Is The Internet Making Us Dumb?

Revolutions happen. Sometimes they are fast, other times they are slow. But, no matter what, revolutions shift our culture, or world so quickly that those who didn't see it coming oftentimes cannot wrap their heads around what happened, or why what they have lived with for all of their lives is no longer the norm.

This is precisely what happen to Doris Lessing, 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature winner. The Internet Revolution changed the world that she knew, I don't blame her for saying that the Internet is full of "inanities". If you read her speech, which advocates for the joys and importance of reading, you can see why she may think that the Internet is a place for useless banter, socializing, and not learning outside of the realm of computers.

But, the culture has changed, and the way we get information has become much easier and faster than ever before. We can Google, and get latest current events, academic articles and information, and take this all for granted.

But, I see where Lessing is worried. With her love of books and all that they have taught her, the thought of books and all of the information that they store becoming obsolete is frightening. And there is certainly published information that hasn't made it's way to the Internet. But, there are many people who are making sure that this information isn't going out of the window. Sites such as Wikipedia are example of this. Millions of people are constantly adding information to the site so that it keeps becoming larger and full of as many facts as possible.

So, with all revolutions, there will always be people who get lost and don't understand what is going on, it's a fact of life.

Customer Service and Crowdsourcing

I. Customer Service

Social Networking Forces Change in Customer Service

The business saying, "The Customer Is Always Right" has never been truer than it is now. The Internet has completely changed the game of customer service, and no longer can you have sub-par customer service be an acceptable part of your company. With the massive numbers of people connected through social networks, a company's downfall can instantly be broadcast to hundreds, thousands, or even millions and become a part of public discussion.

The following is a perfect example of how the world of customer service has greatly changed:



This video, featuring famous video blogger iJustine, had over 3 million views in it's first 10 days online. This Wikipedia article covers the fallout of the video, which included press coverage of the video from USA Today, ABC News, CNN, and Fox News, to name a few. In these interviews, she discussed how she felt that the bills, which detailed each telephone call made and received and text message sent and received, weren't environmentally friendly, nor was sending a box for the bill cost-effective. After the press coverage, AT&T released a statement saying that subsequent bills would be in summary format, with details provided upon request. The company needed to respond as more and more people became upset with the format in which they were receiving their bills.

A company that is an innovator in customer service is Zappos, the online retailer. The company is know for their customer service policy, which will go to great lengths to serve the customer. The company has a 365 day return policy on all of the items, and will guide you through the process either online or on the phone. They have even been know to help customers with issues that are non-Zappos related in order to create a trust and between company and customer. These two articles go greater in depth about the awesome company and their awesome customer service.

II.

Video on crowdsourcing

As more and more people are becoming active citizens on the Internet, working together to accomplish a common goal becomes easier than ever before. The idea almost seems ubiquitous now, as sites like Wikipedia and Threadless have been around for quite a while, and the concepts that these sites first introduced no longer seem foreign to most users.

I have participated in my fair share of crowdsourcing projects, on of them being on The Guardian's MP Expenses investigations this past summer, in which the British newspaper invited it's online readers to look through over 700,000 expense reports from the Parliament and determine whether or not they were probably filed, etc. Check out the details here.

Lastly, iPhone apps have been used in the to 'make a difference' using crowdsourcing techniques. Check them out here.

The Beginning

Back into the Blogger world, huh? I remember these days. Filled with discovered blogs filled with strange Google Image'd pictures and self-promotion (See: Vote for Brolley for Class President fo the Class of '08), etc. Alas, I cannot remember the password to the e-mail used to create the blogs of yesteryear (why would my 15 year-old self may my password hint "Rival High School's Musical"? What does this mean?)

This student-generated blog has been created to use as a tool in my Social Networking in Business class which is held in the Information Technology Department at American University. I look forward to learning about the topics to be covered in this class and can't wait to participate in class discussions. On my honor (scout sign up), all posts in this blog are my own, and I will maintain this integrity throughout the blog's existence

See you soon blogosphere.