X204 Project

2004 was a year in innovation that everyone should remember. This is the year that effected nearly every human being either directly, or indirectly. It is said as of 2010 “one out of every dozen people on the planet has a Facebook account” (Grossman, 2010). Whether you realized this transformation or not, it plays a vital role in our economy. Some of us love it, others hate it. I have heard it called a gold rush, networking tool, and the demise of humanity. Which side you choose to be on is your individual filter of reality.

Yes, it is one of the most used social networking sites in the world today. Facebook.com. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s owner is valued at “$55.9 billion dollars” (Wikipedia, 2017). The site works by allowing users to build profiles of anything that can assume an identity such as a person, pet, or business to name a few. Once the profiles are built, the user has now agreed to the privacy statements herein the agreement you accept for using the company’s service, which is social networking. In return for using this service, you agree to allow them to use certain aspects of your profile for marketing purposes, which is also a way that they make their money. Since nearly two billion have profiles, Facebook has a vast array of human assets that can spread viral content, making them one of the best ways to advertise in today’s economy.

The aspect of collectively networking so many people through a social platform that allows for individual personalization continues to drive growth and innovation throughout the technology community. This platform practice is a template for many to learn from and grow with

On the other side of the business websites, we have a local plastic engineering firm that makes their money from manufacturing goods rather than the internet. C&T Engineering, Incorporated was founded in 1986 and their practice is to provide tooling and engineering expertise. They may not be an internet minded company, but they do have a website with a dot com domain thus making them a company represented with an online presence.

After reviewing their webpage, the main objective of the site is to inform potential customers of their background, location, and capabilities. The site does not allow for individual personalization, but offers the ability to inquire about servicing a need in this industry of tooling and engineering.

In comparison, both web pages have dot com domains and are representative of their comparative knowledge of how users interact with their respective online content.

In contrast, Facebook allows users to build personalized accounts and socially network with their community in exchange for the information you provide on that account. This site is monetized, meaning that they use your demographics to sale to companies that are in the market for someone like you. Because they have so many accounts connected, they have an enormous field of assets to sale, making them the leader in this style of business webpages. C&T’s website on the other hand, is built to inform you about the certain information hoping to attract your business. From what I have seen, they do not have personalization or social networking capabilities directly on their web portal thus they do not monetize their online content.

After reviewing both sites, it is my determination that having the ability to personalize an individual profile drives users to want to be at your web site and the internet is a vast forum of content that everyone wants to share. As color tv was to black and white broadcast, the internet is the new age of advertisement compared to traditional news applications. Keeping this in mind, you have to decide if you want to your website to be a marketing tool or just a plain informative page that barely generates viewership.

In conclusion, websites that just offer information on their services are missing out on opportunities to increase capital by not generating the ability to network and personalize. Networking and sites that generate wanted content, will continue to share a multibillion dollar advertising industry.