All I Want for Xmas is a PSP

Companies beware: the Internet is here. Gone are the days that the underdog can be ignored by big business. If anyone complained about a crappy product or disservice, it was a quiet, ineffectual whisper. Who would listen? Maybe a few friends. Maybe their friends.

No more.

You hate a product, you tell hundreds, thousands, even millions: you write a negative review on Amazon, Buy.com, or any other of the hundreds of popular mail-order sites utilizing a review feature in their retail pages. If more people agree with you, the strength of your voice will be added to the other negative complaints. People hear enough of the negative reviews, from tens of people, they will start to see a pattern. They will question their decision to buy the product.

Maybe they _won't_ buy the product.

The Internet is now being used as one big customer forum to voice complaints as well as compliments, the only difference now is that you can add more than just your real life friends' opinions to the mix. Millions can be informed because positive news travels quickly, and negative news travels _more quickly_.

It is interesting how big companies are now using this technology to stay in touch with their customers. Viral marketing to me is even more engaging and captivating than product reviews on retail sites, at least to me. Infecting news travels even faster. There are good examples (Cloverfield, Blair Witch Project) just as there are bad ones *cough* alliwantforxmasisapsp... *cough*

Social Capital and Networks

I always thought of Social Capital as the goodwill I built-up in people for doing favors for or, spending time with them. I always felt that I was more successful at it than others because mine seemed to come from a more genuine place...

or maybe I was just more convincing :P

In any case, I found the Rob Cross interview very enlightening. Cross' perspective on social networks seems to effectively categorize my own situation: one who is struggling to balance work and quality of life issues, and is beginning to become a poor performer due to it. I feel that I am on the way out, as Cross warns, and need to not be thrown "back into the fray" or they will lose me permanently. A lot of this can be attributed to poor staffing, as my department is one of the smallest in IT, but has an inordinate amount of work and responsibility.

IM conversation

co-worker: how long have you been working (here)?
me: since dec 1, 2003 so just a little over 3 yrs
co-worker: glad you weren't a math major

i'm an econ major.