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This App Tells You All About Your Facebook Friends, But Will It Make You Smarter?
Feb 10th
In the two weeks I have been using Wisdom, an iPad and iPhone app that gives you detailed demographic data about your Facebook friends, the number of users has gone from just over 4 million to just under 6 million. Part of that rapid growth is most likely attributable to an extensive advertising campaign on the iPad version of the New York Times (which is where I first heard about it).
Wisdom’s marketing slogan promises “Get Wisdom and Get Wiser,” and gives us the option of not only analyzing our own social network, but the entire Wisdom network (yes, to Get Wisdom you also need to give Wisdom your information, but they have a clear-cut, succinctly-explained and explicitly-presented privacy policy. I wishe every online company and social network would use that bit of wisdom from the makers of Wisdom). “Best of all, the more people who get Wisdom, the smarter the application gets – and the smarter you become!” the apps Web site promises.
Well, maybe. Depending on your definition of “smarter.”
For example, does it make me smarter to know that New Engald Patriots fans on the Wisdom network like Narragansett Beer and New York Giants fans prefer Hennessy? Or that fans of both teams prefer Dunkin Donuts? And why is Wisdom still teasing its analysis of Super Bowl fans nearly a full-week after the game?
The U.S. Election breakdown is slightly more telling. Based on “likes” of candidates on Facebook in the last 12 months, it shows a handsome U.S. map showing which states favor which candidates, then shows the demographic makeup of each candidates followers (in other words, the same information found in almost any decent political poll).
You can also drill down and look at your friends — you can see who has posted on Facebook the most in the past 30 days, the average number of words they used in each post and other trivia.I now know that in the past 30 days Maya Angelou and David Sedaris were the most popular authors among my friends, and U2 and Johnny Cash were the most popular musicians. Nine of my friends have made a combined 27 trips to Fenway Park, and one of my friends has been to the same hospital six times (whoever it is, I hope everything is okay).
I can also look at who I interact with most. There’s loads of other data, but not as much as you’d think: I can generally check every chart and figure on Wisdom within five or 10 minutes. And even as the network increases in size, not much changes on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis.
Among other things, Wisdom lets you check where your Facebook friends have been checking in to find places you may want to go to.
Wisdom gives you a chance to do some very limited number crunching of your own, but not much. The design is beautiful, and it seems somewhat addictive the first time you play around with it, but then you realize there’s not much you can do with the data aside from look at it.
And that’s the problem: Every time I finish scanning through Wisdom, I’m left with that “Now what?” feeling we get when we don’t really know what else to do with an app. The data is interesting, but there’s not much I can do with it: I can’t download it, I can’t even access it from my desktop, making it harder to crunch.
Wisdom has some recommendations of how to use the app, including finding places to go when traveling and find out what’s popular. I have loads of other apps that do all of the things Wisdom claims to be able to do, and, since their focused (finding the best place to eat, keeping me up-to-date on news and trends), the information in those apps comes off as being far more manageable than the artfully-presented glut I get in Wisdom.
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What You Need to Know about SEO – Forbes
Feb 10th
 Forbes |
What You Need to Know about SEO
Forbes I recently asked a few start-ups why they avoid thinking about SEO. The most common reason I heard was some variant on the theme “SEO seems like this big huge thing that requires a lot of knowledge.” There's a perception out there that SEO is … 4 Ways to Boost Your SEO With Google+ Most searchers don't last longer than three pages Google+ Growth, Dropbox Killer: Google IS the Tech News |
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[STUDY] 59% of Customers Don’t Know About Their Banks’ Social Media Presence
Feb 9th
In ComScore’s report on The State of Online and Mobile Banking, it cites social networks as a space where banks are creating a presence, and improving their capabilities. But do any of the banks’ customers even know about this? Apparently not.
Even though financial institutes have increased social networking activity, ComScore says that only 18% of customers knew that their financial institutions had a presence on social networks. A total 59% had no idea, and 24% were unsure of what their financial institutions were doing on social media sites.
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The data shows that customer visits to banks’ Facebook pages have increased by nearly 25%, whereas on Twitter and LinkedIn that number has enjoyed less much less growth.
For institutions that are creating a presence on social media sites, take heed: customers are not interested in solving customer service issues on those sites. If Facebook did update its brand pages to include private messaging options, this might change. For now, however, customers who do follow their financial institutions on social networking sites are mostly interested in retail, credit card and online shopping offers.
As social commerce continues to try and find its place on Facebook thanks to new social apps, and payment services like PayPal build a presence on Facebook, will banking be the next move? Or are social networking sites just a place for banks to build their brand? Tell us what you think in the comments.
Image via Shutterstock.
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Survey: People Largely Negative About Google’s Personalized Search Results
Feb 8th
Earlier this month market research tool provider Ask Your Target Market surveyed 400 US adults about their attitudes toward personalized search on Google. The results were reported today in eMarketer’s email newsletter. We went back to the source to check out the survey and discovered that…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
View full post on Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
SEO Link Monster: All About the New Blog Network that Promises Top Ranking for … – International Business Times
Feb 8th
 International Business Times |
SEO Link Monster: All About the New Blog Network that Promises Top Ranking for …
International Business Times By Kukil Bora: Subscribe to Kukil's RSS feed At a time when recent alterations to Google's algorithm in ranking Web sites have affected many, a new SEO tool named 'SEO Link Monster' is generating a lot of buzz in the Internet marketing world. Future of SEO: Change, Convergence, Collaboration Googler: SEO Is A Bug, And Google Is Trying To Fix It Google Clarifies: No, Ads Shouldn't Help Rankings & No, SEO Isn't Bad |
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Google+ Launches Developers Page, So How About That API?
Feb 6th
Google just launched a page for Google+ developers. It will post news updates and info about events, conferences and hackathons. host weekly video hangouts to share updates, tips and tricks about the platform. Office hours are on Wednesdays between 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Pacific. Hopefully, this is a sign of upcoming API releases, so Google+ developers can start, you know, developing.
The Google+ Platform Blog has been pretty quiet. Google SVP Vic Gundotra said in October that Google+ doesn’t “want to make the same mistakes of others,” – referring to Twitter – by opening the API too quickly to developers and then having to clamp down later. He said to look ahead to Google I/0 (since rescheduled for June 27-29) for major platform announcements.
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Google made some of the Google+ API available last year, but the capabilities are still extremely limited. Applications can currently read the main stream as well as search, +1s and comments. This has allowed aggregator apps like news readers to start pulling content from the Google+ stream. There are also basic ways to extend video hangouts with applications.
But because developers don’t yet have write access, Google+ is fairly isolated from the Web outside. The +1 button has become commonplace for sharing, but third-party applications that share easily to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and more still can’t post to Google+. Once Google opens up more write access to other clients, third-party contributions to the Google+ ecosystem will start to get interesting.
Add Google+ Developers to your circles.
See also: What Google Plus Needs to Do to Win Developers’ Hearts
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Amazon Is Thinking About Real-World Stores
Feb 6th
Good E-Reader reports today that Amazon plans to launch a retail store in its hometown of Seattle “within the next few months.” It will be a small boutique emphasizing its Kindle e-readers and physical copies of its Amazon Exclusives book titles. It will also stock accessories for Kindles, such as cases, screen protectors and USB chargers.
It’s not a new rumor (it dates as far back as 2009), and it would be a departure from Amazon’s strategy thus far. In December, LAUNCH reported the retail store rumor, adding that Amazon plans to sell its own branded merchandise. Amazon is better known for threatening real-world retail than for promoting it. But Amazon’s moves in the past few months make the strategy seem more sensible.
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The $199 Kindle Fire is an important service for Amazon’s digital content, but it needs to be in physical hands first. That’s why Amazon cut deals to put the Kindle family in over 16,000 partner stores over the holidays.
Amazon’s key competitor, Barnes & Noble, already has hundreds of its own stores, and they have their own showroom for the Nook readers and tablets, so the boutique model reported by Good E-Reader sounds reasonable.
Did the retail boost work for Amazon? Who knows? As usual, Amazon did not disclose how many Kindles it sold last quarter with any kind of specificity. Amazon typically spins statistics that sound good, but it won’t provide hard numbers about devices.
Devices are not Amazon’s core business; content is. Kindles are sold at a loss, and Amazon makes the money back on books, movies, apps and other media. The Kindle is a delivery mechanism, and putting the devices in stores would give customers a chance to try out the interface.
Amazon has avoided sales taxes by remaining a purely online retailer, giving its customers the incentive of the lowest price. But lately, sales taxes on online purchases have started to seem inevitable, as Amazon’s deal with the state of California shows. Once Amazon resigns itself to sales taxes, that’s one fewer reason not to bring its retail might into physical stores.
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Analytics From “Most Social Super Bowl” Reveals Chat Wasn’t About Football
Feb 6th
Although predictions last week raised expectations about the role that social media would play in reshaping what has historically been one of the most engaging non-holiday events in the U.S. every year, the first analysis of yesterday’s public social network data by advertising analysis firm Networked Insights makes a compelling revelation: Almost three-fourths of the chat taking place among Twitter and Facebook users Sunday night had nothing to do with the game itself.
In fact, according to Networked Insights’ data, the Super Bowl topic that trended in third place was “Brady,” but when you break that topic down, you realize it may actually have been more about Mrs. Tom Brady – supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who appeared on camera perhaps once during the game, whom Tweeters evidently referred to as “Mrs. Brady” or perhaps “Lady Brady” – than about the New England Patriots quarterback.
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Though it may not be entirely surprising that commercials constitute the bulk of online chatter during the event, it’s astonishing to see that TV commercials make up some 42% of all Super Bowl-related online chatter. Although New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw scored what Super Bowl history may record as the most awkward game winning touchdown – slowly being seated on the goal line after trying to stop himself short at the 1-yard line – his maneuver only elicited a minor wave compared with Mrs. Brady.
A spokesperson for Networked Insights told RWW this afternoon that part of the reason for the lopsided topic mix may have to do partly with the game. It was a low-scoring game with only one interception, whose outcome was only sealed when the clock reached zero. It may have been such a nail-biter, in other words, that true football fans may have been biting their nails rather than tapping their keys.
“It’s not surprising to see viewers’ commentary of Super Bowl advertisements surpass those of the game itself,” Dan Neely, NI’s CEO, tells RWW this afternoon. “Brands can partly attribute this social lift as a by-product of a low-scoring game that allowed viewers to discuss the commercials.”
A word about the volume of tweets: Naturally, NI’s tracking included tweets that included the hashtag #superbowl. NI estimates tweets to that hashtag alone to have numbered around 1.6 million, though it will have updated, hardened data later in the week. That’s as many tweets as are normally archived in a single day, the NI spokesperson tells us.
As an analysis firm for advertisers, NI itself was concerned more with the commercials than the football. Gaining the most overall viewer response among celebrity endorsers was the tattooed, underwear-wearing veteran of what “far’ners” call football, David Beckham. His shorts reached out to 39% of folks talking about just the Super Bowl commercials (as opposed to the game), according to NI’s figures. This is what NI means by “share of value.” Sentiment among chatting consumers was 23% more positive than negative, suggesting the H&M undies went over well. Coming in second was Clint Eastwood, whose two-minute ad that may have been for Chrysler but may really have been for the city of Detroit, had 21% “share of value,” while 9% of the discussion was more positive than negative.
Though NI gives Chrysler kudos for choosing Eastwood, it notes that the resulting chatter was three times more about him than about Chrysler.
By comparison, as much as 28% of folks chatting about Super Bowl topics during halftime were discussing Madonna’s halftime show. Their discussion constituted 32% of Super Bowl-related social traffic by volume. Sentiment for Madonna was generally negative (-21%), with tweets about her staying relatively short, with a particularly negative peak towards the end where the lights converged to reveal the message, “WORLD PEACE.” By contrast, sentiment for her on-stage co-star MIA – whose little birdie expressed exactly the opposite sentiment – ran generally positive at +6%, commanding 3% of the discussion. The star of the halftime show ended up being Nicki Minaj, whom perhaps more viewers recognized than Clint Eastwood. Minaj commanded a 7% share of value, with 26% of it more positive than negative.
Breaking down just the Madonna comments, MI found that as much as 2% of this subgroup were making comments about her age (53). This group was split down the middle as to whether she looked great for her age, with the negative group making snarky comments about such things as her “veiny” arms. Sentiment turned positive when she began singing “Like a Prayer,” which was originally released in 1989, though it tipped downward to -11% after she began her latest single, “Give Me All Your Luvin.’” (NI does not appear to have data regarding consumer sentiment about its spelling.)
“The takeaway for networks, producers, and sports leagues is the need to create multiple engagement points around content that is in sync with the interests of a target audience,” states NI’s Dan Neely. “Going forward, the winners will be the programs that leverage social technology to drive participation.”
What the Twitterers of the world may have missed Sunday night was the terrific sense of community and shared excitement. Just the NFL Experience – the week-long slate of activities in downtown Indianapolis among football fans who love the game and who keep their phones mostly in their pockets except to take pictures – pulled in some 265,000 people over a nine-day period, according to the latest estimates.
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What Feminists Are Saying About the Facebook IPO
Feb 5th
Facebook has announced what will likely be the tech industry’s biggest Initial Public Offering of stock ever. What do practitioners of feminism, a philosophy centered in the experiences of women, have to say about the political economy of the world’s biggest social technology? They’ve raised a number of interesting questions so far.
It seems that everyone has an opinion about Facebook’s stated goal of being a force for good in the world. Feminists online have also raised questions about the company’s unusually exclusive all-male Board of Directors and about mega-powerful COO Sheryl Sandberg’s public calls for women to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Is a cultural phenomenon of historic proportion, what does the Facebook IPO mean with regard to gender?
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The seven-member Board of Directors is made up entirely of men, something Bloomberg points out is true of only 11% of the Fortune 500 overall. Angie Chang, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Women 2.0, an online community dedicated to women founding companies, writes:
The all-male board of Facebook makes you wonder why a company serving a user base of at least 50% half women has no female representation on the board. We told ourselves that women board directors can build value and bring win-win strategies to the table – let’s #changetheratio here.
Bloomberg’s Carol Hymowitz contrasts the all male membership of the board with Facebook’s avowed social mission to empower the world and to Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s powerful advocacy for women.
Facebook generally declines to comment on issues like this. It’s typical of Silicon Valley’s libertarian-leaning culture to believe that the best way to overcome injustices connected to gender, race, class and sexual orientation, are to ignore the existence of gender, race, class and sexual orientation. That approach may leave unresolved long-standing institutional, economic and cultural factors that stand in the way of equal opportunity and which cannot be overcome by society as a whole through the self interest and sheer force of will of people on the margins of power.
Sheryl Sandberg is the second most visible person at Facebook and will likely become a billionaire in the IPO. She’s often said to be a prominent advocate of women in the workplace.
Doug Barry points out on Jezebel, though, that Sandberg’s position is a very particular one: that women are fundamentally responsible for their own career development in corporate America and need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
Sandberg is well known for her 2010 TED talk Why we have too few women leaders, which has been viewed more than 1 million times.
Sandberg’s message is directed at the elite crowd gathered at TED and adresses women who are not gaining top power positions in the organizations they work at. She offers three primary pieces of advice. “One, sit at the table,” by which she means give yourself the credit you deserve and aim high. “Two, make your partner a real partner,” or make sure that heterosexual married couples contain parents with equal earning power and responsibility and that men are encouraged to take responsibility around the house. “And three, don’t leave before you leave,” in other words keep seizing new opportunities despite the possibility you might take time off to have a child.
Those are relatively conservative political admonitions that speak primarily to the problems experienced by the women in society who are already closest to power.
Barry writes on Jezebel:
Not only is Sandberg exceptionally smart, but, after graduating from Harvard Business School, she landed a job at the World Bank as the chief of staff first for Larry H. Summers then the Treasury Secretary. A job at Google followed before she joined Facebook in 2008, an opportunity that Sandberg was prescient enough to take full advantage of. If success really is preparation meeting opportunity, Sandberg was more than prepared for her chance at professional success, but some women believe that when she insists on aiming high, she’s discounting the fact that her meteoric rise owes itself, at least in part, to some very favorable circumstances (including the fact that her husband, Daniel Goldberg, is a successful entrepreneur in his own right and the couple doesn’t have to worry about finding child care for their two sons).
Barry quotes Sylvia Ann Hewlett, president of the Center for Talent Innovation and director for the Gender and Policy Program at Columbia University:
I’m a huge fan of her accomplishments and think she’s a huge role model in some ways, but I think she’s overly critical of women because she’s almost implying that they don’t have the juice, the chutzpah, to go for it…I think she’s had a golden path herself, and perhaps does not more readily understand that the real struggles are not having children or ambition. Women are, in fact, fierce in their ambition, but they find that they’re actually derailed by other things, like they don’t have a sponsor in their life that helps them go for it.
That paragraph had a soft ending; there are far more unpleasant ways that many women are derailed than by a lack of a sponsor at work.
Courteney Martin, on one of the web’s most respected feminist blogs, Feministing, says that while Sandberg’s message to individual women is valuable, it is just one story.
In essence, her message is tantamount to The American Dream for the 21st century woman: the problem is not sexism or racism or classism, the problem is not pathetic work-family policy at the federal level, the problem is not collective. The problem is you. In the Gospel of Sandberg, individual women must find partners who will share the load and negotiate fiercely, overcome their own guilt about not being able to be fully present parents, and “lean in” to their careers despite the lack of structural or systemic supports that might make that feel even slightly safe or rewarding.
Reading this profile of Sandberg, I was reminded of Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s, incredible TED Talk, in which she talks about “the danger of the single story.” She explains, “The single story creates stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”
I actually think that Sandberg is smart and has great intentions with her message that women need to dig deep and stick to their own dreams. I agree with her in many ways… This is part of the story. But it’s not the whole story.
The rest of the story is better told by women who didn’t grow up with lots of familial and social support, women who didn’t go to Harvard, women who weren’t mentored by Larry Summers, women with different definitions of success and leadership.
To look at the bright side, perhaps Facebook’s social technology will itself help other women tell their stories and hear the stories of women other than the most privileged elite.
The world’s largest communication network between people is taking a big financial step, it’s infamously opportunistic with changing ideas of privacy and it’s lead by an all-male board and a woman whose perspective on gender is likely applauded by conservatives around the world. That all seems important to discuss.
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What Super Bowl Commercials Can Teach Us About SEO – SEOmoz (blog)
Feb 3rd
 SEOmoz (blog) |
What Super Bowl Commercials Can Teach Us About SEO
SEOmoz (blog) Fortunately, in the process of sifting through my favorite ads from years past, I was able to select a few videos that can actually teach us valuable SEO lessons. So sit back, and enjoy these all-time great Super Bowl commercials, while I drop a few … SEMRush: Reviewing an SEO tool worth your while |
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