Are you checking me out in the real or virtual world?

I know that this may come as a shocker but I am really excited about the thought of augmented reality. As I’m sure you all are aware, I am normal pretty wary about technological advancements especially when they may invade my privacy in some way but I couldn’t be more excited about AR. Having the ability to take a picture of a building and receive information about its history excites me. On the other hand, having people see a bubble appear above my head with my Facebook profile does not. I can see it now, when you are in the bar or club and someone is checking you out from across the bar, you now have to wonder if they are checking you out in real or virtual world.

As excited as I am about AR, I believe that it provides us with just another reason to be less social. AR will eliminate the need hire or interact with a tour guide. Or, to walk up to a person to get to know them rather then stand back and read their profiles. I am by no means a social butterfly but these recent technological advancements even have me a little worried.

My Data is Out of Control

I’m not that old. As a matter of fact I’m only 28 years old but I feel like I’m stuck in between the older and the younger generations approach to the web. If you decide to visit my social networking profile you won’t find a lot of personal information. That’s because I subscribe to the old generational thought that you just don’t talk about certain things, especially on a platform were everyone can see it.

But, even with my old school approach to technology I to have posted or been tagged in a few unflattering photos that I would not want anyone to see. Although many of these photos have been deleted and are no longer relevant, I worry that they may come back to haunt me. I am even more concerned about this now as I look to start my post MBA career. I wish some one would’ve told me a long time ago that the Internet never forgets.

Networking vs. Hard Work

I’ve never been the type to suck up. I’ve never been the teacher’s pet or the type try and get in good with the boss. Well at least not through sucking up. I always believed that working hard and doing a good job would get me further with the boss then sucking up ever could. But, I learn a really hard lesson a few years ago when a colleague of mine was given a job over me simply because he was the kiss up type.

The lesson I learned from that situation was that getting ahead is a combination of hard work and networking. What I once thought was kissing up behavior was actually, networking. So, don’t make the same mistake that I made and underestimate the power of networking. Being an effective networker is half the battle.

No Where to Hide

Are you guys ready for the next privacy invading technology? Well, if you are not, you better prepare yourselves because mobile networking is right around the corner. Mobile Technology gives you and everyone else the ability to locate restaurants, people, and whatever else you want using GPS services on cellular devices. While parents of bad teenagers will love this service, many people will find it hard to give up what little privacy that they still have.

Even I have a love/hate relationship with mobile networking. On one hand, I love that I will have the ability to locate the nearest place where I can get a delicious cocktail. On the other hand, just the thought of people knowing where I am at all times makes me cringe. Can you imagine the damage this technology could cause? Cheating spouses have nowhere to hide, kids can’t sneak out of the house anymore, is this what we’ve come to? Personally, I think mobile networking has taken the invasion of privacy one step to far therefore don’t plan on seeing me pop up on your mobile network anytime soon.

Are we Dumb?

Do you find yourself skimming articles? Or, find that your knowledge of American history is lacking? If so, then you may be part of the dumbest generation ever. I must admit I fit into this category. Yes, I do skim virtually ever article I read. And just recently, I received quite the whipping in an American history trivia game but does that make me dumber? Does my ability to skim make me dumber? Does our lack of knowledge of the colored only sign indicate that my generation is dumber? Or does it mean our generation has evolved?

Yes, I believe that we should have some knowledge of our history but do we need to know every date and player in our history? I believe that our generation is just as intelligent as all of the past generations but we make better use of our resources. We have virtually endless sources of knowledge at our fingertips so is it necessary that we need to cloud our memories with knowledge such as, which state the most presidents where born in? I believe that we should continue to evolve as a generation and continue to make use of the resources that we have available to us. So, the next time I find myself in an American History trivia game I’ll keep this in mind and Google the answer instead.

Conversational Marketing, How do you Feel?

How do you guys feel about conversational marketing? Are you equally confused as I am? On one hand as a Marketer, I believe that conversational Marketing is a new, revolutionary way for companies to establish and maintain two-way communication between themselves and their consumers. This two-way communication can lead to long lasting relationships that companies have been striving for many years to maintain. What more could a Marketer ask for right?

On the other, hand as a customer I find the whole conversational marketing thing kind of creepy. From the consumer’s perspective, conversational Marketing is can be quite the invasion of privacy. I’m not sure how many people will feel comfortable with Fandango posting on its consumer’s Facebook pages what movie they are planning on seeing this evening. In my experience, customer’s value their privacy and tend to resist when they feel companies are invading on that privacy. It should be interesting to see where Conversational Marketing will go in the future. I doubt that companies will willingly stop using such a great marketing tool. On the other hand, it’s hard to believe that consumers will willingly allow for these companies to invade what little privacy they still have.

Cheap Labor?

I don’t get the whole idea behind crowdsourcing. I know how the process works. A company or person poises a question or problem and then people provide what they believe would be the best solution. But I still don’t get it. Is it me or is this new way to get cheap labor? Crowdsourcing really is just a term that companies use to justify that they are tapping into the minds of really innovative individuals for little to no money.

I used to think that the “crowd” was crazy for providing major companies with valuable innovative information for free. To be honest, I still kind of do. What kind of person sits around all day thinking of solutions for a company that may pay them pennies for all of their hard work? If you are that smart then at least make them hire you and pay you a couple of thousand of dollars for your innovative thinking. Now, I kind of feel sorry for these people. These people are being exploited by companies that take their ideas and use them to make their company better in some way.

The article The Myth of Crowdsourcing explains how the word “crowd” implies to people that as a team we are coming up with a better solution to the problem. In reality it is a bunch of people that provide useless information and one really intelligent, innovative individual who provides the solution. I believe the word crowd allows these companies to divert the attention away from the fact that they are really tapping into one individual’s intelligence not a crowd of people that are bouncing ideas off of each other. Call me crazy but I believe that inventors should be rewarded fairly for their hard work.