"The human race has only one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. The moment it arises, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place." -- Mark Twain
Sit with children as they play and you will hear a joyful sound: the sound of laughter. Children can be counted on to make fun even out of unpleasant work. What do they know that we have forgotten? They know how to laugh. They know how to add a dimension of playfulness to boring chores. Make a mental survey of people that you find uplifting and fun to be around. What is the common denominator? They know how to laugh and how to have fun. Can laughing and having fun on the job make a difference in the way we do our jobs? Absolutely!
A survey by Hodge-Cronin & Associates found that of 737 CEOs surveyed, 98 percent preferred job candidates with a sense of humor to those without. Another survey indicated that 84 percent of the executives thought that employees with a sense of humor do a better job than people with little or no sense of humor.
Dr. David Abramis at Cal State Long Beach has studied fun at work for years. He's discovered that people who have fun on the job are more creative, more productive, better decision-makers, and get along better with co-workers. They also have fewer absentee, late, and sick days than people who aren't having fun.
The benefits to a pleasant and happy workplace are that happy employees are more loyal and productive employees. The absenteeism and tardiness rate may decrease as people look forward to going to work. The turnover rate may decrease, as employees feel content and loyal to an organization. And the cost associated with illness may decrease as people experience the positive physiological and psychological effects of laughter.
Can the benefits to having fun be measured? Yes, by comparing the absenteeism, tardiness, and turnover rates pre-program implementation. In addition, an employee satisfaction survey can reveal how employees feel about their jobs, the company, and company culture. Will your customer complaints decrease as they encounter happier employees?
Company activities can teach employees how working together as a team can be fun and productive. Some of the competitive natures can work itself out on a co-ed field. In addition, managers or supervisors can be seen also as team players, who can relax and enjoy life and others as well. Company-planned or approved activities can go far in cultivating a positive corporate culture.
The use of fun and humor in the workplace must be appropriate in nature, when and how it is used. The humor should not be offensive to the ordinary or reasonable person. It is meant to encourage people to see the absurdity in our thought processes, perceptions, behaviors. It is also a useful tool that can be used to help us lighten up and not take things so seriously. It can also effectively reduce the level and intensity of conflict among employees, if properly used.
So, how do you implement and maintain (with an emphasis on maintenance) a humor and fun program? Is it going to be costly in terms of resources, including money, time, and productivity? It does not have to be a costly undertaking. However, even if there is some expenditure associated with "fun-at-work" activities, the benefits may be multi-fold in terms of the reduction of cost associated with absenteeism, turnover, and decreased productivity.
Fun at work can even lead to alleviation of the inevitable boredom that arises out of dull, routine, and non-challenging tasks. Even schools recognized the importance of giving children recess breaks so that they might have the opportunity to have fun.
The inability to laugh may be a sign of impending burnout (see May 2000 column). When it is no longer possible to find humor in anything, it may be that the employee is in the throes of burnout.
The desire to feel good, to change a mood, or even to loosen up a bit, is the reason that many people turn to alcohol or even legal or illegal drugs. However, there is no way that any man-made substance can be as powerful as the endorphins that the body produces for free, without any side-effects.
Norman Cousins, brought to our attention how laughter can be healing or reducing symptoms. You may recall that he had a serious and painful illness. He discovered that 10 minutes of laughter could lead to one hour that was pain-free.
Laughter releases endorphins that are more powerful than morphine. These endorphins can lead to a sense of well-being and optimism. In addition, humor and laughter can even bridge the gap between total strangers. The use of humor can even reduce tension in a tense situation (as workplaces can sometimes be).
Who said that fun and work were mutually exclusive? Have we unknowingly incorporated the quote used in exercise "no pain, no gain" to the workplace? Is work meant to be stifling and boring? Let's hope not, because boredom can give rise to burnout.
Boredom arises from rote and repetitive tasks. It can also rise out of the failure to have opportunities to be creative. Lawyers deal with it — drafting and reviewing contracts. The front desk receptionist who answers the phone all day — the computer programmer who is discouraged from using his or her creativity in programming. Having some boredom-breaking activities can lead to greater creativity and a tolerance for carrying out tedious repetitive tasks.
Can businesses successfully implement an employee-friendly and fun environment? Isn't it dangerous? There are two examples that come to mind that demonstrate just how successful these efforts can be. SouthWest Airlines has departed from the typical approach to passenger service and has been rewarded for it. The flight attendants were named number one among the flight attendants of all the airlines.
The SWA flight attendant uniform is casual and not at all like other airlines. In addition, they are encouraged to use humor in their customer service — which the passengers seem to appreciate (this one in particular.) Does the playfulness of the attendants impact their credibility with the passengers? Apparently not, as evidenced by the laughter and positive comments that follows some humorous remarks by the attendants. And this from a no-frills airline.
Other companies have also recognized that happy employees are productive employees. Autodesk, a California-based software company, has implemented an unusual bring-your-animal-to-work program. The company recognized that employees would happily work the long hours that are sometimes required if they can have their animal companions with them. Of course, there are conditions and expectations that accompany the program.
SWA and Autodesk are but two of the many large companies that recognized the importance of creating a fun environment. That is not to say that other companies will implement a bring-your-animal-to-work program. However, there are many other ways to create an environment that is pleasing to employees.
Bring out that ability to laugh, dust it off, and go for the gold… the golden sounds of someone enjoying himself or herself. You may ask "What if I make a fool of myself?" That may happen, but you will be in great company. There is something magical about someone who is so confident that he or she will take the risk of being misunderstood or criticized by some negative Neal or Nellie. There is also something magical about a company that has the ability to see that happy and laughing employees are good, productive, and loyal employees. This magic can be transformed into a productive and financially profitable workplace environment.
If you would like some information on how you can make your environment fun but productive, just call Mary at (615) 371-2900 or e-mail her at E-mail Mary.
Please Note: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not the intent of Mary Rau-Foster to render legal advice. If legal advice is required, you should seek the services of a competent lawyer.
Did you know that ...
1. The average pre-schooler laughs or smiles 400 times a day? Or that the number drops to only 15 times a day by the time people reach age 35?
2. People smile only 35 percent as much as they think they do?
3. Laughter releases endorphins, a chemical 10 times more powerful than the pain-relieving drug morphine, into the body with the same exhilarating effect as doing strenuous exercise?
4. Every time you have a good hearty laugh,you burn up 3 1/2 calories?
5. Laughing increases oxygen intake, thereby replenishing and invigorating cells? It also increases the pain threshold, boosts immunity, and relieves stress.
Six Reasons that fun can improve work quality and mental health:
1. Fun breaks up boredom and fatigue
2. Fun fulfills human social needs
3. Fun increases creativity and willingness to help
4. Fun fulfills the need for mastery and control
5. Fun improves communication
6. Fun breaks up conflict and tension
Copied from: http://www.workplaceissues.com/arhumor.htm
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
What is Steve Jobs so afraid of?
There's a saying that the more you have, the more you fear losing it.
Apple's CEO made a surprise appearance during yesterday's fiscal 2010 fourth quarter earnings call. Jobs said he couldn't resist participating, given Apple's record $20.34 billion revenue. But he leveled most of his comments at competitors, and in quite defensive posture. Now why is that? Apple's iPhone blew past Wall Street estimates by as many as 3 million units. The iPad outsold Macs and, according to Gartner and IDC analysts, sucked sales away from Windows netbooks and low-cost notebooks. Apple controls the largest and most successful applications store on the planet. The company sits on a cash horde of more than $51 billion. Then there are the quarterly results, which topped consensus estimates by nearly $2 billion.
Investors punished Apple for its gangbusters quarter. The stock opened at $303.49 today, after closing at $318 yesterday. I'm not surprised by investors' reactions, which some Wall Street pundits chock up to declining margins. I don't agree; Apple has warned about declining margins many times before. I blame the CEO. Jobs' defensive, competitor-attacking comments were unnerving. I felt uncomfortable listening to him rant in kind of a childish way. His comments felt oh-so out of place -- and out of control -- for a chief executive running a company on a roll. The cheap shots, given from such a position of competitive strength, were unbecoming.
Something else: Jobs' presence disrupted the earnings call's flow. Financial analysts seemed more unsure what to ask and to whom. Similarly, Apple's chief financial officer and chief operating officer didn't jump in with the kind of aggressive answers that are more typical of Apple earnings calls. If Wall Street has lingering concerns about Apple margins, perhaps it's because analysts couldn't ask the questions or didn't get the answers they needed. Jobs' presence -- and sometimes a bumbling one, at that -- proved to be negative.
From one perspective, Jobs laid out the competitive market as he sees it. He asserted that with 14.1 million iPhones shipped in fiscal 2010 Q4 that "Apple handily beat RIM's [Research in Motion] 12.1 million BlackBerries sold in their most recent quarter ending in August. We've now passed RIM, and I don't see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future." That may be true, but why does anyone need Jobs proactively asserting this? Surely Wall Street analysts would issue reports with these figures and the news media and Apple fan blogs would report about them. There was a defensiveness to Jobs tone that left me asking: What is he so afraid of when Apple is doing so well?
Gagging on Google
Jobs moved on to Google and recent statements by Eric Schmidt, its CEO and former Apple board member, about there being 200,000 Android activations per day and 90,000 apps in the Android Marketplace. "Apple has activated about 275,000 iOS devices per day on average for the past 30 days" with the number topping 300,000 some days, Jobs asserted. It's an apple and oranges comparison. Apple isn't just activating iPhones but iPads and iPod touches, too. Nearly all Androids are phones; for now. It's a me-too claim that demonstrates Jobs' fear Android may do to iPhone what Windows did to the Mac during the 1980s and 1990s.
Apparently recent analyst reports and forecasts about Android outselling iPhone bug Jobs, whose reaction seemingly is one of simple denial. "Unfortunately there is no solid data on how many Android phones are shipped each quarter," he asserted. "We hope that manufacturers will soon start reporting the number of Android handsets that they ship each quarter. But today that just isn't the case. Gartner reported that around 10 million Android phones were shipped in the June quarter, and we await to see if iPhone or Android was the winner in this most recent quarter."
To clarify, when Apple asserts X number of items sold, it really means shipped, because there usually is Y number of units in inventory somewhere. Gartner doesn't measure number of handsets shipped but the number sold. This accounting explains why Gartner's numbers for iPhone are usually lower than Apple's. Jobs' statement ignores recent reports from IDC and other analyst firms clearly showing Android matching or exceeding iPhone shipments. That Jobs doesn't like the numbers doesn't mean manufacturers aren't reporting Android shipments or that analysts are miscounting them.
"Android is very fragmented," Jobs harped. He observed that HTC and Motorola skin Android with proprietary user interfaces "to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The users are left to figure this all out. Compare this to iPhone, where every handset works the same." He went on to assert that TweetDeck "had to contend with more than a hundred different versions of Android software on 244 different handsets." Jobs asserted that fragmentation and the number of hardware iterations present application developers with a "daunting challenge." Now "compare this to iPhone where there are two versions of the software -- the current and the most recent predecessor."
The tech news media and bloggers have written widely about Android fragmentation -- and HTC or Motorola skins, which appeal to many mobile customers. Jobs' unnecessary assertion seemingly reflects his frustration and fear Android will win the smartphone wars. He also asserted that Apple's mobile app store has 300,000 applications and 200,000 registered developers, which again raises the question: What is Jobs so afraid of? He's arguing competitors' weaknesses from a superior strategic position. Apple is renown for successfully selling aspiration; Jobs' defensive posture undermines confidence in him and in the company he cofounded.
Jobs made many good points, about the benefits of integrated over fragmented, not forcing customers to be system integrators and that Android isn't as open as Google asserts. "We are confident that [integrated] will triumph over Google's fragmented approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as open," Jobs asserted.
An Allusion worthy of "Saw"
Keeping up the defensive posture, "I'd like to comment on the avalanche of tablets poised to enter the market in the coming months." He mused about a "handful of credible entrants" and "almost all of them use 7-inch screens as compared to iPad's near 10-inch screen." He went on to explain why smaller isn't better -- that the 7-inch "size isn't sufficient to create great tablet apps, in our opinion." I laughed. By that reasoning, iPhone's 3.5-inch display is too small to create compelling apps, too.
I laughed again, when Jobs asserted: "While one could increase the resolution of the display to make up for some of the difference, it is meaningless unless your tablet also includes sandpaper so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one-quarter of their present size." That allusion conjures up a bloody mess worthy of any "Saw" movie. My question for Steve Jobs: When will you start shipping sandpaper with iPhone and iPod touch?
Apple is shipping the industry-leading tablet, as measured by nearly 7.5 million units shipped during the first two quarters of availability. In a press release issued four days ago, Gartner classified iPad as a media tablet. The analyst firm projects 19.5 million media tablet sales this year. If iPad simply keeps the same sales pace during fourth quarter, the tablet would account for about 65 percent of that 19.5 million units. So why is Jobs so defensive, when iPad is doing so well? What is he afraid of?
Jobs droned on more about tablets and during the Q&A section bumbled through several pointed questions from financial analysts. Nearly every Jobs' statement effused defensiveness. I expected more confidence from the legendary Steve Jobs. Judging by today's nip at Apple shares, I'm not the only one.
Copied from: http://www.wisdeo.com/articles/view_post/11317
Apple's CEO made a surprise appearance during yesterday's fiscal 2010 fourth quarter earnings call. Jobs said he couldn't resist participating, given Apple's record $20.34 billion revenue. But he leveled most of his comments at competitors, and in quite defensive posture. Now why is that? Apple's iPhone blew past Wall Street estimates by as many as 3 million units. The iPad outsold Macs and, according to Gartner and IDC analysts, sucked sales away from Windows netbooks and low-cost notebooks. Apple controls the largest and most successful applications store on the planet. The company sits on a cash horde of more than $51 billion. Then there are the quarterly results, which topped consensus estimates by nearly $2 billion.
Investors punished Apple for its gangbusters quarter. The stock opened at $303.49 today, after closing at $318 yesterday. I'm not surprised by investors' reactions, which some Wall Street pundits chock up to declining margins. I don't agree; Apple has warned about declining margins many times before. I blame the CEO. Jobs' defensive, competitor-attacking comments were unnerving. I felt uncomfortable listening to him rant in kind of a childish way. His comments felt oh-so out of place -- and out of control -- for a chief executive running a company on a roll. The cheap shots, given from such a position of competitive strength, were unbecoming.
Something else: Jobs' presence disrupted the earnings call's flow. Financial analysts seemed more unsure what to ask and to whom. Similarly, Apple's chief financial officer and chief operating officer didn't jump in with the kind of aggressive answers that are more typical of Apple earnings calls. If Wall Street has lingering concerns about Apple margins, perhaps it's because analysts couldn't ask the questions or didn't get the answers they needed. Jobs' presence -- and sometimes a bumbling one, at that -- proved to be negative.
From one perspective, Jobs laid out the competitive market as he sees it. He asserted that with 14.1 million iPhones shipped in fiscal 2010 Q4 that "Apple handily beat RIM's [Research in Motion] 12.1 million BlackBerries sold in their most recent quarter ending in August. We've now passed RIM, and I don't see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future." That may be true, but why does anyone need Jobs proactively asserting this? Surely Wall Street analysts would issue reports with these figures and the news media and Apple fan blogs would report about them. There was a defensiveness to Jobs tone that left me asking: What is he so afraid of when Apple is doing so well?
Gagging on Google
Jobs moved on to Google and recent statements by Eric Schmidt, its CEO and former Apple board member, about there being 200,000 Android activations per day and 90,000 apps in the Android Marketplace. "Apple has activated about 275,000 iOS devices per day on average for the past 30 days" with the number topping 300,000 some days, Jobs asserted. It's an apple and oranges comparison. Apple isn't just activating iPhones but iPads and iPod touches, too. Nearly all Androids are phones; for now. It's a me-too claim that demonstrates Jobs' fear Android may do to iPhone what Windows did to the Mac during the 1980s and 1990s.
Apparently recent analyst reports and forecasts about Android outselling iPhone bug Jobs, whose reaction seemingly is one of simple denial. "Unfortunately there is no solid data on how many Android phones are shipped each quarter," he asserted. "We hope that manufacturers will soon start reporting the number of Android handsets that they ship each quarter. But today that just isn't the case. Gartner reported that around 10 million Android phones were shipped in the June quarter, and we await to see if iPhone or Android was the winner in this most recent quarter."
To clarify, when Apple asserts X number of items sold, it really means shipped, because there usually is Y number of units in inventory somewhere. Gartner doesn't measure number of handsets shipped but the number sold. This accounting explains why Gartner's numbers for iPhone are usually lower than Apple's. Jobs' statement ignores recent reports from IDC and other analyst firms clearly showing Android matching or exceeding iPhone shipments. That Jobs doesn't like the numbers doesn't mean manufacturers aren't reporting Android shipments or that analysts are miscounting them.
"Android is very fragmented," Jobs harped. He observed that HTC and Motorola skin Android with proprietary user interfaces "to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The users are left to figure this all out. Compare this to iPhone, where every handset works the same." He went on to assert that TweetDeck "had to contend with more than a hundred different versions of Android software on 244 different handsets." Jobs asserted that fragmentation and the number of hardware iterations present application developers with a "daunting challenge." Now "compare this to iPhone where there are two versions of the software -- the current and the most recent predecessor."
The tech news media and bloggers have written widely about Android fragmentation -- and HTC or Motorola skins, which appeal to many mobile customers. Jobs' unnecessary assertion seemingly reflects his frustration and fear Android will win the smartphone wars. He also asserted that Apple's mobile app store has 300,000 applications and 200,000 registered developers, which again raises the question: What is Jobs so afraid of? He's arguing competitors' weaknesses from a superior strategic position. Apple is renown for successfully selling aspiration; Jobs' defensive posture undermines confidence in him and in the company he cofounded.
Jobs made many good points, about the benefits of integrated over fragmented, not forcing customers to be system integrators and that Android isn't as open as Google asserts. "We are confident that [integrated] will triumph over Google's fragmented approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as open," Jobs asserted.
An Allusion worthy of "Saw"
Keeping up the defensive posture, "I'd like to comment on the avalanche of tablets poised to enter the market in the coming months." He mused about a "handful of credible entrants" and "almost all of them use 7-inch screens as compared to iPad's near 10-inch screen." He went on to explain why smaller isn't better -- that the 7-inch "size isn't sufficient to create great tablet apps, in our opinion." I laughed. By that reasoning, iPhone's 3.5-inch display is too small to create compelling apps, too.
I laughed again, when Jobs asserted: "While one could increase the resolution of the display to make up for some of the difference, it is meaningless unless your tablet also includes sandpaper so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one-quarter of their present size." That allusion conjures up a bloody mess worthy of any "Saw" movie. My question for Steve Jobs: When will you start shipping sandpaper with iPhone and iPod touch?
Apple is shipping the industry-leading tablet, as measured by nearly 7.5 million units shipped during the first two quarters of availability. In a press release issued four days ago, Gartner classified iPad as a media tablet. The analyst firm projects 19.5 million media tablet sales this year. If iPad simply keeps the same sales pace during fourth quarter, the tablet would account for about 65 percent of that 19.5 million units. So why is Jobs so defensive, when iPad is doing so well? What is he afraid of?
Jobs droned on more about tablets and during the Q&A section bumbled through several pointed questions from financial analysts. Nearly every Jobs' statement effused defensiveness. I expected more confidence from the legendary Steve Jobs. Judging by today's nip at Apple shares, I'm not the only one.
Copied from: http://www.wisdeo.com/articles/view_post/11317
Luxury Brands Still Tread Lightly With Social Media
They say the Web dilutes exclusivity, but Burberry, Oscar de la Renta and others are starting to embrace it.
For a sector as forward-thinking as the fashion industry, the reluctance with which it has ventured into e-commerce and other digital platforms--particularly social media--is more than a little perplexing.
The affinity for traditional commerce and marketing channels is strong among many purveyors of luxury goods, both in the fashion sector and elsewhere. In an international survey of 178 premium and luxury firms in 2008, Forrester Research ( FORR - news - people ) found that only one-third of them actively sold online, though 8 out of every 10 affluent consumers use the Internet to actively research and purchase luxury goods and services on a daily basis.
That number has risen significantly, but it is still strikingly low. Federico Marchetti, founder and chief executive of Italian retailer Yoox, estimates that half of luxury brands now sell directly online, though several others suggest that the percentage is higher, due largely to recession pressures.
Yet many brands, particularly European manufacturers of high-end wristwatches and other luxury goods, refuse to set up shop online.
From Store to Web: The Challenges of E-Commerce
"We have an exclusive network of over 400 retailers but that cannot work online," Jean-Claude Biver, chief executive of Hublot, said at Reuters Global Luxury Summit last summer. "When you are online, you are not exclusive anymore."
Other firms say that e-commerce is not an option because the shopping experience their brands provide cannot be successfully translated for the Web.
Copied from: http://www.wisdeo.com/articles/view_post/11318
For a sector as forward-thinking as the fashion industry, the reluctance with which it has ventured into e-commerce and other digital platforms--particularly social media--is more than a little perplexing.
The affinity for traditional commerce and marketing channels is strong among many purveyors of luxury goods, both in the fashion sector and elsewhere. In an international survey of 178 premium and luxury firms in 2008, Forrester Research ( FORR - news - people ) found that only one-third of them actively sold online, though 8 out of every 10 affluent consumers use the Internet to actively research and purchase luxury goods and services on a daily basis.
That number has risen significantly, but it is still strikingly low. Federico Marchetti, founder and chief executive of Italian retailer Yoox, estimates that half of luxury brands now sell directly online, though several others suggest that the percentage is higher, due largely to recession pressures.
Yet many brands, particularly European manufacturers of high-end wristwatches and other luxury goods, refuse to set up shop online.
From Store to Web: The Challenges of E-Commerce
"We have an exclusive network of over 400 retailers but that cannot work online," Jean-Claude Biver, chief executive of Hublot, said at Reuters Global Luxury Summit last summer. "When you are online, you are not exclusive anymore."
Other firms say that e-commerce is not an option because the shopping experience their brands provide cannot be successfully translated for the Web.
Copied from: http://www.wisdeo.com/articles/view_post/11318
Study examines social media’s impact on student mental health, interpersonal activity
In today’s fast-paced society, social networking has evolved beyond cell phone calls and text messaging and proliferated onto the Internet. Most teens and college students now have at least one account on the sites Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Tumblr or other popular forms of social media, like Google Chrome and LinkedIn.
A newgoogle.com
A new mtvU study in collaboration with the Associated Press and the Jed Foundation reported that 90 percent of college students sampled said they visited at least one social networking website in the past week.
The results held that the new era of incessant communication can cause friction and mental uncertainty for students.
“For college students, constant digital communication carries an additional layer of complexity, often leading to misunderstandings, confusion and uncertainty,” the text of the study read.
The study goes so far as to suggest that the very nature of communication has shifted in the era of social networking, with a majority of students reporting that they had had a fight without physically speaking to another party.
“Nearly 70 percent [of surveyed students] have had an argument exclusively via text message,” the study states.
This study was released as part of the Half of Us Campaign by mtvU and the Jed Foundation to examine “how technology is impacting college students’ emotional health,” according to the campaign’s website. The Half of Us Campaign “is designed to improve emotional health and prevent suicide among college students,” it states.
The study also sought to examine how students use social media in the categories of seeking help/suicide, misunderstandings/conflicts, being connected vs. feelings of isolation, and stress and happiness. The study sheds light on how social media tools have become the most common form of communication among young people.
Beyond a shift in the parameters of possibility for how young people argue, the study found that students have changed how they empathize and console each other, as well. Nearly four in 10 students reported they had “ask[ed] for help with a serious personal issue or let a friend know they are upset via text message.”
The mtvU study certainly indicates that in-person interaction likely has the most positive effects on student well-being, in addition to highlighting how digital communication can be confounding based on its ambiguity.
“At least half of the time when college students read emails/text messages or posts on social networking sites, 48 percent report that they are unsure about whether the sender was serious or joking.”
The study also illustrates how social networking has changed how people keep tabs of one another, and some would likely argue for the worst. “Sixty-one percent of students say they have found themselves frequently tracking someone’s social networking site,” the study suggests.
With the capability to link together individuals from all over the world, social networking tools have, however, have helped 85 percent of students feel more connected to others, the study states. However, the results also show that one in seven say that, while they may be more connected to those around them, they are also further away. This seventh stated that “social networking sites increase feelings of isolation.”
The study also suggests that, with the constant presence of social media, young people are changing how they spend their time. A majority of students reported spending two to six hours online per day, and “one-third are online for more than six hours daily.”
To understand the prevalence of social networking usage at the University of Massachusetts, 20 undergraduate students were randomly selected and surveyed about their social networking usage. All but one of the students stated that they possessed at least one active social networking site account. Seventy-five percent, or 15 of the UMass students, answered that they checked their online social networking accounts daily, while 40 percent of those that admitted to using their networking accounts daily admitted to actually checking the account more than three times a day for updates and messages.
The number of “friends” the individuals surveyed had in their social network site ranged from 0-900. On average the students had about 343.05 friends on their friends list. Most individuals stated their reason for keeping a social networking account was “to keep in contact with people.” One student said, “I was forced to make one,” while another simply stated “pictures.” Long gone are the days where direct face-to-face communication is the main form of communicating with others. Social networking websites and tools are here to stay.
Copied from: http://dailycollegian.com/2010/10/25/study-examines-social-media%E2%80%99s-impact-on-student-mental-health-interpersonal-activity/?utm_campaign=Social+Media+-+Google+News&utm_medium=Twitter/eric_rojas&utm_source=SNSanalytics
A newgoogle.com
A new mtvU study in collaboration with the Associated Press and the Jed Foundation reported that 90 percent of college students sampled said they visited at least one social networking website in the past week.
The results held that the new era of incessant communication can cause friction and mental uncertainty for students.
“For college students, constant digital communication carries an additional layer of complexity, often leading to misunderstandings, confusion and uncertainty,” the text of the study read.
The study goes so far as to suggest that the very nature of communication has shifted in the era of social networking, with a majority of students reporting that they had had a fight without physically speaking to another party.
“Nearly 70 percent [of surveyed students] have had an argument exclusively via text message,” the study states.
This study was released as part of the Half of Us Campaign by mtvU and the Jed Foundation to examine “how technology is impacting college students’ emotional health,” according to the campaign’s website. The Half of Us Campaign “is designed to improve emotional health and prevent suicide among college students,” it states.
The study also sought to examine how students use social media in the categories of seeking help/suicide, misunderstandings/conflicts, being connected vs. feelings of isolation, and stress and happiness. The study sheds light on how social media tools have become the most common form of communication among young people.
Beyond a shift in the parameters of possibility for how young people argue, the study found that students have changed how they empathize and console each other, as well. Nearly four in 10 students reported they had “ask[ed] for help with a serious personal issue or let a friend know they are upset via text message.”
The mtvU study certainly indicates that in-person interaction likely has the most positive effects on student well-being, in addition to highlighting how digital communication can be confounding based on its ambiguity.
“At least half of the time when college students read emails/text messages or posts on social networking sites, 48 percent report that they are unsure about whether the sender was serious or joking.”
The study also illustrates how social networking has changed how people keep tabs of one another, and some would likely argue for the worst. “Sixty-one percent of students say they have found themselves frequently tracking someone’s social networking site,” the study suggests.
With the capability to link together individuals from all over the world, social networking tools have, however, have helped 85 percent of students feel more connected to others, the study states. However, the results also show that one in seven say that, while they may be more connected to those around them, they are also further away. This seventh stated that “social networking sites increase feelings of isolation.”
The study also suggests that, with the constant presence of social media, young people are changing how they spend their time. A majority of students reported spending two to six hours online per day, and “one-third are online for more than six hours daily.”
To understand the prevalence of social networking usage at the University of Massachusetts, 20 undergraduate students were randomly selected and surveyed about their social networking usage. All but one of the students stated that they possessed at least one active social networking site account. Seventy-five percent, or 15 of the UMass students, answered that they checked their online social networking accounts daily, while 40 percent of those that admitted to using their networking accounts daily admitted to actually checking the account more than three times a day for updates and messages.
The number of “friends” the individuals surveyed had in their social network site ranged from 0-900. On average the students had about 343.05 friends on their friends list. Most individuals stated their reason for keeping a social networking account was “to keep in contact with people.” One student said, “I was forced to make one,” while another simply stated “pictures.” Long gone are the days where direct face-to-face communication is the main form of communicating with others. Social networking websites and tools are here to stay.
Copied from: http://dailycollegian.com/2010/10/25/study-examines-social-media%E2%80%99s-impact-on-student-mental-health-interpersonal-activity/?utm_campaign=Social+Media+-+Google+News&utm_medium=Twitter/eric_rojas&utm_source=SNSanalytics
Small Business Skeptical About Social Media
Social media may be all the rage when it comes to marketing, but small businesses (SMBs) are unsure about the impact of social networking on reaching customers, according to a recent survey.
The survey revealed that while 36 percent of small businesses believe their customers spend time on social networking sites, another 47 percent aren’t so sure about the medium’s popularity.
More importantly, however, small business owners are also conflicted about the use of social media for business purposes.
While 35 percent believe social media is a quick way to connect with prospective customers only a quarter believe their customers actually want to hear from them on social networks. More than a third, in fact, believe their customers do not want to hear from them through social media
However, small businesses that are proactively using social networking to reach customers are finding a strong return. Of the small businesses that indicated they will be using social media as the main tactic to drive new customers to their business in the next 12 months, 70 percent said they do so because social media is the least expensive option.
"Small businesses often think managing social media is time and resource-intensive, but many SMBs have found tools to help them make the process more efficient and effective," said Neal Creighton, CEO and co-founder of Rate-point, which conducted the survey. "SMBs need to talk to customers via social media so they can find how to meet customer needs, build relationships and make sales."
Copied from: http://www.wisdeo.com/articles/view_post/11319
The survey revealed that while 36 percent of small businesses believe their customers spend time on social networking sites, another 47 percent aren’t so sure about the medium’s popularity.
More importantly, however, small business owners are also conflicted about the use of social media for business purposes.
While 35 percent believe social media is a quick way to connect with prospective customers only a quarter believe their customers actually want to hear from them on social networks. More than a third, in fact, believe their customers do not want to hear from them through social media
However, small businesses that are proactively using social networking to reach customers are finding a strong return. Of the small businesses that indicated they will be using social media as the main tactic to drive new customers to their business in the next 12 months, 70 percent said they do so because social media is the least expensive option.
"Small businesses often think managing social media is time and resource-intensive, but many SMBs have found tools to help them make the process more efficient and effective," said Neal Creighton, CEO and co-founder of Rate-point, which conducted the survey. "SMBs need to talk to customers via social media so they can find how to meet customer needs, build relationships and make sales."
Copied from: http://www.wisdeo.com/articles/view_post/11319
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