In the balance - Where are we going with social networks?

I have recently seen discussions on the use of social networks for marketing purposes. This not only involves companies advertising on sites like facebook, but also many organisations putting themselves to be followed via twitter and the like. Newspaper websites (we could consider them for a while social networking) all have adverts (on the side of a page or appearing when you click on things). The social interaction is mixing up with advertising.

Advertising of course is a form of social interaction, but with some science behind (hopefully, without aiming to have a go at advertisers). There is always a continuous battle of spaces between advertising and social networking. We have heard this week that in the UK the ban for TV programmes to use adverts in their content (for instance a soap opera character drinking a coca-cola and showing it) has been lifted. A colleague who is expert in marketing suggests this is a positive move, given that the advertising industry is in need of new channels, and that audiences are mature enough not to be totally driven by what adverts suggest (you drinking coca-cola because your favorite TV character does it).

Things are still in the balance. Whilst advertising tries to catch up with audiences, audiences always devise new ways of socialising without the intromision of advertising. It would be better if we understood a bit more the complexities of both. Just learned that advertising on the internet has different revenue models if you are hosting a website. You can charge advertisers for the space, for the number of clicks on their ads, or for the redirection that you give to potential customers to the advertisers own sites.

Also learned today that sites like facebook are finally breaking even (if you do not count capital investment), and could be making money soon. How? self advertising (advertising to those fitting the profile); selling advertising space to direct users; virtual gifts (linked to the real ones); micropayments (small transactions if you buy real gifts).

mmm, it sounds to me similar to what I heard in a conference last week about the credit crunch structure: you have a portfolio of income sources, some of them riskier than others. That is all fine up to the point where there is a big external change. In the case of the credit crunch, there was a drop in property prices (big external change), so even if you had the best portfolio of mortgages (in terms of risk), your losses came from all products. The customer does not see a good value in what you offer. What could this mean for sites like facebook? It needs to be careful not to lose its appeal as a social networking site, not as a commercial site, that is to people like me a good value. Or maybe this means that any big change can come at any moment, and in a couple of years time we will not be thinking of facebook, maybe something else. If this is the case....things are still in the balance, hopefully for good.

Systemic connections, and health

It is official, a picture of a molecule (carbon nanotube) shows connections with atoms (hydrogens) and the like. The guys from IBM research have done a fantastic job showing us this!

Connections might be temporary or permanent, in this case I guess they have to be created continuously, that is the life of the molecule.

Life at this microlevel tells us about things. For me it tells me that once certain connections are established, they might last for a life time, and that other connections are to be kept.

Today I was reading some information about asthma, and how it can be prevented. Habits of prevention and treatment are to be acquired and followed. This creates connections between certain stimuli (weather, pets, dust) and reactions (narrowing of airways in the lungs). Treatment and both prevention also requires people to create connections within their life style: treatment inhalers, cleanness, and prudent exercise. These could be considered connections for life.

Ah, and forgot the role of stress. This can also generate symptoms of asthma, and it is important to work on the causes of it.

Our current economic climate could be the trigger of these stimuly and symptoms. Uncertainty of what is to happen, anxiety to keep a job, the need to know about but also put up with news, and even things that become too bureaucratic can put us at bay and in a kind of 'vigilant' mood. Experts like Al Siebert in his book "The resilience advantage" tell us that too much strain due to things like this without proper recovery can lead us to weaken our whole system of resistance to eventualities, or inhibit what he calls fighting back adversities.

So it is important to strengthen healthier connections in a good lifestyle. Good food, good excercise, good conversation, good working timetabling, good rest, and good state of mind can help.

Interestingly also, I found articles talking about successful project managers in the IT sector, talking about resilience. This could prompt us to relate good project skills to those of good lifestyle connections.

My job now is to look for my own balancing connections, and to infuse a good balance in the life of the IT and management students I encounter.

See ya!

Where is home?

The whole thing about buying a property brought me to think about where home is...

Lots of TV programmes in the UK are on the subject of buying your home, refurbishing your home, relocating your home, doing gardening in your home, finding cash in the attic of your home, and so on.

As far I understand, this way of conceiving of home is also about making sure your home has some value, and keeping the value of the home. In other countries things are different.

Those of us who have settled down here in the UK from abroad continuously compare our ideas with other people's. We think there is an element of 'passion' or 'feeling' which should be there, even at the expense of the financial value. Maybe we are all the same feeling, we live it differently (or we like to think that way).

Just now watched a programme on someone thinking of relocating home from Spain to the UK. It was a British couple with family ties and cravings here. After visiting both locations, thinking about what was best in terms of jobs, social relations, and general satisfaction, they decided to...Stay in Spain.

It was going to be a big sacrifice, it seemed, even in financial terms. After being away for a long time, they felt their prospects looked better there in Spain. When they communicated their decision to a crowd of about 30 relatives and friends in Sheffield (UK), they were booed. But some of them understood.

We grow as people in other places from where we were born. We become someone else, and become focused in certain things and relationships. These things and relationships are meaningful to us and probably to no one else. And this does not seem to depend on nationality.

We all seem to develop a passion for where home is and should be. But life is not easy in this regard. Home could be different homes.

And I bet there is something very deep in ourselves that keeps us more in one place than another.

"You are mistaken," the little girl replied, "I do have a home I just don't have a house to put it into." (http://www.aish.com/f/rf/48925647.html, accessed today).