Oh, To Never Miss a Show: Facebook Notifications for Upcoming Concerts?

The Black Shades

Yesterday as I was browsing my Facebook feed, I noticed in the new side feed that a friend of mine was attending an event of a band I liked at a local bar. I clicked on the event and got the details so I could make plans to go watch the band perform, and realized how strange it was that Facebook didn't notify me of this upcoming show. I mean, Facebook already knows my location, and I've gone through and "liked" all my favorite musicians. Put two and two together, and I should be receiving notifications for this kind of occurrence. 

I have yet to come across any kind of setting that allows for these notifications, but it only makes sense. If an artist I like is coming to the city I'm residing in, or even a surrounding area, how convenient would it be to be notified of the event? Had I not been bored yesterday and just randomly browsing through my feeds, I never would have known about the upcoming show. Of course, users receive notifications when they are invited to an event, but I would love to automatically be informed whenever an artist I like is near my location. If there does happen to be a setting that allows for these kinds of notifications, do share!

MasterCard Creating One-Of-A-Kind Experiences

MasterCard's latest campaign incorporates Facebook Places with surviving seats of the original Yankee Stadium that was demolished in 2010.

Twenty of these seats will be placed around New York City, and fans are encouraged to hunt down the seats, and scan the QR code on them to check in to Facebook Places. This will make the participants eligible to win VIP tickets to a 2011 Yankee game in MasterCard’s exclusive Batter’s Eye Café.

These efforts by MasterCard among others are aimed to "drive preference and affection for the MasterCard brand among cardholders by offering them an opportunity to enjoy the things they are most passionate about," in this case, sports. While New York may be the starting point for this campaign, the brand plans to expand to other major cities as well, offering "extraordinary experiences, exclusive offers and privileged access" to loyal cardholders.

Personally, I have been eagerly awaiting for more brands to jump on board with Facebook Places. I notice companies using Foursquare quite often, but not many seem to go for Places. This platform should work well for MasterCard's campaign, although I'm not sure if it is a better choice than using Foursquare. It should be noted though that rival American Express launched a program with Foursquare in June that offers benefits when cardholders check in.

California Bill to Change Facebook As We Know It

A new bill has been proposed in California by Sen. Ellen Corbett that could give parents access to their children's social networking pages like Facebook. If parents don't want certain information revealed on the site, they can send a request to have it removed. To top it off, any social site that does not take action can be fined up to $10,000.

Perhaps most importantly, the bill would enforce privacy settings at the beginning of signing up, rather than asking for personal information first. "You shouldn't have to sign in and give up your personal information before you get to the part where you say, 'Please don't share my personal information,'" Sen. Corbett told the San Francisco Chronicle. 


Personally, I like the idea of the bill. The revisions to the privacy settings only makes sense. I'm always wary about filling in personal information on new sites until I know they're legit. Many times, I will refuse to sign up on certain sites because I don't know what kind of privacy settings they enforce. By selecting privacy settings before entering any personal info, you're eliminating that stress factor. In addition to the privacy settings, parents should be monitoring what their kids are posting. Yeah, kids these days know how to use the Internet. That doesn't make them capable of making the smartest decisions within the online realm. Although it does seem somewhat invasive, parents should be able to look out for their children in all aspects of their lives.

http://foxnews.com 

#treyfollowmenext

I was browsing the top trends on Twitter as I do daily, and found that "#treyfollowmenext" sparked the most interest for me. My first question, of course, was Trey who? So I started reading some tweets, and the TT is directed at Trey Songz, who is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. Thousands of tweets are streaming in, begging the artist to follow them.

I felt the need to do a little more investigation, so I visited Trey's verified Twitter account. As I read through some of his tweets, I came upon one that said "I'm goin til 1,220." Trey currently follows 1,219 fans/friends. The artist seems to do an honorable job interacting with his fans, as he has many tweets wishing users a happy birthday, or retweeting something they say. But I found this particular tweet to be brilliant, and what I assumed to have sparked the TT of "#treyfollowmenext." All his followers who saw this tweet want to be that last person that he follows back. So they're all tweeting him, asking him to follow them. This puts his name out there like crazy! There is all this buzz about Trey Songz on Twitter, and it's all free! And since I'm sure the artist will be reading this post - Trey, I commend you for your genius tactic. 

StumbleUpon: Simplifying Procrastination

I'm already an excellent procrastinator. But thanks to StumbleUpon, the art of procrastination is now easier than ever! I can't recall how many hours of sleep, how many hours of studying I've lost because some voice in my head told me it would be a good idea to "stumble" just for a few minutes. Let me just warn you: once you start stumbling, it's not easy to stop.

Apparently, others share the same interest in the discovery and recommendation engine. StumbleUpon has now hit one billion stumbles per month. Users are clearly enjoying the millions of different sites you can stumble on based on your likes and interests. As an advertising major, I find the neatest thing about StumbleUpon is the subtlety of the advertising within the engine. Charlie White, Mashable blogger, explains that "it's hard to tell you're being advertised to, because StumbleUpon uses your same preferences to determine which paid sites to show you." This is potentially a great platform for businesses to use, as long as they can figure out how to use it effectively.

Twitter Takeover: Bronx Zoo's Cobra

On March 25, the Bronx Zoo released a statement saying a 20-inch Egyptian cobra had escaped. Zoo officials found the snake a few days later, but not before the poisonous snake had made a name for himself in the social media world. The cobra remained a top Twitter trend for at least two days, and a separate Twitter account was created for the snake. The account has generated over 230,000 followers and is still being updated, with tweets such as "It's one of those days where I could just eat an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's Mice Cream."

The cobra wasn't satisfied with just creating a Twitter account. Even after being found in the Reptile House in the zoo, he carried on with his tweets. But in addition, the snake hijacked the Twitter account of American Idol's host, Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest elaborately staged his account to appear that the cobra had taken over as an April Fool's joke, with the tweet:
I doubt the cobra's Twitter account can keep up its success for too much longer, but it made for a good laugh these past couple weeks.

Twitter Tells Tall Tales

Do you believe everything you read on Twitter? You shouldn't. Since Twitter was created, there have been several hoaxes that have made it to top trends. In 2009, "RIP Kanye West" soared to the top of the trends, when Kanye West was, in fact, still very alive. Perhaps this occurred as a result of West angering Taylor Swift fans at the VMAs that year. Regardless of why it started,  the rumor spread to thousands of people in just a short amount of time. This week, for whatever reason, "RIP Jackie Chan" is a trending topic.

People seem to create rumors about anything. There are several instances of false AMBER alerts as top trends. These rumors spread so quickly because Twitter users will re-tweet something without doing their own research on the subject. It's easier just to believe what someone says is true, and simply re-tweet it. The Kanye West trend was the first big rumor I experienced since joining Twitter, and since then, I Google all topics before re-tweeting them to my followers.

Why do you think people re-tweet false statements without first looking into them?

Rebecca Black's Claim to Fame

Rebecca Black is all over the Internet, and has been for a couple weeks now. In case you haven't heard, her music video for the song, "Friday" has created buzz for all the wrong reasons. But any publicity is good publicity, as this has proven true through Black's blow-up on YouTube. "Friday" now has more views (38 million) than Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" video (24 million).

So how does such a bad song/video become so popular? "In part because Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black are two sides of the same Internet fame coin: Black is like the anti-Justin Bieber; her “Friday” video has all the trappings of pop star gloss, with none of the talent," says TechCrunch blogger Alexia Tsotsis. While Black's parents paid $2,000 to have a professional video made, Bieber was discovered through homemade YouTube videos. Each star is at the opposite end of the extreme, and both are successful.

What does this say about our society? That we'll popularize a music video because of how terrible it is? It means we are hungry for entertainment, whether that takes talent or not. I don't know how many status updates and tweets I've seen lately referring to "Which seat can I take" or "Tomorrow is Saturday/And Sunday comes after...wards." Even celebrities are tweeting about her. Rebecca Black has remained a top trend on Twitter since March 13. Whether or not Black wanted this much fame, and for these reasons, her name is well-known and everyone seems to be talking about her.

Social Media Aids in Japan Crisis

On Friday, March 11, Japan was shaken by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, causing damage with blackouts, fire and tsunami. While cell phone networks were blocked from all the calls trying to go through, the Internet remained intact, thus becoming an important means of communication for the Japanese.  The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo encouraged people “to continue your efforts to be in contact with your loved one(s) using SMS texting and other social media (e.g., FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.) that your loved one(s) may use.” Less than an hour after the quake, the number of tweets from Tokyo topped 1,200 per minute, according to Tweet-o-Meter, and Facebook activity was high as well.

The message from the Embassy also suggested people use online services such as Google Person Finder and the Red Cross's Family Links website to help locate loved ones.

While cell phone networks couldn't hold up the magnitude of calls being made during this tragedy, the Internet proved worthy and enabled many people to get in touch with family and friends. 

http://mashable.com/2011/03/14/internet-intact-japan/

80,000 Followers Lost Over Hair

We all know Justin Bieber is everywhere, and so was his trademarked "Bieber" hair. Until he cut it. Then tweeted about it. He lost 80,000 followers in just hours after the tweet emerged. Not that the 80,000 likely affected the 17-year-old singer -- he still has almost 7.8 million followers.

This relates a lot to my last post about Kenneth Cole, in how much just one tweet can affect. The actual tweet stated, "Yeah so it's true...i got a lil haircut...i like it...and we are giving all the hair cut to CHARITY to auction. Details coming soon." Thousands of fans were upset and obviously 80,000 were upset enough to unfollow the celebrity. This just once again goes to show the powerfulness of social media and how many people it can actually affect. However, this isn't an example of poorly using the social media tools, rather just an unfortunate occurrence where fans didn't want change.

What NOT to do on Twitter

"Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at..."

Believe it or not, this is what Kenneth Cole, a U.S. based international clothing company, tweeted to promote their spring line. They took a serious situation occurring in Egypt and tried to use it to their advantage. As a result and rightfully so, they began receiving several messages from upset Internet users. Kenneth Cole, the man himself, who actually sent the tweet, apologized on Facebook.

Cole probably didn't understand the impact of social media on consumers and the power of just one tweet. One tweet can reach thousands of people, and adding a hashtag in front of a popular topic allows the tweet to be seen by even more. When he first got the idea to tweet this, it should have been a no-brainer that this would offend people.

There is a rumor that this was all "planned," touching on the saying "All publicity is good publicity." While this may or may not be the case, it was wrong to do. But I can't say that it won't end up working in his favor after all is said and done. Sad as that may seem, he could apologize to the right people, and ultimately win some people over, gaining recognition for his brand. This is where public relations takes over.

Success vs. Failure in Social Media Campaigns

Disney and Pixar succeeded in its social media campaign to promote Toy Story 3. Releasing viral videos including fake, vintage-style ads featuring the new characters sparked interest in children as well as parents, who could "reminisce about their own childhood toys; a sentiment entirely in line with the Toy Story brand," explains Mashable blogger, Zachary Sniderman in his article, "5 Winning Social Media Campaigns to Learn From." They also ran an iAd on the iPhone 4 and created a Facebook page complete with a built-in ticket-buying app. This app gave ticket buyers the option to share with friends that they had purchased tickets, promoting the campaign's idea that "no friend gets left behind," which is a play on the movie's tagline, "No Toy Gets Left Behind."

This campaign was successful due to its involvement of both children and their parents. It created excitement for both groups, and something for the two to share with each other. In addition, the brand was maintained throughout the campaign by basing the entire idea around the movie's tagline.

A not-so-successful social media campaign that comes to mind is the Celebrity "Digital Death" campaign put on by Alicia Keys to raise money for her charity. She gathered a group of celebs including Usher, Lady Gaga, Ryan Seacrest, Kim Kardashian, Justin Timberlake and more to go quiet or "die" on Twitter and Facebook, until $1 million was raised. Photos were posted of the celebs in caskets to promote the campaign. While Keys saw some results, the campaign was moving a lot slower than she had expected. The campaign was saved when a billionaire donated $500,000 to the cause. One article said of the campaign, ""It's the worst mismanagement of star power I've ever seen in my life." The motivation just wasn't strong enough. Having the stars online or not is not THAT big of a deal to people, thus the campaign didn't get as much recognition and word-of-mouth promotion as Keys wanted.

This Is Our Future People! - How Social Media Affects Your Future Career

One of my absolute biggest pet peeves is stumbling across photos on Facebook of someone with a beer in their hand partying it up or finding some other way of posing for the camera inappropriately. Even with Twitter, students will post vulgar comments that they would never say in front of a potential employer. Many students cannot seem to grasp that employers are using our favorite social media sites to check out our backgrounds. Everything posted on the Internet can and will be seen by several people. I've talked to a couple of my friends who don't seem to understand the importance of keeping their social network profiles "work appropriate" and believe it or not, they're not concerned. I suppose they think they'll just delete things once they graduate and are looking for employment. What they don't realize is that once something is posted to the Internet, there is always a way of finding it, even after it has been deleted.

BUT, social media can be used to our advantage. Like Dan Schawbel explains in his article, "How To: Leverage Social Media for Career Success," our online identity through blogs and social networks is how people discover and connect with us (http://on.mash.to/mCwkn). This includes employers. If used correctly, social media can establish a personal brand that can easily be recognized by others. Facebook, Twitter, and other sites should be used as promotion tools - and free promotion at that! The Internet gives us a chance to market ourselves and allow employers to discover us. It all comes down to how you want to represent yourself online, because it could potentially make or break your future career.

Social Media: Fad or Fixed?

Before I say this, I want to make sure I have your complete, undivided attention (insert pause to clear mind). Okay, here goes...SOCIAL MEDIA IS HERE TO STAY. Whoever said it was just a fad obviously does not understand the direction human communication is taking. We, college students, basically use texting and Facebook as our primary means of communication, with an ocassional phone call or e-mail here and there. Studies have even shown that we are likely to experience withdrawal symptoms and anxiety from lack of social media. One study, done at the University of Maryland, challenged 200 students to abstain from social media for only 24 hours. After this time frame, students admitted to their addiction and spoke of the negative feelings that spawned out of being separated from their online social presence (http://wapo.st/bmNt7a).

Just last year, I watched a video in class called "Social Media Revolution." In this video, several stats were thrown at me about social media, but the one that stuck with me was that if Facebook were a country, it would be the seventh largest country in the world. Recently, I watched the updated version of this video (proof that social media is constanly changing), and the statistic now claims Facebook would be the third largest country. Point blank: if this many people are engaging themselves in social networks and the number just keeps growing, how can social media possibly be just a fad?