Excellent guest lecture by Andy Piper (from IBM, many thanks) on the ideas and concepts behind 'Social Business' and how organisations might use social media.
Lots to think about...
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Friday, 16 December 2011
Blog it until you make it!
Do you know it is possible to build a lucrative career through blogging ? People have been writing blog posts for years, many of those blogs were mainly structured like online journals and diaries and people will mainly stumble upon them by accident or when they want someone personal view on a particular topic. Those posts were placed not in the aim of getting a profit but for mainly sharing information or letting the world know what their opinion was.The last few years something phenomenal has happened and that is the birth of the "celebrity blogger" and the "professional blogger". People who have risen to fame and wealth because they chose to sit by their laptops and let the world know what was on their mind. The two most prominent being Necole Bitchie and Perez Hilton.
Necole Bitchie who got thrown out of her aunties house because she always "sat by laptop everyday".With only $500 to her name, the enterprising go-getter made the move to Atlanta to network and wound up becoming the face and voice of NecoleBitchie.com, a popular gossip/entertainment blog that rivals many mainstream brands in terms of influence in the online space. Since launching in 2007, the site now draws upwards of 1.2 million unique visitors per month (1). Wit that many visitors it easy to attract advertisers which in turn brings in an income. Prime example is Perez hilton who charged $10,000 per week for adverts on his page. Perez Hilton built a blogging empire by posting about things that were controversial and that would constantly keep viewers entertained.known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities. He is also known for posting tabloid photographs over which he has added his own captions. Now with this knowledge of those success stories is it fair to say a career as a professional blogger can be attained ? I will leave that to you to decide.
(1) http://www.onemorepayday.com/create-a-blog-like-necole-bitchie-com/
A new revolution for gaming?
When Nintendo released the Wii, no one expected it to outsell the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360, but it did. Why? Because of its new feature, the wireless motion sensor controllers. This feature has revolutionised gaming, with Xbox then releasing the Kinect and Playstation with Move. This raises the question as to whether there is going to be an evolution in gaming.
Nintendo have already announced their new console that is going to be released in 2012. This has raised the pressure on Microsoft and Sony to release their new consoles so that they do not fall behind again in the market. The designer of the Xbox 360, Don Coyner has recently moved on from Xbox, sparking rumours that the new Xbox (Xbox 720) will have a completely new design. Do you think that the new Xbox will continue to follow through with only the Kinect 2, or do you think they will continue to use control pads? Control pads have been around for some time now, but it may now be the time that they die out as gaming moves forward with new exciting technology. However, this does raise the question as to how it will meet all user’s requirements, as it may make it harder for people with disabilies to play with games. Check out some Xbox 720 rumours: http://www.t3.com/features/xbox-720-rumours-how-will-the-new-xbox-look
Recently, Sony also gained a patent for technology that sense the user’s emotions and floor movements. Could this possibly be for the Playstation 4?
What do you think will happen with the next generation of games consoles. Do you think they will still use the traditional control pad, or will they all move to the motion sensing new technologies? Maybe one day users will actually be inside the game! I think that the next generation of consoles will all use motion sensors, but still use control pads in order to cater for users with disabilities. However, I think that they will also find new technologies that will also cater for disabled users needs, eventually completing replacing the traditional control pad.
References:
Myspace falls out of the top 10 social network list
Social networking site Myspace has fallen out of the top 10 networking list for the first time ever! About 10 years ago, Myspace was one of the most popular social networking sites, used a lot by music artists to showcase their music. This included young unheard of talent who used the site to promote their music and gain feedback.
The reason for this happening is due to the fast moving pace of the social networking industry. In its prime, Myspace did not have a lot of competition other than Bebo and Hi5 as Facebook was just about starting up. Between January and February 2011, the number of Myspace users declined by 14.4% from 73 million to 63 million. Check out some social networking site statistics http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-sharing-2011_b16754
So why is it declining so much? The most popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter often add new features that meet the needs of their users; they get their marketing right! For example, Facebook added a new “Timeline” feature today which allows users to check the history of their Facebook at any time rather than just the latest posts, allowing users to look at anything they have ever published on Facebook.
The decline of Myspace, once the most popular social networking sites shows how much competition and growth their currently is in the social networking industry. What started out to be something that experts predicted would decline has now turned into major industry, growing at the correct time when the world economy needs a boost! As social networks continue to add new features to gain more market share, companies like Myspace need to keep up in order to avoid a decline in users. Do you think Myspace will fight back, or is it just a part of internet history? Personally, I think that Myspace will not fight back from this as there is too much competition at the moment, and with the emergence of Google Plus, this has made the task a lot more difficult.
References:
Technology to prevent traffic jams
New technology is currently being developed which is going to help prevent traffic jams. Congestion costs over £12 billion per year in the UK, and as the population continues to increase, so does the number of road users.
The government report says that existing and new technology, infrastructure and all kinds of transport would come together to create “intelligent mobility”. This would allow for predictive traffic and ease of congestion by up to 5 times!
Failing to meet the needs of traffic (mainly due to an aging and increase in population) will lead to major strains on the economy.
The technology used to prevent traffic jams would be in the form of new transport information systems. IBM are currently already working on a similar project which will lead to “smarter” transport. Vehicles will communicate with one another in order to provide the quickest and most efficient route for all users. You can read more about this here: http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/traffic
So, do you think this traffic technology will make a congestion to the UK’s busy roads? Is technology needed or are there just way too many cars on the road? I think that the technology will make a difference, but the traffic infrastructure will first need major changes as there are so many car owners in the UK. Once this is done, I think that this new technology will eventually lead to cars being able to drive themselves.
References:
Whatfolio.com
This social website approaches certain aspects of communicating from a different angle. Whatfolio.com provides the audience with their own “personal online presence”, giving that bespoke professional feel. This specific website could be very use full for people that would like to promote their ambitions, from; models to actresses, small business to companies, and musicians to bands. It could help you promote your talent further.
As I browsed through whatfolio.com many aspects of the website appealed to me such as; the diverse range of personal websites (made it a breath of fresh air) and the catchy videos some users put of them self (which was fun). It’s a good way for many underground talents that wish to show the world “what I can do”. One of the cool perks whatfolio.com does is integrate your page and share it with other social networking Medias such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. That way, it shares your own personal page with your friends outside of whatfolio.com.
What with technology upgrading dramatically over a few months, software such as Android, ipad, iphone allows the user’s friends to instantly join through the use of “QR code”, which is automatically generated, making it easier for handheld devices to have that “quick access”.
Personal Branding or 'Google never forgets'
Copied in it's entirety from Seth Godin's blog...
A friend advertised on Craigslist for a housekeeper. Three interesting resumes came to the top. She googled each person's name.
The first search turned up a MySpace page. There was a picture of the applicant, drinking beer from a funnel. Under hobbies, the first entry was, "binge drinking."
The second search turned up a personal blog (a good one, actually). The most recent entry said something like, "I am applying for some menial jobs that are below me, and I'm annoyed by it. I'll certainly quit the minute I sell a few paintings."
And the third? There were only six matches, and the sixth was from the local police department, indicating that the applicant had been arrested for shoplifting two years earlier.
Three for three.
Google never forgets.
Of course, you don't have to be a drunk, a thief or a bitter failure for this to backfire. Everything you do now ends up in your permanent record. The best plan is to overload Google with a long tail of good stuff and to always act as if you're on Candid Camera, because you are.
Photo Credit: Candid Camera by flickr user pragmatopian
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Facebook photo loop-hole
Lets face it a lot of us use Facebook and depending on how we feel we adjust our privacy settings according to who we want to be able to view our profile. Now with this social networking site growing rapidly you would think that all aspects of user identity privacy is up to scratch. For example if you set your privacy setting to high meaning you don’t want anyone external from your network to view your profile and photos, you would expect that to be the case.
Recently a loop-hole has been exposed where people are able to view photos from profiles of “high privicy” settings. Apparently the way in which users can view “private” photos is by going through reporting a photo as inappropriate. Once the photo has been reported as inappropriate a window will be displayed saying “Help us take action by reporting additional photos to include with your report”. Once this has been selected a page full of the users photos is displayed to you.
Being a popular and rapidly growing social networking website where a lot of individuals trust, they should have their security on lock. Over time people may discover more loop-holes around user privacy content thus damaging Facebooks reputation. Me personally I don’t use Facebook for such reasons, knowing that anyone may be able to view your content and even save it. I think that users should not trust these sites whole heartedly.
Source:
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/security-management/2011/12/07/facebook-moves-to-fix-photo-security-hole-40094592/?s_cid=938
Dont drink in tweet !!
Coming up to the christmas season we are sure to see alot of people uploading pictures on their twitter and facebook profiles of them having a great time. Amazingly in a recent survey
On average, adult users of the social networking website said they were under the influence of alcohol in 76 per cent of the pictures in which they were "tagged", ( Hugh Langley 2011).
On average, adult users of the social networking website said they were under the influence of alcohol in 76 per cent of the pictures in which they were "tagged", ( Hugh Langley 2011).
unsurprisingly, within the survey 93 per cent of British Facebook users said they had deleted tags on potentially compromising photos because they were "too embarrassing". Pictures which could get them in trouble at work. Though its not just pictures people can type their way into trouble. Considering the fact that we are now on smartphones so it would be so easy to post something on your twitter or facebook from your phone while you are having a whale of a time.
Below i have some examples of some drunk tweets that people have posted, there were quite a vast amount more but they probably would not be appropriate for this blog post. heres one:
" Just held the door open for an Asian gent. He said "Sank you." He better not be referring to Pearl Harbor. #trueStory" ( http://theworsttweets.com/)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8958714/Britons-drunk-in-three-quarters-of-Facebook-photos.html (Hugh Langley 2011)
Pakistani “obscene text” ban
More than one thousand words have been banned by the Pakistani telecommunications authority and have put it forward for network providers to ban them. “It is a decision that has left many in Pakistan unsure whether to be staggered, amused or outraged. Social media sites such as Twitter have been flooded with posts about the decision” This quote taken from the BBC news website shows us that the people don’t know how to react to this action.
Floating online is a list with the words that have been banned. Majority of the words are sexually explicit. Within this list are also words that majority of people would not find the least bit offensive. The selection of words that have been chosen seems to be from on individuals perspective of what they find offensive. A lighter aspect of this is that the list has taught some Pakistani people ”rude words”.
It was bound to happen as Pakistan have blocked blackberry messenger service, taken control of Youtube and other forms of social networking /social media. My view is that they have gone “a bit” over the top, this is a SMS service were individuals can express themselves however they want. As it is a SMS no one else will be able to view the content because it’s sent directly to the individual the user has intended for it to go to. This seems to be a stepping stone for further rash actions to be implemented.
Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15793721
Can we really have social media experts ?
It is sometimes easy to forget that Social media has not actually been around for a long time at all. So can we really have experts in this field. can we really have people who can breakdown social media altogether to a complete art. Even studying it as a topic is a difficulty because it is always changing, always advancing. Can we really call people like Mark Zuckerburg a genius, or a Harvard Boy who got lucky with a good idea ?
Shama Kabani wrote her master's thesis for the University of Texas at Austin about Twitter--when it had only 2,000 users, not the 175 million it has today. In 2009, at 24, Kabani founded The Marketing Zen Group, a social media marketing firm in Dallas. The company, which she launched with $1,500 of her own money, specializes in all aspects of web marketing for clients--from Facebook and Twitter to blogs and video. (Matt Villano 2011). Kabani wrote a thesis back in university about twitter when it was unknown, now she has built a company specializing in consulting clients on marketing over the web and social media which she expects to become a mutli-million dollar company.
So maybe it can be done, maybe we can all study social media and find a way to predict the future what will happen next, what trends will occur in the future. Nobody expected the growth social media has had, how can you tell what the best direction for it now would be? I find it very difficult to say social media as a whole can be predicted, but maybe we can all take certain aspects from social media. With those aspects maybe we can become experts and maybe we to can become the next Shaba Kabani's or maybe even the next Zuckerburgs.
Facebook Timeline... the story of your life
Today, Facebook has released a new feature to the website.
The feature will allow users to enhance their Facebook profiles through
Timeline. Users will be able to share their life stories, which means anyone
with a Facebook account can digitize their life experiences.
Zuckerberg explained the thinking behind Timeline at the
conference, saying: “Millions of people curate stories of their lives on
Facebook every day and have no way to share them once they fall off your
profile page...we have been working on ‘timeline’ all year…it’s the story of
your life and completely new way to express yourself.
“It has three pieces: all your stories, your apps and a new
way to express who you are.”
To be honest, I'm a bit sceptical about this new feature. I
don't think it is a good idea to be sharing all of your life's stories on a
single platform. This is because it will make you susceptible to fraud. Not
only that, but Facebook is likely to pass on your information to third parties;
would you really want to share you life experiences to third party companies?
Reference:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8958306/Facebook-rolls-out-Timeline.html
Reference:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8958306/Facebook-rolls-out-Timeline.html
Smartphone owner privacy.
Recent news has indicated that the US Supreme Court could potentially allow the police to monitor citizens of the US via their mobile phones without a warrant. The main question is how much privacy do we have as its more common that individuals are now carrying such sophisticated devices. A lot of us already expose our privacy by using such sites as Twitter and Facebook but this is due to our choice.
The most sophisticated mobile phone is not needed in order for our location to be tracked. A simple mobile phone constantly sends and transmits data pin pointing the location. This data is
sent to the service provider who can give it to the authorities if requested. With a more sophisticated device such as a smartphone the threat of being more venerable is worrying people along with other information that may be accessible.
"Police officers can sit in the comfort of their own stations and use this technology to watch not just one person, but many people, over long periods of time," says Catherine Crump, an attorney for American Civil Liberties Union.
"GPS tracking can actually be quite revealing about who a person is and what they value. It can show where a person goes to church, whether they are in therapy, whether they are an outpatient at a medical clinic, whether they go to a gun range."
My view is I feel that this is infringement on ones privacy as they have not agreed to be tracked. Knowing that you are potentially being “stalked” and what other information is being obtained is something I would worry about. The excuse of if you have nothing to hide it shouldn’t be a
issue but imagine if a complete stranger had the keys to your home and are entitled to enter when then they like and rummage through your belongings, you would not feel comfortable about that.
Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15730499
Blogging for political awareness
We live in a day and age in which people are using all the
tools around them to fight for their rights, even if it means facing some
serious jail time.
An Egyptian military court has reduced the jail term of a
hunger-striking blogger imprisoned on charges of criticising the military.
Maikel Nabil was sentenced to two years - down from three -
and fined E£200 (£22; $33).
But his family said he would escalate his hunger strike,
which he has been on since August, and which they say endangers his life.
Nabil was sentenced in April after penning a blog post
titled "The army and the people were never one hand", in which he
criticised the army's role in the revolution, saying the revolution had got
"rid of the dictator but not of the dictatorship".
This leads one to ask the question; with social networks
available for all to use, should people really be persecuted for expressing
themselves completely?
Reference:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16184686
Social Networking taking a new direction...
Badoo, the social network which has been criticised for
being the Facebook for sex, has become the world's fourth-largest with over
132million worldwide and over one million in the UK
Badoo has become one of the most visited websites in the
world with some estimates suggesting that well over 100,000 new users are
signing up every day.
Badoo is based in London
It does not carry adverts but charges for some aspects of
its services. It had been said to generate $100m a year in revenues.
What are you thoughts on a social network which allows users
to find potential partners? Do you think it should be praised or persecuted?
Social media how PR and media interact
Social Media has become a key of growth in many ways, we all know that media can be shared quicker in a more effective online. A great advantage for businesses that use the ease of of social media to improve communication with businesses and customers.
Social networking has completely changed the way companies and public relations practitioners engage with media.
This evolution of technology has enabled faster communication and, in turn, the news cycle has now become instantaneous.
Many traditional journalists have also become bloggers, using their own social media channels as key communications outlets to share their stories and opinions.
Has social media improved businesses? what do you think?
If a business makes a major mistake is it right that the information is shared via social media (journalist)?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-marketing/advertising/social-media-changing-how-pr-and-media-interact/article2271417/
Social networking has completely changed the way companies and public relations practitioners engage with media.
This evolution of technology has enabled faster communication and, in turn, the news cycle has now become instantaneous.
Many traditional journalists have also become bloggers, using their own social media channels as key communications outlets to share their stories and opinions.
Has social media improved businesses? what do you think?
If a business makes a major mistake is it right that the information is shared via social media (journalist)?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-marketing/advertising/social-media-changing-how-pr-and-media-interact/article2271417/
Data Transfer rates reach a new speed - will it bring us all closer together?
Researchers in Seattle have broken the world record for transferring the largest volume of data.The researchers were transferring data at a staggering 186GBps; this equates to a record breaking two million gigabytes of data or 100,000 full Blu-ray discs in one day.
With such rapid advances in data transfer rates this is likely to bring the world much closer together, well at least in terms of social interaction. I am now comfortable knowing that in the near future i will have access to anything i want in an instant.
However, with that been said, is it likely we will see an increase in internet related crimes such as piracy? i believe that with technology advancing more and more everyday we are likely to some people trying to exploit the system, but we shouldn't allow them to ruin it for the rest of us. it is likely that internet policing will increase in the hopes to counter act this problem.
Do you think society will benefit more or less from faster data transfer rates? Do the pros overcome the cons?
References:
MySpace drops from UK's 10
Myspace once was a most common most used netwroking website, this social website was used for diffrent purposes. Most users on myspace had general profiles with pictures and bios but some users who where influneced by music shared alot of music and media on myspace. Since Facebook has become on the social networking scene it has devleoped to the most common social networking website used, networking webites such as bebo,hi5,myspace and windows life space have less use of members. Leading the way in the UK, and most other countries across the world, is unsurprisingly Facebook with a staggering 52 per cent share of the market.
Whilst YouTube beat Twitter to second with the micro blogging service rounding out the podium, Yahoo Answers, Gumtree and LinkedIn filled positions four through six respectively. With TUmblr in seventh ahead of Moneysavingexpert and Moshi Monster in ninth Stumble Upon completed the top ten with a minimalist 0.36 per cent market share to oust MySpace
"MySpace traffic has been on the decline for at least three years now but this is the first time the social network has fallen out of the Experian Hitwise top 10," said James Murray of chart tracking service Experian Hitwise.
"In its place, Stumble Upon has risen in the rankings and is now the UK's tenth most popular social network.
"As the social media landscape continues to evolve, brands need to be aware of the fast moving trends and which social sites people are visiting"
Could this mean that any social website could fall even facebook?
Do you think that facebook would ever rank below?
http://www.t3.com/news/myspace-drops-from-uks-10-leading-social-networks
Don't Feed The Trolls
YouTube has become one of those websites I check whenever I have free time along with Facebook, Twitter and my email. Actually, YouTube was one of the first of these websites that I started checking regularly. Twitter and Facebook came after. Soon enough, I created an account where I could subscribe to my favourite channels, making it easier for me to watch newer videos. It has evolved from simply allowing users to post videos to what it is now; essentially a social network. Allowing users to comment on videos, share videos onto other social platforms and post video responses has never been seen before. The video view count can say a lot about the video you are just about to tune into.
There’s just one problem that I feel cannot be worked around, no matter how many times they change their layout or their policies. There will always, always be internet Trolls around. Troll is internet slang for someone on the web who posts or comments with unimportant, off topic and sometimes offensive material. Basically, they are the arseholes of the internet. They can strike at any moment and pounce on the vulnerable. Videos and users on YouTube are no exception too.
Most videos posted will have negative comments, but those are expected. Its right to give people an opinion, constructive on not, it’s an opinion that’s worthy of note. However, in my opinion its not right when comments are in bad form and in bad content. Time magazine wrote an article in 2006 about Web 2.0 praising it for enabling
“Community and collaboration on a scale never seen before”, but then later on says that Web 2.0
“Harnesses the stupidity of crowds as well as its wisdom. Some of the comments on YouTube make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone, never mind the obscenity and the naked hatred”.
I am intrigued by what they meant by ‘naked hatred’. When people’s social lives start to dissolve with social networking, I think they find themselves becoming more comfortable in being negative rather than finding positives out of the finer things on the web. Like how does a person negatively bring comment a 4 minute video viewing it just once?
The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph also punched in with their opinion on Youtube keyboard warriors.
“Juvenile, aggressive, misspelled, sexist, homophobic, swinging from raging at the contents of a video to providing a pointlessly detailed description followed by a LOL, YouTube comments are a hotbed of infantile debate and unashamed ignorance – with the occasional burst of wit shining through.” I don’t think you could put it any better than that.
Time Magazine – (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570810,00.html)
The Guardian – (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/nov/03/youtube-funniest-comments)
There’s just one problem that I feel cannot be worked around, no matter how many times they change their layout or their policies. There will always, always be internet Trolls around. Troll is internet slang for someone on the web who posts or comments with unimportant, off topic and sometimes offensive material. Basically, they are the arseholes of the internet. They can strike at any moment and pounce on the vulnerable. Videos and users on YouTube are no exception too.
Most videos posted will have negative comments, but those are expected. Its right to give people an opinion, constructive on not, it’s an opinion that’s worthy of note. However, in my opinion its not right when comments are in bad form and in bad content. Time magazine wrote an article in 2006 about Web 2.0 praising it for enabling
“Community and collaboration on a scale never seen before”, but then later on says that Web 2.0
“Harnesses the stupidity of crowds as well as its wisdom. Some of the comments on YouTube make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone, never mind the obscenity and the naked hatred”.
I am intrigued by what they meant by ‘naked hatred’. When people’s social lives start to dissolve with social networking, I think they find themselves becoming more comfortable in being negative rather than finding positives out of the finer things on the web. Like how does a person negatively bring comment a 4 minute video viewing it just once?
The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph also punched in with their opinion on Youtube keyboard warriors.
“Juvenile, aggressive, misspelled, sexist, homophobic, swinging from raging at the contents of a video to providing a pointlessly detailed description followed by a LOL, YouTube comments are a hotbed of infantile debate and unashamed ignorance – with the occasional burst of wit shining through.” I don’t think you could put it any better than that.
Time Magazine – (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570810,00.html)
The Guardian – (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/nov/03/youtube-funniest-comments)
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Passengers allowed to choose who they sit next to via Facebook.
The Dutch airline KLM is creating a application what will allow their passengers to choose who they will sit next to during flights. The application in question will use Facbook and LinkedIn profiles. The name of this new service is going to be called “meet and seat”. KLM state that the
concept is to allow passengers to sit next to individuals of similar interests such as jobs, hobbies and even looks.
People say that this will be a “recipe” for disaster as it could lead to people not getting along thus blaming the system. KLM say that using this facility is a option so if you want to sit in peace and are not bothered about who you sit next to there is no reason to worry. This could potentially turn into a “match making” service which is why some passenger may not be keen on the idea.
I think that the idea hasn’t been thought out as this can cause many issues, people will select who they want to be seated next to mainly based on looks. What if one of the individuals does not agree to be seated with the participant but yet is forced to? It would turn out to be one awkward flight. Or if the system allows for you to decline the offer of a “flight buddy” they might not take rejection well.
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2073966/KLM-use-Facebook-let-passengers-choose-seat-mates-board-flights.html?ITO=1490
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2073966/KLM-use-Facebook-let-passengers-choose-seat-mates-board-flights.html?ITO=1490
Social Networks encouraging strange behaviour...
Its funny how social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter have been encouraging people to behave strangely. Internet phenomenoms such as "Planking", "Owling", and more recently "Plumbking" have been flooding various social networking feeds.
In May of this year, a man in Australia plunged to his death from a seventh-floor balcony, as he was participating in the internet craze of "planking". Police said the dead man, in his 20s, fell from a balcony railing in Brisbane while a friend photographed him.
Even with news stories such as these, this has not prevented people from taking these outrageous photos. If anything, it has encouraged more people to be even more creative and come up with new memes.
The objective of this kind of behaviour is to be striking a pose in a strange and sometimes even life threatening situation.
In May of this year, a man in Australia plunged to his death from a seventh-floor balcony, as he was participating in the internet craze of "planking". Police said the dead man, in his 20s, fell from a balcony railing in Brisbane while a friend photographed him.
Even with news stories such as these, this has not prevented people from taking these outrageous photos. If anything, it has encouraged more people to be even more creative and come up with new memes.
Some people will do anything for attention - even stick their head down a toilet. For fans of a new internet craze called 'plumbking', using your hair as a bog brush is a perfectly fine way to pass the time. These U-bend adventurers even like to have their picture taken while they're at it, sharing the image with the rest of the world in the hope of inspiring more people to do the same.
The craze is in fact the latest in a number of bizarre photo fads that have sprung up across social networking sites, as they all aspire to be the new planking. Keep clicking to take a look at some of the most bizarre Facebook crazes out there.
How far will people go to become the next big internet sensation?
References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13389207
http://tech.uk.msn.com/social/the-new-planking-plumbking-and-other-facebook-crazes-3#image=1
The craze is in fact the latest in a number of bizarre photo fads that have sprung up across social networking sites, as they all aspire to be the new planking. Keep clicking to take a look at some of the most bizarre Facebook crazes out there.
How far will people go to become the next big internet sensation?
References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13389207
http://tech.uk.msn.com/social/the-new-planking-plumbking-and-other-facebook-crazes-3#image=1
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