Recently I was reading through an article published by Fast Company titled "Are you on Craig's List" published in 2000. While it might be nine years old, the article still holds up with social networking sites that pop up today. The article focuses on an interview with Craig Newmark when Craig's List was still in it's waxing period. In the interview he discusses how communities can be shaped and how to foster them to create a successful online (or offline) entity.

Some of the points Craig makes when describing a community are very profound. He describes a successful community as one that has the potential for people to meet in flesh and blood. Therefore to create a successful online community one must not segregate the Internet from connection real people make. In fact, the internet, craig states, isn't about technology at all. It's all about real people. As I thought about this statement I realized that every advancement in technology isn't useful in that it's brand new and cutting edge, it's that people have another way of connecting with each other in profound and meaningful ways.

Another statement that craig makes about the communities he builds is that there must not be advertisements based on discussions within that community. Once there is advertising based on that, a certain amount of trust from the members starts to fade away. This made me think about the new mediums that google and Facebook use to get Personal Relevant and Meaningful ads to users. For instance adWords, a google based advertising system, searches for words from search results and presents ads that are relevant to the user's input. Facebook uses your specific interests and other personalized information to try to push ads that you might be willing to click on. All of these services evade on the privacy of its users in some way. However the question is... are every on of those users revolted by the practice? Some are, and you hear of it every day. People are always complaining about the privacy issues that Facebook transcends by storing urls of previously visited sites and using your interests to sell you things. However, Facebook still contains a lot of its users. Why is it that many of them still stick around even though their respect for privacy is so blatantly ignored? Might it be that if a service has something so good to offer, people will use it no matter the cost? Therefore is Craig's statement about a community false? Personally I find in an ideal community, such as craigslist for instance, you wouldn't have to resort to such ways of advertisment. However, people don't mind to be sold to, unless it's not personal relevent or meaningful to them.

Craig also points out that every time they have a new feature idea for the site, the company pitches it to the community first and then rates the feedback. While ideally that is a great idea, in reality it just hinders and potential for progress. If a community of like-minded individuals snuffs out any idea that they don't feel will fit into what they have now, the community will seldom grow. You'll eventually have a small club of these people without any changes in pace. Change is good, and implementing change and then iterating from it to suite your needs is the best way to generate new and useful ideas. That's probably partially why craigslist hasn't changed what it looks like in years.

Fourth week - Denis Perchenko

H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ) (Base = $35.14) (Current = $36.70) UP - 8,000.00
Electrolux AB (ELUXY) (Base = $23.17) (Current = $25.87) UP - 6,400.00
Cedar Fair, L.P. (FUN) (Base = $11.62) (Current = $11.47) DOWN - 2,400.00

Third Week - Denis Perchenko

H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ) (Base = $35.14) (Current = $36.58) UP - 4,000.00

Electrolux AB (ELUXY) (Base = $23.17) (Current = $25.30) UP - 3,200.00

Cedar Fair, L.P. (FUN) (Base = $11.62) (Current = $11.69) UP - 1,200.00

Second Week -Denis Perchenko

H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ) (Base = $35.14) (Current = $36.07) UP - 2,000.00

Electrolux AB (ELUXY) (Base = $23.17) (Current = $25.18) UP - 1,600.00

Cedar Fair, L.P. (FUN) (Base = $11.62) (Current = $11.44) DOWN - 1,200.00

Week 1 Stock Pick

After doing a bit of thinking for my stock picks, I realized one important thing... it's summer time. That being said, some of the biggest stock rises you'll see are probably going to be in specific areas including:

• Travel
  
• Theme-park associations
  
• Condiment suppliers
  
• Summer-only crops
  
• Soft drinks
• Cooling appliances
• Swim wear
  

I understand there are more variables to account for, but those are major factors. Based on that, I choose these specific stocks for certain reasons. AB Electrolux was chosen because of the possibility of increased sales in refrigerators and ice-makers. It's understandable that people don't buy these kinds of appliances every day, but if there was a season in which sales increased, it would be during the summer. Therefore heightened stock prices are predictable. Also, memorial day is coming up soon and therefore condiments are going to be used in excess, which is why I'm choosing Heinz. Finally, the kids are out of school, and one company that deals on prime location parks is Cedar Fair. I am posting this on 5/16/09 at 7:45 PM:

AB Electrolux (ELUXY) $23.17 - $800
H. J. Heinz Company (HNZ) $35.14 - $1,000
Cedar Fair, L.P. (FUN) $11.62 - $1,200
_______________________
$ 3,000