Business reviews: Customer Lobby, yelp.com
• Community Q&A: Yahoo! Answers, WikiAnswers, Askville, Google Answers
Entertainment
• Media and entertainment platforms: Cisco Eos
• Virtual worlds: Second Life, The Sims Online, Forterra
• Game sharing: Miniclip, Kongregate
Other
• Information aggregators: Netvibes, Twine (website)
• Social media monitoring:[clarification needed] Sysomos Heartbeat
• Social media analytics: Sysomos MAP
One example that really caught my attention was Second Life.
http://static-secondlife-com.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/en/Second_Life_Quickstart.pdf
This is the site where a manual guide is provided to TEACH you how to control your avatar. Second Life (SL) is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab that launched on June 23, 2003. A free client program called the Second Life Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world (also call "the grid"). Second Life is for people aged 18 and over, people aged 13 to 17, do not fret, Teen Second Life works just as well.
After I know the existence of Second Life, Facebook seems perfectly meaningful to me. Really, why are people so dissatisfied with their real life that they have to adopt an avatar to try out a second life? Is it not tiring? Would you not get confused by your own identity? I personally find this absolutely ridiculous. Mum has colleagues who told me that they have an adopted son. At first, I was really happy for them, but when I found out that the son of theirs come from a different world from us, my heart sank. Why? Yes, you get to fly and do a lot of things that you cannot do in real life, but when you wake up (log out I mean), it is the reality that you have to face. Yes, you may have no troubles in that world, but similarly, it is the real life that you have to face at the end of the day. To me, users of Second Life are escapists of problems. If there is an aspect of life that you wish to change (except your gender), gather your courage and do it. If this is what you want, continue, if not, quit. You will never have the same experience if you do it only online. This is the real life, you need to experience it to feel it.
No comments:
Post a Comment