Social Media and Web 2.0 - Assignment Example

Social Media Question The homepages of the four sites bear striking differences. The most obvious is the nature of information. MySpace has news items forming part of its homepage. Twitter has a picture of what appears to be a social function while Facebook has information of services offered besides the prominent signup tab. LinkedIn on the other hand has mug shots of different faces from across the world and the signup tab. I am a member of Facebook because most of my friends are also members and it therefore acts as a quick source of information.

Question 2Google plus compares to Facebook mainly in the sense that both are social networking sites. I haven’t tried using Google plus principally because most of my friends have also not made the shift to that sites. Google plus has slim chances if any in competing with Facebook due to a number of reasons. The key reason is that its orientation is not aimed at social networking customers but business sector customers (Risen, 2014, Bosker, 2011). In terms of numbers, this means that fewer visits are made to the site compared to Facebook translating to lower revenues.

Question 3 Charlotte Fire Department fired Crystal Eschert over comments she made on her Facebook page which were deemed to be against the company’s policy of treating all people with dignity and respect. In According to Worf (2014), Chrystal Eschert was incensed by reports that the handling of Michael Brown killing was in fact making the white police officer the victim. I think the termination was not justified because she had not identified herself as the department’s employees in her Facebook account.

Besides, the action was taken after a complaint by only one person who wrote to the company to complain. The company could have prevented this from happening ha it had in place a clear social media policy indicating the dos and don’ts. In this instance, Eschert was operating in a grey area. The article can be found in the link below:http://www.amren.com/news/2014/12/firing-of-charlotte-city-employee-over-facebook-post-highlights-first-amendment-debate/ ReferencesBosker, B.(October 30, 2011).

Who’s Looking for Facebook vs. Who’s Looking for Google+. Huffington Post. Retrieved December 24, 2014 form http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/google-plus-vs-facebook/ Risen, T. (April 30, 2014). Has Facebook Beaten Google Plus? U.S. News. Retrieved December 24, 2014 from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/04/30/has-facebook-beaten-google-plusWorf, L. (December 18, 2014). Firing of Charlotte City Employee over Facebook PostHighlights First Amendment Debate. American Renaissance. Retrieved December 24, 2014 from http://www.amren.com/news/2014/12/firing-of-charlotte-city-employee-over-facebook-post-highlights-first-amendment-debate/