Each week, I compose a newsletter that includes a series of links about current events and trends in the worlds of technology, social media, mobile, communications and marketing in order to keep our wider team up to date on changes, newsworthy items and content that might be useful in their jobs. These are those links.
If you have additional links, sources or ideas that might be helpful, I'd encourage you to add some via a comment below or tag me in Google+. And if you’re on Flipboard, you can get these links in the This Week in Social Media Magazine.
Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2013 edition, more bidding efforts from Yahoo, Twitter gets into the CRM business, how brands are getting social media wrong, giving employees the tools they need to be productive and more - it's This Week in Social Media.
Industry
- Three years is a long time in the TV/online video industry, during which there have been some drastic changes in viewing habits - such as 22% of U.S. consumers streaming Netflix videos each week.
- While people are watching TV, there are a number of social media activities they undertake. Here are the top five.
- Great infographic on the role of social media in disaster response.
- Mary Meeker from Kleiner Perkins Caulfield + Byers spoke at the D11 conference (All Things D) on Wednesday and gave her annual update on Internet Trends (2013 Edition). Of note: Slide 5 showing the disparity between time spent and ad spend on print, Internet and mobile; and Slide 27 showing that Facebook was the only platform whose usage dropped from 2011 to 2012.
- In a newly released study, Weber Shandwick found that a majority of executives want their CEOs to be utilizing social media.
- Not too surprising is the fact uncovered by Forrester Research and Kenshoo, in which they found that more brands rely on branded pages (73%) than paid advertising (56%) on Facebook. The authors note that brands could be doing better by implementing targeted advertising.
Content
- Buzzfeed has teamed up with CNN to create CNN Buzzfeed, a YouTube channel featuring CNN content that is appealing to and can be shared over social networks.
- With its restrictions, Twitter is actually sparking imagination and reshaping the future of storytelling.
- We often subscribe to the notion that online videos need to be short; the definitive word is that videos that clock in at under 5 minutes are the most viewed. But long form content performs well also. Looking at it from a digital pure play vs. a linear + digital model, Freewheel has some figures to back it up:
The Platforms
- Three weeks ago, Facebook was rumored to be considering buying Waze, the social GPS app. Now Google is considering buying Waze, which may spark a bidding war. Of course, there are some who think the app would be better for Facebook, considering the significant mobile boost it could give them, given the recent lukewarm reception to Home.
- Speaking of bidding, Yahoo has placed a bid on Hulu, putting it into the streaming video business and linking up with the likes of NBCUniversal, which owns Hulu. This means they'll join DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and a handful of others who would like to buy some or all of the streaming platform.
- The WSJ suggests that Tumblr won't move Yahoo's needle, primarily because it will be difficult to monetize enough advertising on the site and because the mobile element isn't "sticky" the way Faceobok is.
- Storify is partnering with Adobe's Typekit to help brands customize their curated stories.
- Acknowledging that how the world experiences TV has drastically shifted, Twitter now allows brands to target TV ads on Twitter with a TV ads dashboard.
- And Twitter is offering a customer-matching feature similar to Facebook's Custom Audiences tool that allows businesses to match email addresses and Twitter handles.
- Here are nine of the most creative and least gratuitous brand Vine accounts.
- Facebook launched verified Profiles and Pages to "help people find the authentic accounts of celebrities and other high-profile people and businesses on Facebook." They are not taking requests and the status is only rolling out to a very select few at the moment.
- First WhatsApp, now WeChat eyes India growth. China’s largest Internet company, Tencent, is eyeing India for further growth for its messaging platform as it ventures overseas. It will be up against an increasingly crowded market where rivals such as Whatsapp have had a head start.
- LinkedIn created a dedicated page aggregating All Things D D11 conference topics being discussed online.
- Stuck on how to use Google+? Here's the Ultimate Guide to Google Plus Posts.
Metrics/Measurement/Big Data
- Philip Sheldrake asks "What, exactly, is the value of social?" Note that he doesn't fall into the ROI trap.
- Thinking for a moment about correlating impressions to engagement: what if you can actually achieve more impressions with fewer, highly engaged followers than you can achieve with a huge number of low quality fans or followers?
Bookmarks/Read-Watch-Listen Later
- As more companies are grappling with social business - the use of social beyond just communications and marketing efforts - Jeremiah Owyang takes a look at how headcounts change to support social business efforts.
- Why brands are getting it wrong in social media: they're still broadcasting. Stop talking about social media. It's really about enabling business, and doing so in a way that allows people to take away something meaningful from the exchange that leads to a growing relationship.
Commentary
Blocking employee access to modern tools and technology simply doesn't work. We live in the 21st century. Companies need to understand that certain employees may need access to sites, platforms and apps that help them do their jobs outside of the firewall and outside of normal business hours. It's the reality of the world we live in.In a new study, Microsoft has found that 50% of employees believe they are more productive when using social tools. While companies have fear that employees may waste time online, it's not likely that eliminating a technology will somehow spontaneously result in better behavior. Besides, the collaboration that is a result of enterprise social networks means that employees can find answers faster and built critical relationships within the company..
In fact, employees increasingly use social media for work - and are even willing to pay for it themselves. Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs allow them to do just that, so one can imagine that they're putting them to work. Obstacles only mean that employees will find a way to work around them and find solutions of their own - which may not be compliant with company standards.
It's clear that HR is becoming more social and will increasingly be at the center of the social enterprise. Legal, IT, regulatory, internal communications and other entities need to be there as well, supporting and enabling better employee engagement across the enterprise, for that is what in turn will give employees the confidence and skills they need to be effective advocates for the company externally.
And when a Saudi prince understands that blocking access is not the answer, one has to wonder what's holding back the 30% of companies that still somehow restrict employees from accessing platforms and apps that can make them more productive and in touch with the outside world.
Image credit: hugovk (Flickr)