How would the world look like without twitter?

For the course Business Information Technology we had to write ten blogs which had to be related to our study ‘Business Communication and Digital Media’. This will be my last blog (for now). I would like to conclude this series of blogs with an infographic of what the world would be like without Twitter.

Thanks you followers, I was delighted…

                             Source: HubSpot

The solution for a long distance and long lasting online relationship

You have finally met your perfect man, but there is one problem…. he lives on the other side of the world. Too bad! Or not?
       An online relationship has several advantages and disadvantages. Advantages are that you do not have to react immediately on the demands of your online partner, you can think about your answers and if you have a fight you can just turn off your computer. There are also some disadvantages, but the most important disadvantage is the lack of (physical) intimacy. But now there is a solution! The University of Electronic Communication in Tokyo has developed a machine with which you can kiss somebody online.
       How does this work? Both partners should have the device in their mouth, which supposed to be the tongue of the partner, and this device copies the movements of the tongue. The machine also record how you kiss. Currently, the device can only copy the movements of the tongue, but scientists have the intention to imitate every elements of the kiss, even the taste, the breathing and the moistness of the tongue. So, with this device there will even be more advantages to start an online realtionship. If it is a bad kisser, you can remove the machine easily and you will not have the inconvenience of a stubbly beard.
         This machine will bring you the perfect long distance and long lasting online relationship! Maybe it will also be the solution for a short distance but long lasting relationship?

Is Facebook ruining students?

Is social media ruining students? This question was asked by onlineeducation.net and they gathered data from different sources to investigate this question. This research has proved that social media has both positive as negative influence on students; the outcome is not really a surprise. Students who use social media like Facebook and Twitter welcome online engagement and resources; around 75% of student respondents said they liked to do some online collaboration for class. Also, social media may have a positive impact on students’ sense of themselves in the community and 20% more of Facebook-using students felt connected to their university and community.
                Negative influences of social media on students are logical, while all the time students spend on social media they cannot spend on their study. This will negatively affect the results of the students, in fact those that multitask between Facebook and studying have 20% lower grades. A more remarkable outcome of this research is that students might actually end up feeling more depressed or lonely. Almost half of students believe they are sadder than their friends on Facebook, and 25% of college students have shown signs of severe depression in their status updates at one time or another.
                I think it is an interesting small research, but little surprising or valid. Nevertheless, after reading the results of this ‘study’ I am wondering what is the effect of blogging on the performance of college students?

Your cloud-girlfriend: It's free. Unlike your last date.

Cloudgirlfriend.com is a new site founded by David Fuhriman. On this website women (cloud girlfriends) can write down on men’s walls to make the female friends of the men jealous, which should result in the rise of the popularity of the men. Users log in on this website through Facebook and can upload pictures from attractive people to pretend that this is the user and fill out a simplistic profile. They select (on basis of all the fake pictures) someone to chat with. “We allow people to define their ideal self, find their perfect girlfriend or boyfriend and connect and interact as if that person existed,” Fuhriman says. “It can help in learning how to manage a real relationship, and they then can take it into the real world.”
                I am wondering if the look does not matter and it is just about your personality, why will you not use your own picture. How is it possible to learn from a fake relationship how you should manage a real relationship? Or are all real relationships also build on lies? And why would you build all your hopes and fantasies on something that is fake and even not you? Besides this, there are too many things that are important in a real relationship which you cannot learn on a site. How can it help in learning how to manage an intimacy interaction? It will be probably better that this is just a fantasy, while your cloud-girlfriend will be no oil painting.

ARTificial Intelligence

Prof. Dr. Eric Postma teaches about Artificial Intelligence at the University of Tilburg, one of his recent studies focuses on using computer vision techniques to detect fake paintings. In this interview we discuss this study as well as other topics that he works on that go beyond using computer vision for just paintings. One of these techniques is Facial Expression Recognition, to allow the computer to detect the nonverbal cues that humans make while interacting. One of the goals is to allow computers  to engage in a nonverbal dialog with the user. For those interested in AI and Computer Vision be sure to check out the interview!

For more information about Prof. Dr. Postma and what he’s currently working on take a look at; http://www.tilburguniversity.edu/nl/webwijs/show/?uid=e.o.postma

Social Media revolution

There are still people in my network who are sceptical about the influence of social media (and not only in my network). If you think 'Hey she is talking to me, I am sceptical and I think social media is just a hype', watch this movie. And for all the other people who are already aware of the influence of social media, it is just a really nice movie to watch. I am sure that at the end of this movie you will be less sceptical, maybe even convinced of the fact that social media is the future, or even more convinced about this fact and that you are going to share this with other disbelievers. Viva la social media revolution!

The amount of friends on Social network site and the relationship with your partner

Last week we discussed the Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) of Berger & Calabrese (1975) during a lecture. This theory assumes that people experience uncertainty in interpersonal relationships, and the uncertainty causes cognitive stress. So when you meet new people, you want to reduce this uncertainty by asking questions for example. We have to communicate with each other to reduce the uncertainty. Do not be afraid! I am not going to repeat the whole lecture, and the whole theory. If you are really interested, you can apply for ‘Communication and Information Sciences’ at the University of Tilburg and enroll in the course Communication Theory.

People experience also uncertainty in a long-lasting relationship. Probably, this is not really new for you, while we all know that after some years (or months, maybe weeks, days) you are not that certain about your relationship. But what do we choose? Excitement or boredom? In this case we assume that a relationship is equal to boredom. I have chosen for the exciting boredom, and I do not experience that much uncertainty in my boredom. Even though I think that I know my partner, he sometimes surprises me. A month ago, we both had a request from a girl on Facebook who we both did not know. I did not add her, he did. I was wondering why did he add her?

Parks & Adelman (1983) found out something interesting, that I did not know before. They assume that the growth of interaction on social network sites reduces the uncertainty in the relationship with your (romantic) partner. The amount of friends can reduce the uncertainty in your relationship. I thought that the amount of friends on the social network site of a man or woman made him a womanizer, and her a man-eater. But well… I was wondering why my boyfriend adds that girl to his network even without knowing her, and Parks & Adelman have given me the answer. Now I know (and you too) that I do not have to be afraid that he is looking for other girls. No, it is a positive thing for my relationship. More friends and more requests of ‘friends’ will make him more satisfied and will let grow his self-respect. Now he has 110 friends on Facebook. Is this number enough to minimize the uncertainty in my relationship?

By the way, I have 152 friends on Facebook, and I do not add everyone. I can afford that, so I am satisfied and have a lot of self-respect. He does not have to be uncertain about me.