After nearly a long overdue trial. I finally started a Tumblr, and for once, I feel I’ve started a new personal channel “correctly,” if there is such a thing. So, remind me again why I bother with WordPress??
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« Posts under Social Media
Twitter Making Moves
Recent rumors, announcements, and acquisitions have been rampant around Twitter lately. The recent announcement of Twitter’s estimated $40 million acquisition of Tweetdeck followed up months of speculation and rumors anticipating this move as Twitter reigns in 3rd party apps.
Just this week, Twitter announced plans to launch its own photo and video sharing service built on Photobucket technology. After leaving photo and video sharing services to the likes of Twitpic and yFrog for years, Twitter is finally moving to integrate photo/video sharing technology into its platform, a good move when you look at all the other moves Twitter is making to reign in 3rd party services.
The new Twitter search functionality is especially appealing, given my search affiliation. I love the integration of photos and video in search, but I wonder what affect it will have on traffic and usage of the actual Twitter.com platform. Having been a loyal Tweetdeck user for years, I am looking forward to seeing what improvements Twitter can make to the platform. I love new Twitter, but as a self-proclaimed “power user,” I need the ability to view multiple streams at once.
Now go tweet!
Wheat Thins Is Now Following Me On Twitter
A few weeks ago, I ran across a TV ad I had seen before and wanted to post about, but I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere. That is no longer the case. Once I saw the ad again, I immediately searched YouTube for the video:
I really like the simplicity of this campaign, and the fact I’m a Twitter junkie doesn’t hurt. The thought of a big name brand driving around Seattle in a van plastered with “Follow @bradcbarker – He’s Awesome” gives me goosebumps. It is simple and makes the consumer feel valued. To my knowledge there haven’t been any previous campaigns leveraging a digital relationship (Twitter) and publicizing that relationship in a TV ad and out-of-home tactics.
Twitter to Offer Facebook-like Brand Pages?
According to a recent article on Mashable, Twitter might begin to offer companies the chance to create Facebook-like brand pages, on which brands could create a more useful space than simply a link-less profile page.
Does Twitter even need to offer this capability? Isn’t the simplicity of Twitter one of it’s benefits?
I would say yes to both questions. Twitter, although growing exponentially, needs to create more ways to monetize their service. Although, I have seen great success with Twitter promoted accounts, the value of promoted tweets and promoted trends is still in question in my humble opinion. Even if the brand pages allow for working links and a more interactive experience with the page, I feel Twitter is moving in the right direction.
As for the simplicity of Twitter, I do believe there are ways to setup a more robust brand page without interfering with the functionality users are accustomed to on Twitter. Just as brands offer pages on Facebook, where users may or may not interact, Twitter has to opportunity to do the same.
As a digital marketer, this type of news is always exciting to me, but what do you think?Tweet
Tiger Blood? Doesn’t He Mean Twitter Blood?
As we all know, Charlie Sheen has dominated the headlines of late with his erratic behavior, his firing from Two and a Half Men, the removal of his children, and just plain bad boy behavior.
What you might not know is that Charlie Sheen set the record for the quickest “tweep” to gain one million followers, surpassing the mark only twenty-five hours after launching his account. Considering that general awareness of Twitter hovers around the 92% mark, Sheen’s meteoric rise to Twitter fame is quite telling. No, it wasn’t Ashton Kutcher, Conan O’Brien, President Obama, nor Kim Kardashian who owns this record, but an older celebrity from a different generation.
Whether you love him or loathe him, this just goes to show how key trending content is to conquering Twitter.
Do You Really Have Klout?
I do, but please allow me to digress. You are probably wondering what in the world I’m talking about.
According to klout.com,
“The Klout score is the measurement of your overall online influence. The sorce ranges from 1 to 100 with higher scores representing a wider and stronger sphere of influence.
The Klout score is a factor of over 35 variables broken into three categories; true reach, amplification score and network score.
True reach is the size of your engaged audience and is based on the followers and friends who actively listen and react to your messages. Amplification score is the likelihood that your messages will generate actions (retweets, @messages, likes and comments) and is on a scale of 1 to 100. Netork score indicates how influential your engaged audience is, also on a scale of 1 to 100. The Klout score is highly correlated to clicks, comments and retweets.”
So, what is your score?
Thoughts on Privacy: Google, Foursquare, Facebook
Online privacy is a major issue in the social media landscape these days. What we have witnessed in the past few months has brought the privacy issue to the forefront. I suppose it all started with Google’s implementation of personalized search in 2009. Even though Google had been monitoring and compiling user behavior for quite some time, personalized search raised red flags for many Google users. In reality, the results we receive from personalized search are not so different. As long as the information is not sold to third parties, I am all for receiving more relevant search engine results.
The launch and privacy issue with Google Buzz deserves a blog post of its own, so I won’t even go there now.
Foursquare is another application that raises the same types of concerns but at a much more “local” level. Websites, such as PleaseRobMe.com scared many would potential users away from Foursquare. The PleaseRobMe website garnered so much attention and a strong response from Foursquare that it no longer publishes its list of vacant homes.
Foursquare has become a phenomenon. Its user count hit the one million mark in just one year, while it took Twitter 2 years to reach the same level (though Twitter now has over 100 million worldwide users). I must admit that I was a hold out early on when it came to Foursquare, as I recently mentioned in a blog post compiled by fellow team leads of AREA203‘s new media team. Since then, I have become an avid user and see the huge potential for brick and mortar businesses that choose to participate with Foursquare. The recent announcement regarding Pennsylvania’s partnership with Foursquare is a perfect example of the advantages provided by Foursquare. As an early hold out myself, I do understand the concerns of people worried about the location-based information published on Foursquare. A word of advice: just like Facebook, I suggest only “friending” people on Foursquare whom you know or converse with in the social realm. Just be smart about it.
Alas, the big daddy of privacy concerns today is most definitely Facebook. Facebook’s privacy changes created a mass backlash from the Facebook user community, so much so that Facebook was forced to make changes to the usability of the privacy settings platform. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg released a video on May 26 describing these changes:
Personally, I understand why Facebook would want its user community to be more public (which is a direct reaction to the explosive growth and public nature of Twitter), but I do believe the backlash could have been avoided had Facebook taken a more proactive approach by announcing and clearly defining the changes before they were launched. For me, Facebook is a tool for me to interact with a small group of close friends. For that reason, any information I post on Facebook is visible only to my friend list and no one else.
With the privacy issue so prevalent now, I would love to hear what your thoughts are.Tweet
Hilarious Flash Mob at Ole Miss
I couldn’t resist posting this video. It was shot today at the University of Mississippi’s student union (yes, that would be my alma mater). The flash mob phenomenon has received some negative publicity lately when it comes to the riot sort, but this YouTube clip shows the fun and innocent side of a flash mob.
Judging by the coordination involved in something like this scene, I don’t think there is any way it was just by chance. It had to be a result of a quick social media flurry. The first few frames of the video include only a few students, who jumped out of their chairs and began a “Jai Ho” breakout from out of nowhere, but as the scene progresses, there are more and more people joining in the ruckus. I’m sure a few of them just happened to walk by and know the dance moves.
Check it out for yourself. Make sure to watch the entire video to see the size of the event and some funny shots as well. Notice the poor guy in the right foreground. He was just trying to eat his lunch, and this crazy dance mob broke out. Also, there is a guy on the right side at one point that didn’t even bother to rid himself of his backpack. Enjoy!
The Worldwide Shift in Communications
I just came across this video on YouTube entitled “Social Media Revolution.” I have seen similar presentations about the future of internet, population and communications growth, but this is the first clip I have seen directly addressing the importance of social media marketing. Some shocking stats are presented, well – shocking if you aren’t in the know. The world is changing. It is becoming a necessity for any advertising or marketing campaign to involve a robust social media strategy.
This video goes out to the man that told me a couple months ago that “Twitter is a fad and will go away just like that ‘Spacebook’ thing that Rupert Murdoch bought.” I’m not saying Twitter will be around forever. In fact, I don’t think we have seen anything yet. Enjoy!
Measuring the Power of Social Media Through Tragedy
A while back, I wrote about the power of social media and how tragic events often offer a great chance to measure the reach of social. Since then, there have been numerous other natural disasters, such as the earthquake in China on April 14th and the earthquake in Peru that caused so much damage.
Maybe I was mistaken. Perhaps, the generosity witnessed during the Haitian earthquake was dried up in one event. Why haven’t we seen the same response from the Red Cross or any other aid organizations utilizing the same methods used so effectively during the Haitian event.
Check out my original post and let me know your thoughts.Tweet
