Instead of hanging out at the mall, more people are choosing to hang out on the Internet instead. It really seems like the social media thing is taking off. It’s no longer something that people are wondering about. Rather, major companies are getting into the social media swing. For example, one article that was published not that long ago in BusinessWeek talked about how IBM has been encouraging social networking among its employees with in-house versions of sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

According to the article,

Social networks in the corporate world involve very different dynamics, and scientists at IBM (IBM) Research’s Collaborative User Div. in Cambridge, Mass., are learning all about them. Over the past two years, IBM has been busily launching in-house versions of Web 2.0 hits. “We’re trying to see how things that are hot elsewhere can be fit for business.” says Irene Greif, an IBM Fellow who heads up Collaborative User Experience.

So, social networking as well as social networking sites are just for college kids or people with tons of free time; they’re actually being put to good use by major corporations for the purposes of spreading ideas around, brainstorming and building up company morale. All of this is a good thing. It’s proving to be an effective substitute for face-to-face communication, something which is lacking anyway in major corporations. Just think, you could add the top executive “what’s her name” to your friends list on Facebook. Just make sure you change your settings so that she or he doesn’t know you’re planning on calling out sick tomorrow…

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Freedom of speech is one of those great perks to living in a country like the United States. You can walk down the street and verbally bash that annoying co-worker of yours without being reprimanded or arrested. But when you then try to do the same thing on the Internet, it’s a whole different ball game.

A recent article, published by the Associated Press on Yahoo News, talked at length about how public online spaces don’t carry speech rights saying,

Companies in charge of seemingly public spaces online wipe out content that’s controversial but otherwise legal. Service providers write their own rules for users worldwide and set foreign policy when they cooperate with regimes like China. They serve as prosecutor, judge and jury in handling disputes behind closed doors.

Awaiting Comments in Moderation

Some might argue that you are not free to speak your mind on the Internet, that things aren’t what they seem. After all, everyone has differing opinions on a wide variety of topics, and someone who has just written an article or blog and wants to promote it is more than likely not going to publish negative comments from other readers. It simply seems to be a fact of life where the Internet is concerned.

There is also the issue of minors having access to TONS of material via web surfing. As hard as parents may try to set up parental controls on their computers, things always leak through. This is something that AP writer, Anick Jesdanun brings up, stating:

While mindful of free speech and other rights, Yahoo and other companies say they must craft and enforce guidelines that go beyond legal requirements to protect their brands and foster safe, enjoyable communities-ones where minors may be roaming.

The thought behind this is that these “guidelines” help to make the Internet experience more positive for everyone. Thinking about it this way, I pose the question,

Do we really have freedom of speech on the World Wide Web?

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When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), just like developing good eating habits-organic is the way to go and hits the mark every time. A lot of SEO companies underhanded things such as run fake sites in order to drive traffic to a client or hire people to write poor reviews and/or make negative comments on competitor’s web sites all in an effort to make themselves or their clients look better. And while this may work in the short term, it most certainly will not work forever.

Has “SEO” Taken On A Negative Connotation?

SEO has, over the years, attracted a slew of unwanted, negative meanings. In a lot of cases, it has become a bad thing. But has SEO really slipped into the recesses of becoming just another “4-letter word,” or is there some hope yet? There are some ethical SEO companies out there who aren’t entirely useless, who tend to do things organically and ethically in order to get their clients the kinds of desirable rankings they wish to see on Google. After all, looking up your business and finding it on page one of Google is much like having the New York Times delivered only to discover that you’ve made the front page news (hopefully for a good reason). It’s exciting, and this is what most people and businesses are after, which is why so many go to great lengths to do anything and everything they have to in order to ensure that their sites are indexed and recorded appropriately.

Worth the Wait?

Have we lost sight of what we are hoping to achieve when it comes to search engine optimization? To use a common stereotype (since I’m from New York); like most NYers, people grow impatient once things begin to take too long. Therefore, one could only expect to find that people don’t want to take the time and effort that is required to allow SEO to work properly.

Many SEO companies have changed their names from SEO to something else that is sorta’ related; or they have changed the focus of what they do to an approach that leaves out the word “SEO” all together. In addition, many have found that you can get real results from organic traffic (i.e. people who are predisposed to liking your blog and what you have to say) because of quality content. Tools such as News Feed subscribers, increasing the link love and a little bit of ‘you know what’ (SEO stuff-organic of course) can go a long way to building a healthy, happy blog or web site in addition to creating a loyal following.

For more information about Internet Marketing, contact Create Business Growth today!