Technology As Innovator

VNExpress replicated a Reuters’ survey on “The time when people find themselves most happy” here.

On both Reuters’ and VNExpress’ surveys, men are found most happy going online.

They are actually happy online when they response to the survey more than 2.5 times than women do.

Social Networking is definitely fun, but some players are feeling lost

Haven’t even experienced Social Networking fatigue…

It is predicted that Social Networking will reach its peak in around 2009 before experiencing gradual decline.

2 years is too far away, at least to an average user. Why not have all the fun today?

The truth is, I am really enjoying Facebook and all it’s got: relationship-centric network, mature core functionalities, rich applications, nice gifts, intuitive design…

Mini-feed is also a great idea! Whale done, Mark! With it I can explore what my friends have just been doing and so can they. A great way to know more about other people.

…but I just realized one important piece is missing

You can explore what your friends do daily on Facebook. Very good already…

Consider it more deeply, have you identified what are missing here?

You don’t know what your friends do in real life. Furthermore, you don’t know what they THINK!

Knowing one’s activities on one platform is great, but would it sometimes drive you to the assumption that you know what others are doing and thus spend less time interacting with them via more traditional but human way or reading what they have to write?

How do people express their ideas? Via what they have to write down (Blog!), or take photos on (Photoblog!), or produce video clip for (Vidlog!). Less likely via sets of pre-designed virtual gifts

No, I don’t mean that gifts don’t represent the hearts. I still treasure each and every gift my friends have been giving me, but I’d appreciate it more if they simply write in their own words or post their own design.

Because we’ve been bringing content to Social Networks…

I have emphasized many times that Social Networking is totally different from Blogging. However, due to the two facts that they are born so close to each other and that several sites offer both simultaneously such as Live Spaces or Yahoo! 360, the two are often mistaken to have to be together.

Let’s, for now, consider them cousins anyway. Who should follow whom?

It happens all the time that Blogging has to follow Social Networking, mainly because:

• The number of people ready to send pre-defined gifts outcrowds the number of those willing to write about what they think
• The inertia to connect with quick messages outdoes the urge to share well-thought ideas
• Social Networking activities are less time-consuming and less effort-consuming so they are done more frequently within the day. On the contrary, Writing takes time and efforts and Reading is usually done for once. In comparison, users visit Social Networking sites much more often than they do Blogs. “More times of visits” makes the impression of “being bigger”. Smaller ones always have to follow bigger ones don’t they?
• More times of visits per day means more ads generated and higher click-through rates. Subsequently, more revenues for site owners and more investments are expected.

User-generated contents, if applicable, may be integrated into Social Networking profiles via RSS and/or addons. Correct me if I’m wrong, though it takes much more time and efforts to write posts, the section containing these posts is not the center of the majority of Social Networking profiles, and is often depressed by the higher density of other quicker and painless activities.

…but why not the other way around?

After following me down here, is there any reason you can think of to do the other way around, which means to bring Social Networking functionalities to Blogs?

Shaking head?

What’s the point?

Any profits doing so?

I’m answering this question: Yes! There are.

Those serious about publishing their own content will not be hindered by limitations. The will to write will push the authors to overcome the (possible) difficulties.

How the world floats

We’ll see how people do the hard job of bringing Social Networking to Blogs.

MyBlogLog: more than merely $222 per blog

MyBlogLog builds communities around blogs and provides bloggers the ability to be updated of activities of their connections. Activities here are content-centric: read and comment.

The recent $10 million acquisition by Yahoo! has raised interests in MyBlogLog. MyBlogLog reports 45,000 registered blogs. A simple math gives us the price of each: $222. An innocent question comes following: will Yahoo!’s ads cover this cost?

Come on! Don’t pretend to be that naive. An acquisition doesn’t necessarily offer tangible benefits today or even next year, but the truth is that the concept and foundation of the seller then becomes more powerful in the strong hand of the buyer.

Acquiring MyBlogLog belongs to a grand strategy of Yahoo!. “MyBlogLog - a Yahoo! service” will not generate handsome profits alone, but will do so greatly when the platform is integrated with other legacy Yahoo! services such as Flickr, del.icio.us, Mash, Yahoo! Blog platform.

I am bringing networks to my blog with MyBlogLog.

DiSo: what should always have been

Distributed Social Networking is the next ambition of Open Web community. It brings

Visualize this:

• All things are done on your site without having to push your content to a small box in your Social Networking profiles
• You can add other bloggers as friends instead of simply putting them in your blogroll
• You can offer people your RSS feeds
• You can see your connections’ updates such as: Tai reads ‘Kafka on the shore Review’ on Lisa’s blog in 19/12/2007
• You have your status on your blog
• You see and can choose to pose list of recent readers of your blog
• You can send friend requests to other bloggers
• All things are done on your site. No tight boxes in other places

What does this mean? It means your content is the center of your site. What takes the most of your time and efforts deserves meritorious position.

How does it sound?

How do you feel about its future?

I know you care, so please just share…

“Still waters run deep” - Shakespeare

Abstract

This article clarifies certain myths about introverted people and proposes solutions for extraverts to communicate better with introverts and for introverts to take advantage of their strengths

1. Myths

1.1. Introverts are asocial

Not true. Some introverts are very sociable they do well in social settings and public speaking. Some even succeed in areas commonly considered fitting for extroverts: marketing, sales, journalism.

Some introverts might have lots of friends and are good at networking. There’s nothing to be surprised. Introverts’ social capability is perfectly normal, it’s just that they direct energy inward.

1.2. Introversion is something to overcome

Not true. Introversion is an orientation and it has its own advantages. Many scientists and philosophers are introverts, and their cogitation is the root of technological and social evolution.

1.3. Introverts usually have lower self-esteem

This is an arguable misconception. Because introverts don’t talk much about themselves doesn’t necessarily mean that they often feel bad about themselves, or that they have no interesting things to tell. They just don’t talk much about themselves and fullstop.

With introspection as one of primary activities, introverts tend to understand their problems and conditions better, then communicate and solve the problems. Because they talk about or appear to solve their problems more often doesn’t necessarily mean that they have more problems.

1.4. Introverts are arrogant

Not true. When they remain silent, it’s not because they ignore the other but that they’re deep in thoughts.

1.5. Introverts spend a lot of time thinking

Or more correctly, to reflect. They spend a lot of time, especially when being alone, for thinking, introspection and reflecting their activities in their own mirror. This habit dominates life of an introvert.

Introverts tend to think deeply before they speak or act.

1.6. Introverts hate conversations

Not true. Introverts enjoy conversations with small groups of close friends. They engage in expressing ideas and concepts. They are attracted to abstraction and the big-pictures.

1.7. Introversion is stable

Not true. Extraversion/introversion is suggested to be continuum. A person who acts introverted in one scenario may act extraverted in another, and people can learn to act “against type” in certain situations. Jung’s theory states that when someone’s primary function is extraverted, his secondary function is always introverted (and vice versa).

2. Communicate with introverts

Accept their need for space and time alone. They can enjoy social get-togethers, but normally they’ll need to time alone to ‘recharge’ afterwards.

They love insightful comments. Give them plenty.

Introverts are usually disheartened by unempathic or ‘ingenuous’ extraverts, and become even more withdrawn. Those who don’t understand introverts may complain “They can just say outloud what they want!” May I remind you that introverts don’t talk much about themselves? They don’t say it often enough, that’s why I am doing this.

Allow them lots of time when they think, and expect well-established response.

3. Introversion IS an advantage

Chance to avoid mistakes when saying or acting what have been thought through. Moreover, carefully analyzed arguments are more solid and thorough.

Self-motivated and independent, introverts require little external driving force.

Introverts enjoy close and loyal relationship.

Patient, empathic and considerate, introverts make good listeners and win charisma through in-depth coverage of matters.

Introverts easily concentrate and usually absorb lots of information from observations.

4. Traps of introversion

Introverts might as well be aware of some traps that could harm their health and relationship.

4.1. Trap of melancholy

Some introverts may even enjoy lonesome melancholy. This is harmful to their health.

4.2. Trap of abstraction

Attending to abstraction may drive introverts away from details. Some are not comfortable with analyzing data and try to avoid doing it.

4.3. Trap of morality

Introverts have high sense of value and moral. Sometimes they can become too rigid or over-critical when they consider things are going beyond their ethical boundaries.

4.4. Ignoring being misunderstood deepens misunderstanding

5. Reference

Jonathan Rauch, Caring for your Introvert

Marti Laney, The Introvert Advantage

Carol Bainbridge, Definition of Introvert - What is an Introvert?

6. Acknowledgment

Thanks to all, without whose discussions I couldn’t have possibly understood the topic.

Hien Nguyen, General Director, UniMEx

Liep Nguyen, General Director, QT Supply

Linh Le, Bachelor of Commerce, RMIT University

Hanh Truong, Bachelor programme in Social Sciences, Singapore Management University

Hoa Lam, Bachelor of Business, Illinois State University

Duong Nguyen, Bachelor of Education, University of Education

Minh Nguyen, Business Analyst, First Consulting Group