A nerve, there we go, you got a network.

It is very controversial that online professional networking site are worthy.   Two articles supports totally different sides about job seeking in online professional networking site like LinkedIn: "Search for a name and these profiles generally show up in a search engine's top 10. This is a low-stress way to control your image and, incidentally, make yourself a passive job seeker (It's not just who you know by David Lidsky) and "applying networking skills is truly the way to an active, productive job search" (Networking for students by Priscilla March). But both still admit that it is a convenient, useful tool when you use it properly. 

Yea, that's the problem.  To what extent it could you PROPER?  Who knows? everybody is different... thinks differently.

Well, in my opinion, if you want to expand/discover your network through online professional social networking site, you would have to be a nerve unless you know somebody veryveryveryvery well.  

Ok. For example, can you add your professors of currently taking courses at LinkedIn or Ziggs? Ummm, this might be a hardcore.  The reason I found out LinkedIn was that I googled my one of my previous professors a while ago.  And I figured out that whenever I googled a name, Linkedin was one of almost top 5 results.  I joined LinkedIn made account.  But I couldn't ask them to accept my request, no I never requested it.  Although the person I wanted to add and I  knew each other and I was a good student(really? haha) it is never easy to ask. Another instance,  I interned at AU athletics last summer and I found my boss(director of marketing, promotion, and sales) at LinkedIn.  I could haven't send him a request for a long time after I knew that he had used it (to be really honest, everybody like me!! and I worked hard!!! no kidding!! I worked overtime.... without getting paid!!!).  I was a bit scared what if they think that I am using them for getting a job or something like this.  It could be a guilty conscience, but if it really happens I would destroy the good relationships.  And what if I asked them in person(not online) and they rejected it... It could hurt the relationships.

You can add your close co-workers there, but what about other people working at the same place, not from the same team but just same company or neighbor teams, can they be a network? So hard to define "network" itself.  

I am still confused and don't know how to use.  Ah, yea I am not still out there in the  competitive job market.  But still, it seems to be hard after I graduate the college.  I hope there is a specific situational tutorial in using those sites.  To be honest, the stuffs in Networking for Students aren't new.

analog and digital/virtual team and technology

There is always a dilemma between analog and digital.

(Analog meaning old-school like meeting in person,  digital meaning technology-included virtual team)

Just simply, what is better? having original copies of photos or having electronic copies of them? I experienced my hardware crush and lost all the invaluable electronic data. I couldn't do nothing, but sit there with glassy eyes.

If I possessed them with hard copies, I wouldn't happen unless I had a fire.

However, this doesn't mean that I had to have hard copies instead of digital photos. Since the more advanced digital era is an inevitable change, it would be ideal to have plan B in case of system crush.  Technology is crucial now.

Back to the virtual team, 

Both article Teamwork, super charged in Business week and working together... when apart by Lynda Gratton  talk about how to be the effective virtual team.  In some of the facts, both say that well-made technology supports the successful virtual team.  It really is hard to bring to a successful virtual team without good technology because virtual team doesn't mean anything without technology and it is not a physical meeting and interaction.  For instance, when I was in Korea(I went to Women's university), we had so many group presentation and it was so hard to set a time for meeting for every 6~7 member. So what we usually did was separating the part voluntarily, researching the given part, and uploaded to the school's club homepage or cyworld club(it is like a google group).  Or we tried to meet online MSN messenger to discuss something.  Would this work well?   Hell no!!! Every time I do my group project in this way, there were people doing in late and being confused about what it has to be.  My conclusion for this was NEVER EFFECTIVE. 

Kind of advanced version of technology is wikidot.com. I used this in the ITEC-200 the edge of information technology class last semester for the first time.  For the group project we used this under professor's help.  It worked better when we collaborate many different ideas.  However, after all, when we made a real powerpoint and prepare the rehearsal and presentation, it was better to meet in person and had a physical meeting.  Well, anyway, from my experience, I believe that technology have been advanced and there will be a better/best technology supporting virtual team eventually. But it has to lead virtual team members overcome the downsides of physical separation and interaction or it has to make people feel that they are really work together in the same place.

Still, 

As Teamwork, super charged from BusinessWeek  pointed, it seems that it is better to have a physical team for me...

Am I too conservative and not innovative? 

Internet and Anonymity

I believe that every human has an evil side in his/her mind.   And one shows that when nobody is watching him/her.  It is same on the Internet like Seth Godin said in his article.  Fraud in ebay and Vandalism is Wikipedia are the examples of that.  When you just see these kinds of activities, it seems that we have to make the Internet without anonymity in order to make it clean.  

But still, online auction is still going on between anonymous sellers and buyers like Rheingold said in Smartmobs.  And many users have trusted on line and did good job in the anonymous world.

Also,  I understand that Internet's anonymity has made web activities more active and different from reality.   I've seen many people show their different personalities in the web or their blog.  Especially, for those of people who are introverted and very shy the Internet has done a good job introducing the whole new world and attracting them to participate and show more of their reactions.  Well, this is not applied to every shy person, but it is better for them to face computer screen than to face the person.

What could be the better idea? well, with all the same information about us, it will the duplicated world of reality. But then, we are still gonna have the same problems related to anonymity.  

My opinion is that we can make higher access for something important websites. Or we can make people to use the very accurate, real information to join the community or websites. But after that, make them use anonymous name in there, so that everybody can't see who one are, but when one did a bad thing, like a cyber police can find out to accuse one.   Well, it may raise more security problems as well.  It is so complicated and it is too late to return to the back.

What do you think?

who get the best information?

I had my computer broken last winter break while I went back home.  I lost 5 years of works including powerpoint files and photos.  I was kinda obsessed with powerpoints and photos because I did a lot of works with corporations(like a project and sometimes intern) and taking pics was my big hobby.  Seriously, I yelled at my young brother(it wasn't his fault, it was because of the guy from the computer fixing office that he did the stupid things--he cleaned up the whole HDD)  and eventually cried...  I lost all the portfolios... after I entered the university.  I felt like I was nothing without that.  But I calmed down myself thinking 'it is the past, I can even be more creative without past works.'   And there wasn't the way to revive them.  I told myself 'ok, fine.  There is no way I can do now, so forget about it!' I felt better after that.

(even still I don't want to remind me of that awful event, it is ten times worse than the combination of losing all the phone number after you graduates, kicking out of the facebook account, losing de.licio.us and LinkedIn account, and losing a $10000.  

HOWEVER, all of sudden, I thought of the star, which presented the favorites (websites).  My home desktop's OS is windows, so yellow star sign means the Favorites.  I almost cried that I realized that I lost all the websites and blogs I marked.  Can you imagine that? I was so pissed that I really wanted to kill the computer fixing guy.  (He saved his life from not meeting me at home).   

Bookmarking someone's blog is the shortcut to get good information.  Too many data are out there.  It takes more time to find what you exactly want.  Although every portal sites have been tried to develop the better search engine, it is now perfect yet.  So when you find a good blogger with the same interest like you.  You are saving tons of money because time is money.  Especially the blogger did a good job, then you don't even worry about getting new info.  That blogger is going to keep you updated.  After that, when you find another one, the pleasure and results double.

Social bookmarking/social news/tagging/etc seem all about the better/best information in the data web where you can't see the end.  Exploring Internet means wasting you time.  I better find string(website) so that you can be pulled(get good info).  what would be the other purpose of the whole work of social bookmarking?   Anything better. Yea. that's it.  There is too much useless information now.  

But, bookmarking might produce useless information.  For instance, badly tagged or bookmarked pages can mislead the data search; those kind of thing could be even worse that just one datum.  It is because not every blogger is smart and careful.  Social bookmarking has let the Internet surfer get what they want.  But also, it could mislead them to the wrong place.

coward MS? wise MS?

When you google "corporate blog", you can see tons of results including some commercial corporate-blogging companies--which help corporations to blog.  People are debating about corporate blogging whether it is good for the firm .  It's fun to see both sides in one magazine(Global PR blog week) at the same time: Why CEOs shouldn't blog?, Why CEOs should blog? Both basically say that the blogging helps communicating with customers. Difference between two articles is who blogs.  Blogging is not a fad anymore.  Anyhow, it seems that most firms and customers prefer to blog for themselves and customers.

I read the Microsoft's successful blogging stories from naked conversation and bloggers send a warning shot to corporate America.  Both stories are about Robert Scoble, the former employee of Microsoft and the co-author of Naked Conversation.  It was so good for Microsoft to choose him to talk about Microsoft in his blog.  But he left the company and he is still blogging with the same url.  Now he just said a few days ago that how fun it was at the Apple Store.  Is that still good for Microsoft?? 

Also, Microsoft only has one official Internet Explore blog explaining about the functions not having used so much, SP2, ControlX, and etc.  It seems boring and IT IS boring.  It is like a Internet Explore manual nobody uses.  Why don't Microsoft do the same thing they did with another Rob Scoble?  

Ok. then, check this out The unauthorized Microsoft Weblog. This guy Jason have done a good job giving good information to visitors about Microsoft Windows stuffs.  Why can't MS do like this?  I absolutely believe that MS can do the better job on this.  Is blogging too much for the huge info tech companies?  Is that because MS is worried about all the Window users come to there blog and say bad thing about MS?  or is that an wise action for MS not to blog so that they can avoid miscellaneous conflicts and problems because they have more major stuffs to care about??

Well,

All the smart kids can enter MS.  I hope they figure out soon how to change their business wisely through blogging or the better way.  But I don't even imagine what it could be.

p.s   whenever I try to work on my laptop for a long time in the library, I ALWAYS forget to bring the adapter.... so stupid... 

Don't bother me!!!!!!!!!!! please!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I missed the last class because I went to NY finance trip with Kogod!!! 

It was kinda intense and sorta productive. I am totally exhausted after this trip.

Since my father had a business trip to florida, I had to meet him right after the trip (no time to go to MoMa!!! it was my 5th visit and everytime I tried to go to MoMa, I failed for some reasons)

Anyway, dad and I stopped by alot of car dealershops to buy a car over this weekend(he's snoring now..). Our first visited site was Honda, I testdrove on car.  For a test drive, a salesman asked me my number and DL. I thought he will make me annoying by calling me to push me to buy a car.. well it was not like that.

When I was in like....um....3rd, 4thish dealershop (2hours later), I got a call with the number starting 888-***-****. I pick it up. It was a Honda customer service in order to do the survey. I was talking to another salesman and helping my dad to understand what the conditions are, etc.  Imagine that sales guy talk to a guy. A guy do not understand fully. A guys daughter as an assistance is doing nothing but talking on the phone and say the random things. I tried to hang it up asap. It lasts 5 mins.  5mins could be long or short time.  But at that situation  it was long. So, on the question "does salesman give you the number after you test drive?" I couldn't remember because I had visited other places and I couldn't remember the exact number. So profound that I can't focus on this conversation with the other dealer and dad.  I tried to finish the conversation, "yeayea it was good good". She said "thank you, blah blah blah." oh yeeeassss! it's over!! yay!!!

Um, a phone survey can get the fastest response anytime. But the result of survey can't be accurate.  CRM, customer support sound good even to me until I reacted like that to the customer center. Could there be some other not-annoyable, accurate way to study people/customers? is that the best way for now? I don't know yet because I just don't want to be bothered.

be yourself-the best way to blog

The blog is the representative of one online where more people participate and sometimes better conversations have been made.  The authors of naked conversations, Scoble and Israel demonstrate that the interaction online between corporate and other constituencies is becoming important and even more essential.  I am agree with that because most people use the Internet everyday and get information from it.

To describe, nowadays, politicians are like corporations.  They advertise and promote themselves through blogging.  For example, two major presidential candidates in South Korea, Myungbak Lee(www.cyworld.com/mbitious) and Geunhye Park(www.cyworld.com/ghism) from Hannara party, a nongovernment party, have been renowned for their blog.  More than 1000 people visit their blog daily and show supports or sometimes antagonism.  They upload their campaign pledges with reasonings, personal photos with explanations, hobbies, and press released from other media.  They are blogposting to tell the truth about themselves, which is to tell the truth (kind of), which is the first Corporate Weblog Manifesto qtd. in Naked Conversation(191-194).   At the blog, they show that they are as same as other common citizens so that electors can feel comfortable with them.  

I sometimes visit their blog to see what is going on.  Whenever I go their blog it is so interesting because they show the old pictures of theirs with sense of humor.  Without blog technologies, it's impossible to see politicians from the different perspectives, the aspect of human. With this grateful technologies, they've been doing a good job in attracting people because they have been themselves in their blog.

p.s

They've used Cyworld, which is the most popular social networking website.

here's some quotes from Business 2.0, 

-Cyworld, for example, is a social network owned by a subsidiary of SK Telecom, the country's largest wireless provider. To an American eye, the Cyworld service looks like a mixture of some of the hottest US properties: it's MySpace meets Flickr and Blogger and AIM and Second Life.

- Users have avatars that visit and can link to each other's "minihompy" - a miniature homepage that's actually a 3-D room containing a users' blog, photos, and virtual items for sale. Cyworld's digital garage sales include music, ringtones, clothes for your avatar and furnishings for your own minihompy.

- Cyworld has penetration rates that would make Rupert Murdoch, CEO of MySpace parent News Corp, green with envy: An astonishing 90% of South Koreans in their 20s use the service. Celebrities and politicians set up their own minihompies, and the way to get ahead in twentysomething Korean society is to found a popular Cyworld club, or chat room.

(http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/06/16/the_future_is_in_south_korea.html)

*Naked Conversations; How blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. (2006) by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel