SOCIAL NETWORKING

The new technology has grown into an octupus that cannot be controlled - It has evolved into a tool that is used to connect with people from all over the world. And it is used in all facets of the business world. It's a phenomenal tool that is used to market people, events, and products. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc are tools used to connect to people from all walks of life, and it is also used by companies to inform customers of their products or services. Companies also use these tools to get feedback on their product from the customers. It's a great marketing strategy in which they use to improve their products.

Twitter is a social medium that people use to connect with friends or people who share the same interest they do. It's a micro blogging platform that people use to publish short messages of less than 140 characters through different mediums like cellphone, IM, and the web. The popularity of Twitter has grown to astronomical levels and corporations are aware of this and thus want a piece of the goldmine. So more corporations are investing in this tool  by communicating with their customers on Twitter and pasting the link to their site on there. Companies use Twitter as a traffic generation tool - putting links within profiles can direct customers to their site.

Twitter is the new way of hiring people. More companies rely on Twitter for recommendation of a person who could be a good fit for a position that needs to be filled. It's a great way of hiring freelancers and people who can get the job done. Employers are also known for communicating with their employees via Twitter, and is also used to set-up meetings. One of the benefits of Twitter is that you can use it to develop and maintain relationships with people who share the same interest with you.

Although Twitter has a lot of benefits, It has its flaws. Because it is known for immediacy of messages, sometimes, it could help spread information about a person that could be detrimental to the person in question. For instance, In Obama's interview with ABC, Obama called Kanye West a "jackass" for interfering with Taylor Swift's win; he said it off camera. However, some of the employees at ABC overheard and twitted it immediatey which eventually caused some eyebrows to rise. So Twitter does have a dark side to it because it robs people especially celebrities and public officials of their privacy. On the flip side, It could bring attention to a good cause with a sense of immediacy. For instance, in the Daily News article, "Twitter used to help land plane with aid for Haiti earthquake victims," it reads that Twitter may have saved lives in Haiti during the earthquake when a cargo full of medicine was blocked from landing at Port-au-Prince due to congestion. This information reached Twitter users immediately, and thus users reacted immediately by demanding that the plane be allowed into Port-Au prince. So this is a good example of how the Twitter can benefit society - its power of immediacy is a benefit to all. http://www.nydailynews.com/fdcp?1286907760362

I believe more and more people will become less independent of the traditional media and rely more on Twitter, Facebook, websites, etc for their news and whatever interest them. The social networks have evolved into a " one-stop shop," for any information desired - from the news to fashion - to health and education and to celebrity gossip. I think the social network media will be used more among friends, acquintances, etc to communicate than the telephone or cellphone. It will be our main vehicle for doing business and connecting socially with friends and people who are like-minded.