Tweeting Made Easy!

Before this class, I had heard of Twitter, but I wasn't exactly sure what it was, and I certainly didn't have a Twitter account, but now I do. Apparently Twitter is a form of micro-blogging. You may be asking what exactly is micro-blogging? I know before I heard a lecture about Twitter, I didn't have any idea what micro-blogging meant...but now I have some idea. Micro-blogging is a form of blogging (a website maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary) only on a smaller scale. According to Wikipedia, when you micro-blog, instead of giving a detailed, specific description of an event, you only give a short, one sentence post. Most people use micro-blogs, like Twitter, to keep their friends updated about where they are and what they're doing throughout the day. They're also really popular with celebrities. Celebs keep their fans constantly updated about their whereabouts.

So if micro-blogging is so popular in the form of Twitter, what exactly is Twitter and what kind of history does it have? According to Ezinearticles, Twitter was founded in March 2006 by Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey, and Biz Stone. The one short question the Twitter asks of users (i.e. What are you doing?) has led to a media revolution. Business people are just beginning to realize the power of Twitter, but with Tweeters like Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Spears who have over 4 million followers, business executives are starting to take notice!

Since the popularity of micro-blogging has grown so exponentially in the past few years, other social networking websites like Facebook and Myspace have started offering a place where users can update their status, telling their friends where they are, what's happening at that moment or simply telling everyone what's on their minds while they type. So tweeting (which is what a status update on Twitter is called) is really just a form of blogging, only on a much smaller, more personal level.

So this is my last post on my Social Media blog. I'd like to say that I'll keep up with the blog now that we aren't required to post every week, but I'm not totally sure that I will. It just seems like I never have enough time to get everything done. Anyway, it's been great creating these posts, but especially reading all the great posts by my classmates. Thanks for an awesome semester of blogging!

Smartphone Mania!

I have to admit that I'm one of those people who is addicted to texting. I text more than I talk on the phone. And my cell phone is my only line of communication now. It seems like more and more, people are getting rid of their land line phones and relying totally on their cell phones... And why not? Nowadays cell phones have morphed into smartphones. What exactly is a smartphone? Well, it's like a cell phone on steroids. Smartphones offer all the capabilities of cell phones, plus so much more. Smartphones have PC-like functions that make them irreplaceable for their owners. They're like mini-computers with the capabilities of a cell phone. And the applications that can be added to smartphones are endless! Apps are offered for everything from analyzing and identifying a song to splitting up a check and calculating a tip for a bill. Ford is getting in on the action too. The website http://www.wired.com/ recently posted an article about Ford's plan to introduce AppLink, a software upgrade for Sync that allows drivers to use voice commands to access smartphone apps. I'm sure this will be safer than manually accessing apps on the phone, but I'm not completely convinced this is a good thing. I think drivers should concentrate on driving... But that's just me! It seems that cell phones, and smartphones in particular are here to stay!