SARNOFF'S LAW & the future of communication

Of the three laws discussed in class (Sarnoff’s , Metcalfe’s, and Reed’s Law) the law that makes the most sense and I agree with most is Sarnoff’s. While all three laws discuss different ideas of how networks increase in value with the more number of members, Sarnoff’s Law states that the value of a network increases linearly with the number of people on it. This law is typical in traditional broadcasting while discussing TV or radio network’s broadcasting system.

            To me, this law makes the most sense. It means that a network can say that they have increased in value if their members have doubled. This is valuable information when it comes to advertising. If, for example, I work at CBS and know that my network on Super Bowl Sunday has 111 million viewers, I can market this as a prime time to advertise. If, for example, I work for Budweiser and know that there are 111 million people watching CBS’s network and not even close to that many viewers on a network like TLC, then I will definitely want to advertise on CBS because my commercial will reach the eyes of so many more viewers.

            However, this value can also be thought of from a viewer’s perspective. If, for example, I am looking to join a social network to stay in contact with friends then I would want to join the network that has more people. I would not want to join Myspace at this point in time because the network of active users on Facebook is much larger. That means for me I can communicate with more people on Facebook, making it more valuable to me.

            I do not think that too much will change in terms of communication in just five years. There was nearly 100 years between the time the telephone was invented and the internet was invented. Although I think the forms of social media that will be invented will change. I foresee one of the big companies like Facebook or Google purchasing up smaller companies and combining them. Similarly to how on Snapchat you can now view the news and send “snapcash”, I predict that Facebook will create Instagram filters, image messaging that disappears in seconds, etc. combining Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat so you don’t have to use all three.  

WHY WE BLOG: Nardi, Schiano, Gumbrecht & Swartz | summary and thoughts

Why We Blog is an article based off of a study of a sample of bloggers to explore the drive behind this “grassroots form of journalism” and a way to share thoughts, talents, and ideas. The article, which was published in 2004 focuses on a diverse group of bloggers from in and around Sanford University and explains the different motivations behind why we blog.


 The study showed that there were five main motivations for blogging. They found that blogs are used to document one’s life, providing commentary and opinions, expressing deeply felt emotions, articulating ideas through writing, and forming and maintaining community forums. Before reading this article, I mainly thought that people used blogs as “web-diaries” or a way to share pictures, recipes, and crafts. However, I was excited to see that blogs are used as much more than that. It’s not all whiny people complaining about something I have little to no interest in.


 My favorite use for blogs that I learned about from this article was that blogs are used as a community forum, like how we are using this in class. I thought it was very innovative for a professor to be using them even in 2004. These days, where nearly everything is computerized, it’s important to acknowledge and incorporate the use of the internet and technology into the curriculum and schooling system.

 This article has opened up my eyes to the various motivations for blogging that I had never thought about before. They are more than an online diary; they’re a way for people to share their words, pictures, poems, thoughts, opinions, ups and downs with whoever is willing to listen. I wonder though, would this open-admittance to the mind even be necessary if we were less inclined to type away our feelings? If we were to actually share in person, attend community forums, participate in debates, and talk to real people? For now though, when we live in a world where we touch more plastic a day than we touch human beings, blogs serve as a good way to stay connected and share thoughts and ideas all over the world.

Trial & Error