What is Twitter?

This seems to be a popular question lately…. Twitter is a free social network that allows users to keep up to date with each other. Followers or people who are subscribed to a users account are sent updates as they are posted. These updates or messages are known as “tweets.” These tweets are short bursts of less than 140 characters. They may contain any thought emotion or feeling. Twitter is currently one of the top 50 most visited websites. As it has become more popular, Twitter users can access their accounts more conveniently. Updates can be sent through cell phone texts or applications.
There are many celebrities who use Twitter. Ashton Kutcher is one of the most famous users, he was the first to have 1 million followers. Ellen DeGeneres and Brittney Spears place second and third. Twitter was used during the most recent presidential election as a publicity tactic.

View the video below for an excellent explanation...

Facebook Chat

Recently, Facebook added its very own instant messaging feature. This allows users to check and see who is online or idle. Available users have a green dot next to their name, while those who are idle have a moon displayed. Anyone online is grouped by the user’s preference. They can create groups for family, college friends, and high school friends. This chat feature is very similar to AOL instant messaging. It allows those who are online to talk one on one with multiple people. It is much more convenient and private, compared to sending a full message or leaving a note on someone’s wall. They are working out glitches in how to save the conversation and view history. Rumor has it they are in the process of developing a video chat soon!

ICQ - the origins of IM

Instant messaging actually came around before the Internet was fully used. The idea was to instantly communicate with someone who was far away. America Online, Prodigy, and CompuServe were the main hosts that people used to communicate online. The more people began to use the Internet, the more demand came for an easy way to communicate and to speak with one another through online resources. Software programmers began to create chat rooms that allowed multiple users, in different parts of the country, to come online and talk to one another. It was in November of 1996 that Instant Messaging (IM) became a big hit. Mirabilis came up with ICQ, which was a free, instant-messaging software that allowed anyone to communicate with another ICQ user. ICQ stood for I-seek-you and used a client to communicate to any other ICQ user. In 1998 AOL took over Mirabilis and became to pioneering engineer to create an IM in real-time data. Communication through the online world began to expand and boom. Nowadays there is hundreds of IM software. The most popular are Yahoo!, AIM, and MSN Messenger. As the IM industry continues to expand the demand for more emoticons (i.e. smiles that show the actual action), bigger noises, and faster response times will increase as well.

The Webcam

Isn’t it much easier to communicate when you see other person on the other end? The webcam invention was a remarkable idea. People around the world are able to communicate and can see each other. It’s true when they say a picture is worth a thousand words.
It started in 1991, the first webcam, called the CoffeeCam, was directed at a coffee pot in a room called the Trojan room, This room was located in the computer science department of Cambridge University. That particular webcam is now considered obsolete and archaic.
People might also use a form of webcams, known as security cameras, in the home to keep an eye on things while they are out of town or even just to see what their pets do all day. The uses of a webcams are limitless. Businesses often use webcams for video conferencing, and webcam technology is used by numerous other entities to give the public access to a variety of information, from weather and traffic to the feeding habits of the most recently acquired zoo animal. Some schools and day care facilities use a webcam to allow parents to see what their children do at school.
Another use for the webcame, one that makes a lot of money and can be illegal, is the use of webcams in pornography. There is a major business where people can access a site, pay a set fee for a set amount of time and watch women, men, couples, anything do as they wish to themselves and each other in whatever ways they please. The business, unfortunately is booming, and depending on your perspective, could be a major drawback of technology evolving and changing.
The webcam basically works by capturing a series of digital images that are transferred by the computer to a server and then displayed to the hosting page. There are even sites that allow users to upload and store their webcam images for free, which many individuals choose to do for personal use.

The Addiction

Do you have a facebook? Facebook has become one of the most popular social networks and has gained millions of fans. Who was the brilliant developer of facebook?
Well the free-access social networking website is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. founded by a man named Mark Zuckerberg and two students at Harward University.
In this site, users are able to join networks categorized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and develop relationships with other people. People are able to add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.

Blackberry....Crackberry

For most of us, the Blackberry is a moderately new gizmo. While the devices have been around since 1999, they really didn’t start gaining traction until the early 21st century. And even then, Blackberry’s popularity really started its course more recently. The Blackberry, produced by Canadian company research in Motion, uses the same wireless data program as cell phones. The reason why Blackberry became popular was the email capabilities. Although, some people believe that it is more than just a cell phone. It has PDA-style applications such as calendars, messaging, address books and so on, but it is most highly valued for its capability to send and receive email anywhere a wireless network may be accessed. Furthermore, the Blackberry features a QWERTY keypad to make it quicker to send email than with many other handheld cell phones. A key feature for this device is the scroll ball navigation, making it breeze to maneuver through the applications. Some Blackberry models even feature PTT, which is known as Push-To-Talk ability, similar to a walkie-talkie. Also there is the noticeable appeal of the newest technology and features; the Blackberry has a sleek image. It has the capability to be used in many tasks, which a businessperson needs to take care of while they are on the road. The Blackberry’s GRPS and EDGE technologies, along with a great web browser, keep one connected no matter where you may be.

Some may find this a bit offensive. *laughs*

Text Messaging

The first wireless text-messaging services sent messages from paging companies to alphanumeric pagers. Motorola, a leading player in the paging industry, developed technology that consumers, dispatchers, and computers could use to send text messages over its paging networks. There was a limit, only 80 characters or so at a time and a message was sent from the paging network only once despite the fact the pager was turned on or in coverage area of service. There is several ways to send text messages to pagers: Call a dispatcher with your message so that he or she would type it into a paging-specific keyboard attached to dialup to the paging network, purchase a software package prepared purposely for alphanumeric paging, and the Internet became frequently available by visiting a Web site to send a text. Many companies then began giving pagers Internet e-mail addresses to receive e-mail messages and notifications.
Today’s generation grasps the Internet and text messaging with little to no teaching. They know how to use these technology advancements even before they were taught. Text messaging is a tool that youth of today use to express who they are, both literally and figuratively. Furthermore, it is a definite way for the youth to stay in touch. It is also a way to cover up their negative personalities. For example, if an adolescent is shy, by text messaging he or she is less likely to be shy since they aviod confrentation. This new adavanced SMS technology can allow users to order movie tickets, track stock quotes and check bank account balances. Like anything else it has many negatives. For example texting while driving, texting answers to a test, and texting dirty things to friends.