You are here: Home / Archives for Social Media

Google is the Most Exciting Company in the World

By Leave a Comment
May 17 0

Google BuildingI read a great article breaking down the recent Google I/O developers conference and what it means to the larger computing world and to Google itself. The article contends, and I agree, that Google has hit another gear this year and is doing some of the most exciting things in technology.

Google+

It’s still the red headed stepchild of social networks, but I love what Google is doing with Google+. The new layout is fresh and exciting and the additional functionality behind it all is powerful and helpful. Google+ is a long play for Google and as they continue to wrap it around their other products, it will be hard for many people to avoid. Google’s new music service, for example, will gain social features powered by Google+. You also can’t write off the value your Google+ content will have in Google search. They’re not supposed to play favorites, but really, you want to take that risk?

Search

Google continues to be the king of search but they are not resting on their laurels either. The big announcement in search this year is what they are calling conversational search in which you use voice to literally talk to Google. This has been working on mobile phones for awhile, but now it is coming to the desktop as well. It’s very much like what Apple is doing with Siri, but far better. With Siri, Apple is tapping into a very limited data set, while with conversational search, Google is tapping into the largest, most sophisticated search engine in the world. Apple really had the lead here but squandered it by not continuing to innovate. Kudos to Google for taking the one market they have complete domination in and pushing forward.

Maps

Again, Google has a fairly dominant position in maps as well although not as complete as search. Despite this, Google is innovating on maps, taking most of the interface and moving it right on top of the map itself. This makes the whole thing much cleaner and intuitive. The new Google maps is incredible and also nicely incorporates Zagat ratings for businesses. The Zagat ratings, by the way, are tied to your Google+ profile. Watch as Google+ becomes the social layer that goes on top of as many Google products as possible. Apple famously created their own map application in the latest iOS and failed terribly. Since then, I haven’t seen a great deal of visible improvement and many people have gone back and installed Google Maps in their iOS devices.

It’s hard not to see how much Apple has stagnated since Steve Jobs died. It’s been a very long time since Apple did anything really exciting. I think the last thing, for me, was Siri. At the time, Siri was amazing and cool. There was nothing like it on the market and it seemed magical. But since it’s introduction, Siri has stagnated, not improving or doing much else of what it originally did. In the meantime, as we saw at Google I/O, Google voice search is already vastly superior to Siri.

For my money, at this moment in history, Google is the most exciting big tech company. Apple is loosing it’s shine and by the way, what the hell happened to Microsoft?

photo by: infomatique

The Current State of Social Networks

By Leave a Comment
May 17 0

social-mediaA few things have gotten me thinking about the current state of all the social networks I am a member of. Let’s take them one at a time.

Twitter

I have a love/hate relationship with Twitter. Sometimes I think it’s great and other times I can’t stand it. I am not sure I enjoy Twitter much on a daily basis, but during a hot news moment, it is the network that really shines. There is nothing that can match Twitter’s realtime messaging in a crisis. On a more regular basis, I find Twitter to be a bit vapid and empty. Since it has the worst features for conversation, there is more talking and less listening and responding. I get the least interaction from others on Twitter and I think a good deal of Tweets are computer programmed.

Facebook

Facebook seems to be the network people love to hate, or at least geeks do. It’s true, Facebook makes some radical changes and has not had the best privacy track record. All that being said, Facebook is still, by far, the largest network. It’s also true that Facebook is the network where you find more friends and family but this can be a refreshing change. I like the variety of topics in my stream and Facebook is the network where I get the most response. People on Facebook are interested in interacting and not just spouting off which, for me, makes Facebook more satisfying than Twitter.

Google+

Poor Google+, the red headed stepchild of social networks. Google+ can’t get any respect or any traction it seems. Technologically, Google+ is as good or better than any of the other networks, but Google traditionally has not be strong with their marketing. I have to say, though, the recent upgrade to Google+ with a brand new design is fantastic. It’s a little like Pinterest but also incorporating Google’s new “card” interface. I love the new look of Google+. As for interaction, I find Google+ to be not as good as Facebook, but better than Twitter. Google+ is still swimming up stream but Google is being persistent and certainly has the money to keep at it for a good long time. As Google ties more of it’s other services to Google+, people will be drawn to the network wether they like it or not.

LinkedIn

I hesitate to put LinkedIn on the list as it’s not a general purpose network like the others, but LinkedIn deserves special credit for creating the first niche social network and dominating it. There are some competitors, but for business networking on the Internet, nobody comes close. LinkedIn also underwent a recent redesign and I like the new direction. LinkedIn as consistently done a great job and there is no other place to be for a professional social network.

Pinterest

Pinterest, like LinkedIn, is also a specialty social network but deserves big credit for revolutionizing social networks. The design of Pinterest was completely unique and has been widely copied recently. As I noted, even the new Google+ feels more Pinterest-like. Pinterest also is a fascinating network because of its demographics, consisting of more women than any other social network. The focus on more personal things like arts, crafts and home decor also make Pinterest completely original.

In general, I think the big three (Twitter, Facebook, Google+) have most of the critical mass and aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The growth in social networks will be in the niche networks like Pinterest and LinkedIn. I think there is plenty of opportunity in this space and because these networks are more specialized, they provide a great opportunity for targeted marketing.

Obama Shows How to Control a Meme

By Leave a Comment
Apr 22

jedimindmeldLast month, during the hot and heavy negotiations on the Sequester budget cuts, President Obama made a bit of a faux pas when he said “The fact that they don’t take it means that I should somehow do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right.” So, the President mixed his Star Wars and Star Trek analogies and in the age of social networks with so many geeks online, this kind of thing will take off like wildfire, as it did.

Anything you say or do online can become a meme instantly and the more famous you are, the more likely it will happen. Within minuets of the statement, there were Obama with a lightsaber and Obama with Spock ears all over the Net. But then the Whitehouse did something brilliant, they took back the meme for themselves. They created their own image with a photo of Obama with his hand in a position almost like he was doing a mind meld. They created a hashtag (#JediMindMeld and a web address (wh.gov/jedimindmeld). They went all in and completely stole back the thunder for themselves. Some might have seen this small misstep as a crisis and moved to control and spin it. That’s old media thinking. In the new social world, you need to ride that wave and make it yours. Social networks can be your worst enemy or your best friend. It’s all depending on how you react and use them for your own needs. From the beginning, the Obama team has shown a mastery of the Connected World and that continues to this day.

 

Blue Nessie – Might Be Best Budget Podcast Mic

By Leave a Comment
Mar 18

blue nessieI’m an old school podcaster, among the fist generation to ever launch a show. In all those years, I have used many different microphones and setups. You can spend anywhere between $99 and $400 for a microphone and I have always advised to not skimp on your microphone as it’s the most important investment you will make into your podcast setup. Times be what they are, however, I imagine many people are looking for less expensive options.

Blue has always been a quality microphone company and has produced some nice, inexpensive USB microphones. This year, however, they have introduced what I think might be their best and most exciting overall microphone of the year. Coming in at only $99 is the new Nessie, a USB microphone for PC or Mac that they call an adaptive microphone. The Nessie has a lot of important things built right in that usually you would have to add on at extra cost. The mic has a built in pop filter, d-esser, and shock mount. Add to that build in sound processing including compression and EQ adjustments as well as a limiter. These are all technical sound terms you can Google if you want because I’m not going to explain them here except to say, you want them in your microphone. If all these features work as advertised, this will be an incredible podcast microphone for the price.

I have always used a more complex and “professional” podcast setup, but due to circumstances, I am looking at moving to a very simple and inexpensive setup. The Nessie looks like the perfect fit and I’ll be getting one to try out. It comes out in mid-April and again, for $99 you could hardly do worse.

Follow the Social Media Golden Rule

By Leave a Comment
Feb 6

social-graph-facebookFacebook recently released its Social Graph Search. Despite its horrible name, its a very powerful search engine for Facebook. Already privacy advocates and others are freaking out due to the very large and previously hidden by obscurity amount of data it unearths.

Facebook has largely been a browsing service where you scan a timeline of data. There is only so far anyone is going to scan, so after a few months whatever you have posted fades into obscurity. Now with a powerful search engine, all kinds of data, no matter how old can be found and displayed. This is primarily what has people concerned. Some people are going back through their data and removing posts and unliking pages that could be embarrassing.

I have always had a social media golden rule: Don’t post anything you wouldn’t share with anyone.

There are ways on Facebook to share things with only one person or a select group of people and the search engine honors that. Only those that you originally shared with will be able to see that content in the search engine. Despite that and despite any other social network security/privacy policy I always assume my content could be seen by anyone and I’m careful about what I post and what I like on Facebook. What if there is a bug or then system gets hacked?

Remember, you don’t control these social platforms and you can never know what changes may come that could change the equation. Be thoughtful and careful about your social media actions and you will not have anything to fear.

Hashtag Tips

By Leave a Comment
Jan 29

hashtagsHashtags are an interesting social media phenomenon. They were started by Twitter users as a way to more easily classify posts of a similar topic or idea. Hashtags really took off with Twitter search as you can search for the hashtag to bring up all posts related to that tag. It became to popular Twitter officially adopted it as an official feature and is being used widely today as a social media strategy. It used to be you would see a companies URL placed in their advertisements but now smart companies are adding hashtags to their online marketing mix.

As a social media strategy, hashtags can be used to rally people around a particular brand or product or marketing campaign. Used properly it can be a powerful technique and I highly recommend it. Here are some quick tips for getting the most from hashtags.

  • Simple: Keep it simple and easy to remember. Keep it short if possible because each character counts toward 140. Make it logical to your business, don’t get cute.
  • Unique: Do some basic research to make sure nobody else is already using it. You don’t want your message mixed up with someone else’s.
  • Distribution: To get the most juice, you need to put the hashtag on everything, much the same way you put your website url everywhere. On business cards, mailers, emails, ect. This is true for long term or permanent hashtags. For tags that are short term or temporary this would not apply. The more people get used to seeing the hashtag, the more they may remember it later. Another cool trick is to create a link on your website to a Twitter search on the hashtag. That will bring up all the posts related to that tag with one simple click. You could also embed that link into your email signature if you wanted. Bottom line, if you want your hashtag to take hold, you have to get it out there.
  • Encouragement: The key here is gentle. When you are trying to get customers to do something for you, it pays to be gentle about it. Give a friendly suggestion to use the hashtag, no pressure. You can do this as part of listing your hashtag on media items. Maybe something like, “Use our hashtag #whatever when you’re talking about us on Twitter.”

I should also note that while hashtags began on Twitter, they are not a universal standard across most other social networks including Google+, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Make sure you use the same hashtag across all your content on all the networks you participate in.

Bonus Tip:

Hashtags are also useful for your engagement strategy on social media. Pay attention to the hashtags that are being used it your social stream and follow those that make sense to your business goals. By following a relevant tag, you will be exposed to lots of new content and users that you will have opportunity to interact with. You will pick up new followers as you add your voice to the conversation. Hashtags are the best way to find relevant conversations on social networks.

 

 

Twitter Launches Vine. Attention Spans Shrink to 6 Seconds

By Leave a Comment
Jan 28

vine-twitterPeople have been trying to create the “Twitter for video” for years now with little success. Seesmic was the first that I remember. Others like Social Cam and Viddy have tried as well. One of my favorites was 12seconds. On that site, you had a limit of, you guessed it, 12 seconds. This was the first video service to severely limit the time limit, but alas, 12seconds failed. I loved 12seconds simply for the intellectual challenge of making something compelling in just 12 seconds.

Now, Twitter itself has released Vine and the limit for video is down to 6 seconds. It makes sense for Twitter itself to release such an app and it anyone could make it work it would be Twitter if for no other reason than their installed base. I don’t know how they came up with 6 seconds and it seems like an arbitrary number but I think it’s going to kill the service. I had enough experience with 12seconds to know, you cannot create anything truly compelling in 6 seconds. It’s just too short. Some of the examples shown are small animated GIF images which are cute, I guess, but ridiculous when it comes to actually making business sense. Other examples move so fast I find them nauseating.

I am disappointed because Twitter had the opportunity to do something interesting and take Twitter to the next level. Video surely is the hot medium right now on the Internet. I hope Twitter quickly sees the error in it’s ways and doubles the time limit to, yes, 12 seconds. That would work.

Google+ Communities Show Promise

By Leave a Comment
Dec 19

googleplus_communitiesAs far as social networks go, Google+ has been lagging behind Twitter and Facebook ever since it’s inception. Because it is from Google and is being more tightly integrated into other Google services, including search, you might think Google would have a strong advantage, but Google+ has failed to catch up to the market leaders. Google has been continually adding new things to Google+ but with little effect.

Google+ Communities, the latest addition however, shows the greatest promise of all and could be the thing that gets Google+ off the mat. Communities is simply a way to organize content and people into logical interest groups. There are already hundreds of groups on all manner of topics. Sometimes, instead of focusing on the general stream, it’s more appealing to jump into a specific interest and go deeper. I think interest groups like these engender more engagement. For me, Google+ is already better because of the communities.

The big problem Google has is that Facebook has had Facebook Groups for a long time and they have done well. Also, if you are going to start a community doesn’t  it make more sense to start it on the network with ten times more people? Google has that chicken and egg scale problem. They are not big enough to get people to commit energy to and without people committing energy to the platform they will never grow. Facebook has that critical mass of users and that’s a nearly impossible nut to crack.  As nice as Google+ communities are they are after all just a copycat of Facebook groups and that’s not going to be enough juice to cause a breakthrough. Google thought hangouts would be the killer feature that would get people over to Google+ but not even that works. My daughter and her friends use Skype when they want to video chat and don’t see hangouts as useful at all.

I hold out hope for Google+ and would like it to do well if for no other reason than to keep Facebook and Twitter honest. Good competition is the best thing for consumers and the market in general. And what about this as a parting shot. You see nearly everywhere today Twitter and Facebook icons and references in marketing materials and even on TV shows. When was the last time you saw a Google+ reference?

Facebook Redux

By Leave a Comment
Oct 14

facebook_like_buttonI am having more fun on Facebook these days than any other social network. There is a deep sense of personal satisfaction I have not found on Twitter or Google+. There has always been a different set of people on Facebook than there is on Twitter or anywhere else. Facebook, for many, is a more “personal” network, wherein there are more connections of a personal and family nature. More of my connections on Facebook I have met in person than Twitter, for example. I have also found many people settling in with a network at the exclusion of others. If I want to interact with certain people, I have to be on Facebook because that’s where they are exclusively. Most regular folks really only have time for one network on a regular basis in their busy lives. Only the social media crazy, like myself, are active on multiple networks and even I find it tiresome.

On Facebook, I find more what I call “regular” conversation on a wide variety of topics. What’s going on in peoples lives, a little politics, sports, and movie talk. It’s a nice variety and it helps that Facebook integrates photos and other media so well. On Twitter, I get a much heavier dose of tech, social media and business. Now this is partly due to who I follow on Twitter, but this is the shape of my social media world. Twitter, however, cannot be beat for real-time  conversation. Watching the presidential debates, for example, with the Twitter real-time stream is fascinating. Twitter has it’s place and I love it, but Facebook is like a breath of fresh air for me.

The other major thing that happened was the opening of the Podcast Artifact group. I blogged about this already in my Ode to Podcasting and talked about what a big impact it had on me. This little micro community sprung up out of nowhere and has been deeply satisfying. This led me to discover other Facebook groups, most of which I hade ignored up until now. It turns out there are many great Facebook groups on all mannor of topics and there are wonderful things happening there. They are their own micro communities with vibrant ongoing discussions. This is something I have not found anywhere else, even Google+ which tries to mimic Facebook in many ways. Google+ has very nice technology and some good discussion, but I’m just not feeling it over there. Facebook groups have added a whole new dimension to the network for me and I love it. In case you are wondering I do not participate in any social games on Facebook, although I know it’s hugely popular for many. Again, no other network has the depth and breadth of online social gaming that Facebook has. My other favorite network is Instagram and guess who owns them now? Facebook. Instagram is a wonderful network and a story told in pictures. The Internet is becoming more and more a visual medium and the explosive popularity of Instagram has played a big part in that transition.

Facebook takes a lot of flack over privacy and big changes to its interface, but Facebook is like that saying, I just can’t quit you. Facebook always took a backseat in my social life but no more. Facebook is the first network I check now and I am there more often than Twitter these days. Connect with me on my profile if you like at http://www.facebook.com/davidajacobs. If you would prefer a more business focused experience, like my page at http://www.facebook.com/connectedworldmedia.

All Business Is Social

By Leave a Comment
Oct 11

8048814141_6ce9acb409_oIn todays world, in the way that all politics is local, we can say all business is social; and personal.

You are going to notice a different touch here on the blog as I move to include more personal content into the site. I want readers to know more about me not just my social media and business ideas. I advise all of my clients to put some of themselves into their social media content and I have been guilty of not doing enough of that. People do business with people they like and trust and a blog is a great place to build that like and trust. But how can you do that without sharing a little of yourself?

In the sidebar, you will notice I am now sharing my photos from Instagram. Don’t worry, the site is still primarily about business and social media, just seasoned a little with more personal touches.

«Older Posts