Social Media and Web 2.0

1. I believe the new wave of "found footage" production styling are not going to negatively affect production value in the media.  Movies and TV shows which utilize this style are now becoming more story driven with CGI used to create an alternate reality.  The shaky cam, found footage and first person perspective is a new methodology to inserting the audience member into the action.  In my opinion, I believe this is a similar ploy to using 3D technology.  I think production value and graphics will be more seamlessly integrated, and amateur user generated content will have a more refined appearance.

2.  From a social media perspective, I use/check facebook probably 3 times a day, I also check twitter once a day, but rarely post anything on it.  Aside from those websites, I don't really use social media constantly.  I'll check youtube every once in a while and I visit several blogs like the huffington post, deadspin and slashfilm.com, at the same time I still visit ESPN.com and CNN.com.

I think Facebook has overtaken myspace as the dominant social media interface because facebook is constantly evolving.  The layout of the site is changing, new applications are being added, and different features and methods of connection are being implemented which keep people interested.  There are 500 million account holders on Facebook.  We have never seen such a concentration of humanity using one form of media constantly.  I cannot predict the future, but if I had to bet on it, I think facebook will dominate social media, eventually buying up some of the other social media platforms like twitter, flickr, digg, linkdin, ec. until it becomes too bloated or unsecured.  I also believe the impending IPO for facebook will cause changes in how the site is run, and may remove Zuckerburg from a position of total control.

3.  Transparency is an important aspect of social media.  Looking at videos, postings, comments and other content, it is important to know where this opinion/information is coming from.  Is it a customer? Is it a consumer interest watchdog? Is it the company trying to improve their image? In a world were face to face contact is becoming less and less constant, we have to rely on digital trust to continue thriving as a society.  In the offline world, transparency is critical, but is not as emphasized because the analogue world is becoming unfashionable to discuss.  The world is being viewed more and more constantly through a digital lens.