social networking is being used to connect both people whom know each other and those who don't. many sites have a niche in the social networking society like college students, business professionals, singles (white, black, green, and blue), musicians..and the list goes on.
i'm sure there exists a social network for everything you are interested and anything you might hold in common with somebody. just when you thought this was the case...then there came another social network.
what do we have today? GoLoco.
GoLoco is a social networking site started by one of the founders of Zip Car which " is a service that helps people quickly arrange ride sharing between friends, neighbors, and colleagues. We also handle online payments from passengers to drivers for their share of the trip costs." -goloco.org
weirded out yet?
How Does it Work? -- GoLoco enables users to create a profile which has a picture of them, their interests, hobbies, friends (users), and college/university/employer with which they are associated.
On your profile you also post trips you are going on or trips you want to go on. This allows users to search through all the trips posted on the website and find a ride to a place where they too are going. Whether you're going somewhere, or want to get a ride to somewhere you post to either find a ride or give one. What i find to be interesting about GoLoco is that if you're somebody who has a car and can get somewhere on his/her own...the incentive is that you can charge for a ride to/from where you're going.
"While you can pick people up just for the sake of it, the website is also set up with money in mind. If you choose not to do it for free, the passenger pays a share of the total cost - and it will be deposited in the driver’s account (with the exception of 10%, which goes to the website) before you even meet each other. Assuming the driver doesn’t just ditch and keep the money, one person has gotten the ride they needed and the other now has more cash." - GoLoco Blog Write-Up
This is an interesting concept and use of a social network in that it can definitely help the environment out...less cars on the road, but it can also save somebody some money if they're going somewhere that somebody else needs to go.
While all this sounds find and dandy..the real question is how safe is finding somebody to carpool with online? At the inception of online dating - many were skeptical about meeting people whom they met online in person in a crowded restaurant in downtown DC. How do you feel about SoccerDude928 who you meet online coming to your house and you getting in their car for a 3 hour trip up to Philadelphia?
luckily -- GoLoco has thought about the safety aspect and has enabled users who have ridden with people to post comments and ratings about them. So if BeerBoy82 rode with JBWilson last week from DC to Annapolis he can write "Bad driver, smokes with the windows up -- don't recommend." Also, you can view people you have in common so if you see your friend Bill is a friend of SoccerDude928's then you can ask Bill about it. Thirdly, one of the important safety features is that if worst comes to worst....GoLoco sends your trip plans to a "secure buddy" that you have designated (friend, girlfriend, neighbor...) so that if you don't show up after 8 days at least somebody has some idea of who you drove with and to where.
even with the aforementioned safety restrains in place...i still feel like though its a great concept, it requires a lot of users to be signed up and a lot of feedback to be available in order for people to feel comfortable enough to drive with SoccerDude928. I just don't think we're quite ready to instill this kind of trust...yet in an age where somebody we require to have 90%+ feedback before we dare buy a $14 dollar item from them on eBay!
....a comment on one of the writeups I saw regarding GoLoco stated, "Why don’t they just make a website where you volunteer to get raped and dismembered? It’d save a step."
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
blogs and social networks can what...SAVE YOU MONEY!?!?
thats right....you head it (hopefully not for the first time)...a lot of blogs out there can help you save money
SlickDeals
Techdeals
SteepAndCheap
...only to name a few.
these blogs are collectively added on to by users updating the website with the most current deals, coupons, and offers ranging from free scoops at Ben & Jerry's to a wireless mouse deal after a coupon and mail-in-rebate at RadioShack. I'm a big fan of these websites and consult them on a daily basis whether i'm in the market for a product or not. However, if you're not somebody like me who has a list of websites in their browser that they check on a daily basis, then you should definitily use a website like Techdeals if you're in the market for something like a computer monitor, external hard drive, or digital camera. Techdeals has listings of where you can find the cheapest deals on products including incentives like Google Checkout, store percentage discounts, and mail-in rebates.
The other websites that I linked to above, such as Woot.com, and SteepAndCheap.com, both have daily deals where the product changes every day. Each product is the only one sold on the website at the time and the quantity is unknown so it may run out at any time.
With social and collaborative websites such as techdeals and slickdeals, users get the most for their money when buying online. This is an aspect of social networking that we have really not touched upon in class. Though we have discussed the important of users explaining and reviewing products they buy...this give users a central location to which they can post good deals they find when browsing everyday websites.
NOW.....using social networks and blogs, we now have the capability to find products, get reviews, find the best deals, learn how to use them, learn how to fix them, and finally, learn how to sell them as used when you're done! We have come full circle.
SlickDeals
Techdeals
SteepAndCheap
...only to name a few.
these blogs are collectively added on to by users updating the website with the most current deals, coupons, and offers ranging from free scoops at Ben & Jerry's to a wireless mouse deal after a coupon and mail-in-rebate at RadioShack. I'm a big fan of these websites and consult them on a daily basis whether i'm in the market for a product or not. However, if you're not somebody like me who has a list of websites in their browser that they check on a daily basis, then you should definitily use a website like Techdeals if you're in the market for something like a computer monitor, external hard drive, or digital camera. Techdeals has listings of where you can find the cheapest deals on products including incentives like Google Checkout, store percentage discounts, and mail-in rebates.
The other websites that I linked to above, such as Woot.com, and SteepAndCheap.com, both have daily deals where the product changes every day. Each product is the only one sold on the website at the time and the quantity is unknown so it may run out at any time.
With social and collaborative websites such as techdeals and slickdeals, users get the most for their money when buying online. This is an aspect of social networking that we have really not touched upon in class. Though we have discussed the important of users explaining and reviewing products they buy...this give users a central location to which they can post good deals they find when browsing everyday websites.
NOW.....using social networks and blogs, we now have the capability to find products, get reviews, find the best deals, learn how to use them, learn how to fix them, and finally, learn how to sell them as used when you're done! We have come full circle.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A WIRED Interview with Eric Schmidt: Google's CEO and the Interesting Concepts he explores.
so web 2.0 is all about user collaboration and user created content. it has proved that the web is now more geared toward the user and that it is more of an interactive medium that the viewing/reading medium it was not long ago. a definition of web 2.0 which I actually came up with states "Web 2.0 is the second generation of the world wide web which enables users to take a more active approach to the content available, as well as provide them with the opportunity to share and collaborate their thoughts, ideas, and interests with the world via a virtual connection."
as I was reading the articles posted for this class...i kind of drifted off of the realm of CRM capabilities online....and wandered to a homeland of sorts -- digg.com. as i was browsing the headlines to see what's new in the technology world I ran into an article from Wired which was an interview with Google's CEO Eric Schmidt. it highlighted a few major and interesting points.
- Web 2.0 enables any company or venture enter the market (like yahoo, ebay, google) which are all companies which make money in different ways.
-The fact that most web 2.0 technology and software is often free or very cheap due to the fact that money can often be made and especially specialized advertising like Google's AdSense
-Cloud Computer? - Internet as an operating system -- This concept explores the need for programs to exist on one's personal computer....or lack there of .
this third point of cloud computing was most interesting to me. the truth is that with programs like google docs, thumbstacks, basecamp, gmail and the list goes on....there really is no need for having computer software downloaded to our hard drives and paying for software when you can simply use a web app found on a server in the clouds for your every need. Schmidt even talks about the possibility that we can write a document on say....GoogleDocs on the airplane, and when we are reconnected to the internet the Document will then save to the server. Such a thing is impossible now but will one day be possible says Schmidt.
No need for me to summarize the entire article seeing I think you should read it as it is both relevant and interesting! Here's the link: Text of Wired's Interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt
in conclusion....i would like end with a statement made by Schmidt towards the end of the interview which poses an interesting questions....is it true? what do you think?
"I would argue that we in the industry forgot this. We became as a group - certainly I did - consumed with the complexity of the systems that we were building for powerful corporations, and we forgot that there's a much larger market around consumers for simple solutions."
as I was reading the articles posted for this class...i kind of drifted off of the realm of CRM capabilities online....and wandered to a homeland of sorts -- digg.com. as i was browsing the headlines to see what's new in the technology world I ran into an article from Wired which was an interview with Google's CEO Eric Schmidt. it highlighted a few major and interesting points.
- Web 2.0 enables any company or venture enter the market (like yahoo, ebay, google) which are all companies which make money in different ways.
-The fact that most web 2.0 technology and software is often free or very cheap due to the fact that money can often be made and especially specialized advertising like Google's AdSense
-Cloud Computer? - Internet as an operating system -- This concept explores the need for programs to exist on one's personal computer....or lack there of .
this third point of cloud computing was most interesting to me. the truth is that with programs like google docs, thumbstacks, basecamp, gmail and the list goes on....there really is no need for having computer software downloaded to our hard drives and paying for software when you can simply use a web app found on a server in the clouds for your every need. Schmidt even talks about the possibility that we can write a document on say....GoogleDocs on the airplane, and when we are reconnected to the internet the Document will then save to the server. Such a thing is impossible now but will one day be possible says Schmidt.
No need for me to summarize the entire article seeing I think you should read it as it is both relevant and interesting! Here's the link: Text of Wired's Interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt
in conclusion....i would like end with a statement made by Schmidt towards the end of the interview which poses an interesting questions....is it true? what do you think?
"I would argue that we in the industry forgot this. We became as a group - certainly I did - consumed with the complexity of the systems that we were building for powerful corporations, and we forgot that there's a much larger market around consumers for simple solutions."
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
home for passover...
while i was home for passover i realized some stuff.
1) the older generation as a whole is really unwilling to accept the extreme change in technology and its great effect on business, communication, and collaboration. not only do many of those who are involved in small businesses remain unaware of up and coming technologies, but they don't have the motivation that large corporations do to change.
Large companies such as GEICO or some mentioned in the articles who are utilizing or trying out programs like Basecamp have the departments or employees who are up to date on technology and provide IT solutions which make it possible for these companies to advance and use the new technology available to their benefit. Small businesses and businesses without money available for such allocation do not grasp such new technologies and may be hurt as a result. For these reasons, older generations currently occupying a major sector of the work force is unaware of the abilities that the internet and social networks provide...and are therefore unwilling to accept and adapt to new methods of interaction.
2) there was a couple at my house who met about 2 months ago on craigslist classifieds...who would think to post their profile there compared to a known dating site like match.com or jdate?
amazingly, for such a simple interface, it seems that craigs list really encompasses an plethora of opportunities and information...strange how a website that appears so old and simplistic can still be so effective and useful.
i know this post was short and random....but just some real life issues that I had encountered , and thought about during my few days home.
1) the older generation as a whole is really unwilling to accept the extreme change in technology and its great effect on business, communication, and collaboration. not only do many of those who are involved in small businesses remain unaware of up and coming technologies, but they don't have the motivation that large corporations do to change.
Large companies such as GEICO or some mentioned in the articles who are utilizing or trying out programs like Basecamp have the departments or employees who are up to date on technology and provide IT solutions which make it possible for these companies to advance and use the new technology available to their benefit. Small businesses and businesses without money available for such allocation do not grasp such new technologies and may be hurt as a result. For these reasons, older generations currently occupying a major sector of the work force is unaware of the abilities that the internet and social networks provide...and are therefore unwilling to accept and adapt to new methods of interaction.
2) there was a couple at my house who met about 2 months ago on craigslist classifieds...who would think to post their profile there compared to a known dating site like match.com or jdate?
amazingly, for such a simple interface, it seems that craigs list really encompasses an plethora of opportunities and information...strange how a website that appears so old and simplistic can still be so effective and useful.
i know this post was short and random....but just some real life issues that I had encountered , and thought about during my few days home.
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