Web 2.0

Social Media In The New Decade

10 years ago at this moment, the world was relieved that nothing that they had feared about, regarding Y2K actually happened.  People were now placing their money back into the bank, while others had an endless supply of food they had stocked up on just in case.  It’s crazy to think that if someone would have said “Facebook”, “YouTube”, “Digg”, or just the words “social media,” we most likely would have given them a funny and strange look. 

It was in 2004 when social media was created.  Linkdin & MySpace took to the web and since then there has been explosion of “social media” & “social networking” sites.  When I graduated high school in 2005, if had ever wanted to share a video with the class for a certain project, I’d have to visit the library, maybe a video store, and rent the video, while worrying about some return date.  Today, my brother who is in his sophomore year of high school is able to use YouTube to share a video with just the click of a mouse.  Our world has advanced so much in the past decade, and social media has played a significant role! (more…)

2009 Online Holiday Shopping Ends High

The numbers are in from the 2009 online holiday shopping season, and it could be a good sign for the economy.  In the report from comScore, the e-commerce industry faired better than the same time in 2008. 

“During [November 1- December 24], approximately $27 Billion was spent online, which represents an increase of 5 percent over the same period a year ago,” said the comScore Press Release. For the period from Black Friday through Christmas Eve, and after adjusting for the additional shopping day in 2009, sales grew by approximately 3.5 percent.” (more…)

Pepsi To Drop Super Bowl & Use Social Media

There is always that age old question, why do people watch the Super Bowl?  Many watch for the game itself, while others just tune in for the half time show.  And others tune in just for the commercials.  Commerial airtime during the Super Bowl is always   the most expensive time for advertisers to advertise since it is the most viewed event on television.  One commercial you don’t see in the next Super Bowl, Pepsi. 

The company has announced they will not be making a commercial for the 2010 Super Bowl, instead they will focus on a $20 million social media advertising campaign.  ABC News reports that the company will launch the Pepsi Refresh Project on January 13, where online users can submit ideas to help ‘refresh their communities to make a better world.’ (more…)

Bit.ly Fights Back Against fb.me & goo.gl

Yesterday was a big day for Facebook & Google, as they both announced they were releasing their own shortening services.  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post this creates some major competition for exclusive shortening service websites like bit.ly and tinyurl.com.  While that remains true, bit.ly is fighting back in a major way.

In a blog post released Monday evening, the company announced bit.ly Pro account.  While it may not seem like such a big deal, it’s what the account offers which is going to attract a lot of businesses and bloggers.  (more…)

17% of Facebook Users Use Facebook Connect

Facebook seems to have yet another statistic which will amaze us once again.  Last week on December 4, Facebook’s feature, Facebook Connect celebrated its one year anniversary since joining the site.  Late Wednesday, the company announced some pretty amazing statistics.

“Today, we are celebrating the first anniversary of Facebook Connect from the LeWeb conference in France,” said Ethan Beard, director of the Facebook Developer Network. “Facebook Connect is now available on more than 80,000 websites, and more than 60 million people are using the service to connect with their friends everywhere.” (more…)

YouTube Video Targeting Launches

Advertising on YouTube is becoming a common marketing strategy.  And why shouldn’t it?  With a billion video views a day, it’s a great way to connect with millions of people world wide.

This year YouTube has had some pretty amazing viral video.  From 7 year old David wondering if he was in “real life” after a trip to the dentists office, to the JK Wedding Entrance, and even helping the worldwide sensation of Susan Boyleafter her audition on Britain’s Got Talent.  Just the three videos above have more than 150 million views together.  While those were some of the most watched videos of 2009, viral marketing will be making a larger impact in 2010. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get your advertisements on those videos reaching millions of people? (more…)

The Truth About Cyber Monday

As I am sure you are aware, today is Cyber Monday.  A day supposed to be filled with discounts and deals for online shoppers.  While you will find many great deals, some are questioning whether Cyber Monday is real or just a smart business ploy.  It seems to be a bit of both.  Let me explain.

Just 4 years ago, in 2005, Shop.org coined the phrase ‘Cyber Monday’ in order to bring more traffic to their website.  A year later, hundreds of other online retailers jumped on board and started an Internet tradition.  While Black Friday, remains the biggest shopping day of the year, CyberMonday surprisingly is actually not the biggest online shopping day.  One year after Cyber Monday started, Scott Silverman, Executive Director for Shop.org, said “It was not the biggest day, but it was an opportunity to create some consumer excitement.”  (more…)

Twitter Founder: Site Not for Sale

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone assured reporters Monday that, contrary to popular belief, the microblogging website is not up for sale, and there are no plans for a sale.  However, Stone said Twitter may eventually go public on the stock market for funding if necessary.

“We are definitely not interested in selling the company,” he said.  Later on he suggested that Twitter could eventually eye an initial public offering (IPO). “If an IPO’s the only thing, then sure. But if there is some other way, then that would be great too. Maybe some other new way will emerge.” (more…)

YouTube Introduces Tool for Citizen Journalists

YouTube has some great video.  You can find video from just about anywhere, from any event, with almost anyone.  And since anyone can shoot a video and post it, news organizations often showcase YouTube videos from events that they personally don’t have footage from.  Of course this played a crucial role earlier this year during the national election in Iran, when journalists were banned from reporting there.  Instead, the citizens of Iran took out their cameras and shot video and posted it to various sites all over the web.  

However, actually finding a specific video among millions of others can be a bit tricky sometimes.  A new tool designed by YouTube aims to change that. YouTube Direct will help connect websites connect with its users, most specifically news organizations with citizen journalists.    (more…)

Can You Tell Me How To Get To… Twitter Street?

Traveling through a foreign country where you can’t really speak the language,  and looking at street names that you can’t even begin to pronounce can be quite challenging.  I know this from previous experience, traveling all over Europe and South America. 

I remember most specifically in Berlin, Germany, the streets of Kurfürstendamm and Dimitroffstraße.  Trying to ask for directions to these streets was near impossible.  I later learned that locals can’t even pronounce these streets, and that they resort to nicknames.

When I was little, I remember thinking how cool it would be if I could name all the streets in my town.  I’d name a street for every member of my family, and then have meaningful words become street names as well.  While I’ve been able to do this virtually in games like The Sims for some time now, being able to actually name a street  is finally possible. (more…)