2 The Next Level

Archive for the ‘Web 2.0’ Category

Not to long after our new President of the United States was sworn in change instantly happened to the White House website.

The new Whitehouse.gov website is run by Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House.

http://change.gov/ is now redirected to http://www.whitehouse.gov

There is even a new White House Twitter account @whitehouse_gov

According to TwitterCounter the Whitehouse twitter account added 4,764 followers yesterday and predicts another 7k the next day, with 76k by the end of 3o days.

There is no sign of an official Facebook page for the White House yet but if one does crop up I will keep you posted.
If you see one before me please shoot me an email or send it in a comment on this post.

My favorite part of the website currently is the THE BRIEFING ROOM. President Barack Obama plans to publish a weekly video address every Saturday morning of his presidency and you can find it under this heading. The Briefing Room also has a section for the official White House Blog. I look forward to seeing and reading the many post but I don’t yet see a way one can make comments to the blog.

President Obama did a masterful job using the Internet leading up to his eventful election and will continue to use social media as a way to stay in touch with the many Americans that helped put him into office.  President Obama gave us many lessons on how we as Solopreneurs and Small Business people can use social media to help promote and market out businesses. Please see my blog post Barack 2.0 Will Help Solopreneurs Understand Social Media Marketing to learn more.

If you would like to take a look at the old  George W. White House Website take a look at the link below.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070910183923/http://www.whitehouse.gov/

I, for one look forward to the change our country is headed toward and I am so proud to not just be an African American  like our new President but finally proud to be an American.

All the best

and May God Bless our New First Family

JB

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Happy New Year. I have to apologize first to my many readers for taking so long to post for the new year. I have been trying to determine what I am going to focus on both professionally and personally for 2009 and could not get my act together until now. This post will be short and sweet because I just want to pay homage to just one Web 2.0 application that has really made an impact on me and many millions of others.

Twitter, oh and by the way my Twitter address is @jbrath. If you don’t have a Twitter account yet get one NOW. It is free and will bring you into a whole new world of social media interaction. I got so wrapped up in Twitter I grabbed the domain name Twarketing.com to study the many companies using Twitter as a marketing tool.

There are many books on Twitter but I am personally waiting for the release of Joel Comm’s book Twitter Power to come out next month.

If you are new to Twitter, one of the best blogs to get up to speed is Twitip.com TwiTip is edited by Darren Rowse from ProBlogger

There are even more Twitter application to support your using Twitter. Some of my favorites are Tweetdeck.com, SocialToo.com and Twittercounter.com

You can also use Twitter’s search engine when  you want to do research on something and get real time responses.

So I would have to again say that Twitter made the largest impression on me in 2008 and I am looking forward to what they have in store for 2009.

Have a blessed and prosperous 2009 and please tell me your experience with Twitter Good or Bad.

All the best

JB

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If you want to learn more about Social Networking you have got to check out the animation below and visit http://www.vizedu.com. These interactive animations are awesome teaching tools.

VizEdu’s objective is to explain Social Media, Web2.0, Search and Emerging technologies visually. They make learning visual, fun, simple and actionable.

Take a look at these three Social Networking case studies and let me know what you think.

All the best

JB

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With the holiday season fast approaching make sure you download the PayPal Plug-in to maximize your online purchasing experience. I have written in past blog post about the advantages of having a PayPal account in order for your Solopreneurship or Small business to accept credit cards. (PayPal.com Makes Ecommerce Easy for Solopreneurs)

PayPal now has a Browser Plug-in that will make your online shopping experience easier and more secure.  

The plug-in puts PayPal right on your browser. You get exclusive plug-in features like AutoFill and Save Receipts, plus shortcuts to send money and check your PayPal balance. Secure Cards let you use PayPal online almost anywhere MasterCard is accepted – even where PayPal is not yet a payment option.

Secure Cards are MasterCard debit card numbers that you generate and control. You can use these numbers to shop online even at places that don’t yet accept PayPal.

How do Secure Cards protect me?

You generate a unique Secure Card number for that purchase only (unless you choose to create a multiple-use card). You’re 100% protected against unauthorized purchases made using your Secure Cards.

How do I use Secure Cards to pay online?

When you check out, a notifier drops down in your browser window asking if you’d like to pay using a Secure Card. You can generate a Secure Card number and pay right on the spot.

What is Fraud Site Alert?

PayPal lets you know when you land on a suspicious website. If you get a Fraud Site Alert, don’t enter any information. And please let PayPal know by emailing  plugin-fraud@paypal.com

What is AutoFill?

AutoFill saves you time by entering your billing and shipping address in one click. It uses the information you have stored in the plug-in.

How can I view my Secure Card transactions?

Go to Account Overview>Account Activity to see all your Secure Cards transactions. You can view your Secure Cards history on the Secure Cards page.

How many receipts can I save?

You can save up to 100 receipts for any rolling 30-day period. If you attempt to save more than that, you’ll be prompted to first delete some receipts from the previous 30 days before you can add any new ones.

Currently the PayPal plug-in only works with the Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla FireFox browsers. Like most debit cards, there are limits on how much you can spend in a day. The Secure Cards daily limit is $1,000. You can request an increase from the PayPal’s Payment Sources page.

So if you are looking to take advantage of all the great online deals this coming Cyber Monday, make sure your browsers is equipped with the PayPal Plug-in.

All the best

JB

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If you have a linkedin.com account you may want to try their new Linkedin Applications section.  Linkedin.com is a Web 2.0 social media website designed to help you with online networking for you or your business business.

The Linkedin Application suite is currently limited to 9 different applications right now. Company Buzz, Box.net Files, Blog Link, Reading List by Amazon, My Travel, SlideShare Presentations, Google Presentation, Huddle Workspaces, and WordPress.

I have tried all the applications but the ones that seem to work the best without any trouble in loading is Reading List by Amazon and SlideShare Presentations. These application are supposed to be similar to the many Facebook application that help you enhance your experience with the website. Unfortunately Linkedin may need a bit more time to get all these applications up to speed.

What’s great about having these applications on is they allow you to optimize your Lnkedin profile page. Given time these application will allow your Linkedin network to follow your blog posts using the Blog Link or WordPress app. Follow your Tweets with the Company Buzz app and follow your uploaded presentations with SlideShare and Google Presentations.

What’s not so great is the lack of support of these applications if they are not working on your profile page. I have been trying to get answers to why I can’t change the URL to the Blog Link app and why the Company Buzz app won’t show up on my profile page at all. All they give you is a feedback form that says your feedback is helpful but will not get a response.

As impressed as I am with Linkedin as a whole I am less than impressed with the roll out of these new applications. I would have thought that the 9 applications currently available would have been tested on multiple profile pages using multiple browsers. I have tried the applications on Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Crome all with the same results.

Even though I can only get 2 of the 9 to work consistently on my profile page, I still have hope that all of the applications will eventually perform to their fullest.  If you would like to see some of the Linkedin Applications in action please take a look at my profile page below and click on the View full Profile button on the bottom of the page. Oh and please leave me comments on your experience with loading and viewing these applications on your Linkedin Profile page

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyalexanderbrathwaite

All the best

JB

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