Jamilah's Life in IST... Watch Me Work

"Real friends and virtual strangers" Summary
The article entitled “Real friends and virtual strangers” shows how social networking sites allow people to expand their group of “friends” but one must have a face-to-face relationship in order to be genuine friends. Although someone may have 200 friends, there is only a handful that they can trust. The point of networking is to make friends that could do you a favor like getting you a job or getting you into a certain program. However, if you have never met these "friends", you can't trust them, and there is no point in networking at all.

"What we need," explained Dr. Reader, "is to be absolutely sure that a person is really going to be there for us. It's very easy to be deceptive on the Internet. What we need are cues that are indicative of investment."

"Facebook eases freshmen fears, fosters friendship" Summary
The article entitled “Facebook eases freshman fears, fosters friendship” gives examples of how Facebook helps college freshman adjust to the new environment. Before they arrive on campus, most college freshman already have dozens of “Facebook Friends” that are attending the same school. Facebook makes it much easier to communicate with new roommates and new people in general, making it easier to blend in.

"Personally, I'd rather meet [people] in person, but Facebook has been a great tool to get to know fellow students before getting to campus," she said. "Without it, I would probably feel much more lost and unprepared about going to Wellesley than I am now."

"There is always the underlying suspense that they are not [the same] in person as they are online. Sometimes it's easier to meet people in person because then you can judge body language and vocal tone."

As you can see, people use Facebook for one thing in general, networking. Knight’s article suggests that you cannot truly create a genuine bond through Facebook. On the other hand, Peace’s article suggests that Facebook can be the starting point of genuine bonds. I think both articles are absolutely correct. For the past 2 years, I worked at GlaxoSmithKline. During that time, I joined the GSK network on Facebook. I would never be naïve enough to think that I could create a bond with an upper level employee and expect him/her to get me a promotion. It just doesn’t work like that. In order for that to happen, there would definitely have to be a face-to-face connection. However, with college and the newness of everything, I created a Facebook relationship with my current roommate and girls on my floor before I met them in person. I think that only worked because we knew that we would be seeing each other everyday for the next but it eased the move in process and the first week of school. There are some people that I am friends with on Facebook but will almost never speak to in person. Maybe it’s a social status thing, I don’t want to be embarrassed while speaking to the “nerd” when with my “cool” friends. Overall, the combined message of these two articles is, Facebook Friends are not people you can necessarily trust, and Facebook friends can only transform into true friends when you meet in person.

1. Model Mayhem - modelmayhem.com

Model Mayhem is a social networking site for aspiring models, photographers, make-up artists, hair stylist, and wardrobe gurus. There are many ways to meet people through this site. Under the browse tab, one can search using many criteria such as: profile type (Model, Photographer, Makeup Artist, Hair Stylist, or Wardrobe Stylist), Country, State, Postal code, and Name. There is a special search criteria for models only. You can search by age, gender, height, ethnicity, skin color, hair length, hair color and eye color.

When the results appear, there will be the picture, name, location, gender, age, height and weight of everyone that met the criteria. You can send a message to whoever appears in the result , view their photos and friends, and request to be their friend. Once you are their friend you can comment on their pictures and post public comments to their page.

2. Travellers Point- travellerspoint.com

"The goal of Travellerspoint is to create an international meeting point for travellers worldwide, whether they are planning their travels, currently travelling or have returned from their travels and want to stay in touch with (or find) those travel friends they met while travelling in the past." The objective of TravellersPoint is " to enrich the travelling experience by offering numerous services, content and products that have significant perceived and added value for travellers worldwide. To travel means to meet other people, experience their cultures and to make, but also to keep good friends. By bringing more people together - albeit before, during or after travelling - Travellerspoint will create more understanding for different cultures and countries and ultimately a better world for everyone to travel in."

3. Vampire Freaks - vampirefreaks.com

Vampire Freaks is a social networking site designed to help “gothic” people interact. After you create a profile, there are many ways to communicate with people. There is an advance user search. You can search by sex, location, age, sexual orientation, currently online, and user with a picture. When the results appear, there is the users’ picture, age, name, and location. You can also search within “cults” by genre such as: music, movies & TV, fashion & beauty, scenes & culture, html & design, support & help, technology & computers, games, literature, sports & entertainment, business & shops, mature & relationships, arts, locations & languages, food & health, philosophy & intellectual, and political & activist. Cults focus on those topics and you can make friends within the cults.

The sites I choose are very different in content. However, the way users can communicate, for the most part, is the same. Model Mayhem’s design is very user friendly. People are able to get around the site very easily. If you want to find a very specific person, you can thanks to its advanced search. This is because the site was designed for artist to find that piece of artwork they need. Photographers, wardrobe stylists, and hair artists need a particular type a person when they work. Therefore, Model Mayhem lets them search for the 5’10”, blonde, 22 year old, female from LA. Overall, the site is very user friendly and promotes connectivity.

Model Mayhem is very similar to Travellers Point, where you can search for some based on what city they where in on what date. Because of the Reunion function, people can find the French man they were in Austria with in 1996. However, that is not the purpose of the site. When I registered for the site, I was confused on how to find people. There is no direct “people search” link on the home page. This is most likely because this site is more for people to browse other people’s opinions on places, not to find people and socialize. Generally, Travellers Point is for peer-to-peer research not networking.

However, Vampire Freaks is made for finding people with similar interests. The design of the site makes it easy to browse through profile and cults. If you want to view the newest member’s profile or the last modified profile, it is really simple. I think this is because the audience has no time to waste. These are angry teens and adults who have been out-cast to their very own social networking site. The design makes them feel more at home with the black background and the red font. Also, instead of the word “group”, Vampire Freak’s uses “cult”. This really makes the audience want to join and meet new people. Overall, Vampire Freaks keeps the traditional gothic style and promotes networking with similar users.

MetaCafe

• Services they provide – They provide video entertainment that is short, entertaining, and audience driven. They do not provide entire movies, television episodes, or anything over 100 seconds. There are only entertaining videos, no news, webcam feeds, or personal stories. Before a video is published, some 80,000 users review it.

“Metacafe specializes in short-form original video - content that is made for the interactive Internet medium. We don't have full-length television episodes or movies chopped into pieces. The average video on our site is just over 90 seconds long. People come to Metacafe looking for an entertainment break in their day - and we deliver.”

• Technologies they run on – They use the Metacafe Player, which is similar to the You Tube Player.

• Advertisements – There are many ads from 18+ sites such as true.com, truesexysingles.com, worldsdirtiestfilm.com

• Types of users – The users of this site include the users of YouTube and other video sharing sites. These people want something shorter than the videos YouTube offers.

• Restrictions -

“Metacafe hereby grants you permission to use the Website, provided that: (i) your use of the Website is solely for your personal, noncommercial use; (ii) you will not copy, distribute or modify any part of the Website without Metacafe's prior written authorization; (iii) you will not send unsolicited or unauthorized advertisements, spam, chain letters, etc., (iv) you will not transmit any Content which contains software viruses, or other harmful computer code, files or programs; (v) you will not disrupt servers or networks connected to the Website; and (vi) you comply with these Terms & Conditions.”

• “Save The Creativity For The Videos: Don't try to sneak onto top lists by manipulating the results. For example, posting lots of comments on your own video to get onto the "Most Discussed" list won't get you anywhere. (We've got trained dogs to sniff out cheats.)
• Keep It Clean: There are 1,000,000 words in the English language alone, including some cool ones like "nubile," "psychedelic," and "obfuscation." Flaunt your language skills here, and leave the profanity and other garbage talk at home.
• No Haters: Our community has zero tolerance for intolerance, so no defamatory, racist, sexist or homophobic talk. This includes threats of violence or sexual assault against other site users or people appearing in videos. Offenders will be banned forever from Metacafe.”

• Intellectual property rules -

“The content on the Website, including all User Submissions, including without limitation, the text, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos and interactive features ("Content") and the trademarks, service marks and logos contained therein ("Marks"), are owned by or licensed to Metacafe. Content on the Website is provided to you "AS IS" for your information and personal use only and may not be used, copied, distributed, transmitted, broadcast, displayed, sold, licensed, reverse engineered, de-compiled, or otherwise exploited for any other purposes whatsoever without Metacafe's prior written consent. Metacafe reserves all rights not expressly granted in and to the Website. If you download or print a copy of the Content for personal use, you must retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained therein. You agree not to circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Website or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any Content or enforce limitations on use of the Website."

SceneMaker

• Services they provide – They let users share their favorite part of an already short video so you will not have to watch the entire video from You Tube, Google, Metacafe, or other video sharing sites. It also lets users tag their video clips.

• Technologies they run on - They are powered by the Gotuit Media Incorporation. They use Macromedia Flash Player to stream videos

• Advertisements - Google has an ad bar at the bottom of each page and on the right side of each page there are ad about free video downloads from various advertisers. Thos advertisers include ourstage.com, freemusicgivaway.com, and columbiahouse.com

• Types of users - Their uses include people who love social video posted on sites like YouTube, Google Video, Metacafe and Dailymotion.

• Restrictions –

“The site is provided to you for your own personal use, and may not be used for any commercial purposes unless express written consent is granted by Gotuit. Use of the materials on this Site for any other purpose is a violation of Gotuit's or other sources' copyright, trademark and other proprietary rights.”

“You agree that you will not copy, reproduce, republish, alter, post, or distribute (except for your own personal, private non-commercial use) any materials (including but not limited to the text, images, audio and/or video) or software (including but not limited to any images or files incorporated in or generated by the software or data accompanying such software). You also agree that you will not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to circumvent user authentication or the security of any user account, or use any robot, spider, or other automated or manual device, service or technology to copy any materials from the Site. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Gotuit grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the Site for the sole purpose of creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but not caches or archives of such materials. Gotuit reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases.”

• Intellectual property rules -

“This Site contains material that is produced in whole or in part from material supplied by Gotuit and other third-party sources. The content and software ("Materials") on this Site, except all third-party source video (as defined below), is the property of Gotuit and is protected by U.S. and international copyright and trademark laws. Gotuit reserves all rights not expressly granted herein.”

“"Gotuit" and the Gotuit design, as well as certain other names, logos, and materials displayed on the Site constitute trademarks, tradenames, service marks, or logos ("Marks") of Gotuit or other entities. You are not authorized to use any such Marks.”

“Third-party source video. This site displays third-party source video, which is video hosted on a site that is not owned or controlled by Gotuit. This can include user-submitted video on third party sites. On the Gotuit site, third-party source video is identified by the logo or name of the original content source. The third-party site, AND/OR THE PROVIDER OF THE THIRD-PARTY SOURCE VIDEO TO THAT SITE, retain all rights of such video as set forth by their specific terms of use and governing policies. As such, you should review the applicable policies of these third-party sites.”

CelebTV.com

• Services they provide - “CelebTV.com is real-time entertainment video news distributed exclusively on broadband and mobile channels. Each weekday, CelebTV.com delivers multiple entertainment news updates throughout the day supplemented by breaking news and extended features.”

• Technologies they run on - “CelebTV.com is the destination site for original, television-quality entertainment video news delivered exclusively on digital platforms including mobile, broadband, and wireless devices. Our viewers are passionate about celebrity news and information and CelebTV will deliver real-time updates throughout the day for on demand access by mobile phones, the web, or video iPods”

• Advertisements –They recevie many promotions from cavemancrib.com, geico, nexus, sprint, you tube, comcast, and brightcove.

• Types of users – Anyone interrested in celberities and their wareabouts. There is no place for a user to register or login. celebtv.com post the videos and anyone who wishes watches the videos.

• Restrictions -

“Unless otherwise specified, CelebTV.com is intended for your personal, noncommercial use only. You may not authorize others to use any Materials on CelebTV.com. You are responsible for all use of CelebTV.com and the Materials by you. You also are responsible for all use of CelebTV.com and the Materials by others when you provide access to CelebTV.com."

 "CelebTV.com is not intended for users under the age of 13, and Service Provider does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from users under the age of 13. Such users are expressly prohibited from submitting their personally identifiable information to us, and from using CelebTV.com. Any information submitted by such users will not knowingly be used, posted, or retained by us.

 You must comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations while using the Site. The content, organization, graphics, text, images, video, design, compilation, advertising and all other material on CelebTV.com, including without limitation, the "look and feel" of this website, are protected under applicable copyrights and other proprietary (including but not limited to intellectual property) rights and are the property of Service Provider or its licensors. The copying, rearrangement, redistribution, modification, transmission, use, display, license, sale, creation of a derivative work, or publication by you, directly or indirectly, of any such content or Materials or any part of the website, including but not limited to the removal or alteration of advertising, except for the limited rights of use granted hereunder, is strictly prohibited.

 You may not in any way make commercial or other unauthorized use, by publication, re-transmission, distribution, performance, caching, or otherwise, of material obtained through the Site, except as permitted by the Copyright Act or other law or as expressly permitted in writing by this Agreement or Service Provider.

 You agree not to disrupt, overwhelm, attack, modify, or interfere with CelebTV.com or its associated software, hardware, and/or servers in any way, and you agree not to impede or interfere with others' use CelebTV.com. You further agree not to alter or tamper with any information or Materials on or associated with CelebTV.com.

 Other than connecting to Service Provider's servers by http requests using a Web browser, you may not attempt to gain access to Service Provider's servers by any means - including, without limitation, by using administrator passwords or by masquerading as an administrator or otherwise.

 You are prohibited from using the Site to violate the legal rights of others or harvest or collect personally identifiable nformation about users of the Site;

 You are prohibited from restricting or inhibiting any other person from use of the Site, and from interfering with or disrupting the operation of the Site or the servers or networks used to make the Site available or violating any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations of such networks;

 You are prohibited from modifying, adapting, translating, reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any portion of the Site.”

• Intellectual property rules –

“All materials on this CelebTV.com, including, but not limited to text, images, audio and video, illustrations, audio clips, video clips, in all media and formats (the "Materials") are protected by copyrights which are owned or licensed by Service Provider. None of the Materials, nor any of the materials in other websites owned or operated by Service Provider, may be used by you in any manner for any purpose including but not limited to copying, reproducing, republishing, uploading, posting, transmitting, or distributing in any way without the prior written consent of Service Provider except as provided for herein.
Any modification of the Materials or use of the Materials for any other purpose without the prior written consent of Service Provider constitutes an infringement of Service Provider's copyright and other proprietary rights. Use of the Materials on any other website or other networked computer environment without Service Provider’s prior written consent, is prohibited except as provided for herein.
In certain cases, you may be able to obtain a license to use individual video that appear on the Site through online functionality we have specifically designated (e.g. to e-mail a video to a friend or create an RSS link from the Site). In such cases, you will see a link next to the content.”

**The pictures will be added as soon as I get a better internet connection**

I choose to explore Scion and ACE. They are both corporate companies.

“SCION NETWORKS is a partnership of experienced professionals who develop technical writing and training materials for IT clients. Our eLearning emporium is a hangout for instructional designers, technical writers, trainers, and geeks of all sorts.”

Scion has a Japanese look about it. Once you get there, you can sit many ways. I had my avatar sit in those many positions. I do not see what that feature has to do with the company as a whole.

There was a room called Workway. Workway is a corporate company within Scion. While in the room, I could see the available job openings in that company. I could also find out more about their different types of jobs such as Banking, Title, Escrow, Finace, Accounting, and so on. When I clicked on the corresponding picture, a box popped up with information about that position. This box was for the Finance and Accounting position.

“Workway Finance and Accounting was founded with a commitment to finding and providing highly qualified employees to the financial services and accounting industries. Workway is serious about providing professionals that have the ability and desire who meet your stringent demands and high quality standards. Workway’s recruiting managers have backgrounds in the financial industry, which affords them a unique advantage in working with clients and candidates. Workway helps clients locate the qualified professionals to get the job done. Workway Finance and Accounting staffs positions from Accounting Clerks and Payroll Managers up to the Chief Financial Officer level. A complete list of positions placed can be found in our online brochure.
Visit us on the web! http://www.workway.com”

There were a couple things that I found frustrating. There was another room with an art gallery. The art gallery was beautiful. However, I had to stand in front of each picture for about 30 seconds before it loaded. On top of that, the buildings were very far apart. I think the company could improve upon this. The buildings could be closer together. It took a while for me to realize that there were, in fact, more buildings on their space. They would not appear until I flew by them on walked into them. I was just walking around and buildings started to form around me.

I would recommend this space especially to someone who wanted the experience of applying for a job through Second Life. I would have applied if I were interested in the types of jobs they were offering.

The company I choose to compare was the Ancapistan Capital Exchange. “ACE stock exchange, run by responsible professionals holding high standards of ethics, transparency, & comm. governance”

There was a huge difference between the companies’ spaces. In ACE’s Building there was no description of the company or job openings. The ACE Chaairman’s Avatar IntLibber Brautigan gave me a little more information on the company. Here are the links he suggested http://www.ancapex.com and this past weeks episode of Metanomics at metaversed.com. The building was very beautiful but it was very empty. There was a board with some numbers that, I assume, correspond to the stock exchange values. The problems were the same with the load time and the building separation.

The Scion experience was definitely better than the ACE experience. There was a lot more information with Scion than ACE. I really like Scion’s town better than ACE’s town. The owner of Scion had a house there. All the doors were locked so I could not see what or who was inside. ACE’s town included a nightclub, but it as empty. There were pin and blue bubbles that were supposed to make my avatar dance but they did not work. Overall, Scion gave me a better experience than ACE did.