Today I'm Going To Be A...

Excuse me for a minute while I sound like a high school student. Second Life. I don’t get it. It must be nice to escape into a world where you can live your fantasies. If you’re having a bad day, or bored of your everyday run of the mill activities you can escape into a virtual world.  With the click of your fingertips the possibilities are endless. Except for the very few people who actually enjoy their job, the majority of us would rather not spend our days working. I’m currently in school full time, but I can relate to the working world woes. I know I would rather spend my days doing fun activities than tied to my job. I was shocked to see the number of people who had jobs in the virtual world. I don’t know, perhaps they are experimenting with a career change?  Not only are people playing with careers, but they are playing with their bodies as well. Are people that unhappy with reality that they have to join a virtual world to make them happy? Is this really going to benefit society or will we be hearing more stories on the news about the rise of body image issues?

Not So Dumb, But Definitely Lazy

The last two decades have been focused on improving technology to make our lives easier, but have all the technological advancements really improved our lives?  We can look to the Internet for almost anything.  I will be the first to admit that I take advantage of the Internet.  I enjoy the fact that I have access to information I need with the touch of a button.  There is something to be said about having to work hard for answers to problems. While I do not think the Internet makes us dumber, I do think that it sends the wrong image. While constantly relying on the Internet we are telling future generations that it is okay to not work hard. What’s better than the satisfaction from a day of hard work? 

Count me LinkedOut

I was sitting at my desk the other day working on one of many papers that I have due in the coming weeks. I was interrupted by the buzzing of my Blackberry. I always welcome distractions so I stopped to take a look. I had gotten an “Invitation to Connect on LinkedIn”. I have quite the personal social network and I am constantly meeting new people. Despite my knack for making new friends, I was shocked to have received the invitation from this person. We had only met once and talked only briefly during the afternoon session of a conference. While I understand the benefits of the networking tool, is it really better to connect with everyone you meet? I’m just not on board with “It’s Not Just Who You Know”.

Despite my reservations the invitation sparked my curiosity. After a brief test drive I still don’t get the allure. Let me ask you; is LinkedIn really worthy of all the hype?

Please Don't Ask...

Moving to a new city can be intimidating. You're out of your element and you long for your comfort zone. This will be me in just two short months. I will be packing up and leaving city life for suburbia. Hello Yelp! I think it's going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I will be using this service to help me find my new comfort zone. Who knows, maybe I too will be a Yelp reviewer.  

I've used Zagat and Opentable before for restaurant reviews, however, I've never really known where to look when it comes to finding out about grocery stores, salons, etc. 

Reading about the criticism Yelp is facing made me laugh because I know how it feels. I won't mention any names, but I know how Yelp feels. I am often asked for restaurant recommendations by someone when they are in the DC area. I'm not a nervous person by any means, but the mere thought of having to make a recommendation causes me to cringe because no matter what recommendation I make, something will be wrong with the restaurant. The food will be awful, the service will be slow, the menu overpriced, and the list goes on...Yelp, I feel your pain. It is a helpful tool and by no means perfect. Users need to keep the fact that it is a reference when visiting the site.  

My Introduction to Tagging

I'm in class right now and we are learning about tagging. This is all new to me! I think you should take a look at my blogcircle collegue Zaid's post, it's quite funny!!

http://zaidsultan.blogspot.com/

"Stop By" or Stop My Heart?

The Internet has enabled corporations to stay connected and keep their culture of “togetherness.” While there are many benefits to staying connected via the Internet there are pitfalls. My experiences have shown me how difficult it is to understand the emotion behind electronic communication. Often it’s the delivery that determines the meaning of the words and not the other way around. By limiting communication to electronic forms, we run the risk of significant misunderstanding. I remember at my last job my boss would frequently send me emails with the subject line of “Stop by” with nothing in the body of the email. My natural reaction was in line with human nature and to think the worst and panic. What did I do???? Did I mess something up??? How much trouble am I in??? I would walk into her office and 9 times out of 10 she just wanted to talk about how things were going. Had she only walked over to talk, many minor heart attacks could have been avoided.

Online Networking - Is It Worth All the Hype?

How did it become acceptable for employees to vent their frustrations against upper management in online chatrooms? Instead of scheduling a private one on one meeting to sit down and  discuss issues, more and more disgruntled employees are turning to online forums. When did online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace become more popular than actual face-to-face networking? I admit that I am a Facebook user, however it was not by choice. A former co-worker set up an account for me. According to her "I was out of the loop" because I didn't use the networking tool. Like most users, I got hooked, but I still prefer talking to my friends rather than finding out about their lives via newsfeeds. I find it astonishing that people have 1000 "friends" on Facebook. It seems like people are just interested in having people join their social network so they can add to their already outrageous friend list. Can people really keep up with that number of "friends" and do they really care to? Long gone are the days of writing letters and sit down meetings in the workplace. Nowadays, it seems like the only way to get someone's attention is by "friending" them on a social networking tool or communicating with them via email. Personally, I miss the old days when people took the time to personally get to know someone, instead of just reading their online profile. 

My First Blog Post

Welcome to Sarah's blog!! I am a graduate student at American University taking ITEC 656 - this is my first time blogging. I will be making weekly blog postings. I look forward to hearing from you. Enjoy!

“On my honor, all posts on this blog are my own”

Sarah