Crowdbooster

Crowdbooster is a social media tool that measures the success of your Facebook and Twitter posts. It provides graphs and tables to illustrate how much attention and feedback your posts are getting. With this information you can, figure out who your posts are influencing the most and interact with them. Crowdbooster will also track the long term progress of specific social media campaigns and provide recommendations for improving fan growth. This tool is only available for Facebook and Twitter but can be used to manage multiple accounts. The data collected with this tool can help businesses or individuals figure out how to reach a certain audience, what is working with their current audience, and when to send out new content.

Crowdbooster is an incredibly simple tool to use. After signing in, all you need to do is choose the account that you wish to work with and Crowdbooster will bring up all the statistics about the attention given to your page. For example, on Twitter, it will bring up a list of who re-tweets you the most, times when it will be best for you to post, tells you about influential people who have started following you, and much more. This data allows you to focus on people who frequently visit your page and interact with people who have a lot of influence on the site. There are 3 options when getting a Crowdbooster plan. The personal plan gives you the tool on 2 accounts with all the features for free. The professional plan gives you 10 accounts for $39 per month and the business plan gives you 30 accounts for $99 per month.

The strengths of Crowdbooster include simplicity, multiple features for providing statistics, and multiple features for helping you post content, such as a schedule that will post things for you at predesignated times. As for its weaknesses, there are very few. If you have multiple accounts to manage, then price can become an issue. Crowdbooster also only allows you to track Facebook and Twitter rather than a wide range of social networking sites and does not have a mobile application. However, the feedback section on their website addresses many of these problems as well as others, so it looks as though the company is improving the tool all the time. Overall, I would definitely recommend this tool for anyone looking to expand their influence through social networking.

Video review of Crowdbooster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np6UGWgbDqo

Sum 41

Sum 41 is a punk rock band from Ajax, Ontario, Canada, formed in 1996. They are currently signed to Island Records and have released 5 studio albums under the label. Over the years they have only experienced one lineup change, lead guitarist Dave Baksh left the band to pursue other endeavors. The current group is made up of Deryck Whibley, vocals and rhythm guitar, Jason McCalsin, bass, Steve Jocz, drums and Tom Thacker, lead guitar. The band has seen much success over the years, with 4 of their albums going platinum in Canada and 1 in the United States. They have also collaborated with many other big names such as Iggy Pop, Ludacris, and Metallica. 

Keeping track of what you put on the internet is very important. There are several ways to manage material that you post, such as tagging, and grouping material into certain categories. When tagging someone or something on the internet, you are creating a relationship between them and your material. when someone looks at your material, they will then also be able to search things tagged to it. For example, on facebook you can tag pictures with your friends and on linkedin you are able to tag your skills, creating a relationship informing people of your capabilities. You must be very careful when putting material on the internet because there is almost always a way for people to view it, even with privacy settings. Rule number one for posting material on the internet is simple: if you don't want people to see it, don't post it. If you put anything incriminating on the internet, even if it is just meant for friends to see, it can turn around hurt you in the future. When tagging someone on the internet, you should always make sure it is okay with them before doing so. They may not want to be associated with the material you wish to tag them to.

Communication log

From Sept. 2 to Sept. 3 (48 hrs), I kept a log of my communication with other people through digital means (computer, cell phone, etc). Most of my communication was through my phone via calls or text. I had several calls and a large number of texts over the duration of the log. It was the weekend so I didn't really chat through my computer. The calls and texts were generally brief, although I sent/received a large number of texts.

In  the Taylor et al article, the study found that although CMC is convenient for students, most undergraduates preferred face to face communication with faculty. There was however another part of the study that found that female students prefer email to face to face communication where as with males it was opposite. I am impartial to both methods. There are times where an email is appropriate and there are times when face to face is a better option. The authors believe that students may prefer email because it is simply expected of them. they also stated that it is not unusual for students to send professors email with poor grammar and an informal tone. I agree that in the present time, email is a standard of communication between students and professors but students should write formally and in a professional manner.

Web 1.0 are the simplest form of web based communication. There is no user interaction and they mainly served as a means of searching and reading information. Some examples of Web 1.0 are online restaurant menus and official online encyclopedias (not including wikipedia, which allows users to add information).

Web 2.0 adds user interaction to the mix. These include sites that allow users to have an impact on the site. For example, amazon.com is a website used for shopping where consumers can post reviews about things they have purchased. This feature defines the site as a Web 2.0 application instead of 1.0. Other examples of web 2.0 are networking sites such as myspace and facebook, and blogs.

At the present moment, Web 3.0 is just a concept but is on the way to becoming a reality. Right now, when you make a search on the internet, the search engine can only find you websites in which the key words appear. The idea behind Web 3.0 is that instead of searching based on key words, the user could type a complex sentence which would then be analyzed in context. The search engine would then review all possible answers and give you an organized list of results. The browser may also save personal preferences in order to allow people to ask less specific and open ended questions for which the browser would answer based on past preference.

Sources:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-10.htm
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-30.htm
https://blackboard.albany.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-746559-dt-content-rid-3845740_1/courses/2129-ACOM-375-8387/CMC%20vs%20f2f%20university%20advisors.pdf