Twitter hit a milestone this week. 10 billion tweets. What does this mean in the grand arena of social media and human communication? First, Twitter is still growing really fast. The Twitter scale doubled in just four months, according to Mashable. So much to say in so little time.
Recognizr phone app ID’s strangers
February 24, 2010 – 6:54 am
We can’t decide if this new phone app is cool or creepy. The Recognizr uses facial recognition software to match a picture with millions of identities online, including information about their social networks. See a demonstration at Huffington Post.
So next time you see a stranger across a crowded room, you won’t have to use a cheesy pickup line to introduce yourself. On the other hand, you’d hate to see this app in the hands of a child molester.
Top 4 Social Media Blunders
February 23, 2010 – 11:28 am
We can certainly learn a lot from social media successes, but its much more entertaining to learn from the failures of individuals and companies. Read through this list of the Top 4 Social Media Blunders, and then vote on which on you think is the most costly.
With nearly 8 million views, Dave Carroll of the Halifax-based band, Sons of Maxwell, has declared war on United Airlines. Traveling through Chicago, he and his band witnessed baggage handlers throw an expensive Taylor guitar. They alerted United employees, but were not given any help. After discovering damage to the guitar and being told by United that they would not be compensated for the damage, the band pledged 3 songs about the incident to be posted to YouTube. 2 of the three videos have been posted, and both have gone viral.
2. Post offensive images of yourself and others on your Facebook profile.
A New England Patriots cheerleader was removed from the squad after photos surfaced of her standing over an unconscious party-goer who was bloody and had vulgar graffiti littering his face. Even while many think these profiles are personal, any proof of a bad decisions could influence a company’s willingness to put their public relations at risk.
3.Print the wrong Twitter account on your restaurant chain’s menu.
It seems Denny’s print design team struck out on the latest menu that featured the Twitter account of a Taiwanese man, Dennys Hsieh. Despite their failure, credit has to be given to the chain for embracing social media when many companies have still not learned how to integrate Twitter into their marketing and PR strategies.
@EasyJetService is not the official Twitter account of the discount airline. It is the account of a disgruntled customer airing his grievances with the company. EasyJet was slow to embrace Social Media and has paid the price for it. Other negative accounts have also surfaced, and recently an official account (@EasyJetCare) aimed at rescuing the airline’s damaged reputation.
Full disclosure
February 19, 2010 – 8:37 am
Since the Federal Trade Commission orders came down to make it clear who is getting paid to say what online, there’s been confusion about what language to use, especially on platforms such as Twitter. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association is putting out guidelines with specific wording and hashtags. Here’s a sample:
#spon (sponsored)
#paid (paid)
#samp (sample)
Read the full report here.
Will Pepsi’s $20 million experiment in social media pay off?
February 17, 2010 – 11:06 am
The program is too new to really assess whether it’s working for Pepsi. But the decision to dump Super Bowl ads, and donate $20 million to good causes instead, is generating a lot of publicity for Pepsi.
As JonathanSalemBaskin writes in Social Media Today, the Pepsi gambit may be a waste of marketing money.
Most iBooks Expected to Have FairPlay DRM
February 16, 2010 – 10:45 am
It feels a bit obvious that Apple would want to include some sort of DRM on iPad books purchased through the iTunes store. The interesting bit is that it appears that publishers will have the option of choosing whether to use Apple’s FairPlay DRM technology or to keep their ebooks DRM-free. Even though the format supported will be ePub, which is an “open” format, it doesn’t mean that the books themselves will be DRM-free
