I "Dislike" This

So Facebook has decided to come out with a 'dislike' button. I just read an article about this. The dislike button is to have people be more serious and show their empathy on other's posts. The button is still to be tested though.

I understand that Facebook is trying to show they are listening to their customers, but I believe this can turn out to be a bad idea.

One reason this is a bad idea is not all Facebook users are mature enough to understand the reasoning behind the dislike button. The purpose of the dislike button is just like the like button. If a person agrees with one of their friends post, they hit the like button, if the person disagrees they can hit the dislike button. The button I believe is to be like a debate button. People can show their opinions with out having to put it in a comment. However, people will dislike a post on someone just to be mean and dislike it.

Another reason is some people might not want to see a notification pop up and say someone disliked your post. The post could be something personal and had much thought put into the post. Basically, people could interpret the dislike button the wrong way. Does that sound familiar? It should because it is a topic, which has come up a bit with texting. People will not understand the emotion behind the dislike. A person can dislike your post because they agree with you about disliking the same topic in the post or to show empathy about what was said. The person whose post was just dislike, might not think that. They could think the person disagrees and wanted to hurt their feelings, which in turn will cause problems between friendships.

I know the dislike button still needs to be tested, but I do not think Facebook should go through with it. Just leave the like button and that's it. If a person disagrees or does not like the post, they can ignore the post and or message the person privately so the fight is not all over in the public view on Facebook.

Being Smart With Social Media

There has been many stories in the last few years over people making mistakes with social media. People have shared photos or opinions that have got them in a lot of trouble with different people and even fired from jobs. Just recently a news story came out of a Kent High School teacher who resigns after explicit photos show up of her on social media.This is not very good for the teacher or the school.

Social media is a dangerous thing. Let's all be honest here, we have all shared something on social media we may regret. It could even be a comment you made when you first joined and tried to act cool. We are now all realizing that those post are coming back to haunt us. Administration at companies will search social media to try and find something they do not like or can come back and hurt the company. No one wants that to be the reason they do not get the job. 

There have been times I have wished social media was never invented. That way no one would loose a job or never get hired for a past post. Come on, I cannot be the only one who thinks this once and awhile. Maybe you have other reasons, but this is on the top of my list. 

My only advice is that you try and be careful of what you post. You do not want to miss you opportunity of becoming the CEO of a major company because of a post from when you were in college. 

Mobile Marketing is on the Rise

I agree with David Meerman Scott, mobile marketing is becoming more popular. More and more businesses are using it through other apps like Foursquare and Layar or their own apps or text messages.

We are getting to the age where we are attached to our mobile devices by a tight leash. We can do everything right from our phone. Email, banking, schedules and entertainment are just a few things we can do through our phones.

Businesses were thinking right when some decided to offer special promo codes through text messages or their apps. I am guilty of receiving text messages from stores and restaurants. The capability is nice knowing you can receive a free drink or product by showing them the message on your phone. People will then see you doing this and ask how. You tell them you receive special promo messages and then they sign up for them as well. Not only did you just do free promotion for the business, but also gave the business another loyal customer who will in turn do their own free promotion.

With Foursquare and Layar, they use the GPS's through our phones. People can use them to find places to eat, places to stay and entertainment. Just look up what people or your friends said about the places and can make your decision right there. No more long web searches to find a place but right through your phone and GPS.

In the future business can send promotions right to the customer if they are certain distance away from the store. How cool is that! I do not believe this is happening right now, but in a couple of years it will be. I cannot wait for that to happen.

"Average" Week

Well this week at ONU nothing really too exciting happened like last week. This only means that maybe next week will be.

The first football game was this weekend. ONU won!! 29-22. The game was close but exciting. The marching band played really well and cannot wait until next game for the marching band half time show. If you are a person like me who does not really understand football, but still want to have fun, I recommend sitting behind the marching band. I may be a little bias in saying that since I am dating a tuba player. However they really are a fun group of people. You can watch them sing and dance to "Baby Got Back" and sing along to the "Beer Song". 

After the game, me and some of my friends went to yet another fair, the Harding County fair. We went and saw the demolition derby! It was loud, action filled and even got see some cute future demo drivers. What I mean is they had little kids in power wheel cars driving around like they were in a real demolition derby. When it came to the real cars there was a lot more action. A few fires, some poor sportsmanship, a broken axle and the barrier was broken. Here is a short video after the first fire. You can see a few hits but can hear a little bit of how loud it was.

First small fire.

They broke the barriers!

The second fire that was a little bigger
than the other one.

I ended the weekend by going to church then going back to my friends farm and did a little more shooting. I am getting better with the rifle. I tried some of the hand guns today and really enjoyed the Smith&Wesson .38 Special Revolver. I think I will take the spent shells and come up with some crafts I can do with them. Here goes to some brain storming in between classes.