iContact

Well I just received my iContact e-mail from the professor and I like the layout of the e-mail. I thinking it was just going to be a basic text e-mail. I can see how this would be useful for businesses to stay in contact with their customers and let them know about special deals that the company is offering. With that said, I see the point for a service like this, but it can be really over used. I currently have 3 to 4 e-mails that come to me every week with special offers that constantly clog up mail in box. I mean, how many times can you receive offers on 20% off of clothes and other items. This would not be so bad if the e-mails came once a month or every couple of months. Do any other people feel this way?

Analytics

Tonight in class we discussed analytics and what this means to the world of social media and business. I believe this is a smart tool for companies to use to better understand their customer’s wants and needs with their company. As more companies use analytics, the consumer experience will become even more personalized then it already is. This tool will allow companies large and small the ability to tweak their message so it can be heard by the largest number of people. This is great for non-profit organizations and public service parts of the government. Unfortunately, the bright side to analytics has an even darker side. At the beginning of the class I was all for the analytics being used to analysis peoples habits on website traffic and other things of that nature. By the end of the class I was not so excited by the thought of companies complying large amounts of data on my habits. The video of the US Bank sticks in my mind the most about tonight’s class. The only thing I kept thinking was I would have been really pissed if my bank called me out of the blue about moving my money out of the bank. I believe what I do with my money is my business and no one else’s. I would have not been a success story for that bank and I don’t think I would be the exception. I kind of feel it is an invasion of my personal privacy and that the bank over stepped its bounds. I believe one day this idea of mining analytics will be under investigation of personal privacy. Where do we draw the line on what information is not too personal to share? I don’t know… maybe I am crazy? What are your thoughts?

How Secure are You?

Yesterday in class we talked about privacy and security when it came to the Internet. I knew a lot about this subject already when I came into this class. I did learn a lot of information I was not aware of about privacy and security on the internet that I did not know, as well. The fact that there was a difference from “http” and “https” was shocking to me. I had no idea that this little heading that comes before site addresses meant secure or non-secure serves. Along with that, I had no idea I was leaving myself open for hacking every time I logged into my Facebook or Myspace accounts. Another item I was unaware of was that every time you send an e-mail out you send out your IP address along with it. This was not common knowledge as far as I am concerned and it makes you think twice who you correspond with on the internet. These ideas make me think twice on what I do with my time on the internet. Also, what your family, friends, and children are accessing through your laptop or PC.

Social Media and Democracy

Last class we had an interesting conversation about social media and democracy. I do see how these new avenues to communicate with social groups with the same interests will have affects on how the world works. These social sites will defiantly level the playing field for the small individual person. Unfortunately, there are draw backs to this new democracy. The major drawback that keeps sticking in my mind is the lack of central leadership. Of course, these avenues will allow people to mobilize faster in ever growing groups, but mobilize to where? And once there, what happens next? The lack of centralized leadership is a major weakness of these movements. Especially when you talk about major social movements, that need months even years of constant pressure to create that change.