Facebook in a paradox

I think every thing that happened during the Arab Spring should have been a warning to facebook.

Unfortunately, at that point in time Facebook was more focused on growth, they were looking at the numbers and the impact the platform was making and the excitement it inspired was humungous.

The company was trying to make money and the Arab Spring was the perfect push and drive Mark Zuckerberg needed. He was going to build an advertising business out of his platform once it went public.

It was time to go public and they were looking at a 100 Billion valuation of the platform. In the fog of all this cacophony what Mark Zuckerberg and his new assistant Sheryl Sandberg constantly forgot about was how they were going to protect all the personal user data the platform was collecting.

"We are focused on Privacy", was a common phrase from facebook's management teams, but it seemed only wind. Words to cajole users assuring them of perceived security.

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Data Brokers are companies that depend on data metrics to operate and make profit, they collect data about Your Name, your relatives and friend, what you like to eat, what you like to read, the movies and TV you love to watch, where you shop and much more, they use this data to influence how you make future decisions in their favor.

About 4 or 5 months before Facebook's Initial Public Offering (IPO), big companies that were looking at expanding their market reach signed contracts with facebook.
Given facebook's continuous humongous growth these companies were looking at making a kill using the platform in terms of influence and market reach. Facebook's role was to profile its users then sell them the necessary ads from these conglomerates.

Facebook was slowly becoming a Data Broker.

Everything was there and available.

Facebook had literally become the Internet.

Whenever people talked about the Internet, they meant facebook. Or Vice Versa.

In May of 2012 after its Initial Public Offering listed under NASDAQ, facebook acquired all the major social networking platforms like Instagram and Whatsapp, and on its way to becoming the most valuable company in the world it also created its own whatsapp-like messaging application, facebook Messenger.

At that moment in time, the Company was 15 Billion rich.

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Sockpuppetry refers to the act of creating a false online identity for purposes of deception. The purpose is usually to influence or make fun of something on the internet without being known.

At the American Department Of Defence, researchers were looking at the possibility of people using social media as a weapon.
The fact that people were willingly giving out their data meant that they could easily be manipulated to do anything. The social platforms could manipulate you to buy something, they could manipulate to go somewhere and they could manipulate you to Vote for something or someone.

For the Department Of Defence, this was a potential threat to National Security.

The users of the platforms had become the ultimate targets of manipulation.

In an act of sockpuppetry a conglomerate, government or institution could easily create many fake accounts to use them to influence how people made decisions on voting and deciding the future.

In St. Petersburg (Russia), a secret government-aided propaganda factory called the Internet Research Agency had been created where hundreds of Russians would use social media to influence the conversation and fight the anti-Russian government in Ukraine.

"They arrested him and they nailed him on the cross like Jesus", a supposed witness in one of the videos said. The video was being promoted by the Russian propagandist machinery against the Ukrainian army. It was to be later discovered that the video was a fake and the female witness was an actor for the Russian Propagandist machinery.

Russia was using facebook to meddle in Ukraine politics.

Facebook had been Weaponised.

Capitalism and the Machine revolution

I love analysing and disambiguating Business and Technology and how the activities involved in the two processes contribute to the way man leaves and evolves.

So i've been reading a lot of capitalism content of late and i've been trying to analyse capitalism and Technology and how they affect the world now and how they will affect the world in the near future. My argument is that there is an impending war between capitalism and Technology and that this will stop at nothing to destroy many business magnates and their respective business..

Capitalism represents the legacy forms of doing business that favour private ownership of business rather than government ownership of business. Capitalism works well since businesses/institutions are more effective when they are privately owned than when they are government owned (this has been evident for many years and statistics exist to prove it). The gist of the matter is that capitalism involves an able individual who leads and employs a group of people who may not have access to the abilities that he possesses.

However Technology poses a new system of doing business where the worker may be eliminated from the equation and replaced by machines (robots and software).

Some analysts predict that a fully automated luxury communism will take over. Such a system may inadvertently lead to an uprising of the workers against the system, a system which rids them of jobs and employment giving them to machines.

There are possibilities that even money may cease to exist in the Technology economy and knowledge will be tradable.

People will trade their knowledge of to make better machines better software thus the singularity age will rise where man will be one with the machines as microchips will be installed in human bodies to enhance on the power of humans to function.

The description of the future depending on the current evolution though seemingly dystopian and untenable and sends chills down our spines is one we can't avoid. Thus as a race we ought to keep an open mind about the whole Evolution of the world.

Why The Internet Needed The Phone

"In the Internet industry, its not about grand innovation, its about a lot of little innovations: every day, every week, every month, making something a little bit better".
-Jason Calacanis-
            The Internet has grown over the years and with its ability to provide the necessary tools for its users to expand it, it continues to grow beyond imaginable proportions into a marvelous interconnection of not only people but also organizations, institutions and more so objects.
When we quick-rewind to the '90s the Internet lived only on the Desktop Computers of those who were blessed with computers and an access point, but as the world neared the millennium more people were slowly realizing the need for the Internet, portable communication devices were taking over the ability for individuals to communicate, and as we sank into the millennium mobile phone technology was taking over the world by storm and with more phones owned by the biggest number of people the need arose for more mobile applications to be created. The applications were supposed to bring the experience that one got on a computer into the hands of  the individuals.
Desktop Computers were heavy objects, they couldn't be carried around, yet the efficiency of computing, the excitement that it aroused, the interaction, the beauty of computing had to be experienced without much ado. And thus the necessity of the mobile phones which would later be improved to be more portable, sleek, stylish and efficient in functionality. But more so mobile phones would be favoured for their ability to easily access the Network of Networks, the Internet.

Since then the mobile phone has stood at the epicenter of not only voice communication but also Internet Connectivity.

Mobile communication devices have not only changed the way people communicate but have also made it easy for people from all walks of life to access the internet from all corners of the world.

Lets look at how the mobile phone has evolved over the years.

Before the first generation of Iphone was released in 2007, the phone was just a device for communication and gaming, boring right? Nokia's handset was most popular between 1998 and 2008, it was helping but not that much, considering, it was only offering the ability to send and receive text and voice messages, and as thus Nokia's sales dropped in the wake of the handheld touchscreen devices like the Iphone and Google's handheld Android operated phones with its share price in late 2007 falling from US$40  to US$32 in mid-2012. The corporation that had earlier in 2012 boasted of a global market share of 18.0% saw its sales soar to a 3.2% market share in the smartphone business after losing 40% of their revenue in the 2nd quarter of  2013; and with Microsoft's $7.2bn+ acquisition of the once phone giant, Nokia continues to exist as a shadow of what it was.

Others were the likes of Motorola and the Seoul based  multinational conglomerate Samsung, currently the largest chaebol (business conglomerate) in South Korea. We can't forget Siemens a company that made its debut on the mobile market in 2002 but was in 2005 sold to Ben-Q hence later being renamed to Ben-Q Siemens, well that was technology at that time

Today the mobile phone has evolved beyond what we had ever imagined, Google's Android Operating System has been enhanced to act as an artificial intelligence to monitor health, task scheduling, task progress, realtime chat, news, to mention but a few. Apple's Iphone with the Siri advanced artificial intelligence software has become a personal assistant to whoever owns it, Microsoft's Windows Phone also boasts of its tiled design and its artificial intelligence system known as Cortana that can answer questions asked by the user. Everything is just amazing. The phone has become the closest and most trustworthy friend of the human being, people have not only got addicted to their phones but are glued to them because of their vast functionality due the continuous innovation and creativity opportunities that the phone offers to not only its users but also its developers.
The emergence of such intelligent technologies as the phone continue to move the world forward making the enthusiastic minds crave more for what the future holds for the world of technology.

What is the origin of all ideas?

Have you ever asked yourself what the origin of all ideas is? how people begin to talk about things? where they get those things? why they perceive them the way they perceive them? Why things are the way they are? Why we have to be where we are at a given time?

Hence my topic today; "The why factor"

The first thing i realize as i read is CREATIVITY.

The universe is huge and thousands of things have been discovered and created in it, from stereotypes, to ideas, to concepts, to theories, some have been discovered as factors that contribute to our well being on earth but most have been creations of other human brains.

 Those that have affected humans most are those ideas, theories, stereotypes and concepts that have been created by fellow humans, humans that have taken time to use their ingenuity to study fellow humans' weaknesses and strengths and have taken advantage of such strengths and weaknesses to create what fellow humans crave for.

From the American end of the world to the Chinese far end of the globe, creativity has taken over, it is diverse and it is both beneficial and destructive in one way or the other and with the available resources and the communication tools thereat, it soon becomes a usual occurrence for one to get a notification of a new creation every moment from anywhere across the globe; some creations are so disadvantageous, destructive and inconvenient that many people suggest that these creations be stopped, but soon or later we realize that what is destructive in one environment or instance is not destructive in another environment or instance and on a cost benefit analysis, the good that it is creating outweighs the bad, a reason to support why some things are still kept in the ecosystem however disadvantageous they maybe. 

Everyone endeavors to create something new, something that will thrill the world, something that will either tear the world apart or bring it together. The problem most people face is the phenomenon of the constraints that are either brought about by the rules that be or the stereotypes, the beliefs and ideas that rule over their minds and brains.

Thousands of things have been created, those who created them were also created by the creator who was created by some creators who had also been created by some creators who thought that creating them would be of paramount importance to the continuum of creativity. The one thing that all these creators unshackled themselves from are constraints. They washed away fear and they approached the things they feared and in the process made the world a better place to live in.

Your ability to create something does not come about because of the many resources you have, it doesn't come because of the little resources you have, the ability to create is as a result of your need to create something, your need to do so is the starting point, the move to create is the second step and the determination to create is the next thing, this is what drives the most creative minds in the world, come up with an idea, make a move to  make it happen and then push on with resilience until your idea is in its physical form. However these steps should not constraint anyone in the creation process because constraints like fear are the evils that make us fail. Merry Christmas Folks, have a nice one and create something new this holiday

Does your site qualify? Here's a yardstick.

  The dark-skinned lady, probably an Acholi, smiled at me from the middle of the restaurant, she had called me to come up with a web design for her and embed a ticket booking system in it, clearly she knew what she wanted but I didn’t know much about it except the little she had told me. “I want something beautiful”, she said, “Something where someone comes, logs in and books a ticket”, and shaking my head in acceptance I said yes and I assured her that what she wanted could be done if she could particularly tell me the different parties that would be involved and what functionalities I would involve in the system and then I kept quiet and she looked at me with worry painted all over her face, for a moment i though that maybe she had not understood me or maybe she doubted me, my skills and talents in programming or maybe she was worried about particular features I would include in the design, but slowly she took her hand away from the table and it went down browsing for something, she got hold of it and brought it to the table, her bag, and then she asked, “How much……how much will it cost?”. 

Sincerely speaking, I had nothing to say.

It seems the moment people hear of website designers and software engineers, they think, yeah those guys are making zillions by the minute, those are the Mark Zukerbergs, and Bill Gates’ of our age, they make money when they want. 

However there is much to think about before looking at the money designers make.

Clients never think about the quality of the product the designer has delivered, the functionalities, the small holes that may expose the system. All they look at is the beauty of the index page and then they drown the designer’s account with “zillions”.

Let us take a look at the worst case scenario.

Imagine you are browsing the Internet one day and bump onto this site where the links are dispersed all over the index page, the pictures are moving across the page whereby the pictures on the upper part are moving to the right and the ones on the lower part are moving to the left, the heading on the page is “BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS” and yet it has pictures of computers with their price tags upside down. Then there is this looping picture of a boy kicking a ball just below, the picture keeps on repeating again and again , the boy kicks the ball and the ball goes away and then it comes back and he kicks it again and again and again, however when you click on it, it dims the screen and a small notice (Javascript alert) appears in the middle of the screen asking “DO YOU WANT TO BOOK A ROOM?” you press OK and it takes you to another page where they are displaying Caskets.

These are pure features of a bad website, pictures moving around in a disorganized format, poor user interaction, miscommunication of the subject matter and disorganized content. The functionalities of the different links and buttons are completely detached from the actual purpose and the user is pissed and jeering at him/herself at the end of the experience.

The qualities of a good website range from the physical design to the smallest functionalities that may hinder a good user experience and those that may even compromise the system security. The security of the database storing the information collected by the site should always be updated and that explains the reason why a dedicated and updated IT team in the organization owning the website should be sensitized by the developers of the system about how to ensure the protection of the system from intruders. The functionalities of the buttons and the links, the guidelines on how to use the website should be clearly stated, clear contact information for further consultation, immediate, accurate, complete, reliable and fresh responses to the user. All this should be put into perspective by the developer and they should be emphasized by the client. Technically the site should engage the user and make him/her feel at home. That’s what good sites are made of, beauty and functionality and your site will appear first on the search results page; not for the money you have paid Google for Search Engine Optimization but for its perfection and efficiency in giving the user appropriate information.

Thank You for Reading.

Kusemererwa Roy.

The Magic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The ultimate target is for the various web based entrepreneurial projects or entities to maximize sales through the promotion of the various products they have on their stalls. This target has/is being achieved by many through different techniques or ways and these ways originate deep from the financial times of history.

Since time in memorial, even before technology made its way into today's business world, conventional wisdom states it clearly that for any entity to make better its sales on the market, it must have something unique to present to the public,something beautiful, something strange but true, something that boggles the mind because of its ability to perfectly solve everyday problems, it is what people find interesting about the new product that will make them want it more, crave for it and never stop using or buying it.

However in the present world of computer technology and the Internet where the market is wide and opportunities are increasingly popping up on someone's desktop, phone, Ipad and laptop through a social network, an email service or an advert on the Internet, there is an increase on the way products can get known on the market albeit not unique.

Take for instance, local and World News Services periodically come up each with a different name and they have ended up competing on the market and have even emerged to be better than those they found already on the market, in fact they have ended up sweeping the market and making us forget about what we had got used to as the best news channels. Well it can be mind boggling especially if the new 'ish' provides the same services that the existing services are providing, what we may ask however is, Is the Newspaper business a unique idea? Do we have so many newspaper services that we always want to try out the new kid on the block? What is so unique about the new newspaper on the market that we have not seen before with the other newspapers?

Well, allow me to share an experience.

Nation Media Group is one of the largest independent media houses in East Africa, Central Africa and Africa at large. And making a few clicks to one of its digital footprints,its website, you'll be given light of its history. It is a media group that was founded by His Highness the Aga Khan in the year 1959. It concentrates most of its activities in the regions of East and Central Africa with the target of reaching better heights by extending its coverage to other countries near or within East and Central Africa.

Now I will concentrate more on its Television Station in Uganda, NTV Uganda.

Until 2006, the various television stations that were operating in Uganda were enjoying a healthy dominance over all things news and entertainment, the likes of Uganda Television(UTV) currently Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), Wavamunno Broadcasting Services (WBS), Light House Television (LTV) to mention but a few were enjoying crisp dominance over the public and were influencing public opinion in every way possible, with the news, the programming, everything, it all seemed perfect until November 2006.

NTV Uganda launched its services onto the airwaves.

Today the station boasts of its tight grasp on the Television News market and its undisputed influence of public opinion which is incomparable to its 'predecessors' who always thought that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.They are not actually dead but in limbo about how NTV came and took away their popularity. In fact they are highly despised by the public as second placed where NTV exists. Thats how fast public opinion can turn against you.

But why is it so? What portion did NTV Uganda, the new boy on the block, cast that made its competitors literally 'dead'? What technique did it employ to dominate the television industry in Uganda?

Well, it boils down to one factor which, among others is major in promoting products and preventing them from getting stale on the market stalls, the technique/strategy is Search Engine Optimization.

Now, what exactly is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine optimization or SEO consists of the techniques used in improving and promoting a digital footprint/footprints in a bid to increase the number of visitors the footprint/footprints receive. It is an Internet marketing technique/strategy that uses keywords to locate what users are most interested in hence enabling sales managers analyze by comparing how Internet traffic is flowing in their favour as a result of the various users' clicks on their hash tags,links and the use of the keywords generated by those companies.

In brief it entails the right words to use in your post on the social networks where your presence is clearly defined, the feelings you arouse into the minds of the different people with different perspectives about how things are moving, the hash tags that you create, the links you advertise; Are they on point? Do they inform the public about what exactly you want them to know? Do they have that unique aspect that makes other tags and links nonsense compared to yours?

It is all Search Engine Optimization, how you make sure that your digital footprints can leave a mark in the minds of people without necessarily physically contacting them. 

Every company needs a Search Engine Optimization Officer. And my next post on this blog will be on the roles of the best search Engine Optimization Officer.

The Paradox Of The Electronic Age

       The world evolves and so do our business issues, the catalysts vary, from geopolitical events to regulatory reforms, from new technology to emerging markets, and their impact can be swift and far reaching.
For most industries the approach, grounded in industry specific experience and committed to delivering measurable sustainable results, can help them adopt and succeed even in uncertain environments.
   As business moves into a virtual world and as more and more data is being transmitted over the Internet; social networking and mobile phones become prevalent.
Physical boundaries have dissappeared as the electronic revolution continues to turn the world into a global village, more business data is being transmitted over the Internet and businesses are continuously getting integrated online
The pace of technology continues to accelerate as companies make the ultimate stride from the more traditional outsourcing contracts into the virtual world.
But however much we may embrace this avalanche  of digitization we ought not forget he major aspect that will stand guard as our world makes the steps into the virtual world of digital technology and autonomous systems, this  aspect is security.
        Today we hear of News of the World  being shutdown because of a phone hacking scandal masterminded by its employees,
tomorrow twitter and gmail are facing problems because people are misusing other people's profile details,
and the day after tomorrow China is hacking into US military technology systems, which, i guess, is the worst case scenario.
   The collateral damage here is done on the legal and ethical rules and regulation that govern the Internet and that advocate for the fair use of cyberspace.
Socially, reputations are damaged as people on top of the social ladder are blackmailed.
Economically, businesses lose their competitive advantage as their data is misused by copyright infringers and
Politically, tensions between countries are increased as espionage takes its toll on different states.
                Internet crime and Internet security pose a challenge in today's use of Cyberspace, as algorithms formulated to help in improving businesses are later reversed to destroy them.
This, ladies and gentlemen is the Paradox of the electronic age.