LinkedIn Moves Past Classifieds For Job Searching

April 6, 2011 By

linkedinlogoNew data is out that shows social network LinkedIn has now moved past traditional newspaper classifieds in a survey of how the generation of millennials will search for jobs. Frankly I’m surprised it has taken this long. Newspaper want ads have been a pretty terrible way to look for a job for years now. Newspaper classifieds have been hammered hard over the years by the likes of Craigslist and this is the other shoe to drop, now taking revenue from the want ad section.

What makes LinkedIn so good for job searching is the same thing that makes the Connected Age so powerful, it’s the connections. Personal connections have always been the best way to find a job, Internet or no. Now applicants have a larger pool of connections to call on. In addition, the entire LinkedIn profile, if done correctly, serves as it’s own resume including recommendations. The other thing smart people are doing is climbing the social graph. Find an individual in a company you want to work for and look for those six degrees of separation.

LinkedIn is a great social network because it has locked in on such a great niche market. LinkedIn knows exactly what it is and it’s tireless at fulfilling that mission. It’s the secret to their success.

Filed Under: Blog, New Media, Social Networks, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Connected World Radio: The Connected Explosion

January 13, 2011 By

Connected World Radio

Topics include:

New Android tablets debut at CES

The new Apple Macbook Air and what it means for the future of mobile computing

The coming flood of Internet connected devices or cloud based computing

App stores in the connected world. Apple vs Google

What do businesses need to do to capitalize on all that’s been discussed on todays show

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Filed Under: Audio, Marketing, Mobile Computing, New Media, Podcast, Social Networks Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

New Facebook Messaging Is Built For The 140 Generation

November 16, 2010 By

Facebook MessagingToday Facebook announced a new messaging system that represents a major overhaul to their current very basic system. Roumers flew in the week before the announcement that Facebook would be announcing a “Gmail Killer”. It turns out the new Facebook messaging system is something altogether different and quite forward thinking.

In explaining the rationale behind the new system Mark Zuckerburg talked about how high schoolers use messaging which is quite different than older generations. I am firmly myself in the Email Generation meaning I was brought up with email as the primary means of personal communication via computers. I am used to email, I like email and email is what frames my messaging perspective.

The next generation, however, is coming from a completely different place. This generation has been brought up with small, smart cell phones and the explosion of text messaging. Micro messaging systems like Twitter have also been a key part of their experience. For this reason, I call them the 140 Generation after the 140 characters that make up a Twitter message. This generation’s messaging perspective is framed by short, quick hit communications across a variety of devices.

This is exactly the framework Facebook is targeting with their new messaging system. But Facebook is smart and understands there are two generations overlapping, so this new messaging system is a slow play. It will work perfectly well with existing email systems as well as newer systems like SMS. Facebook sees their new shorter, less formal system as the future and it will be up to the 140 Generation to make this come to pass. No technology will in itself kill email, only users will by their habits and needs. Facebook will be there to pick up the pieces.

Filed Under: Blog, Social Networks, Web 2.0 Tagged With: , , , ,

MySpace Goes Back To Their Strength

October 27, 2010 By

MySpace LogoBoldly proclaiming “We are not a social network”, MySpace is re branding and refocusing themselves into an entertainment destination website. MySpace once was the top social network in the world with a huge registered user lead over all its competitors. But like Friendster before it, MySpace failed to innovate quickly enough and could not keep up with the Facebook phenomenon.

I actually think this is a great move for MySpace. MySpace was never better than when they were a music and entertainment hub. This is how they started, catering to small indie bands and their dedicated fans. MySpace could never figure out the larger world of social networking, but MySpace are experts in entertainment and music. With this new tight focus on what they do best, I think the future is bright for MySpace, even if they won’t become the next Facebook.

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Connected World Radio: The Power Of Local

October 15, 2010 By

On this edition of Connected World Radio we talk about the power of local. Topics of discussion include Yelp, Foursquare, Facebook Places, Google Places and the importance of the mobilization of society in general.

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Filed Under: Mobile Computing, Podcast, Social Networks, Web 2.0 Tagged With: , , , , ,

There Is Nothing Magic About 140 Characters

January 5, 2010 By

Actress Kirstie Alley has launched a new social website Phitter which provides a community in which to talk about fitness, health and diet. It’s built on a Twitter-like interface allowing “Phits” of 140 characters.

First of all, every “F” sound on the site is replaced with a “ph” which is incredibly annoying and amateurish. I’m sure it was as cute idea in some board room or living room or where ever this thing was conceived but in practice it just doesn’t fly. Second of all, I don’t know why it was built on a Twitter-like platform. Twitter is the hot technology of the moment but that doesn’t mean it’s the answer for everything. The site wants to be about community, but there are actually very few real community features on it. Twitter, in and of itself, is not a community. If they wanted more of a real community a much better choice would have been Ning, which allows you to build real community based sites easily. Ning sites can have message boards, video, audio and chat.

Another odd thing is the prominent message in the top logo that says the site is “A gift from Kirstie Alley”. Well, thank you Kirstie for your generosity.  Usually it’s classier to be more humble about such things. She didn’t exactly cure cancer or anything.

People are so infatuated with Twitter, microblogging and 140 characters but you must realize, there is nothing magical about 140 characters. It is not the path to enlightenment nor the key to the fountain of youth. It’s just another technology, good for some things, not good for others. I am hearing a little too much Twitter is everything, Twitter is all I need. Blogging and RSS are dead. Please, stop it already. Twitter is great, I love it and use it daily, but some things cannot be expressed in 140 characters. Some things deserve a longer, more thoughtful treatment. If you are not blogging as much because you’re Twittering so much, I would say you have it backward. Blogging should be the main course, Twitter the appetizer. Keep things in perspective and remember when you Twitter your Tweets go into the Twittersphere. When you blog, your posts live on your site, forever. It’s content that helps your SEO and brings perspective customers, partners and employees to you. Never forget, the sale is always made on your site, not on a social network. Your primary objective is to drive traffic to your site and blogging is the most effective way to do that. Twitter, yes, but dont’ forget to blog.

Filed Under: Blog, Blogging, Social Networks Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Face Value

November 30, 2009 By

David JacobsI have been fortunate enough to attend a few really great social media conferences in the past few months and while there I noticed something very interesting. It’s something I had experienced in years past as well. Several people that I came into contact with were familiar with me because of Facebook or Twitter and my profile picture specifically helped to jog that recognition. One person even commented how much he enjoyed my picture on Facebook as it includes my new baby Capella on my shoulders. He said it makes him smile every time he sees it pop up in his Facebook stream.

That’s a kind of brand awareness that you can’t purchase for anything. Traditionally we think of brand awareness as it is associated to a logo like the Nike swoosh or Apple’s Apple with a bite out of it. Logo branding is still a powerful tool and I help many customers crate or revitalize their logos but in this increasingly social world there is also a power in your own face. I guess they don’t call it Facebook for nothing.

Don’t underestimate the value of your face. Think carefully about all those profile photos on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and everywhere else. If you’re into this for building business and brand value, here are some tips to remember:

  • Make sure your picture is a good one. A clear close up view of your face. Make sure the exposure is good and the pose is comfortable and positive. Something that captures a little of your personality is always great.
  • Don’t use cartoon characters or other logos. If it is an account that represents the entire company, a company logo would be appropriate for that.
  • The background should be as clean and clear as possible. You don’t want anything to obscure or take focus away from what’s most important, your face.
  • Don’t change your picture often. You can change it now and again, especially if you get a better picture to use, but try to remain as consistent as possible.

I would not appear with anyone else in your photo with the exception of your kids. This could even be a debated point, but I chose personally to have Capella in my Facebook profile for a few reasons. My personal Facebook account is a little less business and more personal. My Connected World Media Facebook page uses the company logo. My kids are also a big part of my life and so much of who I am, I don’t mind showing that. That being said, I have recently changed my LinkedIn photo to a photo of just me and my Twitter profile pic is the same one although my Twitter custom background has the Capella and me photo on it. I try to use the same photo across all networks as much as possible, again for consistency sake.

As with most things there are no hard and fast answers. You have to discover what works for you and your company, but I hope I have given you some things to think about. As always if you want help in this or any other social media regard, don’t hesitate to contact me. I would love to work with you on your brand image online.

Filed Under: Blog, Marketing, Social Networks Tagged With: , , ,

Twitter=Instant Feedback

November 18, 2009 By

Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame has an interview on the Today show in the morning and by the early afternoon there is an article on cnn.com about the Twitter response, which was not kind to her. In the never ending question of what is Twitter good for anyway, it is now a real-time feedback mechanism for anyone in the public eye. Celebrities, politicians, or anyone speaking at an event attended by an audience, there is now a Twitter stream of comments about you and your performance as it is happening. When could you ever step off stage or camera and know exactly how you did within seconds? And not from random polling, but directly from the people who watched you. There is no more raw or real feedback than that.

I wonder how long it will take for publicists to catch on and start offering their clients real-time gauges like a simple thumbs up or down based on how the Internet is responding. People could make corrections on the fly, if for example, someone held up a card that said “smile more”. General reactions to the Kristen Stewart interview was that she was dour and not friendly.

If you have an executive who has given a big speech and he asks you how it went, now rather than generically saying it went well because nobody ran out of the room, you can give him/her much more quantitative results. Some quotes and exactly how many positive and negative things were said.

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Carnival Dream to Feature Onboard Social Networking

September 21, 2009 By

When it comes to cruise ships it seams as if bigger is better. Cruise ships keep getting larger and as the population on these floating cities continues to grow so do the services. On-board Internet is nothing new as many ships provide connections and even terminals at cafes shipboard and in room as well. The disadvantage is these connections are often very expensive. But what about the thousands of people who are already onboard with you?

Carnival is the first company to address this with a first of it’s kind on-board social network. From the various terminal points or from your very room on the new Carnival Dream you can connect to an exclusive online social network. There are typical features such as your own profile and the ability to invite friends to activities both on and off ship. I actually think this makes sense because of the enormous number of people on any given ship these days. As a marketing move it’s very smart as younger customers, very familiar with social networks, will appreciate the high tech touch as well as the easier ability to connect with others that share similar interests.

The one thing I see missing is the ability to take your connections with you when the cruise ends. Why not allow this network to continue to function with customers get home? There is no reason customers would not want to continue to communicate with their new friends, especially of they are nearby. There is also an increased chance they may want to take another Carnival cruise together, even allow them to plan the trip right on the network. It’s a community that Carnival is creating with this network and that’s one of the most powerful things a company can do. It’s very much in Carnival’s interest to keep the community going and even extend it to others who have taken Carnival cruises. Your profile could list all the Carnival cruses you have been on with your comments and reviews on each one.  At first blush this feature might looks like a gimmick but it has the potential to be much more than that.

Filed Under: Blog, Social Networks Tagged With: , , , ,

Social Media is not a Broadcast Medium

August 6, 2009 By

Martha Stewart recently announced she is giving up on Facebook in favor of Twitter. More bang for the tweet she says. Bill Gates also has stopped using Facebook citing difficulty keeping up with friend requests. I hear this from clients as well. Facebook takes more work than Twitter. There is also more nonsense going on with Facebook apps like Pirate games and thrown snowballs. There is nothing quite like the raw simplicity of Twitter. Also with Twitter, you can gain followers without having to do anything. They follow you by choice and you do not have to follow them back. No management required. I understand all this, but don’t underestimate Facebook.

For one thing, I find that more of my non-geeky so called “normal” friends use Facebook much more and sometimes exclusively over Twitter. If your goal is to reach a less bleeding edge audience, Facebook is really the way to go. Also, it’s a fairly easy to thing to get your Tweets to automatically populate Facebook, so there is really no need to completely abandon it.

As far as the reciprocity of Facebook friends go, that brings me to my second point. I wish I had the problem of having to manage more friend requests than I could handle. But it brings up the larger point that many of these stars aren’t interested in reciprocity. They don’t want to listen or converse, they want to talk. Look at Martha’s Twitter and you will find over a million followers but she only follows 35 people. Her tweets rarely if ever include conversations to other people and when they do it’s mostly to other stars. This is common for most big stars on Twitter. They are using Twitter like another broadcast medium. This, of course, is inherently wrong and against the very spirit of social media. They don’t call it social for nothing. It’s disappointing to see this because these stars have an unbelievable  access to their greatest fans. With a million people following you, I’m sure it’s hard to talk to everyone but I see no reason why they cannot at least make an effort  and do what they can.

Facebook takes more work than Twiter because it does more, but Twitter takes work to if you’re doing it right. It’s something my clients often don’t want to hear, this stuff takes work. But marketing your business takes work too and this kind of marketing can pay off in a much more powerful and long lasting way for all that effort.

Filed Under: Blog, Marketing, Social Networks Tagged With: , , , ,
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