Economics in networked citizens

This picture explains everything. 

Technology has bring human into networking. The development of technology plays a important role in raising up the market of Network. Without technology, Network is nothing; without Network, human is nothing. We always say that we need Network to communicate with World, know new knowledge and etc., however, Network in new century has become a great place for people to implant their very own creativity. Through creativity and network, business and organizations has started to expand their business by Network.

There are always have wars happening in business world. Every companies and organizations are very competitive. In order to become the survivor and gain trust from people, they have to be more creative and stand out among the others. And, this is why changes happened. What they have changed?

First, employers. In order to expand their business or organizations, employers start to invest on all the high-technologies software, electronics and more. Why? Because of the need of market. To be the survivor in market, employers have to change. Not only changing all the high-technologies, but also employers. There are two ways to make changes on employers. First is sending all the old employees for training. Training can helps old employees to learn new software and familiar with new technologies. Second way is dismiss all the old employees, which is a really cruel and unfair to the old employees.

Second, employees. Employees in old days are very reliable. In old days, employers usually hire employees which have real knowledge on their job. Employees work everything by themselves without relying technologies. For example, they were usually write down and collect every data in a file and everything were in written form. But employees now are more prefer to key in all the data in to computer.

"There is some evidence that individuals are demanding work with a clearer purpose and meaning, and choosing employers with a higher moral standard. "

This is one of the changes of employees - Attitude. Compare to old days, employees tend to choose the companies and employers they want but not employers choose the worker they want. Employees now tend to be more concern about their own social and personal life. They work and socialize at the same time.

"Businesses have begun to embrace the way social networks work, and are looking towards tools that take advantage of the connections they facilitate."

Social networks have play a important role in businesses world. An organization can use network to promote and expand their business. Organizations can actually target their target audiences through social network. It is because there are a lot of different people from the world are using social networking site. Organization can even target them by their demographic and geographic. Great place for business world to expand their businesses.

"Market exchange comes with huge transaction costs - a lack of information, perpetual bargaining, and a lack of organizational memory.  Saving cost is something really hard in business world. But with network, organizations can save cost easily without affecting their performance in market place. Through network, organizations can do research and get information easily without using money to hire researchers. It is convenient and save cost at the same time. For example, a boutique. They can sell their clothes online without opening retail shop. They can get stocks by ordering online; research on their target audiences, check their payment and more. Other than paying for their stocks and website payment, every single procedures are free of charge.

Network has changed the economics, the structure of a company, relationship between employers and employees, relationship between business and the job opportunities in the market. Network and businesses are closely related to each other. In the society now, network is important, just as important as money. Without money, a company will not able to win the war in business world, same case, without network, a company will not able to win the war in business world and become the survivor in the world! Let the war begins!

Welcome to Cyberspace

Welcome to Cyberspace! If you are a new comer of Cyberspace, you'll definitely discover a big new island! 

Cyberspace is wide and big, we are unable to finish discovering the mysterious of Cyberspace. By the developing of high-tech gadgets, Cyberspace will be growing wider and bigger in the future. Another reason why Cyberspace will be growing is because growth of the population of Cyberspace users. There are more people in the World are using Cyberspace and they use it for their daily uses. For me, Cyberspace is just as important as food, I need it everyday! 

Cyberspace allows me to communicate with family and friends. 

Cyberspace allows me to do online shopping.

Cyberspace allows me to gain new ideas from other country.

Cyberspace allows me to update myself with updated music, news and more.

Cyberspace allows me to complete my assignments.

Cyberspace allows me to search for map.

Cyberspace allows me to search for new jobs.

Many jobs can be done through Internet.

Buy meat and vegetables through Internet in the future?

See doctor online? 

For me, Cyberspace is like another private room of mine. I can do whatever I like in here. Like what Barlow mentioned in the journal, " We did not invite you. You do not know us, nor do you know our world." I like this sentence. Everyone is sharing their emotions, ideas, cultures and etc. in Cyberspace, only people who are immerse in it will believe and understand. If you don't know them or their private world, do not critic, do not insult, but understand. You'll definitely found something surprise. 

"We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth." 

This statement can be explain by a word, Fair. Cyberspace is a world without criticism and making no distinction between "you" and "me". Everyone are the same. Everyone have a chance to share own ideas and opinions. For me, I think Cyberspace has created a peaceful world. Everyone staying together peacefully. 

"Where there are real conflicts, where there are wrongs, we will identify them and address them by our means."

Great sentence from Barlow. However, in my opinion, some people in the Cyberspace might have wrong thinking and they can't differentiate right or wrong in the Internet, especially in Social Networking. Different people have different thinking, although people in Cyberspace will manage their conflicts by their own means, but it doesn't mean they can deal with it successfully. Cyberspace involves different people from the whole world. Different people from different world will have different thinking and mindset. Although they are in the same World (Cyberspace), but they are from different country which have different culture and ethics. It may causes arguments because they do not have same thinking towards the conflicts. 

In this case, I think government plays a important role. At least, government has a power to control conflicts happen. Not to say they control our freedom of speech, but control crimes happen in Cyberspace. For example, online gamble. Online gamble is legal in other country like USA, UK and Australia, but not in Malaysia. Another example is download illegally. This is very common thing that can be see in Cyberspace. Everyone know it is something illegal, but everyone is following the norm. Through the rules and regulation from government, numbers of crimes may be decrease but not stop them immediately, there are still a lot of work to do before stopping all the crimes and illegal activities. 

With or without the control of government is always the topic that people concern. For me, I think control appropriately will be good; not too over but yet can control the crimes and illegal activities in Cyberspace. Fair and Human Rights are still important! 

The Nature of Network - Information Ecology

Human needs plants, Plants need human! 

From what I learnt in secondary school, human needs plants, plants need human. Human needs plants to provide us oxygen and plants need us to provide them carbon dioxide. Same goes to Node and Flows.

Flows without elements of structure would be noise and nodes without flows would be dead.  

(Stadler, F.)

From this statement of Stadler, it shows how flows and nodes are important to each other. Every information have to send through flows to nodes. After nodes received the information, it will distribute to other media. Basically, the function of flows are to send the information to communicate with the World, checking existing information and also controlling the process. It is like custom in airport, it checks and evaluates the information before the send it out to nodes, like how customs check tourists' passport. 

However, nodes is like a luggage carousel in airport. Node distribute the information to the destination after they received the information from flows. For me, it is like luggage carousel, letting tourists' to receive their luggage after received from the airplane. 

While the nodes stabilize the flows of information and endow a certain consistency and continuity to the environment, they are themselves subject to the dynamics of the environment. 

(Stadler, F.)

From what I understand from this statement, Node is the one who maintain the quality and consistency of the information from flows. Both node and flows are the important subject to maintain the balance of the environment, without one of them, no one will be maintaining the information and it may cause information goes to the wrong destination, no updates on information, slow speed of processing the information and etc. 

There are four basic dimensions: 

1. Interdependency

There are many different nodes in the network, but they are connected through communicative processes. Through this connection, it has created a large shared environment which allows people to share their information and ideas. It is amazing that how they actually connected the people in the World. Nodes connect with each other to connect people together. This is why we can communicate with each other through Internet, sharing resources, sharing culture and more. 

2. Change

The flow of information are infinitely malleable.

(Stadler, F.)

There is a large space for the flow of information to expand and change. The original information can be change or update to a better quality. With this changes, audiences can get a better quality information and we can always see the updated information. According to Stadler, new flows of information can change everything (Postman, 1992). I am agree with this statement. The changes of the flows of information can change a person's perception, behavior and even own point of views on something. This is the power of changes; changes of a thing can cause the changes of many things. However, they change unconsciously and it is unpredictable. They can change every time, every where. 

3. Time-boundness

Fast speed is the normal word to describe network. It can also use to describe the information flow. As the growth of the fast-speed internet, information flow faster compare to the old days. With the fast speed of information flow, we can communicate with people in fast speed. It is really useful when you need a prompt reply. People now will not affect by the time when they are sharing information, sending e-mail or instant message to people from other country which have time differences. Time is gold, and fast speed information flow has helped people in the World to save gold. :) 

4. Differentiation

"Information is difference and the nodes survive as long as they can make a difference, which is for as long as they can produce information that is valid for others." (Stadler, F.) From what I understand from this sentence, every information that are sent from the nodes are different, they have their own ideas to convey to the audiences. When a node find their own unique things which can differentiate them from other nodes, it can consider as the survivor in the network. Why do I say so? Because there are a lot of nodes, if a node has a unique point to differentiate it to the others. 

To conclude everything, nodes and flows need each other very much, they are interdependence. Both of them changing themselves in order to sending better quality information to the audiences. Nodes and Flows work day and night and they know time is gold, this is why the word Time-Boundness occur. However, they know that they have to be different from other nodes in order to become the survivor in the network. 

Why networks matter - Manuel Castells

Found this picture from the Internet. This can really describe how I think about network. One word to describe, Complicated!

For me, Network is complicated. It involves people, media, culture, languages, technologies and many more. Network unites people from different countries and cultures. Without network, everyone will be lack of entertainment, knowledge and even lack of the fun of discovering new things. 

Why the network society now? 

The answer is in the development of microelectronices and software-based communication technologies.

                                                                                                                                        (Castells, M.)

I am agree with what Castells said about "Why the network society now?" Technologies are slowly developing and it has become more high-tech compare to the old days. The development of technologies make networks become wider and bigger. Everything now are dealing through networks. Without technologies, network will not occur. From what I see, high-tech gadgets are everywhere! iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, HTC are not something new anymore, even children are familiar with these gadgets. People use these gadgets to communicate with the world and network plays a important role here. Through gadgets, people can access to the network; through network, people can communicate with world. 

Network society expands on a global scale. 

"Networks know no boundaries", says Castells. It is just like a global, we hardly discover all the places or countries in the world. So, is this why the word "Global Network" occur? Just a random question! Haha! Anyway, I think network is big enough for people to discover. No one can view and discover all the knowledge and ideas in network. Just because of the unlimited knowledge, societies can get influence easily by the new knowledge, for example, culture, behavior and attitude. discovering the knowledge and idea through network, people tend to influenced Network is a huge place for people to communicate, for politicians to do announcement or communicate with citizens, for organizations to upgrade their company and market.

According to Castells, networked organisations outcompete all other forms of organisation, particularly the vertical, rigid, command-and-control bureaucracies. From my point of view, I think network is powerful for an organization to expand their company. Through network, organizations can actually expanding their company without using any boring yet formal ways.

Why do a organization choose to use a old and outdated way to expand their company when there are more creative and effective ways? The creative and effective ways that I'm trying to say is Network. In my opinion, people now always implement their creativity into Network. Organizations can expand their company by Network with creativity. For instance, social networking site. Social networking site is wide and covered big coverage as many of us are using social networking site like Facebook, Twitter and all. An organization can uses a social networking site to attract business partner or communicate with customers which can help organization understand the market as well as expanding their market share in the world.

Imagine our world without Network. I can imagine how people sending letter through pigeon; people search place by map not google map. the important thing is, people from other countries will not know Malaysian is living in the house not on the tree.