The week that was: Vuvuzela edition
By Mitchell Hislop | June 18, 2010
Here is your roundup of all the top stories for the last week. Now, I have to get that buzzing out of my ears:
Facebook:
The first Facebook story is actually from today. Reuters announced that it looks like Facebook did $800MM last year in revenue, and had profits in the tens of millions of dollars. Considering that most of their revenue comes from ads, that means that they served something like 700MM ads last year, or about 2 million per day.
This is big news, because it is not only proof that these online networks can make money, it also shows that Facebook should be around for a while, which is good news for any marketers looking at running a campaign on it. (source)
Also in Facebook news, they finally decided to allow the creator of a page to be removed as an admin. This means that now, agencies can make the page and hand it off, rather than jump through all the current hoops that one has to. (source)
Twitter:
One of the biggest stories of the week was the trouble that twitter has been having recently. The uptime has been really poor as of late, and Twitter knows it. It is due to things like engineering changes, the World Cup, and the NBA Finals. They are working on it, and they fully admit that it is their fault. Look for it to be better in the middle of July, and even better beginning in August, when they change the way that 3rd parties authenticate with Twitter. (source)
Also, their new ads started rolling out. They show up in the “Trends” Section, and are distinguished from the rest with a little “Promoted” tag. The first one was for Toy Story 3 (source)
Other:
In the other news of the week, Wordpress released WP3.0, the latest milestone release for the popular blogging software. Included in this release are over 1200 bugfixes, a new menu system, and the merging of the multi-blog and single-blog branches. It is also a recommended update for all users. (source)
Finally, it looks like Amazon has patented social networking. No one really knows whats going on here, but it is a fun patent to read. (source)
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
What is this new HTML5?
By Mitchell Hislop | June 11, 2010
HTML5 is the new proposed standard for how websites are made. While it is not official yet, many browsers and companies are already supporting it. HTML5 brings several new features to the table, and will make browsing the internet faster, easier, and more like working with a desktop program.
The main theme in HTML5 is to do more in the browser, and without plugins. Prior to now, most things being done on the web needed a plugin if it was much more complex than displaying simple text or images. Videos, games, and offline storage currently require a plugin, making the integration with the browser sloppy at best. HTML5’s new technologies remove the need for these, allowing the web to work a lot better, and enabling a new generation of applications.
New Features:
- The Canvas: The canvas is an all-new way to display graphics on the web. Previously, web graphics had to be static, or needed to be Flash. With the canvas, images, games, or other visuals can be created on the fly, in the browser, without the need for plugins.
- Video: HTML5 will change the way video on the web happens. Much like the canvas, the new “Video” element allows the video to be in the browser without needing a plugin, or using Adobe Flash.
- Geolocation: Rather than needing to look up an IP adderess to guess a users location (whether for a map or an ad), HTML5 will be able to tell a users location much more accurately, allowing the next generation of location-based applications to also exist in the browser.
- Offline: HTML5 includes a way for a website to function offline, without a plugin like Google Gears. This will make it much easier, and more useful, to use local storage, which will further increase the benefits of apps like Gmail.
For more information, Focus.com has an infographic that does a great job explaining it.
Topics: Technology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
What’s the buzz on Chirp & f8?
By Mitchell Hislop | April 23, 2010
Over the last two weeks, both Twitter and Facebook held their developer conferences, Chirp and f8. Both of these events had announcements that turned the social world on its head.
Chirp
Chirp, Twitter’s developer conference, brought several things to light. It first shed more light on the announcement that came the day before, about Twitter’s “Promoted Tweets”, their advertising mechanisim. This service places tweets at the top of search results, which function like tweet despite being sponsored by a company. At first, this service is only open to a few select companies, with more being added in phase 2. Additionally, the ads may make the move to a user’s timeline sometime in late 2010.
Chirp also came after many Twitter 3rd-party developers were in outrage with their acquisitions of Atebits, makers of Tweetie, an iPhone Twitter client. They viewed this as Twitter trying to push them out of business. Twitter’s platform manager, Ryan Sarver, posted on the Google Group for the API that they were not making “official” applications, but rather trying to make it easier for a new user to find what they are looking for. Many users looked in the iPhone app store, but could not find a client that looked “official” and gave up. The purchase of Atebits, as well as the partnering to create a BlackBerry client, was to ease this issue. They are not blocking developers, and actually use the exact same API’s; keeping developers on a level playing field with the company itself.
Twitter also rolled out a few new technical features-@anywhere and the new Stream API, as well as a new developer website. @anywhere allows people to make Twitter interactions on any website, such as following someone, tweeting, and getting information about a user. For an example of this, look at my tech analyzing website, where I implemented it. The stream API is to get more low-latency updates for applications, allowing for better access for Twitter. The new developer website simply provides a homepage for developers, bringing together several disparate sites under one umbrella.
f8
Facebook announced several changes that rocked the social world (whether someone wants to admit it or not). The biggest announcement was about a “like” button for the entire web. Using their tool, any website can have a “like” button, and use it to see engagement by users/viewers. In some cases, such as IMDB, this allows users’ profiles to have their interests updated when they like a movie. Several people, including myself, commented that Facebook is trying to own the entire web with this move.
Facebook also announced several new API’s, all of which make it easier to interact with Facebook, and allow applications to know more about a user, their interests, their connections, and their social graph. This has led to several people panicking over privacy concerns since 3rd-party apps have even more access to information than before. (If you are concerned about this, the settings you need to change are in Facebook’s Security Center).
Facebook also launched these API’s with several high-profile partners, such as Pandora and CNN.
What does this all mean?
The question that I spent most of Wednesday night losing sleep over is “What does this all mean?” These changes certianly changed the social media world, but in what way?
These moves show a concerted effort by Facebook and Twitter to extend their influence, and data-collection abilities, beyond their own domains. Now, you can interact with Facebook from everywhere, not just a site you are connected too or a main domain. For businesses, this means that you now can have even more insight into your customers, their habits, and what they care about.
Advertising is now more accurate, since people are able to update their interests and likes with much less friction. This data is what Facebook uses to display ad results, making it much targeted, meaning your dollars are being used much more wisely.
If you are interested in implementing any of these new technologies for your business, please contact us!
Topics: Facebook, Twitter | No Comments »
Who should be blogging?
By Mitchell Hislop | February 22, 2010
I have had several chats with people recently about blogging, and want to share some thoughts on it. There are several groups of people who should be blogging:
Students:
As a student myself, I see blogging as the #1 way to set yourself apart. It does not matter what industry you are in, you should be blogging. Accounts can talk about and show their knowledge, marketing people can show off their chops, political science majors can show their opinions, report the news, and give analysis, and artists can use it as a portfolio. I challenge you to give me a major where it would not help to blog.
Business owners:
If you have a business, take one hour a week to blog. It can be from a teaching perspective or a company news perspective, whatever it might be, make sure you are getting it out there and sharing your knowledge and expertise.
Moms/Dads/Parents:
This is a perfect way to document your kid’s childhood, to share your child with everyone, and to share (and gain) tips and tricks with other parents, or soon-to-be parents.
Job Seekers:
Basically the same as students. You can use this to show your potential and what you have done. It is a great way to share what you would want to do with your current employer, without mentioning names, without the risk of confrontation.
So yes, this basically covers everyone. One thing I tell everyone is that others are blogging about it, you should be too. This applies especially to students and job seekers-for instance, I am a student, and I blog. This will help put me over students who dont blog, putting them at a disadvantage.
I will blog next week about the benefits of blogging-the less obvious ones, not the “you can get exposure” ones.
Topics: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Why You Should Love Wordpress
By Mitchell Hislop | February 15, 2010
It is no secret that I have something similar to a love affair with the open source content management system Wordpress. I have stickers all over my laptop and notebooks, and even on a lamp in the office.
People often ask me why I love it so much, or why they should use it themselves. I have finally written down my answer:
Some of the things I love about Wordpress:
- Ease of use:
- Wordpress has a very nice back-end, which allows anyone to be able to add or edit content site-wide.
- It is also very easy to add functionality using plug-ins.
- Design is handled by themes, allowing you to either use one you like or create/modify an existing one.
- Reliability:
- Wordpress is one of the top content management systems, and has a vibrant community around it. This allows it to be updated constantly, making sure there are no bugs.
- It is also really easy to get support for because of this community.
- Power:
- Wordpress can handle anything from a simple one page blog to a massive website, and anything from no traffic to 100,000 unique visits a day.
- Wordpress can be completely customized, allowing people of every level of expertise to leverage it
Why you should use Wordpress:
- It’s free
- It’s easy
- It’s powerful
- It’s supported
- The community behind it is there for you
- Any business can benefit from having a blog.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
The Buzz about Buzz
By Mitchell Hislop | February 10, 2010
Yesterday, Google made another move in the direction of owning the Internet with their announcement about Buzz, their new social platform built into GMail.
This platform leverages your existing social graph that you have built up while using GMail. Much the same as it remembers the contact information of people you email often with, it will add these people as your friends in Buzz. You can also direct people to your Google profile, which will allow them to follow you on Buzz.
There are also location based features built in. You can Buzz from your iPhone or Android phone (running 2.0), and it will tag your location.
It feels a lot like FriendFeed to me, which was a place to aggregate content and comment on or discuss things. It is akin to a long form of Twitter, with comments and likes similar to Facebook. Facebook recently purchased FriendFeed, and some think that Buzz is because of that.
Currently, Buzz is mostly early adopters talking about how cool it is. It will be interesting to see over the next month which direction it will take: will it be the geeky-cool place for the tech people to chat (like Friendfeed), or will it be a platform everyone can leverage (like Twitter).
Buzz seems to be best for times when you want to create more long-form content, yet you don’t want to do it as a blog post (either it doesn’t fit, is not valuable enough, or it is directed at people). You can direct your messages to people while still having them be public. It is the interesting niche between a blog, Twitter, and chat.
It can also import content from other sites, such as Twitter, Flickr, and blogs.
It is currently being rolled out to everyone, and should be active completely by early next week.
Topics: Social Media | No Comments »
ROI of Social Media: Customer Service
By Mitchell Hislop | February 3, 2010
This is the first post of a series that will delve into what social media can do for your Rate Of Return, aka ROI. Let’s start with customer service:
I host my websites with MediaTemple (MT). I chose them because of the support they provide, and the fact that the package they had to offer was just what I was looking for. As a geek, I have my laptop covered with stickers of companies I use and love. One night, I tweeted out that I wish I had some MediaTemple stickers for my laptop. They responded with a very quick reply that I should send them my address. I did, and three days later had two sheets of stickers and a handwritten note!
Now, this is a short interaction. All this probably took MediaTemple less than 5 minutes and cost them less than $5. However, in return they turned me from just a customer to a loyal fan. If I get just one person to look at MT through my tweets, I have made them money.
In addition, I am less likely to switch hosts now. This means that they made even more money off their interaction.
This is not an isolated case, either. Comcast regularly leverage their Twitter account for customer service, as do many companies.
So, how do you measure the ROI of this?
One of simplest ways to measure your ROI is to have your Customer Service Representative (CSR) team trained on how to listen/interact (~$1000) and set up Twitter accounts. Then, use your existing ROI metrics for your CSR’s.
For instance, lets look back at MediaTemple. My hosting is $20/month. I have gotten one person to try it out, so that is making MT $20/month off their $10 investment. In addition, I am more likely to stay with them, which translates more or less, to an extra $100.
So, that is at least $120 over the next 6 months, or a 12x ROI.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4eb1fdc5-67b9-4a96-83df-d769b1b6dc1f)
Topics: Social Media, Uncategorized | No Comments »
The social media value proposition
By Mitchell Hislop | January 27, 2010
“What is the value of Social Media?”
I have been asked this question countless times, both as an honest question and as an attempt to push my thinking further.
When asked, I usually bring up the low cost, high potential and how to measure your ROI.
However, as a business student, I want to know the real answer. I want to know Social Media’s value proposition.
So, I did some thinking about it. And asked you about it.
In my own opinion, the value stems from a few areas.
For one, Social Media is everywhere, and it is something that we use every day. Anyone who is on Facebook is using Social Media. This means that you do not need to learn anything new, nor leave behind your current social network. They are very user-friendly and relatively open. These sites allow you to see what is going on, “listen” in on conversations between brands and people, and interact with others.
In my words, it simmers down to:
“Social Media is an open, easy to use tool for users to engage with each other and brands, fostering more openness and communication”.
These are some responses I got back (unedited) when I Tweeted this question:
GirlMeetsGeek: Human Connection: Where technology can only go so far- real hands can reach.
Jo Roberts: Social media **as a tool** makes it easier to create sustained meaning/value with people you connect with in real life.
What is your definition of Social Media’s value proposition?
Topics: Social Media | 1 Comment »
Using Tweetdeck as a cross-platform
By Mitchell Hislop | January 15, 2010
Want an easy way to manage all of your Social Media from one place? Of the many applications available, there is only one application that I have found to be great for doing just that - Tweetdeck.
Tweetdeck is a cross-platform application that allows you to update your Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin information from one central spot. It also allows you to curate the people you follow, making it so that you never miss an important update.
It syncs with Twitter lists, allows you to update fanpages, and will even clean the kitchen sink for you (ok, so maybe thats in the next update).
It’s real benefit is that it gives you only one place to go, and you can send an update to multiple places at the same time. It saves time, increases productivity, and allows you to streamline your workflow.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
The Ultimate Wordpress Pack
By Mitchell Hislop | January 15, 2010
(NOTE: I am back from CES! It was an amazing time as well as a super geeky time. You can find all my coverage here, and pictures here.)
I had a flash of inspiration last night. I noticed that, while building websites, I was uploading the same things over and over, so I created something for everyone to benefit from.
I am calling it the Ultimate Wordpress Pack. It is a collection of all the top plugins and themes, baked into one file for upload. Try it out, give me feedback, and benefit from my lack of sleep.
This pack is meant for anyone who uses Wordpress, from beginner to expert. Everyone can save time with it. All you need to do is upload it to whatever website you would like to use Wordpress on and follow the steps to install it. You will find the pack pre-populated with all of the popular themes and plugins, and a few that I thought should make the cut.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
