Strategic Social Networking - Archive

Skyhook Brings Location to the Kindle Fire

April 3rd, 2012 | Posted by admin in app | mobility | News | Twitter - (0 Comments)

Skyhook, the leader in mobile location intelligence has just announced integration with the number one third-party Twitter app Tweetcaster for use on Amazon’s tablet/reader Kindle Fire, according to the article “TweetCaster Leverages Skyhook Technology to Enable Location Services for Kindle Fire” on MarketWatch.com. The groundbreaking Location Engine developed by Skyhook will for the first time allow Fire owners to use location-based applications. This program will allow for Nearby Tweets and geotagging, but that just scratches the service of what this integration means for the device.

From the article:

“’Any Android app that uses Skyhook will automatically work on the Kindle Fire without any changes,’ said Ted Morgan, founder and CEO of Skyhook. ‘The Skyhook SDK not only provides superior location reliability, but also protects developers from increasing fragmentation. Developers can build their app once and avoid worrying whether the device has proper location support.’”

Tweetcaster is available on the Android App Store (now Google Play), and can be downloaded here. With Skyhook allowing use of other location apps like Mapquest and deCarta, developers and users of Kindle’s latest toy will get even more bang for their buck.

Derek Clark, April 3, 2012

Twitter Develops Censorship Technology

Reporting from Beijing, The Wall Street Journal announces, “Twitter Can Censor by Country.” The news must please censorship proponents the world over, perhaps even a few in the US Congress.

Journalists Loretta Chao and Amir Efrati inform us:

“Twitter Inc. says it can now make content selectively available to users based on geography, and plans to use that ability to enter countries with ‘different ideas’ about freedom of expression as a human right—reflecting the difficult ethical questions facing Internet companies.

“The effort underscores thorny issues for Internet companies as their websites become more global and interconnected among different countries, and as they must cooperate with diverse views on Internet content control. For websites like Twitter as well as social-networking site Facebook, this has meant being blocked in countries like China where controls are more aggressive.”

To be fair to Twitter, the issue of censorship in other countries is indeed a tricky one. Refuse to play ball at all, and you’re banned completely. Will that really help the end users, the citizens who struggle to obtain information? Perhaps a little censorship is a small price to pay for allowing them even limited access to the information superhighway. At least, that seems to be the tack Twitter has embraced.

The company is not caving completely, however. They have been blocked in China for over two years, and are unlikely to be allowed back in as a result of this announcement. Why? Because that government doesn’t even want its people to know that content has been blocked; Twitter insists on giving them at least that courtesy. It is interesting to note that the company is working with Chilling Effects, an Internet freedom advocacy group, to draft its take-down notices.

You’d have to live in a cave to not realize that right now, in our famously freedom-loving country, we are in the middle of our own Internet censorship battle. Here, money is at the center of the fight. Specifically, corporations want to stop the sale of pirated goods. Corporations are people too, don’t you know?

These companies do have a valid concern, but I don’t have to tell you that the wildly unpopular SOPA and PIPA Acts propose enforcement through ham-fisted tactics that leave no room for due process. (If you didn’t know that, do some research. Right now. I’ll wait.)

The article notes that Twitter has been a crucial facilitator of political protest and revolutionary action around the world. The company also has a history of supporting transparency and free expression. However, it must do what it has to do if it wants to keep expanding. At the least, it must protect its employees from prosecution for breaking the rules in foreign lands. Yes, that would be important.

Cynthia Murrell, February 02, 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

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