Levy Silva

I have enjoyed this course immensely.  Looking back we cover a lot and I feel like a strong thinker and blogger due to taking this class.  One big take away is topcoder and learning to be a better blogger.  I have ideas for creating my own website and since I lack the knowhow to design one myself I can use topcoder to outsource the work and get access to qualified designers.  I have also learned how to employ techniques to be a better blogger.  I have had a tumblt for a while but the biggest lesson I have learned from this class is that traffic will not flow if there is no new or relevant content.  Content is key and to always advertise.  This class has also thought me more about business and being centralized and decentralized.  This class also helped me develop my creativity and expand how I see the web.  I have also learned to use my personal social media like Facebook and Twitter better. This class has also introduced me to new websites like Linkedin and Stumbleapon.com.  I am truly grateful.

I wanted to know what my classmates thought of when they thought of viral videos. The first person’s blog I visited was Kiara Robinson. She brought up three examples of viral videos and I recognize two out of the three. I know and enjoyed “Charlie Bit Me!” and “Charlotte takes a Tumble.” These two are perfect examples of viral videos. Kiara writes, “I think the best modern day example of this is the popularity of particular videos on YouTube.” I completely agree with her in that there are videos on Youtube that are more recognizable then some of our most influential leaders. Youtube is a provider of viral videos that can reach million in seconds. The second person who’s blog I visited was Alexander R. Fiore, who wrote “For the most part, it depends on the individual’s experience.” I completely agree with him when he talks about word of mouth gaining all its influence from an individuals experience with the product or service. If a person experience is extremely good then the effect will be bigger since the individual will speak out more and reach more people and the effect will grow faster.

(info on my class blog)

(info on my Tumblr)

Both Google Analytics and the Sitemeter are methods to monitor traffic to your blog or webpage.  They both allow you to measure the success of your blog or website.  The two sources are both different, but they can both be powerful tools to measure restiveness.  Google Analytics seems like a more professional pace that is very trusted and powerful product, a testament to the Google name.  The Sitemeter on the other had seems a little less strong.  They both allow you to view the results by location, world map, and different day counts.  Google seem stronger as there is an easier template and the graphs and map allow for easy understanding of who and where the viewers are coming from.  Sitemeter has some flaws as more features are given a cost and one can only use one webpage on an account.  Google on the other hand is free and you can track more than one blog or website.  If I had to choose one it would be Google Analytics because of its free software and its respected qualities in the business and personal levels.

(https://foursquare.com/mobile/leaderboard)

1st Badge was the Newbie Badge that everyone gets as a starter badge.

2nd Badge was the Adventurer Badge for checking into 10 different venues.

3rd Badge was the Local Badge for checking-in to the same place 3x in one week.

4th Badge was the Crunked Badge for 4+ stops in one night for you.

5th Badge was the Overshare Badge for 10+ check-ins in 12 hours.

6th Badge was the Bender Badge for 4+ nights in a row for you.

7th Badge was the Super User Badge for 30 check-ins in a month for you.

8th Badge was the Explorer Badge for checking into 25 different venues.

I joined Foursquare and I really like the app. The app in my opinion looks and functions better on a iphone or ipod rather than a Droid phone. I have both and I like it on my ipod. It is clear and its easy access to maps allows for better use of the software and really makes it easier to discover hidden gems around where you live that you might have otherwise never noticed. Foursquare is a fantastic was to document your movement and places of general interest. One thing is it might impend a little too much if you are a heavy user and other might know you location at all times. Otherwise foursquare is a fun and with many incentives and useful tips that can help anyone get to know a new area or even their own neighborhood.

One example of a viral marketing project I took part in was Burger King’s Subservient Chicken. I loved the video because I remember spending countless hours typing things in for the chicken to do and I was always surprised by the variety of things he could do. I sent this out to countless friends and sat down with my sister to show here and laugh along with her. This idea of a scripted video that would play as you types was ingenious and effective. I loved revisiting the site and playing back my favorite command words. I found this website though a friend and word of mouth and thus I propagate the viral video by passing it on and continuing the cycle. This campaign was effective because it created a network effect. Since the more people saw the video the more they would pass in on and the great amounts of people equal a bigger effect and created value for Burger King. This big effect leads to the high traffic for the video and its status as a viral video for reaching millions of people and creating value for the company.

Social media is something new, and yet it is something that has existed since inception and just has now taken a new form. Social is something that has always taken different form, from person to person to newspaper. Media has also taken different forms with television and newspapers. What social media is today is new, but incorporates the social norms everyone knows and uses. Social media is just a new form of media that allows for social interaction. Social media is different because it uses new technologies, the internet, and is on a platform that has very little direct interpersonal communication. Social media does not really need new skills, because similar skills used to write newspapers and coordinate a radio show can be used in providing information on a social media site. In addition to this a grasp of the functions and limitation of social media is need for organizations to maximize the value of the time and money they invest in social media.

I created a group called I want to Return to my Home Country and take it over… It came from a idea I had with one of my friends about the hardships of third world countries and the dream is to one day return and take it over. I feel like a lot of people can relate and as such would also join the group. The only problem I ran into when creating my group was how to send group invites to all my friend s so I can reach the most amount of people. I hope to keep up with it and see if my idea is a good one for people who can relate to come together, or just another group for me and my friends.

I registered for top-coder. I want to use it make my own contests and to submit my own ideas. I want to do jobs for artistic ideas. I have to provide a multitude of information to join. There was very personal information given. I like this website and hope to use it in the future when developing my own site and business.