The one all about Implementation

This week we looked at social media and how it has been implemented into the world of business. In the lecture we were shown a graph which clearly displayed the way in which technology is adopted by the business world. This graph is shown bellow:



This graph is similar to the product life cycle it has an introductory phase a growth stage and a maturity stage. The main difference with this is the elevated position of the second graph which is Web 2.0. As people became familiar with Web1.0 the implementation of Web 2.0 began at a higher rate of productivity. As we move forward towards Web 3.0 it is expected that there will be a higher level of productivity at the introductory phase due to the increased level integration companies have with the internet and internet based technology.

The lecture was very effective in discussing this topic and we looked at a range of academic sources which back up this idea, including relating the topic back to the 4C's we have looked at throughout the module.

This topic was very useful for the e-activity as it gave an academic insight into what the future of social media implementation might involve, this was helpful in writing the recommendations section of the report.

The Final One!

This is the final blog post of the module. This week in the lecture we looked at the future of Web 2.0 and the introduction of Web3.0. This is expected to have more interaction from the public and more integration. People are expected to increase their use of virtual worlds like second life and multi-player games. Some expect people to have two separate lifes an online one and a virtual one.

It is also expected that in the future we will become even more reliant on mobile technology, this is an area of massive growth and with smart phones becoming increasingly advanced we will see a move from using PC's to using mobile devices and tablet PC's.

This module has been a very interesting module, it has dealt with very correct issues and has highlighted the benefits and costs of Web2.0 and specifically social media. The diagram below shows the all of the topics which we have studied over the past 12 weeks.

Although I did find the module enjoyable I did find some aspects of the module very simplistic, specifically when looking at specific topics such as; blogging; social networking; and collaborative writing. These are all a part of most peoples everyday lives and as such I felt we could have tackled more advanced issues relating to these topics.

The lectures were delivered to a high standard and the slides were available in plenty of time each week. The seminars were very insightful however in some cases they lacked enough activities to cover the full hour.

The E-activity's were by far the most interesting aspect of the module as the allowed for practical investigation of specific issues. This has helped me to develop ideas for possible dissertation topics relating to technology management, possibly looking at the idea of measuring social networking effectiveness.

Finally the blog has provided a great outlet for consolidation of learning. It has encouraged me to further investigate topics after each lecture and has given me a better grasp of the topics delivered through the module.

Thank you for reading my blog over the past weeks, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The One with the Big Control Debate

This topic looks at a very controversial issue surrounding social media. It originates from the idea of privacy and then looks at professional conduct and behaviour. In recent times there has been an increase in the number of people being disciplined or even terminated over a comment made on facebook or twitter. This link has details of some cases from around the world where this has happened.

The seminar was more effective than the lecture this week, we were all split into groups and given cases which we were to argue for disciplinary action and against disciplinary action. This highlighted the subjective nature of the issue, in the cases shown in the above link many of the cases seem to be dealt with in a very harsh way. These however are at the extreme end of these cases.

One way which companies have tried to take back control is through social networking codes of conduct which employees sign up to at the start of their employment. This type of document highlights the acceptable ways in which employees can interact with social media in relation to the company. It will also detail action which will be taken when these rules are not followed. This link has a copy of Surrey University's social networking policy.

I have been working on the thrid and final E-activity this week, I was to detail the social networking activity of an SME with specific relation to the 4P's in marketing. I chose Camp America who seem like a very large organisation but are infact very small, they do however use Web 2.0 applications to run the business therefore they can exist with a very small number of staff. The biggest dificulty I had with this E-activity was keeping to the 150 word count.

The One where we had to Measure Up!

This week in class we looked at the different ways we use to measure the effectiveness of the use of social media by business. This is a very interesting topic as in previous weeks we have looked at how companies use social media, this week we effectively looked at why.

Although social media is relatively cheap in comparison to other forms of marketing it still costs money as such its use needs to be justified and measured in some way. In the lecture we looked at the different methods which companies used to measure their effectiveness. The biggest issue with this is how to measure the effectiveness? A study by Johnson (2011) highlighted that 60% of business's do not believe that they have accurately measured the impact of their social media activities.

In the seminar we looked at the different ways that companies use social media and then looked at the possibility of measuring the impact. We found that in most cases that although we can look at sales increases and customer satisfaction surveys it is difficult to conclude that the social networking activity has been the sole reason for the improvement.

There are however quantitative methods beginning to be utilised by companies such as word and context recognition software which picks out key words like "good" or "happy" and quantifies them and draws conclusions on how effective social media has been used. This however is not a full proof option as people regularly speak sarcastically something which a computer may find difficult to identify.

As the use of social media increases so too will the technology and methods used to measure the effectiveness. At the moment it is generally accepted that social media is effective for companies, this assumption may have to be justified in the near future if we are to see any major improvements.

The One Tangled in the Web 2.0

This week in the class we looked at Web 2.0 what it is and how its grown.The move from a passive read only to an active, interactive and collaborative web. In researching this I found a very interesting article which can be found here.

In order for web 2.0 to become a truly collaborative software needed to be developed to allow the everyday user to create and publish online without using computer programming such as HTML or HTTP etc. A good example of this type of software is social networks which allow you to develop your own page. Even this blog would have been impossible for me to write 10-15 years ago.

Another interesting area which we looked at in the lecture was application programming interface (API). From what I gathered in the lecture this is a way to interconnect all of the applications we have, therefore bringing together our total online presence. There are examples of this all around and it is expected that we will begin to see more interconnectivity especially between socail networking sites.

The idea of cloud computing also came up in the lecture, I was mainly aware of cloud computing through Apples promotion of their iOS5 software and the iCloud. This effectively allows you to store all of your data on your iPhone, iPad or iPod online. This is very useful in the event that the hardware is lost or broken, the content is no longer lost. It also has an impact for business in that it is now possible for people to save their data on a virtual server meaning they can then access the data from any computer anywhere in the world. The video bellow looks at the idea of cloud computing, enjoy.

Next time we will look at Web 2.0 and the effect it had had on Marketing. Don't forget to click in!

The One With the 'Like' the 'Add' & the 'Tweet'

This week in Business Web Innovation we looked at the favourite procrastination tool of the 21st century, social networking. Social Networking has changed the way we communicate with each other it has revolutionised the social dynamics of our lives. Social Networking has even brought about political change in countries such as Egypt where the civil unrest has been coined as the Egyptian facebook revolution.

The lecture on this topic was well thought out and highlighted a good few key issues, out of all the topics in the module this was probably the one that most of the class knew a lot about. I felt this was considered in the lecture as the lecture seemed to dive straight into the business uses of social networking. The lab this week was more of an introduction to e-activity 2 which was relevant as none of us really needed time to get to terms with social networking.

The lecture did bring up an issue witht he increased use of social networks, the are not portable. By this I mean that you cannot easily connect your profile on facebook to your profile on twitter. There is however new software available, like tweet deck, which hopes to change this.
With social networking sites becoming increasingly popular it is not surprising to see business' quickly gaining a massive presence on social networking sites. Never before has it been so easy for companies to interact with consumers in such a transparent way. This article looks at some of the possible motivations and risks involved in social networking, I found it quite insightful and helpful in the context of the e activity.

E activity 2 is based on the social neworking activities of a particular business which was allocated at the lab. I will be looking at starbucks over the next few weeks, so I have 'Liked' them on Facebook, 'Followed' them on Twitter and 'Added' them on LinkedIN. I will then assess their activity on these sites and report my findings.

Next week on Web Innovation Today I will be looking at Social Technologies and be giving an update on e activity 2. Don't forget to click in!

The One with Social Media & Social Bookmarking

Sorry about the late post, I was ill last week and have just managed to get everything together now. In week 4 we looked at social bookmarking and social media.

Social media involves the broadcasting of different forms of media including, but not limited to:

• Videos (YouTube)
• Radio (LastFM)
• Audio (Podcasts, iTunes)
• Pictures (Flickr)

In the lecture we were given recent examples of the business use of social media. Companies are using social media as a way of advertising, using this method they can target specific demographics. They are making more innovative online adverts in an attempt to make their videos go "viral".

Some other companies are also using social media as training programs making videos and podcast available to employees. Some companies have even invested in instructional videos on YouTube for example which show how you get the most out of their product.

Social Bookmarking was the second topic we looked at, this was very interesting as I had not been aware of this type of website before. The lecture on this topic only briefly looked into this topic and did not quite give an accurate view of the use of bookmarking, however the lab was very insightful. The lab gave us a chance to use the site delicious. I was very impressed with the idea of social bookmarking and can see it growing, particularly if it was to join up with a social networking site.

The E-activity has been going well this week, we did change the software we used from WikiSpaces to GoogleDocs as we felt this was far better suited for out purpose. It has been difficult to find business use of Wiki's as they do not seem to make this information freely available. However we do have information on companies use through own experience when working with companies.

I missed week 5 due to being ill however I have looked at the lecture notes, but I will need to look into them further before blogging.

Next time I will be going over a quick recap of week 5 whilst also looking at week 6 which will focus on social networking and a new E-Activity! Remember to click in!