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Brogan Book

From reading through chapter 21 it seems obvious that social media is an essential part of any business or organization. He says that social media and blogging can be used professionally, as a fast and efficient way to connect to your customers. In print, it can take days, even weeks, to address customer complaints. Through a blog, you can do that immediately, and avoid answering the same questions multiple times. Another useful thing about blog is that you can  customize the web space, allowing for creativity and a more apparent online personality. By establishing a professional online presence, you can become a trusted resource on the Internet. 

Wikis

I find wikis to be extremely useful, especially when conducting research or searching for something very specific. Often times, I'll try to remember something vague, and just by typing in a few key descriptive words about it, the wiki will be able to find what I'm thinking of. Although it can be a good source for information, like my high school teachers said, I don't always trust how reliable it is. I know that almost anyone can change or update a wiki, but usually they are edited and fact checked. I believe wikis are worth the investment, however, now that they are becoming more popular, there will be more and more to choose from. Investing in one at a company you work for or are really interested in would be a better idea. 

Wikia

Some of the topics on the homepage of Wikia are:

• Pixar
• Twilight Saga
• Academic Jobs
• Hot Wheels
• The Walking Dead

Twilight, of course, is prominent because the third movie just came out and they are working on a fourth. The Walking Dead is a popular show that has a huge cult following. The others came up when I hit the "remix" button, which jumbled the topics shown on the homepage. This is a good idea because it shows off things that might not be as popular. From the homepage I clicked on the Disney wiki. It is organized well, but lots of color and pictures. It has a slideshow of all of the shows of Disney right now. It also has a search option with lists of movies, TV shows, and characters. The wiki promotes other Disney related resources in its main paragraph, linking to the Disney twitter and theme park website. 

As you can see when clicking on the screen shot above, there is a header for each topic: characters, movies, TV, and TV episodes. This makes it easier to initially narrow down a search. There is also a search box in the top right to go directly to a specific page. The picture of Phineas and Ferb is part of a slideshow highlighting Disney shows. Directly above that is also a little blurb about the wiki, featuring links to its other social media sites.