Strategic Social Networking - Archive

Is Google Drive Proposing Personal Data Privacy or Not?

May 9th, 2012 | Posted by admin in cloud computing | networking | News | Privacy - (0 Comments)

Google Drive is a cloud storage and sync service from Google and is an extension of Google Docs. Google Drive gives the user 5 gigabytes to start with and offers extra storage for a low monthly rate. In the article, “Will Google Drive Snoop Inside Your Data? Google Needs To Be Clearer”, privacy issues are discussed. Also proposed in the article is a “by permission only” clause to be built into the license agreement to protect user privacy.

In the blanket license for Google Drive Google states:

“The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones.”

In its “terms of service” Google continues:

“You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.”

The information in this article suggests Google may have built loop holes into their blanket license agreement for their own use for future gain. When a service offers cloud storage of personal data privacy of that data should be guaranteed and the number one objective. We ask what is the fair exchange for the “free” service and the pay-back for offering the storage space in a land where nothing is “free” and consumers pay less attention to their own privacy in the glittering gold of social networking and cloud computing?

Sandy McIntosh, May 9, 2012

BranchOut Could Surpass LinkedIn

It looks as if LinkedIn’s days may be numbered according to the article, “LinkedIn’s Biggest Competitor Is a Facebook App That Just Hit 25 Million Users”, on Mashable.com. Facebook app, BranchOut, could eventually surpass the popular professional networking site with 25 million registered users (and growing) already part of the application. With an internal team of only 45 people BranchOut is focused and well-organized and supports job postings and recruiters much like LinkedIn. One major way they differ is the group of potential users.

“Although reaching 25 million registered users looks less impressive when compared to LinkedIn’s 150 million, there are 850 million Facebook users for whom joining BranchOut is just a matter of accepting the app’s permissions. On Thursday, BranchOut announced a $25 million round of funding, bringing its total venture capital backing to $49 million.”

While BranchOut certainly seems to be on track to meet or exceed LinkedIn’s numbers the article makes some good points about potential hazards the app’s team may meet as they gain users. One is that being part of such a large platform means that the small development team will have to react to the many changes Facebook will surely make, and fast. Another roadblock could be that if Facebook decides to create their own career section BranchOut could easily be made irrelevant. Not to mention eventually they would have to go after LinkedIn’s user-base,many of whom already have vast, intricate professional connections on their competing site. That said LinkedIn may want to form a strategy to prevent such hemorrhaging.

Derek Clark, May 1, 2012

Podcast Brings Experience to Social Media Questions

Presaging their inaugural Social Media Analytics Summit in April, Text Analytics News has posted the podcast of their recent Social Media Analytics Panel.

The panel brings together Bill Touhig of J.D. Power & Associates, Robin Seidner of Radian6, and Beyond the Arc’s Steven J. Ramirez. The social media analytics experts share their insights in the 55 minute podcast. The description describes the discussion content:

Analytic technologies and techniques being used to make business sense of the flood of user-generated content
The cutting edges of social media and sentiment analysis – what works, where improvements are being made, and which platforms are leading the way
The comparison between proprietary and do-it-yourself tools for social media analysis
Effective ways for leveraging social media information to get a leg up on your competition

I can’t fit my two pages of notes here, so do yourself a favor and check out the podcast for yourself. A couple of observations stuck with me.

First, with social media data, more is not better. This may seem obvious to some, but it is not the case with other data types, where more volume produces more accurate results. Instead, analysts find that they must narrow the data to exclude the vast amounts of irrelevant input that social media provides. That process adds a lot of complexity.

Second, text analytics is experiencing a talent gap. As Ramirez quipped, if you know young people just starting out, advise them to go into this as-of-yet-low-competition field. Many companies would prefer to save the cost of hiring a consultant, and most business users can probably figure things out. If the analysis needs are comparatively simple, that is. However, companies must invest in tools and training for the best in-house results.

Do yourself a favor: invest in attendance to the Social Media Analytics Summit this spring.

Cynthia Murrell, January 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 – A Closer Look at Strategic Development and Strategic Connections

With brand monitoring and competitive research, a business can collect a wealth of knowledge – but then what? In “Social Media Marketing Analytics – Strategic Development, Part Four Of An Exclusive 7-Part Series,” Midure explains:

“As I tell every client that comes into our agency, when developing a strategy in the social media arena, simplicity and incremental implementation is key…Start off small and gain momentum such as building a Facebook Page. Then roll in some nice applications as tabs, develop a content calendar and possibly try some promotions such as a sweepstakes. Then dive into Twitter, look into the investment of building a blog as well a backing everything up with some Search Engine Marketing to boost visibility and traffic to your assets.”

Strategic or tactical? Maybe some of each. Jumping into the social media arena requires both.

Strategic Connections are covered in “Social Media Marketing Analytics – Strategic Connections, Part Five Of An Exclusive 7-Part Series”:

“Insights tools such as Alteiran SM2 allow you to uncover what I like to call “power users/sources” because it ranks an individual or entities “popularity/influence…Why is this important? It gives you a great understanding of how viable the user/source is in terms of making a connection. What are the benefits? Marketing effectiveness by taking advantage of the user/source’s avid network of followers/supporters.”

Power users can be ‘Joe Schmo’ with avid Twitter followers, a popular blog or celebrity, or a well-known CEO. Web statistics, like unique site visits, Tweets, or user interactions, make it possible to track how influential these power users are.

Insight tools may make finding these connections easier, but actually tapping into power users’ networks may prove more challenging. In the labyrinth of social media, tracking strategic connections can quickly turn into too many numbers with too little strategy.

Philip West

November 30, 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