Online Sharing in 2010

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but thanks to the holiday season I’ve actually been really busy (with some help from COD: Black Ops and WoW: Cataclysm) but I just wanted to drop by real quick and mention this interesting piece from AddThis that I saw on Mashable today.

 

Interesting enough, Facebook is still growing and in 2010 grew faster than it did in 2009 (I blame it on the older generations that are trying to be cool). But interesting enough Email is still beating out Facebook. Obviously a big factor in Facebook’s attempt at Facebook Messages, which will integrate email, FB Msgs and Texts all into one inbox. Personally I would have thought Twitter would have seen higher growth rates but I guess not. I still have high hopes for higher growth in the future and hope they haven’t topped off yet. I was surprised to see Myspace and Friendster still in consideration. Who knew they still existed.

Anyway, just a quick update as I thought this was really interesting and definitely something businesses should continue to look into. Clearly Facebook isn’t going anywhere and if it does, there’s plenty in the line up to replace it. Social Media should definitely not be taken lightly as we can see it’s growth here.

I should definitely be back on a more regular blogging schedule after the new year, as I have some big changes I want to make and some new ideas I’m going to try out. Stay Tuned.

WUPHF. whenever. wherever.

 

WUPHF. The next big thing in Social Media. The Facebook of the Future. The Twitter of.. Ok to be truthfully honest I’m still not sure if this is real or not.

Tonight’s episode of NBC’s The Office showcased Ryan (BJ Novak) trying to find investors in the office for his new Social Media venture, called WUPHF. It’s a Social Media application that notifies you by phone, text, email, fax and printer. They even have a real website up at http://wuphf.com. Obviously a fake site and not really a new social media platform, they’ve created a fun albeit fake application that sort of mocks social media and all the notifications one gets from texts and emails etc.

Although fake, the concept isn’t a bad one. A notification system that notifies you every way possible, through texts, landlines, emails, fax and WiFi printer IPs. Now I’m not sure if this sort of system already exists, but could definitely be useful in emergency situations. (In The Office, Oscar brings up the good point that it can be used by schools to notify students of an emergency evacuation.) I know when I was in school, my school’s administration registered students cell phone numbers so that emergency texts could be sent to everyone’s cell phones if something happened. This would take it one step further and definitely be useful if used properly.

Attn: NYC! Pay For Starbucks With Your Phone…?

Starbucks recently test ran a program where iPhone and Blackberry users could download an ape, and scan a barcode at the register at a Starbucks to pay for their coffee, rather than using cash or a Starbucks Card. The feedback has been positive and now they’re rolling this out to all the locations in NYC and Long Island.

Essentially, iPhone and Blackberry users download an app onto their phones that acts as a Starbucks Card. You load money into an account but instead of swiping a physical card, you swipe a QR Barcode infront of a scanner and there you go. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects further optimization of mobile technology and its integration into our lives.

10 years ago phones were only used to talk. Now you can use them to pay for coffee and with technology like Venmo increasing in popularity and utilization, the sheer existance of credit cards and even cash may eventually disappear.

Currently the utilization of Mobile may not be dire, but companies really need to start looking into and consider the option of including some sort of Mobile advertising into their Marketing Mix. It pains me to see so many companies still struggling to properly utilize social media and emerging technologies, especially when the technology is becoming so commonplace.

Klout: Twitter Analytics

If you’ve never heard of Klout, they’re a social media analytics company that measures your “influence” on Twitter. Now they’re looking to start doing the same thing on Facebook. As far as I know, they’re one of the top sites that measure Social Media influence and reach. Mashable published the story about Klout moving on to measuring your Facebook activity but I haven’t been able to find that service yet.

In any case, I checked my Twitter Influence on the site and they tell me I’m an “Explorer: You actively engage in the social web, constantly trying out new ways to interact and network. You’re exploring the ecosystem and making it work for you. Your level of activity and engagement shows that you “get it”, we predict you’ll be moving up.”


Pretty interesting and to be honest, I think it’s a pretty accurate claim as far as my tweeting activity is concerned. So if you have a twitter account (and if you don’t…REALLY??), try out Klout and see what it comes up with and you can judge for yourself if their conclusions are accurate.

Social Media and the Companies That Try to Use Them.

Many companies today want social media initiatives “like Twitter, Facebook and Myspace”. However this attitude will simply help a company “catch up” to the digital age. But by the time these companies “catch up”, the digital age has already moved on. Being successful in the digital era isn’t about catching up to your competition, it’s about finding the next big market, the next big platform.

Today, successful companies have to be on top of the game by being early adopters, by being trendsetters. Those that unfortunately fall into a Late Majority category or are considered Laggards simply won’t be able to compete.

Trying to catch up by utilizing these huge networks is a start, but companies are now targeting smaller, niche networks that provide the company with better feedback and the consumer with more precise advertising.

Many companies don’t understand how to use social media properly and think that a Twitter account or Facebook page is the key to the future. This is a pure myth and can lead to a lot of time wasted. Social media at its core is all about INTERACTION. It has revolutionized the way humans interact with each other. Interacting with people that are interested in a product or service is probably one of the best and most pure forms of market research and customer retention available.

Food Trucks and Social Media

I saw this great article and video on Mashable yesterday and I just had to write something about this. Pretty much this video interviews the owners of some mobile food trucks in New York City and how they use social media to keep in touch with their customers. Going to school in Philadelphia, food trucks were definitely a staple of campus eating and probably the preferred choice vs the school cafeteria for the majority of the student body.

These guys use social media to interact directly with their end consumer by tweeting and updating Facebook about daily specials, their location for that day (very important if your storefront is on wheels) and other updates about their business throughout the day. Not only that they have the opportunity to get feedback directly from the customer about their views on pricing, taste, quality, etc. There’s no better marketing research than free marketing research and this type of research is about as accurate as it gets.

Its great to see business using social media to positively impact their day to day business. Social Media definitely isn’t the perfect solution for everyone, but when implemented correctly, it can make a huge difference.

Here’s the Mashable video.