Using Social Media to Listen

Any journalist knows that they must constantly be listening to what is going on. Listening to the members of their community, officials and even the competition is key to discovering news. Now, social media can be added to the list.

Robert Quigley, social media editor for the Stateman, gives three tips to use social media to listen.

• Read story comments - Stateman Business Editor Kathy Warbelow said, "[People's] comments have given up tipoffs on things like local layoffs...stores or restaurants opening or closing, the sudden stop of work on big construction projects and sometimes about companies we had not known about."



• Besides tweeting, use Twitter just to listen - Follow users such as politicians, athletes, sports commentators, companies and other media outlets. These people and groups are reliable and informative.



• Listen to your Facebook friends - Become friends with local people who can give information on what's going on within the community.
  

Social media is a good tool in discovering news. Several people use social sites to get their information, and if used well, it can be helpful in generating new story ideas.

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AOL Change: Good or Bad?

AOL plans to build an online news format similar to that of Toronto-based start-up, Thoora, in attempts to return to it's former glory. Using Web-analytic software, AOL plans to create what Marty Moe, AOL senior vice-president, calls the "newsroom of the future." This software will help AOL to determine what news readers think is important and that it should write about.

Another component of the "newsroom of the future" includes hiring 500 full-time journalists and procuring stories form more than 3,000 freelance contributors. This allows AOL to produce original, prime content, and the better the content the more advertisers will pay for ad space.

However, content being based on what readers are doing, searching, and clicking on the Internet. Some journalists are afraid that readers influence on what they write will turn journalism's focus away from important, hard-hitting news to fluff. Fluff being celebrity gossip and what is trending in Hollywood.

Which is an excellent point. News isn't news until someone writes, blogs, or broadcasts it. How will people know what is going on in the world, if all that is being written about is someone's latest search on Google?

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YouTube for College Application

Tufts University integrated YouTube videos into the application process for incoming freshmen, spawning discussion regarding technology's effect on future applicants at colleges nationwide.

Tufts University in Medford, Mass. paved new ground when administrators began accepting original one-minute YouTube videos as part of the college's application process for incoming freshmen. According to Anne Driscoll of Tonic, of Tufts's 15,436 applicants, six percent chose to create videos.

These videos ranged from the silly to the serious and gave students a new medium to show themselves to administrators. One girl performed "Math Dances," one boy made a stop-motion video, and another made a flying elephant helicopter.

The use of videos in the application process is only one of the unorthodox methods used by Tufts in its application process. Incoming freshmen are required to complete three short essay questions dealing with why they chose Tufts, the influence of their environments on who they are today and "what voice (they) will add to the class of 2014." These are typical admissions questions and might be asked at any other college. Tufts goes a step further and gives students the option of completing another task.

With Tufts's "Optional Essay," applicants really are given options. A student can complete an essay of 250-400 words on a given topic, a seemingly conventional assignment. However, the given topics are rather unconventional: "Imagine history without the United States as we know it"; "Are we alone?"; Was Kermit the Frog right when he said, 'It's not easy being green,'?; etc.

Students are given additional opportunities in this "Optional Essay" component. Given a 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper, a student gets the chance to "create something." The website invites applicants to "draw a cartoon strip, design a costume... compose a score or do something entirely different."

In the next section, applicants can write a short story using one of five given titles, and in the following section, an applicant writes about an incident when he took a stand for something he felt was important.

Though the use of videos in the application process is getting the most publicity, the other aspects of Tufts's application process are just as noteworthy. When applying to colleges, most students only consider which three people they'd like to meet, what classic novel affected them the most, or who they want to be in ten years. Tufts recognizes that every student is different and that different people express themselves in different ways and through different mediums.

We've all heard, "A picture is worth a thousand words." I hate that quote. How many pictures is a word worth? The word "picture," for instance. We all envision something different when we hear the word picture, but by showing me your idea of a picture, you hinder my creativity in envisioning the picture for myself. A picture is worth a thousand words, but a word can spawn at least as many pictures.

How many words is a video worth? What Tufts has done with its video/essay/short story/"create something" component is give applicants the chance to use their own words and their own pictures in their own way. And that, my friend, is priceless.

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New Platform for Real-Time News

Kommons - Trustworthy news in real-time from Vadim Lavrusik on Vimeo.

Cody Brown, a senior at New York University and founder of NYU Local, is at it again. He's come up with a new idea for social media called Kommons.

Brown is still putting together the finished product, but it seems to be similar to Twitter with a twist of Wikipedia.

The idea is that instead of having a few major voices in Twitter giving you news, you can belong to a specific community on Kommons where the news pertains to you. You can also edit and add to certain posts like a Wikipedia page. Instead of using hash tags like Twitter, the @ symbol will be used to create these Wiki-like pages.

Brown plans on making the first community within Kommons for students and faculty at NYU.

A big part Brown's idea is to make sure people aren't anonymous on Kommons like they can be on Twitter. In an article posted by Vadim Lavrusik on his blog, Brown says that "if news reporting in real-time is to improve, genuine identity must be established."

It really seems like this idea may catch on. Just imagine a Twitter-like feed with the editing capabilities of Wikipedia for the Des Moines area. Reporters could even use it to find great stories. My only question is how long until the public gets to try it out?

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Google Buzz: Not Here To Compete

When rumors of a new Google feature started, many Twitter and Facebook users felt it would be unnecessary and redundant.

Since Google Buzz arrived, feedback on the new feature has been split. Some Gmail users feel that Google Buzz is a convenient way to broadcast ideas and discoveries to other users. However, others feel that Buzz is a failed attempt by Google to compete with Facebook and Twitter.

According to Mashable, Google Executive Bradley Horowitz wants users to know that Google Buzz was not intended to be a rival to Facebook and Twitter. Buzz is intended to be a way of engagement with other Gmail users.

Google Buzz is different from Facebook and Twitter in the way that it allows users to truly discuss ideas and topics with each other, and not in 140 characters or less.

However, when compared against Facebook and Twitter in Mashable's reader poll, "Who would win in a fight, Google Buzz, Facebook, or Twitter?," it's hard not to feel like it is a competition.

Still, the public seems to have accepted Google Buzz among Twitter and Facebook, as a potential favorite way of online conversation. While still coming in third after Facebook and Twitter, Google Buzz received 1,298 votes out of a total 7,130. Whether Buzz is just a fad, or the new most popular social network in disguise, only time will be able to tell.

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Radio Engage: A New Platform For Radio

It comes as no surprise that with social networking sites constantly growing and the Web undergoing drastic changes, all types of media organizations must learn to utilize the trend for their benefit. In her Feb. 15 article "The Future of Public Radio- Today," media strategist Margaret Rosas focuses on how one particular media organization, public radio, can create a new and improved presence on the Web, through the use of a product she currently works on designing, called Radio Engage. Although Rosas clearly holds a bias in favor of her product, I agree that Radio Engage potentially offers many benefits to public radio worth exploring.

As part of her pitch for Radio Engage, a platform for Web site creation, Rosas argues that public radio stations must adapt to the new and different ways that audiences use the web. The "destination Web site" no longer interests audiences, who now favor a "come to me" model, mainly driven by social networking sites. In addition, she argues that audiences now produce their own content and expect greater involvement in the "conversation" than ever before. However, the problem remains that many public radio stations simply do not have the manpower to manage their Web presence through all these channels.

The Radio Engage platform allows stations to accomplish this task as it engages Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube and can be managed easily from one site. The program will assist stations in aggregating news from audience blogs and tweets, offering an even wider access to possible content. Also, audience comments and conversation can be managed from the same sight, allowing a station's team to customize content to further satisfy audiences. Another component of the program is the optimization of the station's site to place it higher on search engine searches. One user, KALWNews.com has claimed that through the use of Radio Engage, visits to their Web site have tripled in only a month, possibly due to this feature.

As I mentioned earlier, Rosas' article clearly contains a bias, as she works as the lead strategist for Radio Engage. Still, I agree that Radio Engage has potential. It clearly provides an excellent tool for stations to manage a large amount of Web content from a single site, which becomes essential when considering the manpower a station would need otherwise. If results from the initial tests indicate the future of the product, then Radio Engage could soon become a well recognized name in the industry. Much of the platform's future, in my opinion, lies within how it will be offered to stations. If stations will be required to pay high prices for the service, I would project that many stations will find a way to manage their Web presence without Radio Engage. However, if Radio Engage remains cost beneficial, it is highly possible that the platform could have a great impact on public radio's future Web presence.

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Measuring Audience Sentiment

Thoora, a Toronto-based startup, measures how well individual stories are doing in real-time. The company will analyze and calibrate real-time data from blogs, mainstream media sources and Twitter. The software Thoora uses, determines the highest quality stories as well as the ones with the most popular content.

The company says the data can be used to help editors decide where to place stories on a page, for example. It is also beneficial to news organizations because it can help them figure out where their story ranks in comparison to the competition.

CEO Mike Lee said this is the first time a tool has been used to determine audience sentiment for news at the story level instead of the topic level. Their consumer site groups stories together based on similar algorithms, much like Pandora does with its music.

Many people push the most popular and current topics to the top, but Lee said their goal is to also "drive quality to the surface."

While Thoora currently has no clients, Lee said they are in discussions with a major Canadian news organization and Canadian sports publisher.

They hope to release a free version of their platform in order for people to publish their stories and see how they compare to others' stories.

This technology seems as though it would benefit companies because they would be able to understand what people are reading now and how to position the story on their page. It also allows for better quality stories to be read, which can enhance a company's credibility.

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Tiger Woods: More Than Enough

What does CNN, E! News, CNBC, ESPN, and your local news station all have in common besides the fact that they all cover some sort of news?

Though they all tend to have their own different beat, they all have over-abundantly covered a man known as Tiger Woods. He's a celebrity on E! News, an athlete on ESPN, and simply a news worthy figure on large and local media stations.

Woods' 13 1/2 minute speech was covered by dozens of broadcast networks, cable news outlets and online streams. Not to mention it was viewed by millions of people.

The apology for his "sexual adventures" took place the TPC Sawgrass, home of the PGA Tour, in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

Though it can't really be considered a press conference because he didn't take any questions, the speech could be found anywhere and everywhere. Because it was during the workday, much of it was streamed online.

ESPN seemed to be the leader of coverage. It was broadcasted not only on ESPN, ESPNEWS and ESPN2, but also on ESPN.com, ESPN radio and ESPN Mobile.

E! News also didn't waste any time with getting articles out about it on their website, eonline.com. They have had 11 articles up and ready for the world to see since his talk.

One could even find Woods on Twitter under the popular thread "tigershouldve".

His wife, Elin, was not there to support him. His mother, however, was bravely sitting in the front row.

If you missed his speech, don't fret. It is beyond easy to find in our world of media.

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Coupons Going Digital?

After reading a blog post written by Jeff Jarvis about the dying industry of print coupons, I began to think about what he say saying. Is there any relation between this and the rumored extinction of newspapers?

Jeff Jarvis believes so. He claims in his blog that when he was working as the Sunday editor at the New York Daily News that when they stopped providing coupons in their paper, circulation went up $100k. It turned out that people had been buying coupons more than the paper.

Jarvis isn't the only one recognizing the rising popularity of coupons, though. Coupons.com made $858 million last year on printouts of deals alone. Also, Americans redeemed $3.3 billion in coupons last year, a 27% increase since 2008.

What next then, you might ask? Well, like everything else in the media industry, coupons are going to have to make some changes.

Everything seems to be converting to digital, so why shouldn't coupons be the same way? Jarvis predicts coupon use going digital, even to the extent of our smart phones. "If I can check into my flight with the scan of my IPhone, shouldn't I be able to buy toilet paper with it?" Jarvis said.

If coupons begin to go digital, and online content has already begun to grow increasingly popular, this can only leave you wondering what lies in the future of newspapers everywhere.

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Digital Media Pyramid

Since the Civil War, journalist have used the Inverted Pyramid to write their news stories. With the change in technology, so too must the Inverted Pyramid change.

Using the Inverted Pyramid, journalist put the the five W's and H at the beginning of the story so readers know what it is about at a glance. The rest of the article contain information that supports the five W's and H.

While this style of writing is time-tested and true, the world of journalism is making a major transition to digital and so must the pyramid. The Inverted Pyramid is a style that can only really be success full in print media.

According to the Online Journalism Review, the Digital Media Pyramid is the way of the future.

Like the Inverted Pyramid, the Digital Media Pyramid starts off with the five W's and H and a body. However, this body is filled with copy, paste, and copywright taken straight from Internet sources, with restrictions of course. Next the pyramid contains art of pictures, videos, and interactivity with readers and ads. Lastly, the new pyramid has links, resources, and social content.

Its kind of like this blog. You get your five W's and H, a body derived from another Internet source, pictures, links and social content. Which means that this pyramid was already a component in the journalism world, but now it must become the one of the main elements for journalism to continue to be successfull in the future.

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NY Times Using Foursquare at Olympics

Many businesses have already made deals with the increasingly popular Foursquare website. It has included HBO, the History Channel, and Warner Brothers. Foursquare is a social media site that allows many of your friends from Foursquare, Facebook, and Twitter to find what your location is. This has increase the knowledge to your location. This is supposed to help you find friends near you. It acts as a simple finder. Foursquare also uses a "Mayor" function. This allows the person who has visited the place most often become the mayor. This then allows the mayor to receive incentives from the place at many locations. They also earn badges for certain achievements.

The interesting thing about this is that the New York Times and Foursquare have announced that they have announced that they have teamed up together. People who have written for the travel and entertainment areas are suggesting what type of venues are their best bet to go to. If someone goes to at least two of the suggested venues they will receive a special badge. A little incentive after trying the places. The Metro has also offered similar deals relevant to that of the New York Times.

The future of this is up in the air. The added support will add an increase of users on Foursquare. This will cause advertisement opportunities and in the end a successful future for Foursquare.

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BBC Reporters Embrace Social Media

New Director of BBC Global News, Peter Horrocks told news journalist of BBC to use social media as a primary source of information.

He just recently took over last week and said that it was important for editorial staff to make better use of social media and become more collaborative in producing stories. Horrocks believes that technology is changing journalism and it is important for BBC to leave a program based mindset behind.

"This isn't just a kind of fad from someone who's an enthusiast of technology. I'm afraid you're not doing your job if you can't do those things. It's not discretionary." said Horrocks in the BBC in-house weekly Ariel.

BBC is following in the foot steps of competetors like CNN whose coverage of the Haiti earthquake through social media sources has shown to an international crowd that news organizations already have been professionalizing and harnessing user content and social media.

For BBC news editors, Twitter and RSS readers are to become essential tools under Horrocks regin. BBC journalists will have to integrate and listen to feedback for a better understanding of how the audience is relating to the BBC brand.

As technology is changing the nature of journalism the BBC is tyring to keep up with the pace.

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Gannett Hides Revenue Goal

Gannett Co. Inc. got notification Wednesday, Feb. 16 that the company would be allowed to with hold its digital revenue goals by 2011. On the company's 2009 annual 10-K form they left put an asterisk where they were supposed to fill out their revenue.

The form was filed on Feb. 25, 2009 under rule 24b-2 which requests confidential treatment for the information about their planned earnings. The plan was originally drawn up for then new Chief Digital Officer Chris Saridakis that he would earn an extra $4 million if he reaches specific goals over the plan's four year period.

Next to the asterisk on the form was a footnote that said Gannett was waiting for conformation from the SEC to see if they would be able to keep their financial numbers secret. There is no exact explanation for why the SEC took so long to make their decision on Gannett's request.

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Times Faces Plagiarism... Again

A New York Times reporter recently resigned amid accusations of plagiarism, and on February 14, the Times issued an Editors' Note detailing the case.

Zachery Kouwe worked as a blogger and reporter for the New York Times since October 2008. The accusations of plagiarism were made by the Wall Street Journal regarding a post made by Kouwe on the DealBook blog at nytimes.com. The WSJ found "extensive similarities" between Kouwe's article and an article printed just hours earlier by the WSJ, and Wall Street Journal editor Robert Thomson sent a letter to New York Times editor Bill Keller describing "this case of apparent plagiarism." In an internal investigation, the Times uncovered additional cases of plagiarism by Kouwe.

The Times printed a correction both as an Editors' Note and alongside Kouwe's plagiarized article. The newspaper detailed its own policy on plagiarism, ending with the Times' dedication to protecting the integrity of journalism.

This was not the first incidence of a Times reporter taking liberties with journalism. In 2003, Jayson Blair, another reporter for the Times, was found guilty of plagiarizing. Additionally, the Times discovered that Blair was inventing quotes, facts and even sources to enhance his stories.

Unfortunately, these incidences reflect poorly on the Times. In only seven years this newspaper produced two writers whose ethics were questionable by all standards of journalism. This does not seem coincidental.

Is there something in the atmosphere at the Times that forces writers to feel the need to cheat? Or, does the atmosphere at the Times enable cheaters and make them feel like they can get away with cheating?

The Times has promised to do a review of all articles written by Kouwe, but maybe it needs to review its own policies, and it certainly needs to review its editing practices. A respected paper like the Times will no longer have any respect if things like this continue.

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Is a Journalism Degree Enough?

After finding a blog post written by Joe Sheller about what kind of education journalism majors should be seeking, I began to think about our own program here at Simpson College. Could the way students are learning about the journalism field really be as out of date as he says?

I don't believe Simpson is that far behind. Sure we still have a lot of catching up to do, but in the wake of the changing media industry I think the professors here are doing all they can to make sure their students receive the best education possible.

I dusted off my copy of the general catalog to look up what courses it takes to graduate with a degree in multimedia journalism or integrated marketing communication. It seems to me that many of the courses that students are required to take to obtain their degree also push them to think less as just writers and more as entrepreneurs.

Take our beginning news writing and reporting course for instance. I would have never dreamed I would be tweeting little pieces of news that I see happening around campus, let alone writing this blog. I'm also in a marketing course, and the one thing my professor keeps pounding into our heads is how we need to be tech savvy.

That doesn't just mean knowing how to use Facebook and Twitter. As Sheller tells us in his blog, more adults are learning all about these social media sites, and we as students need to be as ahead of the game as possible. Just taking a course in web design and web coding may put you miles ahead of your competitors in the job hunt.

So maybe the journalism field is changing, and maybe some colleges aren't doing enough to prepare their students, but the people at Simpson College seem to be making enough changes in the program to help enable students in the long run.

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Now Hiring: The White House

Millions of Americans are currently on the hunt for a job. With many businesses laying off employees, it can be discouraging when no one is hiring.

Recently, a slightly unexpected job opportunity opened up dealing with social networks. President Barack Obama recently announced that the Democratic National Committee is in the process of hiring a new "social networks manager." According to the Wall Street Journal Blogs, the "social networks manager" is responsible for maintaining President Obama's Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace accounts.

The person currently responsible for this job is Mia Cambronero. Cambronero has recently announced that she is stepping down from her position as the "social networks manager."

According to Organizing for America's, "social networks manager" job description, applicants must be "passionate about engaging millions of Americans in advancing President Obama's agenda and changing the country."

So what does it take to become President Obama's new "social network manager?" According to the job description, qualifications include having excellent writing and editing skills, being able to craft affective messages, working under deadline pressure and many more.

The job description basically expresses their need for a professional 'tweeter,' or 'status updater.' Though the qualifications are higher than the Organizing for America's job description make it seem like, there is a chance that an ordinary U.S. citizen might end up working for the President.

If you would like more information on the job description and qualifications, or would like apply, visit the Organizing for America's "social network manager" application.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/socnetsmanager

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Creating a Good Video Story

Video stories are becoming an essential part of online and newspaper multimedia reports. But what makes a video story good?

Recently, Rebecca Aguilar, freelance multimedia reporter in Dallas, asked three television news videographers what they think makes for a good video story.

Chuck Denton, a videographer based near Los Angeles, was one of the interviewees. Also interviewed were Bonnie Gonzalez, a reporter and videographer in Austin, and Jim Kent, a videographer with his own company, ArtGecko Productions.

Denton says you need to make sure there are visual elements that can help tell the story.

"Are the interviews dynamic?" he says you should ask yourself in order to determine if a story would make a good video story. "Are they compelling enough to keep folks interested in tuning in?"

Gonzalez says a good video story has a lot of action and natural sounds. These are the sounds you hear in the video that make you feel like you are actually there.

Kent says you should stick with print if the story is complicated and complex. Otherwise, it is better to use video because television is a visual medium.

All three agree that the characters in the video play an important role. Characters that are compelling help tell the story and keep the viewers interested.

They also say that having good sound to tell the story is key. Gonzalez says it is also important to have action to tell an interesting story.

I think that all of these things are important in telling a good video story. A video story would not be interesting if you didn't have energetic or emotional characters telling the story. A video story would also seem dull if there was no action or if the storyline wasn't fitting for a video story.

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NORML Fights For CBS 's Billboard

The CBS Corporation has made their voice about not legalizing the use of marijuana loud and clear.

They recently denied NORML, the National Organization of Marijuana Laws, a spot on their digital billboard in New York City's Time Square.

The fifteen-second ad would argue that taxing and regulating the adult use and sale of marijuana would raise billions of dollars in national revenue. It was supposed to appear on Monday, February 1, 2010, but CBS, along with Neutron Media rejected the paid advertisement.

Representatives from Neutron Media had contacted NORML in January. The ad was supposed to air 18 times a day for two months. The NORML Foundation got a contractual agreement with Neutron Media to air two separate NORML advertisements, and made an initial ad exclusively for the CBS digital billboard. This advertisement was predicted to be seen by over 1.5 million people a day.

Not surprisingly, NORML was more than unhappy and set up a petition on their site to demand CBS to change their bias ruling.

To watch the ad, click here.

To sign the NORMAL petition, click here. So far there are 1,803 signatures. Their goal is 2,500.

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Hyperlocal Site Builds on Olympic Games

As newspapers face an uncertain future, an emerging news platform, the hyperlocal Web site, may be opening exciting doors for citizens to follow and showcase their communities.

Although hyperlocal Web sites have been steadily growing through the past year, I would not be surprised if my readers are unfamiliar with the new platform. Described by Cain Miller and Brad Stone in their April 2009 article for the New York Times, hyperlocal websites provide extremely localized information. Often the Web sites operate without hired journalists, but instead with input from those within the community. The content of a typical hyperlocal Web site ranges from links to external articles and blogs, local government news, arrests, home sales, road construction, and restaurant and event reviews. Also, many of these sites have the capability to cover and deliver news faster than larger news organizations.

While smaller local newspapers (such as those in rural Iowa) can usually cover all the above information, hyperlocals prove beneficial in bigger metro areas, whose papers cannot always dedicate the manpower to covering individual neighborhoods or suburbs. Many are becoming even more innovative, following the examples of sites like Outside.in, which has an iPhone app allowing users to locate news and events within a 1,000 foot radius of their location. Also, many supporters of hyperlocal Web sites praise its potential to bring local advertising dollars to the Web.

Clearly, hyperlocal Web sites serve a very defined audience. However, in a February 11, 2010 article at the Online Journalism Review, Dave Chase, owner and editor of the hyperlocal sunvallyonline.com, presented several ways in which sites can boost their viewership to a larger, perhaps even national level. Currently, his site, which covers the Wood River Valley region of Idaho, is capitalizing on the 2010 Winter Olympics. A local of the Wood River Valley area, Curtis Bacca currently works for snowboarders Lindsey Jacobellis, Seth Wescott, and Shaun White and is with the team in Vancouver to prepare boards for competition. To help Chase and promote Sun Valley Online, Bacca shoots a video blog of his work with the team that is uploaded to the site. By doing this, Chase hopes to create a huge jump in short-term viewership as the games proceed that will lead to an increase in regular and steady viewers.

Examples of other national events or news that hyperlocals could connect to their own sites include natural disasters or local celebrity news. I certainly agree with Chase that hyperlocals provide an exciting new platform for news and I look forward to seeing them develop in the future. I do have one reservation however, and that is on the issue of quality. The downfall of the hyperlocal Web site will be when quality is ignored in an effort to produce fast content. As they develop, hyperlocals must be sure to adhere to high standards of quality and journalistic ethics.

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Google Makes Necessary Changes to "Buzz"

Google has decided to make adjustments to privacy settings on Google Buzz after a bad perception in it's first week of service.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the new technology of Google Buzz, it's like Google's own, polished version of Facebook and Twitter. It is available to you as soon as you log into your Gmail account and allows you to share photos, videos, and more.

The big problem with Buzz, though, was that it automatically allowed anyone who accessed your page to view your list of followers and the list of people that you were following. Also, Google made it very difficult to access and change these privacy settings, leaving Buzz users distressed.

But changes have been made. Google has now added a feature to Buzz causing a window to pop up the first time Gmail users log on, asking them, "How do you want to be seen to others?" The default option will be to show the list of people you're following and the list of people following you as well on your public profile, but that box can be easily found and unchecked.

With these new adjustments being made, Google hopes to rid of it's initial bad reputation and have users recognize some of it's positive features. Buzz strives to offer convenience by automatically following the people you e-mail and chat with the most on your Gmail account, and by having new post pop up instantly with no refresh required.

Google has taken over the web as a search engine, a mail provider, and now possibly as an alternative to Facebook and Twitter. It seems we have to ask ourselves now: What will they come up with next?

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