Maintain a Good Online Reputation

The article "Startups Help Clean Up Online Reputations" states "In a recent survey, one in 10 hiring managers say they rejected candidates because of things they found out about them on the Internet." This is a bit scary if this becomes a growing trend. Of course we need more details behind this data as to what kind of jobs these candidates were trying to get and why they were rejected, but its scary from the standpoint that a lot of the information out on the Internet is not accurate, so if individuals are simply being rejected on Internet-based information, that seems unfair to the candidate.

Since this practice is going on, whether it is fair or not, it is a good idea to do what you can that's under your control to maintain your online reputation, because if you don't it could come back to hurt you at a later time.

Corporate Bookmarking - The Power of Networking

After reflecting on the list of "Fifteen Uses of Corporate Bookmarking", I can see the power of networking really being able to add value here. For example, one area is competitive research. It is hard for one individual in the company to keep track of all of a company's competitors and their latest product offerings and feature sets, but if a number of employees compile a set of bookmarks to information, the competitive information shared throughout the company really expands.

Tracking industry trends is another good example on the list. It is difficult to keep up with indutsry trends in today's fast moving industries and the current state of information overload. The key to making these uses of corporate bookmarking be productivity enhancements rather than productivity barriers is the quality of information, as poor information will contribute to information overload. Therefore, the compilers and users of these lists need to practice sel-discipline and group discipline to maintain the quality of the content.

Get a Real Life!

Based on the Slideshare summary and review of Second Life, it is hard to get excited about this form of networking. While it does have a number of different networking capabilities: chat, IM, group IM, and supposedly voice and Skype capability coming soon, do we really need to travel through a 3-D graphic “artificial world” in order to network? I don’t think so. Why do I want to spend time earning fake money to buy fake clothes, etc. for my avatar? Wouldn’t spending the time earning real money that can buy real things be a more productive use of time? I know that SL offers an opportunity for escape, but I can easily see people getting wrapped up in this second life and becoming not only unproductive in their real life, but neglecting their relationships with real friends and family.

The summary from the author says that is overhyped and the technical requirements are too high. What is surprising is the demographics, with 25-34 as the largest user group, not teens, because to me Second Life is only for people who don’t have much of a real life. The NY Times article discusses spending time shopping for clothes for your avatar. Anyone who has time to do that must not have much of a real life!

Bloggers send a warning shot to corporate America

In the article "Bloggers send a warning shot to corporate America", the article discusses how blogging has shifted power away from large corporations to consumers. In the past, large companies had complete control over information regarding the company through its advertising, communications and press releases. However, now with the advent of blogging, bloggers can share their opinions about companies including customer service and quality problems on the Internet for millions to read. The article cited the example of Verizon, who disabled a bluetooth feature on one of their phones, bloggers complained about the problem to each other online and the result was a class action lawsuit against Verizon.

The article briefly discusses how firms should best deal with blogging. So what is the best the best course of action for a company to take in response to blogs? One recommendation from Mike Massick of Techdirt is that companies should engage bloggers openly and honestly in their realm.

According to the article "Social networking targets the enterprise," social networking seems to be exploring new market spaces and providing added functionality to the user in terms of expanding the network that the user has access to. Given the example of the furniture salesperson, it seems that competitive intelligence is also being integrated into the social networking domain - nothing wrong with that and it should actually be a step in the right direction as social networks target the enterprise element.

Right now there are social networking sites that provide unfettered access to personal and private information. Whether enterprise level activities can lend itself to this unfettered access remains to be seen, especially where the prevalence of proprietary information may come about.

Which one is stronger?

While I was reading I got lost asking myself ….. What’s the different between connector and connection? Do both words do the same job? Which one is stronger?

Summary about myself

Hello Everyone,

Hope eveyone is doing well. i want to talk about few things about myslef. i will start talking about the place i came from. oraginaly i am from Saudi Arabia however ihavent really lived there as much i lived out side it. I lived around 12 to 13 years out side Saudi. some where in Africa and the rest in the US. however this will not be for long. As soon i graduate i wll be heading back home. this is my last year at American University. thats all waht i can say for now .......