Virtual Worlds: What Are They?

We all know that one person that "lives" on there computer. What could they possibly be doing for hours on end? When  you ask them their answer is usually,"I'm playing my game or I have to check how my avatar is doing." This means they probably playing a massively multiplayer virtual world online game.Some of the more popular ones we know of today are:
World of Warcraft
Sims
Second Life
Halo
Face of Mankind
Gods War Online

Massively multiplayer online games represent a range of worlds, including ones based fantasy, science fiction, the real world, super heroes, sports, horror, and historical. The most common games are fantasy worlds, unlike real world based games are pretty rare. Many massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPGs) have real-time actions and communication. Players can create a character that travels between buildings, towns, and worlds to carry out business or leisure activities. Communication is usually textual, but real-time voice communication is also possible.Virtual worlds are not limited to games but, depending on the degree of immediacy presented, can encompass computer conferencing and text based chat rooms  Sometimes, emoticons are available, to show feelings and facial expression.

"A virtual world, or virtual environment, is usually an Internet-based simulated environment inhabited by avatars, or graphic representations, of its interactive users"(Safko). An avatar can be represented textually, by a photograph, logo, image, or more popularly used a 3-D cartoon-like person, animal, or object. Although the social interactions of participants in virtual worlds are often viewed in the context of 3-D Games, other forms of interaction are common as well, including forums, blogs, wikis, chat rooms, instant messaging, and video-conferences. Communities have their own rules, topics, jokes, and language. Members of these communities can find like-minded people to interact with. whether this be through a shared passion, the wish to share information, or a desire to meet new people and experience new things. Users may develop personalities within the community adapted to the particular world they are interacting with, which can impact the way they think and act. Internet friendships and participation online communities tend to complement existing friendships and civic participation rather than replacing or diminishing such interactions The most popular virtual world is Second Life. The name itself is kind of explains what it is, it's the players' second life outside of the real world.  Rosedale developed Rig, a large, slow, expensive, and difficult to wear and use system. It then evolved into the Internet software Linden World, which was designed to allow its users to play games and socialized with other users in 3D online environment. Linden World then grew into today’s Second Life software experience.     In 2008 Second Life had a banner year. There were 16,785,531 people registered Second Life and "residents" spent more than US $100 million on virtual goods and services. Across the world players participated in more than 397 million hours.

Disabled or chronically invalided people of any age can benefit enormously from experiencing the mental and emotional freedom gained by temporarily leaving their disabilities behind and doing, through the medium of their avatars, things as simple and potentially accessible to able, healthy people as walking, running, dancing, sailing, fishing, swimming, surfing, flying, skiing, gardening, exploring and other physical activities which their illnesses or disabilities prevent them from doing in real life. This one of the benefits of the virtual worlds. But people with medical conditions aren't the only people using them. Companies are using them as well. Big names like Disney run have their avatars and businesses running 24/7, so anyone that that logs in at anytime can "go" to Disney and have some to interact with.Other than people that use these worlds for business and relief from their medical condition, is it beneficial for people to sit at their computers or TVs for hours on end? They is no end goal for the game, you are basically living a second life through the computer.Thank you for reading. I would like to know your thoughts.
What do you think?
Do you think virtual worlds can become too much?

ReferencesBateman, Patrick J., Jacqueline C. Pike, Nicholas Berente, and Sean Hansen. "Journal of Virtual Worlds Research." Time for a Post-Mortem?: Business Professionals' Perspectives on the Disillusionment of Virtual Worlds. N.p., 2012. Web.Kamberi, Shahnaz. "Journal of Virtual Worlds Research." A Cross-Case Analysis of Possible Facial Emotion Extraction Methods That Could Be Used in Second Life. N.p., 2012. Web.Safko, Lon. The Social Media Bible Tactics, Tools, & Strategies for Business Success. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print

Online Albums: The Scrapbook 2.0

Did you have a fun night out with your friends? You typically post a picture. Have a really delicious looking meal? You probably posted a picture. Our personal lives are typically closely tied with our online world, and sometimes even overlap our professional lives. Photo-sharing is often how we keep friends and family both far and near in the loop about our lives. It is like a real snapshot of lives followed by hashtags. However, these regular updates of pictures can have a harmful effect on our lives.

With all of these things that seem normal or just life, there are people who want to use them to make advertisements more personal and less picture-esq. Instagram recently released new terms and conditions that allowed them to harness these pictures for third party use without consent or compensation. The outrage of new terms lead to Instagram losing half of their daily uses a month after they were released. Even though Instagram retracted the new terms many people felt like their personal lives, and up close and personal moments were violated. Even though Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said that they would be changing a clause of the new terms and replacing it with the original terms. They have decided to gear away from marketing and come back to it at a later date. However, this cut was already too deep and many people moved to photo-sharing sites such as Yahoo!'s Flickr which was created to rival Instagram with similar features, including being an app and having filters.

Many large companies and celebrities stopped using Instagram with the new terms, including National Geographic and Kim Kardashian. The number of users went from 16.35 million users to 8.42 million users in a week. 

Ironically, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook is allowed to access your photos much like Instagram intended to. However, Facebook has always been able to access photos.

A new app allows people to share photos for limited amounts of time, Snapchat. You take a picture and it is gone in seconds once opened, and you even get a notification if your photo was screenshotted by the receiving end. While this technology is new, many arguments against it include that it is the new way to "sext" AKA "sexual texting" or sending inappropriate pictures. Snapchat does not hold pictures so it is still under investigation.

Inappropriate pictures often effect job prospects for people. Many people's personal lives overlap with their professional because they post pictures of them getting drunk. There have been instances when a woman was depressed and took a leave of absence from work. She then posted pictures of her "having
fun and being happy" forcing her to lose benefits. It is still in litigation.

What are your thoughts? What do you think of using an individual's photos for advertisements? How about that Facebook can and Instragram cannot?


References

Bosker, Bianca. "Nathalie Blanchard: Depressed Woman Loses Benefits Over Facebook Photos." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 Nov. 2009. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.

"Instagram Loses Users in Photo Rights Backlash." TVNZ. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.

Kelly, Heather. "Instagram Backtracks on Terms of Service." CNN. Cable News Network, 21 Dec. 2012. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.

Social Media in Mainland China – “bei hexie le”

What? Bei hexie le??? For your information, that is not a typo. In Mandarin Chinese, “bei hexie le” means “(something) has been harmonized.”

According to the Wall Street Journal report by Xiao Qiang and Perry Link, people in mainland China have to be very “creative” when communicating on the internet because the government is actively and heavily monitoring people’s conversation in the cyberspace. So, instead of posting “my wallet has been stolen” on the internet, one must use “wo bei hexie le” as a “synonymic but good” expression (translated into “I have been harmonized” for the bad accident happened to me). Otherwise, this kind of messages will be screened, and their voices will never be heard.

For a long time, I have known and accepted the fact that I cannot communicate with my family and friends in mainland China via social media. They have no access to Facebook, Twitter, or my blogs --- you can be the judge here and decide whether my blog is strictly business focus or promoting anti-China thoughts/activities.

Regardless, I have to admit that I am very impressed with the power of the Chinese government. How can it manage to literally cease the social media movement in a country of over 1.3 billion people? Can China continue to do so by stopping the social media movement in the history of human development? Very likely, China has the power to do that, but I wonder if such scrutiny on censorship will actually do more harm than good to the country and the Chinese citizens.

I am not a politician by any means, but I see social media as a very powerful communication tool for business. Business must actively engage with their customers and business partners on social media to stay competitive. Yes, there are times when people say negative things about the business, but social media is not about “controlling” or preventing what people talk about on the internet. Rather, business needs to take every feedback seriously and respond to the negative reviews in a professional way. Think positively, customers are providing the business an opportunity by providing negative feedback so that the business can address the issue before it becomes too big or too late.

Under the scrutiny on censorship in mainland China, my friends can occasionally jump over the firewalls and access their Facebook and Twitter accounts. There are two popular and so-called social media tools available in China --- Weibo, which is the only microblogging tool that is certified by the Chinese government, as well as WeChat, which is a mobile app for photo sharing, text messaging, and microblogging. I tried to sign up a Weibo account about a year ago. I was denied because I was using an e-mail address at Yahoo.com. I am now using WeChat to connect with my friends and family in China, but it does not seem like a real social-media tool to me because my friends cannot see any activities between my other connections and me. For example, they do not know if we have any shared connections or what I “like” or comment on WeChat; they cannot even join the conversation between my other friends and me on my wall (except the time when I initiate a group chat). Then, in what way can WeChat and Weibo help promote an international business?

There are advocates promoting a life-style with no texting, tweeting, or Facebooking. Maybe this group is exactly what the Chinese government is after.  

What do you think? Is the censor’s scrutiny helping the country and the people living there? Why or why not?

Other relevant discussions:

“SoLoMo” and Legislation

Starbucks and Pizza Huts: Time Has Come for a Rapid Expansion in Mainland China

The Biggest Challenge and the Hidden Opportunity of Entering the Chinese Market

Investing in Lodging Stocks in China

References:

Qiang, Xiao and Link Perry (2013, January 5-6). In China’s cyberspace, Dissent speaks code – What to escape the censor’s scrutiny? Call the regime a ‘heavenly dynasty.’ Just don’t get ‘happieness-ified.’ The Wall Street Journal, C3. Also available online on http://on.wsj.com/SqXeU0

The picture was downloaded from Geek.com.

Can You Carry a Good Conversation? The Basic of Social Networking

Social networks can be referred to as a complex social structure in which people connect with one another. Social networks have been around for as long as there have been human beings. People established networks by interacting with one another. Now that there is internet, which allows people to break the physical boundaries and connect with others in almost everywhere and at any time, will people find it easier to build a social network?

Indeed, it is often just one click away from connecting with someone online, but think deeper, there is no shortcut for building a real social network. Let’s say if we want to establish a professional relationship with a potential business partner in a traditional setting. First, we will find ways to get introduced to the partner. Then, we want to speak to the partner on the phone, in person, or at least with e-mail/mail. Such conversation provides a good opportunity for both parties to assess each other’s work and ideas. If both parties are interested and able to carry a continuous conversation, a network can be established.

Likewise in the cyber world, online connections may not necessarily mean social networks. For example, there are online connections we know nothing about other than their name and job title. There are also connections we might know in person but do not talk to each other for years. Will you trust a connection like that and do business with him/her? If we cannot even trust a person’s profile, how can this connection turn into a beneficial relationship? Will you still consider this person part of your social networks?

If we want to turn our online connections into our valuable social networks, we must be able to network with our connections through on-going conversations. I believe the following networking tactics may help:

·         Update all user profiles in social networking sites. Make sure there are a professional picture and a brief work history that shows a person’s work ethic.

·         Make notes about the connections, which can be used as references for follow-up conversations. LinkedIn, for example, allows users to write notes on their first connections’ profiles. Such notes are only visible to the user himself/herself.

·         Interact with connections by clicking “Like” or posting a short comment on their updates. Ask questions if the topic/conversation interests you.

·         Send birthday wishes, season’s greetings, and “congratulations” to connections if they post good news.  

·         Share useful information on connections’ wall or through e-mail if they might have interest.

·         Tag or mention connections in an update or picture on your wall if the topic is the connections’ interest.

·         Ask intellectual questions and seek feedback from the networks.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn provide an additional means for people to stay connected. However, just as what we do in a traditional setting, we must continuously engage with our connections on social networking sites to build a valuable social network.  

How important do you see an on-going conversation in a relationship? What other tactics will you suggest to help people better engage with their connections on social networking sites?

References:

The picture was downloaded from BoundaryInterFaces.WordPress.com 

Beyond a Profile Page: A Continuous Discussion of “Seeking Jobs on Social Media”

It is no longer a secret that companies use social media to recruit and select managerial candidates. As a result, if a job seeker wants to catch an employer’s attention, s/he must be visible online as an expert.

Last year, I published an article about social-media job-search tactics in HOSTEUR™, in which I shared some career advice with hospitality and tourism students. A year later, I was invited to write an article of the same topic for the HealthyYou Magazine, but this time my target audience is the students majoring in nutrition science and public health. I actually offered similar advice to both groups (even though with different wordings). The truth is it doesn't matter in which area(s) a person wants to advance his/her career. The basic tactics of using social media in job search remain the same. Here are some examples,

• A job seeker must understand the characteristics and qualifications that his/her ideal employer is looking for in order to design/develop an appropriate personal brand that fits into this employer’s expectations as well as his/her own career goal.
• Having a presence on major social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter is good, but not enough. A job seeker also needs to actively participate in online forums and discussion. The more useful information this person shares, the better. The more this person helps other in a specific area, the more likely this person will be known as an expertise in a particular domain.
• It is nice to connect with the industry experts, professionals, co-workers, clients, and people who share the same interests, but these connections may not mean much if we never interact with them. A trustful relationship is built over time through continuous interactions.
• Being negative and critical is fine because it shows a person’s professional knowledge (at least it indicates that this person is capable of identifying an issue), but it can be better if this person is able to offer constructive feedback, suggestions, and alternative solutions to help solve the issue.
• In order to leverage the power of social media, professionals and students must be willing to share their knowledge and some personal information online. A person can have the most brilliant idea in the world, but such wonderful idea might never be discovered or searchable by a potential employer if this person keeps everything private.

What do you think? Will those tactics work in other disciplines besides hospitality and tourism, nutrition science, and public health? What other useful suggestions will you make to those job seekers who plan to use social media in job search?

Relevant discussions:
Tactics of Seeking Jobs on Social Media

Privacy vs. Efficacy: Which One Would You Choose? (Using Facebook in Job Search)

One Has No Choice But to Manage His/Her Online Image
Background Check on Social Media: Now Is a Serious Business
Using Facebook for Background Check
Social Media and Job Search I
Social Media and Job Search II

Social Media and Job Search III

Personal Brand and Social Media
Managing Your Online Reputation
Ways to Clean Up a Person’s Negative Online Reputation

References:

Kwok, Linchi (2012). Beyond a profile page: Using social media to build a personal brand and impress potential employers. HealthyYou Magazine, 12(1), 14 – 15. (Available in print but not online yet).