Hashtags, cool glasses and a whole lot more trends (Q1.5)

Remember back when Facebook started and that was the main thing going for us at that point? Then Twitter came along with their hastags and from what I tend to only remember being the only trend then were those darn hashtags. Yes, sure, hastags still go on today, but I just want to make one thing clear: hash tags are not used for every little measly word. 'The' is not a word that needs a hashtag. I saw this image the other day and I found it so true:





I really should learn to stop rambling. Anyway, the topic of choice today is all about the social media trends of the lovely year of 2014 and hashtags is just one of them.


Google has been around us forever since 1998 and since then it has evolved into its own being. Before, we had our normal Gmail accounts and now we don't just have that, but the whole of Google as well! What makes it even cooler is that it is integrated with Youtube and so many more products. Thus, Google+ is born.
Guess what tends to put Google into my good books? the amazing, wondrous invention known as the Google Glass. If I could afford it, it would be the first high tech gadgety thing I would buy. When I heard about Google Glass, I thought that the idea was fantastic. Eye wear that works like a computer attached to your face. Apparently it is just like a smartphone with the same features, but it is hands free.

Sharing your location with everyone is cool right? We would go onto Facebook and check in to which location we were at, or visited. Today, we have a new application trend known as Swarm. It is basically the same thing as what Facebook has, but you don't have to check in! Super nifty. To be honest, I don't think I have ever used the location application on Facebook, if I have, it was probably once or twice. However, I do not find myself using Swarm either. It seems to just be something fun to show where you go and all that jazz. Oooh, but the one trend that I find really cool and will be checking out really soon is; Social Listening.

There are quite a few platforms for Social Listening such as HowSociable, Klout, Topsy, Sysomos and IceRocket. Usually companies, individuals or organisations use this tool to know what is being said about their product or brand. Although, not only does it help the company and what not, but it also helps the customer to find and gather more insight on content or ideas as well as other social media listening platforms. On a larger scale from a community point of view, it will help a company to identify where communities are, either if they are online or offline as well as to know who the company is competing against.  

Phew! One seriously needs to know what is going on these days hey? It seems that technology is growing at the speed of a blink. Every year there seems to be something new on the block.

I do hope that this was as engaging for you as it was for myself. Just researching and finding out what is there before my very nose is mind boggling.

See you all out there on the interwebs!










Bibliography:

• Johnson, J. (2014). Social Media Trends 2014 -Social Media Predictions - Video and Infographic. Available: http://www.janetejohnson.com/social-media-trends-2014/. Last accessed 15 May 2014.
• Murphy, M. (2014). Top 10 Social Trends for Summer 2014. Available: http://socialmediatoday.com/margaretmurphydidit/2420986/10-social-media-trends-summer-2014. Last accessed 15 May 2014.
• Essany, M. (2014). 7 Social Media Trends Dominating 2014. Available: http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/7-social-media-trends-dominating-2014-40949/. Last accessed 15 May 2014.
• Rouse, M. (2013). Social Media Listening . Available: http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/Social-media-monitoring. Last accessed 15 May 2014.
• Bensen, C. (2010). 3 Reasons to dig deeper in Social Listening . Available: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/guest-posts/3-reasons-to-dig-deeper-in-social-listening/. Last accessed 15 May 2014
• Google. (2014). Our history in depth. Available: http://www.google.co.za/about/company/history/. Last accessed 19 May 2014.
• The Voopler. (2014). 10 Fashion Victim Flu Symptoms!. Available: http://voopl.com/10fashion-victim-flu-symptoms/. Last accessed 15 May 2014.
• Khan, M. (2014). 30+ Facebook Smiley Faces. Available: http://stylegerms.com/facebook-smiley-faces/. Last accessed 22 May 2014.
• Burrows, B. (2014). What is Google Glass? All you need to know about the state-of-the-art wearable tech. Available: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/what-google-glass-how-look-3513110. Last accessed 22 May 2014.
• Epstein, J. (2012). 8 Great Social Media Listening Tools. Available: http://blog.getambassador.com/8-great-social-media-listening-tools/. Last accessed 22 May 2014.

The internet in Southern Africa, Durban (Q1.4)

So, in Durban, where I live there are so many blog sites to find that the mind boggles. Although, to put this lightly, I am just going to give you some of the most popular blogs to find.

Umhlanga Life, an online lifestyle magazine, to which I am an intern for, is a blog that is very interesting. It has many different types of posts that are entertaining and of a place that features snippets of what is going on in the area. Movie reviews, competition covers and more are to offer. But the one thing that I seem to like is the fact that it will also show you other bloggers to follow and to check out. It is worth your while, especially if you are a citizen of this area because those blogs will be informative for the citizens. Although, it is not limited to them. Who ever is out there, if you happen to find these blogs, you will be happy because if you decide to come down and visit the sunny side of Durban, these blogs will help you.

Popular blogs from Umhlanga Life Including Umhlanga Life itself:

Umhlanga Life - events, Durban, life and more.

Aske Ashe - blogs about events, food, fashion, Durban.

Daniel Dinnie - blogs about books and writing and life.

Nadia Van der Mescht - blogs about fashion and more.

Kirsty Bisset - blogs about Fashion, Celebs, Sharks.


Bibliography:

• Umhlanga Life. (2014). Umhlanga Life. Available: http://umhlangalife.blogspot.com/. Last accessed 22 May 2014.
• Ask Ashe. (2014). Ask Ashe. Available: http://askashe.wordpress.com/. Last accessed 22 May 2014.
• Dinnie, D. (2012). Daniel Dinnie. Available: http://daniel-dinnie.wozaonline.co.za/Blog. Last accessed 22 May 2014.
• VD Mescht, N. (2014). Nadia van der Mescht. Available: http://www.nadiavdmescht.co.za/. Last accessed 22 May 2014
• Bisset, K. (2014). Kirsty Bisset. Available: http://www.kirstybisset.com/index.html. Last accessed 22 May 2014.

Gadgets and gizmos (Q1.3)

To keep my blog in the loop, I thought it was sufficient enough to play around with the themes that are available as well as the many gadgets that can be added to her. Yes, my blog is female, and she is now looking b-e-a-utiful!


 Theme 1

Theme 2










Epic gadgets!!!...

Lock, stock and huge hissy fits (Q1.2)

My fellow readers, I apologize for the late arrival on my part for not becoming a regular poster. The daily knag of chores, college and so many other little things have caught my attention. It seems to be that I could not find the time to come on over and grace you with my online presence.
Do you know what seems to be the norm these days? Stealing... Now I am not talking about random thefts, but of an online experience.

Today in college, in my lecture of Digital Citizenship, which I always have on a Friday, I have learned all about Wiki's. It is strange. I am so used to this type of platform that when it came to working on the Wiki platform known as PBWorks (Capture knowledge, share files, and manage projects within a secure, reliable environment.) , I thought; "What in the poop of the dragon is this???". But once explained by my very informative lecturer, I thought it was quite interesting. Each of us in the class were given an assigned task to complete on the Wiki platform that my lecturer had created. Now I am sure that most of you love-erly people are more in the loop than I am on this, but if not, then let me give a slight explanation...


PBWorks, is a platform where you can create a page that you can then link to Wikipedia. This is just the site to where you work on the information to be sent over.


However, this can range over to another discussion; The Differences between a Wiki and a Blog...

• A wiki is a platform intended for group communication, which also has multiple authors and is edited by a group or a team.

• A blog on the other hand is usually written by one author who writes the posts. this in turn allows for one-to-many communication. Since this is the case, it is evident to show that comments can be enabled to for the readers to comment on the post.

Although, Wiki's and Blog's both can have many contributors. the best parts are that they are easy to edit by the use of free software and the use of your beloved web browser. Ultimately... they can be viewed by anyone all over the world.






To move on, I was given a username and password for this page, in fact every one else was also given one. This allowed all of us to access the same page. However, it did not mean that we could all work on the same page at the same time... This is where I thought a high five on the face with a chair would be very handy. Say you were working on the page, but I also wanted to work on it to. I could quite easily steal your work time from you just by stealing the lock. This means that I am locking you out and what ever you are doing can no longer be done. It is the worst thing to ever do to some one. Gosh, grr!! What seemed to make things worse, was when ever I was working on it, one specific user would always steal my lock. That meant that all my work that I had done was gone! I hated it, because I would always have to start all over again.


So please, please, if you ever start a page that you working on with a few other people on PBWorks, be kind and don't steal!!!



Bibliography:

• Tom Johnson. 2012. Differences between blogs and wikis, and why you might need both. [ONLINE] Available at: http://idratherbewriting.com/2012/04/19/differences-between-blogs-and-wikis-and-why-you-might-need-both/. [Accessed 11 April 14].
• cyberlearningstation.com. 2008. Blogs versus Wikis . [ONLINE] Available at: http://cyberlearningstation.webs.com/blogsvswikis.htm. [Accessed 11 April 14].
• Blow, M. (2012). Collaborative Writing and Online Publishing. Available: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2012/01/collaborative-writing-and-online-publishing. Last accessed 15 May 2014.

My mark on the WaWaWa (extension of Q1.1)

Do you know what I like to do every now and again? Google myself... and when I do, I get around one million hits. Insane in the membrane!!! Its not all about me, as that would be a tad on the worry side, but as long as either my name or surname pops up, it will give a result.


Your digital footprint gets as big as you make it. If you have a Twitter account,  Facebook account, Tumblr, Pinterest, bladiblabla.... the list goes on; your information from those accounts will be seen on Google and other search engins. Its fun to say to your friends: " Remember when we got totally crazy and tipped a cow?" that's cool to say, just not a good idea to be posting that on the interwebs. Every one will know and the SPCA will be on your doorstep. Do not think that me saying that statement means that I have done something like that, because trust me, I haven't and I never will.




I have left myself a few marks on the interwebs such as Facebook and Twitter and even LinkdIn. I like that! Jap jap! It tends to make you wonder how far you will go and see what is out there and find the results that belong to your very identity.


And so in the words of Teyana Taylor or most probably her lyricist..... 'Google Me Baby!'

Bibliography

• Larry Kramer . 2009. What is a Digital Footprint? . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.corprominence.com/digital-footprint. [Accessed 11 April 14].
• Karbach, M. (2011). A Great Guide On Teaching Students About Digital Footprint. Available: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/04/a-great-guide-on-teaching-students.html. Last accessed 15 May 2014.
• Teyana Taylor. (2008). Teyana Taylor - Google Me. [Online Video]. 24 November. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_BIKQfAgh4. [Accessed: 22 May 2014].

College and and all that jazz

This year has so far been alright. I have started a degree to become a teacher. To be more exact, an English Teacher. This happens to be so, for my love of the written word. One pleasure as to which one of these days you will be a witness to.

College is packed to the brim with a whole new stream of first years. I kind of like to take the pleasure and sit on the side lines and watch them get slightly confused until I start laughing and then go up to them and help the fresh meat out. That's mean.. College newbies, then.

I have been studying for about a week and half to this very day. Although, to give a slight background story.. I have already been here at college for the past two years. Why am I studying some more then? At first I was studying to be a journalist... I do hope that this is slightly coming together in your mind... Because of my need to randomly jot down a few sentences to either call it a poem or a short story. And so I'm guessing you have made the clear connection... English is my favourite subject. Today, my only lecture for four hours was that lovely subject and we chatted all about poems. We read a very interesting one, named 'To his Coy Mistress' which in the end where we had to discuss, a few topics came to my peers' mind... Give it a read and tell me what you think .

Roar and Stuff

OK, so from now on you are all in my mind and are here to read what I actually think about and the first topic on hand....

Who here thinks that watching movies in the cinema is absolutely fantastical???? Yes, Yes... I do!!!. The feeling of having yummy fluffy clouds of popcorn in a large box that is all for you? Wow!! You own that. Recently I just went to go to my favorite movie house at Ster Kinekor Nouveau, where, according to my boyfriend, I know every one. It just seems to be the case as I go to a lot of movies. Its like the best thing in the world!!! Other than dinosaurs and popcorn.....

Imagine seeing the T-Rex trying to grab popcorn with its teeny tiny little hands. No matter how useless and silly they have been told they are. But then all I can see is the T-Rex hurtling its nose and mouth into the popcorn bowl and chowing those clouds as if they are some very small animals... That do not exist today, or maybe they do, we just dont know what... hehehe.



Anyway....  So I went to go and see a movie called Her that I really wanted to see when I caught  a glimpse of the trailer. Yet as soon as I sit in the empty movie house (that happens a lot) and the movie starts, it gets as awkward when a bunny is becoming a serial killer.. Especially when I took my mother to see this movie.... Dearest fuzzballs, the only thing that I thought would make things less weird was to wave my hands on the side of my body and scream like a pterodactyl... Or, maybe not.

The concept of the movie Her,was pretty darn interesting, what with the idea of the advent of technology in today's day and age as well as the relationships we have with our computers and cell phones. Let's face it, none of you can spend one day away from your computer or smart phone. If you look at the movie from that way, the whole story makes sense, but just as long as you don't think about anything else you see or to put in the best words, 'hear'.



This movie is set in the near future where all men wear weird pants and operating systems' belong in your ear.

I do not want to give too much away, just because I am a nice person and I want to let you relive the awkwardness that I went through.

... Enjoy!!
















Image belongs too: theamazingworldofgumball.wikia.com




Video: Her - Official Trailer