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/