Readings for October 1st

               Belonging is one of the most important things when it comes to social media. People aren’t going to want to join a site unless they are able to feel and know that they are part of a community that shares the same goals and interests. As Howard explains in the beginning of the chapter, stories of origin are what bring the people together. His example of new faculty learning about the story of how Clemson University came to be allows them to become a part of the school, as well as influences them to act in certain ways, such as with funding. These stories are the very foundation of a social community.

                Another important part of belonging that Howard mentions is the appearance of symbols to represent communities. As a Clemson student, I immediately identify myself with its logos, such as the one pictured on page 141. To me, symbols are one of the most important aspects to belonging because it creates an identity that the community shares. Once you see that symbol, you instantly feel at home because you belong to that community. Even other symbols, such as the thumbs-up on Facebook, bring people together because those who belong to the Facebook community have access to those icons.

                Creating ceremonies is also a great technique used to ensure belonging. Our way of including this in our Clemson Student Affairs project was to hold contests for best videos and announce winners on Clemson’s website and the Facebook pages of both Dining and Housing Services. Recognizing these winners allows students to feel as if they really did something productive, and they’re being rewarded for their hard work. We also thought it would be a good idea to allow those winners to choose the next winners. That way, the students know that it’s all about them, and their voices are being heard.

Readings for Sept. 24

               This chapter on remuneration focused on how important it is to keep the customers’ (or community members’) interests in mind when building social media websites (51). The only way a site is going to work is if it is user-friendly and provides the necessary materials that the audience is looking for. In most cases, simplicity is the answer. In the comparison between AltaVista and Google, it’s clear why more people turned to Google for their search engine; instead of seeing all of the information on one page and browsing through all of the information on AltaVista, Google has one search bar, so you can start your search immediately without all of the unnecessary navigation.

                Another essential part to developing social media sites is making sure you’re allowing the community to form “real connections in the world” (Zuckerberg in Howard 51). When you think of the most popular social sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, they all have that exact thing in common, and that’s why each site has so many users. When Howard explains that most computer engineers just think of the “freemium” model when starting a new site, it makes sense that they wouldn’t take into consideration how they’re going to draw people in and keep them there. That should be the most important part of any site. The whole point of social networking is connecting people in ways they normally couldn’t. For instance, Pinterest allows users to share ideas anywhere from wedding themes to homemade recipes to DIY crafts. Users create their own boards then follow other people who have boards that they are interested in. The great part is, you don’t have to know the people you follow, but you can still get great ideas from them. I think that’s what social media is all about, and it’s exactly what keeps users on the sites.

                In the list of techniques, I thought the part about “Mentors Teach” was interesting (62). I immediately thought of Facebook because it does a great job of mentoring. Throughout the newsfeed, you can see what most people are doing, talking about, what groups their joining, and so much more. This allows other users, who aren’t so familiar with Facebook, to keep up with the community and share in the “likes” on pages that they’re interested in. Without anyone teaching users how to navigate social networking sites, no online community would be successful. 

Readings for Sept. 17

                Chapter 8 of Howard’s Design to Thrive really focused on the importance of social media in today’s world. We rely so heavily on social media for communication that it has completely changed the way information is spread. The Twitter example proved that anyone with access to social media can share opinions and information about events occurring around the world. The process of retweeting and hashtagging enables users to spread news. Without social media, information would not travel nearly as quickly, and less people would be able to talk about their thoughts with others around the world. The problem with social media, as Howard pointed out, is that it is so easy for people to post absolutely anything they want to online.

                The tragic story of what happened to the U.S. Embassy in Lybia all started with an offensive video that was made available to the public eye. The video was “anti-Muslim” and really had nothing to do with the United States, but the violence got out of hand and people who weren’t even involved in the production of the video are the ones who suffered (FOX News Online). This example shows how powerful social media can really be. The information and content that is placed online affects how our world operates, whether good or bad. It can bring people together or completely tear us apart. It’s scary how huge of an effect different videos and posts have on the rest of the world.

                Another important part of social media that Howard mentioned is copyrighting. Most people don’t think about copyrighting issues when they download a song or use online pictures for different projects. Copyrighting protects authors and publishers because their work should be their own, and if someone else tries to display their work as their own without crediting the original producer, it takes away all of the hard work that person put into that creation.  I’m glad that we go over this in class for our Camtasia projects because I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about using a random song from the internet as part of my project. It’s important that we know the consequences of copyrighting so we are more cautious when borrowing other’s work.

Readings for Sept. 10

       I really like this chapter in Made to Stick because of the strong emphasis it puts on explaining that the reader is an active participant in any story. I don’t believe you can read anything without automatically feeling as if you are either a part of that reading, or you have at least created some sort of visual in your head that you got from the reading. On page 213, the authors explain that “mental simulation is not as good as actually doing something, but it’s the next best thing.” Stories are what give us this mental simulation if they are constructed in a way in which they “stick” into our minds. There are different parts and values to a story that make us relate or act in ways that maybe we wouldn’t if we hadn’t read the story.

       In the case of the nurse, this story could actually save lives if read by the right people who are in the medical field and run into these same sort of problems. The story isn’t only effective for those in the medical field, however. Other readers can have emotions arise from reading the story: feelings of fear for the baby’s life, relief after the nurse saves the baby and then inspiration from the nurse becoming a hero. It’s amazing how the same story can have different effects on different people, depending on how your mental stimulation relates you to the story.

       In relation to Jared’s story, he says, “we don’t always have to create sticky ideas. Spotting them is often easier and more useful” (224). This made me think about the creative inquiry class I’m in. Throughout the semester, we are working to develop a program in which we provide scholarships to children in a country where education isn’t available for everyone. Just $60 can provide a child with a school uniform and a year’s worth of school supplies and tuition. Our idea is to get students to donate the money they receive from selling their textbooks back to the store. The problem is, how do we do that? How can we convince students (who are always so excited to get back as much money as they can from the book store) that instead of blowing $60 downtown or out to eat, they could change a child’s life. I think that what we need is a “Jared” story. A story from a child in need is what is going to create emotions for Clemson students that will potentially influence them to donate money.

       I really like this reading. It shows how important and powerful stories can be in changing lives.

Readings for September 3

In Chapter 3 of Design to Thrive, the section that really stands out to me is “Preserve Institutional Knowledge” (33). I agree with Howard’s statements about how important it is to pass along knowledge developed by different people in an institution because those people won’t always be around to teach others what they know. Just as the MATRF room provides access to multiple types of social media, most businesses should have a similar way of preserving their technology. Otherwise, important ideas and decisions will be lost once the creator of those ideas leaves the business.

This reminds me of my old job that I used to work at back home. It is a statewide bank, and my job was to help the vice president/secretary with her daily activities at the main office branch. Her job is hectic everyday because of all of the responsibilities she has. Even with me there helping her, I’m not sure how she manages to get everything done by the end of the day. When I worked with her last summer, she took a week’s vacation, so I was responsible for getting things done while she was out. I’m pretty familiar with her daily tasks since I’ve worked with her for many years, but I still had to rely on 2 or 3 other people when I wasn’t quite sure how some things were done. It made me realize that once the vice president decides to retire, I have no idea how they’re going to find someone to take over because once she walks out, all of that knowledge is going with her, just as Howard suggests (33). The technology she uses is dated, so whoever takes her place is going to have to convert all of the files and data to new software before they can use it.

It’s a scary thought because of the importance of her job to the business. This example shows how crucial online communities are in passing along new information and keeping ideas alive, no matter who came up with them. It proves that every growing business needs to progress with technology in order to preserve knowledge for new employees.