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A look into the growing trend towards online tv channels
By Lory Martinez
YOUTUBE TV
Youtube, a site whose content varies from cat videos to educational how-to clips, will now be charging for subscriptions to some of the most exclusive channels it hosts .
This is in light of the current popularity of online streaming streaming sites such as HuluPlus and Projectfreetv.
I mean, as a college student, I might have a shared television set in my suite’s common area, but when I think about how much it’s actually used for watching TV shows, it’s kind of useless. My suitemates and I use our TV as an external display for our laptops. I know others who use their Xboxes to stream Netflix. Even Netflix has added its own series of straight-to-online shows such as “House of Cards,” to join the growing trend toward instant web content.
It seems to be a very different world for programming these days. Gone are the days when you had to be home at exactly 8 p.m. each night to catch your favorite shows in prime-time. Now that users can access so much of that same content online, they don’t need their tv sets as much.
But when you can see your favorite shows and videos online, where does the revenue come from?
Enter Youtube subscriptions which allow creators of content from exclusive youtube channels of live networks like National Geographic to expand thier audience online, at a small price.
Only time will tell if this well end up being better or worse for content creators, who could benefit or suffer from the fees to be put in place.
Related articles
- YouTube Paid Subscriptions Could Launch This Week, $1.99 Monthly Service Takes on Netflix (latinospost.com)
- New Netflix, YouTube Features Continue TV-Less Trend (newsy.com)
- YouTube launches subscription fees (bbc.co.uk)
A look into Generation Y and its affinity for web start-ups and iced coffee
by Lory Martinez
The Startup Guys, complete with smart-phones and energy drinks.
Popular comedy site, College Humor, on the Web Start up Culture:
This parody isn’t too far from the truth. Generation Y ( 18-29 -year-olds), or as they’ve come to be called, “20-somethings,” are growing up and driving the internet economy. As such, it isn’t too uncommon to hear about a youth fresh out of college joining or even starting a brand-new social media or technology company.
In fact, there are so many startups these days, it’s hard to keep up. Some immediately gain popularity, like Facebook and Pintrest but, all too often, others die down as quickly as it takes for a user to close out their browser.
It’s easy to make fun of these 20-somethings who have made a name for themselves through websites that range from Kloff, the app for pet-lovers to Triggermail, a personalized email site for e-commerce. But the truth is, with all their fancy offices and user-friendly interfaces, they are a major part of the media business.
Unconventional office space: check.
Dreams that their grandparents would never have imagined having at all are now possible. In that sense, generation Y is proof positive that if given the chance, young people can create just about anything.
Related articles
- 8 Biggest Career Mistakes That 20-Somethings Make (huffingtonpost.com)
- Silicon Alley Insider: The 20 Hottest Startups From The World’s 2nd-Biggest Startup Factory – Israel (businessinsider.com)
- How Startups Can Identify Their Core Values (nibletz.com)
A look into the umbrella that covers you from the rain and allows you to text while walking into other people
by Lory Martinez
Brolly Umbrella with knuckles
I first saw this story on Gawker, and I thought I’d share it with you all.
“Brolly,” once an englishism used to describe an umbrella, is now the name of a “text-friendly” umbrella designed to allow users to stay dry and still freely use their phones. The promo for the new gadget is a parody of what is now deemed a classic “first world problem” : Not being able to text…in the rain.
Check it out:
As a New Yorker, I’ve had this problem, and have been the victim of many a joke by my friends who offer no assistance and instead watch with wide grins as I fumble with my umbrella and phone at the same time. I would often find myself thinking, “the struggle is real,” as the umbrella falls to the ground and I get covered in rain anyway. But of course, the best part is when I walk into/bump into a stranger who is most assuredly having the worst of days, and swears me into a stupor.
Umbrellas 05 (Photo credit: Jethro Taylor)
Business, I’m sure, will be “a boomin” for the company as this is a common problem. However, I’m not sure this solves the issue of inattention while in motion. Maybe people will bump into each other more often and be more polite to each other as a result? Perhaps we will come up with a way for us to look where we are going while still browsing our phones… but that’s just a pipe dream, and dangerously Terminator-like.
Oh, wait.
Related articles
- The Brolly Umbrella Leaves Your Fingers Free For Texting (businessinsider.com)
- Text-Friendly Umbrellas Will Be the Worst Thing to Happen to Sidewalks (gawker.com)
- Google to open stores for Google Glass? (geeky-gadgets.com)
- Search In Pics: Google Story Time, Not Evil Umbrellas & Google Japan View (searchengineland.com)
- Google Glass Will ‘Definitely’ Get Someone Punched In The Face By This CEO (webpronews.com)
A look into online profiles and how much they affect employers’ decisions in choosing new hires.
by Lory Martinez
Spring Cleaning your online presence
This week we’ve done a number of stories on online profiles. And now, as graduation and the real world fast approach, it’s time to clean up,( If you haven’t already) that online persona. Warning: A virtual suit and tie may be required.
According to a recent study, up to 37 percent of employers check social networking sites before even considering an employee for an interview. Up to 90 percent of employers are hiring through social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and even, Facebook.
In my recent interview with avid social media enthusiast, Jessie Rubin, we both noted that social media is who we are. As the generation that both created and produced the social media boom, we are indeed defined by our presence on the internet. Ten years ago, email and instant messaging had only just begun to flourish, slowly collecting a kind of cyberhistory that has evolved and expanded into the myriad of platforms we use to communicate and express ourselves today.
Remember AOL instant messenger? Myspace? Remember the days of funny email addresses we made up for those accounts?
Aol Screenames circa 2002: chatingchuck, and any cat variations thereof
Now as kids grow up in this “living yearbook” world, they have to be careful, because, in the same way an embarrassing photo from high school can come back to haunt our parents once they are found in the attic somewhere, our “YOLO” moments can come back to bite us. And those are way easier to find.
So here are a few tips I’ve collected throughout my own years of experience with social media. Special thanks to those who have given me this professional advice and much more over the years.
How to clean up the digital you:
- Check your privacy settings on all social platforms. Make sure you have to approve things before anyone can post them in association with you. We all ignore those emails from Facebook about updated privacy settings, but be sure to at least check your own settings
- Google + is a useful tool. Even though a lot of people say it will never become popular in terms of social networking, you can at least help employers easily find you via Google search, and with a comprehensive profile, you can even direct them to your work.
- Get a LinkedIn, if you don’t already have one. Even if all your connections are classmates, they will soon have jobs in the real world, just like you, and can help you later on.
- Look through your photos you’re tagged in, make sure the photos represent the best version of you, the one that would make an employer think, “Yeah, I would definitely trust him/her with important tasks.”
- Have a fancy profile photo or two. You should have a photo in a nice outfit for your job search profiles including Google + and LinkedIn. Keep it casual and fun for your other profiles, but maybe leave the beer can out, at your discretion.
- Opinions are opinions are opinions. Yes, your opinion matters. Yes, it’s just as valid as any other. But be weary of ranting in public. The internet is vast like the ocean but it can also be as tiny as a small puritan town. Don’t be Hester Prynne. Gossip travels fast and so do viral posts, so make sure you don’t end up like this guy.
- Don’t over-do it. Don’t go deleting your entire profile history and consider starting from scratch. Starting over is fine, but if there are no photos, or posts of you from before last week, it will be as if you never existed before last week. Don’t lose yourself, or your “digital” self in the process. It’s about cleaning up what’s there, not replacing it entirely. As the saying goes, “Work with what you’ve got.”
That’s about it folks. Have fun Spring Cleaning!
Related articles
- LinkedIn: Revolutionizing recruiting [infographic] (holykaw.alltop.com)
- The Media Review plays the number game: LinkedIn Job Stats (themediareviewonwhrw.wordpress.com)
- LinkedIn is Not Only a Social Network, but an Invaluable Business Tool, and Here Study Breaks College Media Provides Must-Read Tips for Best Optimizing LinkedIn Profiles (prweb.com)
- LinkedIn / Your Profile When You’re Unemployed (jobmarketmonitor.com)
- Social Media and Job Hunting (savingnspending.com)
A look into Anonymous‘ most recent cyber protest
By Lory Martinez
OP USA Poster
Infamous hacker group “Anonymous” threatened a massive cyber attack on US servers earlier this week to protest American foreign policy. The plan, dubbed #OP USA, was to be Anonymous’ successful follow-up to #OP Israel, but it did little to no damage to US sites.
According to the group’s press release, “#OpUSA will be initiated on 7th of May 2013 and will target American websites & servers. The hackers say they are targeting the USA for its war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The hackers also said the attacks will be done in solidarity with the innocent victims of american drone attacks especially the innocent children.”
However,the plan backfired and instead reinforced relations between the groups’ victims-the US and Israel- in cyberspace. The Times of Israel reported that Israeli hackers promised to fight alongside American cyber-defenders, if the need should arise. The Israel Elite Hacker team, formed in the wake of #OpIsrael, tweeted, “This is a message from the Jewish Nation to our friends in the #USA,” the group said. “Although we have cowards for leaders, we take care of our friends!”
In the states, our cultural response had less of a “friends stick together” feel. It was simply a matter of memes:
The Internet reacts to #OPUSA
Some food for thought, from all of us here at The Media Review.
A note: Even though the semester is over and our show ended this past week, we will still be bringing you updates and commentary on the media well into the summer. Thanks for listening and reading!
Related articles
- Israeli hackers ready to defend US sites, as #OpUSA flops (timesofisrael.com)
- Digiliante roams the Wild Wild Web: On hacker group Anonymous (themediareviewonwhrw.wordpress.com)
- ‘OpUSA’ Cyber-Attacks Fail to Gather Momentum During First Day (eweek.com)
LinkedIn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A look into how LinkedIn works
Image via CrunchBase
By Alex Baer
LinkedIn recently celebrated its 10th birthday last Sunday. LinkedIn, sometimes referred to as “the Facebook of networking,” allows people to network with those they have worked with before, or those they would like to work with in the future.
It also allows users to build an online resume, easily accessible to potential recruiters. There is also a premium account offered. Users can pay for a different facet of LinkedIn: Business, for business professionals, Talent for recruiters, JobSeeker for the unemployed (or the curious employed), andSales for sales professionals. There are over 200 million LinkedIn users worldwide.
In July 2011, LinkedIn launched a new feature to the website: posting job openings directly on their website, and allowing users to apply from LinkedIn, linking their LinkedIn resume to their application.
Forbes once called it “far and away, the most advantageous social networking tool available to job seekers and business professionals today.”
But enough with all the glitz and glamour. What does the data say? Perfect data is a little hard to find, as LinkedIn hasn’t traditionally published much about hiring statistics. Let’s parse through what we can:
-Back in 2010, a report was released that found that 50% of Fortune 500 Companies use LinkedIn.
-LinkedIn gets almost six times the number of job views than Twitter, and almost 12 times that of Facebook. LinkedIn also gets more than 8 times the job applications than Facebook, and 3 times more than Twitter.
–Roughly half of LinkedIn users have anywhere from 0 to 500 1st degree connections, but the average LinkedIn recruiter has around 616, and 28% of LinkedIn recruiters have over a thousand connections!
-Of recruiters who use social networks to find potential employees, 48% use only LinkedIn, but only 1% solely use Facebook or Twitter.
-Potential growth is also a factor in networking. To double one’s network on Twitter, it takes only 2.7 months, or roughly 81 days.For LinkedIn, 7.6 months. For Facebook, a whopping 33.9 months (or just under three years).
– Traditionally, the most successful job postings and hirings seem to be sales. As of August 2011, there were about 6.1 million active members on LinkedIn who identified as working in sales. Academics, administrators, engineers, and IT specialists trail in the 4 to 5 million range.
-LinkedIn does have a number of immediately obvious advantages over Facebook and Twitter; namely, no teenage-angst, there’s little spam (as users are trying to create a likable persona), no vague relationship statuses, no birthdays to remember, changes to the user interface are fluid and appealing, but, most importantly, no Pokes.
-It also would appear to lend itself very well to the newest generation of job hunters: us. Having grown up with social networking as much a part of our lives as the duck and cover method was to the Baby Boomers. Sure, for every suave, future New Yorker columnist, there are half a dozen duck-facers, but growing up with “the game” from AOL Instant Messenger to Google Plus, but we seem to have a distinct advantage over the previous generation. As we mature, we learn how to conduct ourselves in the “real world,” but we also draw upon what we have learned.
Related articles
- How To Get The Most Out Of Your LinkedIn Network (businessinsider.com)
- Exercising Caution on the Use of LinkedIn’s “Mention Feature” (business2community.com)
- LinkedIn is 10 years old : Now a personal CRM system for lawyers (kevin.lexblog.com)
- What LinkedIn Looked Like When It Started 10 Years Ago (LNKD) (embargozone.com)
- Happy 10th Birthday, LinkedIn! (mashable.com)
Image via CrunchBase
A look into the job search of 2013
By Lory Martinez
It’s May, and with it comes the end of another semester here at Binghamton. However, that by no means signifies an end to work. Today we’ll be talking about things to keep in mind for seniors who are in the midst of the job search.
For this show, I conducted a special interview with Jessie Rubin, a graduating senior who has done a number of internships over the course of her college career. She hopes to work in journalism after graduation and has worked for quite a few “big-name” places. I spoke with her about how much her online presence in social media affected her in her job and internship search.
Be sure to check it out at 4 pm on whrwfm.org or, if you’re in the Binghamton area, on 90.5fm Binghamton.
*Full interview will be posted later this evening.
Related articles
- Improve Your Job Search With Social Media Tools (foxct.com)
- 10 Key Job Search Tips For New Graduates (money.usnews.com)
- Social Media and Job Hunting (savingnspending.com)
- LinkedIn is Not Only a Social Network, but an Invaluable Business Tool, and Here Study Breaks College Media Provides Must-Read Tips for Best Optimizing LinkedIn Profiles (prweb.com)
De facto flag for the Anonymous group. nonymous (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A look into the group some are calling the “Internet Robin Hood”
by Lory Martinez
In early April, hacker group Anonymous, the so-called “internet-vigilante/digilante” group that has launched several international hacking campaigns against governments and organizations, hacked several hundred Israeli websites and a number of twitter accounts as a part of a campaign called: #OPIsrael in protest against Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza. Their goal? To erase Israel from cyberspace.
One spokesperson for the group tweeted at an Israeli official, “It would be wise of you to expect us.” An announcement on their website said, “Stop bombing Gaza. Millions of Israelis and Palestinians are lying awake, exposed and terrified.”
In effect, no harm was done to anyone in “real life.” Even so, it made for an intriguing back- and- forth twitter war between Anonymous and Israeli officials about exactly how much damage was actually done to Israel’s cyber identity.
Weeks later, the same group launched a campaign against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, defacing social media accounts and North Korean websites. They also propogated an image of Kim Jong Un as a pig, all over the internet. As of April 15, the group still has control over several Pyongyang Twitter accounts.
Now there is much to be said for this particular type of cyber-attack. Aside from Anonymous’ previous governmental website hacks, which border on a national security issue, these are policy protests that make a statement about the level of influence cyberspace can have, on, say, something as large and influential as a country. The threat of erasing Israel from Cyberspace caused more than just server inconveniences. These hackers are making their voices heard by typing away on a keyboard. A sign of the times? Or a cautionary tale for governments in the future?
Related articles
- You hack me, I hack you: Israeli hackers hacked Anonymous website (thenewsinformer.com)
- Hackers target Israeli government websites (aljazeera.com)
- Hacker group ‘Anonymous’ takes down hundreds of Israeli websites (imemc.org)
- Anonymous Vows to Wipe Israel off Cyberspace (dissidentvoice.org)
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