A roundup of relevant links affecting our industry.
Each week at Ford, 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 the 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 by subscribing to the This Week in Social Media Magazine, which is now available on the Web.
Industry
- Negative comments are like broken windows. The quality of content below the article can affect readers, editorial and a publication's brand. Another reason why it's important to stay engaged and to not simply push content out.
- With its latest change in policy around links in press releases, Google is influencing public relations.
- The Web isn't what it used to be. Walled gardens and social networks are changing the way we interact with each other on the Internet.
- There's power in that "like." The positive psychology around a like has been found to influence one's peer set.
- If you're a woman in Canada, you're more likely to talk about brands and products with your social circle.
- And if you're an American woman, brand-sponsored online contests are popular.
- The usual debate as to whether or not Fortune 500 CEOs should be on social media continues, with the latest by Dave Kerpen, who blithely assumes that the reasons are fear and lack of perceived value.
The Platforms
- Instagram released v. 4.1 that features the ability to import videos, image straightening, and video on Ice Cream Sandwich for Android.
- Facebook and Instagram are moving a little closer together: Instagram got its first director of product, Peter X. Deng, who led the Timline and Chat development within Facebook.
- Facebook is becoming more Twitter-like with "Trending Topics" and celebrity recruitment, along with the existing Verified accounts and hashtag features.
- Twitter announced an improvement to login verification, photos, international coverage and more.
- Year over year, there has been a rise in Twitter usage across all age groups.
- Tips on choosing the most effective platform for your brand include the (perhaps unsurprising) insight that Google+, StumbleUpon and YouTube work best for improving SEO results.
- Sina Weibo is now valued at $6 billion on a 200% annual increase in advertising revenue.
- India now boasts over 82 million Facebook users, 75% of which are from mobile devices.
Metrics / Measurement / Big Data
- A look at the trends and challenges around big data in Asia.
- The value of social media value is not primarily measured in sales but rather in engagement and brand lift.
Legal / HR
- How to recruit top talent using social media content
- And now that they work for you, your employees are on social media; how should you engage with them?
- The blurring of customer and employee is at the heart of this article on the merging of HR and marketing.
Content
- It may seem odd at first, but some journalists are applying the concepts of design thinking to storytelling: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test.
- The New York Times is incorporating an animated video series to complement some of its essays online, hoping that the visuals will give an additional view behind the scenes of some it its more in-depth work.
- Here are 19 content tools to boost your search performance
Bookmark / Read / Watch Later
- Journalism and video games meet to form a unique way of storytelling in Brazil.
- Uh oh: I'm 13 and none of my friends use Facebook.
- The Retort Courteous: I'm 15 and all of my friends use Facebook.
- With Apple being under more scrutiny than ever before, a fluctuation in stock price, and questions around its stream of innovative devices, at the same time as solid new products from the likes of Samsung, it's not uncommon to hear Millennials say Android is better.Of interest is not just the device comparison; the author notes that he doesn't use iTunes music any more because he's covered by podcasts, Hype Machine, Rdio and Spotify. Of Google, he says, "No other company has embedded itself this deeply into my life."
Commentary
Without a question, video is on the rise. With video accounting for more than 51% of mobile traffic and speedier networks on the way, video is here to stay.Just this week, the AVOS (the company made from the founders of YouTube and Delicious) launched a new video app called MixBit. The app allows users to upload as many 16-second (a full second longer than Instagram!) video clips as they want and splice them together to form a longer video. But the differentiator is that users can use each other's clips as well. Shel Holtz notes that MixBit is tailor-made for brands in that it has the potential to allow easy sharing and co-creation between consumers and brands.
And video social network Keek now has over 58 million users and raised $100 million, potentially challenging Vine and Instagram.
It was just in the last couple of months that Vine seemed to be on was on its way out with some out-of-the-gate competition from Instagram video. But it turns out that Vine just won't die. Why? Well, Vine is quirky and it has a unique culture of users, and they're very distinct from Instagram. Summed up most aptly by Mat Honan of Wired:
"If Instagram is an art museum, Vine is a block party."
Gary Vaynerchuk saw this angle and formed Grape Story, the first talent agency for Vine users, looking to tap into the raw talent and passion that's coming from Vine users.
Video will play an ever-increasing role in online storytelling, with apps that make it easier than ever for the average user to create. How brands build relationships, curate content and tell their own story is completely in their hands. But the opportunity is huge.
And if you haven't seen the video compilation of Vine videos, check it out.
Video credit: JehReh (Vine)