Watch Twitter Happen!

This video, which introduces the NYT's Project Cascade, is very intriguing for 2 reasons:

1) It shows people how messages are spread through the Twitterverse, or, "visualize sharing activity." (very interesting to watch)
2) I also think this will be the future of how people measure ROI - not monetary, but by actually looking at how far your message/article spread and through what connections.

The last big question is - what will these tools enable newspapers to do? How will it shape their online development? And how might it prompt them to change their Twitter strategies?

#Liamisgale

So I am a huge fan and stalker of The Hunger Games which is this young adult book series now being adapted for the screen. Everyone should check it out. 

On social media related news, the series has a huge fan following. As the new stars of the film have been announced, one blog called The Hob decided to have a Twitter viewing party. They had their followers turn on Liam Helmsworth's movie The Last Song (terrible, I know) at the same time and discuss him, how he is going to fit the roles and basic feelings about the movie.

When searching their #Liamisgale, I found that they had 362 tweets! I would consider that a pretty big success for a same blog viewing party. What do you all think? Is this the wave of the future?

Tina Fey staying away from Twitterdom

According to her interview with Craig Ferguson, Tina Fey stated that she refuses to go on Twitter for two reasons. The first being that she would become too involved in it but the more important reason being that it would give away too much of her humor. I thought the second reason to be particularly interesting. Do comedians lose some of their interest outside of Twitter because they are giving away too much? Maybe that's why I incessantly watch 30 Rock or Baby Mama over and over again. I can get my Tina Fey fix which if she was on Twitter I wouldn't need to watch her actual live stuff. I would just follow her life there.

Is this a smart move or do you think that she should just give in?

Twitter in Trouble?

Fortune Magazine wrote a piece in which it says that Twitter is in trouble. Among other things, the article points to slowed traffic to Twitter and declining numbers of active users, as well as trouble bringing in ad revenue and monetizing the platform. According to Fortune, the problems come from within.

The problem is a board and top executive team that don't always appear to have control of its wide-ranging cast of characters, including founders who have attained near-celebrity status (another co-founder, Biz Stone, is a regular on NPR, and earlier this year Dorsey was profiled in Vanity Fair), headstrong and divisive managers, and investors used to getting their way.

What do you think? Is Twitter in trouble? What do you think could be done to turn around some of these problems?

Measuring Twitter Influence

This article from the New York Times touches on some of the things we've been talking about in class. It notes that your number of followers isn't the best way to measure how much influence a person or a brand actually has on Twitter, and that a person's (or brand's) influence is better measured by how often they are talked about and how much their Tweets and links, etc. are driving Twitter coversation. It goes on to list the Top 10 Most Influential People on Twitter, only one of whom (Kim Kardashian, of all people)is also one of the Top Ten People with the Most Followers on Twitter.

Twitter Enables Fully-Functional, Embedded Tweets

Twitter has released a new set of developer tools that will allow bloggers to embed fully-functional Tweets on the Web. According to the developer description, the new feature - called Web Intents - will "make it possible for users to interact with Twitter content in the context of your site, without leaving the page or having to authorize a new app just for the interaction."

The new tool is more effective then Blackbird Pie (allow for embedding tweets, which was considered lifeless and didn't provide interactivity) because it allows users to interact with the embedded Tweet as if they were on Twitter's website itself, even offering a mini-profile feature, similar to the Hovercard.

Read the full article

Wisdom for our generation

 

Did anyone else see this amazing tweet from LoveQuoteJones?  Not only amusing, I think it is the epitome of how we now define our social interactions. 

On a serious note...is this good advice, or will this lead to me tweeting something that I regret? Being tagged in a photo that gets me fired? Our social privacy standards have definitely changed; how relevant do you think this is?

Write a poem in 140 characters?

I read this interesting article about a poetry contest that Twitter announced: to write a poem in 140 characters. The contest is devoted to both World Poetry Day and the 5th anniversary, which happen to be on the same day this year.

Proof of Facebook's domination?

Here's possible proof that Facebook gives a better ROI than Twitter. However - I take this with a grain of salt, since I think companies are still gaining a lot indirectly from the reach and credibility they can create via Twitter.
Do you think Facebook is worth more, monetarily, than Twitter, and will it stay that way?

Mommy bloggers

I thought this was an interesting article discussing new disclosure rules for bloggers (not just traditional journalists anymore!), and how companies are actively seeking out strong, existing communities to promote their brands - specifically the mom blogger communities. Here's one quote from the article:

"Even as many campaigns have found that Twitter is a great word-of-mouth strategy, other avenues of social media like Facebook are becoming more important, Ms. Calhoun said. Also, video blogs, display ads and online surveys are all integral parts of promotions on the sites.

“Brands are really mixed on Twitter,” Ms. Calhoun said, partly because of the 140-character limit on posts. “Facebook is much safer for brands because it gives them a lot of control,” she said."

Do you think they're right? Is Twitter too limited to really shape and share your brand with these (or any other) communities? And are there other dangers that come with connecting yourself to mommy-blogging communities?

Shout out to terrible Twitter use...

We've discussed a lot how to use, and how not to use Twitter, and this little customer service episode, brought to us by United Airlines, shows what a terrible job they're doing utilizing Twitter for their customer interactions and service. They've probably lost a frequent customer here, which could have easily been prevented.
I was also very surprised that this happened to an airline because we've already seen several cases of airlines using Twitter effectively and ineffectively - which should have been enough of a warning to prompt every airline to begin using Twitter seriously. Should have. But United Airlines has apparently missed the boat (or plane). I suggest they rethink their Twitter strategy and include responding to negative tweets as well as positive ones.

Twitter - Definitely not Overvalued: JPMorgan in investment talks with Twitter

This is another example of how Twitter is becoming increasingly valued as a Social media platform and I think it would be amazing if JP Morgan does end up investing in Twitter and adding it to its digital growth fund. The fact that a company like JPM created a Social Media Investment Fund underscores the growth potential in this area and we have yet to see the full potential of Social media.

Report: JP Morgan in investment talks with Twitter

By Ariana Eunjung Cha

JP Morgan is reportedly in talks with Twitter to buy a minority stake in the micro-blogging site. Neither will comment on the talks, but anonymous sources confirmed to the New York Times, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal that the investment by JPMorgan's $1.22 billion digital growth fund would value Twitter at more than $4 billion.

JP Morgan recently established its social media investment fund to jump on the technology and social media companies that have seen exponential growth in the past few years.

Link to Washington Post article

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

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.

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?

"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.

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..

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.

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".