TUTORIAL TASK
I regularly use Facebook, but I keep connected to the media and current news on Twitter. I get information out of my social media and it keeps me up to date with what my friends and family are doing. It is a simple, cheap way to keep in touch and it can be used at anytime and any place or almost any device, making it a flexible communication technology.
I often see my regular University friends and work colleagues on a daily basis and I use Facebook to collaborate and organise study groups with them. I would see most of my online friends at least once a year. I do have friends that do not connect with me on Facebook, but these people are of an older demographic (parents, authority figures, grandparents). My usage of social media would most likely be going up since I have only signed up to Blogger and Twitter this year and they have a huge role in my studies and news gathering.
I believe that Facebook may break the barriers of the churn cycle, because it has reached such a large audience and it is constantly being updated with new add on applications and features all of the time. This will allow it to stand out as one of the largest media platforms in the world, which may increase its chances of beating the churn cycle.
The earliest social media that I can recall would have been MSN or instant messenger. I remember everyone having it in 2007 when I first decided to sign up so that I could communicate with friends and family. However, according to Boyd and Ellison the earliest social media was SixDegrees.com that was launched in 1997. It allowed the users to communicate by creating profiles and developing friends lists. Another social media service, Classmates.com, was developed to help students find their high school friends.
Friendster was launched in 2002 and soon after became a victim of churn. It was originally created to compete with the dating site Match.com, but it was designed for people to meet friends of friends as potential partners rather than complete strangers. Due to fact profile being made and people using the site inappropriately it eventually became a victim of churn as the larger population forgot about it. Another more recent victim of churn was MySpace, it was one of the most popular social media networks, but with the introduction of Bebo and Facebook users began to switch over because Facebook was more internationally known. As a result MySpace users declined and Rupert Murdoch bought the network just before it collapsed, after this Justin Timberlake bought it and has since been trying to improve its image.
I have bought a few things on the internet, such as music, books, DVDs, make-up. Sometimes it is cheaper online, but I have never purchased anything on social media. I believe the difference in buying from a virtual store and buying from social media is that when you buy from a store you are returned with a good or service, when you buy from social media you generally only get a temporary service, depending on what is purchased.
Social media has a business model that is designed to find out what an individual, or a certain demographic may be interested in. For example, I was searching for a nameplate necklace online a few days ago and ever since I searched it in Google I have been spammed on Facebook with that company giving me $5 off vouchers to return to the checkout. The social media network is a way of business being able to get to the consumers in a more direct manner.
Big Data can be identified as a large sum of information that is difficult to process and organise. The major difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is the interactive side of both. Originally, Web 1.0 was designed for the public to read information only. Web 2.0 brought a whole new meaning to the computer, because the public could read and produce content. I believe web 3.0 will be physically more interactive, it will become a part of the human body. We will be in the web rather than looking at it. There will be a higher level of connectivity, faster access and more applications.
SURVEY
I conducted a survey asking the following questions:
1. How many hours do you spend on social media each week?
Most popular answer: 10 or more hours
2. Why do you use social media?
Most popular answer: To keep in touch with people and up to date.
3. What Social Media do you use the most?
Most popular answer: Facebook, followed by Twitter.
4. When did you sign up for your first Social Media? Which year?
Most popular answer: 2007
5. Are you concerned about who has your online information and who can see it?
Most popular answer: Yes and I guess so.
My results show that my prediction that people spend a considerably large amount of time on social media and that impacts their social lives in the real world. There were also interesting concerns over who could have their information. In comparison to Yorston's larger test my results were a smaller sample of the same results found on the survey that was conducted by her organisation.
REFERENCES
Boyd, D & Ellison, N 2007, 'Social Network Sites: Definition, History, Scholarship', vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 210 - 230, viewed 20 August 2013, Wiley Online Library, DOI: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x
Sheehan, P 2012, 'Internet Giants can earn with ease, it is churn they must fear', Sunday Morning Herald, 7 June, p. 15.
Yorston, S 2013, Survey Results on Social Media Use, viewed 23 August 2013, <http://www.tas.relationships.org.au/news-and-events/archived-news-items/survey-results-on-social-media-use>.
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