Facebook is a global social networking website founded by Mark Zuckerburg in February 2004. Initially meant to be a website used exclusively by Harvard University students, it later expanded to encompass other universities, and finally, the world. It has over 300 million active users worldwide, and is growing at monthly pace of 288%

What makes Facebook so popular? I believe that would be due to the wide variety of applications, also known as apps, that are available on Facebook. On Facebook, one can share their experiences with their friends, talk about anything under the sun, poke people (sending a message to let them know that they have been poked, and that they can poke back) and make use of Facebook’s photo application, which allow users to upload an unlimited amount of photos. This is very popular, as there are no constraints placed on the user, unlike other sites such as Photobucket and Flickr.

Facebook users can add their friends, send them messages and update their personal profiles to let their friends know about their personal lives. This is a useful social networking tool as Facebook focuses on building a community of people with the same interests and activities (between friends, for example)

Many companies, famous bands and artistes use Facebook in order to promote their latest products, gigs, and newest albums. Why? Facebook reaches many people. With over 300 million active users, chances are people adding and “liking” or commenting on a certain person’s (let’s call him Mr. A) profile would lead to a domino effect, whereby the friends of the person who “liked” Mr A’s profile will be notified about the action, and may be intrigued enough to visit Mr A’s profile and perhaps become a fan. Facebook is also a hassle free way of communicating with others. Just type whatever you’re feeling, whatever you want others to know, and click “Share”. All your friends will be notified about your latest update. In addition, they can comment on your update, for example, an update saying that “ABC accepted my proposal, we’re getting married next year” would lead to a flurry of well wishes from the user’s friends. The ease of disseminating information is one reason why Facebook is so popular.

Being absolutely free, Facebook helps small organizations without the necessary resources reach out to a broader audience by connecting them together.

Examples of Singaporean companies on Facebook include ZUJI, a leading online travel agent, Samsung, Fujitsu and Starbucks.

]]> http://anonnewswire.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/facebook-make-over-9000-friends-get-spammed-by-them-with-group-invitations-and-page-suggestions-daily/feed/ 0 anonnewswire facepalm http://anonnewswire.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/twitter-im-12-and-what-is-this/ http://anonnewswire.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/twitter-im-12-and-what-is-this/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:01:51 +0000 anonnewswire http://anonnewswire.wordpress.com/?p=5 Continue reading →]]> Twitter

So I’ve been forced to use Twitter.

For a person who used to scoff (and still scoffs) at “social networking media” such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and WordPress.. this is hell.

What’s more. I have to blog about it. I’ll probably lose my IRCop status if the others find out about this. Gentlemen, the Internets (yes, with the “s”.. lrn2chanspeak) as we know it… has ended.

So what is Twitter?

Officially, it’s a microblog that allows you to “tweet” (or publish) 140 character posts on your personal profile on the Twitter website. It’s supposed to be a new social media networking platform that allows people and companies alike to disseminate knowledge and information, transforming knuckle dragging Cro-Magnons from content consumers into content producers. And according to the numbers, people love it. Twitter has been growing at a monthly rate of 1382%, compared to, say, Facebook, which only had a monthly increase of 228%. Source – http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/twitters-tweet-smell-of-success/

Unofficially, on a personal level, it’s the cesspool of humanity. A site used by : attention whores, to publish mundane things, everyday things that other people could care less about, people with unwarranted self-importance, so that they can assuage their overwhelming need to show off their mastery of the English language by using ways and means (read : thesaurus) to cram a verbose reply into 140 characters, and  big evil conglomerates seeking to brainwash consumers into thinking that “Buy more, good. Buy less, bad.”

Jokes aside, let’s get serious. What is the purpose of Twitter? Make friends, influence people, share information and advertising sums it up pretty nicely.

What are its advantages? Twitter allows users to read what they want by following people relevant to their interests or their friends and family. By keeping things simple, (a tweet is only 140 characters long), there is no information overload. Everything is easily understood. This is particularly useful as a way of information flow between friends. Most of the time, when someone tweets something, no reply is necessary as it is usually rhetorical in nature.

What are its disadvantages? Twitter accounts are extremely easy to hack. There is no lock-out function after a certain number of failed attempts, only a cool-down period of 30mins. Twitter does not apply IP bans, meaning that it is very easy to spam topics such as #buttsex #gorillapenis #radioactivedongs to the top trending topics of Twitter. Until the spam problem is dealt with, users will have to face nonsensical trending topics such as #RIPKanyeWest.

I think that many people consider Twitter a useful tool, and it will continue to grow and perhaps overtake Facebook someday, making it the largest breeding ground for attention whores and such on the Internet. Until then, I’ll cool my heels and look for topics like #gorillapenis

During NCT presentation today, the class was separated into two groups. One a group comprising of almost the whole class, the other a group comprising of one individual. After a series of tests such as guessing the number of songs an iPod can hold, the number of pearls in a necklace, it was shown that the answer given by the group was always more accurate compared to the answer given by the individual. So why is this so? And what is the basis behind this?

The wisdom of crowds – the many are smarter than the few. It is theorized that the aggregation of information in groups often results in decisions that are better that a decision made by a single member of the group. In layman’s terms – 100 individuals with no experience can often come up with a better answer compared to 1 expert with plenty of experience.

So what are the elements required to form a “wise” crowd? There must be independence, diversity, decentralization and aggregation. Each person in the crowd should be able to make opinions without being influenced by others in the crowd, each person should have at least some information about the topic, no matter how little, people are able to draw upon a wide variety of knowledge, and most importantly, a system exists to aggregate the results given by individuals of the crowd.

Seems pretty simple? But in reality, a “wise” crowd is nigh impossible. Why is that so?

Humans are, by nature, easy to influence. Examples? Take a look at Twitter. Not long ago, scripts were written to spam false information claiming that the H1N1 Flu was actually a bioweapon developed by North Korea. People bought that. Kanye West was proclaimed dead through the use of spambots. People bought that too. Why? People have a tendency to believe something that is repeated very often. One tweet saying that “BREAKING NEWS : NORTH KOREA STARTED H1N1″ would probably be dismissed as lies, but after seeing tweets from different accounts mentioning the same thing, people tend to worry, and to believe in it. In the case of #RIPKanyeWest, it became the top trending topic on Twitter. All this, done by 5-10 people with python scripts. Go figure.

Same thing applies to a crowd. The more aggressive and outspoken people in the crowd might be able to influence the others. End result? A decision that is based on one person’s point of view.

The wisdom of the crowd – collective intelligence, or collective stupidity? I’ll let you decide.

Wisdom of the crowd – it’s kinda like that.

]]> http://anonnewswire.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/the-wisdom-of-crowds-collective-intelligence-or-collective-stupidity/feed/ 0 anonnewswire hivemind http://anonnewswire.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/new-tech-minority-report/ http://anonnewswire.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/new-tech-minority-report/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:15:36 +0000 anonnewswire http://anonnewswire.wordpress.com/?p=9 Continue reading →]]>

Minority Report

Watched snippets of Minority Report today, in particular the new technologies featured in the film. Minority Report is a film set in the future that both portrays  a utopian and dystopian society. The technologies featured  in the film include e-paper, iris scanners, devices that react to gestures, 3-D videos, computer guided vehicles, spider robots and jetpacks.

E-paper

In Minority Report, a scene shows David Anderton taking a busy subway train. At first glance, it looks like an average commuter scene, businessmen reading newspapers.. until you notice that the pictures and headlines on the newspapers are moving. The technology being featured here is a flexible, electronic paper-like material that can access the internet and update itself all day long. It looks futuristic.. but this technology is just round the corner. Researchers at PARC http://www.parc.com/ (formerly Xeroc PARC) are researching something called “Gyricon”. It is a flexible plastic that produces colors and readable text when a voltage is applied through it. Researchers claim that it requires very little electricity, is made of a light material and can be reused.

Iris Recognition

In Minority Report, your movements are always tracked, and your identity continually verified through the use of iris recognition systems that scan your eyes. In order to escape being recognized, David Anderton had to undergo an operation to change his eyes. This technology is actually present today. Known as biometrics, it is used at some airports. The users’ eyes are photographed, and saved in a database. Whenever the user wants to check-in at the airport, his or her eyes are taken again and compared with the existing pictures in the machine’s database. The only downside of biometrics is that the user has to stand still, and in close proximity to the machine. We do not have the technology used in Minority Report, where iris recognition systems are capable of picking out individual people in a crowd and scanning their irises as they walk.

Gesture Recognition Systems

In Minority Report, David Anderton is shown using gloved hands to manipulate different windows, open files and images. Compare that to a mere human of the present, who was to stoop over his computer while using a keyboard and a mouse. This technology is already in use today. The popular ParaParaParadise dance machine uses motion detectors to detect users’ movements.

Robot Spiders

In Minority Report, robot spiders are used to scout down criminals (David Anderton). While the technology is already available today in the form of bomb disposal robots and such, the robots available as of now are big clunky machines that are nowhere near the robot spiders shown in the movie.

So what do I feel about new technologies? I await the development of new technologies eagerly. Imagine being able to bring a piece of e-paper anywhere and read news off it, without the need to buy a “new” newspaper. Imagine sitting in a maglev car levitating above the ground, being free of the need to steer the car manually. Great, no? Of course, with all new technologies, the research has to be done, and the kinks ironed out. I wonder if the technologies shown in Minority Report will be made available in my lifetime.

I for one welcome our new technological overlords.

Row row fight the power.