Social Networking Platforms - What to Choose

Why is it to me - Google+ just seems like a ghost town that's nice to be around.. Or even a village where there isn't that many people but there is enough there to get some good information and have a good time..

Whereas Facebook is more a downtown city - with some people too busy to say a word to you to they will leave a post and dash off and if they have time to comment back they will - but now its not so much of a Social Faux Pas if someone was to not reply to a comment on Facebook.. You will have some close friends that you will talk to, look at, and actually take notice of on your News Feed and the rest are just people that are there and that you do not know..

And then we have Twitter - I am unsure of what to say about Twitter really - I haven't really spent that much time with Twitter to say a lot about it.. It more just seems like somewhere that you can put random links, comments and photos or videos onto.. In a way though now - Twitter has become a Social Media advertising platform for celebrities.. Not just to advertise products, but themselves also..

However, I believe that all 3 are quite diverse in their approach to Social Networking.. Although Google+ will need to differentiate itself some more from Facebook to get it's foot in the door and be recognised as a Social Network of its own instead of trying to steal the thunder of Facebook - which makes people angry to just think about.. I mean Twitter did it didn't they - they created a more diverse approach to Social Networking - even though there are so many people that still don't get Twitter (including me) it is still a hugely popular Social Networking Site and even though I don't get it that much, I still post stuff to it.. Whereas when I'm on Google+ I still find myself longing for the safety of Facebook with all my friends.. And I try so hard to post things I find on Google+ to Facebook for all my friends to see (as most of them are not on Google+).. But when I can post things to the entire world I guess they would see it.... Eventually..

But after all I think I'm going to stick with all three and see how this pans out.. For any people with paranoia or who watch way too much Alex Jones, this would be a bad idea due to the digital footprint I would be leaving, but ah well - if I ever wanted to remove all my digital footprint from the internet, I would probably just Google it :)..

Watch Dogs - Not That Far from the Truth?

Yesterday as part of my daily YouTube and Game Trailer binge and encountered a chilling, interesting and brilliant trailer for the 2013 game 'Watch Dogs'.

Here's the plot for the game taken from Wikipedia:
The storyline of Watch Dogs is built around the concept of information warfare, data being interconnected, and the world's increasing use of technology — questioning who exactly runs the computers they depend on. Set in a version of Chicago, Illinois simply referred to as the "Windy City", it is one of many cities to feature a supercomputer known as a "ctOS" (Central Operating System). The system controls almost every piece of technology in the city, and contains information on all of the city's residents and activities which can be used for various purposes. The game will follow an anti-hero named Aiden Pearce, a highly skilled hacker described as a person who uses both "fists and wits." The gameplay demo shown at E3 depicted Aiden's attempt to assassinate a media mogul named Joesph DeMarco, who had been wrongly acquitted on charges of murder.

Also I have included the trailer for the game below:





Now most of the elements of this game are false and made up for dramatisation of the game's storyline. However after viewing the trailer I took a step back and thought - "Most of my life is actually online", this is no revelation or secret - its obvious and also as obvious that I'm not alone.

We do everything online now. From shopping to chatting. Creating documents and banking. The people who collect this data are sitting on a gold mine and they're already tapping into it. If you search anything on Google and then go to other websites such as YouTube you will get personalised advertisements for the things that you were searching for. Now anybody tech savvy will inform you that this is just using cookies and the like to track your movements on the web to be able to give you relevant content for a more personalised web browsing experience. Now on one side of this, this is very true.

However this would just be showing you the tip of the iceberg as Facebook does the same thing but on a more grand scale - Facebook looks into your profile ans gives you advertisements based on your profile. Such as dating services when your listed as Single and restaurants when your listed as In a Relationship.

You may just be thinking at this time that I'm just talking about advertisements. Well yeah as that is the main thing that they need to run these websites and also attempt to get more money out of your pocket. However there are many other examples of data collection that aren't just about the advertising game. By viewing certain web pages, videos, buying things from shopping websites and more are all collected. And by people viewing these things they can work out what your world views are, what type of person you are and also how to be able to change your thoughts and beliefs to those that are more like what they want.

This is the new premise of the world now. I'm not saying STOP USING THE INTERNET. I won't stop, because its a beautiful thing. The massive amount of information shared across minds is something that mankind has to be proud of. However what you must remember (as the story of Watch Dogs depicts), is that this is a collection of information. Information that can be obtained and used in ways of influence - good or bad.

Maybe in the end this is just the ramblings of a mad man, and all of this was just brought on because of my YouTube binge of Alex Jones - I believe this would be most likely.

However what I can be certain about, is that Watch Dogs is going to be an out of this world game. With excellent graphics and a solid, semi-realistic storyline, which will have people gripped from the beginning. But we will have to ponder over how the story mirrors real life for a while, because the slated release date is 2013.

But as an appetiser, have a look at the game play video below - from E3 - to take you back to reality.