When coming into this course I can’t say that I had used too many social networking software and I can almost say the same thing now. Well this is kind of a lie; I had actually signed up to and used many social networking software before I came into this course such as MSN, IRC, ICQ, Myspace, Last.FM and a multitude of different forums. However out of all of these social networking software I had only stuck to and used MSN over a long period of time and even then I did have many long breaks in use. So you can see that I don’t have a good track record for using these kinds of software so I was a bit hesitant when at the start of this course when they wanted us to sign up to some of these social networking software and actually use them. But I had to do it so I decided to sign up too and/or start using again;
Last.FM,
Twitter,
Facebook,
Del.icio.us and
Blogger.
Last.FM
Last.FM is a social networking software that revolves around music. It works by setting up a profile on their website and then installing there program onto your computer. This program then watches what music you are listening to on your computer and updates your profile about that song and artist. With this information it can then generate profiles on the types and amount of music you listen to and find people who have similar music tastes to you. You can then add those people to your friends list or people you know already so that you can follow what they are listening to.
Twitter is a social networking software that allows you to post small messages that others can view or have sent to them. Your message on the site can be updated by either going into your profile on the website or by an SMS message. People wanting to view your messages can go to your profile and view it directly or have that message sent to their profile, mobile phone or preferred instant messaging software.
Facebook is a social networking software that works almost like a heap of other sites on the internet like Myspace and Friendster before it. It is just like these other sites because they all allow you to create a personal profile about yourself that others can view and add posts too. The way it differs from the others is in its functionality. Facebook allows the user to create and play small games with others and it also has RSS feeds you can setup about your profile.
Del.icio.us
Del.icio.us is a social networking software that allows a user to store, share and find bookmarks to websites. Del.icio.us doesn’t need a user to sign up to the site to view and use the bookmarks of others but if you wish to make your own list then you will be required to register.
Blogger
Blogger is a social networking software that allows a user to keep an online journal. This journal can be used for anything like a diary, a personal website or in my case a place to submit my work. The blog can then be read by anyone who wants to view it. To create one you need to sign up on the site.
Now I’m not going to sit here and lie to you that I used all these software and/or that I used them in great depth. In the end the only two that I really used were Twitter and Last.FM. That’s why I am only going to talk about them and explain my experiences. My experiences with the softwares can be summed up with just two questions, “Why did I actually use the software” and “What annoyed me with its use?”
First let’s talk about Last.FM because it is the software that I used the most. Like I said earlier I had used the software before I started this course but even then it was one of those things where I only used it for a week. So I decided to log onto the website to see if my profile was still there and if I could remember how to get into it. Luckily for me I actually did remember my details and the profile was still there so I downloaded the application again and installed it. The reason I ended up actually using this software was two fold. The first reason is that I listen to a lot of music and secondly because this software doesn’t require you to actually do anything different. Every time I would open up my music player of choice the Last.FM application would also open up in the background and start automatically recording what I was listening too. This was great for me because if I had to put effort into using it then I already don’t like it.
On the other hand the software did end up annoying me in a couple of ways. Firstly it was too hard to add and find your friends with it. I remember chatting to Vic online after I had set it up and we decided to add each other as friends because we were both using it. However I found it very difficult to find her profile even when I had her username on the site and when I did find her it failed to add her the first time I tried. My second problem was more on what I was recording. Too often when I am on the computer doing things like assignments I will be listening to music and if I get too caught up I start to tune out the music. This is a problem because I don’t really listen to all the music that I have in my play list and when I would start to tune out songs would play that I would normally skip and suddenly when I check my profile to see what I have been listening too the most some random band like “The Clash”.
Twitter is something I started using because everyone at uni was saying it’s awesome. So I went to the site and made my account and added people to follow which was all pretty easy. I then set up the SMS option so that I could be updated over my phone because I noticed a few other people had done that. Now the reason I stuck with it and used this software was because it was easy to use. It had a simple interface which would allow me to change my message with ease and I could see what other people’s messages from the same place.
This however is where I start to hate this software. My first major issue with it is the SMS feature which has no respect for the time it sends the messages. Now I don’t understand why it is so important for some people to change their message at 1am in the morning to “OMG, I can’t believe it’s 1am, LOL” because it’s pointless, no one cares and also it sends a damn SMS to me which wakes me up. This leads me too my biggest problem with Twitter, I don’t care to know about what anyone is doing or feeling. If there is something so important that I need to know about it just ring me that way I know it is important. This also makes talking to you the next time I see you better because we will have stuff to talk about that I won’t already know.
Now thinking about my experiences the key point that keeps coming into my head is that I hate them and that I don’t really care about other people so much that I need to know everything about them, all the time. This doesn’t mean that I don’t care about others and that I prefer being by myself. It’s just that when I want to know about my friends and what they have been up too I prefer to actually talk to them face to face. This doesn’t mean these networking software are bad, it just means that they don’t suit my needs. And as stated by John Koetsier “I have real friends, thanks so much.” and “I hate networking anyways.”
Jake Solomon - 41168378
References
John Koetsier (2005)
http://www.sparkplug9.com/bizhack/2005/06/07/i-hate-networking-software/
13 comments:
good logical progression. its nice to see one paragraph lead on to the next one.
"Now I’m not going to sit here and lie to you that I used all these software's and/or that I used them in great depth."
:D well hey that's what written assignments are about.
And I agree with what blackjack said; as i rarely manage to pull that off >_>
First of all Jake dont lie, it wasnt random bands like the clash, Im sure i saw Britney Spears in your profile, from memory on high rotation.
But in all seriousness I do understand where you are coming from there. My taste in music is completely different to that of my girlfriend but we store all the music in one folder so i think i may have a few dodgy songs in my lastfm list.
Well written and it shows even though you may not have used the applications extensivly your personal experience seem to reflect that of many others.
Yeah, everyone has their shame albums that they don't exactly want listed on the net.
Also, Twitter doesn't work too well when you listen to a 2 hour mix of a DJ, as you are listening to multiple songs, it would be nice if they could locate the tracklist for the mix instead of just saying 'you are playing this mp3'.
I can relate to being reluctant to use the social networking tools, I hadn’t used any of them before. I also felt uncomfortable being required to sign up and use them. But I gave them a chance and admittedly I liked and used some more than others but I still made an effort to get the most out of all the tools. I think you should have been more lenient with some of them and not give up as soon as you’re required to make an effort. That way you might have got more out of them and found some features that appeal to you, at least I did.
As for twitter I agree those SMS’s can be annoying but you can easily stop the messages from being sent to your mobile during certain times, such as at night. I didn’t actually use my mobile to post any messages but some of the messages I got from people I was following were quite amusing, although I think they weren’t using twitter for what it was meant for.
The issue with Last FM is too true I'd seriously turn the plug in off to listen to some songs. I did find yours easy to read and you made some valid points concerning the tools especially when it came to twitter. Luckily I didn't give a phone number and didn't receive any messages although maybe that was the only way twitter was ever the slightest bit exciting.
Last.FM needs alot of music data to give you a good indication, at least a month before it can screen out stuff you only listen to as a whime (i.e the veronicas) and real stuff you like like david bowie.
love bowie.
exactly my sentiments! the use of these websites won't last long to me as i'm not the type to bother about other people's 'stuffs' and the purpose of doing otehrwise remains vague. But I can't deny the fact that it sometimes does serve their purpose well, as dean said.
I understand your issue with receiving messages from twitter at late hours due to the fascination some people have at posting in the early hours of the morning. However Twitter actually does give you the option to turn the phone notification messages at certain hours, it's in the settings section. Though I do enjoy using Twitter at this current time, I feel that it will just be a phase and the novelty of it all will start to wear off.
Nice to see you being honest Jake. Good point about Twitter waking you up at obscure times, I'm so glad I decided not to do that.
I agree with the general consensus that the Twitter phase will wear out the quickest. For me its long term use will be as a free sms device.
I had to delete my first comment post because i had a stupid typo and couldn't work out how to edit it.
so here it is back again.
“if I had to put effort into using it then I already don’t like it.”
great work Jake. loved reading it. made me laugh.
Post a Comment