The Future of Facebook (Week 2)

By definition, social media refers to media that is highly interactive, accessible and scalable. It encompasses everything from social networks like Facebook and MySpace, blogs, podcasts, video sharing, and social bookmarks.

Today, I want to talk about Facebook. Facebook has become a very important part of my life. I'm always connected to Facebook. It allow me to keep in touch with my friends all over the world and keeps me up to date with the happenings of their everyday lives.

It makes it easy for us to share photos and videos, and event plan events and outings without the hassle of having to send invitations through the mail.
Technology is forever growing and changing. Facebook is always being updated: new layouts, new applications, new functions. It makes us wonder what new gadgets and applications facebook will come up with in the years to come, or if it will even still be around in the future.

I read an article on xinmsn tech & gadgets section a few days ago, and they were discussing crazy new features that might pop up on facebook in time to come. Here are some of the ideas that they came up with:


1) People in your neighbourhood.
Since Facebook has a "people you may know" section now, it is highly possible that sooner or later they may come up with a "people in your neighbourhood" section. One click and you can see all the facebook users that stay around your area.




2) Automated stress signal.
The writers predict that, in the future, Facebook could begin tracking users login habits, and prepare some sort of algorithm that would detect anomalies in usage. For example, if someone who is usually on facebook 24-7 shows no activity for weeks, facebook could send notifications to friends asking if the person in question is missing or if he/she has disappeared. This function may not be useful to majority of users, but who knows? It might help save someone's life.




3) Posts mentioning your name.
A future feature could be one where you could search for any posts, pictures, or comments (not necessarily tagged) that mention your name within your network of friends.





4) Automatic Relative Search
Since Facebook already has a " people you may know" section, it is not that far-fetched to think that in the future, the might add a "people you may be related to" function. While this may be useful to people who are trying to locate long lost relatives, this function may prove to be more of a hassle than anything else, especially people who are trying to keep their relatives off their profiles because they want to maintain some privacy when it comes to their own private lives.




5) Specialised chat channels
Facebook chat has been around for a long time. Currently it is a very basic chat function. However it would come as no surprised if it evolved into a chatroom where you could meet strangers or new people. Aside from singles looking for someone to hook up with, specialised chat channels where people who shared similar interests or hobbies could hold discussion and such could emerge as well.





Those were the 5 suggestions given by the tech & gadgets section on the web. I came up with a few suggestions of my own as well.

1) Facebook's own "skype"
it is possible that, in the future, facebook chat will allow you to webcam and make video calls with the friends on your friend's list.




2) Tightened Facebook privacy settings
Currently, many employers use Facebook to "check out" their candidates applying for job vacancies to decide if they are suitable for the job. Many people are afraid that the activies they do on their own personal time ( eg. partying/drinking/smoking) may hurt their chances at securing jobs. Maybe in the furure, there will be a fuction where you can "hide" your profile from companies or accounts that you have no mutual friends with, making it harder for employers to spy on your through your facebook profile.




Of course, these are just mere speculations. For all we know, Facebook might crash and burn. And a new, more advanced social networking site may emerge to take its place. I guess we are just going to have to wait and see what the future holds.

Google Chrome VS Mozilla Firefox (week 1)

One of the most basic and essential tools when talking about internet technology is browsers. Browsing is a term used to describe the process of viewing or searching documetn during information retrieval. In the past, people mostly relied on browsers such as Netscape and Internet Explorer. However with the advancement in technology in recent years, it is no wonder that the variety of browsers available to us has increased and expanded through the years. Currently, the fight between the most reliable browsers seem to be between Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. I came across an article which clearly illustrated the main differences between both browsers. The article also highlighted both the strengths and weaknesses of both browsers.

The article can be found at http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/googles-chrome-vs.-mozillas-new-fast-firefox-4

Basically, the article states that the needs of the user is what mostly determines which browser trumps the other. While Mozilla Firefox is the "prettier" browser, with its add-ons and appealing layouts, Google Chrome, while not as visually appealing as Firefox, gets the job done just the same.

Personally, I am a fan of Google Chrome. I prefer using Google Chrome to Mozilla Firefox because I feel that it operates as a faster speed, and is very user friendly. However, my needs for the internet are very basic. I use it to surf the web, send out emails, manage my social networking accounts, and carry out research for school. I do not have a very strong need for the very many add-ons that Mozilla Firefox has to offer. Maybe as I get older, and as time goes by, my needs will change and I might lean more towards Firefox.

But who knows? At the rate technology is developing, and given the success of Google thus far, it would come as no surprise is Google matches us with, or if not possibly surpasses Firefox in time to come.