Check out our website & conference!

Our 2nd Annual Social Media Conference is  Friday, November 30, 2012.  We have a separate website for the conference this year, where you can find all of the information and details about the conference, including:

A screenshot of our conference website.

·       TSMRI’s mission and objectives

Conference cost
Conference topics

and much more.

When you register for the conference, you can send in your registration fee by mail, or you can pay it online with a credit/debit card.

Registration Fees:

Late registration began Friday, November 16^th - $60.00

Conference Presenters, Tarleton Faculty/Staff - $25.00

Undergraduate Students/Graduate Students - $10.00

The countdown clock.

The site links to all of our social media websites, a spotlight where you can see all of our Twitter followers, and information about our conference app that we will have for iOS and Android devices. That's right-we have an app!

The conference will be a great experience. You will learn about the many facets of social media as well as  how to use it in your career, benefits and disadvantages of social media, and mobile applications and devices.

If you have any questions concerning the conference, please feel free to visit our website at www.tarleton.edu/tsmri, or you can email us.

All images are from the TSMRI website.

K’Leigh Bedingfield is a communications major at Tarleton State University and a TSMRI intern set to graduate in the spring of 2014. You can find her on Twitter at @BedingfieldK.

Facebook, Instagram, and Privacy

On April 12, 2012,  Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion dollars.  Before this purchase, Instagram was a startup with thirteen employees working out of a conference room in Silicon Valley. It was a free, photo-sharing program that does not gain revenues. The fact that Facebook paid so much to acquire a company that does not even earn money certainly raised questions.

By Ragesoss (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Instagram's user base had grown well over thirty million people, including celebrities. CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried explaining to disgruntled Instagram users that the acquisition would  not change how Instagram operates. He claimed that Instagram would remain independent.  Instagram users were still not pleased. In their eyes, Facebook was not as private as Instagram.

According to an article, Instagram, Facebook Deal Sparks Privacy Concerns: Here’s How to Quit,  “Many have voiced fears that their community is being overrun by newbies and are inclined to assume the worst when it comes to the ability to control their images and privacy once Facebook takes over.” 1

Concerns included:

• Will Facebook run facial recognition of software against them, use images to link them to other people without consent, and share images with businesses?
• Will Facebook gather all the information you’ve shared about yourself and friends with Instagram?
• Will Facebook start geo-tagging Instagram images automatically-something Instagram doesn’t do?

Having Instagram on Facebook may be harmless, but when do we draw the line? When do we take a stand for what we want private and what we want to share? Is anything really “private” on the Internet anymore?

Emily Salinas is a Communications major and a TSMRI intern set to graduate in May of 2013.

References
1. Oswald, E., Peckham, M., Jacobsson Purewal, S., & Wawro, A. (2012, April 12). "Instagram, Facebook Deal Sparks Privacy concerns: Here’s How to Quit."  PCWorld.  Retrieved from http://www.pcworld.com/article/2536 /instagram_facebook_deal_sparks_privacy
_and_quality_concerns_heres_how_to_quit.html

2. "Instagram Users Alarmed by Facebook Purchase."  Business News - ABC News Radio. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2012, from http://abcnewsradioonline.com/business-news/instagram-users-alarmed-by-facebook-purchase.html