Response to Questions

1) My partner and I believe that user-generated content is becoming more accepted because it provides realism and in some cases comic relief. The user-generated content is also making certain advertisements stand out such as the etrade babies. Everybody knows them because their funny. We do believe that over time user-generated content will get better. This won't have any effect on professional production because there are still a lot of professional production coming out and people are working hard on it.

2) The article that we chose was US Hockey Team Starts to Believe Again from the New York Times. We used the following tags for the article: Hockey, Olympics, Canada, 2010, Upset, Victory, Underdog, Physical, Advancements, Goals. We then compared this article to others that only had them tagged as US, Olympic, and Hockey.

3) Transparency is important in the social media because it is a company's goal or dedication to development a certain trust with the consumer on their brand, product, or whatever it may be. If the company looses transparency (such as trust, closure, and companionship) then it is very easy for false lies or a misinterpretation of the brand or product to go around. When that happens it creates almost a domino effect that could eventually hurt the brand or even the company. However, if the company is transparent from the start then it will be less of a shock if inside matters become exposed therefore giving the company and easier way at re-establishing itself. It is still more important in the offline world because it's the same with building a friendship among peers or trying to create a relationship with a partner.