Foursquare is a location based service where you "check-in".  It's a way of friends seeing where you are and perhaps be able to see other people you may know who are close to your location.  One of my good friends uses Foursquare every time we go out to lunch and it's something that I have never picked up.  I guess it's something I should do as I'm probably going to post or tweet about after the fact.

Pinterest is a photo sharing app that has never won me over.  I think it's a good service but it has never appealed to me.  

Instagram is perhaps my favorite social media platform to date.  I am an avid Instagram user and try to post every day.  I think it's a great way to connect with new people and to showcase art very well.  Models, musicians, photographers all use Instagram with a passion because it acts as a great portfolio for things you have done.  

Twitter was discussed this week.  We learned about its origins and how it was inspired.  Twitter is the social media where less is more.  Being able to only post in 140 characters has shaped the way we share information.  It is a practice of quality over quantity.  I'm an avid Twitter user and it is one of my favorite social medias that exist.  Twitter popularized the use of hash tags and now just about every other social media platform has adapted it as a way of finding information and other people to connect with.

LinkedIn has become my favorite social media site as of late.  I like the idea of a professional page for myself.  I think it really helps maintain a positive online presence for people looking for jobs or even managers screening future employees.  LinkedIn offers a way to connect and build a network that isn't just about having as many followers of friends as you can.  Rather its about having contacts that will make a difference and be important to be introduced and connected with other networks.  It is the start of the electronic resume.

AVG Privacy Fix is such a great app.  I love how it is a central hub that tells you all of your possible weak points of security within your social media accounts.  It shows you what information is vulnerable and gives you settings to quickly lock and privatize unnoticed public settings.  This is an app I got on my phone and will be there to stay.

Soundcloud is a site I'm very familiar with.  My band uses it all the time to get our music out in addition to iTunes and other music sharing platforms.  Soundcloud is great because it is a way of connecting fans with podcasts and music.  

Enjoyed using Flickr this week.  It's a Yahoo based company.  It reminds me greatly of Instagram but with a better desktop experience.  Not a service that I will put at the top of my list but the UI is very great to manage photos more effectively than Instagram.

Zite is a great app! I love how it is a tailored experience because it learns what news you like to read.  Similar to the News app on iPhone, Zite has become a main app on my phone because I like the content it is able to generate.  It keeps my attention and has great stories.

Delicious is a social bookmarking website.  This is obscure to me cause I'm not exactly sure what the best way would be to make it a part of my social media use.  I didn't know there was a such thing as social bookmarking, and I see its possibilities of use but haven't been able to adapt it to my life yet.  I do like though that people can generate tags about web links so that searches will become more accurate and applicable to what we are looking for.

Serial.  A haunting case about a murder without all the answers.  A podcast that has captured the attention of an extraordinary amount of people.  The usage of music and sounds really add to the experience of the podcast and make it more effective in how the listener engages with the narrator.

Really enjoyed using Feedly this week.  It puts all your RSS Feeds in one place.  No need to constantly check individual websites or see if you missed a post as Feedly puts all that you need all in one view.

First Blogger Experience

My first experience with Blogger has been very good.  A lot is similar to "wall-based" social medias such as Facebook and Twitter but with more flexibility and personalization.  I can see how these social media sites have used Blogging ideas and concepts to create an easier user experience for their sites.  In my first experiences I have learned how to format posts through text, photo and video.  A lot of it is reminiscent on using Microsoft Word from a formatting perspective.  So far I am enjoying using Blogger and can't wait to make posts more captivating and more visually appealing.

An Example Of Posting A Video

Les Paul

My favorite guitar...a Les Paul

First Post

Hello everybody! This is my first post to Blogger.  I am hoping to make this blog primarily about music and how it is tying into my education at Pace.  I am currently taking an online course that has to do with social media.  I'm excited to take this class because I believe it is at the forefront of being and continue to be a big opportunity to drive revenue and profit in business.  In addition to business, social media is a way of interaction.  I am a musician and having a fanbase is the single most important thing to have when it comes to getting to the next level such as getting a label to sign you.  Labels and higher ups in the industry focus mainly on fanbases.  A fanbase guarantees sales and therefore make it easier to market and sell music and tickets.  Therefore social media puts us as musicians into the drivers seat and allows us to communicate personally with a fanbase.  Before the days of social media it was very expensive and time consuming for news and press to get information out to your fanbase.  Many times the news would be skewed or misinterpreted in order to make it reach a wider audience.  Social media has taken that problem out of the equation.  Throughout this blog we will continue to talk about the effects of social media on me, my education and endeavors.