Real-Time news coming from Twitter and Bing

The Bing search engine is attempting to compete with Google once more by incorporating social media sites into their engine.

The deal is working closely with Twitter, while Facebook should follow suit. Bing will allow searches of live twitter updates in an effort to get in on the "emerging hot area of real-time information".

Brilliant. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Facebook and Twitter, or real people if you will, are the ones bringing the latest news to the public first. As I mentioned during the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, I was able to hear about what was going on from that snippet of a Facebook post.

Twitter has been supposedly working with both Google and Microsoft (Bing) on this. Google's search results have not been "live" yet, while Bing's have been.

This feature of Bing will allow for more real-time news, communication, and social progress. Although I personally don't like Bing and will always use Google, this is another outlet to find the news I want to, real-time.

Facebook poll results

My poll has closed. Only 11 people voted, so I hope for more votes for the next one!

The results are that four of these 11 people keep Facebook up in the background of their computer constantly. I can only assume these people are students.

I have found myself combatting a "Facebook addiction" since freshman year and it only gets worse as time goes on. Facebook has never been more popular and it is not slowing down. As I've written before, Facebook now spans the globe and includes all generations and cultures. It is incredible. I believe even more so than Myspace, which has suffered much defeat since 2004.

Not only are students distracted by Facebook on their laptops or desktops, while trying to finish a paper or any homework assignment, but we are now able to access Facebook on any new cell phone or iPod touch, almost everywhere.

As many students can probably sympathize, I find myself typing that site into my browser more than any other, possibly more than my Gmail. I know it is ridiculous, but it is a true addiction and very difficult to put my foot down and get to work. I could spend hours jumping from person to person through mutual friends and wall posts, and on and on. It is almost mind numbing, and that is what is needed sometimes for students. "Distractions welcome...oh, hello, Facebook."

I must applaud the three out of 11 people who log onto Facebook 0-1 hours per day. I assume it's just not "your thing". For those of you who actually struggle with the Facebook addiction and absolutely cannot get your work done, Naomi Rockler-Gladen writes an article telling students that we "should not overestimate [our] multi-tasking skills." When you're on Facebook or texing a friend, you really can't listen to that professor or write that paper in a decent fashion.

"To combat Facebook and MySpace addiction, try enforcing some rules on yourself. Limit the amount of time you allow yourself to use your account. Perhaps you can use a Facebook visit as a reward for finishing that long reading assignment. If you really can't resist, consider disabling your account during finals week and other busy times."

Read more: http://studyskills.suite101.com/article.cfm/college_student_study_distractions#ixzz0U2WdhIRZ.

Distractions aside, a new poll is available to vote on. Thank you.

Mobile Journalism from Pittsburgh

Last night, a girl who went to high school with me, now attending Pitt, posted a Facebook status update which unknowingly began a small research project on my part. She was simply saying that she received an emergency text message from her university stating, “Conditions may be deteriorating in Oakland. Students are advised to remain near their residences.”

This Facebook post, sent from her phone, was the most recent update I could find online anywhere. The fact that the University sent this message about “conditions deteriorating,” I figured it wasn’t good. Online journalists hadn’t written as of yet about the crowd situation at night. The text peaked my interest, and I stayed by my computer to see who would be next to report.

Of course, I’m sure the newscasters in Pittsburgh were reporting, but I was not in Pittsburgh.

I was not in a classroom at Virginia Tech hearing gunshots.

I was not on the streets of Iran watching an innocent woman die.

As professor Bob Vucic is known to say, “If you have a Blackberry, you are a journalist”. The girl in Pittsburgh was probably saying it to complain that she couldn’t go out on a Friday night, but she was a journalist. She communicated the first information I could find about what was going on in Pittsburgh last night. It came from a student who was warned by her University to stay out of the streets.

That is real time. That is real life, able to be communicated instantly to millions with a simple factual text message.

Soon, I was able to see a YouTube video which was made by simply videotaping the Channel 11 news in Pittsburgh. This video (linked below) showed Pittsburgh at night: protestors on bikes being herded away by police with riot gear. A girl throws her bicycle at a policeman and is taken down to the ground by four policemen. I want to thank the person who thought to film their evening news, to share with the world, and me.

Who knew that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania would be the choice for the G-20 summit, and that many of the people I know would be able to watch the same type of aftermath that London, England witnessed due to the G-20 summit.

This is a 'thank-you' once again to mobile technology. We are only beginning to see its effects on society as we know it.

Video source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzOG7yghNvQ

The baby boomer generation and Facebook

The ever popular Facebook social networking site has grown tremendously this year for a new group of people: the “baby boomers”. A study from eMarketer.com, published in July of this year, showed how different generations are using Facebook. Sixty-two percent of baby boomer users have Facebook to keep in touch with friends, and 47% of them “to keep in touch with family”. (This chart can be found: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/30/new-study-shows-how-different-generations-use-facebook/).

While Myspace is still the first choice for musicians who want to broadcast their music, Facebook is the ultimate social network, for all ages. I believe it has become so popular because of the use of real first and last names, instead of an anonymous Myspace username, allowing for accurate friend searches. In the beginning, one had to have an e-mail address from a college or university to join. I remember getting ready to go to college and the excitement of getting my e-mail address so that I could follow my best friend’s advice: “You need to get a Facebook, Kristin.” At first it was an annoyance to get one since I already had Myspace, but it helped me meet people freshman year and went on to completely revolutionize everyone’s college experience.

Now, anyone can have a Facebook and belong to any school, city, or company network. Recently, my mom, who belongs to the baby boomer generation, had me set up a Facebook account for her. Not to be my friend, but to find old friends from high school and college. While setting it up, she was able to see a list of people she “may know” from high school and college, which excited her to no end. People she hadn’t talked to in years showed up in a picture icon, and it thrilled her. “Oh, I went to a Grand Funk Railroad concert with him! He looks so different!” she exclaimed. It was truly an experience just to watch her find people who she would otherwise never have spoken to again.

Now, this older generation can forget as we have about the days where phone calls, letters, and even e-mails connected families and friends through pictures and messages. It is a small world, after all, especially now. It takes seconds to log on and get updates, sometimes without even directly messaging or communicating with one another. To call this revolutionary is truly an understatement. I am glad to keep in touch over Facebook with people I graduated high school with, even as a senior in college. So, I can only imagine how my parents’ generation of users must feel.

My mom now has about ten friends and checks her account once a week, but it amazes her every time. Getting a wall post makes her day, like a child at Christmas. I add photos for her and her friends comment. It is a great new aspect of this generation’s lives. We can’t even imagine not having Facebook to get us through college, to see people we know graduate and move on from college via pictures and posts. But the new generation on Facebook must catch up, and they are, quite quickly.