Strategic Social Networking - Archive

Predictions for Google+ May be Unfounded

April 10th, 2012 | Posted by admin in Google+ | search engine | social media | video - (0 Comments)

In The TechRepublic.com article “The Beginning of the End of Google+” Adam Metz predicts that Google’s social networking effort may already be on its way out. He points to Amir Efrati’s February article in the Wall Street Journal where all of the most prominent social networking sites are listed by order of average minutes of use. Not surprisingly Facebook ranks number one with 405 minutes while tumblr has 89 and Twitter 21. Last on the list is Google+ with an average of only three minutes of use per session.

The New York Times joined the argument in support of Google saying that 50 million people (out of 100 million registered) with Google+ accounts use the network in conjunction with enhanced Google products. Metz points out that these products include the first and third most popular sites on the web: Google and Youtube.

According to Metz:

“Google is a fish out of water – they’re a great search and advertising company that is simply not good at making social media products used by consumers (or even B2B collaboration). Now’s the time to shutter Google+, and consign it to the dust-heap where many of their other social products lie (Jaiku, Google Buzz, and Google Wave to name a few), and allocate all that Google+ talent to doing what the company does best – selling a ton of advertising in a way that really resonates with its customers.”

While Metz makes a few salient points in his article we think this prediction is coming far too early. There are a number of Google apps besides the likes of Youtube that can also be enhanced in fascinating ways like their proven video chat feature. Google+ is purposefully a different experience than Facebook and the functionality—while different than that of the number one site—is being used by a growing number of registered users. To bolster growth Google needs to step up marketing for their network so the scores of people who do create accounts are made aware of what makes Google+ a unique and useful experience. That they have not yet seems very un-Google.

Benjamin Reilly, April 10, 2012

Social Media in 2011 and 2012

In an article on the subject of social media, Social Media in 2011, and 2012, last year was summarized and predictions scored. Google+, after repeated failures, seems to have conquered their woes in 2011. And, Linkedln, the world’s largest professional network, is keeping the market happy trading $20 a share higher than their IPO price. Linkedln is well positioned for future hiring with their massive database of resumes. And last, but not least, Instagram made 2011 the year of the photo with a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures, sent on the fly via your iPhone – and it’s free!

The following are a few interesting quotes regarding social media: 13 Great Social Media Quotes

“The difference between PR and social media is that PR is about positioning, and social media is about becoming, being and improving.” – Chris Brogan, author of “Trust Agents”

“The value of being connected and transparent is so high that the roadbumps of privacy issues are much lower in actual experience than people’s fears.” – Reid Hoffman, founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn

“How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” – Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog

Predictions for 2012 are flying in the wind at this time and one in particular is business and media will take advantage of trans-media web publishing for media coverage such as news, ads, and stories to be accessed on one micro-site. I suppose this simplifies things and in turn saves time, and time is money. Also, another prediction is that network and cable TV will remain status quo. I know sometimes change is good, but in this case web TV is just not ready for the TV viewers of the world.

Sandy McIntosh, January 4, 2012

Social Media Marketing Analytics (SMA) Continued – Brand Monitoring and Competitive Research Explained

Part two of Star Group’s series on Social Media Marketing Analytics covers Brand Monitoring – a key to a business’s social media presence. In “Social Media Marketing Analytics – Brand Monitoring, Part 2 of An Exclusive 7-Part Series,” Midure explains:

“Brand Monitoring, to put it simply, is the understanding of who, what, where, why, when and how 3rd party sources or customers are referring to your brand. Brand Monitoring has become an extremely necessary and important responsibility for any business in today’s environment.”

So it boils down to a lot of data – what are customers, the media, competitors, and employees saying about you? What’s being tweeted, blogged, linked, and liked about you? When is this all happening and is it good or bad?

Competitive Research asks the same questions, just about your competitors. In part three of Midure’s series, “Social Media Marketing Analytics – Competitive Research, Part Three of an Exclusive 7-Part Series,” he notes:

“Just as you do for your own brand, it is YOUR job to be on top of what your competitors are doing, LISTEN and be attentive of what is being said about them. YOU need to be aware of what they are doing well and what they are doing not-so-well.”

Add your competitor’s brand monitoring to the mix, and all this knowledge can help identify niches, opportunities, and failures. It all comes down to better knowledge and better performance.

It’s clear that this data organized and turned into knowledge can help any business. While these strategies are not new ideas, in the Web 2.0 city that never sleeps, it is constantly becoming more challenging to round up all that data.

Philip West

November 29, 2011

The Fate of Google’s Algorithm in the Changing Social-Search Landscape

November 2nd, 2011 | Posted by admin in Google+ | News | search engine | social media - (0 Comments)

Google search has no doubt been a cornerstone of technology, the internet, and how we access information. But with Web 2.0 changing the way we find, use, and share information, will Google fall back like Jeeves and Yahoo search or will they seek a dramatic remodeling to the company’s core service? Jason Hiner weighs the sides in, “Can Google survive its blind faith in the algorithm?”

Controversy surrounded Google in the early 2011 news because of search results heavy with faux sites known as “content farms.” Not to mention how social media is more and more becoming peoples’ “home page” as their source for information and play. Google+ had early success, but what about the heart of Google search: the algorithm.

Some point to the systematic algorithm’s shortcomings as to why Google search results are often sketchy and inconsistent. Industries are popping-up solely to top search results with optimized sites and content farms thus serving as an ad-hub and business partner rather than turning out high-quality information.

Google’s Panda updates to the algorithm throughout the year solved some problems but it was a slow and clunky rollout of technology that didn’t leave a pretty picture. Hines explains:

“The problem with the algorithm (and artificial intelligence in general) is that it has no common sense or wisdom — at least not yet. Meanwhile, the systems that Google search is increasingly competing with for information discovery — social search and mobile apps — use the collective wisdom of the community or targeted experts to deliver better information more quickly than Google search, in many cases.”

Google is big. Perhaps it’s time they drop a heavy investment into social search. Will they adapt and continue to shape how we find information? Or will they fallback and be shaped by our social network of information-sharing?

–

Philip West

November 2, 2011

Expanding the Patent Information Community: PatentPoints.com

On August 9, 2011, ArnoldIT and Quasar Capital Advisors made publicly available an alpha test of a free patent information service. PatentPoints.com provides a “vertical file” of curated information about business implications of patents and intellectual property. The information service is built upon the Augmentext technology and candidate articles for the vertical file are identified using the ArnoldIT Overflight technology.

The writing team consists of a law librarian, an attorney, and a journalist. The writing team told SSN:

We want to get feedback on the alpha test of the service. Our plan is to create a social component to the information service tapping into the features of Facebook and Google+ (Google Plus). We think that our curated and annotated information will be anchor points for lively discussion of the business and related issues triggered by patent activities.

The idea of curating content and providing commentary that puts complex matters into a business context is an excellent one. However, what sets the PatentPoints.com service apart is its plan to integrate the information into a social network. Legal information is, says Stephen E Arnold, “a magnet for those with familiarity with legal jargon and attorneys who reference cases or documents that are often not easy to obtain with a Web search. Our goal is provide easy to understand information and stimulate a discussion of business issues affected by the surge in patent litigation.”

The service is sponsored by Quasar Capital Advisors, a next generation financial services firm. The system is built on the Augmentext technology developed by Stephen E Arnold, ArnoldIT.com. Mr. Arnold’s Overflight information service is used to identify candidate stories which are then vetted by the editor, Constance Ard, an MLS and law librarian with more than a decade of experience working in law firms.

The service is updated each day, Monday through Friday. The alpha Web site offers a search box so the backfile of content is easily accessible. Like other Augmentext information services, a controlled vocabulary is used to index the content, so a user can search via a controlled term such as “patent research” or a free text string.

The alpha service will accept sponsorships during the alpha test period. For information about how to participate in the sponsorship program, write the PatentPoints team at patentpoints@hotmail.com.

We think the social angle is an important and much needed component to what would otherwise be a complex subject that is having a larger and larger impact on business and innovation.

Benjamin Kent, August 9, 2011

MonacoRocks.eu: Open Comments Available

July 13th, 2011 | Posted by admin in case study | Google+ | networking | News - (0 Comments)

My colleague, Stephen E Arnold, publisher of Beyond Search ran a story called “New Vertical Information Service: Monaco Centric Breaks New Ground.” We found the post interesting because it highlighted several reasons why traditional brute force search systems are not working as well as I think they should.

The sharp uptake in interest among consumers and organizations for social media is, in my view, a direct reaction against the failure of the traditional key word search systems. Now I think key word search will be available because it is a utility function. It works quite well when I am looking for a document on my hard drive with a unique word or phrase. Key word search doesn’t work very well in commercial online, which is one reason why ProQuest is working overtime to get a new faceted search system in front of its professional online searchers.

I think the shift from brute force search to social systems such as Facebook and Google+ are clear signals that the era of Excite, Lycos, and HotBot are little used, although revolutionary in their hay day. I also think the shift has some implications for commercial search systems such as WestLaw, LexisNexis, and Questel.

The reason is that it is easier to ask those in a “circle” or “friends” where to vacation. I can see a Facebook social network member saying, “I learned about MonacoRocks.eu. Check it out.” That human reference is similar to the work that a traditional reference librarian performed until the severe budget cutbacks curtailed many essential library functions.

Services like MonacoRocks.eu, therefore, play a role similar to the vertical file in the library I frequented when I was in grade school a decade ago. A vertical service lends itself for diffusion by referral. Of course, if the content is indexed, a person running a key word search on “Monaco green technology” will get hits. But the curated vertical service makes it easy for me to send a link to a person in my Google+ circle saying, “Useful site. Check out http://goo.gl/.” No search needed.

The Beyond Search post at http://wp.me/pf6p2-4PO offers several reasons why a vertical information service is useful. I agree with the points that key word search is a time consumer, not a time saver for some queries. I like the idea of “selectivity”, which is a fancy way of saying “editorial control.” I also find the reference to “high value content” valid, but I think great care must be taken to make sure that source documents are valid and have provenance. Finally, Mr. Arnold asserts:

the vertical information service lends itself to an “app.” The content on this information service is a harbinger of specialized content collection and curation. I think that information applications for the iPad and other mobile devices become much easier when there is a body of high value, focused content.

I do not agree. I think that an app may be created but I think the value of a vertical information service is to provide the type of content that makes it practical to provide brief, useful guidance to a person looking for a location for a business meeting on the Mediterranean.

I hope that MonacoRocks.eu becomes more socially engaged, but the service is new. I applaud the inclusion of open comments. We came across one Monaco centric site that did not permit open comments. When a site makes it difficult for a conversation to be conducted, our question is, “Why aren’t you social?” It also makes me wonder if the blog or Web site has something to hide.

Bruce Wilson, July 13, 2011