The End of the Year

I'd like to take a moment to pause and reflect on everything we've learned - Analytics, LinkedIn, Facebook, search engine optimization, Second Life, and many more topics. Where did this semester go?

As a graduating senior this has only served to reinforce the roles of various social networking sites in my life. Sure, there are some helpful networking areas on Facebook, and I even caught site of a very interesting Online Media networking group on Facebook, but really - it's Facebook. It's too personal, too casual, and often, people make it too incriminating (you'd be amazed at the photos people are capable of posting). Besides, as we learned through that rather revealing mirror exercise, it's not necessary as private as we think.

I've been scouring LinkedIn most days, not to mention doing all the research I can using the more suitable methods (as in, not Facebook) in order to pursue job opportunities. My thesis has been hogging up most of my time but the Internet really has changed the way we market ourselves, market our companies, and the way we find job offers. I know too many people who have found great jobs on Craigslist or just by Googling the right person rather than using the application process.

From Anywhere in the World

Ever hear the expression "Small world" if you happen to see a friend in a place by coincidence? In no time is this more pronounced than now because of the remarkable capabilities of the Internet. Thanks to Google Analytics, we know that people can access our seemingly inconspicuous blogs from all corners of the world - going out on a limb, it would seem reasonable to say that nobody is expecting to have a far reaching audience - at least for now. While I haven't had many plugs for this blog outside of class other than a memorable acknowledgment from a PR specialist I wrote about, I do have another blog - which is now defunct.

I actively promoted it for a while since it was about video game news, and Google Analytics (which I had only a cursory knowledge of prior to this class) showed me some startling hits: One from China, one from Saudi Arabia, one from Sweden, and one from the Philippines. Video games are certainly a worldwide topic, but I wasn't expecting people from the Philippines to read some self-important freelance blogger's ravings about Mass Effect 2!

Everything is available in a way we never experienced before due to the Internet. Whether it's Wikipedia, Google, or Dogpile (do people still use that?), we live in an era where information is so open and so available that it's everywhere at once. We've seen it on both ends of the political spectrum - tea party activists have discovered the Federalist papers and the Constitution online, while massive coalitions over Facebook, Twitter, and other parts of the Internet helped lead President Obama to the White House.

Analytics and Web Optimization

I have a confession to make - despite my technical know-how when it comes to hardware and my high level of proficiency when it comes to navigating cyberspace, as well as my knowledge of Internet culture, I came into this class with no concept of what Google analytics or web optimization meant. To me, Internet marketing seemed limited to banners, corporate websites and blogs, and Facebook and Twitter satellite branches (if you will). I had an idea of how people pay a search engine like Google to come up as a higher result on searches, but that was all I knew.

From this relatively simple concept, a litany of possibilities has emerged, as our reading demonstrated. Take a look at just one of the best examples: Wikipedia. Do a little experiment for me - type in any random noun. Right now, any noun at all. Sears Tower, crab cake, Eddie Murphy, whatever. Was the Wikipedia entry the second entry after maybe the main web page about the topic itself, or even the top entry? I can assume there's a 95% chance it was in the top five.

One interesting concept with Internet marketing is how fantastic it is for sites like Wikipedia that deal with extensive amounts of information. It means that more people have the opportunity to discover Wikipedia through a seemingly unrelated topic, and it is why Google analytics is so important.