iPhone Group --> 9/19/08

After reviewing many groups I decided to follow an iPhone group. I was going to follow a group on the presidential debate but thought that would be a popular pick. I am putting all these blogs up all at once because I went home for the weekend and we switched internet providers. I did all my group observations on my iPhone while I was home and wrote everything down on paper. I was not that crazy to write all these blogs out on the iPhone even though it is pretty easy to type on it.

First thing I had to do is pick up the previously started threads about certain topics. A lot of the topics that were posted were about technical problems about the iPhone. There were also people that posted new items or apps for the phone. Apps that I will be discussing over the next couple of days are programs that you could download to your phone. These program interests for these applications range from games, financial programs, social networks, and radio stations. They have something for everyone in the apps store. Some apps are free and some you have to pay for using your iTunes account. The first thread that I jumped into and observed was about a wireless headset. Mike (brokecarguy45) opened a thread asking any suggestions for a headset that he could listen to music on and still receive calls on as well. What made this thread interesting was that he gave recognition that this topic may have been covered already. He stated, “I know you've probably answered this before, but I haven't paid close enough attention.” This is funny because he admits that he comes on the group every once in a while. He is probably the type that uses groups like these as quick answers to his problems or curiosity. This is not a bad thing at all. I feel that there are many kinds of users on these group chats. Mike in this situation is the informational type and comes on when he needs something.

The next educational remark that came after this was from Bill (boulware0224). He gives advice on a headset and leaves it at that. It seems that Bill is a regular on this site because he is in a lot of previous threads. I would put Bill in the knowledgeable category. These people know a lot about a topic and offer their advice on certain issues for fun or just to help people out. There are many people that are part of forums because they get pleasure out of being part of something they have. Examples would be phone owners in a phone forum or a certain type of car (Lexus, Infiniti, BMW, and Mercedes) owner in a car forum. Mike decides to Google the headset that Bill recommended and goes on to purchase this headset. I think this is a successful thread for many reasons.

Threads sometimes have spam in it which interferes with the flow of communication. There was a remark in this thread that was an advertisement but the conversation continued as if it was never there. Mike had a question about a good headset and Bill came to the rescue with advice and it seemed to work out. Are all threads going to go this smoothly? Of course not, this is an unusual case. Some other threads consisted of a view on an app titled Shazam, belt clips for the iPhone, and some more spam. Shazam is an interesting topic for this iPhone thread as well. This app listens to a song for a brief period and then tells you what song it is and who is the artist. This even works in movie theatres, restaurants, and on a TV show that has music in the background. This is a pretty cool app I have it myself. Well I am going to close it out here because there is a lot more I can go on about but, there is tomorrow.