I found this article a little hard to digest at first. A lot of the tools used in the research I had no idea even existed and some of the terminology also drew blanks. But this reflects more on my lack of exposure to API's and Twitter than the article itself. I feel this article is valuable in that it exposes the ability of researches to drill down into the twitter sphere and its data, tapping into a global conversation. I was surprised to find out just how much and what kinds of information could be isolated from the global feed. This is also very useful because it made me begin to think about ways twitter data might be used. Like Jannicke mentions in his article summary the overall effect of this data mining results in 'temporal and geospatial content analysis'. The statistical ability to associate a percentage of twitter activity within separate countries was fascinating. The results surprised me in the sense that countries often highlighted as being less technologically advanced clearly find use for the technology just the same. For example, yes America is the highest tweet generator at 25% but in 3rd and 4th place was Indonesia with 12% and Brazil with 11% (Garaizar, Reips 2011, p. 636). This article does stray a little from the topic of 'Twitter and Political protest' but it does manage to contextualise the possible use of data after or during and event or protest. Overall the article really made me think about how and what online social data could reveal about our societies. It takes us one step closer to notions of a 'globalisation' when services like iScience Maps can literally put every tweet on the map.

In this article there are real world examples of how mobile technologies are being used within the four walls of a bricks and mortar retail store. The article interviews two different people and investigates their use of Smartphone technologies while shopping for retail goods. It proves valuable not only because of its direct reference to mobile technologies in the hands of consumers, but for the first time we can begin to see the evolution in mobile device information sourcing. Although both the consumer and producer are slowly realizing these capabilities, it is fair to say that the ongoing process of experimentation reflects mobile device adolescence. There are connections between reoccurring themes such as changing business models, changing consumer behavior and the evolving development of mobile applications that are best understood when put into practice. More specifically just how could information be used and integrated into the everyday conditioning of mobile devices? One example as illustrated in the main focus of this article, are applications that are used in store by Smartphone owners in order to compare prices on stocked items. However depending on Smartphone user location settings retailers can push additional information to shoppers already sourcing product information from competitive brands. This reference to retailers also utilizing mobile technologies and information distribution is equally as valuable and shows a shift in business practice that surpasses traditional discount models. Bustillo, M., Zimmerman, A.(2010, December 15) Phone-Wielding Shoppers Strike Fear Into Retailers. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.retailgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/2010_1215_Phone-WieldingShoppersStrikeFearIntoRetailers.pdf

I have centered my approach to the main theme of Mobile Phones and Crowd Sourcing on both the Radio and Retail industries. With the acknowledgment that Mobile Phones, Crowd Sourcing and Social Media are all connected through the creation and distribution of information, this article further explores the individual adoptions or resistance to associated practices relating to the main theme. The article 'Public Radios Social Media Experiments' (Levenshus, 2007) proves itself very useful in its ability to pin point relevant conclusions regarding the role of the audience, the nature of online communities, the use of associated tools and reasons of reluctance towards industry integration. Although this article responds directly to Radio the points of analysis can also be applied to the Retail industry. These conclusions referred to the transformation of listeners/consumers into potential sources of information and the ability of audiences/consumers to contribute and reveal an unexpected wealth of knowledge. It is here that the connection to information obtained by crowd sourcing on social media platforms is supported and the seamless integrated of mobile devices into this process could be assumed. The article also surmises that social media and crowd sourcing strategies are essential to the future of public broadcasting. This should also be considered with reference to Retail. There are explanations as to why resistance to social media opportunities may occur. For example, resistance is due to the lack of knowledge, resource allocation and institutional culture (Levenshus, 2007). But above all the article describes online communities as organic, dynamic and having lives of their own (2007), giving us a valuable base with which to analyse the role of mobile devices in sourcing information. The provisions of such analytical conclusions help to develop a better understanding of the overall affects to industries such as Radio and Retail as they reconsider busi

Thanks for the heads up Dean - the link loads fine in a new tab for me... Have I done something wrong in my post do you think?

As with any critical research involving new technologies the acknowledgment of a 'lack of concrete academic scrutiny and scientific evidence' (Boria et al, 2008) is important. In this article it acts as a timely reminder that mobile devices are still a currently evolving technology. This point serves the reader well when they are trying to position the use of mobile devices and their abilities in sourcing information. There are a number of important points highlighted throughout the article that are directly linked to this evolution. Firstly the evolving role of the consumer that is emerging empowered, sophisticated, critical and well informed. Secondly the developments towards effective leveraging and deriving value from social media-based tools and thirdly the continual shift in consumer behavior away from 'corporate communication' and towards 'peer reviews', ultimately affecting buyer intentions (Boria et al, 2008). Taking the fore noted current evolution of mobile devices into account, a small suggestion that we are 'in the process of replacing phones…' (Boria et al, 2008) all together, can be best understood with reference to traditional mobile technologies. They could not access the Internet. Although this is the only direct reference to a mobile device there is extensive analysis into the sourcing of information by consumers. With out mentioning the Smartphone but accepting its general mainstream adoption, it is easy to assume that consumers sourcing and contributing product information could do so easily from their mobile devices whilst in the act of shopping.

Reference: Boria, Constatinides and Romero. 2008. Social Media: A New Frontier for Retailers?. Retrieved from http://www.utwente.nl/mb/nikos/publications/ecpapers/constantinidessocialmedia.pdf

This article is by Mark Ramsey the author of two radio industry bestsellers. He has extensive experience in broadcasting, both television and radio, and is influential in media research and strategic implementation (Ramsey, 2010). Mark Ramsey states 'Radio can have a huge stake in social media thanks in no small part to our powerful megaphones' (2010). It is with this remark that the rest of the article can be better understood as a valuable resource when discussing mobile devices, crowd sourcing and their importance to radio if it wishes to embrace a new media platform. The ease with which users/ 'audience will give up information' (Ramsey, 2010) and participate in real-time interactions (ie.tweeting or sms stations) highlights a need of the audience to not just listen but join the conversation. Radio is shifting from a once passive 'you push, they consume ' to an active ' you join in, and they share' medium (2010). Although this article skims over any direct reference to mobile devices, it remains relevant because it highlights the driving want of audience participation and the role of radio to 'respect the audience and add value to their lives' (Ramsey, 2010). This shifting relationship is facilitated in large by current developments in mobile device technologies. Traditional forms of media such as radio have to now reconsider how their content is being consumed and respond adequately to their audience. Ramsey, M. 2010. About. Retrieved from:http://www.markramseymedia.com/about/ Ramsey, M. (2010, July 26). Radio's Social Media Performance is Pathetic. [Web log post]. Retrieved from: http://www.markramseymedia.com/2010/07/radios-social-media-performance-is-pathetic/