Thursday, October 8, 2015

Thursday, October 1, 2015



With which one of the network laws do you most agree? Why?

The law which I agree with the most is Metcalfe's law. The law states that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users, a great example of this would be Facebook. Facebook began in 2004 at Harvard University, in just two years it had expanded into high schools and 22,000 corporations. By 2007 it had become a legitimate business and its value increased with its popularity. Now it has 1.26 billion users and is a multi billion dollar company, acquiring social media platforms such as Instagram back in 2012 for an easy 1 billion. When Facebook started out at Harvard, it did hold much value but as its popularity increased ten fold, it began to acquire new business opportunities. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are great examples of Metcalfe's law because through their business growth process they are able to depict the law. Instagram for example acquired 1 million users within the first 3 months of its existence and just 21 months following their 1 million mark they were bought for 1 billion by Facebook. In just 2 years Instagram went from 0 - 1,000,000,000 billion dollar company, when it was a smaller company it did not hold much value but as the law states the value increases as the number of connected users use the network. I think i agree with this law the most because it helps simplify this social media phenomenon which is taking affect as we speak.

2) How you think people might get their information five years from now?

Social Media has increased technological advancements dramatically, as a result we have tablets, smartphones and PDA's which are all tailored to make the customers experience as seamless and effortless as possible. We now have smart watches which have begun to share the role of our cell phones or computers by delivering emails and text, so to say how might people receive their information from now is hard to say. Technology seems to get thinner yet bigger, aside from the aesthetics i would assume that we will still use cell phones and the internet to do more of our communication or to receive information. Maybe it will become all email and text who knows, but i think for the next five years we will still use much of the same tools to communicate and receive information, the platforms might change and become more enhanced but we will still keep to smartphones, tablets and PDA's.