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Samantha Gilham

Twitter Literacy (I refuse to make up a Twittery name for it) | City Brights: Howard Rh... - 0 views

  • To me, this represents a perfect example of a media literacy issue: Twitter is one of a growing breed of part-technological, part-social communication media that require some skills to use productively. Sure, Twitter is banal and trivial, full of self-promotion and outright spam. So is the Internet. The difference between seeing Twitter as a waste of time or as a powerful new community amplifier depends entirely on how you look at it – on knowing how to look at it.
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    I love his quote about Twitter being banal and trivial, all of the superficial characteristics that many social media sites are comprised of, but also can also be a "powerful new community amplifier."  Looking at technology vs. knowing how to look at or use technology are two different things.  
Jorge Arganza

Howard Rheingold | Exploring mind amplifiers since 1964 - 5 views

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    I have been following Rheingold's work for some time, and I highly recommend falling down through his particular 'rabbit hole' of stuff. He studies online communities and ways in which ICT enhance the individual and the collective group's capabilities.
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    This is an interesting blog as long as you can get around the book promotions :-) I thought the Social Media section on the site particularly interesting. One of the articles I liked was the one on Smartmobbing by Howard Rheingold (http://rebooting.personaldemocracy.com/node/5484). This is an interesting idea because a lot of politically charged organizations are utilizing social media to basically create online mobs. Social media is now used to organize petitions, spread the word about marches, and basically spread information. People who were once sort of out of mainstream politics can now get involved and keep track of what is going on in the world. Social media has definitely influenced politics, changing the way parties endorse their candidates and more.
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    @ Maranda (aside... I didn't see a way to "comment on a comment" so I am posting this directly under the main post) -- I think the the social mobbing you mention is a really interesting trend. In my town, we recently started an online petition through change.org to keep our town pool. It took only a few days to get twice the signatures we needed and no gas was used or feet blisters created. I am trying to think critically of a downside to this manner of using social tools, but I cannot think of one! @Jorge -- Very nice blog. I found a great article (http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428043/there-is-no-digital-divide/) debating the other side of the digital divide argument posed by the NYT's piece from last week. I also like Rheingold's "infotention" invention. I could use a little "infotention" intervention -- every time I get involved with a tech or social tool, a new one is created that seems better and more suited to whatever task I was trying to accomplish. Sometimes I feel as if we are living in a time when nothing remains permanent.
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    This guys seems very clever and witty! I enjoyed reading his blog about Twitter (http://blog.sfgate.com/rheingold/2009/05/11/twitter-literacy-i-refuse-to-make-up-a-twittery-name-for-it/) talking about how this powerful social media can be so influential and useful if the user knows how to utilize it for the right reasons. Being a non-Twitter user, I found it interesting how he explained numerous advantages of being an active member. Now that I've read this, I might reconsider of joining it...
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    This was a very informative blog! Thanks Jorge. Like Pam, I really liked the "infotention" idea. diigo is a perfect example. I really just started looking at it today and was really confused (if you couldn't tell with my questions) on how it worked, where to comment, etc. The more I've looked at it today, the easier it has become to use. But something new will probably come along in the net couple months and then I'll have to learn how something works all over again.
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    Jorge, this guy has been around forever and really has some interesting ideas. Looking through his website, which has a nice design to it, Rheigngold does a great job of talking about the positive impact technology can have on society, particularly from the standpoint of collective cooperation. As recent history shows, the use of technology has the power to bring people together, even to the point of ending a decades-long dictatorship.
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    Howard Rheingold has very interesting points on his website/blogs. I like his Infotention definition and how he believes if we are armed with the right tools/skill-set, we can address information overload. I also liked how he stressed instead of continuing to criticize the negative impacts of the internet on us, that we find better tools and ways to learn to engage the technology in a more mindful and positive manner. it is in our capabilities to do this.
Ronald Jay Gervacio

How Facebook is ruining sharing - 5 views

  • goal of the initiative is to quantify just about everything you do on Facebook
  • turning out to be really annoying in practice
  • it's killing the possibility of viral hits by generating such an overwhelming flood of mundane shares
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  • Sharing is the key to social networking
  • hurting sharing is a disaster for a social network
  • Sharing and recommendation shouldn't be passive
  • Frictionless sharing via Open Graph recasts Facebook's basic purpose
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    This article discusses about the negative impact of Facebook's Open Graph (frictionless sharing") in the world of social networking. It gets really annoying when someone would share an article/news/video etc, the user would first have to install an app into their profile!
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    RJ, this is a great article. I had noticed those 'trending articles' and spotify things on my facebook page, and I have been avoiding the opt-in's but I wasn't aware of what was going on. This article explains it well.
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    I know right.. me too! I usually have to circumvent the process in order to avoid installing the apps. I would go straight to the website where the news/article is posted instead of clicking the link directly from Facebook.
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    Yes, thank you. I was treating all those "trending articles" like spam. These types of posts have been a recent annoyance with my FB (I've been on since 2007), and I was starting to get the nagging feeling that FB was going to be slowly taken over by information not related to your chosen friends group. I was envisioning having to weed through pages of passive posts to get to your real information. Would this not be the death knell of the service?
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    I'm not a fan of the news sites social readers; most of my network uses the Washington Post one and Yahoo. At first I thought it was cool, but then I got weirded out at the thought of my network being able to "see" what I'm reading at any given time. What if someone made assumptions about me based on what I was reading at any given time? I really wish Google Plus would take off...the only reason I, and I suspect a lot of other people, are holding fast to Facebook is that our friend networks aren't making the switch...and what's the point of being in a social networking site if you're the only person there?
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    I really liked the quote "sharing is the key to social networking" and it shouldn't be passive, but not aggressive either. Oversharing becomes a problem where soon newsfeeds are clogged with a million stories and recommendations. Like others above, I'm immediately turned off when I go to read an article and have to download an app first, it's frustrating when clicking an article becomes a long-winded process. @Meaghan I was also a huge proponent of Google + at first, was one of the only people who originally had it, waited for it to catch popularity, but here it's almost a year later and I still haven't gained any new friends. I wonder what the hesitancy is behind not using Google+. It's interesting to think about the decision and thought processes social media users go through when deciding what forums to use or not use, why do some people actively use Facebook, but not Twitter? I'm guessing theories such as media richness (lean vs rich messages) and other factors come into play, as well as ease of use.
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    I have to say I've never heard of Google +, and have often thought about shutting down my facebook account for good...I wont do Twitter. What does that mean for me as a MLIS major I often thought? Should I be more "plugged in"? I'm becoming nostalgic about old means of communication (letters, books, even phone calls) This is also troubling because I feel that the new open graph is very overwhelming, have have clicked on links and then shut them right back down, because you must enable MORE links, apps, programs, all wanting to get my inforamtion. It's also scary that facebook is becoming a necessity, rather than just a fun social networking site. My old high school depends on it to contact us for reunions, my aunt uses it as her main way of contacting me, and its often the only way I'll ever see those photos my sister took at the beach! We've Created a Monster! Keeping it a simple model would be preferable.
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    Great points Amanda. On the other side, I would say forums like Facebook has allowed us to keep in contact with those we wouldn't normally have access to, or find those we wish to contact but can't find in just the yellow pages. I agree there are times when I wish someone would pick up the phone and just call instead of trying to have a text conversation or email conversation. However in terms of using Facebook and other e-vite sites/modes, sometimes it is the cheapest and easiest mode to send out a mass message i.e. school reunion invite, in as little time and for as little money as possible. Also you can get real-time RSVP, which I'm guessing from the views of the event administrator can be super helpful when trying to get an idea of attendees. I do also feel nostalgic about old means of communication and often wonder how people will communicate in the future, what communication choices they will make, etc.
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    I found Open Graph for the first time writing an report for Library School on my favourite site, Board Game Geek (boradgamegeek.com). It's kinda worrying, in the same way thrid party cookies worry me: it a use of technology that can be used for good that could be so easily subverted. That would make a good project, I reckon.
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    People shouldn't be that surprised that a company that just went public with great fanfare is looking to monetize every single possibility it can. Like Samantha says, Facebook is a great, inexpensive tool for keeping in touch with old friends as well as meeting new friends. Just like with Gmail ads that are based on the contents of the user's emails, there is a price to pay for these 'free' services. As consumers of these services, we all have to decide at what point has the commodification of our private lives gone too far.
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    Brian, I think you really sumed it up when you said "As consumers of these services, we all have to decide at what point has the commodification of our private lives gone too far." This hits home with me because I've been feeling that way lately. Ever since my son was born, and everybody wants pics of him up on facebook, I've been thinking worried, and wondering if it's worth it? How exposed do I want my newborn son to be?
Brian Peters

Internet and Society: A Preliminary Report - 0 views

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    This study published in 2002 really hits home after watching the Mike Wesch videos last week, particularly his presentation concerning villages in New Guinea. At the very top of the report, it clearly states "that the more time people spend using the Internet, the more they lose contact with their social environment. This effect is noticeable even with just 2-5 Internet hours per week, and it rises substantially for those spending more than 10 hours per week." And this was in 2002, prior to the growth of twitter, facebook, and iPhone. Not only are we constantly plugged in at home, we can take our Internet with use now. 
Anton Angelo

Unfriending Over Politics: Facebook, Twitter Users Flee Contrary Opinions - The Daily B... - 2 views

  • But here’s the kicker: some 38 percent say they were surprised to learn that the political leanings of others were different than they imagined.
    • Anton Angelo
       
      Any ideas about the details and veracity of the study?
    • Anton Angelo
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    I thought this was a humorous article on how online social circles are really not all that different from dinner party social circles.  Although I bet that people are quicker to jettison someone via an online tool than in person.
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    Pamela - I think it's the same superficiality that would allow people to "friend" others they hardly know just based on shared political beliefs, that would allow for them to "unfriend" others who are close to them in real life just based on differing political beliefs. I also wonder how many of those who un-friended people did so because they were genuinely offended or because they feared it might affect their social status.
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    Although I haven't unfriended anyone over a political spat, I'll admit to having blocked the FB status updates of one of my acquaintances who was continually posting things that I wasn't really interested in seeing. It's very easy to use the block function in FB to make sure a particular person's updates don't appear in your feed; you don't have to de-friend, which is more drastic (and then you might have to awkwardly explain WHY you defriended that person), but you can avoid content that gets under your skin and not take the bait, so to speak.
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    Much harder to ignore your best mate's obnoxious partner at a dinner party (and all the other occasions you'll see them) than on facebook. I suppose this is another example of the Filter Bubble. ("what does she see in him? I suppose we can't not invite him....")
Jennifer Bradley

FarmVille: The Garden in the Machine | In Media Res - 4 views

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    Here's an interesting article about the social mechanics of Farmville and how it mimics the ideals of "gift economy" often demonstrated by non-western, "primitive" cultures, such as those of native Papua New Guineans.
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    The in-text link to the article: " The High-Tech Gift Economy" is also worth a read. It compares the proliferation of shareware and open source software to the political movement of anarcho-communism.
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    Oh dear. I wasted many an hour on Farmville back when it was big...way more than I'd like to admit. That's a neat connection between the digital farm and the real world--and how people's obsession over the game (though I don't know if it's still the case...I deactivated my Farm because it was, well, eating up my entire life!) speaks to something deeper, like the desire for community.
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    There are some failures in the analysis made in the "High Tech Gift Economy". Thinking that the internet was created by the military is a bit of a canard: in my opinion it was the most inventive misuse of military money by a university. Also there is a conception that the 'net runs on the love of pixies and nerds, where in reality it runs on commercial networks successfully making money. I'd much prefer pixie net, but it just ain't so :(
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    I remember playing farmville and cafeville for a few months. They were catchy, but I felt they were a bit off. The idea of being chained to the computer so my crops would not spoil or my food would not overcook was draining, so I finally gave them up. Plus, the more I read about Zygna, the less I liked them as a company. Here is an blog post about how farmville and the like induce anxiety by design. http://consumerist.com/2010/12/game-developer-says-farmville-is-designed-to-be-negative-and-draining.html
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    That's really interesting Jorge: I used to play civilization, but it doesn't help me relax, it just winds me up for hours, in much the same way. Then I discovered Osmos, and have a game that actually feels calm and meditative, bizarrely enough. I had enough of those damn smirking pigs, that's for sure: no wonder the birds are angry.
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    I never got into Farmville myself, but I do remember my news feed on Facebook being overrun with notifications that friends wanted to share their crops and farm animals with me. I got the feeling there was a mob mentality to the game and I was personally turned off by the idea of buying into a product simply because many of my friends did so. The game shows how much our lives can be affected by technology when a "game" dictates how we schedule much of our time just to ensure our imaginary crops don't wither before we can harvest them.
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    Anton, I agree, Civ would keep me up for hours and hours, but I would argue that Civ is different from the farmville model because it is not oriented towards a repetitive (and time based) requirement that one has to come back to the computer a certain time later to click on stuff. Even the social aspect of farmville is a kind of pressure to get more friends into the game just to unlock more stuff, rather than to share in a community effort or a competition.
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    You should definitely look at Jesse Schell's lecture (I think maybe next week?) I put it as optional but do take a look.
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    I do not understand the appeal of Farmville or any other of the 'games' on FB. I guess I also don't understand some people's obsession with their FB or Twitter accounts. If I want to keep in touch with my friends and family, I text or phone them directly - I feel more connected by having direct interactions with them versus reading their wall or sending them a 'gift' for their fake farm. I feel relieved that I no longer have a FB account, and stay in close contact with those people that I really want to keep in contact with. I don't think the 'social' aspect of FB is a substitute for F2F interactions with people you actually like instead of Like.
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    Jorge, that's an interesting blog post, and does point out one of the big reasons why I stopped playing. It was fun for a bit, watching my crops grow, and even uplifting when my facebook friends helped out my crops or sent me gifts without my ever asking, but the planting schedules and need for "x" amount of friends in order to expand made it get old pretty quickly. And I refused to spend real money it.
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    I am sadly one of the people who is currently in the middle of an obsession with a Facebook game. I was able to get away without ever touching Farmville but then they introduced a Hunger Games-based Facebook game... which is basically Farmville with Hunger Games characters. So, yeah, I know how many hours can be wasted on such games. It's really sad; I try to keep my feed as free from my posts about it as possible for my friends' sakes. I remember there was an article in the NYT a while ago about the fact that these games can be just as much of an addiction as more nefarious-seeming things. I didn't think it was possible but then again... I've also spent quite a lot of time collecting hundreds of items that I will probably never use for a mediocre game. :(
Kerianne Cassidy

Facebook for First-Graders? The Social Media Giant Looks to Welcome Kids Under 13 | Hea... - 5 views

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    How young is too young? Are kids today really not interacting in person if they're busy building an online network?? My internet use wasn't policed when I was a kid, but then you couldn't do much via AOL dial-up! What happens when parents aren't as technologically adept as their kids?
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    I think this is not a good trend, although FB will probably make it happen anyway. It is already pretty obvious that today's teens do not know how to interact socially in a proper manner - they text constantly even while standing next to each other because they prefer to send messages and avoid f2f interaction; they construct sentences in a twitter-like manner. Kids need to form friendships and interact socially face-to-face, not just virtually. They need to speak to others live, know how to write coherent sentences, and not spend so many hours glued to their technical devices. Parents need to impose more guidelines. Librarians can help by assisting in finding age-appropriate websites for children. We don't need to take away the technology, but we do need to help teens and children use it in a better way.
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    I guess the logic is that kids under 13 are using the site anyway, by lying about their age or getting someone older to create an account for them, so perhaps the best course of action is to create a space specifically for them--with more restrictions and stricter privacy settings. I hope that this pre-teen space is diligently patrolled, and content vetted thoroughly before it gets posted online (sort of like having a forum moderator approve all posts before they appear on the site). I'm not sure if this is feasible....I suppose it depends on how many pre-teens sign on to this thing.
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    I. don't. like. this. My 12-year old wants a FB account simply because all his friends have one and not for any other reason. It just adds one more layer of policing that schools and parents have to be on top of. I am one of the lucky few parents whose kids are pretty good at self-policing their screen time, but I know that's rare. There are plenty of fun, age-appropriate sites for kids that age -- Pottermore comes to mind... my kids both signed up for accounts there and spend time doing the things tweens like to do, i.e. dueling their friends and socking away Galleons in their Gringotts bank accounts. If they spend a hour on Pottermore, then they know they have to go outside and shoot hoops for an hour. I am a little shocked, actually, that FB thinks tweens are a shoe-in market, since usually that demographic wants NOTHING to do with what their parents do... has FB really cracked the generation gap??
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    While I don't condone kids spending all their time on the internet, interacting with their friends through IM, I do understand the need for Facebook to create a space for kids under 13. Kids *are* using it anyway, so it only stands to reason (in my opinion) that FB do the responsible thing and police them. My step-sons both have accounts on FB. The oldest is now 13, so he's legitimate, but the youngest is 11 and he wanted one because his brother had one. He also so he could keep in touch with us (he's in Kansas, we're in NJ), so his step-father set up the account and monitors it. I would be a lot happier with him being in a policed-by-moderators environment so I didn't have to rely on his step-dad to do it. I think that there's an upside to the possible changes to FB, as long as it can be properly implemented and policed. I'm just an optimist, what can I say? And yes, I also believe that FB has possibly put a little crack in the generation gap.
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    The biggest question for me is how will the children under 13 who desire to have a facebook account react when they learn that to do it, the account must be connected to their parents account? At some point every child does something that they do not want their parents to know about..... would that be a deterrent? Would they continue to lie about their ages and use the other tips and tricks to fool the system? Back when I was 14-15 I had a "LiveJournal" account, that I willingly gave my mother access too. I had nothing to hide. But I lost several friends who felt betrayed that my mom was able to then see their posts through my account. I trusted my mom, but my friends didn't. Its a tricky web of social norms, relationships and technology.
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    I think this an inevitable situation because it's so easy to circumvent the system by just modifying the birth year. Facebook is probably just trying to protect themselves from future legal actions by letting the parents be responsible for accounts of their kids. I still don't like this but let's face the reality, Internet is so big and difficult to be policed.
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    Amanda, I think most young teenagers have accounts in online communities that they're not supposed to be on until they're a little older (those little boxes asking you whether you're over a certain age are pretty much ignored completely). I don't like the idea of young teenagers being on Facebook but my reason is more along the same lines as the first complaints about Facebook expanding: Facebook was awesome because it was a way for those in college to meet, look at each other's pictures and bios, and organize parties. Of course, it's turned into something much bigger but I'm still selfish about it: it's like I'm on vacation and I don't want to have to deal with the loud little kids jumping in the pool.
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    Just off the top of my head, I would say that 1st grade is definitely too young for a Facebook page. This article reminds me of one I read not too long ago about a mother who punished her daughter for posting pictures of herself pretending to drink by making her post new pictures of herself holding a sign warning against such behavior. The punishment photos went viral and served to teach the daughter a valuable lesson about putting compromising information on the internet.
Amanda Bailey

Computers Grade Essays Fast ... But Not Always Well : NPR - 1 views

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    Really interesting NPR piece on computer software that grades homework/essays for students. Do students "miss out" by having their work graded by a computer instead of a person? How will these types of programs impact the future of education? Can we/should we/are we replacing teachers with computers? Pennsylvania currently offers an online public schooling option, is this a move in that direction?
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    Interesting article. My stand on this has always been that some people need an online option. For instance, more than a few of my kids' acquaintances are professional track dancers. This requires huge time commitments in Manhattan, daily. In fact, dance becomes first. Most parents want their kids to finish school so they purchase seats in for profit online programs. Why should these parents who already pay taxes to support school systems not have equitable access to education? This would/could also change the nature/scope of the homeschool dilemma. My point is, not all kids need to be boxed in a room in a building all day to learn. some need that kind of structure while others do things that can't be accommodated y a 9-5 schedule.
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    I agree entirely. Both of my siblings attended vo-tech high schools, which operated on a rotational schedule with "traditional" schooling for 3 weeks and then a shop/trade for 3 weeks. For them, they needed an option that was not a traditional classroom but gave them an outlet and focus, keeping busy with their hands as well as their minds. I think the online schooling programs in PA are a similar option, providing flexibility and opportunity to students at different levels or in different situations.
Amanda Jacobsen

When Businesses Use Social Media: How Much Is Too Much? - CBS News - 0 views

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    By now, most businesses know they should have a presence on Facebook or Twitter. But the more digitally-savvy businesses often ask, How many? Should you have only one Facebook page? Or multiple ones?
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