2/03/2012
1/31/2012
Interesting Read: CNN Opinion
I have had a few interesting discussions with some folks who disagree with my aversion to some of Facebook’s new timeline changes. My take was that Mark Zuckerberg is allowing his strategic partnerships and interests in financial gain to overtake his social networking platform. Their thoughts were that, it is his company, businesses are allowed to grow and that’s why our system is called “capitalism”. I completely understand their pov and agree that the opportunity for growth is a beautiful thing, however I just felt it was fair to reiterate that sometimes original goals are lost due to the volume at which money can talk.
Perusing through CNN.com this morning, I found an opinion piece that speaks to this subject and thought I would share:
“Simply becoming a multi-billion-dollar company changes the essence of its goals, activities, and purpose. Its bloodstream becomes filled with cash, and cash has its own agenda. For just like print, TV, or the Internet, money is a medium, too. It has biases, or tendencies, programmed right into it. The kind of money we happen to use -- bank-issued central currency -- is biased toward lending. That's why we call our system "capitalism." It's about the capital: Our money is designed to favor those who lend it to others who actually use it to build companies or create value.” (this just happens to be my favorite excerpt)
1/30/2012
Book Club Anyone?
Making the time to read Steve Jobs biography is one of my top priorities for 2012. I'm familiar with many of the positive and negative sentiments people feel about Steve Jobs after reading this book and I'm incredibly intrigued. I look forward to sharing my thoughts once I'm finished! Also, feel free to let me know your takeaways.
1/25/2012
Typography 101: Project 2
Step 1: Choose a Theme: View from Scuba Goggles
Step 2: Sketch the letters A, B & C using the negative space to illustrate theme
Step 3: Create a vector image of drawing
:)
Step 2: Sketch the letters A, B & C using the negative space to illustrate theme
Step 3: Create a vector image of drawing
 |
| Anemone Sketch |
 | ||||||||||
| Anemone Vector |
:)
Untag! Untag! Untag!
Quick summary of the latest article I read: Facebook is making mandatory timeline changes…yadda yadda…new big profile picture…blah blah…partnered up with companies...yawn... “new sidebar shows years that users can click on to see what was posted on that particular year in chronological order” – SAY WHAAAA?
Um, excuse me Mr. Zuck. Your empire was built off students and the idea of a peer-to-peer sharing space online. We blindly submitted too much of our lives to your platform and rolled with all of the new changes as Facebook started to grow. Now, while I realize this evolution began almost a million years ago in the digital age – don’t you think this mandatory timeline is a bit intrusive? I personally feel it’s completely unnecessary to remind people and allow others to see where someone was 5 years ago. What value does that bring to you or us?
I guess my point is: Friends – If you haven’t already, Untag! Untag! Untag!
Um, excuse me Mr. Zuck. Your empire was built off students and the idea of a peer-to-peer sharing space online. We blindly submitted too much of our lives to your platform and rolled with all of the new changes as Facebook started to grow. Now, while I realize this evolution began almost a million years ago in the digital age – don’t you think this mandatory timeline is a bit intrusive? I personally feel it’s completely unnecessary to remind people and allow others to see where someone was 5 years ago. What value does that bring to you or us?
I guess my point is: Friends – If you haven’t already, Untag! Untag! Untag!
 | |
| (If this is you, please untag yourself) |
1/23/2012
An Apology and A New Future
Dear Readers:
I would like to sincerely apologize to you for my recent blogging hiatus. Although it has been a while since I last wrote an entry, I have not forgotten my readers. Instead, I have actually been trying to brainstorm ways to take expand my interests and make my blog more relevant. I started In The In Crowd back in 2009, because I was passionate in my belief that social media was not just a fad, it was ‘the here and the now’. In my tagline, I even mention how my blog was to help readers understand new trends.
Fast forward to January 2012. Online communications often referred to now as digital communications (the fancy way of saying it), is recognized by most companies as an essential piece of their marketing strategy. The problem these days isn’t necessarily to convince people to have an online presence, the conversation has now transitioned into - how do we quantify or measure our investments/successes in this medium?
Back to my blog. While I do recognize those quantifiable conversations are extremely important to a business, it’s not exactly the direction I wanted to take my blog. As I redefined what my thoughts meant for In The In Crowd, I fell off the map and for that, I am truly sorry.
Good news though – I’m BACK! Since my last post, I signed up for a part-time Web Design and Development diploma program at the Art Institute of DC. I am currently enrolled in Typography and the Fundamentals of Interactive Design. This program is insanely perfect for me and I can’t wait to share all kinds of interesting facts that I am learning in class with you. I am also very excited to eventually redesign this blog to have a much fresher look (through my new html and css skills). Lastly, I plan to post more funny videos, interesting samples of other web sites/marketing campaigns and insights on digital communications from a web design and development perspective.
I hope you all enjoy!
Cheers,
eb
I would like to sincerely apologize to you for my recent blogging hiatus. Although it has been a while since I last wrote an entry, I have not forgotten my readers. Instead, I have actually been trying to brainstorm ways to take expand my interests and make my blog more relevant. I started In The In Crowd back in 2009, because I was passionate in my belief that social media was not just a fad, it was ‘the here and the now’. In my tagline, I even mention how my blog was to help readers understand new trends.
Fast forward to January 2012. Online communications often referred to now as digital communications (the fancy way of saying it), is recognized by most companies as an essential piece of their marketing strategy. The problem these days isn’t necessarily to convince people to have an online presence, the conversation has now transitioned into - how do we quantify or measure our investments/successes in this medium?
Back to my blog. While I do recognize those quantifiable conversations are extremely important to a business, it’s not exactly the direction I wanted to take my blog. As I redefined what my thoughts meant for In The In Crowd, I fell off the map and for that, I am truly sorry.
Good news though – I’m BACK! Since my last post, I signed up for a part-time Web Design and Development diploma program at the Art Institute of DC. I am currently enrolled in Typography and the Fundamentals of Interactive Design. This program is insanely perfect for me and I can’t wait to share all kinds of interesting facts that I am learning in class with you. I am also very excited to eventually redesign this blog to have a much fresher look (through my new html and css skills). Lastly, I plan to post more funny videos, interesting samples of other web sites/marketing campaigns and insights on digital communications from a web design and development perspective.
I hope you all enjoy!
Cheers,
eb
6/29/2011
Google+
I have always said that while Facebook might be the first major social network, it wouldn’t be the last. I originally joined Facebook in 2005 while studying abroad, because I wanted a convenient way to reconnect with my friends at home. I quickly discovered the ‘cool’ factor of Facebook – it was under the radar, only my peers had access and there were no gimmicks…it was just simple social networking.
However these days – my grandma and my 13 year old cousin are my friends on Facebook, the platform is saturated with ads targeted directly towards my information and there are a ton of privacy concerns. Even though right now it’s hot, Facebook is slowly losing its cool factor.
Well, hello Google+!
Google is developing a new network, Google+, that hopes to rival the popularity of Facebook. It makes sense, right? They are the leaders of search, emails, ads and office software – why wouldn’t they combine their different strengths into one major operation? For the moment, this new platform is in Beta version and only those invited can participate. While I am still searching for that invite, a la the Buzz era, I am excited to see where this network goes. It has a tough road ahead, but Google is just the company who may be able to pull it off.
However these days – my grandma and my 13 year old cousin are my friends on Facebook, the platform is saturated with ads targeted directly towards my information and there are a ton of privacy concerns. Even though right now it’s hot, Facebook is slowly losing its cool factor.
Well, hello Google+!
Google is developing a new network, Google+, that hopes to rival the popularity of Facebook. It makes sense, right? They are the leaders of search, emails, ads and office software – why wouldn’t they combine their different strengths into one major operation? For the moment, this new platform is in Beta version and only those invited can participate. While I am still searching for that invite, a la the Buzz era, I am excited to see where this network goes. It has a tough road ahead, but Google is just the company who may be able to pull it off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
