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My Social Disconnect Lately I’ve been hearing that I need to be more connected with all these social networking sites. Friends and business associates tell me there’s an untapped world out there full of people that would love to hear about my magazine and me. They say the Internet can connect me to new business and, if I would just get a Facebook page for the magazine, write blogs about myself and Tweet, my ranking on Google would be higher. Not wanting to be left behind, I did some research to see if there were facts behind all this buzz or whether it’s all just hype. Here’s what I found out: the world population is 6,887,400,000, give or take a million or two. There are about 30 social networking sites being ranked and the top 10 are: Facebook at #1 followed by YouTube, Myspace,
Yahoo! Answers, Tagged, Twitter, My Yearbook, My Life, Mocospace and, in 10th place, LinkedIn. Facebook has 500 million registered users, YouTube has 14 billion views a month, Twitter has 190 million registered Twits (what? Isn’t that what you call them?) and LinkedIn has 80 million users. You get my drift: lots and lots of people telling you about and showing you videos about their lives so you can respond. All of these sites come with some form of advertising and the hope is that one out of 10,000 visitors will respond to the ads. So are these sites just another way to get advertising to you or is it truly all about the social network? My research would say it’s about both right now, so I’m going to put more effort into this project in 2011 to ensure that we offer the full range of communication: both
in print and on the Internet. For all those who think this is a revolutionary new way to buy or sell your product I would only say this: when I was a small boy in the ‘60s we had our own revelation about social interaction and changing times. My parents used to go to town, walk down main street and buy their goods from someone they knew. Then something revolutionary happened: the Shopping Mall. My parents hated the Mall, but we loved it because it was cool, fast, offered a lot of variety, was indoors and all our friends hung out there. That was our social network … sound familiar? It’s just a Mall, in a new format. I wish all of you a very prosperous New Year.
Tim Flater
Central Saanich Optometry Clinic Dr. Paul Neumann
Welcomes Dr. Gurpreet Leekha
Dr. Neumann and the staff of Central Saanich Optometry Clinic would like to welcome Dr. Gurpreet Leekha to our team. He comes to us from Coquitlam, B.C., and before that New York City, where he received his optometric education and then stayed to practice for five more years before returning to B.C.
www.seasidetimes.ca Publisher, Advertising Tim Flater 250.686.1144 ..............................................................sales@seasidetimes.ca .................................................publisher@seasidetimes.ca
Advertising Sales Sherry Ashbury 250.686.1973
Gurpreet loves to volunteer his time, from giving free eye exams to children here in B.C., to visiting Chile in 2007 and Mexico in 2001 and 2008, providing free eye exams and eyewear to the underprivileged in those countries. He is able to conduct eye examinations in English, Spanish and Punjabi.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 9-5, Tuesday/Thursday 9-6, Saturday 10-4
#1, 7865 Patterson Road, Saanichton 250.544.2210 • www.cseyecare.com SEASIDE TIMES
WEST COAST CULTURE
Editor-in-Chief Allison Smith 250.813.1745 ...........................................................editor@seasidetimes.ca
Gurpreet has special interests in the links between psychology and vision, and enjoys the challenges that come with specialty contact lens fitting and treating eye diseases. He also has undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Film Studies from Queens University.
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Publisher
www.seasidetimes.ca
Printed 12 times a year in Richmond, British Columbia by Rhino Print Solutions. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited. Reproduction requests may be made to the editor or publisher at the above contacts. Views of contributors do not necessarily reflect the policy or views of the publisher and editor. Staff of the magazine cannot be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.