Insights&Inspiration

SMX West Social Track

My agency, JStokes, graciously approved me to attend SMX West in order to enhance our knowledge and capabilities around the buzz that is Social Media.  We have been pretty active in educating ourselves and staying up on the trends, but this was a great opportunity to get on the cutting edge of where this marketing medium is headed and how it is being used today.

There were a number of “Tracks” to choose from – the one I took focused specifically on social media and included four courses, each with a panel of industry professionals who have been active in utilizing social media as a marketing medium. (more…)

I have a theory.

“Uh oh!”  Thats what my husband says whenever I tell him I have a theory.  Hes not one to care for theories – which is why I post blogs instead. ;)

But seriously – I have noticed a distinct correlation between the rise in Facebook  app usage and the continuing unemployment rate.  Specifically Farmville.

I am stunned by the amount of time and energy that many of my Facebook friends spend pouring into their faux farms, looking for harnesses and horseshoes or whatever it is they need to complete their stable.  Aquariums also seem to be a rising trend, but Farmville currently takes the cake.
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Part 1: Facebook Status Updates for Awareness

For years now users have been hooked on Facebook app games.  The miracle somehow occurred that developers and marketers teamed up from the beginning with the bright idea to utilize all of their faithful gamers’ Facebook status as a marketing medium by blasting brand messaging via status update everytime their cow takes a poop or their fish dies.

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To me this move signifies what may be the beginning of the fall of Facebook.

I believe Facebook just became to Twitter as Myspace has become to Facebook -  a copycat, a poser that is recycling used technology because they don’t want to fall behind in the race and be forgotten.  When Facebook came in they had it nailed – a general concept that people were beginning to really latch on to meshed with a completely original, vastly improved interface with deep functionality. But technology and the demands of users morph over time, and Twitter has developed an approach that users seem to really get. (more…)

Photo by Stabilo BossIn the opinion of many social media skeptics:

Facebook
Use to flood your friends’ news feeds with how many points you scored in bejeweled and what fruit the quiz of the day claims you are most like. Tell everyone how hard life is and how sad you are about your breakup. Also great for wasting massive amounts of time. Used primarily to communicate with friends in various ways though.

MySpace
Use to start fights, play mafia wars (and spam your friends to get them to play too), complain about your life, tell everyone how depressed you are, or brag. Also used secondarily as a way to communicate with actual friends.

Twitter
“I don’t get the point of Twitter.”

Side note: I have heard that to those who get it but don’t like it, Twitter resembles a giant game of telephone/operator.

And my take:

Facebook
An innovative form of social media predominantly used to provide various means of communicating with friends,; form the quick note (comment/wall post) to the full email (direct message), as well as through looking at photos and other media a friend may post and give your comment/feedback on those items. Apps are just an added benefit for those who spend a lot of time on the site and want to do something other than just snoop on friends all day. Also is a great way to hook people who aren’t as into the friends aspect, or don’t have a lot of friends they keep in touch with on Facebook, but still keep them on the site. Also great medium for viral marketing,

Myspace
See previous post: Why I am officially over myspace.
I think myspace was great at one time, but now the only people who use it are those who are left hovering between myspace and Facebook due to the split of friends who remain on myspace vs. Facebook, or those who are really just not up on the times and don’t realize how much better Facebook is.

Twitter

It can be whatever you want it to be. If you want to sue it to keep up on celeb gossip, then you follow all your favorite celebs and that’s what it is. If you want to add to your giant selection of great quotes, there are a lot of people you can follow who constantly post great quotes. In my case, I want to use it primarily to network and gather knowledge/resources from fellow web developers and designers as well as advertising professionals so I can learn and improve my skills/knowledge, I follow a lot of great people who are constantly sharing links to articles, tutorials and the like. Secondarily, I use it to just keep up with friends and it can be great for that as well.