Or dark-rimmed glasses in a hipster coffee shop…

Or start-ups in San Francisco…

Regardless of the literary simile you choose, conversation and engagement in social media are changing daily.

Social Media: Past

Social media’s early days of MySpace and Friendster (yeah, remember Friendster) were more about merely updating your friends on what you were doing.

Remember the early incarnation of Facebook when your update had to comeplete the sentence “Timmy is                                  .”

Social media’s conversation and engagment in those days was focused on verbs–the doing.

Social Media: Present

Social media grew from merely ‘doing’ to ‘being’. Presently, when we visit the platform of one of our connections we are quickly able to move beyond just what a person does.

+We find out who they are.

+We learn what they believe.

+We discover why they do what they do.

The age of sharing and engaging online connects us, but we’ve also started to grow cautious of who can access the information we share and how much control over that information we have.

In 2008, people shared without the thought of who may see that information and how long it might linger in cyberspace. But now we think twice.

We have social media cyber chats with our kids like this one. We ensure our employers only see our ‘best side.’ We perform our due diligence for nearly any personal or business transaction on social media. Conversation and engagement is now more controlled and intentional.

Social Media: Future

Social media is morphing into a regular part of life.

It’s not longer what we do or even who we are: socail media will be integrated seamlessly into our everyday lives. With the advent of wearable technology like Google Glass, we won’t be ‘on’ Facebook or ‘off’ the network. We’ll always be on. Connected. Integrated. Conversing and engaging in ways we wouldn’t have believed possible only 10-15 years ago.

Question: What do you think our conversation and engagement on social media will be like in the future?

 +Companies research clients.

+Clients research companies.

+Employers look up employee candidates.

+Candidates read up on potential employers.

Here are a few tips to help determine which social media accounts and profiles have a genuine presence and following…and which do not.

Facebook Fakers

No company wants to have 13 straggling followers on their Facebook page, making their brand look unimpressive, limp and lifeless.

A simple fix? Buy ‘likes’!

Yes, many have chosen to simply purchase ‘likes’ to give the appearance of an actual following. In other words, they’re cheating.

The simple way to tell a cheating brand from a genuine one is to look at overall engagement and ask “is the engagement proportional to the size of the following?”

If no, there are two possible reasons: poor content that is not attractive and tailored to the brands following, or they have no actual following.

Twitter Cheaters

Much like Facebook, Twitter cheaters lack actual engagment.

I recall seeing a small ad executive’s pitch for services at a stuffy (and borning meeting). I sensed  the guy was full of hot air and checked out his company’s Twitter account. Over 25,000 followers and when I looked over the alleged followers, most of them had sent no tweets and still had the egg-head default profile picture Twitter automatically assigns.

Tip: If you’re checking out a company or individual, visit Status People, a site that analyses the percentage of genuine and fake Twitter followers on any given Twitter account.

Quick Disclaimer

Just be mindful that not all users with large followings are cheaters. From Mashable:

“People with large real Twitter followings, from celebrities to activists like Yoani Sanchez, are made to look guilty when they are in fact innocent. Fake followers created for sale to impostors like Santiago Swallow follow real users in an attempt to outwit Twitter’s generally very effective spam management systems. The more followers you have, the more likely it is that a fake follower will follow you. By trying to inflate themselves with the electronic equivalent of silicon implants, fakers make the system noisy for everyone.”

Yet, several protests have already happened and many are set to happen when Thatcher is laid to rest this coming Wednesday. Unlike protests in pre-Twitter eras, social media plays a prominent role.

+Officials are currently combing social sites to preempt any possible protests or disturbances.

+From Yahoo News: Online campaign expert David Karpf noted that this is “a new kind of protest enabled by social media — a way for people to signal protest en masse without shouting from the rooftops.”

Social media’s influence in the political arena will only continue to grow as its usage rises. Here are a few recent political events in which social media has played a leading role.  

Civic Activities and Causes

A report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project noted that “the use of social media is becoming a feature of political and civic engagement for many Americans.”

The study found that roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults who use social media sites like Twitter and Facebook “conducted either civil or political activity through this communication channel.”

Egyptian Protest

In January 2011, social media mobiled thousands of Egyptians in an effort to overthrow Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. With the help of Facebook and videos on YouTube, media on these outlets spurned an Egyptian revolution.

Presidential Elections

Many thought the 2012 presidential election could be predicted via social media. Reports after the election noted that Twitter sentiment for election result was split.

Although the data was mixed on social media’s ability to predict an outcome, it is notable that the most popular tweet of 2012 was from President Barak Obama immediately before he took the stage to announce his election victory. His “four more years” tweet was retweeted over 800,000 times and favorited over 300,000 times.

***

 Question: How has social media reframed your political landscape?

Have trouble reading complete sentences?

Is a 30 second commercial difficult to watch because it’s just too long?

Then try Vine.

A recent acquisition of Twitter, Vine is a simple iOS App (sorry Android fans, not available for you yet) that captures six seconds of video and sends it out to followers, looping endlessly.

 Just because Vine is succinct, doesn’t mean it’s just another app. Here are several ways Vine is making a name for itself.

1. Vine is used by startups to pitch their brands

Mashable reported that several startup brands are using Vine. It’s the worlds fastest elevator pitch–a mere six seconds. By compressing product demos, quirky startup culture and soliciting followers for feedback into six seconds, Vine is finding a niche of visitors that love the simple creativity of Twitter with the functionality of video.

2. Vine is ultimately a tool for creativity 

Like most social media, the power of the platform is in the hands of its users–Vine has seen its fair share of absolutely ridiculous posts, but others are seeing it as a tool for creativity.

TOKYO, a professional movie trailer editing studio, recently released several classic film trainer in the six second Vine format. Check them out here.

3. Vine is now hashtag friendly

New, interesting content is now easier to find and search with Vine hashtags.

Vine From the Vine blog: “We launched Vine with an Explore section to make it easier for you to find great content, like popular posts and hashtags, from accounts you may not follow. Since launch, there have been a ton of awesome, creative posts that don’t always make it to the popular sections. In many cases, these posts include a hashtag that the community is using. To surface that content, we’re introducing trending hashtags, which show you the fastest-rising hashtags on Vine. These hashtags signify those that have moved up quickly in popularity; they aren’t necessarily the hashtags with the most posts.”

***

Question: What do you think about Vine? What’s your favorite feature?

This news no doubt sparked a variety of reactions from “I wish I would’ve invested when it was $13 two and a half months ago” to “what is a digital currency?”

Bitcoin Surpasses Banks

Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency. In other words, it’s a currency that circumvents banks, governments and financial institutions by operating peer-to-peer. The thinking is that by surpassing banks, fees will be less and more control gained by Bitcoin users.

Bitcoin opponents cite hacking attempts as a vulnerability to the digital currency, while proponents see Bitcoin as more secure than traditional monetary systems because users have more control.

Where Can I Use Bitcoins?

After downloading the Bitcoin software and creatiting a digital wallet, Bitcoins may be purchased and used in several different platforms.

 +Use SpendBitcoins.com to convert Bitcoins into gift cards from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes. 

+ Receive purchase codes for services like XBoxLive and  PSN instantly online at Bitcoincodes.com.

+Buy music, ebooks, wallpapers and other downloadable content at CoinDL!

Users can also use sites like LocalBitcoins.com to search for local users who want to buy or sell Bitcoins with cash.

It Bitcoin a Safe Investment?

Seeing the currency rise so dramatically over the past few months may tempt would-be investors to purchase Bitcoins. Yet, on March 19, The Economist made this statement:

Online interest in the currency has spiked in recent months. Though an increasing number of legitimate businesses are adopting the currency—one Finnish software developer has offered to pay its employees in Bitcoin—it still has relatively few users. Its primary commercial use is probably to buy drugs from Silk Road, a sort of pirate eBay hidden in the “deep web”. This suggests that the new users are buying Bitcoin as an investment, not as a means of exchange. For any currency to thrive it needs users, not just speculators.

 Question: What do you think about Bitcoins? Will the be a passing fad or is it the next big thing?

In April 2012, YouTube opened the partnership program to all users, allowing them to monetize any videos that met these specifications. This move was  a strategic move by YouTube to gain more revenue.

And based on the stats below, the revenue stream will only continue to grow. From YouTube’s stats page:

+Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
+Over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
+72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
+70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
+YouTube is localized in 53 countries and across 61 languages
+In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views or around 140 views for every person on Earth
+Millions of subscriptions happen each day. Subscriptions allow you to connect with someone you’re interested in — whether it’s a friend, or the NBA — and keep up with their activity on the site

By monetizing this massive amount of video, YouTube was a steal for Google at its purchase price of $1.65 billion in 2006. With the popularity of video on the rise, YouTube recently divulged their desire to allow content creators to charge for subscriptions–another cash cow for YouTube, as they’ll surely take a cut.

Robert Knycl, head of content at YouTube, made this shrouded remark at a meeting last week in LA: “the potential of paid channels unlocks an opportunity to create new revenue streams.” (Source)

When the executives choose to rollout this shift is not yet known, but the liklihood of it happening is as sure as the fact that in the time it’s taken you to read this, nearly 216 hours of content has been uploaded to YouTube.

Time to upload a video?

“We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.”

Contrary to Google citing ‘usage has declined’, the internet exploded in a virtual uproar with Google Reader lovers signing a petition (at the time of the post it had over 123,000 signatures) to stop the Google assisted suicide.

But it’s going to happen. It’s time to prepare.

Alternatives to Google Reader

1. Feedly

Feedly has added over 500,000 users in the past few days alone. Check out this post to learn more about Feedly for iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox and Safari.

2. Taptu

Similar to Feedly, Taptu is an app-based reader with visual appeal. With “DJ your news” as its slogan, Taptu has a social media edge to its applications, making it a top pick of the social media lovers.

3. Netvibes

Netvibes is a social aggregator as well as a dashboard service while still keeping true to the standard usage of RSS. Although Netvibes offers paid levels of service, the basic package is free and simple to use.

4. The Old Reader

Yes, that’s actually the name: The Old Reader. And guess what? It looks very similar to the old reader…the old Google reader that is. A quick sign in using Facebook or your existing Google account and your old reader feeds can be imported to The Old Reader in no time.

A great alternative to those not wanting to change.

Of course there are myriad other more visually stunning options like Flipboard or Pulse, but to each his own.

We’re curious: if you use Google Reader, what will you be migrating to before Google lays the tombstone on Google reader on July 1?

]]> http://wildhairmedia.com/2013/03/18/google-reader-dies-here-are-your-reader-options/feed/ 4 http://wildhairmedia.com/2013/03/11/app-makes-workplace-meetings-awesome-charlie/ http://wildhairmedia.com/2013/03/11/app-makes-workplace-meetings-awesome-charlie/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:35:20 +0000 MikeyAmes http://wildhairmedia.com/?p=1976 With SXSW in full swing this week, many developers, entrepreneurs and early adopters are honing in on the latest and greatest that technology has to offer.

One application making a few digital headlines is Charlie.

Imagine: you have a meeting, conference or phone call with a new business contact. Before the meeting you have a multiple tasks to complete to prepare for the call, but all these tasks take time to research–time you don’t have…but Charlie does.

The quick-pitch on Charlie from the Charlie website: “Charlie arms you with the important information on your contacts before any meeting, conference or phone call.”

With a snappy slogan of “make meetings suck less”, Charlie is sure to find an audience when it releases soon. From Charlie CEO Aaron Frazin:

“Charlie filters through different online sources to prep you on the people you are meeting with. Some of the highlights we are proud of include alerting you if you have anything in common (you both like the Chicago Cubs) and what’s going on in the news with your commonalities (the Cubs actually won today!). We will also tell you more about where they work and check for breaking news on any of their current positions and companies, all so that you can walk in the most prepared person in the room.” via Mashable

Although not yet released (you can sign up for release info updates here) we see Charlie as a valuable tool for those who have to perform some online due diligence with one simple push of a button. For that reason alone, this application may be invaluable…for some.

To others, by simply visiting an individual’s Twitter stream, LinkedIn page and/or company website may be all that is needed to prep for that conference call or meeting. But who has time to do all that? Charlie does.

Although the company plans to reveal details at a public event in Menlo Park, California on March 7, some details of the newsfeed redesign are already appearing on some user’s timelines.

From Digital Trends:

“We’ve noticed a handful of new features being tested out on Facebook (and confirmed as tests, for that matter), and among them was an in-line like button that sits inside of an update shared by a friend. In this case it was a Vimeo video, which first popped up on the News Feed and later, we rediscovered it on the submitter’s Timeline. The story surfaced a link that takes you straight to Vimeo’s Facebook Page and an in-line button that sits across from this link.”

These “inline” features have several uses. Here are a few…

Add a Friend of a Friend

Whether you’re a fan of Facebook or not, it does one thing well: make connections. Facebook seems to be rolling out a new feature that will connect users with their second degree friends by encouraging one simple click.

Here’s a look:

Like a Page

Similarly, the ability to like a Facebook page from posts of your friends will begin to appear in your timeline over the next few weeks as the new news feed rolls out.

An example:

Join an Event a Friend Shares

Keeping up with what’s happening is what Facebook events are for, and in the new Facebook timeline joining an event will be even more accessible.

When a friend joins an event, you’ll now see that event posted on your friend’s timeline along with an invitation to going the event as well (provided it is a public event). This gives events more exposure and an easier interface to join them.

 ***

And although these are only a handful of new features that we know about at present, many more will be made public during the March 7 formal announcement.

Question: what new features would YOU like to see in Facebook’s new timeline?