Social Media Analytics: The Oscar's

This post from Mashable analyzes the social media reach of last night's Oscar's.  There are some interesting tools for analytics that might be helpful.

Social Media and Social Journalism

An article in Mashable this week discussed the growing role that Facebook is playing in social journalism. The highlights of FB abilities include the huge number of sources it makes available, ability for social story-telling, community content available, wide-spread distribution and role in training journalists. FB is becoming a valuable resource for journalists to monitor on the ground breaking news and also to research topics and find sources. In addition, there are now FB-only news sources like Rockville Central here in DC. Do you think this trend will continue? Have you had any experience using FB for journalism purposes?

Social Media and Search

This post from The Buzz Bin highlights a new report from Groupm and comScore about how search engine marketing and social media impacts consumer purchasing online. Some of the stats the report finds were surprising to me.

• Forty percent of consumers who use search in their path to purchase are motivated to use social media to further their decision making process
• Forty eight percent combine search and social in the buying process
• 64 percent of consumers are likely to follow a brand after a purchase via social media

Behoaviorgraphics

This is an interesting post from Brian Solis about the social media world and were we all fit. I think it is most interesting because of the labels, for example its funny to think of myself as a commenter. Where do you fit in?

PS- If you are not following @BrianSolis on Twitter, you should be

Oscar Fun on Twitter

The Oscars are always fun, and comedians have been live tweeting throughout with some funny commentary on the event. I hope you all had a great weekend! Enjoy

Twitter Trial

Hi everyone,
As Prof. Kumar requested, here is the link to my Twitter Trial. I'm curious to hear what everyone else who did a Twitter Immersion discovered or thought at the end or it?

The 4 Stages of Twitter

I don't know how many of you have seen this, but I thought it was a pretty funny graphic depicting the spectrum we're all on when it comes to using and understanding Twitter. When Twitter was down briefly Saturday morning, I may have hit stage 4.

Homeless Tweets

In order to raise awareness about homelessness in New York, interns at a NYC marketing agency created a project called Underheard in New York. They've given pre-paid cell phones and created Twitter account for four homeless individuals in New York. These men are tweeting about what it's like to live on the streets in NYC, how they became homeless, and what they're doing to try to change their situations.

The project has generated a lot of buzz. They've gotten a lot of media coverage, including a story in People about how one of the Tweeters, Danny, even found his long-lost daughter through the project.

If you're interested in following any of these men, their handles are: @putodanny, @awitness2011, @albert814, and @jessie550.

I think this is a really interesting way to use social media to raise awareness about pressing social problems, and I'm interested to see what kind of effect this project has. What do you think about "Underheard in New York?"

Revolutions and New media

Really interesting to think about the implication of Social Media in the latest Middle East revolutions ! To balance the Slate's article published by Kaitlin, have a look at this article "Did Facebook bring down Mubarak?"
quotation:
"The role of the internet in Egypt's revolution has definitely been overstated. If you look at the available data on the degree of internet penetration in the country as well as the number of mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people, the percentage of population under age 15 and the degree of urbanization, some intriguing facts jump out."

Yesterday another article reacts on the same site: "why not call it a Facebook Revolution ?"

Blog Posts For Peer Review :)

Hi Everyone,

In light of todays class topic (social media writing: Crafting an authentic voice) I'm posting my VOA blog posts up for discussion and review. My goal is to become a better social media writer so I invite you to  criticize challenge and advise. I look forward to reading or hearing your thoughts. Thank you.

http://blogs.voanews.com/student-union/author/alexbusingye/

Social Media Values

I love Slate, and obviously some of this piece is postulation, but it's a fascinating, short look at some of the stances taken by Google, Facebook, and Twitter amidst revolutions and censured information. All of these platforms have played parts (even if Malcom Gladwell doesn't agree) in the rapid spread of information and uprisings we've been witnessing. However, it hadn't occurred to me to analyze this from the role of the founders of these various organizations. Do you think that Zuckerburg is out for the profit more than Google is? Or maybe just playing it safer, politically?

Bing and Facebook unite

This article from Mashable was posted on Twitter by Pete Cashmore. It features Facebook and Bing's search partnership and further expansion. Bing will now show a list of your Facebook friends who have liked any of the links displayed. The Microsoft Bing team wrote, "As people spend more time online and integrate their offline and online worlds, they will want their friends’ social activity and their social data to help them in making better decisions."

All of this comes as Google and Microsoft race to integrate data from social media platforms into their search engines.

http://mashable.com/2011/02/24/bing-friends-facebook-likes-search/

Technology for Social Good

One of the co-founders of Twitter, Biz Stone, has joined forces with a non-profit and founded ConvergeUS, a technologically advanced non-profit group. The group will pick three causes per year and use 'very intentional' social strategies to help do good. Their initial causes include working for youth literacy, advancement in science and technology education, and a third cause to be named later.

Do you think that this will actually take off? I think it is important that they have a complex and strategic digital strategy, but I wonder if the philanthropic demographic will be reached via social media.

Crazy Oscar Fashions....maybe not

Sorry to bring my movie industry fetish into this class but it was bound to happen at one point or another.

On Twitter today, The Hollywood Reporter posted an article regarding the train wrecks that generally happen at the Oscars each year. The more infamous ones include Demi Moore wearing biker shorts to the ceremony as well as Juliette Lewis's cornrows. THR this year though is excepting there to be no outrageous choices out on the red carpet. Their reasoning being branding. They believe that the actors and actresses will use the ceremony to their advantage in order to gain brand affinity with their viewers. Who can take seriously the actress that wears a swan dress or for that matter, later go out and watch her movie? An interesting insight on the side of THR, what do you all think? Will craziness happen as per usual or will the ceremonies be calmer on the carpet this year?

Even the U.S. ARMY has embraced Social Media

When we think of Social Media these days, we often think of Companies and Individuals such as Celebrities who are promoting their products, their services and themselves by reaching out to people via these platforms. And we don't often think of an organization like the US ARMY, however even they are embracing Social Media and I was quite impressed with the extent that they have done so. Take a look for yourself:

You can see pics at their media center: www.flickr.com/soldiersmediacenter

You can Fan them: www.facebook.com/usarmy (625,000 Fans)

You can subscribe to their RSS feeds: http://www.army.mil/rss/

You can listen to their podcasts: http://www.army.mil/rss/podcasts/

You can follow them on Twitter: www.twitter.com/usarmy

(56,000 followers, 4000 tweets)

And You can even WATCH them on YouTube, check out one of many actual training videos below: www.youtube.com/soldiersmediacenter (8000 subscribers)

This makes me wonder that they must have a very thought-out social media strategy given that they work with sensitive information in sensitive locations.

Do you think companies ought to emulate some of the US ARMY social media best practices?

Apple & Google Hold the Key for Publishers' Digital Subscriptions

If the tablet form does really take off in the next couple year it will definitely change the publishing industry. Last week Apple introduced digital subscription terms to publishers where they get 30% of the cut as well the consumer data. Google is offering what they call a One Pass Plan. Publishers can set their own prices and Google get 10%. Users can use one user name and password to access paid content on multiple devices. The NY Times spelled out the details of these plans the reactions from publishers, here. Publishers definitely need as much revenue from the digital world, but surprisingly they are more concerned about losing the consumer data.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/business/media/21carr.html

about.me

I don't think about.me is a particularly new development, but it's one I haven't heard mentioned in class or seen blogged about here yet. What it gives you is a hub for all your social media accounts--a single URL to send people to to allow them to learn about you and easily access your profiles on Twitter, WordPress, FourSquare, YouTube, etc. Here's an explanatory video they just released with a bit more information. And, as an example, here is my about.me site. Do any of you have profiles like this one? If not, after watching the video, does it look like something you would consider creating?

"Twinfluence"

This is a blog post from Geoff Livingston, a DC communications consultant I started following after Professor Kumar retweeted him. I thought it was an interesting piece given our discussion last week on measurement and analytics. Livingston cautions that we shouldn’t place too much emphasis on the influence of Twitter (or as he puts it, “Twinfluence”). He lists some statistics supporting his point, like the fact that 87% of Americans are aware of Twitter, but only 7% are active users. Further, only 6% of American households grossing more than $75,000 use Twitter. It is important for us to remember that specific audiences are on Twitter and the effort is probably futile if those are not the people your organization is targeting.

Media Black Hole: So Much News That We'll Implode?

Someone in my political comm class shared this fun story from NPR on what the perpetual news cycle is doing to us.

What if the rapidity of the newscycle outpaces the news itself and we wind up in some form of warp speed — living life in a wormholish, time-wrinkled world?

The author wonders if the onslaught of constant information is causing us to filter out anything but the few sources we already agree with and trust. It's definitely a cynical way of looking at things.

What do you guys think?

Digital Resumes

I found a very interesting article on Mashable today about how to make a digital resume stand out. I don't know everyone's preferences on how to present themselves through a resume, but I have actually added color to mine. It isn't obnoxious or uncalled for, it just makes the resume pop.

The resumes in the article blow mine out of the water. Granted, their professions are more digitally focused than most, but if I were a recruiter it would catch my eye.

What do you think? Do you think that these resumes are professional?

Facebook takes a step towards equality!

There are many ways that social media can have an effect on social policy. Facebook's recent move to include LGBT friendly relationship statuses is a step in that direction. The 2 new relationship options are "in a domestic partnership" and "in a civil union".

After last fall’s string of high-profile gay teen suicides, Facebook teamed up with GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to put a stop to anti-gay bullying on the social network.

GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios said, “When millions of Facebook users see these relationship status options, they gain a greater understanding of the legal inequalities faced by loving and committed same-sex couples in so many states today.

Yay equality!

New Hacking Tools - a bigger threat for Wi Fi Users!

A free program called Firesheep, released in October, has made it simple to see what other users of an unsecured Wi-Fi network are doing and then log on as them at the sites they visited.
I was surprised to learn that the program is easy to use and more than a million people have downloaded the program in the last three months.
With so many social media platforms we are leaving more and more personal information online and, as it turns out, our personal information is not protected..
New Hacking Tools

Raising money through Twitter

This article talks about Red Cross using Twitter to raise money for rescue efforts after natural disasters. For example after an earthquake in Haiti people were not just tweeting, but they were texting to donate. The article offers many other examples of raising money online, which proved to be more effective than 800-numbers.The question the author raises is whether social media has altered altruism and encourages us to express more sympathy for various causes..

Take that, Malcom Gladwell

This is a great, short piece about how the internet (in general) has fueled democratic movements in the Middle East & North Africa and how some of the protesters are showing their thanks to Google, Twitter, and Facebook.
One young man in Egypt named his daughter Facebook Jamal Ibrahim. Yes, he named her Facebook. Here's a quote:

"A young man in his twenties wanted to express his gratitude about the victories the youth of 25th of January have achieved and chose to express it in the form of naming his firstborn girl “Facebook” Jamal Ibrahim (his name.) The girl’s family, friends, and neighbors in the Ibrahimya region gathered around the new born to express their continuing support for the revolution that started on Facebook. “Facebook” received many gifts from the youth who were overjoyed by her arrival and the new name. A name [Facebook] that shocked the entire world."

I have to agree with the author here - the only internet company whose name might sound acceptable for a child is "Quora."

Facebook, Android, China and More at Mobile Conference

I think this is a fun article about a mobile conference in Barcelona, Spain.I especially liked the idea of a SIM card with Facebook integrated that allows phone owners who do not have access to the internet, check their Facebook page!

Mobile Conference (New York Times)

Smartphone-fueled future

I agree with the point Schmidt makes in this article about the benefits of new technology (we never, feel lonely or bored, get lost or lose anything). However, I also share the other point of view that the technology does alienate people from each other. What do you guys think?

Full Article (New York Times)

Bibliographies? There's an App for that.

A few enterprising undergrads at the University of Waterloo have created a citation app for iPhone and Android that, I think, has the potential to really impact the way we collect citations. To read about exactly how it words, you can read this article. But basically, you just use your phone to scan a book's barcode, and the app will automatically e mail you the citation for that book in a number of different forms (Chicago, APA, etc.). The only problem as far as I can tell is that it focuses completely on books, and not on journal articles, which don't have barcodes.

I think it could be interesting to watch and see if this catches on, and if so, if academic journals will adapt and start adding QR codes to their articles. I, for one, would love to see that happen.

Facebook almost first choice for online marketers.

The study shown in this article highlights the fact that Facebook has become the second choice for marketers when it comes to the internet. The chart shows how the social media platform comes in close second behind company websites. Twitter is the third choice for marketers, followed by blogs and other online tools.

http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-almost-leads-online-marketing-plans-for-2011-2011-02

Things Heating Up in Bahrain

You would think after what has just recently happened in Egypt, the Bahrainian government would smart up a little bit but alas, they have not. Here is a Mashable article discussing the drop in the Internet usage over the past few days as well as a chart seen below. Egypt overcame their Internet blockages, do you think Bahrain will have the same power?

Ever Heard of Storify?

Well, briefly, let me tell you the story ... Storify is an online tool that makes it possible to produce a different type of news story. The tool enables you to gather and combine elements from social media like Tweets, videos and photos from one place; no need to search each social media site to find information on your topic. Then, from what you have gathered, you simply pull in the elements you want to include and add commentary to it if you choose. One benefit of using Storify is that you have quick access to a range of information from which you can extract what you believe to be the best for your story. Another is that you do not have to go through a complicated process in order to include images, links, etc. (like I did here to include the Storify logo, from http://twitter.com/Storify, with this blog post). Rather, the process is drag and drop versus copy, paste, convert, format, upload, etc.

From what I know thus far, I think it is a tool worth exploring some more. Early users of this tool include TBD.com, The Washington Post and ABC News. As for the future of this online tool, some in the communication and business fields believe that it may become social media’s content management system.

From Jeopardy to... health care?

All over Twitter this AM were posts about 'Watson'. I glanced at the titles and figured Watson was some CEO of a huge company that I didn't know. Then I looked at Mashable and saw that Watson is actually a supercomputer. What?! The first line of the article was "Humanity took a beating from the machines this week." Whoa. The big news was that the Supercomputer Watson had beat the best Jeopardy players in Jeopardy's history. Only a few years ago, Watson couldn't even get 20% of the answers right. That is a steep learning curve.

So, it is impressive that the supercomputer beat the humans but that wasn't what grabbed me. It was the fact that the developer/research, John Prager, announced they were now going to take Watson into the health care arena to diagnose peoples symptoms. Something about that idea unnerves me a bit. I see technology as a tool for humans to use but now the tool is using the humans. It seems like a bit of a leap to go from entertainment straight to medicine and I will definitely want to learn more before I make an appt with Dr. Watson.

Intro To Yammer

Tomorrow, Kaitlin and I will be talking to you about Yammer, a new-ish social media tool for intra-business communication. We aren't going to have time to watch it in class, but if you want to take more in-depth look at exactly how it works and how to use it, we recommend watching this video.

Barbie & Ken: A Love Affair

It’s a little late for a Valentine’s post, but I thought I’d bring this creative digital marketing campaign to your attention. Mattel has embarked on a mission to bring Ken & Barbie back together via social media. Ken has turned to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare and even Match.com! He also took out some billboard space in New York and Los Angeles in hopes of winning back his true love.

It’s actually pretty cute, very interactive and the messaging seems to be consistent across all platforms. Check out this Mashable article that has links to Ken's various profiles.

Social Media's role in the Wikileaks case

I think we’ve all been wondering how Wikileaks will be prosecuted for disclosing classified documents last year. This Washington Post article describes the role social media plays in the case and how the defendants’ lawyers argued that releasing personal data from Twitter accounts violates the First and Fourth (protection against warrantless searches) Amendments.

The article really got me thinking about the government’s right and ability to access data in today’s 2.0 world and how social networking sites determine whether or not they will remain bipartisan on issues like this.

TED Launches their own Quora competition

TED, an organization that puts on short talks from important modern thinkers, announced their new Quora-like platform today. According to the article, “TED Conversations” will be a question and answer forum similar to Stack Overflow or Quora, but with a few important differences. Conversations will take three forums: questions, ideas and debates. They’ll also be assigned an expiration date between one day and two weeks from their start.

This could definitely be a way that the Quora model could succeed. As long as TED has a dedicated team of experts willing to answer questions, they may have found the answer to successful Quora-like system.

Link to the article:
http://mashable.com/2011/02/16/ted-conversations/

Link to TED:
http://www.ted.com

SEO & Rogue Tweets...

In stark contrast to the Kenneth Cole tweet about Egypt, I love this bit about a rogue tweet from the Red Cross.
To be fair, the Red Cross tweet wasn't intentional, nor was it offensive except in a general fashion because it was meant to be a personal tweet about #gettngslizzerd. But the takeaway is Red Cross's response:"...rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we've confiscated the keys."
It's funny.
Even better, all of the hype about this little slip-up has led to the Red Cross coming up in all kinds of search results and may have led to an increase in pledged donations. I'll call it "slip-up optimization".

Social Learning Summit @ AU

Here's the link for the Social Learning Summit at AU the first weekend of April.  Sign up here for the latest information.  Passed on by Alex Priest.

Oreo's vs Lil Wayne

Oreo's attempt to break the Guinness World Record for most likes in 24 hours is being challenged by Lil Wayne. Apparently, Lil Wayne began his campaign four hours after Oreo but has more likes already. It amazes me how these social media platforms have become battlegrounds for competing companies and artists. It is clear that a rap star is not the same as a snack brand, but breaking such a record would be beneficial to both.

http://mashable.com/2011/02/15/lil-wayne-oreo/

The Black Hats of Search

This weekend the NY Times Business section had a fascinating article on SEO. The case study they use is with JC Penney in the last couple weeks. Their organic search ranks for terms like "living room furniture" plummeted after Google discovered the thousands of sites linking to Penney's website and suspected black hat practices. It goes over a lot of what we talked about in class and investigates the black hat link selling business.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html

Social Media and Money, A New Bubble or Sustainable Industry?

Again, my love for Slate keeps directing me in new issues surrounding social media. While we all understand the value and potential for social media, the actual financial value is rather shocking. Many new social media start ups are receiving billions of dollars in investment, despite their current income. Are investors creating another tech bubble or will social media prove to be a sustainable industry?

FourSquare, for instance, grew 3,400 percent in 2010, and the company hit a valuation of $250 million. Zynga, makers of Farmville, are at a valuation somewhere near $6.2 billion! And Groupon, which recently turned down a $6 billion buyout offer from Google, is expected to be worth $15 billion after it goes public.

The craziest part is that many of these companies didn't even exist 5 years ago. What are your thoughts? I think this article is interesting in addressing the similar behaviors of previous bubbles (and we are still baring the scar of many of them). However, I believe that social media is here to stay. It isn't difficult for users to adapt to each media platform, nor is there anything discouraging them from joining them all. The demand seems to be continuous, and will support the industry (and not to mention, yield nice returns for those lucky investors.)

maybe I should buy some stock....

My experiment with a Twitter Resume

It has always been hard for me to boil down my experience into a 1-page resume. After all, my years at college with all of my activities and leadership positions, my jobs and internships from the Senate to NOAA to a Non-profit cannot really be summarized to a page, can they? My life boiled down to a piece of paper that empoyers evaluate before they ever meet me.

If you are like me, you have spent hours agonizing over what goes on your resume. From the formatting to the information to include, to proof reading and customizing to the job you are applying for, it ends up being rediculous! So imagine the challenge I took on when I thought about a Tweet Resume.

We have seeen how many jobs are listed on twitter, and we know from personal experience how easy it is to re-tweet something. So why not combine these factors and create a 'Tweeteme' (ya, not sold on the name) that links to Linkedin and can be easily seen by potential employers. It is time to make social media work for us.

After many edits, and a response or two from random Twitter users who liked the idea, I tweeted out my first version:

@adamtager: Senior @AmericanU & Leg Affiars @jfederations DC. Comm/Outreach @usnoaagov OLE, Press @SenChrisDodd, RA/CM @AUHDP http://linkd.in/e0BWdD

It can use improvement, I know, but this is an experiement that I want to keep at. By attaching the handles of my organization, people viewing can see the legitimacy of those who I have worked for in the past. Beyond that, all of the experience in the Tweet is explained in depth in my Linkedin page that is linked in the tweet. I am honestly curious what I can do with this, and excited to be on the cutting edge of something that may, one day, hit a tipping point and be common practice.

Social Media in Emergencies

I saw this little image on mashable and I thought it was interesting in the light of social media inspiring and responding to emergencies.

Cell Signal Strength? There's an app for that.

OpenSignalMaps is crowdsourcing locations of cell towers and their strengths using Android smartphones as probes. As more people download the app, the more valid the data will become. It is still pretty new and one of the drawbacks is that it doesn't take into account iPhone users who are not contributing to the mapping.

I entered my zip code in the program and it was very interesting to switch between the cell tower map and the heat map to see which areas were covered best by which company. Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint had the most towers in my area while At&T had a piddly three towers. As more people contribute to this mapping, it has the possibility of becoming a very useful resource when choosing which cell company to go based on specific coverage in your area.

Google exec Wael Ghonim in Egypt says long live the revolution 2.0

A fierce debate has been waged on Twitter (call it the Malcolm Gladwell backlash, all you Malcolm Gladwell haters, you know who you are) about whether the populist uprising in Egypt could be fairly called a social media revolution. 
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/02/google-exec-wael-ghonim-in-egypt-says-long-live-the-revolution-20.html

Also see Malcolm Gladwell's article on Twitter and Egypt.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/02/does-egypt-need-twitter.html

I invite you to challenge the posts :)

The Role Of Social Media In Book Publishing

Acclaimed Brazilian author Paulo Coelho talks about talks about how he has leveraged Facebook, blogs and tweeter to share his work. He has 4.2 million funs on Facebook and his blog realized 2,000,000 unique views over the last month. I think you guys should see this.
Paulo Coelho's Interactive Interview

Social media marketing and optimization plan

This article http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/24168.asp talks about the steps you need to take to develop a successful social media marketing and optimization plan:

Understanding the benefits of social media, incorporating social media success factors (such as Transparency, Honesty, Relevance, Value, Commitment), Building a foundation, Developing a plan, Monitoring and measuring, Creating and communicating, Engaging and empowering).

AU PC LinkedIn Group

Just wanted to be sure you had the link to join this group for the latest job and internship information.  It is by invitation but I am a moderator and will add you to the group.

SEO and Huffington Post, it's everywhere - so I guess it's working?

As I lay in bed catching up on the days news, I couldn't help but come across news article after news article on SEO and the Huffington Post (and naturally I cant help but share it with my fellow Social Media lovers). This article raises an interesting question though about what SEO has/will do to content. What are your thoughts? I agree that articles with 2 sentences filled with a slideshow of pictures is a little infuriating, but it does help get people to the site. Personally, I am a huge fan of the Huffington Post and think the content is generally pretty great (and yes undeniably biased).

Interestingly, despite the comments in the previous article I posted from Slate this article points out that 35% of the traffic on Huffington Post came from search engines compared to 20% for CNN.com for January. So, for SEO tips, check out the Huffington Post

SEO, AOL, and Huffington Post (or ALO,HuffPo, HufPo.....)

I recently read this very interesting article in Slate. As we are all now on our way to mastering SEO, this article brings up some interesting thoughts on the ways social media is changing the whole game. How many of you use a search engine to find out about news? Or do you just stumble across an article posted by a friend on Facebook (or hey, even stumble upon it on StumbleUpon)? As a Slate contributor stated, "Optimizing for Google results is a little like going out and buying the best VCR on the market." Since many more people are using different outlets to find news stories, how useful is SEO becoming for online news? Additionally, as Google is able to update its algorithm to catch these tactics that Huffington Post clearly takes use of how will this effect the AOL/HuffPo merger? SEO and Google seem to be a constantly evolving game, and it will be interesting to see where it takes us in the future.

The Value of Groupon

Apparently this week, Starbucks CEO and President Howard Schultz is joining the board of directors for Groupon. The people over at Starbucks are making some big moves with the logo change and new Trenta size. I am hoping that this means some pretty awesome Starbucks Groupons in the future but then again, I thought their 12 Days of Sharing this past Christmas season was going to be different. What do you all think? Are they making the right moves or wrong? Also here is a funny video for class enjoyment :)

Online Profiles vs. Resumes

While resumes are still important, Ask.com Blogger Alison Doyle suggests that online profiles may one day replace that paper resume. We discussed in class how some recruiters are exclusively using Linkedin, and this data seems to suggest that the trend is growing, as 36% thought this was a possability. In contrast, however, that same survey of HR mamgers found that the remining 63% thought it was not likeley that resumes would be completely replaced. 1% remained undecided.

The dangers of social media

A rumor was recently reported via Twitter that the Philadelphia Eagles' head coach was going to be stepping down to be replaced by former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and current ESPN analyst Jon Gruden. This column from the Boston Herald describes how one single tweet set into motion days of chaos in the sports reporting world as journalists rushed to confirm or dismiss it and the Eagles organization was placed in a very uncomfortable position.

The author raises an issue that we haven't spoken much about so far this semester: of course, social media allows breaking news to be disseminated in real time, a wonderful advancement. But it is equally adept at spreading falsehoods, of which the rumor about Jon Gruden turned out to be one. As producers of online content, the columnist writes, we are not held to the same standards as traditional journalists are. But the information we put out through social media is no less influential. He views it as unfortunate that social media have allowed for a whole class of non-professional reporters to emerge that is in no way held accountable for the information (true, false or in between) it makes public.

A libel or slander suit is a powerful incentive for news organization to do their due diligence to confirm and reconfirm their facts. But a loss of credibility with the people who trust us to deliver factual information is the greatest check and balance. What are the rules for blogs or social networking? What are the consequences for blatantly getting something wrong? What is the social network’s incentive to get things correct before putting it out there? Freedom of speech does not mean you are necessarily free from the consequences of what you say, write, post or tweet.

What do you think about this argument? Is it valid or is the author overreacting to a natural consequence of new technologies?

The Magazine World: Digital vs. Print

In the last couple of years, we’ve seen the rise of digital magazines across all industries. This is an interesting article that discusses the flaws in delivering digital versions of traditional print magazines.

I’m curious what people think of magazines that are only available digitally. I have recently started to read a couple of digital design magazines that are not available in print at all. Here is an example if you’re interested in playing around with it. Like reading books on an e-reader, it just isn’t the same for me. The colors don’t seem as vibrant. I don’t feel like I have a personal experience with the magazine like I do when I pick it up from my nightstand. However, most of them are free. Has anyone else tried digital mags out?

A New Form of Entertainment Available on Twitter

Thanks to gaming apps created by some iPhone developers, you can now mix up your tweeting with some game playing on Twitter. It’s another way to draw people into the 140 character world. Other possible effects include drawing more attention to well-known tweeters on specific topics, which is potentially good for business (your own or another’s on whose behalf you are conversing). Which game are you interested in playing?

Majority of people have abandonned brands on Facebook and Twitter

Not easy for companies to keep in touch with their customers on Facebook or Twitter: just see !

New Facebook App Tells College Applicants What Their Chances Are

New Facebook App Tells College Applicants What Their Chances Are

I read this article and was thinking: Exciting or Depressing? Useful or Not? I mean they claim that they are pretty accurate (in case of UCLA for example, 85% of students the app said would get in did) but I think the app is still a long way to predicting admission overall: they would need to expand their sample size, conduct more testing and take additional variables into account, like essays, which they currently do not. In addition, how can they predict who your competition will be?

How the Social Media World Reacted to Super Bowl Ads [STATS]

How the Social Media World Reacted to Super Bowl Ads [STATS]

Trendrr, a social media analytics tool, shows the Eminem/Detroit Chrysler commercial as the most tweeted, while Transformers 3 was the second most popular/tweeted. Super Bowl ad discussions increased by 9% in the twelve-hour period after the game's start, as many people, including me for the first time, tweeted about the commercials during and after the football game.

Top Jobs for 2011: All Social Media?

This list of the top 10 jobs for 2011 from Ask.com include, almost exclusively, social media and tech savvy jobs. I dont know about you, but I think I am going to learn HTML coding.

AOL Acquires Huffington Post

The long time blog site, The Huffington Post, agreed to a $315 million buyout from AOL, inc. AOL, once a leader of online content has been in competition with other internet giants like Google. A recent New Yorker article outlined how AOL's new CEO Tim Armstrong is transitioning AOL to provide more news based online content. Since the digital dial up service that initially gave millions of people their first internet access is in a fast decline, AOL is looking to create new popular online content. One of the new ventures is Patch, a network of hyper-local news sites for small communities. Rural and suburban communities have yet to publish news, and local events online and AOL is hoping to be a leader in creating a platform for them to do so.

Foursquare's 'Super Bowl Sunday' Venue Passes 200,000 Check-Ins

On Superbowl Sunday, Foursquare allowed fans to "check-in" to the Superbowl and earn a badge, which inevitably led to a discount on NFL merchandise. The article by the Huffington Post can be found here.

30 minutes before kick-off 30,000 people had checked in, and by 9:30 p.m. there were more than 145,000 people who had checked in. At the conclusion of the Superbowl, more than 200,000 people had checked in.

Do you think this was a good tactic for Foursquare to use?

Quickish - Quick(ish) Sports News

This morning, I tripped across Quickish, a site which claims to take the most important sports news and publish it in real time. The creators of the site have developed a way to find all the most important Tweets and publish them quick(ish) on their site.

Since the Super Bowl is later today, I'm going to check it out periodically to see if its worth reading during sports events. Much like we mentioned in class, sometimes we like to see what others are saying about the shows we watch. This could potentially help that by giving us the best ideas. Or, it might not be as fine-tuned and only get some obvious news (ex. The Packers Win).

Some questions I'm interested in: Would this idea work with other topics than sports? Is it possible to then to possibly create one huge site with this algorithm to take all the best Tweets and bring them to one site?

http://www.quickish.com

Commercials BEFORE the Superbowl

I thought this was awesome, because it's a collection of Superbowl ad teasers & contests, just like we were discussing in class yesterday. Most of these videos were released on YouTube, which is a sign that even organizations with enormous advertising budgets are seeing the potential reach and payoff of using a free medium like YouTube.

I think this is smart in a second way as well.  Since these companies are spending millions of dollars to advertise during the Superbowl, why not peak the audience's interest beforehand (for free) so that when your real commercial does come on screen, they stick around to watch?

This article talks about the future of social media in journalism. "Social" approach will overshadow the traditional journalism in the near future, according to the article. It also talks about collaborative reporting as a growing trend. We can already see the a merger between the source and the content producer, and soon the reporting will be done by the witnesses of the news. I agree that is where reporting and journalism are going. However, does this mean there will be no need for "professional" journalists if all the reporting is done by witness?
http://mashable.com/2010/09/13/future-social-media-journalism/

Palestinian Authority Factions using Social Media against one another

So with the Middle East in riots (in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, even a little in Yemen), some governments are trying to preempt the use of social media, and engage their own supporters. This article about the Palestinian Authority political factions are using social media against each other. Hamas and Fatah, the two main parties in the area have both begun movements against each other, with the not-in-power Hamas organization (considered a terrorist organization by many countries) claiming a following of over 8000 people. With instability rampant in the region, it is interesting to see a proactive use of social media.

The link feature isn't working, so the link is: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142136

The future of print journalism

Today I had an informational interview at the U.S. Global Leadership Foundation. While waiting in the lobby, I noticed a spread of major news dailies (the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Politico, etc.) on the counter and decided to catch up on my current affairs. I picked up a copy of the New York Times and began to scan the headlines. I put the paper back down. None of it was news to me; I'd read them all last night before bed. I think I'm finally beginning to understand why the newspaper industry is having so much trouble keeping its head above the water. With the exception of WSJ, all the same information these papers have to offer, and more, is available as soon as it happens online for free. Moreover, it's these companies' own websites putting themselves out of business. I genuinely wonder why anyone bothers subscribing to hard copies anymore.

kenneth cole

I was checking out this blog to see if anybody had already written about it but I did not find anything so here it goes. Kenneth Cole had to apologize for tweeting..."millions are in uproar in Cairo, rumor is they heard that our spring collection is now available online...". After five hours, Kenneth Cole was forced to take down the tweet and issue an apology. This came after another Kenneth Cole account was set up by users to make fun of the comments. Other people were outraged. One woman wrote, "Your an asshole! no excuses". Kenneth Cole is known for making "Ah Dad" jokes regarding current events.

Heres the link on mashable.

http://mashable.com/2011/02/03/kenneth-cole-egypt/

An Alternative to the In-House Blog

The foray into social media via the blog channel need not be complicated. Getting the message out about your brand or the organization’s may not necessarily involve having an elaborate social media communication strategy in place. Rather, it is possible to use existing blogs to help spread the word. According to Tom Johansmeyer’s post today on Socialtimes.com, blog sites such as The Huffington Post and Business Insider accept articles “from just about everybody.” Getting articles placed on mass market blog sites such as these is the equivalent of placing bylined articles in publications central to your trade or field. This approach works well if the organization wishes to market itself using a content approach. On the other hand, if, for example, an organization prefers more control in terms of a blog’s look, visible comments, etc. or already has a strong following, then creating an in-house blog would make more sense. There are not only a range of social media options to choose from, but options within social media in terms of approaches to involvement/communication strategy. This is important knowledge because your or the organization’s presence in the social media realm is not really an option anymore.

The importance of the Internet

While reading Twitter this morning, I came across this article on Mashable about why the world and especially those considered developing countries need internet access. It's definitely one of those articles that makes you think about how we take the instruments we have for granted. I think that this is a completely valid argument for the obtaining Internet access. Do you think the goal of world wide access is obtainable or wishful thinking?

3 dynamite ways to lose twitter followers

This short article tells us three Twitter "faux pas" companies need to avoid on Twitter :
- too much automation
- over or under tweeting : balance is key !
- business tweets without any personality...

Jumo on Colbert

There has been a lot of claims of the so-called "Colbert Bump", which argues that political candidate appearances on the show helps increase their fundraising (well, at least for Democrats). With our recent mentions of Jumo and its potential problems with getting off the ground, I think it will be interesting to track how the social networking site will be affected by founder Chris Hughes appearance on the Colbert Report. Additionally, it is interesting to hear Hughes description of the site, and its potential compared to what's available on Facebook.

Social Media & the End of Gender

For those of you who have yet to explore the world of Tedtalks (what have you been doing with your life?), TED is a non-profit that produces videos from annual conferences that brings together experts in various fields (originally Technology, Entertainment, and Design) with the goal of spreading ideas.

Johanna Blakey studies the impact of mass media on our world, and in this presentation she explains how social media is impacting gender. Traditional media uses rigid segmentation to understand audiences based on age, race, and gender demographics that create a vast generalization of people. Just because I am a female, doesn't mean I liked The Notebook. Social media on the other hand is much harder to track that information on users, instead it gains information on users likes and interests. This new media landscape can help replace the of concept that certain demographics like certain things, and replace it with taste communities that match our actual preferences. Ultimately, social media has the potential to end gender stereotypes, and allow us to re-define ourselves online.

The Daily- The First iPad only 'Newpaper'

Unveiled yesterday, Rupert Murdoch's The Guardian is a self-proclaimed type of "new journalism...[for]...new times." The newspaper costs only $0.99/week and features landscape and portait layouts for every page, each layout with it's own special features. The paper can also connect via your Twitter and update your favorite sports team's score in real time, bringing a whole new level of interactiveness to your average sports page.

Is this the future of the newspaper industry? Innovations like this are giving people less and less reason to call the iPad nothing more than a toy, and charging for online subscriptions AND advertising without the overhead of printing costs can be a good revenue source for the struggling newspaper industry. I am interested to wait and see the trends from this innovation after the hype dies down and there are competitors. The paper is, after all, funded by the same guy who owns Fox News.

AU in the Washington Post

American University was in yesterday's Washington Post for its use of social media during the most recent snowstorm.

Professor Zaharna's International Public Relations class has a Facebook page in which they use to communicate about certain events happening around the world and since the article has hit, requests to join the group and emails about the group have been pouring in. When the snow hit and school was canceled, Professor Zaharna held a "snow class."

Wikileaks nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize

Wikileaks, love it or hate it, has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by a member of the Norwegian Parliament. This site is an example of the broad reach of websites and the effect that they can have on people and government, even when faced with hackers.

Personally, I think that Wikileaks went too far and did some harm with the good that they were trying to do. What do you think? Do you think that Wikileals deserves a Nobel Peace Prize?

Google's spam problem

This is a fascinating article about Google's ongoing issue with spam.  The fact that people are now turning to Twitter and other sites over Google is really troublesome for the company.  It shows that even the Google algorithm can't overcome the invasiveness of spam.  If you were in the PR department for Google, aside from fixing the problem, how would you frame this issue in the context of Twitter's dominance?

Egypt: Call in your twitter updates!

Since the Egypt government has shut down all social media outlets, a new work-around has been established. Google, Twitter and SayAnything have joined forces to create a voice based social media platform. The service gives Egyptians three phone numbers to call and leave a voice message(like a voicemail!), which is then posted on the Internet as a recorded Twitter message. This allows Egyptian protesters the ability to still get their messages out. What will the social media revolution think up next!

Read the full story

meetup.com

Meetup.com is a site that allows you to find meetings of specific groups in your areas. If you just type in an interest, topic, political affiliation etc it can direct you to these groups. Also if you have a group it allows you to attract new people that are interested in your cause.

http://www.meetup.com/find/