Is Facebook Doing Enough to Protect your Privacy?

http://mashable.com/2011/11/29/facebook-privacy-poll/

In one of my other classes today, we discussed a Facebook case and how it has grown since it was first introduced in 2004. It also mentioned how privacy has been a main issue for Facebook since it started, and this article goes further into how Facebook is still dealing with these issues today. They recently reached a settlement with the FTC, that involved whether privacy tweaks in 2009 were unfair or deceptive. Facebook now has guidelines that it needs to follow regarding privacy. I thought this related somewhat to our discussion in class today as well, about where social media is headed, and I think privacy is one of the main factors determining that direction. It should be interesting to see where Facebook goes from here on this issue, especially with them planning to go public in 2012.

Shaq’s Retirement Drives 500k Viewers to Tout in 3 Hours

http://gigaom.com/video/shaq-tout/

Shaquille O’Neal made huge waves in the social media world today by officially announcing his retirement online. And while many have suggested that O’Neal’s announcement was a testament to the power of Twitter, it was actually six-week old social video startup Tout that hosted the video in which Shaq told the world he wasn’t returning to basketball.

I thought this was interesting. I learned of TOUT about 3 weeks ago in an email from a family member looking to expand their social media marketing campaign for real estate.

TOUT allows you to post a 15 second video, kind of like a live, in person status update. Any thoughts?

Three Must-Haves for Using Twitter in a Crisis

http://socialmediatoday.com/chrissyme/397350/three-must-haves-using-twitter-crisis?ref=headline_rotator


This is a bit of a cross-over with other marketing issues, but still intriguing.  This articles is about fixing crisis via social media, which is where everyone looks when they hear the news. Maybe United Airlines could take a tip or two from this.  A very important point for any social media presence whether a sole person to a global cooperation is to "be present consistently.  That doesn't mean you have to tweet every hour, it just means you have a content strategy that fits your goals, and you are committed to it."  The article reviews pre-crisis, crisis strategy and post-strategy.  If you anything it makes for a good interview question when applying for social media jobs.  Do you think twitter will take over press releases in crisis strategy?  Or rather how beneficial is Twitter via a press release in this situation?

Facebook IPO set for April 2012

Apart from the financial implications of the IPO, it will be interesting to see how Facebook will change through this process. Zuckerberg has done an excellent job building his company and his involvement is going to be significantly less after the IPO. I am wondering what direction the new majority owners will take the company and if it will be able to maintain its progress.



http://mashable.com/2011/11/28/facebook-ipo-april-201/

iphone users can trick Siri into updating social media

The hottest new feature of the iPhone is Siri. Siri is a voice command system that allows you to use all aspects of your iPhone by simply asking. Though you can ask Siri "Where is the best place to stash a body?" and you will get results for warehouses nearest you, she is reluctant to update facebook or twitter for you...unless you trick her. This blog reveals how you can trick Siri into updating social media with a few simple steps.

http://socialfresh.com/how-to-use-siri-for-social-media-management/

Google+ and What it Means for Your Business

Hey everybody - I was on socialmediaexaminer.com, a social media blog, and found an interesting article about Google+. The article contains an interview with the author of the book "Google+ for Dummies, Portable Edition", Jesse Stay. I am not very familiar with Google+ and this article helped me understand the benefits of using the program. I think you will find it both informative and interesting.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/google-and-what-it-means-for-your-business/

47 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

Hey everyone, I found an interesting site with the editor of mashables picks for some of the best web resources. It has a lot of interesting information about social media that ranges from the best and most effective ways to use it to the 10 most retweeted pictures of the week. Also, one of the things that I really liked is that it has some interesting ideas on how to use social media to optimize your resume.

http://mashable.com/2011/11/28/47-digital-media-resources/

Companies/Causes using Facebook to generate donations.

Facebook is discovering functions to partner causes and companies in such a way that creates a tangible benefit: donations.

This includes:
1. Like for Donation

- this is a great idea because people love to be seen doing good things. Liking a cause and giving a donation allows all of your friends to see.

2. Simple Action for Donation

- this asks customers to post a picture for a cause or comment on a brand’s or campaign’s Facebook page in order to unlock a donation. This is great for generating awareness among other facebook friends.

3. Interactive Action for Donation

- these are custom designed applications that are meant to generate interest in a cause or campaign and to share it with other friends. This is meant to make joining a cause seem more appealing to generate donations.

4. Voting Campaigns

- companies promote their image through this method by offering cash to causes in return for the votes of consumers. The Pepsi Refresh project is a well cited example. This is great for companies in promoting their public image.

These methods are all really great at generating donations because they play on the validation people/companies desire of being seen as good people - something that will be done with making donations and sharing it among their Facebook friends.

Here is the article:

http://mashable.com/2011/11/25/facebook-cause-marketing/

Stop Stop Online Piracy Act!

On October 26, 2011 the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was introduced to the House of Representatives. If passed it would allow courts to force companies like Google, Paypal and Visa to cancel any business with websites operating in the grey area of copyright. For a more elaborated description see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

Companies like Google, Facebook and Reddit did not fail to recognize that this bill would have unforseeable consequences both for their content and business model. Therefore a petition has been put into place to stop SOPA from passing.

http://www.webpronews.com/sopa-petition-gains-steam-some-are-less-than-enthusiastic-about-its-prospects-2011-11

Could Facebook Be Ruining Sharing?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31322_3-57324406-256/how-facebook-is-ruining-sharing/

Here's an interesting article on how by using its new Open Graph plan, Facebook is actually deterring users from sharing articles rather than encouraging them. The article explains:

When Facebook unveiled Open Graph at the f8 developer conference this year, it was clear that the goal of the initiative is to quantify just about everything you do on Facebook. All your shares are automatic, and both Facebook and publishers can track them, use them to develop personalization tools, and apply some kind of metric to them...The problem, really, is that the plan is turning out to be really annoying in practice. Spotify song sharing is like the new FarmVille, and its auto-sharing turned out to be an unpleasant surprise for folks who didn't quite understand just how frictionless Open Graph sharing would be... In search of "frictionless" sharing, Facebook is putting up a barrier to entry on items your friends want you to see--that is, they're creating friction. Even if it's just a onetime inconvenience, any barrier to sharing breaks sharing...


I know that I find it really annoying when I try to click on a link, only to be stopped with an app request. Since the point of facebook is sharing, I agree with the article in suggesting that the social networking site re-focuses on voluntary and purposeful sharing rather than listing and reporting users' personal online activity.

Credit system added to Quora

So apparently a new credit system has been added to Quora, where you can ask specific people to answer your question. If they answer they earn credits, which they can then use. Or at least that is the rough and simple explanation of the system.

What is Quora? http://www.quora.com/Quora/What-is-Quora-1?q=what+is+quora

Check it out here: http://www.quora.com/credits

Yair Livne, Quora analyst

12 votes by Joel Lewenstein, Samarth Mohan, Kah Seng Tay, (more)

You can earn more credits in a few ways.

Answering Ask to Answer requests: You'll receive credits for answering ask-to-answer requests (an amount equal to the number of credits it takes to send you the request).

Getting upvotes on answers you've written: You'll get credits for any new upvotes on any answer or post you've written on Quora.

Soliciting an answer (via Ask to Answer request) that receives upvotes: Any upvote on a answer you've requested will get you credits.

Credits given to you by other users: Users can give credits to each other whenever they want.

Occasional system refreshes: We'll provide credit refreshes if you go for a while without enough credits to ask the average priced user.

Foursquare's Revamped Website Could Challenge Yelp

http://mashable.com/2011/11/15/foursquares-revamped-website-could-challenge-yelp/

Foursquare announced that on Tuesday they will roll out a new version of their website. No longer will they be just a check-in social media site, but now they are including new discovery features that allow people to find businesses around them- much like Yelp does. Yelp added a check-in feature a few months ago, so now its Foursquare's turn to take a page from Yelp's book. We can only wait to see if this new feature will improve Foursquare's popularity.

Tidbits

New Orleans Tidbits is a social media site similar to Living Social, except everyone can get rewards anytime. Tidbits is unique to each city that it has a presence in. I get weekly emails about events and special sales in New Orleans. Some sales are only available by using Tidbits, but other posts are just information about stores' events and sales. Tidbits sends out 2 emails a week. One is about the social events around the city that week, called "Social Diary" and the other is about different sales going on around town. The emails have clever little "tidbits" about local companies and really appreciate each city's culture. Tidbits has something for everyone (well, mostly just girls). And if you recruit more followers, you get more deals. Tidbits also has a Kidbits for one of its cities, Austin. Tidbits is only in 11 cities throughout the US, but I'm sure it's trying to extend its services.

http://neworleans.gotidbits.com/

Inbound vs Outbound marketing

If you are thinking in what is inbound marketing and what are the differences with

outbound marketing, here is an infographic that explain all the subject in a

fun way.

http://mashable.com/2011/10/30/inbound-outbound-marketing/

LivingSocial Offers Full-Priced Food Delivery

Hello everybody,

I found this site very interesting today on Mashable.com. Living Social has a new feature called the "LivingSocial Room Service" that will ofer "white glove delivery' from local restaurants. The service was created to prevent customers from waiting in long lines during lunch and dinner rushes. But they decided not to hold a discount for this deal. Nevertheless, customers who wish to participate in this service are promised the full restaurant experience in the privacy of their own homes, including high quality tableware, customer service, and dining accessories.

LivingSocial representative stated that this service will allow them to be exposed to a different type of customer, or a type that doesn't like to "get out" as much as others who are willing to try different LivingSocial deals in different parts of the city. However LivingSocial is in direct competition with "Seamless", a mobile food ordering firm that has deals with more than 7,500 restaurants.

So I guess we will see if this new feature proves successful for LivingSocial. The new feature is only being offered in Washington, D.C. so anyone who is interested and from that area should try and check it out!
http://mashable.com/2011/11/15/livingsocial-food-delivery/

"Tumblr Numbers: The Rapid Rise of Social Blogging"

Mashable just posted an article today the rise of social blogging that echoes a lot of the information we covered class. The article notes that Tumblr has grown 218% in the U.S., and an astounding 900% worldwide--which is very impressive, especially when compared to the growth seen in other social networking sites over the same time frame (Linked in, 63%; Twitter, 31%; Facebook, 14%; Myspace, -50%).

The article really dives into what these numbers actually mean in terms of the type of user and their frequency of use. For example, a group labeled "Addicts" is the 2% of users make up 43% of total visits to Tumblr.com. In addition, "Regulars" consist of the 40% of users that make up 44% of total visits, and "Passers-By" are the 58% of users that make up 13% of visits. Clearly, people who use Tumblr are incredibly loyal as the statistics show.

After reading the article, I decided to join Tumbler myself... so I guess I'll be adding to these growing statistics!

Check out the article for more interesting facts and stats: http://mashable.com/2011/11/14/tumblr-infographic/

Forbes Top Ten... Everydody Loves Lists

http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/17/facebook-old-spice-farmville-pepsi-forbes-viral-marketing-cmo-network-social-media_slide.html

Forbes put out a list of the best social media campaigns ever. I really enjoyed going through the slide show because we have discussed a lot of these campaigns in class. The Whopper Sacrifice, the Old Spice Guy, Blendtec, Pepsi Refresh, and the Subservient Chicken all make an appearance on the list. Check it out!

Military Social Media?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks

The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda. A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop an “online persona management service” that will allow one US serviceman and woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world. The Centcom contract stipulates that each fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers could operate false identities from their workstations.

Know your meme

I’m sure you all know the feeling of being the only one in the room who doesn’t get a joke. With the explosion of internet memes, this is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon online. If you have ever wondered who in the world is Good Guy Greg? or what does Mike Tyson have to do with the Herman Cain campaign? then you should check out the site below:

http://knowyourmeme.com/

Know your meme is a site dedicated to documenting and researching the most popular internet memes. You can see what memes are trending, and often get a detailed history of where the meme originated. Thanks to this site, the next time someone asks you if you know the Futurama Fry meme, you can reply, “Nope, it is just Chuck Testa” (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can look up both memes on the site).

Comparing Facebook Pages and Google+ Brand Pages

It's no secret that companies are using social media to promote their brands. A great comparison is between how companies use Facebook Pages and Google+ Brand pages to promote themselves. Facebook has had years to refine its webpage while Google + is using new technology to differentiate themselves. Personally, I believe that Google +'s brand pages are really what can set it apart from facebook and beyond, this is because Google + can actually have live chats with customers, whereas Facebook can only post status updates. Take a look:

http://mashable.com/2011/11/08/google-plus-vs-facebook-pages/

Internships

I just started working on the website www.internships.com. This is a website some of you have probably heard of. It is a great way for students, graduates, and employers to meet. It is designed to help people find internships in companies that interest them as well as help employers find interns that are qualified for the position they are offering. Not only does this website allow you to type your interests and customize a search for internship opportunities, it helps you figure out what to search for. There are career and personality assessments and blogs. The blogs highlight stories and give advice on how to nail an internship. Anyone can post on the blog which can guarantee a wide range of stories and experiences. Check this website out! It’s really helpful.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's take on social networking

I couldn't help but think of our Social Media Marketing class when I watched last week's episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Here's a teaser for the episode, but you can probably find the full-episode online somewhere as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzWjjIYvnYc

What the promo doesn't show is the main premise of the episode, which involves the gang's goal of creating a viral video to promote their bar. Frank (Danny Devito's character) finds out--as we all know from our own attempts--that making a viral video is not as easy as it sounds. Hope you guys enjoy the episode as much as I did!

Hey all,

I'm not sure if this falls in the realm of social media or not, but I thought it was really interesting. There is this new free app called Lunchmeet which works with LinkedIn to help you find professional contacts in your area who are available and willing to meet up for a meal, coffee or drinks. It focuses on the whole idea of its not what you know, its who you know and as much as I hate this saying I think this is still a really good idea fro an application. I know I can always use some new friends who work or have insight into the industry I might work in. If your interested in learning more about it the link is below.

http://mashable.com/2011/11/08/lunchmeet/

Political Polling Meets Social Networking

I thought this related to the Obama case that we did, and how Obama was really the first to utilize social media in his presidential campaign. Pollsters are trying to figure out how to engage the younger demographic that is found through Facebook, Twitter, etc. This company, Tiipz, is trying to create a high level of interaction among this younger generation that has typically been harder to reach.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/political-polling-meets-social-networking-2011-11-09

Take This Lollipop

Just came across a neat little Facebook app that's getting a lot of attention. Take This Lollipop provides a personalized short movie using information and pictures from your Facebook profile. At over 9,000,000 views, it's been quite successful.

I don't want to give away the plot, but as a warning, it is a little creepy. Although the creator didn't intend for it to be anything other than entertainment, it does seem to raise questions about online privacy. Go and check it out. You can always remove the app's access later.

Fixing Tulane's Presence on Social Media

Ever since Katherine from Tulane PR spoke to our class last Wednesday about Tulane's presence on social media, I have been thinking about how we could improve it. I started thinking about other colleges, like LSU, that have huge amounts of followers on Facebook and Twitter. My friends who go to LSU "like" every LSU page on Facebook as fast as they can, but we do not even follow our university's page. I do not think we can fairly compare Tulane to LSU because they simply do not offer the same things. LSU is known for atheltics, and people from all over the state support the school. Many Louisianians attended LSU or have family who attended/attend the school, and many just like LSU and support the university for state pride.

Regardless, Tulane is just not the same. Our students come from all over the country and the world, and we are a much smaller university. We are not really known for our atheltics to the extent that LSU is, but we are more known for our academics. I think it would be best to target our current students and our alumni to keep us updated on the university. Plus I think once I leave I will still want to keep in touch with Tulane. I also think the content on Tulane's Facebook page has to change. I think we should use it as a way to increase school spirit, not another outlet for the New Wave. As someone in our class mentioned, we already receive the New Wave through email every morning. In my opinion, I want to see the fun things that my friends are doing and I want to read humurous things that have happened on campus.

Also, I think many of us agree that we do not like being fans of many different pages because then our newsfeeds get blown up by stuff we do not want to see. I am not a fan of every club and organization I am involved in because I think it's a little ridculous. Like every other member of a club/organization on campus, I receive emails notifying me about upcoming meetings and events...so I really do not need to see these things on my newsfeed. I think it would be better if every club/organization submitted their photos, updates, or other entertaining content to the university's facebook page. Then again, I do not know how we could do that because we cannot tell clubs/organizations that they cannot have their own pages. Anyway, I think this would only require us to follow one page instead of many different ones (that just get in the way of the stuff we want to see on Facebook). Also, using more entertaining content and finding a positive way to promote the university would get Tulane's page more followers. Does anyone else have anything else they would like to see on Tulane's page?

Sour Patch Kids Video Game/Music Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw7uhVtpI5I

The link above connects to a strange youtube pair: Sour Patch Kids and Method Man from the Wu Tang Clan. Sour Patch is releasing a video game to promote its brand name and diversify into what they consider an attractive market. If that weren't odd enough, the company recruited Method Man to create a soundtrack and music video for the game. The video's surprisingly entertaining and holds as much musical validity as it does marketing power. Since its debut about a month ago, the video has reached nearly 700,000 views and saturated a unique market (Wu Tang and Method Man fans) that Sour Patch certainly would not be associated with otherwise. It will be interesting to see the effects of the viral video on game sales and game sales on the candy line. In the meantime, at least the video's entertaining.

Social Media putting an end to BOA fees

In scrapping fee, BofA hears social media's voice #loudandclear

U-turn on debit card surcharge, Netflix's Qwikster debacle reflect growing consumer power online

November 02, 2011|Phil Rosenthal

In less than half the time it took Kim Kardashian to end her latest marriage, Bank of America, too, had a change of heart.

There was no honeymoon after BofA proposed charging some customers a monthly $5 fee for using its debit cards to spend their own money. The nation's second-largest bank got no farther than the reception, which was ugly and loud, especially online.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-02/business/ct-biz-1102-phil-20111102_1_debit-card-fees-bofa-suntrust-banks

This article was very interesting because it shows the amount of power that social media has given the customers. Social media has given customers a new outlet for complaining--- which Bank of America heard clearly concerning their idea of implementing a new $5 fee for debit cards.

The RadBrad - Social Media Marketing Unleashed

Just recently I stumbled upon this guy's Youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/theRadBrad

He simply plays computer games and comments on them while playing. In total he got 32 million views on his videos. This is impressive for many reasons. First, many people pay good money to play the games themselves. So why should they watch someone playing when they could play themselves? Second, his comments are mostly not related to the game but to this guy's life (interrupted with cussing).

If you look at his channel's landing page links for all major social networks almost jump your face. I don't know if this guy knows what an awsome social media strategy he is running. He certainly puts a lot of time into his channel and by the amount of advertising he does I think it pays out pretty well.

United Breaks Guitars Impact on Delta Customer Service

This weekend I was flying up to New York with a layover in Atlanta. I flew Delta the whole way. In Atlanta my flight to New York was delayed for 2 hours.

After 40 minutes of delay with no explanation they simply told us that the flight was pushed back yet again. Out of frustration I tweeted

"40 minutes after our take off time they finally tell us we're delayed another 40 minutes @delta is the worst airline"

I got no response.

Another 30 minutes or so pass and I tweet this

"Seriously. I never have a good experience flying @delta. About to go all "united breaks guitars" on these jerks"

They tweeted back almost instantly with this message

"My apologies for the delay. Are you making a connection? Pls shoot us a tweet if you need to check on the status."

Moral of the story: If you having trouble with customer service on an airline bring up United Breaks Guitar and the airlines will quickly sing a different song.

Viral Video

Here is an example of a true viral video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YQpbzQ6gzs

I would guess that the fact that it was on television probably helped with making it go viral since he was able to reach the entire country in the course of 5 minutes.

Ford Vehicles Will Now Read You Text Messages While You Drive

Ford is installing a feature in its new cars--and many of its older ones--that can now read text messages out loud. The feature is intended to reduce texting while driving. The feature is part of Ford's voice-activated technology, Sync. Sync is already installed on all model 2012 Ford vehicles except for the Ranger. A Bluetooth connection helps sync phones and alerts users when they receive text messages, reads them out loud and allows users to respond with a selection of standard pre-written messages without taking their hands off the wheel.

Ford hopes that this new technology will become more widely adopted by phone manufacturers. 

The article later questioned why Bluetooth has not already come up with a text-to-voice option? The response is that there are several apps currently, one called DriveSafe.ly and SMS Replier. However, only a few manufacturers such as Ford and BMW has integrated the new technology into their vehicles. 

This seems pretty incredible. Do you think that even though its hands free, it will still distract drivers?...I personally believe that drivers should be concentrated on the road and just deal with their phone calls and text messages when they reach their destination. But, maybe if Ford perfects this technology they will be able to prevent accidents for phone use while driving...

To read the full article: http://mashable.com/2011/10/18/ford-text-message/