HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BLOG!!

It’s so sad… This will be my last blog for the class. (Of course, my blogging WILL BE CONTINUED.)

Blog that we’ve had fun with or sometimes had hard time with throughout this whole semester celebrated its 10^th birthday last month. Which blog is the first blog? Well, although no one exactly knows which one is the first due to “unofficial” and “personal” characters of blog, SCRIPTING NEWS, initiated by Dave Winer in April 1997, is usually regarded as the first one. And the picture you are seeing is the world’s first blog.

Winer’s website, at first, was nothing but a website in which he listed the websites he visited during the day. Despite this dull start, his website became the place where many netizens frequently dropped by soon and thus the starting point that has led new internet revolution.

This new kind of website was initially called “weblog” which is “web” from website plus “log” which means official written account of what happens each day. Thereafter, since 1999, it has been called “blog”.

Now, there are more than 70 million blogs, more than 1.5 million postings is done on blogs everyday, and approx. 120,000 blogs appear everyday, which 1.4 blog per second. Isn’t it amazing? A trivial start has made this tremendous history happened. And, of course, we and our class helped its burgeoning development a little bit, at least.

Finally, I’ve added the url of the Scripting News website and an article of the Guardian which introduced the 10^th anniversary of blog.

http://www.scripting.com

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2051882,00.html

p.s.)

At this point of the end of this semester, I’m truly proud of myself that I changed my class schedule this semester at the last minute and that I decided to take this class. Honestly, whoever asks me which class was my favorite; I’ve always answered “Social Networking & Business” without any hesitation. To that degree, I’ve learned a lot from this course and now I’m aware how to use a lot of useful software, social networking websites, bookmarking websites, and so on, which I didn’t even know they have existed. I think it’s time to grow myself up as an internet geeky for myself.

Social Networking Websites will SURVIVE!!

I don’t think you guys agree with Ms. Molly Wood’s thought that social networking doesn’t work - http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-6240543-1.html, unless you are far from “Facebook”.
She grumbles that “there's nothing to do there, it takes too much time, traffic alone isn't enough, strangers kind of suck (or, put nicely, the social hierarchy is really not that attractive), and we already have the internet”.

If she’s right, would we keep sticking to Facebook like that? As a Facebook beginner, even I have contacted Facebook more than twice a day. Also, “Cyworld”, a Korean social networking website, which I’ve used since 2004, is the easiest and cheapest way to keep in touch with my friends in Korea.

Well, for me, it is partly true that there’s not much to do in Facebook and Cyworld, except checking out my “wall” and “visitors”. Still, they are like the second realm of life to many people, and I don’t think people can live without them, including me.


However, those so-far successful social networking websites should not just be satisfied with status quo. That is to say, they can’t survive if they just let them hang out in their websites without any taking care of or even controlling them.

Therefore, they need to renovate themselves constantly and keep throwing baits to users for them to be obsessed with the websites.

I think that’s why Facebook changed its format a little bit in spite of the users’ complaints. Although the users don’t really like sudden change, if they get used to it “too much”, they get bored of it and try to find something more fun and something that give them more challenge.
Actually, Cyworld adds little things reform minor stuffs frequently and, once or even twice a year, totally “renovate” the whole website. Of course, the users grumble about occasional temporary shutdowns – usually from 2am to 6am – due to reforming, but they feel new challenges, which make them enjoy, and are willing to stick to it.

Furthermore, Cyworld has developed items to decorate the users’ “mini-homepage”, such as font, tile, music, wallpaper, etc., and the users are willing to buy them only with a little money and sometimes ask their friends to buy those items to them as presents. As you may see, since the users have their own “home” they are managing in this website, they are reluctant to leave the website. Also, in business view, this gets the website profits, beyond just offering banner ads.

VIDEO RESUME

I believe all of you guys have written your resume at least once.
How was your resume writing? How do you think your resume is?
Was it interesting enough for yourself to read yours?

Well… I wouldn’t say job recruiters would love to read tons of resumes, which are not even different from each other.

Due to this problem, some people have brought up a brilliantly creative idea…
It was making a VIDEO RESUME!!

I guess most of you guys have seen some of those resumes on YouTube, My Space, or things like them. I, too, could take a look at several video resumes. Although some of them looked dumb, they were interesting enough to get my attention.

So… I want to talk about “Pros/Cons” of video resumes. I’d love to get your additional opinion on this as your comments.

"PROS"
1. Get much more attention of recruiters than paper resume
2. Make recruiters feel “I want to talk to him in person”
3. At least, demonstrate the ability to make video.

"CONS"
1. Difficult to make it well
2. Could make recruiters waste more time than when they just read resumes
3. Plant unpleasant impression into recruiters regardless of original intention

Of course, you guys can think of them much more than this. So, just let me know…

By the way, while watching video resumes, it just came to my mind that if we don’t have capability to make “video” resume, how about "POWER POINT" resume, in order to make a little difference?
Since the weakest point of paper one is boring, it would be good idea make it as a “Slide Show”. And. to make it better, it should be good to add our canned voice to our resume and let watchers to follow it with our voice.

Wait, it just struck me that if video resume is generalized or even required sometime later, what would be the next form of resume after video one???
It seems to get harder and harder to satisfy recruiter. Haha…


Anyway…
I’ve attached 3 video resumes URL, which have different characteristics from each other.
Have fun with them, and if any of you guys have made something like this, let me check it out!! =D


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZqgXrlSEA8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL1mUuYAPkI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rAKA7enbwY

Customers' "Self-Customer Service"

As you may know, there are many electronic product-geeks in Korea, which is, unfortunately, far from my character. Thanks to these geeks, I don’t have to go to customer service center – either the actual store or the website – of manufacturers when I want to buy a laptop computer or digital camera, or there is a problem with my camera. Instead, I go to “DC inside” (www.dcincide.com) and “NB inside” (www.nbinside.com).

DC of the “DC inside” is Digital Camera, and NB of the “NB inside” indicates NoteBook computer – we usually call laptop computer notebook computer in Korea.


Initiated in 1999, DC inside has, literally, everything about digital camera. Product information, including every brand, is nothing to mention, there being product reviews and problem solutions written by other consumers and collective purchase which allows people to buy products much cheaper. Furthermore, visitors do not only get information but enjoy surfing the website. They make their online community and post various interesting pictures as well. DC inside provides this kind of entertaining space, while managing it systemically. Actually, some pictures and interesting writings have become new coined words or words in fashion mainly used by young netizen.

NB inside, run by DC inside as well, has pretty much similar form to DC inside. Yet, since things that the website deals with are more expensive and need more complicated knowledge, it seems to have more informative factors, while sharing entertaining stuffs with DC inside.


Then, what should actual manufacturers do? All they can do is just to sell their products, and then not to offer after service? Or, making better website or service center, which seems almost impossible because there is no reason for consumers to go to the website displaying only one brand instead of the websites above?

Well...
Many manufacturers have tried to cooperate with these websites. They try to give product information as much as they can to the websites, and apply for launching their products as collectively purchased ones.


One thing seemed special is “Quality Tester”. Some manufacturers offer certain number of products to the websites for free, which invite people to try them for a certain period. Through this program, manufacturers can advertise their products, while consumers try them before actual purchase without any economic pressure.


Like I mentioned above, manufacturers are trying to take advantage of the websites as much as possible. Of course, this attempt benefits consumers as well as the websites.

My Profile picture!!

How to make coworkers adjust to new collaboration tools

Having tried a few collaboration tool websites throughout our class and reading the articles assigned this week, I found there are so many useful stuffs that I didn’t even know and sometimes I think to myself I wish I had known them when I was in the newspaper organization.

However, I’m not quite sure my organization would have used them effectively, even if we had been aware of them. Recalling experiences in the organization, even small attempts to change, which I had regarded as nothing, wasn’t easy for the coworkers to adjust to at all. There was resist against change and the coworkers didn’t get familiar with the change easily.


After all,
the thing was how collaboratively and effectively people use them as intended, no matter how powerful collaboration tools are.


In this regard, the following tips Robert D. Hof suggested in the Business week article are very simple but very essential.

Indeed, my adventure into Web collaboration suggests a number of lessons about how organizations can get people to try this stuff: 1) Keep it simple. 2) No, even simpler. 3) No matter how good the collaboration tool, you may have to knock some heads to force people out of old habits. 4) Leave room for what still works: Sometimes, nothing beats a phone call, a face-to-face meeting, or even (gasp) e-mail.

I’d like to listen to your experiences about the difficulties to adjust new tools and your own secrets to solve the problem.

Attractive vs. Super-able

Quick quizzes!!!

1) Which one would lead a group to succeed, a super-able person who is arrogant or a somewhat able person who is attractive?

2) Which one would you like to work with, a super-able person who is arrogant or a somewhat able person who is attractive?



In fact, the above cannot be regarded as quizzes. Because, I don’t know the answer for the first one and the second one follows more preference than a certain answer.

However, personally, I want to take the side of the latter, or a somewhat able person who is attractive. I have realized it is more important whether I like to get along with him/her, although his/her ability is important as well, through my experience. When I worked with people I liked, I became more creative and could more focus on a task. Most of all, when a trouble arouse, it was much easier to solve it, which led us not to fail.



Why am I talking about this?
Because, in this perspective, I would say networking is important in job searching and recruiting.

If I were a recruiter, I would hire a person I know and thus I can work with more easily rather than the other, unless their abilities are much different. Of course, it is not that I just know him/her but that I know his character and capability through experience in the past.



This can apply to “working with” itself.
As I mentioned at the quizzes, most people don’t really want to work with an arrogant person regardless how able s/he is. It’s same to boss’ eye. For a boss, a somewhat able worker who is attractive and thus harmonize the group of workers may be better than a super-able who is arrogant and thus might destroy the group spirit.


Have you guys seen the Apprentice Los Angeles that Donald Trump executed?
A couple of weeks ago, Surya, one of hopefuls, were fired despite that he had led his team three wins in a row. The reason was all the other teammates didn’t like him and told the boss, Donald Trump, to fire him.
I don’t want to say the problem was only in him, since he had moved to the team from the other team voluntarily, in order to match the number of people of each team, but to emphasize the importance of the relationship.


Furthermore, group ability has a meaning when each person’s put together. That is to say, the group ability is not so much the sum of each individual’s as the relationship between them – i.e. networking.



Finally, I would like to ask you guys:

Would you like to be attractive or super-able?

BE A CITIZEN

A few days ago, I read a newspaper article on voters thinking whom to support between Obama and Edwards, who are democrat hopefuls. A woman, who attended the local campaign of John Edwards, said that he seemed a decent guy for president but still she could make up her mind between two after seeing Barack Obama at his local campaign.


How sound and healthy citizen she is!!
Ok… I, too, want to be a sound and healthy citizen (of course, I don’t have the right to vote for president, since I’m not a US citizen. Whatever…).
But, I don’t have time to take care of all the campaigns one by one. Can I just watch TV news or read newspapers? Well… I want to evaluate them “in person” rather than just nod at what other people say.


You, too, want to be a sound and healthy citizen, just like me? Don’t worry, my friends. Those hopefuls are anxious to show themselves to us through their own homepages.

Hillary Clinton (D) - www.hillaryclinton.com
John Edwards (D) - www.johnedwards.com
Barack Obama (D) - www.barackobama.com
Rudy Giuliani (R) - www.joinrudy2008.com
John McCain (R) - www.johnmccain.com
Mitt Romney (R) - www.mittromney.com

Drop by the above websites. You can see other supporters’ opinions as well as those hopefuls’ thoughts.
Wanna see mixed opinions? In that case, go to the websites of CNN, Fox news, abc, NBC, CBS, etc, wherever you feel inclined and you can find political blogs and readers’ opinions.

We, too, have presidential election in South Korea!!

I want to talk about the presidential election of my country, South Korea, although most of you guys aren’t interested in it. The presidential election will be held in this December.


Prior to the primary election of each party held in this summer or fall, while the heat of the election are getting hotter, many election experts are saying UCC (User-Created Contents) will be a new critical factor to affect the election, following TV debate in 1997 and internet community in 2002.


UCC, literally, indicates the contents, mostly short video, created by people. Just imagine videos at YouTube.com.

In regard to this, each hopeful can generate videos that get attraction from voters, especially young ones. However, the thing is people themselves can generate videos about hopefuls, intended to show their positive or negative aspects. And this will be influencing voters tremendously.


In fact, many videos where the hopefuls appeared have already drawn attention of people, and the Central Election Management Committee ordained the rule to manage these UCC videos.
(I wish I could show you guys those funny videos, only if you guys can understand Korean!!)

I wanna be popular!!

* Before I start talk about the topic, I want you to know that I'm supposed to post a writing on whatever I want, because I missed most part of Tom Kyte's lecture, which is ashamed.

Whenever I come to my blog, frankly, I am disappointed. What am I disappointed with?

“0 COMENTS”

Oh.. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to attribute this problem to you guys’ indifference. (In fact, I don’t deserve to do so, because I’m not that good commenter, either.) What I am concerned about is why I am not good at writing things to get attention.

Thus, I have looked around you guys’ blogs to figure out the reasons why some blogs are popular and others are in the same place like me – “0 comments”.

First, popular blogs are interesting to read. Very simple. Also, while I am reading the blogs, it strikes me that I want to comment something. In addition, most bloggers use “I” as the subject of writings, which makes readers feel friendly with the bloggers as if we are talking with.

On the other hand, my blog….

First of all, those are uselessly too long. Once readers find the writings are too long, they tend to just give up reading them. Why? Because there are so many shorter and funnier writings. Besides, the contents are kind of stiff. What is worse is some writings just threw general facts or things that I wanted to say without any room for commenter. (Frankly speaking, sometimes I, myself, felt no one would like to comment this writing, while I was writing.)

So…

I have tried to change my style and give you guys more fun to read.

Finally, I want to listen to your secrets to get attention and your opinions about “interesting blogs”.

The characteristics of online reputation

I would like to talk about a couple of characteristics of the factors that make online reputations. First of all, online relationships are not necessarily in person. What people leave on internet such as writings, pictures, etc. can spread easily to those whom they don’t even know. Their reputations to those who see them only through internet should be determined by their attitudes, styles, and behaviors in writings and pictures they posted.

Secondly, the online “data” supposed to show people’s reputations are almost semi-permanent. As we found it from the NPR news – to me, it was very interesting news and I found it newly that there are reputation-defending companies, once data are left online, it is very hard to get rid of them. Thanks to developed technologies, things on internet can be so easily and widely that people can’t even find to where their data have gone.

As such, it could be even harder to manage our online reputations than to do so offline. Additionally considering another factor that online reputations can be modified much more easily by ourselves or others, we can make positive or negative reputation we actually don’t have depending on how to control online factors. This is the reason why John Edwards, Democrat presidential candidate, hired expert bloggers, and UCC (User-Created Contents) has appeared as a hot mean for politicians in 2007 presidential election of S.Korea. That is to say, they can make their positive images or negative images of their opponents and spread them very quickly and easily. To sum up, it is necessary to have proper ways to deal with online reputation, apart from “real” reputation – these days, online reputations seems to represent real ones.

Everybody can be a writer!

The way we read news has been totally changed. Until only 10 years ago, we had read news as writers and editors showed to us. But now, we choose news to read among a great number of them, evaluate and react to them directly, and even generate news personally, which sometimes become sources of major media’s news.

When we want to see what is going on in the world, we would rather open internet portal news websites such as Google news, or internet websites of major media. Although most news on those websites are written by professional writers and the way they are shown to us are organized by the websites’ editors, we have more rights to choose what to read, and what is better is that we can give them feedbacks personally and directly by posting comments. Also, as some websites arrange news on the screen according to the ranks of the number they has been read, the “edition” of news are organized not by professional editors but by readers.

The most remarkable part of the “revolution of news” is that we generate news in person, which usually happens in the social news section. Although this kind of news is not usually offering technical analysis and tends to be just thrown to netizens, they are providing news that is something hands-on experience and that is easy to be overlooked by major media. Furthermore, some of them sometimes become major news deeply re-dealt with by major media. It is the best example that a blogger posted a short video that contained violent incident in a high school on a blogger news website, and then it evoked social attention on school violence, which led major media to deal with the issue with the video as a main source.

With regard to this trend, there is an internet news website, in South Korea, claiming to stand for “Citizen Journalism”; OhmyNews was initiated in 2000 with the catch phrase, “all citizens are writers”. The news of this website consists of 50% of professional writers’ and the other 50% of registered citizen writers’. By far, about 600 citizen writers from about 60 countries have joined in it. In addition, there is “netizen edition” aside from basic edition by the professional editors.
OhmyNews – www.ohmynews.com (Korean Edition)
english.ohmynews.com (International Edition)

What kind of business needs blog?

Reading the assignments, I was thinking what kind of business needs blog. Basically, there should be something to say about a product, and the product should be worth being talked about somehow seriously. In this respect, I would identify a few points that make blog necessary:

1. What people need tips about
Some products require consumers to have some knowledge about them, before they buy them. Capability, specification, and other complicated details of a product can be different by brands, prices, etc. Therefore, consumers should get some information on the product, and while they got them from sellers at stores, when they were about to buy it, in the past, they surf around websites these days.

2. Somewhat expensive products
Somewhat expensive products make consumers spend more time to look for and think over than cheap ones. Since consumers regard that it is worth spending more time, they try to make sure that there is no stone unturned as much as they can and find the most satisfying product. The best place for this is blog.

3. What mainly purchased by young people or at least people familiar with internet
In order to blog get useful, there should be people who can use it. Therefore, a product which is usually purchased by young people who are good at internet and willingly to spend much time in websites is fit to have a blog.

4. What is necessary to manage and upgrade continuously after purchasing
A blog is made up not only of something to talk about before purchasing but also of after purchasing. Questions on managing and upgrading products usually belong to the latter case. A company is necessary to satisfy those people via blog to make them its loyal customers.

The best example to fit the points above is computer. When we plan to buy a computer, we need information as many as we can get on various kinds of computers, are willing to spend our time to look for the most proper computer to us, partly because it’s quite expensive, and try to pay attention to our computers, since it’s necessary to manage and upgrade continuously. To this end, we used to go to Circuit City or Best Buy in person, but now we surf around a number of blogs about computer and even buy it there. MP3 player, software, and other electronic products are similar examples.

However, although I would say points above are the fittest for blog business, what we shouldn’t overlook is that blog is already affecting business which produce products which is cheap and doesn’t need thoughtfulness, such as P&G, as we saw last class. As such, blog is gradually becoming one of the most important tools of business.

4th - blogging

In the introduction of Naked Conversation, the authors are describing blogging that it is an entirely alternative mean of business and marketing, and honest – as the term “naked”. It is true that blogging became an indispensable tool for business, and tends to be more honest than other old-fashioned communication tools, especially in terms of business and marketing. However, I would not totally agree with these views.

First, blogging cannot entirely replace the present basic marketing tools, such as TV commercial, brochure, banner, etc. In order to marketing through blogging succeed, it is the most important to let consumers know that such bloggers exist, and for this, the present basic marketing tools are necessary. When consumers feel necessity to contact a blogger, the first name which would strike them should be what they were exposed to by other tools.

Secondly, it’s suspicious that we can say bloggers are honest. Of course, it can be more honest than TV commercial or brochure which is one-way, in that consumers can figure out truth by taking advantage of two-way system. Yet, bloggers can also deceive consumers in the way just as TV commercial or brochure has done. In addition, although this is not business case, personal bloggers, just for social networking, can be easily manipulated by modifying pictures, demonstrating only what they want, and so on.

In fact, I, too, am approving the critical necessity of blogger both in business and social networking. What I intended is that it’s important to check out the negative aspects, since it’s dangerous to see only positive aspects.

3rd - Network Analysis

With regard to this reading assignment, I would like to focus on “subgroups”.

As Cross analyzed them on the page 14 of his book, “subgroups can be good or bad”. While a subgroup whose cohesiveness is weak tends not to perform a mission given to the subgroup well, each member of it can be integrated easily as a whole team. On the contrary, another subgroup whose cohesiveness is strong tends to get its own job done well, and whereas, the subgroup could play a role as an obstacle to integrate the whole team.

Applying this concept to my experience in the Yonsei Chunchu, as I did at the second post, a group of members that entered the organization at the same time can be refer to as a subgroup. As I mentioned above, despite that the subgroup in which I was had weak cohesiveness, and therefore, the performance as a subgroup was not good, each member performed his/her job well in his/her department.
On the other hand, the other group, which was hierarchically lower than mine, was famous for strong cohesiveness of the members, and they were proud of it. While I was serving as a manager level, how to deal with their strong cohesiveness and pride was one of the most important works. For this, I committed various works, from easy one to tough one, to the subgroup. Fortunately, the most jobs were done well, and their pride was respected properly, too.

However, problems occurred as they went up to the hierarchically high level – manager level. Despite that the number of people may well be reduced when their turn to be managers, since they got too used to working together, they too much struggled to decide who would leave and remain. The other problem was that they didn’t have a strong leader within their group. Due to this, they, again, had a hard time selecting the Chief Editor and the Vice Chief Editor, which are the highest level, and even after that, they struggled to get support from lower level members.

Through this case, I realized it is important to take advantage of their strong cohesiveness and, at the same time, grow a leader within the group in managing this kind of subgroup.

2nd - Social Network

Reading the book, I was reminded of the experience in the Yonsei Chunchu, the weekly newspaper in Yonsei University, and I thought I could apply this social network theory to the experience.

As an official organization, the Yonsei Chunchu consisted of more than 50 members with 8 departments. The organization, basically, had two network structures; one was within each department, and the other was within the group of members that entered the organization at the same time. The thing was since the whole newspaper was made up of articles that each department was supposed to be in charge of, most communication was done within each department, and therefore, one department didn’t really know what topics the others were going to deal with on the paper before it was published. This discouraged each department from getting good information on its item from others. Of course, there was a little bit of sharing through the second network structure – one within the group of members that entered the organization at the same time. They sometimes talked about their items with and got tips from each other.

When I served as the Chief Editor, I decided to make the unofficial sharing (networking) officially by initiating official sharing items meeting on the beginning of weeks, with expectation that it would allow us to communicate with each other effectively. As a result, it turned out quite effective, especially regarding to “sharing” information, even though each department couldn’t always get useful tips. What I realized, additionally, while getting through this experiment, unofficial networking is still important and useful, because someone would rather give tips others personally than officially. And another reason that I got was some tips should be dealt with privately.

To wrap up my recall, I hope to apply this social network theory to next chance more professionally.

1st - Hi, everyone!

Hi, guys.
I am Sang Min Lee, a student of American University. I came to American University from Yonsei University in Seoul, S.Korea, as an exchange student.

I'm doing this for my class, Social Networking and Business. I hope I can get a lot of "blogger senses" through this course.

Finally, with regard to the academic integrity;

On my honor, all posts on this blog are my own.