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This article, posted on TechCrunch, discusses the release of a report from Nielsen, a worldwide market research firm, based in the US, perhaps best known for the ACNielsen Poll and Television ratings survey (Nielsen, 2011). Wauters here discusses the outcome and conclusions of research conducted by Nielsen into the effectiveness of social media advertising on Facebook. Wauters states, 'the report leverages six months of research consisting of surveys of more than 800,000 Facebook users and more than 125 individual Facebook ad campaigns from some 70 brand advertisers." Mangold & Faulds argue that by "enabling customers to talk to one another" social media is effectively "an extension of traditional word-of-mouth communication"(Mangold & Fauld, 2009). With traditional advertising rates and audiences falling, advertisers are keen to seek ways to reach new markets. Being able to leverage users social media networks can provide an important tool to reach a wider audience. Wauters suggests, according to surveys conducted by Nielsen, advertising recall on Facebook jumped between 16% and 30% when adverts mentioned friends or were featured in friends newsfeeds. Statistics here strongly suggest advertising is more likely to be noticed, and acted upon, if it seen to be 'recommended' by someone consumers know. --- It is interesting also to note Nielsen and Facebook are themselves engaged in a collaborative project to study social media advertising. Wauters points out: "Nielsen and Facebook recently joined forces to develop ad effectiveness solutions to determine consumer attitudes, brand perception and purchase intent from social media advertising." With this in mind, perhaps Wauters is correct to sound a note of caution: "we're not saying the report is bogus, but it's something to keep in mind if you decide to download it for yourself." References: Mangold, W. & Faulds, D. (2009, July-August). Social Media: The New Hybrid Ele

Belinda, This article was particularly of interest to me as I have used Facebook advertising platform both for work and my online business. Social Media advertising to me is different to other online and offline advertising. Having used Facebook as a medium to advertise my business, I can conclude that it's not the best medium to advertise. The conversion rates on the campaigns were low, that is the conversion of clicking and purchase. I accept that there might have been other factors that influenced the data. Comparing my Facebook campaign to my Google Campaign, it showed that campaigns through search i.e. user searches for your service or product is more effective. There is also the probability that campaigns may not reach the right demographic. In 2007, Vodafone suspended advertising on Facebook after its ads appeared on the profile page of a British right-wing Party. This prompted a flurry of other advertisers, including the AA, COI and Virgin Media, to follow suit (Clark, 2007). Facebook cannot effectively measure that the campaign is reaching the right audience. If I am allowed to, can I boldly state that Social Media campaigns are only effective when free or user generated. I applaud the article for questioning the release of such data by Nielsen. The question is, are social media networks the correct channel to advertise when users may be more interested in connecting than buying your product or service? Social Brands perform better on Facebook because most people on Social Networking sites are there for fun so it makes logical sense that industries such as tabloids and blogs (Bullas, 2011). Reference: Bullas, J. (2011). How Effective Are Facebook Ads? Retrieved from JeffBullas.com website: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/02/25/how-effective-are-facebook-ads/ Clark, N. (2007). Storm over ads on social sites. Marketing, 1. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/pqdweb?index=0&did=1326449831&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&

I certainly agree with the article. With mass consumed site like Facebook there should be advantages that give opportunity to certain business. The detail profile users made, can a kind of mass database that marketer can access. Collaborate the business with Facebook may allow company to get broader publication. But in Yu (2010) article, "The Most Powerful Secret in Facebook Ads", he mentioned that only certain business type that can get the best result. Local business will be the one who get most advantages because in Facebook you can have detail specification of where your ad will appear (the reason why it's effective) (Agarwal, 2010). This local business is easier to share among friend because they have likelihood in geographical aspect. Consumer product and entertainment also will get a good publication through Facebook ad. Users interest that provide in Facebook profile will give you opportunity to reach the main target audience of your product. But still the interesting fact that found by Nielsen will affect how business sees social media website. They will think about it straight away to use this kind of advertising methods that will lead them to higher profit (although the marketing teams need to have a complete plan before rather than just follow the trend). Agarwal, A. (2010). How Effective is Advertising on Facebook?. Retrieved from http://www.labnol.org/internet/are-facebook-ads-effective/13957/ Yu, D. (2010). The Most Powerful Secret in Facebook Ads. Retrieved from http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-ads-secret-2010-06

Available online via Curtin Library Catalogue (see below) This article stresses the importance of social media in the promoting of a company's brand or products. Social Media collaboration, according to Kaplan, enables 'the joint and simultaneous creation of content by many end-users'. For advertising social media provides platform which enables customers to partipate in the creation of the brand by generating feedback and product reviews. Mangold and Faulds argue that, for potential customers, online content which is generated by other consumers is typically regarded as more trustworthy than traditional advertising messages. Essentially, social media messages are more likely to be believed and responded to than direct-marketing on the other hand, social media also means companies have less control over the course of discussion. They argue,'while companies cannot directly control consumer-to-consumer messages, they do have the ability to influence the conversations that consumers have with one another'. Mangold and Faulds argue, used correctly, social media has become an important tool, which allows companies to not only talk to customers but also allows customers to talk to each other. Social tools, they suggest, provide customers to obtain information about companies and products and can aid them in the decision making and purchase process. Creating networks of social relationships with potential customers is a strong tool, which aids in the promotion of a brand but it also provides important tools to help managers achieve the company's missions and goals. Some tools companies can use to communicate with customers include company websites, YouTube, eNewsletters, message boards and blogs. References: Kaplan, A. & Haenlein, M. (2010). 'Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media" in Business Horizons (2010) 53, 59-68. Retrieved via Curtin library catalogue. Mangold, W. & Faulds, D. (2009, July-Augus

Apologies. Reposted the article but the link still doesn't work. You can access the full article in the Curtin library catalogue: Mangold, W. & Faulds, D. (2009, July-August). Social Media: The New Hybrid Element of the Promotion Mix in Business Horizons. 52(4) 357-365

This article stresses the importance of social media in the promoting of a company's brand or products. Social Media collaboration, according to Kaplan, enables 'the joint and simultaneous creation of content by many end-users'. For advertising social media provides platform which enables customers to partipate in the creation of the brand by generating feedback and product reviews. Mangold and Faulds argue that, for potential customers, online content which is generated by other consumers is typically regarded as more trustworthy than traditional advertising messages. Essentially, social media messages are more likely to be believed and responded to than direct-marketing on the other hand, social media also means companies have less control over the course of discussion. They argue,'while companies cannot directly control consumer-to-consumer messages, they do have the ability to influence the conversations that consumers have with one another'. Mangold and Faulds argue, used correctly, social media has become an important tool, which allows companies to not only talk to customers but also allows customers to talk to each other. Social tools, they suggest, provide customers to obtain information about companies and products and can aid them in the decision making and purchase process. Creating networks of social relationships with potential customers is a strong tool, which aids in the promotion of a brand but it also provides important tools to help managers achieve the company's missions and goals. Some tools companies can use to communicate with customers include company websites, YouTube, eNewsletters, message boards and blogs. References: Kaplan, A. & Haenlein, M. (2010). 'Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media" in Business Horizons (2010) 53, 59-68. Retrieved via Curtin library catalogue.

My topic is advertising and social media. I am specifically looking at the way companies are using social media tools to build connections and promote their brands and their products via company controlled crowd-sourcing and customer-driven discussion.

Very Interesting article. Here I am reminded of Jean Baudrilliard and "Simulacra & Simulation". In it, he talks about how the media shapes the way viewers understand. Effectively he suggests war as it shown on television, was a manufactured by media represention. "The media and the official news service are only there to maintain the illusion of an actuality… of the objectivity of the facts. All events are to be read backward." (Baudrillard, 1994, p.38) Like most things, with recent events in Egypt, it is the media represented accounts, which have become the "real". The idea the Twitter and Facebook can mobilise a revolution is a powerful symbol. "What is perhaps the most telling here is that, as Bikyamasr points out, "millions of the Egyptians that went to the streets probably don't own a computer, and definitely were not checking Twitter or Facebook for where the next gathering was taking place." The article suggests that, by the time the internet was cut off, the protests were already in full swing. Perhaps the Egyptian Government fell for the media reports of the power of Social Media. "It was through word of mouth, not online calls for activism that brought the Egyptian government to its knees". It is important to point out that word-of-mouth is a powerful tool for communication, whether it is through hand-written messages, text or social media, word-of-mouth messages are more likely to be trusted and acted upon by recipients (see Kozinets et.al, 2010) as well as fostering a connection and sense of community between the sender and receiver. References Baudrilliard, J. (1994) Simulation and Simulacra. University of Michigan Press. Translated from the French by Sheila Faria Glaser. Kozinets. R., de Valck, K., Wojnicki, A. & Wilner, S. (2010, March). "Networked Narratives: Understanding Word-of-Mouth Marketing in Online Communities" in Journal of Marketing. 74(2). pp.71-89. Retrieved via American Marketing Association/Atypon.com, 13 April 2011. http://ww

Mayton seeks to address what he views as the Western Media attributing the Egyptian political revolution to the presence of activists online. He underlines that with only a quarter of the population having access to social networks and media online, the idea that a "Revolution 2.0" occurred is seriously flawed. While acknowledging the useful presence of collaboration online, Mayton attributes the success of this political change to a word-of mouth and paper handout campaign, combined with a motivated and committed Egyptian people, preferring to credit the Internet with bringing the issue to the forefront of international politics. However Wael Ghonim a leader of the ground movement that would ultimately topple Mubarak, contradicts the ideas presented in this article. Instead he accredits social networks and in particular facebook (ref) as being the catalyst behind the revolution. While Ghonim acknowledges that any political protest requires bodies on the ground, he attributes the internet and collaboration that occurred on facebook with empowering Egyptian individuals. Furthermore the ability of these networks to spread information at a vast rate, combined with the ability to go undetected were attributed to the success of the initial protest which began in April 2008. This protest organized solely online was the trigger cause for the unrest and the political change that would unfold. Mayton highlights that the common misconception that every Egyptian has direct access to the internet is perhaps symbolism for an Egyptian society that still remains stratified. While this paper underlines the idea that attributing the success of this political collaboration to the internet overlooks the ground work and alternative methods employed to help further this revolution, there can be little doubt that in this course of history social networks did provide empowerment for some of the Egyptian people and played a significant role in this advancing this political colla

To most Australians, the conflict in Egypt was not an Internet revolution until their newspapers, bulletin websites and television told them as such. Spurred on by Google Middle East and North Africa Marketing Director Wael Ghomin's announcement that the Egyptian protesters had "the internet to thank for their victory" (Luna, 2011), headlines across the globe were swept up by the 'Revolution 2.0' media darling. It may be a journalist's job to disseminate current affairs- constructing language and presenting palatable news to their public- however the truth and integrity of the Egyptian Uprising reports suffered at the hands of the outspoken. Jordanian expert on branding Ahmad Humeid recognises these synoptic "slogans" (Pickerill, 2011) such as 'Revolution 2.0' as "extremely important for Western media audiences... [to] take an event and package it in a certain light" (Humeid, 2011). Joseph Mayton's commentary works to detangle the internet's 'exaggerated' role in Egypt. He presents the facts: 25 per cent of Egyptians have no access to a computer, let alone a wifi connected iPhone in their back pocket. The 'Online Revolution' label directly discounts the internet "have-nots" who "struggled for the same cause under the same umbrella". Finally, activists continued to mobilise, even during the four days the Government shut down the Internet service (Mayton, 2011). Yes, there was a significant initial online role in the January protests, but this article encourages that we cannot lump strong-willed street activism in its hundreds of thousands as an Internet uprising. Mayton reminds us the well-worn lesson: we should not accept anything at face value. Ignorance is bred through the blind digestion of 'fact'; we can only come closest to the truth by negotiating as many disparate viewpoints as possible. References: Mayton, J. (2011) Egypt did not have an Internet Revolution. Published on BIKYAMASR, Feb

Known as 'social media marketing, viral marketing, buzz, and guerilla marketing' Word Of Mouth Marketing has become an important feature of marketing online. This article is a fairly in-depth study looking at issues of shifting narratives, practices and theories in WOMM, particularly in the face of growing social media communities. The article looks at ways social - media marketers are dealing with "networked coproduction of narratives" made possible by the affordances of social media tools and the Internet (Kozinets, 2010). Kozinets et. al. argue the evolution of word-of-mouth marketing is marked by 3 stages: First, the Organic Interconsumer Influence Model, or simple word-of-mouth, which is not directed, promoted or directly influenced by marketers; Second, the Linear marketer Influence Model, sees marketers seeking to influence and guide WOM by focusing on so-called "opinion leaders" who are able to influence others. This the of marketing will be familiar to Facebook or Twitter users, who may be used to seeing products recommended by well-known celebrities; Third, is the Network Coproduction Model. This refers to "managed one-to-one seeding and communication programs". As Marketers and consumers often have very different goals, such a strategy is not without risk. As Kozinets et.al. point out (2010) "consumers are regarded as active coproducers of value and meaning, whose WOM use of marketing communications can be idiosyncratic, creative, and even resistant". The main challenge in Word Of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) online is that marketers typically have less control over the content and direction of the campaign or opinion (see Mangold and Faulds, 2010). According to Kozinets et.al (2010) the key to successfully engaging large and often disparate groups is building network of "one-to-one" personal relationships, which allow individual members to become involved and feel a part of the process of narrative building and meaning creation. References: Kozinet

The "Old Spice Guy" Campaign has proven to be a game-changer, not only for Old Spice but for social media marketing. Ehrlich points out (2010), such campaigns seek to involve the audience in an immersive experience, essentially making viewers part of the campaign. Since the original campaign advertisement was launched, the campaign reached 40 million views in a week for a total 1.4 billion campaign impressions across all media, including thousands of parody mashups. The campaign has since gone on to increase sales of Old Spice by 107% and even won the Cannes Film Lions Grand Prix in 2010 (the advertising industry's equivalent of winning an Oscar for best film). Arguably, the most interesting and memorable feature of the campaign has been the interactive "Old Spice Responses". Responses was a series of 186 custom-made videos made for fans and celebrities selected from comments from Social Media Sites like Twitter, Facebook and Reddit (Ehrlich, 2010; see also Grant, 2010). These videos posted on YouTube became the basis for a viral campaign that achieved 6,000,000 responses in 24 hours. The true genius behind Wieden & Kennedy's simple idea, as Ehrlich points out (2010), is that it is viewers themselves who are maintaining the campaign's momentum as "viewers to go viral". This marks an important shift as "brands don't make viral videos, users make videos viral." That's exactly what Old Spice achieved." (Ehrlich, 2010). References: Grant, R. (2010, 10 August). 'Wieden+Kennedy's Old Spice Case Study' in We are Social [video] Retrieve 12 April 2010 via http://wearesocial.net/blog/2010/08/wieden-kennedys-spice-case-study/ Williams, M. (2010, 26 June). "Old Spice scoops Cannes Film Lions Grand Prix" Retrived 12 April, 2010 via http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1012646/Old-Spice-scoops-Cannes-Film-Lions-Grand-Prix/

My topic is more specifically related to videoconferencing, through the use of software programs such as Skype. But I found this article (and this marketing campaign) interesting as they were combining video technology with a marketing campaign, which was the first marketing campaign of its kind (Taylor, 2010). Video has many advantages including those discussed by Isaacs and Tang (1994), which are connecting people who are geographically dispersed, building motivation, providing visual cues and body language indicators. I think Old Spice incorporated these four benefits of video and utilised them effectively into their campaign. They could have made the responses in text only versions, but this would not have been as impactful or effective. They relied on visual cues and body language indicators to assist in delivering their message. Due this marketing campaign being innovative it helped to motivate consumers who were geographically dispersed into spreading these videos throughout their social networks. However as discussed by Masum, Brooks and Spence (2005), without the use of a high speed Internet connection this campaign would not have been as successful. A high speed Internet connection would need to be in place to upload the video content to its users and also share the content throughout the network. If it was still common for users to have dial up speed Internet connections, they would not have found this campaign as motivating as they would have had to wait for it to download and users may have become uninterested quite quickly. References: Isaacs, E., Tang, J. (1994). What video can and can't do for collaboration: A case study. Multimedia Systems, Vol. 2, Issue 2, pages 63 -73. Masum, H., Brooks, M. and Spence, J. Music Grid: A case study in video collaboration. First Monday. Retrieved on 16 April 2011 from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/rt/printerFriendly/1238/1158

Thanks Mandy, you make an interesting point about the importance of Broadband Internet in the growth and popularity of video as a means of communication. It is sometimes easy to overlook or even overestimate the role of tools and affordances in analysing collaborative projects and events. Rosanna's article "Egypt did not have an Internet Revolution" suggests the role of social media was greatly exaggerated by the media and, in fact, the most important collaborative tool in the recent Egypt uprising was, in fact, face-to-face communication and word-of-mouth.

As a not fully identified type of platform-a blog or microblog-Tumblr has become the preferred platform to share information and ideas. Unlike Twitter with limited 140 characters post and Facebook that ask you to create virtual identity, Tumblr give a space that is more fun and entertaining. As collaboration tools, Tumblr will be a perfect match with traditional publishing. This article talks about how publisher use Tumblr as an online tools to emerge two-way communication between publishers and readers. Author stated that by posting stories, Tumblr offer opportunity to make it going viral (Mwangaguhunga, 2010). The easiness of Tumblr to be shared around, give a chance that Tumblr will become a great collaboration tools. The five publishers mentioned in the article, each publisher using Tumblr in their own way to fit their printed version. They see Tumblr as a new way of communicating with younger audience and it is how they understand their readers. * Life (http://life.tumblr.com/) * The Village Voice (http://villagevoice.tumblr.com/) * The Atlantic (http://villagevoice.tumblr.com/) * The Economist who always incorporated their magazine with nontraditional elements that exist (http://theeconomist.tumblr.com/) * The New Yorker (http://newyorker.tumblr.com/). The way publisher post a story in Tumblr does not have to be the same type that they published on the printed version. It can be a funny story, a glimpse of what the audience sees on the next edition, a short video of related topics on magazine (which they can show in their magazine) and other type of content that give more experience to readers. Tumblr also can be a good publicity for the publisher, showing that they understand their readers. Mwangaguhunga, R. (2010). 5 Tumblr Microblogs that Works. Retrieved from http://emediavitals.com/content/5-tumblr-microblogs-work

Tumblr is quickly becoming one of the Web's most popular and unique platforms on which to share and discover interesting content of all media. Many popular publishers have flocked to Tumblr to share content in a new way. The article is interesting as it gives an overview of five publishers that use the microblogging platform effectively. Many companies are struggling with their social media strategy and getting it right can be a challenge. In order to succeed with tools like Tumblr, businesses need to understand the audience they are trying to reach and communicate in a language of their customers (Nathan, 2010). The five publishers that Mwangaguhunga (2010) examines know how to communicate in ways that attract their readers. The author suggests that frequency in posting is what attract and engage the community. Microblogging can be an effective tool for businesses if used well. One of the benefits of microblogging that has not received as much attention in the literature is its use for crowdsourcing. Crowds can be more performing and efficient than current organisations. Using a microblogging site like Tumblr for crowdsourcing can be faster, cheaper and more accurate than putting a project in hands of individuals (Kessler, 2010). Tumblr provides a new way of communicating with consumers, thus I find this article valuable as a resource for the project. References Kessler, S. (2010). 5 Creative Uses for Crowdsourcing. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/05/26/creative-crowdsourcing/ Mwangaguhunga, R. (2010). 5 Tumblr Microblogs that Work. Retrieved from http://emediavitals.com/content/5-tumblr-microblogs-work Nathan, L. (2010). How Businesses Can Overcome Social Media Obstacles. Retrieved from http://www.logannathan.com.au/social-media/how-businesses-can-overcome-social-media-obstacles/

From this article I found out that Tumblr as one of the blogging platform is a way for publishers to be more irreverent, funny and make them unique by putting on Tumblr both in their official website or even their blogs. This article mentioned about five publishers that use Tumblr as micro blogging social platform such as Life, The Village Voice, The Atlantic, The Economist and The New Yorker. In here, users can share both information and ideas whereas Tumblr give more space compare to Twitter which limited into 140 characters only. By relating to my own topic, which is talk about the use as well as features of social bookmarking site (delicious), tumblr both features and usefulness support as an online tools to works, create and emerges two-way communication within readers and publishers, it is a great collaboration tools since each of the users would be able to customized their own way, and as for this case as the outcomes, tumblr is a new way of communicating with younger audience, last but not least as for the sources itself, its taken from some media sites named emedia as in credible sources where it based on media organization. By looking at this article I found out several benefits of using tumblr and how the features support on how users - in here are publishers and readers are able to share both information and ideas. References: Mwangaguhunga, R. (2010). 5 Tumblr Microblogs that Works. Retrieved from http://emediavitals.com/content/5-tumblr-microblogs-work

This article by Peppler and Solomou (2011) looks at creativity and collaborative learning within an educational 3d virtual game for children aged 9-16, called Quest Atlantis. Their study in particular looks at Quest Atlantis's Architecture Unit where "individuals can actively contribute to their virtual environment and, in turn, shape the experiences of other players in the game through the creation of 3D architecture" (Peppler & Solomou, 2011, p.3). It is a fascinating study at how Questers engagement with each other and the game itself produced creative collaboration. Students had to choose an architectural team to work on, and then commence building in a 'sandbox world'. In the sandbox Questers "exchange ideas with others while in the process of constructing their own buildings" (Peppler & Solomou, 2011, p.5). The article provides a wonderful example of collaboration between Tina and Elle, two middle school students and how they exchanged ideas and spurred each other on in their building quests. Gresalfi, Barab, Siyahhan & Christensen (2009, p.30), explain such collaboration by saying "… they are able to share and contrast different ideas and opinions supporting a full appreciation both of the power of the conceptual tools they engage, and of themselves and their peers as people who use these tools". The use of a 3D online environment offers a unique and exciting way for users to engage and collaborate. Peppler and Solomou (2011, p.22) suggest that "those in leadership positions can capitalize on social media tools like Ning, Second Life, or other types of software that allow them to create their own social media environment specific to their community's needs". This article shows that all kinds of people and organisations can use social media to collaborate and work creatively to produce a desired goal.

References: Gresalfi, M., Barab, S. A., Siyahhan, S., & Christensen, T. (2009). Virtual worlds, conceptual understanding, and me: Designing for consequential engagement. On the Horizon, 17(1), 21-34. Retrieved from http://inkido.indiana.edu/research/onlinemanu/papers/gresalfi_horizon_2009.pdf Peppler, K., A. & Solomou, M. (2011). Building Creativity: Collaborative Learning and Creativity in Social Media Environments. On The Horizon, Vol. 19(1), pp.13 - 23. Quest Atlantis (2011) Retrieved from http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/

Contrasting the prominent role the internet played with political revolutions in both the Arab and Western worlds (Dutta, 2008) the striking notion is how significant the Internet and subsequent social medias are in empowering ordinary citisens. For the first time in history the minorities of society have a place to establish equal-footing, share information and as Conley (2011) notes destabilize the old guard and oppressing political regimes. As we see internet inspired revolutions spreading across the globe the idea championed by Ghonim that "the best way to liberate a society is to give them the Internet (Smith 2011)" is becoming increasingly relevant. There's also an underlying theme throughout this news report that this political collaboration was strengthened by the inept tactics adopted by the Mubarak government. As well as the significant costs to the Egyptian economy and businesses through unplugging the Internet, it only served to advance the cause of the protesters elevating personal political stories to a global audience and invoking internet users and organizations from around the world to partake and assist in this online collaboration. A pressing issue for me is the evolution of this collaboration, the grassroots movement can be traced back to 2008 (Egypt's opposition pushes demands as protests continue, 2011) and since then the underground and organized techniques employed by the protesters online, were crucial in not only this political movement going undetected by an oppressive regime but also the successful outcome of this collaboration. While briefly touching on the potential negative aspects of the greater utilization of social media, this source clearly demonstrates how the internet and particularly social networks have assisted in the liberation of the Egyptian society. Although it remains to be seen whether similar internet revolutions will occur, evidenced here is a political collaboration build online and as Cowie (2011) docume

In a media environment where opinion tends to incline toward black or white extremes, MSNBC's technology blogger Wilson Rothman clearly and diplomatically maps out Egypt's January conflict. Performing a simple online search of 'Egypt revolution' will deliver thousands of arguments for two sides of the coin: those reinforcing a dedicated belief that social media conceived and sustained the revolution, and those (such as Mayton, 2011) who consider this estimation a gross discredit to the majority of activists with no online access. Most refreshingly, Rothman refuses to bow to broad and antagonistic statements- preferring instead to present the chain of events and their professional commentary- providing his reader with the means to determine their own position. In light of Wikileaks tracing the seeds of activism from 2008, Facebook and Twitter was used to mobilise numbers for the January 25 demonstration. This is the function for which many consider the Government 'turned off' Internet in Egypt for, however Philip Howard regards the ability to document (photograph and video) and post online the violent police response as a far greater threat and 'kill-switch justification' for the Government. During this time, the leaked media (i.e. SpeakToTweet) were "rendered more uplifting and powerful by their illicit nature" (Rothman, 2011). Journalist John Guardiano has gone as far to say that "Mubarak resigned really because of the pressure imposed on him by CNN, Fox, MSNBC, Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Twitter, Facebook and the Internet" completely disregarding the Tahrir Square protesters and igniting the online comment "You bring your hyper partisan lens to bear on events you know little about" (Guardiano, 2011). Rothman's article reminds us that although Egypt's Revolution was 'Internet-fuelled' and gave individuals the capacity to "tell the story...and making sure someone is there to hear the story" (Rothman, 2011), it is

The Internet is growing fast since it first emerges and become the popular media for people. You will get more opportunity to share information and content. Moreover, with the development of smart phone that gives you ability to access the Internet on your hand creating the notion of "information overloaded" but in good meaning (Gilman, 2010). Social media is the most popular website type that regularly used. Business begins to see this trend as their opportunity to engage more with the audience by using social media as collaboration tool. Tumblr is one of the choice business can have. As mention on the subheading of the article, Tumblr can be a platform that sets you apart from the traditional marketing campaign when targeting younger clients. The ability to incorporate blog-type psoting, video and photo sharing in a web page give a good value to Tumblr and it is easy to use. You can log in into the website or make a phone call to Tumblr 866 and will automatically post in your Tumblr. Another advantage why business should use Tumblr as one of the collaboration toosl is you can limit what people see on the Tumblr page (Gilman, 2010). You do not have to build a complex profile to be shown in Tumblr. Tumblr also allows customizing your domain to fit your business personality. As mentioned on the other article that I posted, Tumblr can create the notion of viral. You can post a video to Tumblr page and get a comment or little interaction ("like" button) that can lead into your follower reblog your post, an easy viral distribution. Business should see Tumblr as a new communication tools with their audience, especially the younger one. Social media that they frequently use can be the way to get their heart and engage more to the brand. As collaboration tool, Tumblr create opportunity for interaction on a neutral playing field or allowing the meeting itself to become an opportunity for creativity and exploration. Younger audience is getting bored with the

One of the business that also use Tumblr is IBM (http://smartercities.tumblr.com/) In this Tumblr we can see the collaboration of company and audience (the Tumblr's followers). By raising the topic about "The Smart Cities", we can conclude that IBM build this Tumblr in purpose of social responsibility project. Followers can contribute by telling IBM a great city that you have in mind.

Although I am not sure if a YouTube video link is alright for this assignment I felt it was a great source for the topic of online collaboration in student education and learning. Coomey envisioned an online global collaboration of journalism and broadcast students from different universities and in the year 2000 set out to accomplish this project in collaboration with other universities around the world. Many obstacles were in the way of success however, mostly technical, and highlight the evolution of online collaboration technologies. Computer access in 2000 was not as readily available as it is today in 2011, bandwidth was slow and internet connections were unreliable. Time differences between the students in their respective countries was also an issue as for this project, chat rooms were used as the main collaboration tool. Coomey ultimately says the collaboration effort was not really a collaboration as the students weren't able to work together due to these technical issues but rather they were only able to discuss their projects after the fact. Now in 2011 as most of the technological issues have been solved and also with the development of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. A new project called the Global City is now in it's maiden form and the website can be found here http://www.theglobalcity.org/. With the continuing evolution of online collaboration tools an the innovation of users we can see that many of the obstacles and boundaries once faced are slowly able to be dissolved, which opens up new opportunities and experiences to students around the globe. References: Coomey, M. (2010). The Virtual Newsroom: An International Online Collaboration between Broadcast Journalism Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPAtVVKwzPw

As a journalism major having spent the last two weeks working 9am to 6pm newsroom shifts to produce our newspaper's first edition for 2011, I find myself particularly drawn to this topic. Putting aside its unreliable air-conditioning and sticky keyboards, the short tempers of sleep-deprived students and the threat of vitamin D deficiency...working in the newsroom proved to be one of the most socially creative and genuinely rewarding environments I have experienced. And I can say with certainty- it wouldn't have been the same online. I am an enthusiastic advocate for the news media to embrace the online sphere and enable its consumer to "archive, annotate, appropriate and recirculate media content in powerful new ways" (Jenkins, 2004). The convergence of news online presents an exciting opportunity for audiences to interact with the news in "increasingly participatory" (Dueze, 2007) ways such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube (Coomey, 2011). There are noticeable positives to an online newsroom: reporters can publish their work immediately and from anywhere, the capacity for international voices, and not having to rent office space or purchase on-site equipment. According to a 2005 survey into the roles of journalists in online newsrooms (Magee, 2005), organisations expect their journalists to multi-task- writing, producing multimedia, and publishing their work- an overload which may dilute the quality of the product. A traditional newsroom has its journalists physically and mentally there, and the atmosphere is intoxicating. It's noisy, you bump into people, and there's always someone microwaving Chinese food. You don't need to wait for someone to come online to reply, or get tripped up by faulty programs and Internet connection. It's a hive of imagination and collaboration. Someone will walk past and offer their suggestions on a better layout, people call out for a headline or editing suggestion, others showing photographers and

Newsweek decide to use Tumblr as their collaboration tool and this is the reason.

Honestly, we can say that decision to use social media as collaboration tool to achieve marketing goals is still blurred. Business is still experimenting to see how it would work by looking at audience reaction and response. That is also what Newsweek did as explained in this Tumblr post. As Mark Coatney, the senior editor who is in charge with Newsweek Tumblr account, mentioned Tumblr could be the future of magazine journalism (Coatney, 2009). The reason he used Tumblr is not only for mimic the trend among publisher to use social media as collaboration tool, but he see Tumblr as a new way to connect to audience. Various contents that you can post encourage a deeper engagement rather than a 140 character on Twitter. Tumblr which follower can choose to like the post or reblog the post shows how audience is equal with the publisher. Younger audience wants this kind of relationship so they have the sense of ownership to the magazine. This collaboration tool shows how conversation build in the platform build a stronger relationship between publisher and audience. With collaboration, publisher has a chance to have a frequent post or deeper explanation about topics that discussed on the printed version. The ability to personalize Tumblr page and poste different format become the advantages of this platform compare to other social media. Actually, the way stories posted in Tumblr similar to magazine layout, fresh and creative. That why I'm agree with Coatney that Tumblr can be the future of magazine journalism. Coatney, M. (2009). Why We Tumbl. Retrieved from http://newsweek.tumblr.com/post/255742202/why-we-tumbl

I have seen Tumblr used in many different ways, such producing a blog based on photography, fashion or art for example. A lot of these are personal blogs where the person has created the photos or art and is posting it for people to see, but then there are so many blogs which are based on reclogging other people's posts within one of these themes. It was interesting reading this article as being familiar with the use of Facebook and twitter for traditional media companies, I had never thought of Tumblr being used for this. Although as stated in the article, Tumblr does not have nearly as many users as Facebook or Twitter, it has the ability to spread images, text, videos and links for users to see in a much easier way. For example on facebook a link posted would only be seen by those who are a fan of the page, whereas on Tumblr, once something is reblogged it is seen by all of the followers of that person, and if two more people reblog it from there, it is seen by all of their followers too. With Tumblr being a growing platform, media companies have the chance to gain attention from thousands of people from all over the world.

Tumblr becomes new media that more conversational than Twitter nor Facebook. The multi format of contents that you posted builds more conversation and comments rather than posted in Twitter. The content also become more fun and interesting, also engaging to reader that invites them to involve in the conversation and share it to others. Most of the publisher consideration to use Tumblr is because of the more conversational aspect. Facebook is more to building identity in the web but Tumblr an extension of their printed materials. The feature of not showing how many followers that you have-not like in Twitter or Facebook-also makes Tumblr professionally one step ahead. As the senior editor of Newsweek, Mr.Coatney, that start using Tumblr for his magazine say, "It is less about broadcasting to an audience and more about communicating with a community." (Wortham, 2010) As collaboration tools, Tumblr fit printed media perfectly. It becomes the new extension of magazines that engage a whole new conversation level. The relationship is no longer between letters to the editor, but readers involve as co-creator that give them sense of ownership (Wortham, 2010). The development of web 2.0 creates the notion of two-way communication pattern that need to be followed by traditional media. Wortham, J. (2010). Media Companies Try Getting Social With Tumblr. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/technology/02tumblr.html

Highlighted throughout this wire piece is the principal idea that the collaboration of online political supporters of the Obama campaign did not happen randomly, rather as Benko (2008) notes there was a "clear vision" behind the strategies used to empower, encourage and promote this activism. While this article takes a more statistical approach the vast success that the campaign had in translating online collaboration into an offline political movement is demonstrated as over 150,000 campaign related events were organized through online communities, and in the last week of the campaign online volunteers were asked to make over a million phone calls encouraging others to vote. A key strength of this source is the lack of political ideology or motive present. As a news piece it offers factual and well supported observations and comparisons as to how this online collaboration evolved. This is documented when noting the crucial role that this organized campaign played in generating financial muscle for the candidate, Obama himself noting "that it was the working men and women" who helped to obtain over $600 million most of which was donated online. The Obama campaign employed the right people in Rospars, Hughes an Goldstein (2009) to exploit the potential Youth, grassroots and hard - to-reach voters with an online political strategy they helped to not only involve them in this revolutionary online collaboration but to also give them a feeling of political empowerment. This reliable source is therefore key in documenting how the Obama campaign skillfully executed an online strategy to maximize group collaboration. Offering not only a balanced and factual observation as to how the internet empowered and mobilized the ordinary citizen thus revolutionizing the political scene of the western world, but also crucially that with this campaign there was a clear bridge that activism online can result in political involvement and ultimately change offline. Refer

It is important to remember that, although Obama cleverly attached the Internet to his campaign, a combination of factors contributed to his 52 per cent (Stirland, 2008) majority: A compelling and humanising personal narrative, stellar oratory skills, and that "the moment was perfect for his message of 'change'" (Norquay, 2007). Obama's candidacy was a consciously planned and executed national movement that "lent itself to mass mobilisation among that very portion of the population that is the most new media friendly and tech-savvy, the younger demographic" (Norquay, 2007). The youth not only engaged in the web pages and online action groups produced by the Obama campaign, they took it upon themselves to create their own media content; such as the 'Yes We Can' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY, 2008) celebrity-driven music video which reached Youtube notoriety, or the portrait graphic a supporter produced later going on to be assimilated into the official promotion. This content-creation parallels my topic on Middle East revolutions, through activist's construction of uniform slogans, signs and imagery (McHugh, 2011). This article concludes with the prediction that Obama's "rise to the presidency will be studied for years to come as the textbook example of a new kind of electioneering driven by people and technology" (Stirland, 2008), and- to a less successful extent- this was realised in the Kevin07 campaign, in which "Kevin Rudd launched his campaign to online publicity buzz- turning to blogging, Youtube and Facebook" (Best, 2007). The Obama Campaign speaks volumes on trends towards the democratic possibilities of technology; but dystopian thought suggests that "people go online to find out more about a subject, not to be politically transformed" (Lievrouw & Livingstone, 2002). Even though a 2000 ULCA study (Kahn & Keller, 2004) showed only 29.7% of users felt the internet led to people having greater pow

The idea of collaborative video creation and crowdsourcing

This was an engaging article that provided an insight into collaborative video platform Stroome by interviewing its co-founder. Stroom is a relatively new platform that allows individuals to upload video and edit it with multiple individuals from around the world. Stroom is essentially focused on providing a platform for crowdsourced video. Individuals can work on an editing project by themselves or with others. In a nutshell Stroome can be defined as a "collaborative video editing service" (Scott, 2011). This article links well to my topic of crowdsourcing. I am interested in discovering new tools which draw on 'the wisdom of the crowds' and encourage collaboration between individuals from around the world in new and interesting ways. This article interviews the co-founder of Stroome and provides us with an insight into what stroome is about, how crowdsourcing can be utilised through Stroome, and what the future of video uploading and editing is. It is a reliable and useful source if you were interested in Stroome, crowd sourcing, and the potential path video and crowdsourcing are heading towards. Since this tool is relatively new, it provides us with insights into future trends and how crowdsourcing is evolving online and taking advantage of different media forms for a wide range of purposes. According to the article Crowdsourced videos are just beginning to flourish, however they do have a huge potential and provide great opportunities for areas such as citizen journalism. Most recently, "Stroome was used by protesters in Egypt when the government blocked Twitter and Facebook" (Scott, 2011). This quote from the company's co-founder suggests that this platform is also about liberation and spreading details through viral platforms such as Stroome. Overall a useful source in relation to crowdsourcing, citizen journalism, and online collaboration through interactive media platforms. References Scott, J. (2011). Can collaborative online video creation go mainstre

This article explores how a world-wide furnishing store (IKEA) used their already existing culture to guide the production and implementation of their intranet to ensure the technology was the right fit for them. With a very strong focus on teamwork, community and collaboration already recognised in the IKEA business-model, IKEA were well aware that a strong corporate culture does not guarantee user-acceptance of information systems. "Rather than forcing its corporate culture to bend to accommodate a technology-based system, IKEA used its firmly established culture as the foundation for its IT solutions." (P. Chin, 2009) And something must have worked. In 2008, IKEA Inside (their intranet) was listed in the world's ten best intranets by well-known user-experience research firm Nielsen Norman Group. IKEA were mindful of not letting the technology they introduce ruin an already well-established human focussed corporate culture. They said their culture gave them the framework to introduce new things to the business - including information systems and technology. As Beth Gleba, Internal Information Manager for IKEA North America points out, "Before, during and after [intranet implementation], our culture is our culture." In my experience as an intranet manager, I definitely agree that a company's already existing culture will influence the final state of a technology. In organisations that don't focus on people or put staff at the front, there will often be a "disconnect between the technology-based systems and the people they're meant to support." (P. Chin, 2009) It is because the people who've made the technology haven't taken into consideration the end-user, or worse, just don't care - and where that happens that attitude is often supported by the already existing corporate culture. Reference Chin, P (2009) Inside IKEA's Human Intranet Approach Retrieved from http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles/200908/ij_08_21_0

Thank you for this article. I leaned something very interesting. "I do a little, you do a little, and together we do a lot" (Chin, 2009) This could well be the mantra for IKEA. As a company with a strong brand identity and customer-focus, here we see how important it is for IKEA staff to have the right tools and platforms to allow them to find the information they need, quickly and easily. At the same time Beth Gleba, Information Manager of IKEA North America, is aware that tools are only part of the story. It is people who make IKEA what it is. It is a place where children are free to jump on the beds, while their parents browse. Part of the success of IKEA is it's strong brand focus and supporting charities is one very important way corporations are building on their social capital by bringing attention to issues close to the hearts of customers and staff alike. In one of my shared articles Mangold & Faulds (2010) point out "organisations can leverage emotional connections by embracing one or more causes that are important to their customers." Such practices give staff and customers a sense of 'belonging". Here IKEA goes one step further by not only providing products and issues to discuss but also provides them with the tools they need to do it. One interesting point I noticed was IKEAs use of Social Media tools to create employee profiles. This aids in fostering group cohesion and allow staff to get to know one another and feel a part of the IKEA family, which for a large firm, can be very difficult to do. They also make very nice meatballs! Reference: Mangold & Faulds (2009, July-August). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix in Business Horizons. 52(4) 357-365

As Virag Molnar (2010) emphasises, researchers who have studied the Flash Mob phenomenon (and its derivatives like subway parties), have only focused on the role of digital communication technologies such as blogs, social networking websites or mobile phones, in the organisation and collaborative processes. Yet, in her paper, she remarkably examines how Flash Mobs, as new types of collective actions, provide insights into the "intersection and interaction between new communications media and changing uses of physical urban space" (2010). Using the example of Flash Mobs, she states that communication technologies (mobile phones and Internet in particular), have become powerful design tools used for encouraging new forms of sociability and collaboration, emphasising that they are at the very core of these new kinds of organisation models. Following Rheingold's concept of Smart Mobs (2002), Molnar draws the differences between Flash Mob actions happening in Western Europe or in the U.S, with contrasting Flash Mob events in Eastern Europe or Asia. She highlights that cultural factors will influence sociability as the essence of Flash Mobs and describes their instrumental use to express political, marketing or entertainment purposes. Nonetheless, it is clear from her explanations that whatever the aim of the Flash Mob is, the online collaboration step to make it happen remains as an essential aspect of offline mobilisation and acts as a springboard towards it (Picataggio, 2007). REFERENCES Picataggio, S. (2007). "Use of Social Media and the Internet", on Flash Mob: 101. Accessible from http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall07/Picataggio/index.html (accessed on April 12th, 2011) Rheingold, H. (2002) Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. New-York: Basic Books.