5/5 (1)

Social media – the cocaine of today?

Have you ever tried to quit social media? Were you ever tired of the constant craving for logging on and checking what happened (or didn’t happen) with your friends? Well, you are not alone. Maybe you are afraid that you’re addicted to some sort of social medium or maybe you don’t want corporations analysing your data, many people have tried to reduce the time they spend on social media.

Possible factors that are contributing to why you cannot quit are related to FOMO (Fear of missing out). Everyone is on Facebook and you don’t want to miss out on all the good stuff. Also, the network effects of social media might be addictive too. Network effects mean that a specific network gets more valuable if more people are on the network. This means that if more people are on Facebook, the network more valuable to you.

Researchers from Cornell University have analysed surveys of people who tried to quit social media using the website  http://99daysoffreedom.com/. They found some possible factors that are contributing to why you cannot quit social media.

1. People who think social media is addictive or see them as habits are more likely to return to social media after having tried to quit. Did you ever go to an internet browser and typed in the url of a social website, even though you didn’t explicitly want to do that? Then you might be more likely to revert back to social media after you have tried to quit.
2. People who use social media to check and manage what other people think of them are also more likely to go back to social media.
3. If you’re in a bad mood, you are more likely to go back.
4. Other social media are also important. If you tried to quit Facebook, you’re less likely to revert back when you have other social media to go back to.

If you really want to quit, you could sign up here. (http://99daysoffreedom.com/) or try to schedule your social media time (once a day for example.) For all others: here you go: https://www.facebook.com/

Sources:
http://sms.sagepub.com/content/1/2/2056305115614851.full.pdf+html
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3014439/internet/social-media-addiction-is-a-bigger-problem-than-you-think.html

http://99daysoffreedom.com/

http://infosci.cornell.edu/news/cornell-research-these-factors-might-explain-why-we-can-or-cant-quit-facebook

 

 

 

5/5 (4)

Are banks becoming obsolete? The future of money
What started off with barter a long time ago, gradually changed into trading coins or shells and then it changed into the money as we know it.
But what will happen with money now that the world is transforming digitally?

In the physical world, money transfers are slow. They move at the speed of humans. In the digital world, money transfers are a little bit faster. But still, they only move at the speed of banks. We are in need of trusted entities who are the gatekeepers of our money transfers.
But what will happen if we change the money as we know it now into currency of only digital series of letters and numbers, rather: ‘cryptocurrency’. The best known form of cryptocurrency are bitcoins. This form of currency consists of special software updates that monitor all transactions. Every computer connected to this network has a copy of all money transfers. This means that every person in the network knows what transactions have been made. (Mind you, although every transaction is public, the transactions are anonymous, so privacy is protected). Six times per hour, the system adds files to all accounts. These files (or ‘blocks’) contain the new payments that have been made. All these files (or blocks) together form a chain: the block chain.
Because every computer connected to the network has to agree to every payment, no human checks are needed.

These cryptocurrencies eliminate the need for intermediaries, such as banks. What’s more, with cryptocurrency, one can pay to whomever he or she wants. This can be done directly to the other person, without any interference of customs, tax offices, or whatever. Of course this technology has its risks, especially related to security and legislation but it also poses great opportunities.

What do you think will happen in the future?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

https://www.rabobank.com/en/about-rabobank/customer-focus/innovation/tech-trends/articles/cryptocurrency-or-the-future-of-payments.html
http://www.coinbeurs.nl/wat-is-crypto-currency/
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Z22eElccb3E
http://themerkle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/february-6-2010-bitcoin-market-established-mod.jpg