Entertainment seemingly soothes our anxieties, temporarily providing an escape. These less intimate choices continually put us out of touch with ourselves, and with each other. Many researchers argue the Internet will ruin social action; leaving the door open to those who already produce an isolated life and will open a door to separation to those who are not yet isolated. On the contrary, many believe it only stimulates social action.
Today the Internet provides another way that clearly distinguishes the billions. Many businesses now use the Internet as an advertising buffet. Advertise in one place; and billions of people will see it. No longer will the pricey print-and-press technique deliver economically sound advertisements. Even the postal service is becoming the road less travelled since postage now only becomes more expensive and we have many automated mailing features via the Internet. By automatically downloading and storing data on a computer, businesses may now retrieve truthful, quick responses and point of views through online questionnaires or polls. Collaborative data has become the process of providing valuable information from the market and consistently proves credible, since it has a wide range of people who are giving the answers versus one small pool from one small geographic region. We become involved with catchy media sources that ultimately give us personal attention and enables us to participate with companies, artists and other sources we may not have otherwise had access.
Information simply is a feeling of someone's opinion, analysis and judgment based upon history and accessible facts. One example of mass sourcing that works is Wikipedia's community-based content of authors and journalists sharing their knowledge. Also, many software providers have allowed their software to be tested over the Internet by thousands of software testers all over the world, providing a fast-efficient way to find software errors. Marketing companies have been mass sourcing for years. When marketing a new product, what better way to see if a product will sell than to provide samples to different people and secure quick, reliable feedback. The value of mass sources is the information is not limited to a small cross-section or one point-of-view. While it is gratifying to have one expert, someone who knows everything about one subject; gathering information from many knowing a little bit about several different things, we can piece a broad knowledge base, one that has various points of view and thus, gives us a better picture; if not the best picture, about our world.
Individuals now have opportunities to easily market themselves, both professionally and personally. Individual persons have the same or similar access any business or large marketing firm would; give or take a little bit of creativity. Today's technology with Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, crowd sourcing is easier than ever. If you want to get a quick response, which method would you use? Ask one person you think is the expert? Or ask an audience of several different people? Basically, how wide would you choose to cast your net? It is possible an audience gives a better variety of experts? I believe everyone is an expert at something. When we share; when we are able to share with each other, we become a diverse web of information unlike any other.
"If communication is so important to Internet users, there is good reason to expect that the Internet will have a positive social impact. Communication, including contact with neighbors, friends, and family, and participation in social groups, improves people's level of social support, their probability of having fulfilling personal relationships." Kiesler
I think it has become a societal movement today that internet use should not replace social interactions but enhance social interaction.
What do you think? Is online interaction good or bad?
I completely agree with you, I think that people are turning to these social networking sites as a replacement for the normal face-to-face interaction and it is taking over peoples lives and therefore reducing social activity in person. They have their benefits yes, you can keep in touch with people you don't see often but a lot of people take it to the extreme. You can share, find information and chat instantly on these sites but I think they have become too accessible, what's your view of this?
ReplyDeleteI also agree and think online interaction is an amazing step forward with it people can keep in touch with friends and family over long distances easily. It can also can lead to meeting people that you would have not met if you didn't use the internet. Although I also believe people abuse and get carried away as such so need to act more responsibly while using it to avoid putting themselves in danger.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you agree with the negative sides of this post, as I do believe that social media is replacing social interaction in real life. I can also see some of your ideas about how it is a rapid improvement in technology, and is a great way to meet people. I do think that it is a dangerous topic. Thanks for your suggestions.
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