More women use the web

I know we had our last class yesterday, but Prof. Kumar has turned me into a real 'social media junkie.' My appetite for any social media news is now insatiable(sigh).

An article on Mashable says that according to comScore (a marketing research company that provides marketing data and services to many of the Internet's largest businesses)more women than men across the world visit social networking sites and spend 30% more time per month using them. As such, in the “Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet” report, comScore concludes that women are the digital mainstream, a group of savvy Internet explorers who are more engaged than their male counterparts, and are the primary drivers of online and group buying.

Interestingly enough, comScore identifies middle-aged women, 45 plus, as the group most responsible for growth in social networking site usage. Fifteen to 24-year-olds, however, are the heaviest users and have the greatest reach. When it comes to Facebook in particular, the younger crowd use that site more than 350 minutes per month on average. That data seems to line up with an Oxygen Media study showing that more than a third of young women check Facebook first thing in the morning.

In a U.S. consumer survey conducted in April 2010, comScore asked men and women how they use Twitter. Responses demonstrate that women use Twitter more for finding deals, following celebrities and their own self-defined purposes than to post tweets or read tweets from the people they follow.

Reading all this made me remember all the tactics we discussed in class yesterday about how the organizations we profiled could use different social media platforms to reach and engage different and more diverse audiences. So, to you organizations, if the bulk of your target audience is made up of women (of all ages), you are in luck. Social media is giving you a platform - on a platter of gold, I must say, since most of the applications are free to use - to reach them.

To read the article in full, please go to http://tinyurl.com/33kaupn

One last word from an AU student…

My excitement is going up as I keep looking at my watch and see that I’m only one hour away from completing my master’s degree in public communication. Yes, I am positive that I will pass the social media class :)

Had you asked me a couple of weeks ago why I chose to attend this class, I would have answered that options were very few for summer classes, and that this class “could be” more entertaining than other ones. Yes, this is how I have always seen social media: entertainment. Although I enjoyed reading the Groundswell book because of its simplicity, yet richness and clarity, several thoughts came to my mind as I was going through it: “is this whole thing really worth it?” “I don’t even know if I will ever use this in my professional life,” “who cares!” and many others.

Don’t be surprised, those are typical thoughts that cross the mind of any individual coming from a place where organizations could not care less about Facebook, never used Twitter (or probably never heard of it) and cannot understand the “blogging” culture… Organizations where the “take it or leave it” culture prevails. Add to it that many social media tools are “officially” blocked in my country, but people are surprisingly managing to access them on daily basis.

Wait a second! Why am I talking about organizations? Am I not acting the same way? The first time I ever heard of Twitter myself was in my strategic communication class (Fall 09). The first time I logged in to Twitter was six weeks ago, because I felt I had to create an account. I didn’t want to feel like an “alien” among social media savvies in class. I was only active on Facebook, which, for me, is only a tool to communicate with my friends.

Throughout this six-week semester and after having read so many articles and case studies, I started – just started – appreciating social media and see that it could be of help to many businesses and organizations. My appreciation increased as I went more in-depth when working on my case analysis paper. I was like “wow, this social media thing can really be dangerous!”

And here I am! Not only am I tweeting (still baby steps), but also I reactivated my ASMALLWORLD and LinkedIn accounts. My Gmail status is no longer “I hate blogs, blogging and bloggers.” I found out that after all they’re not that bad :P

During my MA at AU, I have learned that any communication strategy should have measures of success. If I take this to a larger scale, I would say everything we do in life should have measures of success. This simple attitude shift from a “non-social media believer” to a “social-media advocate” is but an indicator of the course success.

Thank you professor Kumar and thank you my classmates. I really enjoyed this course.

Best of luck to all of you and CONGRATULATIONS to those who have just completed their MA!

Tamara

Last Crisis Scenario

Well, it seems that we have run out of time for this crisis to truly play out.  You guys are also way too clever - there were no rookie mistakes in this class!

I think responding to the blogger is a must and I too like the idea of saying that we are constantly testing our products to ensure their safety while emphasizing that we have been using the same ingredients for 96 years.  For now, it is probably not a good idea to give the blogger a tour of the facilities but what can be done is to create the video anyway about the process of making the candy corn (and making sure the video focuses on the process rather than the ingredients) and giving the blogger first dibs on posting it to his site.  I might also consider sending all the bloggers I track a Halloween treats bag just to continue to maintain friendly blogger communications.  And if the study ends up being conclusive at any point, I would of course reach out to the blogger first and foremost to make sure they had our side of the story.

I would then work with the corporate communications team to begin assembling an independent panel of scientists as Sarah suggested to form an advisory board to Trach's.  This way if a crisis did come out as a result of this testing, the company would be well prepared to have advocates in place that could help to balance the story.  Since there has never been conclusive evidence of the link between food dye and ADHD and Trach's is not alone in using this particular food dye, it seems that they wouldn't necessarily be singled out even if the story did break.  The only two issues that concern me are 1.) that Trach's is testing this on rats and you never know when/if PETA will make this is an issue if it is not public information and 2.) the chance of a whistleblower at the FDA releasing the study.  There are some things though that you can never really be prepared for unless it happens and this could be one of those times.

Thanks to all for participating!

Calm after the storm? Not for Pepco

As of 1pm yesterday, 122,749 were still without power from Sunday's storm. 25-year old Andre Francis is in charge of responding to the numerous attacks on Pepco from Twitter. Though its only his third day on the job, Francis is getting a good lesson in crisis communications.

Responding to angry customers in 140 characters trying not to upset them more is a challenge. Pepco is using social media because "you talk to Andre and know you're talking to a real person" says Francis's supervisor.

"I understand your frustrations"
"I undestand your concern"
" I appreciate your humor"

are a few of the phrases Francis has been tweeting, along with tailored responses to individuals.

After a 2009 cold front that left thousands powerless, Pepco realized that traditional press releases weren't working. They decided to respond to their customers where they were voicing their complaints--online. Francis created the Twitter account as part of his social media duties.

I have to give props to Pepco for getting online and having an employee whose job is to monitor the social media sphere. And I really don't envy poor Andre trying to stay afloat during all the complaints and #pepcosucks hashtags.

Full article here: http://bit.ly/bcQQmI

Microsoft Street Slide

Microsoft has introduced its own version of Google Street View, called Microsoft Street Slide. Street Slide "combines the best aspects of the immersive nature of bubbles with the overview provided by multi-perspective strip panoramas." The goal is to provide a multi-perspective "strip" that is similar to viewing the entire street from a distance. Here's a video demonstration.

This technology has the potential to increase the hyper-local visibility of businesses -- when someone is trying to find places to go near their hotel, after the theater, etc. It's interesting how they imbed various location-specific interactive company logos along the bottom. I wonder if companies will have to pay for placement?

Yelp Gears Up To Take On Groupon, Starts Testing Local Deals

In an article published yesterday by TechCrunch, Yelp has announced that it will be doing local group deals.  Although they're "testing it out for fun," this could be a serious threat to Groupon, which is, as we learned, a site that specifically deals with local group deals made cheaper.

This brings me to a question I have been asking myself for weeks since we started this class: Is there any point in having a site with only one function anymore?  It seems as if all these social media tools are just morphing into bigger and bigger entities of the machine-- Google tapping into the phone market with Android and Yelp- an already extremely popular review site- wanting to incorporate the same thing as Groupon in their website.

I guess this is a good thing- it shows that the people at Yelp are paying attention to what's hot in social media.  But still, can't they just stay within their own sphere?

Here is a sample of what Yelp would offer.

"Examples:
Yelp Eats (week-long promotion where we spotlight restaurants and work with them to offer special pre-fixe menu specials)
Yelp Drinks (promotion to highlights local bars with drink specials)
Hawt on Yelp (week long spa specials 50% off special services"

 Also, there has been much buzz recently because of Google's new location- review application (like Yelp) called Google Places.  I feel like there are only going to be social media companies that incorporate everything and everything is already too complicated.  We have too many things helping us out.  Apps are taking over the damn planet, causing some of us to wonder how three or so years ago we ever survived without this beloved technology.  I can't wait to see what happens next!

Full article here:
http://tcrn.ch/bun8H7

Facebook Instant Account Destruction, at Last

Wow.  I thought the day would never come.  Finally, Facebook is letting you delete your account and all information tracing back to it.  At the bottom of the deactivation screen is now a box in red which allows you permanently delete everything.  Which is the only option that Twitter offers, which I find annoying.

Anyway, I think this is a good thing because of all the privacy concerns surrounding this form of social media.  And because we all know how I feel about it.  I always wondered why Facebook never allowed that option; especially when people died et cetera.  But they do say that nothing's ever really erased from the Internet.  So this could just be a temporary thing. And what you posted and photos of you from your high school prom might still come back to haunt you later.

Here's the article- Gizmodo:

http://gizmodo.com/5597476/

Presidential PR with Social Media

During the last election, Barack Obama got plenty of publicity for his social media and its role in his success. Obama was all over it: Facebook, Twitter, iPhone app, the works.

Looking at elections in other nations over the past several years, it is clear that Obama has not been alone in trying to win votes online. In 2007, the candidates in the French presidential election battled online as well as on television. Nicolas Sarkozy had a complex, 17-channel video site, while Segolene Royal built a blogger network, encouraging supporters to blog on various topics related to her campaign (there was also a short0lived but highly popular website called DiscoSarko, which allowed visitors to select various tunes and have a flash image of Sarko boogie down to them -- see below).



But today, even leaders in nations that used to shy away from digital media in politics are embracing the Internet to connect with their constituents. For most of the 21st century, Russian politicians eschewed social media (instead, they were a popular tool among dissidents). But in the last few years, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has made a point of embracing the media channels most popular among his constituents. He began by producing a video blog, which he then started mirroring on LiveJournal, Russia's most popular blogging platform. And now, as Twitter makes inroads in Russia, Medvedev has launched his own Twitter account, @KremlinRussia (as well as a mirror account translated into English, KremlinRussia_E, to reach out to non-Russian audiences) in order to connect with more people online in a direct, personal way.

What do these developments mean for democracy around the world? Clearly, like any other type of media, social media can be manipulated in various ways for political means. However, it would be nice to hope that this is yet another step toward creating more transparent governments and presidencies around the world -- a system where leaders talk to the people not only through press conferences, but by texting from their cell phones as well.

Washington Post, New York Times be warned: AU Prof develops bloggers, spin-meisters, journo-lists | The Georgetown Dish

The article on our class on today's Georgetown Dish - thanks for all the retweets!

Washington Post, New York Times be warned: AU Prof develops bloggers, spin-meisters, journo-lists | The Georgetown Dish

Facebook + Media

Facebook just recently launched a "Facebook + Media" page to show journalists and media outlets how to get active on Facebook.

The idea is to educate media outlets to use the site to drive traffic and increase consumer engagement. In addition, the page points users to successful journalists already using Facebook, and directions for how top media outlets can use the Facebook tools on their sites. There's a tab for journalists and another for developers giving tips and best practices to make the integration easier.

Facebook says:
We're excited to begin a dialogue with media companies on how we best can deliver value. Media companies are great at creating content and delivering it to the right people at the right time. We think Facebook can add a social dimension, to show users the content that friends most care about and most recommend.

It's always important for PR professionals to know what journalists are up to and maintain relationships with them, so this site may prove significant for that industry as well. It's no surprise that Facebook is trying to drive media outlets to use Facebook more, since that will drive more users to Facebook. Facebook's over-arching plan seems to be to get everyone to go to Facebook to get all their media, so this is a smart step on their part.

http://tinyurl.com/2975q3u

The Colony: Social Media Experiment

At the risk of this post sounding like a shameless plug for Discovery, I still thought this was worth sharing.

There's a new season of "The Colony" airing on Discovery Channel tonight (10 pm). It's a show that takes real-life volunteers and puts them in a simulated pandemic environment and forces them to survive. It examines what would really happen to humanity if a horrendous virus actually broke out and destroyed our civilization. On the show, volunteers are asked to rebuild in the aftermath. A really scary concept to think about, especially since it could happen.

As a promotional tactic, Discovery launched a Facebook application that shows you how a pandemic would affect your friends and family. It shows you a fake Facebook page with updates from your friends and family trying to survive. Read Mashable's post on it here.

I logged into the application and it does make you think about what the world would be like during a viral outbreak and pandemic. Think swine flu x10 because this virus is actually infecting, killing, and taking names. You'd have to rely on a totally different skill set that many of us just don't have.

While I think this application is clever, I didn't really find it THAT believable. Mostly because friends of mine that I know don't know each other were commenting back and forth on posts. So that hampered the reality for me a bit. Also there were some things that sounded too cheesy, even for some of my friends to say.

I think this would have been so much better if it somehow integrated into your actual Facebook feed gradually. That would heighten the reality and make you actually think twice about whether this pandemic was actually happening. As it is now, you can exit the application by closing your browser. Although I guess if you couldn't easily tell this application to stop, then Discovery might inadvertently create a crisis from confused users.

Did you try it the application? What do you think of it?

An Inventory of Social Media Measurement Tools | KnightVision Marketing

An Inventory of Social Media Measurement Tools | KnightVision Marketing

Influence

How do you measure somebody's influence on Twitter? Some people measure it by glancing at the number of followers any given tweeter has. Others may go deeper, asking for statistics on link-clicking: what percent of your followers actually click on the links that you post?

But lately, more and more people have been turning to a new tool for measuring influence: Klout.com. This website allows you to enter a Twitter handle to determine someone's Klout Score - a score ranging between 1 and 100 that is based on three key factors: True Reach, Amplification Probability, and Network Score.

Klout defines these parameters in the following way:

The size of the sphere is calculated by measuring True Reach (engaged followers and friends vs. spam bots, dead accounts, etc.). Amplification Probability is the likelihood that messages will generate retweets or spark a conversation. If the user's engaged followers are highly influential, they'll have a high Network Score. (details)

Thus, Klout is able to get beyond the superficial measurements and provide a much deeper look at people's influence on the web, using over 25 measurement variables.

It's worth playing around with it and looking at the results it provides when you enter your own Twitter handle, and that of other users. For example, when you enter @barackobama, it immediately tells you that he has "celebrity" status with a KScore of 90 points. It also shows that he does more creating than sharing of content, and that this content tends to be fairly broad, rather than focused.

Compare this to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (@sengillibrand). She has significantly fewer followers than Barack Obama (a little over 4000), but nevertheless earns a score of 40, which means she is still in the "celebrity" bracket because of the influence of her tweets. The "Achievements" section shows how many lists she is on, how many total retweets, as well as unique tweeters have retweeted her, and her message reach (which is over 50 thousand).

Enter the handle of a less influential tweeter, and you see how the score decreases and how the parameters change.

These scores may be used in many settings. Naturally, they can be used by employers to evaluate the true influence of potential social media hires. However, they can also be used in PR practice to determine which tweeters can be reached out to, in order to spread the message as widely as possible. As Klout demonstrates, more followers does not always mean more influence.

Paying for Twitter?

I found this article to be interesting. Think about how broke a lot of Americans would be if they had to pay to be on Twitter or Facebook? According to this article, not broke at all because people would not use them. From day to day we talk about how important social media is and the future of it, but yet people do not want to pay for it. When compared to other everyday "needs" such as means of transportation and internet use that we typically pay for, how come many will not pay for social media. I found this to be funny but I must agree that if I had to pay a monthly charge for my Facebook profile, it would no longer exist. Do you think that paying for Twitter and Facebook is something in social media future? Would you pay to retain your profiles? If so, how much?

http://tinyurl.com/28uofw3

"Crowdstreaming" -- Start-up idea or fool's errand?

Over the weekend, I found myself thrown into an exercise to connect and apply the various social media technologies that we've discussed in class.

It all started Thursday night when I sat down at my computer in anticipation of my first ever Netroots Nation live stream. Eager to begin the first of 14 panels and trainings I'd marked as "must-sees" on my PDF copy of the conference agenda, I navigated to the Netroots Nation website, and clicked "Follow at Home." Suddenly, I discovered that the Thursday night panel I'd written down wasn't listed on the live stream site, as it was scheduled to take place in a conference room without a video camera. Big deal. I'd just plan to watch the other 13 scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Then it hit me: by some random coincidence, 12 of the remaining 13 panels I'd selected were scheduled to take place in rooms without cameras. So much for Netroots Nation! Maybe next year? Right? No.

I entered the live stream of a concurrent panel and asked the moderator if the sessions I'd hoped to see were, in fact, only accessible in person. "Yes." By the hours end, my disappointment tempered and frustration set in. But what could I do? Just a few years ago, probably nothing. And then came that "aha," teachable moment: I'd use Act.ly to target @Netroots_Nation and petition them via Twitter to add cameras to their few remaining conference rooms: http://act.ly/27t. It worked, sort of. Using the #nn10 conference hashtag, I launched the petition into the room, so to speak, of thousands following the conference from Vegas and across the world. Within four minutes, ten people had retweeted my petition and @Netroots_Nation responded to the post: "We do as many as we can afford, hiring video crews and streaming panels is not cheap." #nn10

Time for Plan B. Recalling Trace's in-class "experiment" to momentarily live stream via the new iPhone (using the free UStream app), it occurred to me that many of the affluent, tech-savvy conference attendees in Vegas would have the same capability. So, why not make Netroots Nation the first conference to crowdsource the burden of live streaming its panels?

By Saturday afternoon, I'd succeeded. My target? The panel on incorporating social media into advocacy campaigns. Instructing Tweetdeck to list all tweets containing #nn10 and "social media" that were also sent via iPhone, I identified about ten or so people live tweeting from that very panel. I messaged each, asking if they'd be willing to stream the session live via iPhone. Within minutes, one attendee agreed; moments later I sat back in disbelief as I watched the remainder of the session (along with Trace and others) via this stranger's iPhone -- thousands of miles away.

Earlier today, I sat back and wondered: Could this be the beginning of something much larger? With thousands of phones capable of live streaming sold each day, will the conferences of the future be open to the world? Maybe, but someone will have to make it happen.

The trouble, I think, is that the time expended by an individual (like me) to orchestrate a particular crowdsourced stream tends to outweigh the benefits of having access to that stream. And ad hoc solutions beg an important question: Who'll benefit? Just that particular individual? In my case, because I posted the stream's URL to the class blog, and tweeted it out using the #nn10 hashtag, a few others were able to watch. But the spirit behind this whole exercise -- that of open access to information -- demands a better, more participatory, solution. And that's what Wiki's are for.

So, why not create a website that facilitates such "crowdstreaming" -- powered by a Wiki -- that a) allows netizens to request that specific panels or conferences be live streamed, b) provides a platform for attendees to sign up to, and c) aggregates and indexes each stream so that they are easily locatable. Start-up idea or fool's errand?

Thoughts?

WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks has done it again. The website, intended to give whistle-blowers a safe outlet for sharing information while remaining anonymous, has now published a set of secret documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan.

WikiLeaks published over 90,000 reports about the war since 2004, while withholding 15,000 more in order to protect the anonymity of those who submitted them. The reports paint a very bleak picture of the war, detailing its many civilian casualties and showing problems related to Pakistan's cooperation in the war, demonstrating that "representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban in secret strategy sessions to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders." (CNN)

This is not the first time that WikiLeaks has released reports or information that have reverberated around the world, but with something of this magnitude, this incident may have enormous implications.

As far as this class is concerned, the incident serves to demonstrate how drastically social media has changed the whistle-blowing landscape. Before the Internet, it would have been virtually impossible to release this kind of information while remaining anonymous and avoiding legal repercussions. But it is possible today, and WikiLeaks takes special pains to overcome such hurdles (for example, by having servers based in multiple nations to avoid being trapped within a specific country's laws). Thus, for better or worse, new media are allowing people to overcome traditional barriers and create a more open society, whether or not it is in the interest of their nations' politicians, institutions, and security agencies.

The Wayback Machine

As a kid, I watched Peabody and Sherman go back in time and check out twisted history, it was always entertaining, and while silly, the idea of twisted history similar to how we look at the Internet.

In the Internet sea there are few rocks. Have you ever been exploring the Internet in search of a page that you absolutely know exists and you just can't seem to find it?

The internet is constantly changing. It's in the Internet's DNA. Everything is updating and re-evaluating, deleting and adding. Google or Bing are really amazing resources to show you what the internet has now, but what about what the internet had back then? Do you even know how to look back in to Interwebs' past?

This week, I was auditing Bloom Grocery's social media and website, however, near the end of the week-long project, Bloom updated their outreach. This update, aside from adding exactly what I was recommending, changed their website. What does one do? How do we go back? This is where Archive.org's Wayback Machine is useful.

Read More...

Crisis Simulation - Scenario 2

You head to conference room B on the 10th floor of the building to meet with the brand manager responsible for Trach's candy corns.  You decide to tell him about the blog post acknowledging that it was just an offhand remark but that you wanted to let him know because "Candy Confectioner" is the highest authority blog that you monitor.  You mention the possibility of offering the blogger a tour of the factory and how candy corns are made.  You think this might make for some great content especially with Halloween coming up and allow the blogger to take his own video, which might have the potential to go viral.


Scott, the brand manager, listens to your suggestion and then sighs rather defeated.  You ask what is wrong.  He informs you that he is not sure how to proceed.  


Trach's nutritional research department is always conducting ongoing studies on all products to get additional research on various benefits/negatives of each brand.  The connection between ADHD and food dye has never been proven.  But a recent study by Trach's (which hasn't been released) offers some troubling news concerning the yellow dye used in the candy corn.  Quinoline yellow is a very specific formulation designed to produce that exact vibrant yellow that Trach's candy corns are known for.  It is the same formula the company has used for the past 96 years.  


It seems that the yellow dye is produced through artificial coloring rather than using natural pigmentation.  The study found that there was a statistically significant increase in ADHD behavior among rats in a laboratory experiment using quinoline yellow.  There was no such activity for the orange dye known at Tatrazine, also a synthetic dye.  At this point it is too early to tell if the findings are accurate - more tests need to be conducted with a larger sample size and eventually human subjects.  The study will not be released to the public but will need to be reported to the FDA.  The FDA is supposed to keep the information confidential until more research is conducted.  


You are not sure how to proceed at this point.  Now, it feels like by not responding to "Candy Confectioner" you are hiding something but it was also a rather innocent remark.  Part of you also would still like to offer a blogger a tour of how candy corns are made because you know this would be really good content for Halloween.  


Post your recommended next steps and look out for the next scenario!    

iPhone App: "Fabulis"- Gay Social Networking

It's "like carrying the big gay world around in your pocket" says Fabulis CEO Jason Goldberg. According to a TechCrunch article, the iPhone app for homosexual men has grown 40% in the past month, with over 51,000 members.  It's like a Foursquare exclusively for the gay community.  It lets members know when others are nearby, and chat with them.  It also gives users the luxury of knowing gay-related events; over 71,000 worldwide have been posted so far.  It links to your iPhone's GPS and lets you know which events are closest to you.  Can you ask for anything more?

Stats according to TechCrunch:

• "Registered users spend 10 minutes per visit to the site currently
• There have been over 300 million fabulis bits (their virtual currency) spent by members so far
• 67 percent of members are in the U.S., with the UK coming in second with 9% "

I think this is a great thing.  As the iPhone community continues to grow, so does niche groups.  And, thanks to location-based social media pioneers like Foursquare and Gowalla, another app can use the phone's internal GPS to connect to others.  Brilliant.  What do you guys think?

Check out the full article (with screenshots of the app!) here:
http://tcrn.ch/9SfCRO

Livestreaming now: Netroots Nation Social Media Panel

At home and online? Check out this panel at NN10. Details to follow.

After You Hit Send: How to Integrate Social Media into Campaigning and Advocacy

SAT, 07/24/2010 - 10:15AM, Miranda 6

This training session will give you an overview the tools social media offers that can be used to round out your campaign or advocacy group's communication plan. Tools to be discussed include Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and blogs. You'll learn how each tool can fit into your communication plan and best practices for each.

PANELISTS: Beth Becker, Neal Rauhauser, Alan Rosenblatt

Live stream:

http://bit.ly/bEUWDd

This is MyTown.

To all location-based app lovers, Booyah’s MyTown has announced a new software update that will let users check-in to physical, real world products. According to an article on TechCrunch, MyTown is one of the first LBS apps where you can use bar codes to check into a dress at a department store or a box of Kleenex at your neighborhood grocery store.

If you are like me and have not heard about Booyah before, they are headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., and are dedicated to creating new forms of entertainment to the masses by bringing together elements of the real world and the digital world. MyTown is a location-based app built around local shops, restaurants, and hangouts. Users check-in at real-world locations to level up, unlock rewards, and earn cash to buy their favorite real-life places. MyTown has over 1.4 million users who play the game on an average of over 70 minutes a day.

If this initiative takes off with MyTown’s 2.5 million users(more than Foursquare), Booyah will have a valuable mountain of consumer data and a bevy of marketing partners eager to tap into the power of the product check-in. Booyah is preparing to announce a major product check-in partnership in August, with a mystery (and reportedly, very large) consumer products company. So watch this space!

Read the full article at http://tinyurl.com/23f2vhc

July 24, 2010 Life in a Day

Life in a Day is a "historic global experiment" produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald, the project will be a collaboration of film footage filmed by people all around the globe. The premise of the project is to show what it is like to be alive on July 24, 2010. The film will be similar to a time capsule, where it will capture a day in the life of people from all around the world.

"On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a glimpse of your life on camera" the website states. Macdonald invites people "To make a film unlike any film that's been made before. Which is to ask thousands of people, everywhere in the world, on a single day, which is the 24th of July this year, to film some aspect of their day and then post that material onto you tube so that we can use it to make a film that is a record of what it's like to be alive on that one day. It will be kind of like a time capsule, which people in the future... could look at and say, 'oh my God, that's what it was like.' A portrait of the world in a day. "

Those who film a portion of their day-- anything from a monotonous daily commute to the birth of a child-- are asked to answer three questions:

First: What do you fear most in your life today?
Second: What do you love?
Third: What makes you laugh.


The last thing Macdonald asks participants to do is to pull out whatever is in their pocket and film it.

Those whose footage is picked to be a part of the video will receive recognition as a co-director. The film will premiere at the Sundance film festival in January, 2011.

The film is a social experiment that uses social media from every stage from spreading the word
to showing the final video. Social media provides the platform for users to share their videos. If this video had been produced five years ago, each participant would have to mail in their video and people would not be able to spread information about the project as quickly.

The projects official website is: http://www.youtube.com/lifeinaday

Washington Post Facebook Article

The Washington Post had a cover story today about Facebook getting its 500 millionth user: Status symbol: Facebook is ubiquitous, but is it really an antisocial network?

In my opinion, this article is very poorly researched and reported. Focusing only on how annoying the site can be, the author mocks those who haven't joined yet ("I don't gettttt it, they say. What does it dooooo?"), makes blanket statements on how users want Facebook to stop changing their privacy settings (without any explanation of actual policy or details) and makes vague remarks about how our relationships have changed. There is no mention of how businesses or non-profits are using facebook, how other social media is working differently, or what the author really wants to happen. Does this really belong on the front page of the post?

And the winner is...

Kat Brick!  Congratulations - your submission garnered the most votes - I've pasted it below.  I think the reason it resonated is because it contained all the hallmarks of good social media content that we talked about - it was authentic, personal, encouraged conversation and included a specific call to action.  Nice job!  Second place is to Julie Balamaci - her submission is below Kat's.  Julie's had a quirky, funny introduction that I think also speaks to an authentic approach.


Thanks to everyone for participating - the fact that we had 19 different versions shows how complex social media writing is as well as how many different approaches can work (and you probably have to use several for one campaign!)

Kat's submission:
Georgetown is beautiful in the summertime.  If you're like me, you enjoy watching boats on the waterfront, laughing with friends at Tony and Joe's and Sequoia on the harbor, and taking strolls with family along the C&O Canal.  Just a couple of years ago, the land between the Washington Harbor and the Key Bridge was filled with concrete and used as a parking lot.  Today, thanks to support from the National Park Service, the Friends of Georgetown Waterfront Park have restored this area into a beautiful, lush, multi-use urban landscape.  Take a stroll with friends; watch the kayaks and canoes fly through the water.  Today, it's possible.

But, we're only halfway there.  To finish this project, we need to raise $150,000.  When it's complete, the park will include additional seating to watch the sunset over the water; a separate bike trail linking the Capital Crescent Trail with the Rock Creek Trail; plus a fountain plaza and and an arbor and river stairs that form an amphitheatre for viewing boat races or other activities. 

Wouldn't you like to spend a Saturday on the water?  Wouldn't you like to enjoy nature right in your own urban backyard? 

My favorite memory of the Georgetown waterfront occurred just a few days ago when some friends and I walked along the water before going to a movie at the Georgetown Cineplex.

What's yours?

Join the fight to make Georgetown Waterfront Park beautiful.  Just $50 can help to get us there. Help us to create a new urban landscape for Georgetown.  




Julie's submission:
To Georgetown Families and Park Enthusiasts,


Did you know that when you are sitting under a tree, your brain is absorbing more oxygen?  Not only do trees improve your health, they also increase the property value of the land.  And trees are gorgeous and essential to the ecosystem in which we exist.  We must work together to maintain this beauty in our area!

The Georgetown Waterfront Park is in need of our help.  The park connects 225 miles of the Greater Washington Area through a 10 acre stretch along the Potomac.  It is a place of relaxation, fun, and community bonding.

Mayor Fenty has already raised $950,000, but $150,000 is still needed.  All we are asking is a minimum of $50 to help help complete our park- a luxurious sanction we are so fortunate to have in a busy city.

Parks have something for everyone.  Don't let one in our own backyard fall into ruin.

Thank you,

Friends of Georgetown Waterfront Park
P.O. Box 3653
Washington, DC 20027

Crisis Simulation - Scenario 1

Tuesday, September 7, 2010
You work on the Social Media team for Trach's Candy - a leading candy manufacturer in the United States.   You are a manager and you report to the director of Social Media, who in turn reports to the SVP of Communications.  You frequently work with various brand managers for Trach's different brands.  

You have just returned from a Labor Day holiday in Martha's Vineyard.  The office is pretty quiet as many of your colleagues have chosen to extend their three-day weekend to four days.  You have a Google Reader that regularly tracks the top candy blogs and you scan it this morning to see if there is anything interesting.  The blogs are written by true fans of all things sugar - they are colorful posts with lots of pictures and the tone is fun and sweet.  

You notice that one of the top blogs "Candy Confectioner" has a whole post on candy corns and how their coloring leads him to question what exactly goes into them.  He goes on to list the ingredients -- "sugar, water, corn syrup, fondant, marshmallow and some crazy artificial food coloring that probably causes ADHD."  His post catches your eye because your company is the leader when it comes to the production of candy corns with 70 percent of the market.  You are about to head into your weekly meeting with the brand manager of Trach's candy corns.  What do you do?  Do you let he/she know about this blog post?  Do you recommend any action?  Are there any issues about the timing of this blog post that concern you?

Please post your next steps and look out for the next scenario!   

Health 2.0

This was the article I spoke about yesterday regarding the use of social media among physicians. I think there are still significant barriers in terms of doctors feeling comfortable and compliance with HIPAA. But if there could be a universal health tool (sort of the equivalent of Blackboard in academia), social media applications could play a big role in healthcare for the future - things like wait time, limited appointments, the delivery of test results etc. could greatly improve if there was greater adoption. I also think that PR firms working in Pharma can make great progress towards moving healthcare along this path.

Netroots Nation Livestreams!

Many of you may have heard of the Netroots Nation conference that's taking place right now in Vegas. For those who have not, it's a conference for grassroots activists and bloggers who use the Internet and new communication technologies to advance progressive politics. It was launched in 2006 by Daily Kos, and is now exists as a partnership with Democracy for America.

What's so great about a conference a few thousand miles from DC? They live stream! Here's a list of the 70 panels going on between now and Saturday: http://bit.ly/cHjH7g

A lot of panels are issue focused, but many are specifically about social media and online communications, and a handful feature eminent speakers (note that the times listed are Pacific Time, so add three hours for ET). Obviously most of the content is politics oriented, but the techniques and technologies can be universally applied. Here are a few I recommend:

Online Grassroots Fundraising for Candidates, Causes and Concerned Citizens

THU, 07/22/2010 - 4:30PM, Miranda 8

Online Advertising for Progressive Causes and Campaigns

FRI, 07/23/2010 - 10:30AM, Miranda 8

After You Hit Send: How to Integrate Social Media into Campaigning and Advocacy

SAT, 07/24/2010 - 10:15AM, Miranda 6

Online to Offline Engagement

SAT, 07/24/2010 - 1:45PM, Miranda 6

Growing Your Email List

SAT, 07/24/2010 - 1:45PM, Miranda 8

Extending Our Reach: New Tools for Online Progressives

SAT, 07/24/2010 - 1:45PM, Miranda 7

From Online to Offline: How OFA Leverages the Web and Social Media for Real-World Organizing

SAT, 07/24/2010 - 4:00PM, Brasilia 1

Metrics-Driven Design for Progressive Organizations

SAT, 07/24/2010 - 4:00PM, Miranda 7

To access the appropriate live stream for each panel, check here for the Ustream.com link: http://bit.ly/aFR8ud

Lastly, if you are super interested in staying on top of it all, follow #nn10.

FaceTime for Health

I mentioned in class yesterday that the iPhone 4's FaceTime feature had recently been used in surgery for the first (known) time. After looking up some info on this, I saw that this surgery took place at Valley Presbyterian Hospital's Amputation Prevention Center, a state of the art facility that just opened earlier this year. The Amputation Prevention Center is focused innovative, preventative approaches to limb preservation in patients diagnosed with diabetes (a number that sadly only seems to be rising). The core approach of the center is a "team-based" technique, pairing vascular surgeons with podiatrists.

While the surgery itself was performed by Dr. Lee Rogers at Valley Presbyterian, the help came from Dr. David G. Armstrong at the University of Arizona's Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA). Rogers called Armstrong via FaceTime for a real-time wound patient consultation. The doctors communicated during the surgery and followed up later for a second opinion on a different patient.

“While the University of Arizona has had one of the world's top telehealth systems, the ability to communicate quickly with something that is an afterthought has the potential to alter how we work with our colleagues and patients. Just as with the iPod in music and the laptop in computing, it is not the change in technology, but the change in form factor and ubiquity that alters this landscape," Dr. Armstrong said in a press release.

Though video-chatting has been around for a while now, FaceTime sets itself apart in its mobility. People tend to carry their phones around, so it's certainly more convenient than a computer. Of course, some limitations are that you must both have an iPhone 4 and a WiFi connection.

Article here: http://tinyurl.com/38pgqom

When I was looking this up I found a group called 3G Doctor. According to the site, you can "video consult" with a registered doctor, but they're not meant to replace your regular physician or an emergency room. They also advise you only ask questions that can be answered from a remote location (like chronic pain, rashes, side effects...). It seems a little sketchy, but I guess they're filling a need - they're 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Only those 18+ in Ireland and the UK can use the service, which is £35 each time you call (via paypal, credit, or debit).

Facebook reaches 500 millions members

Facebook officially reaches over 500 million members. After only six years, Facebook has broken many records and become the most widely used site on the internet. Zuckerberg made an unusual television appearance while being interviewed by Diane Sawyer where he talked about controversial issues such as an upcoming IPO, the Facebook movie, and Ceglia's lawsuit claiming to be owner of 84% of Facebook. Though Facebook is valued at $20 billion, Zuckerberg tells Sawyer that they are running Facebook to serve people, not with the goal of an IPO.

The interview does not talk about Facebook's recent customer satisfaction survey that ranks the company very low--alongside airlines and cable companies, but Zuckerberg and Sawyer do talk about the new Facebook movie, which Zuckerberg says he will "probably" not see

Check out part of the interview and related videos on abc.com http://bit.ly/9Xweq4 and the article on mashable http://mashable.com/2010/07/21/zuckerberg-sawyer/

Digital Diplomacy

Here is the article in the New York Times I talked about in class about Digital Diplomacy. Many interesting issues in this article regarding "Twitter diplomacy." Some are fierce critiques of the use of social media by the State Department but others feel that with the administration's open government push, this type of diplomacy is critical. What do you think? Is this only a natural extension of social media? What obligation or role do companies such as Facebook and Twitter play in ensuring this type of outreach?

Social Media Doesn't Auto-Correct?

I've heard this time and again from people loyal to the freedom of social media - "A self-editing mechanism exists naturally in the blogosphere... Bloggers correct each other almost instantaneously." I wonder if Shirley Sherrod would agree.

In case you don't have a news-loving boyfriend to force all the cable news programs on you (MSNBC, Fox News, CNN), here's the background: Andrew Breitbart has a conservative blog, Big Government. He posted a video showing a speech Shirley Sherrod gave to the NAACP. As a result of this video and the attention it garnered, yesterday Sherrod was asked to resign.

In the speech, (**note to any speechwriters out there, your words can travel FAR!) Sherrod tells a story about how she decided to deal with a white farmer given the needs of local black farmers. What the video on the blog didn't show was her conclusion that both white and black farmers needed help. The story exploded into a reverse racism breaking news on all channels. In the end, the full video came out from the NAACP, along with an apology from the NAACP. The full video shows that Sherrod used the story to illustrate how she had learned from the event (in 1986) that both black and white farmers needed help. That it was a poverty issue that all suffered from.

What's more interesting is that the blogger, Andrew Breitbart, admits he didn't do it to expose Sherrod but instead to incriminate the NAACP for holding racist events. In the end, Sherrod is the one who paid the price.

Breitbart told CNN's "John King USA" on Tuesday that releasing the video was "not about Shirley Sherrod."

"This was about the NAACP attacking the Tea Party, and this is showing racism at an NAACP event," he said. "I did not ask for Shirley Sherrod to be fired." (Source)

So even though a blog and online video outed her, why didn't another blog and the full video come to her rescue?? Where was the auto-correct?

Now Sherrod has lost her job and her reputation over something someone posted. Besides the insanity of this event on its own, what about the bigger picture? You think things like this will ruin social media? Forcing people to list sources on blogs? Or is this just the new name of the game and we all need to have personal listeners to make sure we auto-correct our own stories before they get us fired?

It was a painful yet fascinating evening watching this story unfold so I had to share.

Is Facebook suffering from privacy issue?

The privacy issue of Facebook has been long debated. People even claimed to quit using this social networking website because their privacy is not well protected. Even though Facebook was given the lowest score in recently released 2010 American Customer Survey compared to other websites such as Google, Bing, Wikipedia, Yahoo and YouTube, it keeps attracting more users. Late this week, Facebook will hold a celebration for gaining 500 million users. Speaking from my personal experience, this world seems to be dominated by Facebook and Twitter. Almost all websites, corporations/organizations, and even governments in this country are using Facebook. Facebook logo can be seen everywhere. When I feel overwhelmed by Facebook-related messages, I, as a Facebook user, can not quit using it. Why? Because too many people are using it. I sent a close friend an email the other day and didn’t get any reply after waiting for 4 days. So I thought I should try Facebook. To my surprise, she replied within 24 fours, This is a dilemma. I can’t quit because I’ll be isolated from the majority of my friends. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, will be having an interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer on Wednesday. Let’s see what he will say regarding Facebook privacy dilemmas. For the article about lower customer satisfaction scores of Facebook, see http://mashable.com/2010/07/20/facebook-survey.

Social Media Demographics

This article is a few months old, but it offers really interesting insight (and perhaps useful content for your final projects...if you are not presenting tonight) into the age groups of each social network. Believe it or not, the average social network user is now....37 years old.

Remember when it was just for college kids? Well, now the average age of social media users is actually OLDER than the coveted 18-35 year old advertising sweet spot.

The article has a bunch of interesting charts, but the easiest for me shows each network by average age, ranging from Bebo (avg age 28.4) to Classmates.com (avg age 44.9) and everywhere in between.

Interestingly, the 18-24 group is not currently the dominant demographic in ANY of the social networks analyzed in the article. Most networks are dominated by the 35-44 age group, which has become the most “social” demographic. This is the generation of people who were in their 20s as the Internet took off in the mid ‘90s. So, those 'early adopters' have stuck with it!

Facebook hits the same average age as all social networks (38.4). This does raise a question -- has the average age of social network users actually shifted, or is 35-44 just the average age of everyone with access to the Internet? It feels like social media is just that ubiquitous...is there really anyone who isn't on it yet?

http://tinyurl.com/yctss8r

Mashable's Summer Tour event

For those who are interested, here's a link to purchase tickets to SummerMash, Mashable's U.S. Summer Tour event, on Thursday, August 5 from 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. at the USA Today headquarters in Mclean, VA. The early bird tickets are sold out, but they still have regular tickets. You can also search #summermash on Twitter.

Fussy Facebookers or Legitimate Complaints--is Facebook doomed like Myspace?

This recent Mashable article shines some light on how users feel about Facebook. The 2010 American Customer Survey gave Facebook a 64/100, a rather abysmal score. However, fear not...Myspace still fared even worse, ranking at the bottom of the pile.

What were the reasons behind the sub-par rating? Well, the incessant changes to the page seem to annoy users. I must say, I agree. Often times, they don't even warn you things are going to change. You just log in one day and POOF things are different and you are left to figure it out. In my opinion, they have made too many changes trying to perfect a system that was already efficient. Of course improvements can always be made, but I preferred the Facebook of a few versions ago. But I digress. Other complaints were privacy concerns (ironic, given the big deal the company has made over changing/improving this), commercialization and advertising. These concerns have also been cited in previous surveys.

I don't find the advertising as annoying, but it is somewhat sad to see that half the page is full of advertisements. The individual ads are annoying sometimes, but I know this tactic has been very helpful for many organizations (as we learned from Lidia's presentation). To give you an idea of a comparison, Google pulled an 80, followed by Bing and Wikipedia at 77, Yahoo a 76 and even YouTube a 73. Twitter wasn't included because of the high use of third-party applications.

What does this mean for the future of Facebook? While still beating out Myspace, does it share a similar doom? Mark Zuckerberg will be giving an interview with Diane Sawyer regarding these privacy concerns on Wednesday...this should be interesting!

http://tinyurl.com/29pd3s2

Google Analytic Links

Hi all - here are the links from my presentation in case you were interested in more detail about Google Analytics and not interested in typing out those links!

Here goes!

- Official Google Analytics Website

- How to use Google Analytics for beginners

- 5 Ways to use Google Analytics to measure your marketing effectiveness

- Five simple and powerful ways to use Google Analytics

- 5 Best ways to use Google Analytics Notes

- 3 Ways to use Google Analytics to analyze your SEO work

New Spice: Study Like a Scholar

This has been making the rounds, but here's a pretty hilarious spoof of the Old Spice commercial that BYU did for their library.

I also read a NPR story today that says that Old Spice has seen a spike in sales (though they're not releasing specifics). I wonder how truly effective the campaign will be. Yesterday we referenced the iconic Got Milk campaign, but, as I learned in my Social Marketing class last semester, that campaign didn't really make any money for the dairy industry.

Trend Twist

Trendistic, (formerly known as Twist) is a pretty quick and simple way to see some stats on your recent activity. For example, one of my employers, J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism recently announced the winners of thousand of dollars in grants and awards for innovations in journalism. Exciting! The J-Lab wanted to know what the buzz was, as the story seemed to get a nice pop on twitter, but we had no idea how much of a pop it was. In comes Trendistic.

All I had to do was type "@jlab" into the trend search and we saw an instand graph for all the recent tweets over the past few hours. We could also search for words or other related terms. Great stuff! Check it out!

Barbie's First Tweetup

Allison's recent blog post made me want to look more into what Barbie is doing on social media. Just typing that sounds strange. I found this article that talks about Barbie's first "Tweetup." Barbie, with the help of Council of Fashion Designers of America hosted a showcase. Barbie was featured wearing clothes designed and based on the featured designers styles and creations. Through Barbie's twitter she promoted the event and called for others to come. What is next for Barbie?

http://www.stylelist.com/2010/02/03/barbie-attracts-twitter-followers-with-designers-help/

Barbie uses Social Media too!

Like most young American girls, I once played with Barbie dolls. In fact, my parents' basement used to be Barbie central. My sister and I had just about everything Barbie could ever want including a drive thru McDonald's, an amusement park, a stable, a grocery store, a doctor's office, a day-care center, and several dream homes and cars. All that was fine and dandy for girls growing up in the 80s and 90s, but now in this digital age Barbie needs a way to compete with all the technology gadgets and games that occupy kids' time. So now Mattel has brought "Barbie Video Girl" to life.

What's a Barbie Video Girl you ask? Well Mashable reports that, "Barbie Video Girl doubles as a video camera with LCD screen and comes with video editing software. The doll appears to be designed to get little girls excited about video production, a career path that may not be as geeky as computer engineering, but is still quite modern."

So basically we now have a doll that functions as a video camera. And on top of that Barbie is using Foursquare and Twitter to promote a scavenger-hunt contest starting next week. Participants follow Barbie to get clues and tips for the scavenger-hunt and then check in using Foursquare. Apparently there will be on-site challenges to complete and "street team" on hand to award prizes to the winners.

The thing that puzzles me most about this promotion and the use of social media is how effective it will be. I mean how many young girls (let's say around 10 and younger) are actually using Twitter or Foursquare? My guess is not that many. I seem to recall a study from the PEW Research Center that stated that few teens use Twitter, so I doubt kids even younger have adopted the practice. I know that if I had kids I wouldn't be too keen on letting them have Foursquare or Twitter accounts.

This leaves me to believe that this campaign must be targeting older fans of Barbie (much like the adult fans of Lego), bloggers, and moms of kids that love Barbie. And sure enough Barbie has over 16,000 Twitter followers. So I'm curious how these scavenger-hunts will pay off for the fashion doll of choice. I'm betting a lot of older women are going to be out there clamoring for a free doll. But maybe that's the plan after all?

Gene Weingarten column mentions Lady Gaga.

This Sunday's Gene Weingarten column provides a humorous take on American journalism in the digital age. He comments on the specialization of job duties ("multiplatform idea triage specialist"), round-the-clock deadlines, reader comments, and the evolution of the editorial process -- including the trend to manipulate print story headlines for online search engine optimization. It's a fun read, in light of our discussions about search.

"The Social Network" Trailer

Here's a link to "The Social Network" movie trailer which will be in theaters this October: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaaGLogbrfY. The movie chronicles the foundation and rise of Facebook and discusses privacy and ownership.

What do you think of the trailer? Now would you reconsider your decision on whether to watch the movie or not, after you have watched the trailer? Personally, I said I wouldn't go, but I liked the trailer and most probably I'll change my mind.

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

I just can't let this social media blog go on without some mention of the Old Spice phenomenon.

If you haven't seen it before, please take a look at the quintessential viral commercial. The commercial played during the SuperBowl and immediately became a viral hit. Now, it has 13 million views on YouTube, and Old Spice and its ad agency have not been quiet about their intentions to take advantage of its popularity.

On Tuesday, Old Spice's Twitter account was commandeered by Isaiah Mustafa (the Old Spice Guy), with the following: "Today could be just like the other 364 days you log into twitter, or maybe the Old Spice man shows up @OldSpice." Now, there's an entire YouTube Channel dedicated to the Old Spice Guy's responses to YouTube and Twitter questions fielded online. He's already offered answers to celebs like Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Demi Moore, and the Huffington Post, and was the subject of a promoted trending topic on Twitter...Incidentally, he probably would've become an organically trending topic anyway.

The ad agency, Wieden + Kennedy, is getting a significant amount of press themselves for this brilliant stunt. So what is it about this guy? What's the secret to going viral? What are W+K, Isaiah Mustafa, and Old Spice doing right?

Oil Spill Capped, @BPGlobalPR Says: “Well, That Wasn’t So Hard.”

I seem to be having quite some fun with the blog today. Anyways, BP has finally put a cap on the oil-spitting well in the Gulf of Mexico(huge sigh of relief). So I decided to look up @BPGlobalPR. You know, the guy who set up the fake BP Twitter account Trace wrote about a couple of weeks ago. Remember that guy?

Well, that guy now has 186,636 followers - make that 186,637 followers. I just started following him. His Tweet, posted some 24 hours ago, reads 'Well, that wasn't so hard.'

Well, now that BP seems to be getting a lid on things, I was asking myself this question: will it be ethical for BP to get this guy on board to do some PR work for them - on Twitter? I mean, the guy has 186637 followers and the official BP Twitter account only has 18,120 followers. He has a lot more people reading what he has to say, and several who might believe what he says because he is a 'neutral' third party, than believing what the official BP Twitter account will say.

I am still thinking about this. What are your thoughts?

Read the full article at http://tinyurl.com/3yqkjdg

Have you Reddit?

After Cassandra's presentation last Wednesday on Google Analytics, I was drawn to this story on Mashable about Reddit, the social media site, using Google Analytics data to point out that they (Reddit) have a lot more traffic than most analysts give them credit for.

Like I have said before, I am very much a new (social) media neophyte and most of the information from this course is new to me. I really enjoyed Cassandra's presentation on Google Analytics and since then I have been reading articles about the tool and how it works.

Although the data Reddit got from Google Analytics is a little confusing (and even to them), it just shows me again how such tools can be used to add value to our work as PR practitioners.

So, let me go do a Google search on Reddit. Never heard of them before.

Read the full story at http://tinyurl.com/3xzfsnb

Early Bird Specials for the Twitter Crowd

Early bird specials have come to Twitter with today's launch of @earlybird, Twitter's account for sponsored promotions. In a NY Times online article, Marshall Kirkpatrick recognizes the value of latest promotional Twitter tool, but notes that it's "for weaker products that can't handle the open public conversation of trending topics." He points to @earlybird's first promotion - buy one, get one free tickets to the Disney film Sorcerer's Apprentice - as a prime example. Basically, he argues, a bad product can't be promoted through chatter - it must resort to freebies.

I agree with Kirkpatrick. While a BOGO promotion is certainly not the mark of an in-demand movie, it moves product. The question is - who will the early birds be: Twitterers already interested in the movie or those who just wanted to take advantage of a good deal? After all, I know I'm more likely to buy something - even if I don't really want or need it - if I can get it at a discount. So while the promotion seems to have worked -those BOGO tickets were already sold out by the afternoon -Disney will have to face the music. They run the risk of having unsatisfied early birds (who only saw the movie because they took advantage of the promotion) tweet negative reviews. On the other hand, pleasantly surprised fans could generate positive buzz through their tweets. I guess we'll have to read what happens.

What do you see as the advantages and disadvatages to @earlybird?

More SEO Info

Following is some more information from Mame Croze on SEO to answer Trace's question. Also, here is a great free tool to download via Firefox to get SEO information on any website.

From Mame: To answer Trace's question, there are never any keywords that are
off-limits in the sense of having a label of not being searched. Keyword
research is all about finding out what people are searching and how that
applies to what your content offers. Additionally, depending on culture
and different regions, people use different words. A great example is
that here in the U.S. we say "preservation" but the equal meaning in the
UK is "conservation." So, the word might not be as search, however, it
would match the content we are offering and those following the term
would most likely find what they are looking for.

If there is something off-limits, it could be those words that we talked
about such as "eagle" and while you definitely could optimize for them,
they are EXTREMELY hard. Another similar term is "apple" (computer,
food, big apple - NY). So while some might plunge, others might stay
away from the term as it would be very costly and probably not worth the
money and time (as you would constantly be chasing your tail in this
situation).

P.S. I almost passed by the picture/photo example. No term is ever "not
searched for" - if I am selling Disney images (pictures or photos), two
times the amount of people search for "Disney pictures" over "Disney
photos" - so it's the long-tail examples (more words) where a word that
might seem to not be searched very often is actually a better keyword
and maybe less competitive than the obvious.