Why Blue Mountain Needs to Up the Ante

Rosy cheeks and powder snow are my combination for a perfect day. It’s official- I love to snowboard! I grew up as an avid skier. My family would travel every other March break vacation to a different ski resort. I have been to Vermont, New York, Quebec, and British Columbia to ski. Four years ago I decided I wasn’t getting any better as a skier and challenged myself to try snowboarding. I was hooked.

The past two weekends I spent at the closest decent ski resort, Blue Mountain. It seems they are still recovering from the warm winter that struck two years ago and doing everything possible to make money.

Unimpressed.

• Sky high prices



• Ridiculously long chairlift lines



• The hills are so crowded it's almost dangerous to get down the mountain



• The advanced hills intersect with beginner hills- making everyone scared that they will run someone else over
  

Is capping the number of skiers that can be on the hill each day an option?

One reviewer echoed my thoughts by stating Intrawest has expanded the Blue Mountain village with multiple dining options outweighing the capacity of the actual hill. Interestingly enough, if you go to the Blue Mountain Resort website the main image on the page is of the village- not the mountain. It could be a clever marketing trick. Perhaps they are trying to appeal more to the non-skier and get them to spend their money, rather than to the person who loves winter sports and will spend either way.

HOT TOPIC: Facebook. Twitter. Period.

Imagine what it would be like if the only news you could access was from a 140 character post on twitter. Now imagine if the only way you could get news out to your friends was via facebook. Some of you may say this imaginary world seems pretty similar to your own life right now. However, others simply could not picture a life without television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. The reason I pose these questions are because recently the occupation of journalist has come under fire. If people are getting all of their news and updates from other ordinary people around the world- what use do we have for journalists?


Why journalists may become extinct:

• Last year when a plane was forced to land in the Hudson River, the story was on twitter before it was anywhere else.


• Twitter was used to disseminate information during the riots in Iran when the rest of the world did not know what was going on.


• Survivors of the Haiti earthquake used twitter to display pictures and heartbreaking stories to the world

In our globalized and social media indulgent world it seems like absolutely everyone is a reporter/journalist of their own life. Whether people are writing blogs, tweeting comments for the world to see, or facebooking friends; it appears as though we have all become reporters and critics.

Naturally, journalists are worried and are fighting back. In order to prove that these forms of social media are not legitimate news sources, a social media experiment is being launched on Feb. 1st.

Experiment Details:

• Five journalists from different countries (including Canada)


• Will live in a French farmhouse for 5 days


• They will only have access to facebook and twitter


• No smart phones, no internet browsing capabilities, no tv, no newspapers, etc.


• Each reporter will research news updates via twitter and facebook and report live each day on a radio station to share their findings with the world

*Check out this article on Yahoo News for the complete details of the experiment

This experiment is going to be a showdown between the traditional media versus social media. If the journalists are able to find information to report solely from twitter and facebook that is ACCURATE and RELEVANT, what will the implications be? Will forms of social media put the more traditional media out of business?

Of course, social media does have it's drawbacks, and thus some expect this experiment to fail. There have been plenty of twitter hoaxes and so the reporters will have to sort through a lot of junk to find the truth. Some examples of twitter hoaxes include: a post about the death of Johnny Depp (clearly he is still alive), tweets stating that doctors and nurses can fly to Haiti for free to help out (I assumed this was true but was sad to find out that was not the case), and even a false tweet that the same sex marriage ban in California had been overturned.

Discussion

Clearly twitter is great for quickly spreading information. Considering that it is just as good at spreading false news as it is at spreading the truth, do you think that it will ever take over more traditional news sources? What do you think the implications of this experiment will be? Finally, considering that to an extent we have all become journalists, do you think this profession will eventually become obsolete?

To follow the 5 journalists and this experiment click here.

Check out this blog for more information about the experiment taking place.

SocAppReview: ClipShack or Clip-whack?!

ClipShack is a free video sharing site - but don't confuse it with the infamous YouTube. Reality Digital is the parent company of ClipShack and this site was originally launched to help corporations share videos and other media. In 2005 ClipShack was born and the idea behind it was that if they could make a site for corporations to share videos, they could also make one for individuals. This site appeals to videophiles who can post video clips for the viewing pleasure of friends, family and strangers. ClipShack claims to be "the friendliest video sharing site"- whatever that may mean. What makes one site friendlier than another?

Similarities to Other Video Sharing Sites:

ClipShack QUICKLY and EASILY allows you to upload videos directly from your desktop or from the web.

ClipShack sorts uploaded clips by Topic, Most Watched Clips, Most Discussed Clips, etc.

Getting a ClipShack account is absolutely FREE!

ClipShack allows tagging. Also, you get to decide once you post your clip whether or not you want others to be able to comment on it.

How ClipShack is Unique

ClipShack prides itself in being ahead of the trends and thus has added a Google Maps feature. This enables the user to map the content they upload and also to search by location. For example, when i searched the location Toronto, forty four clips came up- everything from videos of concerts in Toronto, to Toronto party pics. I think that this is a pretty cool feature and it will only be a matter of time until other social media sites like Facebook and Youtube offer this. Critics would argue that this is an invasion of privacy. But let's be honest, when you are posting pictures or videos obviously you know that you are revealing information about yourself, and chances are you want people to know about your life and where you hang out.

Another cool add-on to ClipShack is CS Interactive. This is a branch of ClipShack which allows users to rate movies, books, video games, and even jokes! ClipShack-ers use a thumbs up or thumbs down rating system and add comments as they choose. I like this feature because it is a very unbiased way to find out what strangers think of different entertainment options.

One final feature about ClipShack that is unique is the extremely strict regulations about uploading appropriate content. You must be 18 years old or older to use ClipShack, and even then you may not upload anything remotely suggestive, including "I will talk about anything," and "Tell me your wildest dreams." Conversely, YouTube allows users of any age. I think this will limit ClipShack's audience and market potential.

I think that ClipShack is a useful video sharing site and is extremely beneficial for the corporate world. The Google Maps feature probably won't be enough to get users to switch from YouTube and start using ClipShack, but it will be useful for current and future ClipShack-ers. For more information about ClipShack, check out Sarah Long's blog about it.

My video review of ClipShack

"How To" make Wikipedia work for you

WIKIPEDIA

INTRODUCTION:

The hard part isn't knowing how to use Wikipedia- rather it is knowing when to use it. I would bet that every person in this class has heard of Wikipedia. Wikipedia has been around since 2001 and is very well-known.

WHAT IT DOES:

This search engine will find you articles on everything from cotton candy to twitter. All you do is type whatever you are looking for into the search box and away you go. Here is the easiest resource for learning how to use Wikipedia and it is the link we shared on the class list.

• This link is actually a tutorial BY Wikipedia which explains using Wikipedia.



• When you click on the editing tab it states that almost every single Wikipedia page has a link that says edit this page.



• This tutorial is an awesome resource for first time Wikipedia users because it lets you practice editing pages and adding whatever you like to them.



• It also teaches you how to properly cite a Wikipedia page- something I definitely wish I knew how to do in unversity.

WEAKNESSES

The main problem with Wikipedia is also one of it's assets: the fact that it can be edited by anyone causes it to lose credibility. At any given moment someone can compromise the information you are searching for. Wikipedia is no stranger to internet vandalism. An interesting article I found from Time magazine stated that a Wikipedia contributor used the search engine to wrongfully acuse John Seigenthaler of murdering JFK. This kind of thing is obviously not what the search engine was intended for.

BEST PRACTICES

The best way to use Wikipedia is to keep in mind that anyone can anonymously change the information you are viewing. It is a good place to get some background knowledge on whatever you are looking for, but remember to use your judgment about the information you are provided. If you still are unsure check out this article which lists 7 tips for using Wikipedia.

WHAT I LEARNED

This "How To" assignment helped me to realize that there are so many different valuable tools online and I shouldn't be afraid to explore the internet and different networks. From the outset, a brand new search engine or video site seems daunting but there are so many handy resources online like instructional youtube videos and google articles that teach you exactly how to use them.

For some more tips on when and how to use wikipedia, check out Neil Sareen's blog