Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

Facebook Mimics Google+, Alters Friends Lists

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Facebook continues to feel threatened by Google+.

Facebook began rolling out smart friend lists to users. The new tool makes it easier for us to group Facebook friends into categories such as close friends, acquaintances, or work colleagues. Sound and look familiar? It’s because it’s a Google+ feature.

According to a Facebook blog post, with the improved Friend Lists, we can easily see updates from and share with different lists of friends.

Facebook claims the lists are completely optional. If we don’t like them, we don’t have to use them.

Each of the lists has its own News Feed, where you can see just the photos, status updates and other posts from the people on that specific list.

Both Social Networking Sites Continue to Compete Against Eachother

Both Social Networking Sites Continue to Compete Against Eachother

Why does Facebook feel the need to continue changing the site? Most of us probably like the news feeds and lists as they are. If we don’t, then we know not to update our status, post a picture, or like a link.

Why should Facebook be allowed to tell us what it  thinks we want to see. Aren’t we smart enough to figure that out on our own?

Facebook needs to be careful with all these new features and changes. America seems to be growing really tired of the social networking site.

Read the full story in PCWorld.com.

Social Gaming: Are Angry Birds, Cities and Farms Taking Over?

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

The use of gaming as a powerful social marketing technique was front and center last month at BtoB’s annual Social Media Marketing Awards presentation in Manhattan.

Interactive gaming experiences are popping up all over the place.

Social gaming was placed on the back burner thanks to the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn phenomenon, but now that’s changing.

Gaming is starting to make perfect sense as a social marketing device.

Social Gaming is Becoming a Marketing Phenomenon

Is Social Gaming Becoming a Marketing Phenomenon?

Gabe Zichermann, CEO of Gamification Company, says gaming has become the mass-market medium of our time. Three of the top five programs in America today are FarmVilleCityVille and Mafia Wars.

These games are widely accessed through Facebook and other social sites.

Gaming allows engagement and creating a sense of trust while building relationships.

It can underscore everything from loyalty programs to education, and any other customer activity that can be rewarded and reinforced with virtual goods, points, badges and rankings.

Read the full article in this month’s issue of BtoB Magazine.

It’s Officially the #SocialMedia Era. Have You Joined the Conversation?

Friday, July 8th, 2011

The Impact of Social Media and Politics

The social media world went bonkers commenting on the Casey Anthony trial. Did you join in on the discussion?

The verdict was controversial. That’s a fact. Casey Anthony wasn’t convicted on murder charges related to the 2008 death of her daughter Caylee. Nobody saw that coming.

But, what was just as astounding was the immediate rush of information-sharing and discussion on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

It seemed as if everyone, from celebrities to lawyers, to the common, every day person, had something to say about the trial itself, the verdict, or the Anthony family.

News sources are claiming that social media sites revolutionized the 36-day Casey Anthony trial. According to NewsMax.com, on Tuesday afternoon, following the announcement of a not-guilty verdict, the keywords “caseyanthony” appeared 34,000 times an hour on Twitter and “notguilty” appeared 20,000 times.

That’s stunning to say the least.

News media organizations and stations across the entire nation launched Twitter accounts and updated news stories on Facebook to give users up-to-the-minute coverage.

Both CNN and Fox News constantly had a live ticker on their online and mobile site.

Social Media’s Impact on Politics - Casey Anthony Trial

Social Media’s Impact on Politics - Casey Anthony Trial

Facebook users even took the news into their own hands.

At the time this article was written, the following Facebook pages were created followed with the number of “likes”.

  • Support Cindy Anthony – 7,266 likes
  • We Support George and Cindy Anthony – 4,194 likes
  • Casey Anthony Page – 21,832 likes
  • Casey Anthony Updates – 237,625 likes
  • **** Casey Anthony – 664,773 likes
  • Casey Anthony is guilty – 58,855

The numbers don’t lie. People had to log on Facebook and search for related terms. They not only knew who the Anthony family was, wanted information about the trial, but formed an opinion and wanted to support it the only way they knew how.

MSNBC.com reports that Twitter locked up at times due to users sending Tweets in rapid succession. Twitter was so overloaded with tweets when the verdict was read, the website appeared to freeze.

The Casey Anthony trial went viral. And thanks to social media, the world had easy access for three years to invest their time and emotions.

And because of that, the huge outcry appeared once the verdict was read.

Social media played a huge part in the world’s involvement and investment in the trial.

If it wasn’t for social media, would the country have reacted in the manner in which they did? Perhaps. But, probably with no where near the level of emotion, though.

To date, it can be argued that the Casey Anthony trial is the social media case of the century.

Only time will tell where the future of social media and politics lies.

In the mean time, we’ll be checking our “feeds” and “update alerts.”