Sep 172013
 

facebook

I have been involved in social media since the early days when Facebook was exclusively used by college students. I helped build one of the first and largest social agencies, MRY — now part of Publicis Group. I have since founded a social marketing platform for large brand marketers.

So, how can I view social media as the worst term in marketing when my career has been built upon it? In short, its a misleading term that confuses both consumers and marketers. Heres how:

Its NOT media

Its communication. Its how we communicate with groups of friends, share photos, and make plans. It is also a filter that we use to personalize what we read, watch, listen to, and do. Our social filters are key to achieve relevance in what we consume and how we remove the rapidly expansive noise.

MORE:  Social media: Why its the worst phrase in marketing – iMediaConnection.com.

 

 


 

Mar 142013
 

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Twitter acquired the music discovery service We Are Hunted last year and is using its technology to build a standalone music app, CNET has learned.

The app, to be called Twitter Music, could be released on iOS by the end of this month, according to a person familiar with the matter. Twitter Music suggests artists and songs to listen to based on a variety of signals, and is personalized based on which accounts a user follows on Twitter. Songs are streamed to the app via SoundCloud.

Twitter Music, which is set to arrive in the wake of key competitor Facebook overhauling the music section of its News Feed, shows Twitter taking new steps into becoming a full-fledged media company. The app acknowledges the key role music has played in drawing new users to the service — particularly younger, mainstream users. Pop stars have some of Twitter’s most popular accounts, with followings in the tens of millions. The TwitterMusic account has 2.3 million followers — not a bad perch from which to launch an eponymous app.

Twitter and We Are Hunted did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

An app built for discovery

Unlike Vine, the video sharing app that Twitter released in January, the music app carries Twitter branding. The app’s icon consists of a silver “play” button with the familiar blue Twitter bird looking down on it from the corner.

READ MORE:  Twitter acquires We Are Hunted, readies standalone music app | Mobile – CNET News.

 

 


 

Mar 052013
 

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Twitter will shut down multiple TweetDeck apps to focus on the product’s web-based version, the microblogging service announced Monday.

In yet another sign of the battle between social media’s two biggest players, Facebook integration will be removed, too.

The announcement was met largely with a chorus of “nooooooooo,” “whyyyyyyy” and “gaaaaaaaah” on social media, reflecting TweetDeck’s widespread popularity with hardcore Twitter users.

TweetDeck AIR, TweetDeck for iPhone and TweetDeck for Android will be removed from their respective app stores in May, and stop working soon after, according to a TweetDeck blog post.

“To continue to offer a great product that addresses your unique needs, we’re going to focus our development efforts on our modern, web-based versions of TweetDeck,” the post says.

READ MORE:  Twitter Killing TweetDeck for iPhone and Android.

 

 


 

Feb 042013
 

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Recently, Twitter introduced Vine – a new mobile application that lets users capture a number of film frames, which are looped in short 6-second videos and shared on Twitter.

Vine – The Instagram of Video

Some argue that these 6-second video tweets are the next Instagram, as they can artistically capture spontaneous moments, but with motion and sound features. Brands are already experimenting with Vine as a new short ad format. The great news for brands is that they can communicate and entertain across social networks but are less likely to lose consumers attention than traditional advertising.

We monitored how often the Vine app has been used or mentioned on Facebook and Twitter by brands and media throughout the last week of January, after its launch on the 24th until January 29th:

  • 711 “Vine” mentions on Twitter
  • 122 “Vine” mentions on Facebook
  • Mentioned mostly by media and public figures
  • Some brands like Gap, Dove, and Desigual have already created inspiring Vines

 

MORE:  The New Vine App: 5 Tips for Brands – Socialbakers.

 

 


 

Feb 042013
 

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Anyone watching the Super Bowl this evening saw a great game — and one of the greatest embarrassments in pro sports history: a power outage that halted play for a full half hour.

As the eventual champion Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers — and tens of thousands inside New Orleans Superdome and millions watching on TV — waited, Oreo came up with an idea so brilliant and bold that it out and out won the night.

“Power out? No problem,” the tweet read, along with a hastily-put together image of an ad showing an Oreo and the brilliant tag line, “You can still dunk in the dark.”

The tweet caught fire, and as of this writing had been retweeted 13,734 times.So how did the cookie company act so fast, and get so many talking — all with minimal time available, and negligible expense?

MORE:  How Oreos brilliant blackout tweet won the Super Bowl 

 

 


 

Oct 032012
 

The city of Seattle is taking its police blotter to Twitter.

Called “Tweets-by-beat,” the Seattle Police Department has started 51 hyper-local Twitter accounts, based on officers’ beats, to keep residents up-to-date about the happenings in their neighborhood.

The digital program started the last week of August, and will supplement the department’s online blotter. Anyone can read these feeds — even people who aren’t on Twitter, says Sgt. Sean Whitcomb of the department’s Public Affairs office.

“We made it super easy,” he tells Mashable. “All you need is an Internet connection.”

The idea behind the new Twitter accounts is to raise public awareness of personal safety and to prevent crimes.

“Maybe people will take the time to use some common sense to reduce the likeihood of them being victims of crime,” Whitcomb says.

The department has used its main Twitter account @SeattlePD for several years; it tweets about topics ranging from breaking crime news to a lost pet snake in a local park.

MORESeattle Police Crime Blotter is Now 51 Hyper-Local Twitter Feeds.

 


Oct 022012
 

The CW Television Network is promoting its fall lineup with a first-of-its kind print insert in the latest edition of Entertainment Weekly. The insert contains a small LCD screen that features looping video and the six latest tweets from @CW_Network beneath the words, “Follow Us Now.” It appears in 1,000 copies distributed across New York and Los Angeles.

“We’re always trying to look at things that are first to market, that are really going to let people know that we are a digital network and that digital media is part of our DNA,” Rick Haskins, executive vice president of marketing and digital programs at the CW, said in a phone interview. The network’s media agency, OMD, pitched the idea to CW, and then Twitter was brought on board to help execute it.

Per Haskins’ description, the ad is powered by a custom-built, smartphone-like Android device with an LED screen and 3G connectivity.

 

 

 

MORELive Twitter Feed Appears in Print Ad [VIDEO].

 


Oct 012012
 

Secret Social Marketing Tip: Find out which social media platform works better for engaging your fans.

Brands need to make the decision as to which social platform they should focus on in order to gain maximum fan engagement. So, we looked at 12 key industries and examined whether brand activity on Facebook or Twitter can engage fans better and what are the reasons.

For the Media, the best channel is Twitter

When studying media performance on both social platforms, we found out that media post on Facebook five times less than brands. The Media engagement rate is only 47% of what brands reach on Facebook. On the other hand, the media engagement rate on Twitter represents 88% of what brands achieve on Twitter.

MOREThe perfect diet for your brand – is Facebook or Twitter Engagement better? – Socialbakers.

 


Sep 272012
 

Tweeting is a science; however, a few basic tips will help ensure your Twitter page increases in follower quality. (Did you catch that? Quality, not quantity! More on that later.)

When it comes to Twitter, followers want to read engaging, interesting tweets. If you think of Twitter in terms of a book, readers do not keep reading the same boring books (or tweets) by the same boring authors (or tweeters). For followers, Twitter is just that: reading. For brands, Twitter is a social platform for which interacting with customers is essential, NOT marketing. Twitter is not an advertisement; it’s a conversation.

So, let’s start increasing your Twitter followers.

1) Use Twitter as a Social Outlet, Not a Marketing Tool

MORESecret Social Marketing Tip: Tweet This, Not That! – Socialbakers.

 


Sep 252012
 

I’m not the only one to be getting these spammy direct messages on Twitter that lead to bogus Facebook links. Apparently a lot of people have been complaining of these messages, according to Sophos analyst Graham Cluley who wrote about it on the Naked Security blog.

Different variations of the direct messages include, “your in this [link] lol” and “lol ur famous now [link]” (I got this one too).

Of course, I didn’t click on the link. However, according to Cluley, those people that do click are led to a video player that says, “An update to Youtube player is needed.” Users are asked to download what is supposedly called “FlashPlayerV10.1.57.108.exe,” but Sophos antivirus products detect it as Troj/Mdrop-EML, which is a backdoor Trojan that can copy itself to accessible drives and network shares.

A Slate reporter wrote that he clicked on the bogus link and was directed to Facebook where he was told he had to log in to access an app. It’s unclear if this link also contained some sort of virus, Trojan, or malware.

MORETwitter users may be victims of direct message malware | Security & Privacy – CNET News.