#modes of development

Facebook is a legend in the web world and it gets a billion guests consistently. We generally utilize Facebook to get some fun like upgrading our live event, photographs, posts and status. When we feel alone, exhausting Facebook is the main partner for us, making us feel that we have a companion by our side.

Upvotes or likes are not a genuine indicator of being well-known in online networking. But for those who want to get likes, here is a guide to get likes or upvotes; just a warning though: they depend on a lot of elements.

First thing to do is to increase you reach. It means that you should increase the number of your friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter. The number of friends or followers is usually directly proportional to numbers of likes you get. Time is another factor at play here; you should post or tweet timely, when numerous users are online, to get more likes or upvotes. Based on Facebook server statistics, users are more active on Thursday and Friday. When it comes to a specific time of the day, it is proven that you will probably get more likes in between 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Third is to ensure the title is precise. Ensure there are no mistakes (or else, hope to be majorly humiliated in the remarks of your post). Expressions like "OMG LOOK AT THIS" or "Astonishing!" have a tendency to irritate users. Make your title interesting so that you will capture your friend’s attention.

Have a decent thumbnail. From YouTube Videos, Blog posts and so forth, the thumbnail has a considerable measure to do with inspiring individuals to navigate to your substance. It is the same with Reddit, Facebook and Instagram. Individuals like photographs! It should be a thumbnail which aligns with the message of the title, yet doesn’t give it all away. The ultimate goal is to make individuals interested enough to click on your post.

Be engaging, post or tweet something worth discussing about. It will not only get likes, but comments as well. Try posting a picture of you along with friends. Tagging them will also add to the likes since you are increasing the reach of your post to your friends as well.

Lastly, be original. Try to post what you really want to say, and not a quotation from someone else. People encounter loads of information every day, so it becomes very hard to gather their attention. If you want to keep your audience engaged, you need to amaze them with something they have not seen before. It will make your post/tweet genuine, therefore, more attention shall be directed towards you.

People nowadays depend on their social media accounts to interact and communicate to people around them. They even use these accounts to meet new people or maybe to find new friends. There is really less effort involved in just sitting in front of a laptop than doing things in person. It is as if one can live his life managing his relationships by just staying in one place all along. Have we, people of the 21st generation, gone so dependent on technology that we replaced our social life with such virtual phenomena? Now that it's all said and done, let’s look at how things differ between personal interactions and social media.

First of all, in social media, it is easier to communicate with lots of people. You can never talk to hundreds of people at the same time in person except when you are in a public event, such as forums and conventions. Group chats are really fun to be in, even more if you are talking to your closest friends. However, have you experienced laughing all alone and people suddenly looking at you? That is the difference; social media can never replace the presence of the ones you are talking to. It may let you feel like you are with them, but at the end of the day, if it's someone you love; you will still miss them so much.

Another thing: social media gives you is the freedom to state whatever you want to say publicly. Sharing a story, telling what you have achieved, and almost everything that comes to your mind can be done here. The thing is, you have so much freedom that you forget to become sensitive on what you are about to say. You might just end up offending somebody, or ,worse, you might end up fighting someone just because of a misunderstanding. In social media, there is a high possibility of you getting misunderstood. Most of the time, people will try their best to prove you wrong. Who knows, you might get bullied by netizens and end up being depressed because of the mean things people are saying to you in social media. Incidents like suicide and self-harm have already happened because of cyberbullying, which is a very serious offense; that is why the local government have already made a cyberbullying law that punishes those who attempt to bully other people. However, I doubt that they will catch someone bullying in the act. This law is so hard to implement and I haven’t found a reported case that has conclusively caught a bully.

Twitter is one of the most addictive sites in social media. Millions and millions of tweets are being composed everyday. Unlike Facebook, Twitter has more user freedom in terms of speech. Twitter can also make you feel close to famous figures, a reason as to why everyone loves the site.

Now, in its community, there are different kinds of people. First up is what I call the "achiever". This kind of user is the one who always tweets about what he achieves during the day. For instance, "Hooray, I fried an egg!" You know, this is an example of tweets about mundane everyday actions that would otherwise be forgotten. These achievers like to brag about what they have done remarkable, and more or less, everyone has been the achiever at some point of our life.

Next up is what I call the "follow everyone" kind. This user has the most number of people whom he follows; he would follow a friend, a friend’s friend, and that friend’s mother. He would probably say, "Oh, I know this guy, I saw him yesterday somewhere”. This user would then have the most interesting news feed, as he would see thousands of tweets from everyone he follows. 

Another type is what I call the "equalizer". This kind of user is always conscious about the number of his followers and the number of people he is following. He always wants the number of his followers to be more than the people he is following; to the user, this would signal popularity. I have to admit that the equalizer is just like me, a passive type of user who just replies to tweets and a person who just wants to know what is happening around him and rarely tweets. To the equalizer, the number of followers is the main goal.

The fourth type is whom I think is the most addicted to Twitter: the "Twitter is life" person. He would treat Twitter like it was his only job. Sometimes, this is irritating, but it’s best to just let him be; after all, he plays a major role in keeping other users’ news feed alive.

The fifth and last type of user for me is called the “click-like" person. (I should say “favourite”,  but now they removed the star and have replaced it with a heart which now means “like”.) This type of user is the one who always likes and retweets tweets of someone else's, but almost never composes his own. It's fun to become a “click-like” person because it has the least involvement; you would have no need to think of something to tweet about.

People nowadays are so fond of posting pictures, thoughts, and their own perspective about a certain topic or issue, be it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and other sites. However, some people forget to be responsible and careful about the information that they are sharing on the social media world.

Rappler once posted a news article about Iglesia ni Cristo’s demand for the separation of church and state. Despite the lack of evidence and proof, the journalist blog continued to express in social media what its writers feel about the issue. We all know that Rappler has a million of subscribers following their up-to-date news posting. But, after this incident, INC members expressed their disappointment to Rappler for lacking information on their report. Rappler was then graded as unreliable by some, with a large portion of its audience unsubscribing to their group and profile.

The same set of circumstances can happen to anyone if he is not responsible regarding the things that he is posting, considering the fact that social media is free and open to everyone. This privilege bestowed upon us by human invention comes with consequences and responsibilities. So now, how do we be careful and responsible on posting in these sites?

First of all, before posting in social media, one must be knowledgeable about the topic, meaning that he should be aware of the facts. When posting about a certain issue, he has to take note of both sides to the story.  Moreover, when planning to state an opinion, he must not forget to cite the fact that it is an opinion. Remember that the world—the people in your network, at least— is watching you. Hence, it is best that he researches about it and gets his facts right. Express to impress.

Second, one must be sensitive, enough that the poster is able to ask himself, “If I post this, am I going to hurt anyone?” or “Will it be an insult to others if I’ll post this?” Of course, one must consider others’ feelings; if a profile is full of rants and explicit thoughts all day long, I assure you, there will come a time wherein no one in his right mind will waste this time on reading or observing that profile’s posts. Don’t imitate what happened to Rappler; you have to consider others’ point of view and consider their sides.

Lastly, know the meaning of the word, “privacy”, an all-too-familiar word. You just have to ask yourself once again, “Isn’t this a very personal thing to share?” Always keep in mind that whatever you post will be forever kept on everyone’s mind. Yes, it is free to post your picture, but consider the consequences. Know your limits. Know your responsibilities. Take a look at that selfie that you are about to post. Is it too revealing? Is it too sexy? Who is your audience? Will I even have an audience after posting this?! All of these are answerable if you understand the terms of privacy.

No one saw it coming.

Long before Facebook grew to popularity, Friendster was the boss of social networks— the real O.G., the veteran, the grand-daddy. At some point of my pre-teenage life, almost all of my friends had an account in the site, and polishing my Friendster profile was a status-defining moment. Hundreds of millions of users were recorded to have registered back in 2002, just a few months after it was created. There was no doubt that Friendster was at its ultimate high, even considered by many as the pioneer of a social media revolution back then.  At that time, Friendster seemed to be in a rollercoaster that only went up.

But then, something went very, very wrong. Users fled one by one; this posed a threat to the company. Friendster turned down a 30-million dollar buyout offer from Google in 2003, hoping for a rebirth. Since then, the site has been rebranded and promoted as a social gaming platform, its fingers still crossed.

By 2009, Friendster announced its death. Their strategy wasn’t working—more users left Friendster for the slightly newer Facebook. This catastrophic decline accelerated the site’s extinction.

This, naturally, led a lot of researchers to investigate on the matter. What went wrong? A group of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Zurich proposes an autopsy that might contain an answer.

David Garcia and his colleagues assert that there are two key indicators of a social network’s health. Together, they have undergone a “digital autopsy” which they called a piece of “internet archaeology”. They have created a mathematical model on the nature of social network deaths.

The first factor at play is called “k-core”. To illustrate this term, imagine that you have five friends. If one were to leave the network, you would immediately notice, right? Since you have such a small pool of friends, you would most likely leave it too. But if you have, say, a thousand friends; one friend leaving would not trigger as big an effect on you. This is the foundation of “K-core”—it is the ratio between the latter and the former. Garcia’s research suggests that when the “k-core” is high, users leaving would create a domino effect, and other users would leave too. Graphically, a user exodus would look like this:

A high k-core distribution leading to a user exodus. Obtained from https://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/Death%20of%20Friendster.png

Thus, this concept plays a huge role in determining a network’s vulnerability to user loss.

However, there must be something else that acts as the root cause of early quitters; this is what the researchers refer to as the cost-to-benefit ratio, the second factor. It states that if the time and effort exerted on the network outweighs the benefits incurred by the user, people are more likely to leave it and join a more beneficial network. In the context of Friendster, its cost-to-benefit ratio dropped drastically, evident in its various unsuccessful site redesigns and technical problems. That, added to a high k-core distribution, led to Friendster’s demise.

Facebook and other social networks should have learned a lot about this kind of problem, if they haven’t already.  Nowadays, it’s easier to imagine how privacy intrusions and money-grubbing schemes would interfere with its user traffic, more importantly if there is another emerging network competing for the people’s attention.

In 2009, Facebook is thought to have benefited from Friendster’s collapse. Many have speculated that Friendster’s past would soon become Facebook’s future.  However, it is likely that Facebook will also be the next victim to this set of circumstances.

References:

Garcia, David, Pavlin Mavrodiev, and Frank Schweitzer. Social Resilience in Online Communities: The Autopsy of Friendster. Proceedings of the First ACM Conference on Online Social Networks, 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. <http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.6109>.

Not all posts are created equal. Some cute animal photos and failed interview videos live on a month-long period of fame, a few that make it to the top enjoy a stable, successful life in people’s memories. However, the unfortunate rest, a considerably large portion at that, will never see the light of day.

That being said, the dynamics of social media can be likened to nature itself; for a species to survive, one must possess favorable traits in its habitat. The “survival of the fittest” concept can also be coined in the virtual environment, where posts need to cater to the wants of their audience in order to be recognized.

As a user myself, I must ask: how does a particular post become viral? In a platform of thoughts and ideas, social media posts are constantly vying for the reader’s attention. Also, as a consumer, I can be considered the ultimate target of such posts.

Although the public exposure of a post mainly depends on the acceptance of the demographic it appeals to, it is also important to note several other factors leading up to its virality. In order to further understand how users seem to favor a photo, text or video over another, one must know how a user filters his news feed.

Mobile sharing has doubled since 2013, and 20% of a user’s mobile activity is sharing content; desktop time comprises only 6%. Thus, to reach a wider audience, an organization utilizes a “mobile-first strategy”, a very efficient gameplan. 80% of the world’s consumers now own a mobile device, and these people can easily be dissuaded from reading a post when sifting through large chunks of text.

This leads to another question: Where should posts be created? According to various studies, Facebook is the main platform for sharing content, earning a whopping 81% of Internet-wide shares. Observing my own Facebook feed, I have seen posts borrowing excerpts from other social media sites, but have become more famous than the originals. Due to the mainstream popularity Facebook has gained, users are more inclined to share posts in this site.

Another thing to consider is the time of posting; there are optimal times to post in social media in order to get the most user traffic. Facebook gets the most posts on Thursdays and Fridays, at the middle of a work week. This is to be expected since “the less people want to be at work, the more they are on Facebook” (Buddy Media, 2015). Posts sent at 1pm get the most shares; those sent at 3pm get the most clicks. For a brief overview of optimal times to post in all platforms:

Facebook: Thursday, Friday; 9am  - 7pm

Twitter: Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday; 5pm for highest retweets, 12pm and 6pm for highest click-through rates

LinkedIn: weekdays on business hours are generally good times to post, but the posts with highest clicks and shares are on Tuesdays, 10am - 11am

Pinterest: Saturday; 8pm - 11pm

Instagram: Monday; 3pm - 4pm(off business hours)

Google+: Wednesday, 9am

All of the aforementioned factors make up the genetics of a viable post, but we are still treading on theoretical grounds.  What kind of posts actually becomes viral?

Through the years, it has been proven that “Why?” posts and listicles gain the most exposure. The former explains a concept, while the latter is composed of articles containing lists (Buzzfeed posts might come to mind). This can be linked to the growing mobile community, where easily digestible information is on demand.

It is apparent that the online world is ever-evolving. Every component in its system is changing quite dramatically—its audience, its accessibility, and, now, its content. As Charles Darwin once said, the species that survives is not the strongest nor the most intellectual, but the most adaptable. Individuals and organizations should keep this in mind if we want to drive the growth of the internet.

References:

Delzio, S. "Social Sharing Habits." Social Media Examiner. 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. <http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-sharing-habits-new-research/>.

Within something that most people use for their conveniences lies a number of different ways of usage – this is the internet. Some people use the internet as a means to know something (research); some use it for entertainment (games);  some use it for relaxation (multimedia), while most people use it for mingling with others (social media).

Social media are tools that are mediated by computers; they allow people from different parts of the world to share information with each other and to be connected with one another through the use of the internet. Facebook is an example of a social medium; it allows people to add their family and friends and stay connected with them even when they are miles apart.

There are many different social features in Facebook, and the aforementioned is just one of those features. Facebook also allows a person to make a “page” about different things – it can be about a business, a movie, a game, or even a person – and he can post as the page itself. Through Facebook, people can form groups to make communication more convenient.

As Facebook grows, the number of “applications” that it can use and provide also becomes larger. These applications include games, messaging, and can even now support videos and GIFs – animated images. The games range from simple arcade and puzzle games to simulation and role-playing games (RPGs) which attract many users’ attention and provide them with entertainment. The messaging application can now stand alone, without needing the main Facebook page to be open, allowing the users to chat with their friends without other nuisances.

Facebook has made an impact on the way we communicate with different people. Essentially, it has helped people make friends with different people from around the world, and it has also helped bring overseas contract workers closer to their families and helped people share precious moments caught on camera or through written text. In every sense, it has connected us and made our lives easier. However, as it may suggest, Facebook seems to have drifted people apart. People would rather delve into the lives of others than their own: each family member would be busy spending time on Facebook rather than to enjoy quality time with each other.

It is sad to see a loved one leave to work overseas. Working abroad also leaves these workers homesick. With Facebook, loved ones can get in touch with each other in just a click away. Facebook’s Messenger helps by sending private messages via Wi-Fi or mobile data, which is a cheaper alternative compared to sending international text messages. An additional feature to Messenger is its video messaging capability, so conversations can be made in a virtual face-to-face interaction, much like Skype and FaceTime — more intimate than a simple text message — and each other’s presence is felt, even through a computer screen.

Photos and videos caught on camera are unique, and they tell a story; they speak of memories made at the place they were taken. People like to share these memories with their friends and family, so they, too, become a part of the experience. Facebook makes it possible by allowing users to upload photos and videos of memorable events in one’s life onto the website and making the content available to one’s friends. Also, one may write a “status” on what is currently happening to them and “post” it for their friends to see. More often than not, these posts of statuses, pictures or videos usually become sites of discussion; for instance, the historical significance of the landmark in the photo’s background, or the controversial couple in a wedding video. Either way, by sharing these moments, people are up-to-date with the lives of others and the sense of connection is never lost. 

Facebook may have served its purpose as a gateway to connect people and bring them closer together, but this is not likely. In fact, it may have pushed people further apart than unite them.

People like to know what is happening to the lives of their friends on Facebook, to the point that this is all they ever do. A probable cause is because their friends’ lives are more interesting than theirs — they work abroad, they are living in luxury, or they are a “hot topic” in discussions among mutual friends. With Facebook, people are more concerned with the lives of others than their own. Though they are not directly affected by their meddling into the lives of others, it is the insignificance of their presence that makes it an issue.  

Consequently, because of their obsession to what they see or read on Facebook, families spend less time with each other, whether at home or on an annual family vacation. This is prevalent among teens of the family, although parents of the household are quickly following behind. Less communication is made with each other and more communication is done online with their friends on Facebook. Thus, vacations are ruined and a home does not feel as homey as it should be.