The Evolution of Mobile Phones in The Past Decade

(The Evolution of The Cell Phone Industry) Taken From Cellunlockerpro.com

The mobile phone industry has evolved immensely in the past decade or so, where mobiles at the very beginning were once used only to make phone calls but now they are considered as personal-pocket computers that can run various applications and perform a number of tasks at the same time.

I remember acquiring my first mobile phone back in 2004, the Motorola V300, it could only store 2 songs in its music folder and automatically deleted texts on its own. Upside was it had the dual screen feature which was considered new at the time. But now when I look back at my first mobile phone and the one I have today, it amazes me how far technology has come in order to provide consumers with a device that suits all their daily needs.

(Motorola V300) Taken From mlstatic.com

In 2005 Sony entered the field with their Walkman phone. It was the first device that was considered more than just a mobile phone because it had the memory capacity to carry more songs.

(Sony Walkman Phone) Taken From Regmedia.co.uk

2006 was the year where mobile phones are all of the sudden treated as an extension of one’s personality and character. LG played a major role in that with their introduction of the LG Chocolate which was all about style rather than functionality.

(LG Chocolate Phone) Taken From Techdigest.tv

2007 was the year of the Apple iPhone. One of the first devices that actually made touch-screen Smartphones popular. It introduced consumers to the world of apps and had its own operating system and advanced camera features.

As Palmer (2012) wrote in his book Studying Mobile Media: Cultural technologies, mobile communication and the iPhone, in chapter six iPhone Photography, that the iPhone was able to introduce a whole new world of computational photography, in which cameras have more to offer when paired with different apps and features as appose to doing their regular residual activities alone.

(the Numerous Functions the iPhone’s Camera Has to Offer) Taken From Dashburst.com

In 2008, more competitors entered the market such as the HTC G1, which was the first Android phone. It came fully equipped with a novel keyboard and state of the art operating system.

(HTC G1) Taken From Wikimedia.org

From 2009 onwards mobile phones became more bigger, because consumers demanded bigger screens that fit their needs of watching things on their devices. Touchscreens became more and more the desired direction for all mobile manufacturers.

In 2011 the big winner was the Samsung SII, it offered a high-tech camera, a touchscreen and an advanced Android operating system. Not to mention, it was considered less than 1cm thick and can easily do anything a computer can.

(Samsung SII) Taken From Androiddunya.com

The year 2013 brought to light new Nokia Lumia 920 which intended to contend with the more established Androids and iPhones. It had a different operating system which was the Windows 7 Mobile Edition as well as offered an optically stabilized 8.7-megapixel BSI image sensor.

(Nokia Lumia 920) Taken From Photobucket.com

As Vasamatics (n.d.) argued in his article The Revolution of Communication and its Effect on Our Life, that we have reached an unprecedented age of advanced mobile technology, where we can receive information (news, photos, apps, etc) easier and faster than ever before from any side of the globe.

So to sum it all up, In just a span of 10 years, many improvements were made on mobile phones. They have developed in many ways both in style, functionality and personalisation. For many people, a mobile phone is all they need to both work and entertain themselves for hours and hours. It is like having a mini-computer that can be carried around anywhere and fits in your pocket. And of course over time, these devices are bound to evolve even more, and who knows where this field may be going in another ten years.

5 Reasons As To Why Google Are Successful

Taken From FourthFloorMarketing.com

How often does one hear the line “Google it” or the term “Googling” in their  everyday life? The answer is quite a lot. And the reason behind that can be attributed to how successfully Google was able to establish itself as an integral part in the lives of millions of people all around the world. As a search engine Google was able to provide answers to people’s questions with complete ease and quickness. Of course, The reasons behind this success are many but in this blog post I will present only five of those reasons:

1. Google’s Secret Algorithm

Stross (2008) defined an algorithm in his book Planet Google: how one company is transforming our lives, in chapter three The Algorithm, as a set of rules that aid in solving particular problems and play an important role in constructing complex computer software. Moreover, Stross (2008) writes about how Google has set itself apart from its competitors by developing a sophisticated algorithm which measures users’ behaviour in more than 50 ways and anticipates their next search entries. He also writes about how Google’s algorithm is considered impossible to duplicate and that it plays a key role around perfecting the accuracy of the prediction model thus making the act of searching more effective and quick.

2. Numerous Technological & Green Investments

Google annually invests millions of dollars on research and development projects that allow it to enhance its features and services, it makes more investments than any of its competitors therefore it provides more services and products than any of its competitors. Ranging from Gmail to Google Maps to Nexus and the innovative Google Glass, Google proves that it is more than just a regular search engine. Also, Google proved that a tech company can branch out and invest in fields other than those it started in, as the Google Green’s Investment page projects the several projects they are undertaking in order to better the world we live in.

Taken From Quartz.com

3. Google Apps & Services

Taken From IntelligencePartner.com

‘Google and its ever-expanding corral of applications are slowly assimilating solutions to all our computing need’ (Davison 2012, p. 120).

Google provides a number of apps such as Gmail, Google Documents, Google Drive, etc. which can all be of great benefit to any individual that uses them. These apps provide users with the freedom of usage anywhere and anytime as well as offer business-grade security controls and 24/7 support services. The website RecuiterBox.com presented an article under the name Turn to The Cloud for Collaboration: Google Apps, which explained how by deploying various Google based services and apps one can improve their business operations immensely and emphasized the need for deploying Google services to ensure collaborative solutions and efficient communication.

4. Teamwork Spirit & Harmony

Vise (2005) writes in his article What Lurks in its Soul? Which talks about how Google’s employees or “Googlers” have embraced the company’s philosophy of harmonious productive teamwork which can be traced back to the unique environment Google has been able to offer them through three free meals daily, free on-site medical and dental plans and even free haircuts. Therefore, By providing such distinctive incentives for its teams, Google were able to generate the highest quality of work from its employees which ensures that the Google Machine keeps moving onwards and upwards. When Googlers were asked how is it like to work at Google, they would answer ‘we are great brainstormers and we have harmony’.

This is a video that talks briefly about the secrets behind Google’s success:

5. Collective Entrepreneurship

Mourdoukoutas (1999) defines Collective Entrepreneurship in his book Collective Entrepreneurship in a Globalizing Economy as a network organization that works towards discovering and exploiting novel business opportunities which consists of a diverse group of people who share the risks and the rewards. In Google’s case they have the Google Blogger service which is an interactive interface that allows for different bloggers to come up with their own ideas on new services and products and how viewers and potential advertisers may perceive these ideas. This concept worked perfectly for Google for it guaranteed them great success and enormous revenues.

Taken From About.com

Obviously Google is not just the best digital brand anymore, but has become a verb in our everyday dictionaries. The word “Google” tells us a grand success story. Therefore, I strongly advise anyone who is keen on becoming a pioneer or leader in their own field to analyze the success story of Google.

The Role Twitter Plays in The World of Politics

Taken From howtosocialnetwork.com

Ever since its unveiling from back in March 2006, Twitter has been always associated with entertainment and not necessarily identified with as a tool of political purpose. Yet this all changed in 2008 when presidential candidate Barack Obama deployed Twitter as a means to rally support and communicate with his followers in order to become the first president of the United States of America to use Twitter.

Wikipedia’s Barack Obama on Social Media page notes that ever since then Obama has used Twitter to promote legislative issues and support for his policies, He has also used his Twitter account to respond to the public regarding the economy and employment. And as of June 2014, Obama’s account had 43,38 million followers making it the third account with most worldwide followers. In addition to being in the top ten worldwide in both followers and followed, it also held the record for following the most people.

Taken From Wikipedia.com

Taken From Statista.com

Furthermore, a 2014 study conducted by the website Twiplomacy found that 160 of the 193 countries represented at the United Nations had established government Twitter accounts, The same study also found that those accounts amounted to 505 Twitter handles used by world leaders and their foreign ministers, with their tweets able to reach a combined audience of over 106 million followers.

Taken From Twiplomacy.com

Which raises the question as to why are politicians rushing towards creating Twitter accounts? What’s the secret behind all this?

Well as Parmelee & Bichard (2012) explained in their book Politics and the Twitter Revolution about how the public’s main motivation to communicate with politicians on Twitter is purely informational and that by connecting with them they use their tweets as a news source to keep up-to-date on key issues and candidates. Moreover, followers on Twitter have a guidance motive which means that depending on the politician’s tweets and their interaction with the public those followers build their own opinion on different issues and on who to vote for in the next election.

And as Jericho (2012) writes in his book The Rise of the Fifth Estate, in chapter four Never Read The Comments on how Twitter has the added benefit of allowing the public to voice their criticisms directly to politicians rather than having them ignored as part of a list of unread comments below an article or news story, which in return aids politicians to build a constructive rapport with their followers.

Take From AISFM.edu.in

What’s more interesting is how Goggin (2013) noted in his article Changing Media with Mobile  the idea of how mobiles have become fully fledged participators in everyday media especially when it comes to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which reflects greatly on the politicians decision behind joining Twitter seeing how it has a great influence on public opinion and in shifting the view of followers on a continuous basis.

But of course Twitter is considered a double edged weapon when it comes to the world of politics, for it has played a role in kick-starting many political careers but at the same time factored in ending many of them. As this article under the name Politicians on Twitter: the Gift That Keeps on Giving, which was posted on the US News website elaborates on this point of how governmental representatives and congressmen do have their ‘whoops’ moments on Twitter which lead to serious outcomes that affect their lives.

This following video conveys the power of Twitter within the American political circuit and how it transformed politics in Washington DC:

 Now of course many arguments can be made as to why politicians opt to use Twitter as a communicative tool to get their messages across and gain instant feedback from the public on what issues they should focus on and address next. But at the same time politicians must be extremely wary and cautious when dealing with such a tool, because with one simple mistake your political career may just reach its final stop.

Why Do Online Readers Trust Bloggers?

Taken From skyfallblue.com

Wikipedia defines a “blog” as a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web and consisting of discrete entries (“posts”) typically displayed in reverse chronological order (the most recent post appears first). To understand what a blog is you need to read them on a regular basis, much like watching a television series.

Which means that a “blogger” is a person that writes content for a blog revolving around a certain topic either from his/hers own experiences or from deriving information from other sources.

For a long time I was one of those people that did not understand how can one trust any information obtained from a blog. I mean how can you trust that the person posting this information is credible, or that they entirely understand the topic they are posting about.

Yet this all changed very recently as I came to understand the benefits behind having certain blogs across the globe and the affect they have on the lives of those that acknowledge their contributions.

Which raises the question: why do readers trust bloggers?

An obvious reason is that bloggers tend to be more transparent with the information they publish. Moreover, they take responsibility for any mistakes done on their behalf which helps gain the trust of readers.

Also, the majority of blogs are subjected to peer reviews by other bloggers, which generally helps in improving blogs and allows for lines of communication to be established. As well as, the fact that most blogs are not controlled by corporations which makes them more trustworthy seeing how regular individuals are sharing their content with other individuals.

Hayes et al. (2007) wrote in their article Shifting Roles, Enduring Values: The Credible Journalist in A Digital Age, about how bloggers are taking on the role of rectifying any misleading information the media has to offer along with establishing the idea that the pursuit of truth is better done collectively and not by journalists alone. This helps shed a light on the efforts bloggers are hoping to achieve with their words and thoughts.

Taken From travelbloggerspodcast.com

While on the other hand, Lazaroiu (2011) argued in his article The Language of Journalism Ethics, how online citizen journalists and  bloggers are not obligated to uphold standard journalism ethical codes which renders them not to be trusted 100%.

Of course a clear example of the influence bloggers had on a current media issue was represented in the events taking place in Ferguson, Missouri. And how the efforts of bloggers working to uncover the story behind Michael Brown’s Death contributed in a much more positive manner than those of traditional media outlets.

While Rettberg (2013) argues in her book Blogging, particularly in chapter seven The Future of Blogging, about the notion of how people nowadays are keen on participating, sharing and contributing to the media. And that with the many and evident advances in technology the concept of “Participatory media” will only spread to reach all social media platforms the web has to offer.

Of course there are many factors that play a role in making a blogger more trustworthy to readers which helps them establish a credible image, for example having their bios, a photo of them preferably smiling and their contact information posted on their blog pages so that readers can feel more connected to them. Of course there are many other useful tips bloggers can use in order to help them establish an online influence, such as identifying clusters of interested readers and being able to reach them.

Taken From endlessblissblog.com

On a different note, Social4retail.com provides an infographic that revolves around various blogging statistics from the year 2014, ranging from how a blog can be a good asset to your business, the amount of money different bloggers earn and the ten highest earning blogs.

Finally, being a blogger enables you to reach a great number of people with the message you have, for it allows you to spread your thoughts and ideas freely. But having such power comes with great responsibility and it is the duty of bloggers everywhere to make sure that they reflect a positive image on blogging for readers all around the world.

The Possibility of News on Social Media Anytime, Anywhere!

A New Dawn Of News Communication (Taken From solomobile.it)

We have definitely reached an age of unequal advancements in the field of news broadcasting and reporting.

We have reached an age where as soon as a major story breaks the entire globe reads and hears about it through different mediums and from various sources.

It’s these advancements in news journalism that have revolutionized the industry and set the bar for generations to follow.

The act of “news reading” was considered a sacred ritual at a great number of households when I was growing up. Memories of when our fathers used to pick up that Sunday newspaper, dissect it for the section they wanted to read first, sit back and simply get lost in texts for hours.

Of course, that has changed somehow because people tend to read news whenever and wherever they can these days. Whether it be on the bus on the way to work or in bed right before they go to sleep. This tracks back to the change in the news delivery models, from the traditional newspaper to the mobile, i.pad and laptop. This has been attributed to the fact that people are at a time of expectancy. They expect everything to be delivered to them as fast as possible with the help of the internet.

Types of News Contents By Devices and Their Uses During The Day (Taken From theguradian.com)

Meikle (2009) talks in chapter 8 of his book Interpreting News, about how there are three central dimensions to ensuring the success of online news, which are automation, personalization and participation.

Automation allows content viewers to have stories updated on their browsers and devices automatically without them having to go search for them. Moreover, it contains a set of functions that rank most viewed stories for people to choose from.

Personalization allows online users to filter which stories and topics they want their news-feed to be revolving around. While participation talks of how more and more people nowadays are using micro blogging sites such as Twitter to pass on stories and current affairs.

Journalism.org published an article under the name News Use Across Different Social Media Platforms, on how news plays a pivotal role across different social media platforms and how the idea of news consumption entails with it actions from consumers online.

The Percentage of Users Who Receive News on Their Social Media Platforms (Taken From Journalism.org)

Jericho (2012) writes in his book The Rise of the Fifth Estate, in chapter four Never Read The Comments, about how when different news stories break online many users opt to voice their opinion throughout social media platforms and with that they would achieve little influence on those that read their comments.

this can be defined as “convergence”, which ‘represents a shift in the behavior of consumers who actively search for and create content across a variety of social media platforms’ (Henry Jenkins, 2006). Clear examples of this were evident in 2013 with the trial of George Zimmerman and how his case caused a great uproar online amongst American communities. Moreover, the deaths of Nelson Mandela and actor Paul Walker received a great deal of social media attention and were considered to be amongst the top searched stories of 2013.

(Taken From bellyitchblog.com)

Of course it is not only social media sites that have played a role in transmitting news across the globe, but also traditional media outlets such as CNN, BBC and Aljazeera had a part to play. especially, Aljazeera news network whose reach has went to almost every country on earth simply because they cover events from the middle east much more efficiently than any other news network. This is considered ironic seeing how their main headquarters are situated in one of the worlds smallest countries, Qatar.

Aljazeera’s Global Reach Has Hit Other Major News Networks (Taken From http://scottsthoughts08.blogspot.com.au)

Mitchelstein and Boczkowski (2009) discussed in their article Between Tradition and Change, about how traditional news outlets resorted to going online because the benefits simply outweighed their losses. Issues of profitability, advertising and establishing a larger audience base were at the heart of moving to online news production.

Case in hand, is how the Media and News CEO of The Guardian, Andrew Miller admitted that Twitter helps them break more news stories than any other social media platform. And this goes back to the great number of Twitter users that can play a major role in bringing about brand recognition overseas to a UK brand (The Guardian).

Finally, these major changes in news broadcasting and journalism across various social media platforms may have their down sides, but they surely do come with many up sides we can all benefit from and improve upon for years and years to come.

Damn It! What Happened To Playing Outside With Friends?

Damn It! What Happened To Playing Outside With Friends?

Now that’s a question I ask myself almost every day, maybe it’s because I have not fully conformed to the social media epidemic that has been spreading worldwide. Or maybe it’s because I keep going back to a time before Facebook and Twitter and reminiscing over how simply sweet those days of MSN and mobile texts were.

Nonetheless, social networking is not all about fun and games. Social networking sites are playing major roles in many companies nowadays. For they have took over from the so called “old fashioned” media outlets such as newspapers and magazines.

For instance if you want to work in public relations these days, then Twitter and Instagram will be of great benefit to you. Whereas if you want to work in the field of advertising then Pinterest and Facebook would be better options.

Boyd and Ellison (2008) talk in their article Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship, about the history of social network sites and the variety of social networking sites that have been around the web for almost 17 years now.  This article talks about bridging online and offline social circles, from the point of view of how Facebook is used predominantly to solidify offline relationships as opposed to meeting new people.

Whereas many discussions have revolved around the fact that power lies in the hands of those that work on building up their online relationships because these relationships outnumber the offline ones and they make users credible on the web (especially when using Instagram).

For example, Daniel Arnold who is a Brooklyn based photographer made 15,000 dollars in one day by selling his most liked Instagram photos.

One of Daniel Arnold’s Famous Instagram Prints

This goes to show the power of social networking and how far this concept has evolved from simply being a recreational tool to a gold mine for those with talent and intelligence.

Van Dijck (2013) talks in his book The Culture of Connectivity, about how Facebook has become “a centripetal force in organizing peoples social lives”. That it is all about that idea of evolving, from Facebook being a simple tool for recreation to it being now used as a substitute for websites and business pages.

I mean thinking back to a time before Facebook where people had MySpace as their main social networking tool and MSN as their main chatting tool. People quickly came to realize how faulty those two were and Facebook came along to capitalize on that.

Facebook took different ideas and existing concepts and kept adding them to their initial idea for a social networking site till they ended up with the world’s most used social media platform.

Moreover, who would have thought that political figures would opt to use social media platforms to get their messages and ideas across! Yet this is the reality of the world we live in nowadays. Bichard and Parmelee (2012) talk in their book Politics and The Twitter Revolution, about how political figures using Twitter these days are extremely interested and keen on interacting with their followers and not only broadcasting to them their messages because this allows for a connection and bond to be made.

This proves to us yet again that social media platforms can play a major role in facilitating change and democracy in this world we live in.

This was the case with the Arabic Spring in the Middle East, where people opted to use social media platforms as their main weapon to get their messages across and work towards revolting against all that is wrong in their countries. Facebook was the Egyptians main tool in their 2011 revolution.

An Egyptian Protester Holding A Sign That Reads: “Thank You … Egyptian Youths”

For it only takes one click to get a message across that might make a difference to the lives of many and that alone substantiates the power we have at our command.

Finally, we can all agree that social media has come a long way since those dark days of MySpace and Hi5. That it has had a tremendous effect on all our lives both positively and negatively and that it still baffles my mind how there is an app for absolutely everything these days!

We are officially living in the “App Era” folks.