Over the past few years, social media has exploded into the mainstream. It is everywhere. I have followed closely with the exponential growth and latest development of social media these days. I have been amazed by the unbelievable growth of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube discussed in my previous post “Top 10 Social Networking Sites in the US and UK.” Recently, Gary Hayes created a social media counter – a Flash app showing how active and dynamic the Social Web is. It is intriguing to view this counter showing the enormous growth rate of social media in real time. Unfortunately, the WordPress.com will not allow the embedding of the flash object so you cannot see the counter running in real time here. So, please click on the following image to see the live counter.
The followings are some of the key data points that the ‘Gary’s Social Media Count’ is based on.
20 hours of video uploaded every minute onto YouTube (source YouTube blog Aug 09)
Facebook 600k new members per day, and photos, videos per month, 700mill & 4 mill respectively (source Inside Facebook Feb 09)
Twitter 18 million new users per year & 4 million tweets sent daily (source TechCrunch Apr 09)
iPolicy UK – SMS messaging has a bright future (Aug 09)
900 000 blogs posts put up every day (source Technorati State of the Blogosphere 2008)
UPDATE: YouTube 1Billion watched per day SMH (2009)- counter updated!
Second Life 250k virtual goods made daily, text messages 1250 per second (source Linden Lab release Sep 09)
Money – $5.5 billion on virtual goods (casual & game worlds) even Facebooks gifts make $70 million annually (source Viximo Aug 09)
Flickr has 73 million visitors a month who upload 700 million photos (source Yahoo Mar 09)
Mobile social network subscribers – 92.5 million at the end of 2008, by end of 2013 rising to between 641.6-873.1 million or 132 mill annually (source Informa PDF)
SMS – Over 2.3 trillion messages will be sent across major markets worldwide in 2008 (source Everysingleoneofus sms statistics)
While social networking shows great potentials for e-learning in general, little is yet known about how to integrate social networking focusing on building a sense of community, particularly in e-learning courses. With this in mind, Dr. Harrision Yang and I conducted a case study almost two years ago to design, develop, and integrate social networking into two graduate courses for the purpose of building a sense of community, improving communications and interactions, and promoting student-centered collaboration.
The results of the study were written for a book chapter in our recent book, Collective Intelligence and E-learning 2.0: Implications of Web-Based Communities and Networking, published by IGI Global. Also, the study was presented at the 2009 AECT/SICET International Conference this week in Louisville, Kentucky. To learn more about this study, please view the presentation shown below. We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Google launched Google Voice n March 2009 to help Internet users better manage their voice communications. Initially, Google Voice was available to existing users of GrandCentral, a service Google acquired in July, 2007. So, I have been waiting patiently for the past few months and was finally invited to try out the Google Voice Beta a month ago.
Google Voice can be a useful service to simplify your phone communications. You can set various preferences–for example, calls from your colleagues get a custom answering message; calls from your parents don’t ring your work number; and calls from your spouse are answered directly when you pick up the phone rather than run through the Google Voice options such as answering the call, sending it to voice mail, or listening in on the voice mail. Also, Google Voice allows you to get a single phone number that rings all your phones; screen callers before picking your phone; join several people for a conference call; record phone calls and store them online; read voicemail messages via email or SMS; forward, embed, or download voicemails; receive transcripts of your voicemail; send, receive and store SMS messages online; customize voicemail greetings for different callers; and block unwanted callers. Furthermore, you can use the Google Voice to make international calls (paid service but quite inexpensive) and access Goog-411 directory assistance. Specifically, I like to access my voicemail online and read the voicemail messages via email or SMS. I think it is easy to check e-mail for voice messages than traditional voicemail particularly when I am out of town.
Until few days ago, you were required to select a new Google phone number when you first created a Google Voice account. But starting this week, you can get Google Voice with a Google number or with your existing mobile phone number. However, you will not get some features (like call screening, call recording, and call blocking) if you choose to use Google Voice with your existing number.
If you want to try out Google Voice, you can request an invitation from Google or ask someone with a Google Voice account to invite you. Also, you may check out the following videos before making the decision.
Overall, I found Google Voice to be potentially useful even though the text-to-speech conversion is imperfect. It would be great if Google allows forwarding Google Voice calls to an international phone number. This is my wishful thinking.
The Pew Internet and American Life Project just released a study “Twitter and Status Updating, Fall 2009” two days ago (October 21, 2009). The report provides interesting information about social network users. Twitter traffic exploded over the last year, going from about 2 million unique visitors per month in December 2008 to over 17 million in May 2009. According to the study, 19% of internet users use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others. This represents a significant increase in its earlier finding in April 2009 when just 11% of internet users were using a status-update service. Additionally, the study points out that the growth of Twitter is being driven by three groups of internet users: “social network Web site users, those who connect to the Internet via mobile devices, and younger Internet users–those under age 44.”
It is interesting to learn that whether or not a user is on other social networks determines their willingness to use a service like Twitter. The Pew study found that internet users who use social network sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, or MySpace are more likely to use Twitter or another status updating service. Thirty-five percent of internet users who have profiles on MySpace, Facebook, or LinkedIn also have profiles on Twitter. The study also found that just 6% of internet users who do not use these social networks are on Twitter.
According to the Pew study, wireless access is an independent factor in predicting whether someone uses Twitter or another status update service. Fifty-four percent of internet users have a wireless connection to the Web in September 2009. Of this group, 25% use Twitter or another status-update service, up from 14% wireless users in December 2009. However, only 8% of internet users who rely exclusively on tethered access use Twitter or another service, up from 6% in December 2008. Perhaps, the mobile Web users are more likely to tweet since they have wireless access.
In addition, the study indicated that the more Web-connected devices a user has, the more likely they are to tweet. Thirty-nine percent of Internet users with four or more Internet-connected devices (such as a laptop, cell phone, game console, or Kindle) use Twitter, compared to 28% of Internet users with three devices, 19 percent of Internet users with two devices, and 10 percent of Internet users with one device.
The Pew study showed that young people flock to Twitter. Internet users in age between 18 and 44 are more likely than older users to use Twitter or another status update service. According to the study, the median age of a Twitter user is 31 and has remained stable over the past year. Both MySpace and LinkedIn have gotten younger users. The median age for MySpace is now 26, down from 27 in May 2008 and the median age for LinkedIn is now 39, down from 40. However, Facebook users are getting older, upping its median age to 33, from 26 in May 2008.
Do you use any social networks? Do you own any mobile Web-connected devices? How do you fit into the Pew study? Do you agree with the results mentioned in this report? Please feel free to share your comments here.
I want to take this opportunity here to invite you to consider contributing your expertise to a forthcoming encyclopedia edited by me and Prof. Harrison Yang of the State University of New York at Oswego, entitled Encyclopedia of Virtual Worlds and Environments.
There is no doubt that information and communication technology (ICT) keeps bringing new excitement into learning and communication. Multimedia on the Internet, telecommunications, wireless applications, mobile devices, social network software, Web 2.0, and so forth are all radically redefining the way people obtain information and the way to learn and communicate. Consequently, virtual worlds and environments have become one of the most exciting, dynamic, and yet challenging fields that we have been facing. What is the history of virtual worlds and environments? Where are we now? What will the future bring? What are the key elements of virtual worlds and environments we need to focus on? Where has progress been made? How will we face and rise to new opportunities and challenges? How do we analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate virtual worlds and environments? In order to shed light on these questions, the Encyclopedia of Virtual Worlds and Environments intends to provide a comprehensive view and look at virtual worlds and environments from historical, conceptual, technical, practical, and vocational perspectives.
Objectives of the Book
This encyclopedia will include a variety of contexts and cover anthropological, psychological, pedagogical, sociological, and so forth approaches from both empirical and theoretical works on virtual worlds and environments. It will serve as a research reference, a pedagogical/informational guide, and a primary source in the area of virtual environments.
Target Audience
The target audience includes educators, e-business managers, trainers, administrators, and researchers working in the area of e-learning or distance learning in various disciplines, for example education, corporate training, instructional technology, computer science, library information science, information technology, workforce development, and undergraduate/graduate students in various e-commerce, e-learning, and other related programs.
Coverage Topics
The coverage topics include, but are NOT limited to, the following:
Conceptual and Theoretical Perspective (issues and trends of virtual environment theories; chronicle reviews; modeling, design and strategies; etc.).
Types of Virtual Worlds and Environments (Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) and/or Multiuser Virtual Environments (MUVEs); Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs); Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MORPGs); Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) and/or Massively Multiplayer Online [Games] (MMOs); Multiuser Domains (MUDs); and MUD Object Oriented (MOOs); etc.).
Platforms/Sites/Products of Virtual Worlds and Environments (Active Worlds; Barbie Girls; Club Penguin; Forterra Systems; Gaia Online; Habbo Hotel, Kaneva; Neopets; Second Life; The Sims Online; Teen Second Life; There; Whyville Zwinktopia; etc.).
Interface and Hardware Aspect (visual; tracking; auditory; primary use input (such as glove, body suit, exoskeleton, track ball, and 3-D mouse inputs, etc.); tactile; kinesthetic; full-body motion; and olfactory interface technologies; etc.).
Virtual Communities (behavioral, psychological, and cognitive issues of online users; community of practice; personal relationships; social interaction and exchange; legal and ethical considerations; etc.).
Virtual Learning Environments and Worlds (asynchronous and synchronous activities; e-learning, m-learning and e-commerce programs; fully online and blended approaches; research and practices on ANGEL Learning, Apex Learning, ATutor, Blackboard/WebCT, Claroline, CyberExtension, Desire21Learn, Dokeos, eCollege, eFront, FirstClass, Frog, Fronter, Glow Learn, ILIAS, iWebfolio, LAMS – the Learning Activity Management System, Moodle, Pass-port, Sakai, SharePointLMS, TK20, WebEx, and new features in virtual learning environments including wikis, blogs, games, RSS, 3-D virtual learning spaces, etc.).
Best Practices and Case Studies (evaluation and implementation in multidisciplinary; applications and training; personal experiences; creativity and innovation of projects; anthropological, psychological, pedagogical, sociological works on virtual worlds and environments; etc.)
Global Virtual Worlds and Environments Development and Management (model, technologies, programs, issues).
Trends of Virtual Worlds and Environments.
All Other Related Issues in Virtual Worlds and Environments.
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before November 30, 2009, a 2-3 page article proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed article. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by December 31, 2009 about the status of their proposals and sent article guidelines. Full articles of 1,500-3,500 words are expected to be submitted by February 28, 2010. Authors are required to follow the Full Article Submission Instructions when preparing their full articles. All submitted articles will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this encyclopedia
Publisher
This encyclopedia is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference” and “IGI Publishing” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com.
Important Dates for Contributors
Deadline for proposal submission: November 30, 2009
Proposal decision due to authors: December 31, 2009
Full articles due: February 28, 2010
Review results to authors: April 30, 2010
Revised articles due from authors: May 30, 2010
Notification of final acceptance/rejection: June 30, 2010
Final accepted articles and materials due from authors: July 15, 2010
All articles to IGI for publication: September 30, 2010
Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) to:
Dr. Harrison Hao Yang
State University of New York at Oswego
E-mail: hyang2@oswego.edu
Dr. Steve C. Yuen
The University of Southern Mississippi
E-mail: steve.yuen@usm.edu
I am Dr. Steve Yuen, a professor of Instructional Technology at The University of Southern Mississippi. This is my personal blog on the use of emerging technologies in teaching and learning.
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