December 16, 2011
November 11, 2011
The Path from a Social Brand to a Social Business | (mt) Residence
Social Media is pervasive and is becoming the new normal in corporate marketing. Brands who get this right are starting to build their own media networks rich with customer connections numbering in the millions. Right now, Coca-Cola has over 34 million fans on Facebook, but they’re hardly alone. Disney follows just behind with 29 million fans, Starbucks boasts 25 million, and Oreo, Red Bull, and Converse play host to over 20 million fans. If we were to look at other networks such as Twitter and Youtube, we would see a recurring theme. People are connecting en masse with the businesses they support and new media represents the ability to cultivate consumer relationships in ways not possible with traditional earned or paid media.
Sounds great right? This might sound abrupt, but the truth is that we’re hardly realizing the potential of what lies before us. Everything begins with understanding not just how other brands are marketing themselves in social media, but also seeing what they’re not doing and envisioning what’s possible.
via mtresidence.net
October 17, 2011
What Social Media Users Think of the Hottest Tech Stories [INFOGRAPHIC]
Get your fingers on the pulse of the social media community with this survey conducted by Lab42. It’ll get you caught up on the hot tech issues of the past couple of weeks.
For the data embedded in this infographic, market research firm Lab42 conducted a study online via social networks between Sept. 30 and Oct. 23, 2011 among 500 social media users, asking them questions about the iPhone 4S, Kindle Fire, Netflix, the radical changes in Facebook and more.
It’s a tight wrapup of the issues we care about. One ominous takeaway we noticed: Look out, Netflix — a surprisingly large proportion of your social-media-using customers are just about to jump ship:
via mashable.com
October 13, 2011
October 12, 2011
Why Google+ felt good...at first.
This isn't going to be a long diatribe on the virtues of Google+ over FB, but just to mention an observation:
The reason people find some intial joy when first enagaging inside Google+ is because of circles, but not because they exist, but because, by starting over with your social connections it affords the opportunity to organize those connections.
I'd venture to say that most people have grown their social networks in fits and spurts and in that process never really took the time to organize them. In the case of Facebook, there also wasn't any (good) facility for organizing them.
Google+ comes along and imposes a new organizational structure onto your social connections that forces anew, the vetting and arranging of your social connections. That disorganized mess of connections that includes family, friends, Christmas card friends, business contacts, high school friends, etc now gets a rebirth, a cleansing in Google+ that feels really good...at first. Like any good feelings, they last for a while, and with Circles you certainly feel more in control of your social networking experience. The shine is off the penny for me. I will continue to use Google+ to explore its differences and to discover content in new ways, but right now its still an experiment for me.
I still find myself not spending as that much time in Google+. It definitely works and can work well. It is an evolutionary step in online social communities, however, my most meaningful connections still remain elsewhere.
October 11, 2011
October 07, 2011
Twitter Analysis: Massive Global Mourning for Steve Jobs (Infographic) | Epicenter | Wired.com
In the hours after Steve Jobs’ passing, researchers at the New England Complex Systems Institute tried to track the spread of memorial tweets spreading through the internet. Their computers were overwhelmed.
Rather than focusing on network dynamics, they decided to analyze the tributes by language. Jobs wasn’t just an American visionary, but truly global.
Above is a breakdown of two million tweets containing the name “Steve Jobs” and posted between 9 pm on Oct. 5 and 9 am the next morning. Each dot represents 1,000 tweets, and they’re colored according to language. A high-resolution version containing the most-retweeted messages can be downloaded here.
via www.wired.com
A truly global inspiration.
September 13, 2011
September 07, 2011
FROM SETH's BLOG: That buzzing in my ear didn't mean I was about to die
Six weeks ago, at midnight, I found myself awake but wiped out from jet lag. I was in a lumpy bed, in the dark, in an obscure, $20 a night, John-Waters'-esque former country club. I was in Kitale, Kenya, near the Ugandan border.
A mosquito was buzzing in my ear. (Why do they buzz in your ear?). I had meds, of course, but what if I didn't? What if, like so many who live here, I had kids and no money for medicine?
Try to imagine that for a second before you click onto the next thing you've got on your agenda for today.
Something easy and great to do today, for End Malaria Day.
