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For those of us born before 1990, the rigours of social media can seem like a chore. Though most business owners would agree that a presence on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest is a necessity in today's competitive market, the question still looms: Who's going to do all the tweeting and posting and pinning?

Interesting article. They may have written the headline just to catch one's attention, but I don't agree that it has to do with your age. I think whomever gets the position of handling the company's social media should be an articulate writer, have strong business etiquette, and a strong understanding of the company's objectives and corporate social responsibility. This can be either a 22-year old or a 50-year old. I don't think age is the question here. Perhaps the headline writer had limited space to work with : )

Gawker's Adrian Chen tracks down the identity of reddit.com's violentacrez. I'd never heard of this person, but the headline grabbed my attention. The article has some really great insight into how reddit is run and the role of moderators on the sites boards. Also an interesting read in regards to the politics of online identity protection and the role of anonymity in online communications.

This article really draws out a lot of the concepts we've been discussing in class in terms of popular assumptions about digital usage. I don't necessarily agree with a lot of the things Mann is mentioning, but I do think it is worth a read.

"We just made history." That Nov. 5, 2008 tweet from the campaign of Barack Obama capped off the first presidential election of the social media age. Four years earlier, Howard Dean had begun to reveal the power of the Internet for fundraising and organizing in his losing effort, but it was the 2008 Obama campaign that really demonstrated social media's power to be transformative of the political process. And yet, social media as we know it today was in its infancy.

Really interesting article about a new app that will lock cell phone texts/phone calls to prevent digital eavesdropping/monitoring. I think it will be interesting to see how this plays out and what the long term affects/reaction (both socially and legally) will be. "The legal barrier for eavesdropping has never been lower. We've learned to be comfortable with it because, for the most part, we've never had any means of escape, but Silent Circle could change that."

We've been talking about Wente in class so much recently, I thought it would be good to take a look at an article she wrote concerning a topic we are all familiar with: university. Interesting to see the rhetorical devices at play.

Really amazing rebuttal to her comments here: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2012/10/22/wentes-university-prescription-is-misguided/ worth it if you can fit it in!

Hayley, an MPC student last year, made this resume in video format. I found it a really creative, fun way to present a document that's increasingly feeling like a product of a bygone age. Cool as it is, it must be a pain to keep it up-to-date.

I think this is a new aspect in the reporter/journalist vs. citizen journalist debate. Really interesting how there is already a policy in place regarding live-tweeting from the athletic department at the University of Washington. "Social media has irreversibly altered the media landscape, and the power relationship between big content brands, individual reporters and fans. But the major money makers - ad-rich TV and radio, in particular - will always, or at least for the foreseeable future, remain in the control of the powerful. So it's best for them to lay off the micromanaging, and accept some bit of change."

Another way that Facebook seems to be limiting privacy options. While they bring up a few valid points about how much the site has grown recently and the barrage of comments from users not really familiar with the issues, it is still pretty concerning to have even less control than we already do on this site

Instagram has been around for two years but it's really only taken off since the beginning of 2012. Since this is the first calendar year in which it's been a major social media player it is interesting to see the records it keeps breaking in terms of most popular day yet on Insta. In the past month both Hurricane Sandy and now Thanksgiving have broken the record. I can only imagine that X-mas next month will keep the records going - people love to Instagram food pictures.

This article is pretty relevant to the readings we have for this week. I found it interesting that despite having many friends on Facebook, the author defines all of his "real" friends by things that they do in face-to-face situations, which doesn't really consider long distance relationships.

A new crowd funding platform allows community members pay for their own civic improvements. Community members can petition for projects as well as contribute to ones municipalities have put forward. I also really like that there are no rewards for contributing, just "a sense of neighbourly satisfaction". :)

Building off of Yates article...Union Square Ventures recently posted an opening for an investment analyst. Instead of asking for résumés, the New York venture-capital firm asked applicants to send links representing their "Web presence," such as a Twitter account or Tumblr blog. Something to think about when applying for internships and jobs in the future!

I agree with you Rya. While I appreciate such innovation, it's difficult for me to comprehend the privacy issues related with such a thing. Doesn't LinkedIn suffice anymore?

I agree with both of your comments Rya and Raman. There really does seem to be a privacy issue here. I suppose with all the recent competition for work, employers are looking for ways to distinguish candidates (doesn't seem fair). Although we started off building our "online presence" for personal reasons, there appears to be a need to build a public professional presence as well. Perhaps the trick is to keep your personal account private to maintain our sense of privacy and start building an online professional profile that is public. Blogging about a professionally related topic, linking field-specific articles etc. might be the way to get noticed.

Really interested article about YouTube shifting from user-generated amateur content to professional content. Wonder if becoming a YouTube superstar will still exist if YouTube becomes just another TV channel?

Wow. This is really interesting and such a great way to present the information.

A light read, but a really great insight into wireless networks in Canada. Funny how the market is "functioning well," yet there are still so many accessibility issues related to internet access which need to be adressed, especially with regards to rural communities. The issue of access was touched on in Dijk's readings.

While writing my blog, I found this article which backed up an opinion I had about the use of technology. This is a blog written by an elementary school teacher in California. He writes about using technology in the classroom -- that it should be for learning and not for technology's sake. He brings up some interesting examples and scenarios.

It's amazing that we repeatedly face this debate. Educators at all levels are continually facing a technologically determinist position from the public, technology companies and policy makers. But the writer of this post illustrates really well, that it's how technology is used that's important. Thanks for the great post.

I'm passionate about water conservation so I find the content really interesting on this site, but content aside - this is an awsome example of how to properly use infographics. Great elements of visual design!