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Isidore Gotto

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Where are we all moving with Social Networking / Online Communities?

Is social a new way or just a bubble?

If you believe Social is a new way, do you feel it will stay around and where do you feel its going, whats next for social?

If you feel its a bubble, Is it half full or ready to pop?

Related Talks:
Topics: Community Development Internet Social Entrepreneurship community human behavior interface design product design social marketing social media social network
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    Debra Smith 200+

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    Mar 17 2011: I think that its likely that more like minded people will focus on the issues that concern them most and will come up with better, simpler solutions. Less information will be hidden from view and more informed people are the key to undermining power that is used wrongly.
    More people will help for the joy of helping because they will know who to contact and what to do.
    If the current form pops a newer form will arise because people have discovered the benefits and want it to work.
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    Karthik Krishnamurthy

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    Mar 14 2011: Social Networking and online communities are a powerful force - and I think it will stay around for the simple reason that people have a strong desire to connect with others.
    I think right now, there are two distinct type of online communities (or if you prefer 2 distinct ways of using Social Networking):
    1. Connect with people you already know, whether they are from far away or people you interact with constantly
    2. Follow an area of interest, connect with others that are interested in it, and share things that are of common interest

    The majority of Social Media users today use these online communities for point 1. A smaller percentage, mostly made up of people who are very passionate or interested in an area, those that work professionally in such a field, and people who are deeply engaged in Media and Technology in general use Social Media for point 2.

    I think Social Media will stay around, especially to connect to those we already know - having a one-stop destination for a number of different contacts will likely continue to be an attractive proposition for some time now, and the fact that these tools allow us to stay engaged and aware of things going on in people's lives will always be an important factor.

    On the second front, I would hope to see a much larger percentage of people using Social Media to engage their interests, delve deeper into topics, and connect with people that would have interesting perspectives to share with them. This part of the story had barely been written. I think that this will expand very quickly, and give us a much larger group of people who are engaged and aware of the areas of their passion - and more importantly, influenced by viewpoints of similar people around the world
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    Sasa Marinic

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    Mar 12 2011: the "social" offers the opportunity of engagement without obligations. (there is no social obligation to reply or visit or even greet for that matter. on the other hand it much easier to find "friends" and keep in touch no matter where they are.
    I think that at certain moment a saturation will occur and more "niche" online societies will gain in activities. the social will become (if it is not already) a part of our normal day. the social is already most important marketing channel. It is here to stay, but probably in another role than it is today.

  • nicki Defalco

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    Mar 6 2011: For some reason people feel lonely, so they created this social media crap. They rather talk to a computer rather than another person.
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      Pasquale Borriello

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      Mar 8 2011: This is totally pointless. Social Media is really about talking to people.
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    Mark Rakowski

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    Mar 5 2011: In a few years social will be part of the fabric of the relality we know. Riight now we have a better chance of determining what that will look like than we are likely to have in the future. (Notice this statement holds for whatever point of time you are currently in.)
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    Ashley Rodriguez

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    Mar 4 2011: I'm still undecided on how social networking will affect our future. What I do think is that it not a reliable form of communication as its not dubbed a primary point of contact. You can't necessarily get upset because someone didnt see your facebook post or tweet...or can you? I also feel its desensitizing how we express our feeling as it can act as a forum to emotionally dump what you feel in the heat of the moment and your not really held accountable. Its like there needs to be rules for communication online: do you use emoticons to show your happy or are they stupid? caps? exclamation marks, italics, bolding... its very hard to interpret how one is feel through text and some people just dont know how to communicate via text and it convolutes emotional reaction even more.

    We also need to educate people/parents with children on how to protect them from online predators...and yes, this is a whole other subject that I could go on a tangent about...but the bottom line is I think there needs to online/internet education to understand online communities and their pro and cons. It should be a part of school curriculum and new parents should be inundated with material on how to educate and protect our youth...

    I attended a luncheon on social media by Dr Montana Miller. This is all i could find on her online but she had some really great points on how it affects us: http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/popc/page16741.html & http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/mc/zoom/news120809.html
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