The number of social networking platforms has increased dramatically from the days when you had to decide between using Facebook, MySpace, or Friendster. There are now hundreds of websites where information and multimedia are shared and users can voice opinions, make comments, and share all sorts of information. Global consumers now have many innovative and meaningful methods of engaging with other people, brands, and campaigns that are of interest to them, using blogs, Pinterest accounts and even their video game consoles. Check out the following ways that social media continues to revolutionize the world we live in today.
Sickweather
This is one of the most cunning examples of social networking that we have seen. Sickweather uses Facebook and Twitter updates to track contagious illnesses and simultaneously map their location. The software locates the breakout and specific location of different diseases by scanning online trends like status updates and trending topics for indicators. Users are accessing Sickweather to compare symptoms and see which viruses are spreading in their neighborhoods. The website’s founder, Graham Dodge, believes that one day social media will be able to predict the spread of diseases through the use of environmental data, event schedules and weather patterns.
Pro Analytics (Twitter for Public Opinion)
Topsy’s latest tool lets users tap into one of the most massive indices of public conversation – Twitter – and understand public opinion and news stories by searching for different topics or hashtags. Using up to two years of recent data from trending feeds, search results show the number of tweets about a topic over time and also reveal the tone and content of each tweet. Pro Analytics also lets people see who has had the most influential tweets on a given subject by categorizing search results by number of re-tweets. This program is without a doubt going to change the way marketers tailor their online campaigns in order to attract more customers.
XBox 360
Microsoft’s popular video game console is much more than just an excuse to stay up all night playing Grand Theft Auto. The system is actually a wonderful platform for sharing and updating your favorite social networking sites. Every 360 manufactured since 2009 has come with Facebook and Twitter pre-loaded, allowing gamers of all genres to pause and upload in-game screenshots and high scores to their accounts in an attempt to wow their friends. Subscribers to XBox Live Gold can access Netflix and Last.fm with unlimited playback (3 hours monthly for Xbox Live Silver accounts) and rock out to their favorite tunes or even share what they’re listening to on Twitter.
Eye-Fi
Straight out of Mountain View, California, Eye-Fi has brought memory cards with built-in WiFi to the market, and has revolutionized digital cameras in the process. Much like a traditional SDHC memory card, these clever devices capture and store images or videos, but also let users wirelessly connect the camera to any smartphone, tablet, or computer and share photos online in seconds. Eye-Fi organizes all content from your camera automatically by order taken, making organization and sharing via e-mail or social networks very easy. A major bonus is that each card comes with unlimited memory storage, so once images are transferred to another device card, space is freed up instantly. The Premium cards also offer personal photo cloud storage for an infinite amount of time, great for accessing and sharing content at home or on the road.
Facebook for Donating Vital Organs
In 2012 Facebook tallied a network of 161,000,000 users in the United States alone. The company hopes to use this vast network of users to encourage more people to add their names to registered donor lists across the country. In April 2012, Facebook announced a plan to encourage all users in the United States and United Kingdom to advertise their donor status on their profiles, right next to the education and birth date headings. This is a major attempt at social engineering and could have a very profound effect on organ donation in the future.
Always tread with caution when accessing social networking sites, as many are now riddled with adware – and some may contain malware that can severely harm your PC. When sharing online for personal or business use, make sure to use proper antivirus software. If you are looking to purchase a new PC or simply upgrade your current workstation, many models come with pre-installed antivirus programs.