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photo by steed media service
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Do you find yourself in the dark about recent technologies and terms
that are filtering into your workplace communications? Don’t want to
“fake the funk” when it comes to the correct lingo? This list is for
you. -forrest green III
Podcast – It’s a downloadable audio (and sometimes video) file that is
often used to disseminate tutorials, news stories or radio shows. Users
can subscribe to regularly recurring podcasts via RSS (see below).
RSS – Stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Media outlets offer RSS
feeds. The feeds enable the outlets to automatically update and
distribute their content to anyone who has subscribed to their feed.
Blog – A shortened form of weblog, a blog is a Web site that displays
recurring journal entries. The earliest blogs were mostly personal, but
thousands of corporate blogs exist today – more than 8 percent of
Fortune 500 companies have one. A blog that uses video posts instead of
text is called a vlog.
Second Life – an online, virtual world that boasts over six million
users with its own economy and currency. A user’s virtual self is
called an “avatar.”
LinkedIn – A MySpace for the business world, this online networking Web
site allows users to post profiles and search other users’ profiles to
make professional contacts, search for new clients, or recruit for open
positions. The basic membership is free.
SMS – Stands for “Short Message Service.” With SMS services, users can
exchange text messages over wireless networks. It works well for
disseminating real-time info updates, like traffic reports or weather
conditions, to mobile devices.
Web 2.0 – This phrase coined in 2003 usually refers to online tools and
communities that employ a model of multiple-user collaboration rather
than static, informative content.
Wiki – This is a type of Web site whose content can be easily edited by
users. The best-known wiki is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that
any Web visitor can add to or edit, but wikis are suitable for many
collaborative projects.
