Facebook and Mobile 2.0

This week, we learnt about Facebook and Mobile 2.0.

Mobile 2.0 is basically the handphone we see today – mobile internet services that harness the social web. These include multimedia feature phones like Smartphones which can offer things like video sharing, wi-fi, e-mail, etc. We compared handphones a decade ago and handphones today and noted the differences. Which by the way, is pretty startling if you haven’t really thought about it.

10 years ago, handphones were just basic machines. They had screens that were 1/4 of your palm, with just 2 colours. And all you could do with it was smsing, talking, playing games and maybe Infrared.

Today, the phones have extended way beyond that. Now we take pictures, videos, Tweet, go on Facebook, and our screens are so much larger. Plus, it’s multi-coloured – a feature for which I’m truly thankful. Some phones even have in-depth organisers. I think people literally use the phone to organise their life these days.

For Facebook, we discovered how to set up pages and groups, and what were the differences between the two. One aspect I thought was really useful was that one provided a URL which contained a proper name, instead of just numbers. So basically, a company that wanted to get publicity for itself on Facebook could include its brand name in the URL, which makes it more easily identifiable rather than a mish-mash of unintelligible numbers.

With Facebook, your online presence is taken to another level. It’s easier for companies to connect with your customers – both faster and more personable. For instance, a company can send quick notifications of its new products or upcoming sales or events via Facebook, rather then sending out brochures or e-mails which are often treated as junk mail, and tossed aside.

I read an article recently. Calling Twitter a “PR arsenal”, the writer remarked that had Kanye West had a Twitter presence, he could have tweeted his apology to Taylor Swift and the rest of the world for his antics on stage, which would have been online in seconds, rather than wait hours later to blog his apology. The result? His reputation suffered terribly, and all around the world – fans and celebrities were lambasting him on Twitter. 300,00 tweets in total in merely an hour after the incident occurred. If anything, the power of social media lies in its speed.

That said, social media can boost your online brand management, but dabbling in unethical practices, producing shoddy products and offering poor customer service can still bring a company down irregardless of how many members or fans they can have on Facebook. One point the class also discussed was that Facebook was essentially a means to an end. The Facebook page should be a platform that brings viewers to the homepage, rather than leaving it as a dead-end.

Facebook is a powerful tool if harnessed the right way, but it is not a panacea.

Stephie Goes to School

Stephanie, a blogger from Fashion Nation came to school today to tell us about how she uses social media in her daily life.

What struck me was not so much how she used social media to get her where she is today, but that she had the guts to get herself out of the rat race and simply, to follow her dreams.

Not many of us Singaporeans have the guts to do that. We’re pretty much just products of a cookie cutter, going down tried-and-tested routes of going to school, doing our office jobs and then going where life leads us.

You’ve got to respect her for that.

The Internet: Friend or Foe?

This week, we discussed whether the Internet truly brought people together or not. The discussion escalated into a mini debate for a few minutes, and my group was placed on the side that disagreed: The Internet, for all its wonders, were actually separating people.

I think both sides made salient points.

The Internet pretty much revolutionised our lives. It closed geographical distances, changed content sharing and consumption and made communication a lot faster and easier. This is all old stuff, of course – we all know the benefits of the Internet. I myself have Bible study via Skype because it’s far more convenient. Communication is still instantaneous, it’s very close to face to face interaction, and it saves time. What’s not to like?

In a way, it’s also enriched my social life despite what psychologists may say about how it makes us teenagers dead dogs when it comes to face to face interaction. It’s so much easier to keep in touch with long-lost primary school friends, maintain relationships with secondary school friends and see how cousins who live overseas are doing (Facebook, anyone?). We definitely would have lost touch completely if we just relied on the plain old telephone.

It’s also changed the way we learn things. I’m interested in photography – and it’s immensely wonderful, being able to learn stuff on the Internet, joining communities of photographers, looking at other photographers’ work. And of course, it lets others view your work quickly rather than you having to lug a photo album halfway around the world.

Doing work for school is a lot easier too. When in doubt, Google.

At the same time, books still hold rich amounts of information that shouldn’t be ignored just because Google’s a student’s best friend.

Of course, with every good invention comes a few side effects. It’s true that people spend less time with their families because they’re so glued to the screen. Many others are addicted to computer or online gaming and their lives are so tragically one-sided as a result.

It’s perfectly fine to spend a few hours a day on the Internet (or almost the whole day as is the case for most of us), but it’s also easy enough to make the effort to spend time with your loved ones. I myself would be unable to remain contented with a purely online relationship or friendship. Sooner or later, when one wants to take things to a deeper level, face-to-face interaction is often desired.

Go out. Have breakfast during the weekends together. Go shopping. Talk about your day at school.

To me, it’s simply a juggling act involving balance and self-control, one that is quite easily managed if you’re committed to it.

I read in Digital Life recently about how people are now reading storybooks off their tablets (or whatever you call them). It’s just another example of how traditional media is changing. I hope, though, that traditional media will not disappear completely. While reading online news can be faster, there is something gratifying about fingering the papery edges of a book or newspaper, smelling their musty smell of carbon, and hearing the pages rustle as you turn them.

Minority Report

We watched bits of Minority Report in class on Thursday. Essentially, it shows a time where criminals can be arrested even before they’ve committed a crime.

What struck a nerve was how scarily intrusive technology is in 2054, as shown in the movie. Creepy-looking robots (I’m reminded of the ‘itty-bitty Energiser bunny from hell’ line from Transformers) that pause to scan your identity during private moments (lovers’ quarrels), ads that play non-stop etc. Which made me wonder exactly how much has changed without us realising it. How the advancement of technology can be so subtle we don’t realise what’s going on till the effects hit you in the face. After a long day’s work, my sister will sometimes muse about how humans have shot themselves in the foot by inventing lights. Our days last longer, but it also means that people work longer hours. The world now wants things faster, sooner, and better, never mind that people can clock an hour of sleep in a day and don’t spend time with their families. And that it’s okay for bosses to send e-mails at 3am in the morning and expect a reply. I think God made the sunrise and sunset to tell us when it’s time to work and rest.

I don’t think the movie shows the impossible happening in the future. In fact, I think there are significant parallels between the future depicted in Minority Report and the present reality. Minority Report shows a time where technology is used to predict the future. How far are we from that, exactly? Even now, in 2009, technology is used to produce probabilities  - when the next earthquake will hit; how likely a tsunami will occur in the next 24 hours; how many more months will a cancer patient have to live.

Another thing that Minority Report made me realise was that technology can ofttimes seem flawless, but the flawless can still fail us. Even today, many movies such as Transformers and Eagle Eye portray how technology can fail us in our time of need. In Transformers, the computers protecting secret data involving national security were pretty much goners with the infection of a virus. In Eagle Eye (and even in a cartoon movie like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), the computers went berserk and turned on its creators – humans.

The heart of the Pre-crime unit in Minority Report was still a team of humans, even the psychics (although this point is to be contended with since they were genetically engineered). It also shows that us humans should never be overly reliant on technology. The Pre-crime team had placed so much faith in their future-prediction gadgets that they almost arrested an innocent man. Technology can never be a replacement for human instincts and emotions.