Social Networks vs The World

I am having trouble seeing how social networking sites are having a big impact on businesses outside of advertising. I love how facebook only shows me ads that I want to see based on my "likes & interests" and the things I click on (are they watching me?? Hmmm, maybe that will be next week's blog), but how is it really helping outside of that? I have read things about how businesses will do a search for you and dissect your facebook page when they are trying to decide whether to hire you, but I don't really see how that helps businesses in the long run, either.

I can see building "better" relationships with your coworkers, and ever your boss(es), but that only goes so far, and it certainly doesn't make big changes on businesses. I currently work at a restaurant in Miami, and we just recently launched a facebook page where we advertise specials and give out coupons. As far as advertising is concerned, this has actually brought in a good amount of new guests, but perhaps I should further explore how social networking will help out our business.

Becoming friends with guests of our restaurant is a process that we have already begun working on. But should we be more active and post comments on their status, or even on their pictures? "Hey take a look at this! That restaurant we went to last month likes my status and wrote LOL. Let's go eat there again next month!" Hey, it could work.

I don't think becoming close with our online relationships is really an option. These people don't see a restaurant that they're friends with as an actual person who could potentially be their friend. I think the idea would be to remain acquaintances and simply remind them that we exist. It could also give them a sense of comfort and familiarity with our establishment.

The amount of time required to do this effectively would have to be determined with time. So far, just a few of the managers work on the page during downtime at the restaurant. If this thing grows, so could the manpower necessary to keep it running smooth and effectively. I wouldn't be surprised to find that some larger companies have employees working full time on similar projects.

So, as for now, advertising is the only thing that is making a real impact on this particular business when it comes to social networking. But as many of us have already found out, the sky seems to be the limit when it comes to the internet.

The World Wide Government

I, for one, am thrilled of the way that the government has incorporated the use of the internet into their many services. Filing taxes online seems like a dream come true, and getting a new driver's license is such a breeze.. In fact, I couldn't even imagine doing it without the use of the internet as it saves so much of our time and effort. But some of the services they provide just seem as if they would be best done the old fashioned way: face to face. I personally haven't had any issues, but I can certainly see why so many people have.

I honestly do not see the sense in having virtual city hall meetings. I suppose it is a step up from conference calls, but I think our government should be conducting these important meetings in person. So much can be gained from being in the same room with the people whom you are conducting business with. I have little knowledge on how these meetings are actually conducted or how important they truly are, so I did some research of my own. Because of my limited Google search skills, I wasn't able to find much information. What I did get, I found at http://www.broadbandcommission.org. I was able to discover that the meetings aren't held for the more important government decisions, and actually allow the public to watch, and is a great tool in getting the people more involved.


The biggest problem I see in all this is the massive amounts of information the government is now forced to process and store on computers. I imagine that before everything was on the world wide web, the information was brought in at much
lower rates.





















I'm afraid that now everything has become impossible to organize, and things have a much greater chance of being lost or misplaced. But heck, maybe I'm just being too paranoid. At least they haven't lost me in their database!