Archive for 2012

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Weekly Wrap – Twitter Tuesday

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

Twitter begins rolling out weekly digest emails

A few months after acquiring Summify, a startup that would email you links that were popular within your social network, Twitter has begun rolling out a weekly digest email. Sort of a cross between the Summify emails and Twitter’s new discover tab, the email is a digest of the “most relevant” tweets and stories.

In addition to links to the stories, the email will also contain the profile picture of the users you follow that have shared it. You can click on the link to finish reading the whole article, then tweet directly from the email. The digest will also contain the “most engaging” tweets in your network, meaning tweets from people you don’t follow that were replied to or retweeted by those you do follow.

The digest will be rolled out to everyone over the next few weeks and you can manage preferences or opt out of the email in the notification preferences area of Twitter.

Massachusetts ruling on jurors and social media

Massachusetts Appeals Court has issued the state’s first decision on juries and social media. It has decided that judges need to better police jurors’ Internet activity and better educate and explain the policies to them. Many jurors do not realize that “refraining from conversations about a case also means not posting anything about it on Facebook or Twitter.” The ruling states that “Instructions not to talk or chat about the case should expressly extend to electronic communications and social media.’’

Obama, marriage equality, and social media

Last Wednesday, President Barack Obama said “Same-sex couples should be able to get married,” and the Internet went wild.  According to the Washington Post, mentions of his name or Twitter handle (Barack Obama or @BarackObama) was mentioned over 100,000 times on Wednesday. Terms related to same-sex marriage were mentioned 1.6 million times that day, reaching a peak of 7,347 mentions per minute. According to RetweetingObama.com,  a tweet with the quote has been retweeted over 61,000 as of today at noon.

First live-tweeted brain surgery

Back in February, Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital in Houston became the first hospital to live-tweet open heart surgery. Last Wednesday, they reached more than 14 million people with their social media coverage of Dr. Dong Kim’s brain tumor resection on a 21-year-old female.

Using the hashtag #MHbrain, YouTube videos, Pinterest, and more, the hospital has demystified a complicated surgery (WARNING: links lead to graphic images and videos of the surgery). In addition to pictures and videos to help viewers visualize the procedure, the tweeters also kept the medical jargon to a minimum and explained the surgery in terms people would better understand. A brain tumor specialist was also on hand to answer questions tweeted to the hospital.

If you were having surgery, would you feel comfortable with the hospital live-tweeting it?

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Facebook Introducing an App Center and Paid Apps

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

On Wednesday, Facebook announced that it will be launching its own app center, as well as paid Facebook apps. The center will be built into its website as well as the iOS and Android Facebook apps. While the app center may look very similar to Apple’s App Store or Google Play, it will not try to compete with them and will operate quite differently.

Facebook App Center

In the past, there was no place to browse listings of Facebook apps or mobile apps that use Facebook Login. People mostly find out about apps through advertisements, word of mouth, reading about apps on websites and blogs, and by seeing stories in their news feeds about what friends are playing. Users could also find out about mobile apps that used Facebook Login by browsing the app store on their mobile device. Soon, we will be able to see all of the apps that meet Facebook’s guidelines listed in one place.

All apps will have a details page that gives users information about the app and what makes it unique, in addition to ratings. Quality and ratings will play a huge role in the success of an app, as VentureBeat says in addition to gathered user ratings, Facebook will also collect data on user behaviors such as how long they stay on the app and how often they come back to it. Facebook will give developers access to this data through a new Insights report. High-quality apps will be prominently featured in the app center, while that don’t meet quality guidelines or receive poor user ratings will not be featured.

While it may seem like this app center would compete with those by Apple and Google, it will actually work with them. A lot of the apps featured in the app center, such as Words With Friends or Draw Something, are also mobile apps that need to be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play. The post on the Facebook Developer Blog states:

“The App Center is designed to grow mobile apps that use Facebook – whether they’re on iOS, Android or the mobile web. From the mobile App Center, users can browse apps that are compatible with their device, and if a mobile app requires installation, they will be sent to download the app from the App Store or Google Play.”

Paid Facebook Apps

In addition to announcing the Facebook App Center, the blog post also had information about the introduction of paid apps. While apps have long been able to have in-app purchases to make money, all apps have previously been free to use. In the coming weeks, we will begin to see apps that charge a flat fee to use, in which Facebook will receive 30% of the transactions.

Are you looking forward to being able to discover new apps more easily? Can you see yourself paying to use a Facebook app?

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Weekly Wrap – Twitter Tuesday

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Twitter rolls out new ‘Discover’ tab

Last Tuesday, Twitter announced on its blog that it would be improving the ‘Discover’ tab, a feature introduced with the ‘Let’s Fly’ version of Twitter in December. The tab presents trending topics, suggestions on who to follow, and recommends stories. An improved recommendation algorithm will give you even more personalized content and put that content in social context.

For each recommended story, you can click ‘View Tweets’ to actually see which people in your network tweeted about the article, and what they had to say. You can also reply, favorite, or retweet those tweets right from the tab, or tweet your own comments on the article. In addition to the Twitter.com website, the tab will also be improved on the mobile site and mobile apps, both of which have also received recent updates.

French Twitter users use code names to discuss election

In France, it is against the law to publish election results before 8 p.m. on election night (Sunday night). To circumvent this embargo, French Twitter users came up with code words to discuss the election under the #RadioLondres hashtag. Radio Londres was a BBC broadcast in WWII that used code words to communicate during Nazi occupation of France.

Several code names were used for each candidate. Incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy was referred to as Rolex or Hungarian Tokaji wine, while challenger François Hollande was nicknamed Gouda cheese or Flanby. The hashtag was also used in the first round of elections last month, but a lot of the code names for the candidates differed. Hollande won the election.

National Zoo live-tweets artificial insemination of panda

For the eighth time, the National Zoo attempted to produce another baby panda by artificial insemination of Mei Xiang on April 30. This time, instead of writing a press release, the entire procedure was live-tweeted by Dave Wildt, head of the Center for Species Survival at the zoo.

Using the zoo’s Twitter account and the hashtag #PandaAI, Wildt brought the experience to interested Twitter users. Tweets included pictures of the equipment used as well as the giant panda, details about the procedure, and facts about giant pandas.

They won’t know if the insemination took or not until the summer, but the zoo will continue to update everyone on Mei’s status via social media and a panda newsletter. If it worked, I can’t wait to see TwitPics of a little baby panda!

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Is YouTube saying goodbye to “Thumbs Down”?

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

When Google originally said that Google+ would become a social layer on top of everything else the company does, they weren’t kidding around. From the +1 button to Search, Plus Your World, Google is adding Google+ integration to as many of their products as possible. But at what expense?

Once again, Google has angered an actor from Start Trek. Yesterday, Wil Wheaton posted on Tumblr (warning: profanity) about a change he noticed while watching videos on YouTube. Instead of the ‘thumbs up’ and ‘thumbs down’ icons to vote on a video, he saw a Google+ ‘Like’ button.

Google has told Danny Sullivan, “We are currently running experiments showing different Google+ buttons in YouTube in order to provide the best user experience.” I took a look at screenshots of the buttons being tested, and none of them seem to have a button equivalent to the ‘thumbs down.’

A lot of people are angry because with these new buttons, only Google+ users will be able to vote on YouTube videos. I’m not disagreeing with them, but am more drawn to the fact that there will be no “1-click” way to say that you don’t like the video.

If you wanted to express negative feedback, you would have to comment. After years of Facebook users begging for a ‘dislike’ button, why would they remove their equivalent to it?

I’m starting to worry that it’s going to become harder to give negative feedback on social networks. While it may not be a lot of work to type out your comment and post it, why is it so much easier to agree with content than it is to disagree?

Video comments seem to be a place for users with strong opinions, whether they are positive or negative. This is because those without strong opinions don’t want to take the time to type out their thoughts, which then may be attacked by other users. If you just like a video a little bit, it’s much easier to click the ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ button and move on to another video.

Why do social networks make it so easy and quick to give content positive feedback, but not negative? Do you agree that both opinions should have 1-click options? Let us know in the comments!

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One Problem with the Convergence of Search and Social

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

I have always looked forward to search and social media becoming more connected. The two realms are already integrated, but there is still tremendous progress that must be made before search results are a true and accurate representation of a combination of what your social network endorses and what ranks high for SEO.

Google’s introduction of Search, Plus Your World in January was another step in the right direction, although it has been criticized for only including social results from its’ own struggling social network, Google+.

But I recently read an article on Search Engine Land that made me completely rethink my whole outlook on this emerging trend. In “Social Search: Dead on Arrival? Or On Life Support?” Trond Lyngbø discusses how incorporating social signals into search results just introduces one more way to game the system.

In addition to “black-hat” SEO tactics such as buying backlinks, people can also buy Twitter followers, Facebook ‘Likes,” or Google +1′s. Without social signals incorporated into search results, these morally questionable activities had less of an effect on Internet users. But now we are bombarded with “personalized” suggestions of who to follow and what to ‘Like.’

The article also prompted me to think about holding contests on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Have you ever entered a contest that required you to ‘Like’ a Facebook page, tweet about the contest, or follow a Twitter account hosting the contest?

In the past, doing this would increase the the visibility of the company on social networks. But as social media becomes more prominent in search, this could also result in that company’s website/content/social profiles ranking higher in search results.

I think people are beginning to forget that following a Twitter account, liking a Facebook page, or giving +1 to a website is considered personally endorsing that content.

So tell us, what do you think?

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Content Curation as a Social Media Filter

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

As soon as a wake up in the morning I unlock my iPhone to find 4 Facebook notifications, 7 emails from Living Social, 2 Linked In updates, 10 Foursquare notifications and 3 tweet mentions. This doesn’t even include regular old text messages. The amount of information delivered to us from social media is growing rapidly and it’s becoming difficult to distinguish what’s a Facebook comment from an old friend and what’s a meaningless advertisement on LinkedIn. With the ever expanding presence of social media, smart consumers are finding ways to filter out information that’s worthless to them, and creating tools to organize the information that matters. These filters make it more important for businesses to assert their brands in a way that consumers won’t tune them out.

Content curation is one way thought leaders are emerging as a critical filter. Curation is the act of individuals with a passion for a content area to find, contextualize, and organize information. Curators provide a consistent update regarding what’s interesting, happening, and cool in their focus.  When brands find a way to act as content curators for their consumers, adding meaning or value to their daily lives, they are truly engaging brand loyalty. For example, “Eat This Not That”  shares exercise and eating habit tips on its Facebook page daily, engaging thousands of consumers.

It is important for brands to recognize the “to-do” list for their audience. For example, clothing brand Free People found that the music festival Coachella was an important event for their customers. Therefore, they made a how-to video on DIY body paint for on-trend festival decoration. This shows how closely Free People was listening to its customers. A key aspect of content curation is listening to the web and pulling out breaking news, trends, wisdom and inspiration related to your audience.

Pinterest, the fastest growing web service, creates tools to organize information, which can work well for brands also. Whole Foods Market on Pinterest has over 11 thousand followers. It frequently re-pins other users’ pins, reflecting the interests of its followers and embracing the social-sharing aspect of Pinterest. A less obvious brand on Pinterest is General Electric, which features inspirational pins, “badass machines” and other boards that bring GE to life.

Some important questions  to ask yourself when utilizing social media are:

  • Is this content worthy of a share?
  • Will this content add value to my consumer’s life?
  • Is this content unique from the other million posts out there?

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Weekly Wrap – Twitter Tuesday

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Nike controlling sneaker madness with Twitter RSVPs

People love sneakers, sometimes too much. In February, the release of Nike’s limited edition Foamposite Galaxy sneaker resulted in a riot in a Florida mall. To prevent this sort of mayhem in the future, Nike is launching a Twitter reservation system to help manage product launches at Nike stores.

Nike’s FAQ explains the process for reserving sneakers and picking them up at one of the 12 participating retail stores. First, a user must follow the account of the individual store. The store will announce the RSVP date a day or two in advance, and then at a random time on the RSVP day, the account will tweet a product-specific hashtag. Within the next 60 minutes, customers must direct message (DM) the store account with the product’s hashtag, their full name, and their shoe size. The store will then send DM confirmations to those who secured a pair of sneakers in their size. The store will also specify a time for the customer to come pick up their shoes on the day of the product launch.

The new system is an interesting take on customer service via social media and will hopefully improve product launches for the company.

Twitter remembers Dick Clark

Dick Clark is probably the only person that could get New Years Eve to become a top trending topic in the middle of April. His passing on April 18 was the end of an era for the entire entertainment industry.

While it’s not unusual for lots of celebrities to tweet about the passing another, I personally felt the tweets about Dick Clark’s death were incomparable. So many celebrities shared their personal experiences with Clark, from working with him to fond memories of his fun side, such as the tweet pictured to the left by Danny Bonaduce.

William Shatner takes his millionth follower to dinner

We love writing about stories that prove celebrities really do care about their fans. Lucky for us, celebrities making grand gestures seems to be catching on. When William Shatner become close to reaching one million followers, he promised that he would take his millionth follower out to dinner. His millionth follower ended up being Troy Pound from South Carolina. Shatner recently made good on his promise while traveling to South Carolina for his one-man show, “Shatner’s World.” He took Pound and his wife out to dinner and posted a video with them on YouTube.

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When a mobile-only strategy will work

Thursday, April 19th, 2012

Instagram has had quite the few weeks, from moving away from an iOS-only app by releasing a version for Android, to then being bought by Facebook. If there was any doubt before that Instagram was an example of a wildly successful mobile app, there definitely isn’t anymore. But what really got some talking is how the service became so successful with basically no website.

Without a doubt, this strategy cannot and will not work for all apps. But here are things that anyone with a mobile app should consider:

When and where will people want to use your app?

Instagram’s mobile-only strategy worked because people take pictures on the go. This is not as true for viewing photos, which was remedied with the sharing capabilities. By allowing sharing to social networks as well as assigning a URL to each photo that could be viewed on a computer, the photos had a reach beyond the app’s users alone. This is an excellent marketing strategy as well, because the photos stood out compared to “no filter” pictures that make up most of the shared photos on social networks.

However, some types of apps simply cannot be limited to mobile devices only. I believe productivity apps, in particular, need strong web companions. Apps such as the note-taking app Evernote are great for jotting things down on the go. But people using Evernote frequently use it for getting work done. How productive would it be if while doing work on your computer, you had to constantly refer to your phone?

How much simplicity can we get away with?

Instagram focuses on simplicity: a simple interface, and a simple process. You can upload a photo to Instagram, choose a filter, write a caption, and share it to other social networks in just a few seconds, given you’re not as indecisive as I am when it comes to choosing a filter.

But once again, this approach can fail. While simple interfaces can be beautiful, it is more important to guarantee that the user can easily do anything they would want to be able to do with your app. Never sacrifice aspects of the experience in exchange for a better-looking app.

How much information do users need about your app?

I’m not going to name names, but I hate when you need to download an app just to figure out what it actually does. While it’s one thing for your app’s features to be limited to mobile-only, it’s another to limit the information. Sure, you can find a blog post or review of almost any app, but people will still want more information. Nothing is worse than downloading an app that does not have a ‘Help’ or ‘FAQ’ web page, especially when you are looking for help about how to use the app. If a user doesn’t know how to use the app, how are they going to figure out how to get to the ‘Help’ area of the app? They might just delete it.

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Weekly Wrap – Twitter Tuesday

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

Betty White joins Twitter

On April 10, everyone’s favorite 90-year-old actress joined Twitter, despite saying she never would. She recognized this (with humor, of course) in her first tweet, which read: “Hello Twitter! And they said it would never happen. Oh wait, that was me.” I think Betty will find that Twitter will be a great medium for her hilarious one-liners. She has only posted 5 tweets, but she’s already flirted with Ryan Seacrest and tweeted about “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” She has also posted a video from her new hidden camera show, “Off Their Rockers.”

Betty White is no stranger to the power of social media. In 2010, a campaign on Facebook was behind her hosting the SNL Mother’s Day episode. But still, in her monologue she was skeptical of her need for Facebook, saying “Well at my age, if I wanna connect with old friends, I need a Ouija board!” Lucky for us, she realized that old friends are not the only people she can connect with online.

Kidnapped man rescued through Twitter

On April 7, a South African man was kidnapped in Johannesburg and stuffed into the trunk of his car…with his cell phone still on him. He was able to send a text to his girlfriend, who tweeted for people to be on the lookout for his car. Through retweets, the message was seen by @PigSpotter, a roadblock notification service for Johannesburg. The account shared the tweet with its over 110,000 followers, including several private security forces. Units were sent out to search and a sort of search party was organized, using Twitter to keep everyone informed.

4th annual Tony Hawk Twitter Hunt

Four years ago, skater Tony Hawk left a skateboard somewhere on his way to the ramps and tweeted out the location. This year, on April 15 over 75 prize boxes were hidden around the world.

Now in its fourth year, the Tony Hawk Twitter Hunt (#THTH) hid prizes in public places all over the United States as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and continental Europe. Prizes included skateboards and skating gear, guitars, clothing, electronics, and gift certificates, all donated by sponsors.

Hawk tweeted clues about the locations of the hidden boxes, and winners would tweet a picture of the box to confirm that it had been found and let others know to stop searching for it. The day ended with a huge skateboarding exhibition with free food and prizes. The location was also announced via Twitter.

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