What’s the best way for companies to engage with their customers using social media?
As it was discussed in class last week, I think the most efficient and wisest use of social media by companies is to provide its customers a platform to share and acquire information. If it's used correctly, it can reduce customer support costs and also improve the customer and company relationship. A lot of people I know, including myself, are always complaining about terrible customer service with whatever company we're dealing with at the time and it's so hard to get the correct information by ourselves. Using social media to help people find information for themselves and answer their own questions can save money for the company as well as satisfying the customer's needs. This can be done through wikis, blogs, message boards, etc.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Response to Discussion Question Posted on 3/31
I feel that the answer to this is similar to how Google gets the correct spellings to words. There are enough people out there that know the correct information that the correct information will prevail even if there are some people that are malicious to try to get incorrect information onto pages. Also, all it takes is one person to be really devoted to a topic that they will keep that one specific topic correct as much as they can.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Response to Discussion Question Posted on 3/24
What new features and functionality would you want to see in Facebook and why? How could these new features help Facebook earn revenue?
Wow, this one is difficult. It feels as if Facebook has done everything already. It seems as if they have something for every aspect of our lives. But, as I think more about it, maybe Facebook can improve on their chat feature. I say this because usually it's pretty sketchy. It lags and sometimes people don't get the messages. But, beyond improving it, they can add to it. Perhaps they can allow for chat rooms, voice calls, or video calls. I don't know if anyone would actually be willing to pay for these features, but I guess some people might just for the convenience of having everything on one platform. It could be considered premium material. They can be on Facebook and chat through text, voice, or video without having to switch tabs and go to let's say their Gmail account.
I would also like for there to be a way to sort through my past comments and status updates. However, this would just be for me to satisfy my own curiosity. I don't think Facebook would really benefit from this. It gets old having to scroll down over and over again to see past activity on your page.
Wow, this one is difficult. It feels as if Facebook has done everything already. It seems as if they have something for every aspect of our lives. But, as I think more about it, maybe Facebook can improve on their chat feature. I say this because usually it's pretty sketchy. It lags and sometimes people don't get the messages. But, beyond improving it, they can add to it. Perhaps they can allow for chat rooms, voice calls, or video calls. I don't know if anyone would actually be willing to pay for these features, but I guess some people might just for the convenience of having everything on one platform. It could be considered premium material. They can be on Facebook and chat through text, voice, or video without having to switch tabs and go to let's say their Gmail account.
I would also like for there to be a way to sort through my past comments and status updates. However, this would just be for me to satisfy my own curiosity. I don't think Facebook would really benefit from this. It gets old having to scroll down over and over again to see past activity on your page.
Response to Discussion Question Posted on 3/9
1. How does Hulu’s value proposition differ from traditional broadcast and cable television?
Monday, March 7, 2011
Response to Discussion Question Posted on 3/4
Discuss an example of lock-in (not one of the examples on the wikipedia page) and how a consumer might be able to overcome the effects of lock-in.
One example of a lock-in would be most social networking websites, but more specifically, Facebook. Facebook allows users to put just about every aspect of their lives up on the site. It becomes sort of an investment for people. Just about every friend is on there that other social networking websites don't matter anymore. They are locked in to using Facebook because they already have their pictures up on there, their information (i.e. work info, interests, background), and their comments from friends. It would be too much work to switch over to a different social networking website and would probably be a waste of time since most people would stay on Facebook because it does its job and works well. It's so valuable to most people these days because it's become an essential part of keeping in touch with friends.
As far as overcoming this lock-in, I don't think in this case it's a matter of overcoming it. Since it doesn't cost money to switch over to a different product, it's really a matter of simply making the decision to stop using Facebook and going to a different website. It's not like a cell-phone provider that literally locks in a customer with a 2-year contract. Facebook is more of a lock-in when it comes to convenience for users. I doubt I'm making any sense, but the Facebook lock-in is a unique case compared to other lock-in situations I've read about through the class's RSS feed.
One example of a lock-in would be most social networking websites, but more specifically, Facebook. Facebook allows users to put just about every aspect of their lives up on the site. It becomes sort of an investment for people. Just about every friend is on there that other social networking websites don't matter anymore. They are locked in to using Facebook because they already have their pictures up on there, their information (i.e. work info, interests, background), and their comments from friends. It would be too much work to switch over to a different social networking website and would probably be a waste of time since most people would stay on Facebook because it does its job and works well. It's so valuable to most people these days because it's become an essential part of keeping in touch with friends.
As far as overcoming this lock-in, I don't think in this case it's a matter of overcoming it. Since it doesn't cost money to switch over to a different product, it's really a matter of simply making the decision to stop using Facebook and going to a different website. It's not like a cell-phone provider that literally locks in a customer with a 2-year contract. Facebook is more of a lock-in when it comes to convenience for users. I doubt I'm making any sense, but the Facebook lock-in is a unique case compared to other lock-in situations I've read about through the class's RSS feed.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Response to Discussion Question Posted on 2/23
One of the most important challenges for TaxiMagic is obviously the presence of multiple competitors. On one of the slides, it showed a bunch of other taxi applications if one were to search for a taxi application on their phone. That shows how many competitors there already are right now. That number will only grow. Also, one risk is that one of these competitors might actually be good and undercut TaxiMagic with lower prices once their contracts are done with the various fleets around the country. As the speaker admitted, they were actually AFRAID of one of the companies because of how the rider can pay the taxi driver directly through their mobile phones. I forget what that competitor's name is called, but just the fact that they admit to being nervous about how they will fare against a competitor should say something about that challenge.
As far as opportunities for TaxiMagic, perhaps (as some people have already mentioned) they can extend their reach into the sedan or limo business. However, I don't think a car rental type of thing would really help them since Enterprise, Avis, and other big names already have that industry mastered. I liked how they went into a partnership with Heineken. Perhaps similar partnerships with other companies could increase their visibility. They can maybe get into a partnership with some TV networks. Let's say a ride is for sure going to take more than 25 minutes, perhaps TaxiMagic can show an episode of The Office on one of those devices that they showed us in class... just a thought.
As far as opportunities for TaxiMagic, perhaps (as some people have already mentioned) they can extend their reach into the sedan or limo business. However, I don't think a car rental type of thing would really help them since Enterprise, Avis, and other big names already have that industry mastered. I liked how they went into a partnership with Heineken. Perhaps similar partnerships with other companies could increase their visibility. They can maybe get into a partnership with some TV networks. Let's say a ride is for sure going to take more than 25 minutes, perhaps TaxiMagic can show an episode of The Office on one of those devices that they showed us in class... just a thought.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Response to Discussion Question Posted on 2/11
Discuss the importance of Internet technologies in the recent Egyptian protests. How have technologies like Facebook and Twitter impacted the movement?
Prior to reading this discussion question, I didn't even have a clue that FB and Twitter had even the smallest role in the Egyptian protests. So, I read an article and watched a video pertaining to this topic. I was amazed at the importance of these two social media sites and how useful they were to people that were in the heart of the movement. For example, some people would tweet that they needed an ambulance at a certain street corner. I have never even thought of using my Twitter in case of an emergency like that. However, if I were in a desperate situation, I guess I would eventually think to myself to use my FB and Twitter applications on my phone to contact people. They were also important in exposing what was going on in their land as well as informing the public about what types of progress have been made. Also, journalists were having a hard time reporting while they were over there because of the violence and because of attempts by people trying to stop the movement to prevent any news not beneficial to them to become internationally reported. Instead people would go on FB in order to share information in groups or Twitter to report or announce important messages. I am very impressed with how these two sites were used. I use FB and Twitter everyday, so I know how most people use the sites, and it is definitely not as empowering as how it was used by the people in Egypt.
(BTW, I don't know what's wrong with my computer, but I can't turn off the italics. Sorry!)
Prior to reading this discussion question, I didn't even have a clue that FB and Twitter had even the smallest role in the Egyptian protests. So, I read an article and watched a video pertaining to this topic. I was amazed at the importance of these two social media sites and how useful they were to people that were in the heart of the movement. For example, some people would tweet that they needed an ambulance at a certain street corner. I have never even thought of using my Twitter in case of an emergency like that. However, if I were in a desperate situation, I guess I would eventually think to myself to use my FB and Twitter applications on my phone to contact people. They were also important in exposing what was going on in their land as well as informing the public about what types of progress have been made. Also, journalists were having a hard time reporting while they were over there because of the violence and because of attempts by people trying to stop the movement to prevent any news not beneficial to them to become internationally reported. Instead people would go on FB in order to share information in groups or Twitter to report or announce important messages. I am very impressed with how these two sites were used. I use FB and Twitter everyday, so I know how most people use the sites, and it is definitely not as empowering as how it was used by the people in Egypt.
(BTW, I don't know what's wrong with my computer, but I can't turn off the italics. Sorry!)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Response to Discussion Question Posted on 1/31
Discussion question(s): Are there any effective ways for content producers to deal with piracy or should they just give up? What would make you choose to purchase content over pirating it?
To me, piracy is something that cannot be completely done away with ever, so companies should already consider these losses due to piracy as inevitable lost business. They should focus and reward those who DO buy authentic products. If they really wanted to though, I think they could put more money into programs that seize these pirate websites and close them down. However, there are just too many out there for producers to deal with. Also, I think producers ask themselves, "How come we should do the work to close these pirates down. Why can't other businesses share in the workload?" It would take every business in an industry to see eye to eye to share the burden of finding and closing down pirate websites.
As for the second question, I feel that I'm part of a small number of people that still regularly buys CDs and Blu Rays. I enjoy the aesthetic value that a CD case or Blu Ray case provides, especially since I have a bookcase that I place books, CDs, and Blu Rays in. I was also never the most computer savvy especially with downloading movies. The files are way too big and I don't have the fastest internet connection at home. I also find it easier to just pull out the Blu Ray and watch it right there. When I watch movies at my friend's house, he always has to find the file, put it on a flash drive, move it onto his PS3, and the quality is not always the best. It's just too much work to watch a movie. Generally, I get more enticed to buy the real thing when there are little extras included with the purchase such as perhaps a DVD included with the CD or a small poster inside.
To me, piracy is something that cannot be completely done away with ever, so companies should already consider these losses due to piracy as inevitable lost business. They should focus and reward those who DO buy authentic products. If they really wanted to though, I think they could put more money into programs that seize these pirate websites and close them down. However, there are just too many out there for producers to deal with. Also, I think producers ask themselves, "How come we should do the work to close these pirates down. Why can't other businesses share in the workload?" It would take every business in an industry to see eye to eye to share the burden of finding and closing down pirate websites.
As for the second question, I feel that I'm part of a small number of people that still regularly buys CDs and Blu Rays. I enjoy the aesthetic value that a CD case or Blu Ray case provides, especially since I have a bookcase that I place books, CDs, and Blu Rays in. I was also never the most computer savvy especially with downloading movies. The files are way too big and I don't have the fastest internet connection at home. I also find it easier to just pull out the Blu Ray and watch it right there. When I watch movies at my friend's house, he always has to find the file, put it on a flash drive, move it onto his PS3, and the quality is not always the best. It's just too much work to watch a movie. Generally, I get more enticed to buy the real thing when there are little extras included with the purchase such as perhaps a DVD included with the CD or a small poster inside.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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