networking

Scientists have taken the leap into social media with a special Twitter site called Sciencefeed.

Providing a place for real-time discussion among scientists, University World News reports in their article, “US: Twitter for scientists launched online” about this new adventure that has brought the world wide web full circle. The Internet was originally created for research result to be easily shared and now with the use of social media, that is even more a reality. Sciencefeed will be compatible with various social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed.

Dr Ijad Madisch, founding member and CEO of Sciencefeed says “We hope that it will become a bridge between online scientific networking platforms, scientific databases, and the wider online science world and enable scientists to conduct breakthrough research.”

The SSN Take: Making research results easily shared also makes them easily searchable.

Melody K. Smith, April 29, 2010

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Foursquare, the location-based social networking service, might need to change its business model, argues “Is Foursquare’s growth boxed in?”

While the year-old start-up may end up getting bought by Yahoo! for upwards of $125 million, the idea of “checking-in” (with its accompanying badges) at various restaurants, bars, and city establishments is specifically urban. The article’s author argues that Foursquare doesn’t have what it takes to cash in on the “average American’s” habits, whether online or off, and must change or capitalize on that niche. While Twitter has effectively done that, Foursquare still has some work to do. A potential solution: academia. “[D]evelop badges pertaining to lecture hall, library, and frat-house check-ins.”  With a pending deal from a huge company like Yahoo!, many expect Foursquare to branch out and grab the “social desires of the audience that’s dropping off kids at school rather than dropping into 2-for-1 happy hour.”

The SSN Take: For many, simply using their phones to find things is a revelation. “Badges” can wait.

Samuel Hartman, April 28, 2010

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Sometimes it helps when someone else does all the research and gives you the fruits of their labors. That is exactly what Social Media Explorer has done in their article, “Four Search Engines Marketers Should Know About.” Search engine optimization has grown beyond your standard websites to now even Twitter. History has shown us that things are always changing. This article highlights four search engines that marketers should pay close attention to as things continue to progress and evolve. The first being OneRiot – a special type of search engine that crawls the links people share on Digg, Twitter and other social sharing sites and then indexes them in real time. It is important to note that OneRiot is reporting a half million hits a month. Got your attention now, didn’t it? The rest of the list includes Wolfram|Alpha, Book of Odds, and Evri. Check out the article for complete details on these search engines.

The SSN Take: Marketers may find it profitable to check out these tools and how they can effect positive results.

Melody K. Smith, April 28, 2010

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Branching way out from operating systems and video games, Microsoft is targeting politicians and government officials with its new CampaignReady suite and TownHall software.

“Microsoft Launches Social Media Platform for Politicians” discusses the TownHall interface, which supports Facebook Connect, and allows users to answer poll questions, ask questions, and earn badges. Much like a crowdsourcing platform, topics with a lot of traction bubble to the top, while still leaving room for new ideas and comments from other users. Within the community are search functions for discussions and report generators, as well. Microsoft’s demo site is certainly flashy enough, and one can imagine a solid GUI for creating topics and questions on the backend. This could be a big deal for Microsoft, allowing them to firmly plant their feet in the social media sphere. Already, NASA is using the TownHall software for their Be A Martian program, an interactive website on the exploration of Mars.

The SSN Take: As the idea of crowdsourcing gains momentum, social platforms like this could gain ground.

Samuel Hartman, April 25, 2010

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Social media use is not just about selling products; it can and should be about moving people to action.

In “6 Ways Brands are Using Social Media for Real-World Action” on Mashable, digital marketing expert Daniel Stein looks at new ways companies can  “mobilize [their] social media audiences to take action in the real world.”

For instance, he cites Nike’s Livestrong campaign for the Tour de France as “a nice example of a brand blending the digital and physical worlds and enabling its audiences to take part in a real-time event.” Nike made it possible for people around the world to have their inspirational sayings chalked along the Tour route by way of WearYellow.com, Tweet or SMS. The users then received links to see where their message was chalked. Nike “was able to cleverly connect user to a real world event using social media as the conduit,” says Stein.

Businesses should aim to empower, excite, inspire and enable consumers “to engage with [their] brand in a relevant, new and useful way that adds to their real-world experience,” he concludes.

The SSN Take: Good examples of how some companies/organizations are utilizing social media to its fuller capabilities and expanding the possible rewards as a result.

John Sniffen, April 23, 2010

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At the University of Liecester, Senior Lecturer Dr. Alan Cann uses social media to provide a forum for “discussion and feedback” from his students.

“Social networking utilised by academic to improve student satisfaction” discusses the positive response his students have given to the system, powered by the social aggregator site FriendFeed. Because FriendFeed allows a personalized homepage, it can act as a virtual portfolio, “storing all of their posts, forming reflection on what they are doing and explanations of what they do not understand.” Cann adds that it differs from the interaction that the students have on Facebook – the students are extremely social but “very professional.”

Even microblogging social sites have their place in academia. Chris Kobayashi, an English teacher at the University of Northern Colorado, decided to fully integrate Twitter into this curriculum by having his students tweet their progress on an upcoming research paper. “Social media sites like Twitter are finding new fans in academia” describes an entire class run through Twitter, with Kobayashi having students respond his Twitter questions via the site. When his e-mail account crashed one day, he used Twitter to communicate with the students.

Much like Facebook and Twitter’s use in the marketing world, the social media platform allows for a dialogue between a source of information (in this case, a teacher or lesson plan) and a group of users (students). This open discussion can now be fostered outside of the classroom in a medium that many college students are already quite familiar with.

Dr. Cann, using the ‘feed forward’ model, is making academics more accessible and allowing students to give easy and direct feedback through social networks. Kobayashi, too is harnessing the power of real-time interaction. Will we see a revolution in how changes, both academic and administrative, come about? Through social media it is quite possible.

The SSN Take: Integrating a social platform can go beyond the marketing and business realm.

Samuel Hartman, April 23, 2010

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Communiscpace CEO Diane Hessan has some advice about using social media and the common element is this: use your head.

In “Lessons From Leno and Twitter Bombers: 3 Rules for Next-Gen Marketing,” Austin Carr writes in FastCompany about Hessan’s recent presentation at the Advertising Research Foundation’s (ARF) 2010 Re: Think Conference in New York. Hessan presented eight rules for next-gen marketing research based on feedback from over 200 consumer-insight professionals. Carr focused on three of them: 1) manage social media jitters; 2) game-changing insights don’t usually come from testing; and 3) don’t underestimate the power of one.

Regarding responding to social media, Hessan prescribes a balance between reaction and overreaction. “We need to listen hard to consumers, for sure, but if your target consumers are not on Twitter, for instance, then you don’t necessarily need to change strategy because of an angry tweet or two.” Hessan said that research doesn’t always translate into success. Game-changing insight may instead come from ongoing discovery, which she views as a necessary part of marketing. And Hessan said “the big breakthroughs often happen away from the spotlight. … The one lone voice in the background” may have the best insight.

The SSN take: Rules can be good guidelines, but in the end you still need to think.

John Sniffen, April 17, 2010

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Use of social media is becoming a vital part of successful book promotions.

Chris Bass, who recently became director of author marketing services for AuthorHive, says, “Authors who want to optimize their marketing efforts should incorporate a wide array of social media tools into their plan,” according to “AuthorHive Author Marketing Expert Observes: ‘Social Media Tools Vital in Building a Successful Book Promotion Platform’” on Yahoo Finance.

“Social media is highly effective in leveling the playing field, for example for emerging authors, who may not have the largest marketing budgets,” Bass says. “It permits authors to actively engage potential readers from the convenience of a computer and breaks down the barriers of cost and access.”

Bass said AuthorHive, which serves both traditionally published and self-published authors, offers several options for “getting in the social media game.” A basic package incorporates social media with a personal Web site and a mass email campaign. A more advanced version adds the services of a literary publicist, whose goal is to gain the attention of both traditional and online media.

The SSN take: One wonders how much time dedicated book readers spend online (or maybe on their Kindles or iPads). But the thought of Ernest Hemingway tweeting with fans while watching a bullfight in Spain is somewhat amusing.

John Sniffen, April 16, 2010

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Thank you, American Idol!

This nine-season-old TV favorite may not be biblical in nature, but it is the closest to Moses coming down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. It showed the way… in this case, to social media activism. “Dial 1-888- IDOL-008 to vote for Adam Lambert.” And millions did, time and time again, for Adam or their favorite.

As a people, we never did that before. Never had the means or the opportunity to be so easily heard. We had the right generation at the right time for the right reason, being counted by this new (at that time) form of expression.

A few years later, there was another kind of call… this time, the 2004 Christmastime tsunami in Indonesia, and we learned we could help in the same manner. But it was this year’s Haitian earthquake that really made the point.

Get this: When the Red Cross asked people to text “Haiti” to the number 90999, millions did within days and still do, for Haiti and then Chile a few months later. The call triggered an automatic $10 donation added to the phone bill, resulting in more than $32 million actually collected to date. And as an added bonus, the money got into use almost immediately with no check to write or pledges to cover. (Does any young person write checks anymore? Do you?)

We have learned the technique, and in a very short period of time, learned something even more important: Benevolence! More people–and notably more of our young–were moved by the tragedies, and their friends, busy texting back and forth, Facebooking and twittering about the suffering are doing what now comes naturally: letting their fingers do the talking.

Social networking taught a whole new generation something their parents, television, direct mail, newspaper headlines and emotional pleas could never do. It got them immediately and personally involved, just like that.

Social networking tools and the habits engrained in using them, have changed charitable fund raising dramatically. And that’s a positive thing. Said USA Today, “good causes are finding younger, first-time donors who are more likely to give via messaging or Facebook than by writing a check after opening a traditional solicitation delivered to a mailbox outside their door.” Well, duh. What’s a mailbox?

While donations from social media is still a lesser percentage of the overall, a survey of nonprofit organizations show online donations growing 28% in the last few years. In 2008, 10 groups have raised $25 million or more, thanks to Twitter, Facebook, texting and the like.

The future of charitable giving, say those whose success depends on it, is in social media. There is no world this growing and ever evolving trend will not touch… in one way or another.

Jerry Constantino, April 16, 2010

Jerry Constantino was President and Publisher of PJS Publications, a group of 20 special interest magazines owned by VS&A Venture Capital and later, Primedia. He now writes fiction and blogs irrelevantly at itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com.

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When it comes to using social media for recruiting, Deloitte—which provides auditing, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, and tax services through independent firms worldwide—deploys a full-court press.

“Deloitte is taking a multifaceted digital approach to recruiting by using a blend of social networking resources and multimedia elements. A versatile introduction to their company is available at the click of a button,” reports the T+D Blog in “Deloitte: The Future of Recruiting is Social Media.” Deloitte’s program integrates several interactive media outlets, including a micro-site, a Twitter feed, a Facebook page, a LinkedIn group and a YouTube channel.

The micro-site provides an in-depth look into the lives of the firm’s Gen Y workers through a series of profiles and short films. The Twitter feed, “Life at Deloitte,”features daily tweets designed to provide insight into the company’s different practice areas and the latest hot topics from a variety of business leaders. The “Your Future at Deloitte (U.S.)” Facebook page also has interactive message boards where potential job candidates can join the discussion. A campus-focused LinkedIn group helps connect college students with employees and recruiters.

Deloitte’s YouTube channel, “Your Future at Deloitte,” features video testimonies from employees about why they chose the company and what the work means to them.

Deloitte, which has about 169,000 employees worldwide, estimates it will hire about 4,800 full- and part-time employees during 2010.

Sodexo USA, the global food and facilities management services provider which was recently awarded ERE’s 2010 excellence in recruiting award, also makes use of a full social media arsenal. “Sodexo’s social media initiative is on the leading edge of best practices,” writes John Sullivan in “Best Practices in Recruiting” on ERE.net. “Its web presence effectively communicates Sodexo’s company culture, and opportunities across a Careers blog, Facebook page, LinkedIn group, YouTube channel, Twitter and Flickr.” The Society for New Communications Research has recognized Sodexo for its pioneering work in microblogging.

Employing a more one-dimensional social media recruiting campaign, Sears Holding Corp., recently posted 7,000 positions with TweetMyJOBS, a Twitter-based job board service. Writing for ReadWriteWeb , Sarah Perez says TweetMyJOBS president and founder Gary Zukowski claims the partnership makes Sears, which also includes the Kmart chain, one of the largest brands to embrace mobile recruiting. The service lets job seekers receive instant notification on their cell phones via Twitter when new jobs are posted online.

The partnership has a large potential to grow as Sears posted more than 500,000 job openings last year via traditional recruiting channels.

Another social media recruiting partnership features CareerBuilder.com and Facebook.

In “It’s time to update your Facebook status—recruitment strategies move toward social media in 2010” on examiner.com, Megan Munch notes that job postings from CareerBuilder now also post directly to Facebook. “The best matched candidates will be able to see the company’s job advertisement on the side of their Facebook page.”

Careerbuilder and Facebook also cooperate in helping the more than 700,000 local companies that have Facebook pages improve their image. CareerBuilder consultants work with clients, checking their Facebook pages weekly—blogging, posting updates, new hires and accomplishments—as well as monitoring site activity.

Munch offers one bit of advice to potential job seekers using social media, especially those fresh out of college. “I would advise taking down [photo] albums titled ‘The Hangover Album.’ Inappropriate behavior can and will affect job and internship opportunities.”

John Sniffen, April 14, 2010

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