Social Media has taken the world by storm and propelled man to the forefront of face planted screen activity. You see it when you’re out dining at your favourite establishment, mommy and daddy sit engulfed in each other’s eyes, attempting to restore their glory date night years, while the little ones are distracted with a lovely 10 inch tablet, sucking their brains into the latest Angry Birds update.

Social Media is man interconnected with the world at its core level. It’s the fear of missing out that propels these channels to new heights. It provides us with updates on the world around us, keeps us engaged with friends and family and allows for a sense of community in an ever increasing, isolated online domain.

The following Social Media apps are at the pinnacle of the online realm. These apps allow for communication and engagement with a diverse assortment of audiences around the planet, making them the best apps for Social Media today.

WhatsApp Still Dominates Text

WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messaging services in the world. Defined as an ad free instant messaging service that rapidly replaced SMS text messages.

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook and currently provides over 1,300,000,000 users with low cost messaging supporting alternative mediums such as video and still images.

With the massive scale of WhatsApp users, it’s no surprise that WhatsApp is a brilliant way to engage with a large following of potential customers. Everyone from Skrill NZ support services to online stores are considering using it to communicate with customers, and many are using it for advertising goods and services too. How should brands use WhatsApp to engage with customers though? It’s simple, just like Instagram’s stories; WhatsApp has introduced a Status panel. Here brands or top influencers can update their status to still images and or video clips, which engage with a large following, thereby, promoting a business/establishment.

Facebook Messenger App

Riding off the hugely popular Facebook platform, Facebook’s Messenger app allows its 1,200,000,000 users to interact with Facebook friends on independent IOS or Android based apps that connects to your Facebook account and allows you to message friends.

Originally known as Chat since its inception in 2008, Facebook messenger affords its users with a more dedicated way to chat. Marketing influencers can use Facebook messenger to connect with their friends on Facebook and extend personalized messages as part of a brands marketing strategy. This places FB messenger in one of the top driving seats as a front-runner in Social Media apps to use as part of your arsenal when implementing a Digital Marketing plan.

What About WeChat?

WeChat is making some smart moves as a messaging platform that has its sights set on expanding and assimilating itself into Social Media culture.

Innovative and versatile, WeChat was launched with one clear vision in mind. A fully-fledged stand-alone messaging app to accommodate growing demands for alternative methods to communication and engagement in and amongst online communities.

Sporting over 938,000,000 active users WeChat incorporates nifty features and has seen unprecedented growth in Africa through its unique QR code strategies, which has allowed the app to gain traction in a booming market. Other new releases include the launch of a WeChat Wallet, this will make processing payments far easier for those that don’t have access to web wallets such as PayPal.

Users can also follow other accounts and use the app as a Social Media tool, making it optimized for an all round online experience to engage and communicate with potential customers and or close friends/family.

The Legendary Tale Of Instagram

For those of you that had no idea, Facebook owns Instagram and that is precisely why as a Facebook page you have to option to link your Instagram and Facebook feeds in a seamless assimilation for versatile control over the two mediums.

Instagram is not just for foodies or those posting their hottest new outfits, it’s a versatile Social Media app where the word influencer is brought out into the light and praised by brightly lit spotlights and roses that are flung at top accounts.

It’s all about the followers on Instagram; you simply have the formula or you don’t. The app has gained momentum over the past few years for its easy to navigate interface where imagery is still king. The app populates photos and you can simply like photos and follow those accounts. This has led to the rise of the influencer marketer.

In influencer marketing; accounts with thousands of followed are approached by companies that wish to get their message across to a diverse audience quickly and effectively, as these accounts have already attracted a large viewing audience, substantiated by their mass following.

Instagram also made a bold move and improved on their overall user experience by incorporating a feature called Stories. In Stories users post an update in the form of a video and thus disappears after 24 hours. A feature that keeps Instagram users engaged and prompted to access the app more frequently.

Don’t Forget To Snap 

Snapchat with its 200,000,000 active users can never be disregarded as one of the best Social Media apps to infiltrate popular culture in our time. With its unique AI lenses, Snapchat saw a rocket boost in revenue and turned the Social Media Marketing game on its head.

By incorporating pixel vision into its videos and imagery the app saw a wide variety of companies interested in using these AI lenses for Marketing to a new age millennial customer base.

The app is also unfair in that all messages sent and read completely disappear,making for the ultimate in privacy when communicating online.

The Ride’s Not Over 

Social Media continues to expand and grow at the rate that technology grows. It’s inevitable; as humans progress and create more smart technology that can handle and process better apps, which assimilate into modern life and make day to day living easier, so will Social Media continue pioneering a path that strives to engage with people at their core.

For the first time ever US mobile users spend more time using Apps than accessing the Internet from traditional means such as browsers.

Convenience and user experience are reasons that apps are blazing ahead of traditional Internet use…but why?

Delivery

Similar to the way e-books have now surpassed traditional printed book sales. The key differentiators and drivers have been a new method of delivery and experience; in this case the trusted e-reader allows convenience and a more functional method of use when reading books on the go.

In the case of apps:

Quite simply it is easier and again functional to click a button (rather than type in a URL) and the benefits in the case of social networks and news ad games is a quicker load time, an optimised experience and quicker access to the desired application.

This shift relates to usability and is a natural progression when users are given easier options of access.

Games and Social Networks:

Games

Looking at the chart we can clearly see that Games take sup close to 50% of all consumers time, with one third using Social Networks, when combined the total reaches approximately 80% of total app time, with users of these categories using them more frequently and for longer.

This result is predictable when both categories currently offer the most engaging experience on mobile phones.

Social networking:

With Facebook being used by such large quantities of people are such long periods of time, we wonder just what will happen with the HTML5 based “Project Spartan” which aims to allow Facebook users access to apps from within the browser, this sounds like a very clear tactics to dominate use even further.

This space is likely to see three major players dominate, Google, Apple and we predict Facebook in time.

What are your thoughts on apps?

Do you prefer them over the Internet for browsing news and playing games….or is a traditional web page a preference for news or indeed your gaming desires?

Thanks to TheNextWeb for pointing out this little gem courtesy of a website called Chill.com.

A clever site that hooks into facebook and features an option to create collections, the site now has a page dedicated to Steve Jobs videos it can be found here, and was collated by one of the founders of Chill, Scott Hurff.

So, if you are a bit of an Apple head or worship the Jobster like he was some kind of messiah, get your butt over to Chill and pay homage, there are some rare treats on show.

As someone who seriously values the power of video, it is amazing to see just how much Steve Jobs was involved in promoting using this medium especially as most of the footage was not seen by the majority of people until later on.

I like the interview when he was 31 talking about how the Apple 2 came to be and inspired him to move forward with Apple.

What is yours?

Now you know me, I love a bit of breaks, go check my old school tunes out here:

So when I came across this video via SimplyZesty, I thought yeh, I got to share this one.

So take a look at this really sweet video set on the great wall of China, nice tune, nice moves, and wicked setting.

With so many really cool breakdancing videos on the web, this next video shows that it does not have to be perfect quality in order to impress as this crummy old recording shows with some 28 million views! Though it does have to have a star!

Socially Viral:

This is how to do viral, make it special, simple eh? But not that easy to pull off!

So get your ass out on the street and go bust a move or two now.

NOW SPREAD THIS STUFF LIKE SOME VIRAL BEAST!

In a shrewd social media loss leading marketing exercise, Letstalk a mobile phone and accessories retailer in the US were offering a cut price Galaxy Nexus on contract for only $154.99 for the initial batch they had in stock and via their facebook page, this offer has since ended as the deal was snapped up like wildfire.

Letstalk social media done well?

This was coupled with a give-away and an attempt to gain 50,000 facebook “likes” by December the 16th with all those who “liked” their page being entered into a competition to win a Galaxy Tab 10.1 Tablet and a choice of smartphone.

So after the eventual release of the Samsung galaxy nexus in the US, it seems that demand was so high that stocks have dried out for the online retailer.

Now Letstalk do seem to have done well here, but I do see a lot of anger in the comments over confusions over who did and did not get the deal, with “pending” statuses on orders confusing many.

So is the offer of a half price Galaxy Nexus really that good?

Well obviously anything with lots of cash off its usual price is worth paying a little attention to, especially a new device as in demand as this, but…..

Picking up from a point made by BGR, and it is a big but. The Consumer Electronics Show starts early next year on January 10th, and soon this device will look slightly dated as new models are released, and the hype is started all over again.

Though the fact remains that the phone is still great. We did a review of the Galaxy Nexus and found the phone to be good all round, and is obviously Ice Cream Sandwiches huge, fat, late arriving baby.

I would have given you more details on this offer, but as it has run out now, it seems totally pointless!

Did you manage to pick one up while they were going?

Apple have own an unfair dismissal case in the UK.

A British tribunal has ruled that Samuel Crisp was not unfairly dismissed for criticising Apple’s products and his role working at the company.

Crisp was a specialist in the Norwich branch of the Apple store in the city, and had posted a series of rants about the company on Facebook and social networks.

He was apparently seen to complain and ridicule Apple on Facebook in particular, but Apple have a clearly defined role for staff using Social Media when related to their company, and they ban any criticism of their products or service by employees.

Apple’s decision to sack ruled “harsh” but not illegal:

So while the sacking was ruled “harsh” Apple was deemed to be within their rights to do this under the circumstances.

It is reported in EweekEurope that Crisp was hoping to get a move to the US as part of his career progression at Apple but had not been granted the role he had hoped for, bitterness ensued and this is what caused him to vent steam on Facebook about Apple in general.

Crisp had claimed in defence that his posts were private and not open to the public, Apple disputed this heavily.

“We take into account their position that the Facebook posts were not truly private and could in fact have been forwarded very easily with the claimant having no control over this process,”

With over 500,000,000 users on Facebook, many companies are now banning access to social networks and starting to define a clear social media policy that will help stop disgruntled employees from having stabs at them online and ruining corporate reputations.

After an early culling of people who tried to claim “keywords” and brand names on Google +, the search giant has finally rolled out a new face to the facebook copycat with their version of “pages” that aims to give brands a voice on the social network, and allow people to build relationships with local businesses and brands within the framework of Google Plus.

How this will manifest is unclear just yet but it seems that with Google plus the aim will be to build a seamless bridge between “switched-on” companies who will benefit from an easier to reach and communicate channel, this could be in the form of a band on tour or a local furniture shop.

The amount of interaction will depend on the owners of the page but we can see voice and video chat being one simple aspect that could be tapped into with creative uses being developed to help improve or promote brands and companies.

Google’s engineering headman Vic Gundotra states:

“So far Google+ has focused on connecting people with other people, but we want to make sure you can build relationships with all the things you care about – from local businesses to global brands – so today we’re rolling out Google+ Pages worldwide.”

Benefits of even more connectivity with consumers?

Feedback – Sometime a good thing, though sometimes manipulated, but always worthwhile if constructive.

Loyalty – Giving more and more of your time to listen to your clients promotes loyalty, and as competitors are not getting in the way of your customers the benefits are even more potentially.

Google Direct Connect:

A new search option that will connect Google users directly to Google pages:

Using the “+” option as a prefix you will be taken directly to that brands Google + page.

This should help in bringing more people to Gmail services and Google + over time, which let’s face it is vastly superior to Yahoo or MSN in terms of Gmail and ancillary services and products never mind the actual social networking aspect which users can take or leave.

With Google banning the “+” symbol as a valid term in the Boolean search options we can now see why that was implemented.

How to add a Google Plus Page?

Giving a brands page the right to pass information on to you requires the Google + account holder to actually add that page to their circle.

With page shaving a “+1” button and an “Add to circles” button, it would seem like an obvious like to click the +1 and expect that that had given the page the right to assume you wanted to know more, but currently only the “add to circles” option will give that amount of google love to approve this type of communication from page to Google + user.

I sense that this could be an issue that was given some thought and was deemed that only the later option woudl be sensible given that “+1” buttons could be abused by simple copying of code to a popular page…..(my point being that you may not realise you are +1’ing a brands page until you start getting a stream of content, so having the only option to allow this being to actually add a brand to your circles should mitigate con artists)…got that?

How to create my own page:

Well you need to go here: Google Plus Pages and see if your Google account is eligible yet…enjoy.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade, you know that digital pictures are quickly replacing printed photos. DSLR’s are still popular—and getting more popular and more sophisticated all the time—but the number of photos printed each year is much smaller than it was ten years ago, and continues to steadily decline.

Social media platforms like (and especially) Facebook have developed a new stage and storage space for candid photos of our friends and family and have all but erased the need for printed photos. We can easily upload photos to our profiles and share them instantly with a huge network of people, and even choose who can see them and who can’t.

With all the free storage online, why pay to have the same photos printed, especially when you can view and comment on friends’ photos without every physically seeing or holding them?

In an effort to stay relevant and competitive, Kodak is partnering with Facebook and offering 20 free prints of your Facebook photos if you Like their page—you’ll get a voucher which you can print and present at any participating photo developing center.

Kodak has made similar efforts over the past few years, and has done a pretty good job of remaining powerful in a market that has nearly forgotten photo prints. You can find Kiosks at various retailers that let you access Facebook and print photos directly from the site, without even carrying a flash drive or SD card to upload photos.

The real news here isn’t so much that Kodak is offering free prints, but that the entire concept of social photography is changing. It is comforting to know, for those of us that grew up with prints, that there is still room for printed photos in today’s world, but the field is quickly…ahem, developing…and it is exciting to see where social media takes other conventional forms of media sharing and distribution as it grows.

With users of smartphones and tablets growing in huge numbers, research company Marketo has released convincing data that shows that content marketing strategies need to pay more attention to mobile users.

With companies expected to spend a huge $56 billion on mobile web marketing by 2014, this ties in with a growing need to re-purpose content for a number of mediums in order to maximize a marketing campaigns effectiveness when so much access to content is now via so many differing mediums.

No longer is the issue of Internet explorer the only concern to web developers and designers, companies using social media management services need to make sure that all content that is produced is accessible by as many people as possible even when they are using a smartphone, tablet, PC, Mac, or indeed any other popular mobile internet capable device.

B2B marketing for mobile

Morgan Stanley have backed up the report by stating that access to the internet from mobile devices will surpass stationary access by 2015

Content marketing is paramount to a successful social media marketing strategy and this is why it is starting to become key to ensure that mobile users are engaged as well as traditional internet users with content that is “fit for purpose”.

With users accessing more and more data on their mobile devices a real opportunity is growing for marketeers to harness this always on connection to ensure that they are speaking to their old and potentially new clients in ways that were perhaps more difficult to do in the past.

B2B marketing for mobile is the future, but it is still unclear exactly how it will look!

One thing is for sure, Google are in a prime position to scrape up location based marketing and services but how this will all pan out is unclear at this stage.

What the world needs right now is…..another social network that looks like another social network:

On the back of the recent release of Google +, a direct competitor to Twitter and Facebook. Surely the world must be due yet another social network for the socially wired to pontificate upon and decide what it means in terms of value to users and businesses who happily jump on the bandwagon of anything that might just be the missing link between boom and bust in their own industry.

Sorry for the rant:

I am in the process of moving home (this is a very common occurrence for me as close fiends will know, and no I am not wanted) and have just realised I may have to make do with a very crap Internet connection for a few months before a major facelift occurs to the local exchange when BT bring in super fast fibre-to-the-cabinet technology and bring my predicted 1.5 MB speed (I used to get that speed in 2006) up to a whopping 25-27 MB.

Looters get on my t**s

Another thing that has been slightly annoying today is that I have discovered that the rioting that took place in the UK recently has put a stop to getting connected quickly to the feeble aforementioned Internet connection and it will take until the 6th of September (from the 12 August) to get a line in the new property…All because the government have deemed the riot victims to be priority which I kind of agree with, but crazy how it can affect so many areas when you think about it, and for so long!

I digress

So Heello has been released by the twitpic founder Noah Everett only a day after Twitter senior released its photo sharing option that is in direct competition to twitpic of course.

The twitter clone is perhaps a part retaliation for twitter coming down quite hard on third party developers of recent.

Everett said:

“If Twitter can compete with its developers without fair notice, then why can’t we? I think anyone has a fair shot at competing with anyone,”

Its all about the pings:

Starting last year, Everett wanted to make a platform that made twitter “suck less”, Heello offers people a very similar means of communication via what is termed pings (tweets), Followers are now called “listeners” and the following are termed “Listening”.

Further support:

With Heello looking to offer video, location based checking in, text message integration, and also a mobile based app for all the main platforms, I can not help think that they will never compete with twitter as this is quite simply a total clone. When I hear that they are also bringing in “channels” a method of categorising your “listeners” like Google circles, I can only think of Theo Paphitis from dragons den when faced with a ludicrous half baked idea saying “Pleeease go Home, do not make this your life and do not spend any more time and money on it, it will not work.” But he like me is often wrong.

Imitation seems more like flattery than a threat:

My thoughts are that this will probably not work, it offers nothing new, it is playing second fiddle to a giant, and people are still unsure what the hell twitter means to them for the most part, what do you think, I simply could not see any point in starting all over again on this copycat twitter could you?

In a move that shows that the issue of rioting is not just organised by under educated “yoof” the blackberry blog has recently come under attack and hacked after it was rumoured that the Canadian smartphone manufacturer would cooperate with the UK police over the use of its smartphones to organise the riots in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

TeaMp0isoN to blame?

The hacking team that go by the name of TeaMp0isoN seem to have taken credit for the message that was left on the blog:

“Dear Rim; You Will _NOT_ assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all,”

This was part of the message the other section threatened to release private information about RIM employees.

How they managed to post on the blog was not clear but security blogger Graham Cluley stated that it could have been down to a software vulnerability or due to an admin password being hacked.

The hack was perhaps spurred on by a twitter update by the UK blackberry account that said:

“We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can.”

Meanwhile another reason could have been a RIM spokesman discussing how they would cooperate fully with the British legal system in handing over encrypted messages.

37% of UK’s youth use blackberry’s down to the free messaging system that the operating system offers.

Finding the looters will be much easier with the use of social networks, modern CCTV and the general public, a list of some of the sites set up to “shop” a looter is offered below.

Shop a looter

[arrowlist]

• Catch A Looter
• Catch A Looter

[/arrowlist]

The fightback goes one!

The disgraceful riots of early August 2011 have unfortunately been due for a long time.

I have been aware of a serious undercurrent of distrust, disenfranchisement and general hate since the early 90’s and in all honesty this probably started in the mid 80’s or potentially even earlier….I am 34.

The problem is that the undercurrent has become so huge that almost every citizen in Britain is deeply unhappy with some major factor that Britain currently represents, some choose to moan quietly, some protest to government and now some simply smash up their own neighbourhoods and loot what they can.

The neglected dog that bites:

As someone who has done in the field market research in some of the poorest areas of Birmingham in the last ten years I can tell you that many people in the rest of the UK have no idea what the fabric of deprived inner city places really looks and feels like.

A simple way of describing some of these areas would be prisons within prisons, fear on top of fear, and many of this is probably caused in some parts by lack of opportunity, terrible architecture, too many cultural mixes, and no family structure to mould people positively (I have heard all manner of races being essentially racist against others in Birmingham, racism is not a purely white issue at all, it is a natural reaction when people feel threatened by another race, simple)

Their is undoubtedly some of the strongest minded people I have ever met who also live in these communities, unfortunately less and less people respect or listen to these people and I suspect they are a dying breed.

Britain is one of the most liberal countries you can imagine, and is its only remaining “Great” part that stays as a prefix to a largely broken Island. The problem is that this liberalism is no longer respected or appreciated and I fear that it perhaps needs to alter in order to wake people up to what they have now or will simply miss totally in the long term.

Many broken elements of Britain:

We have a situation now in Britain where the inner city youth have on many occasions no father figure, a mother who is perhaps still essentially an under educated child and the only perceived ways out of this dark place is drugs, sport and music.

We do however have an industry only too happy to lap up the misguided and angry youth of Britain and that is worth some £6 Billion pounds, yes the illegal drug industry, and is often the only real structured lifestyle that many young people aspire to be part of, it is evil, scary and often brutal and it is therefore no wonder that so many young people now have so much anger and lack of respect.

Mob mentality is appealing and spreads quickly:

You cannot deny that for many people (women included) rioting and mob mentality is hugely appealing, and has been going on each Saturday for over a hundred years at football grounds and towns throughout the UK. Though it is wholly wrong to destroy innocent peoples property and businesses, the simple fact is that something very sinister has occurred in the UK, a tipping point has been reached where respect and any form of rationality has completely disappeared, the rioters essentially have no concrete reason to riot, they have just got caught up and carried away. Social networks and also the use of BBM messaging via blackberry’s will have aided (but not caused) this mass rioting, indeed many group leaders would clarify those points.

Small group creates the mob:

It is undoubtedly only a small group of people who create the right conditions for other less disenfranchised and perhaps more peaceful people to actually start rioting, but it seems there is quite simply the right sense of injustice that currently is related to corrupt banks, corrupt governments, and corrupt institution’s coupled with a general decision to punish the working man for societies financial issues caused by and large by the powers that be……This is the “loose” excuse that almost every rioter is using, and must not be forgotten despite the rioting being wildly disproportionate to the issues they claim to be pushing.

Rise of capitalism and growth of related social unrest:

Agree with this or not, but there appears to be a huge correlation with the rise of capitalism and associated materialism and a growth in the idolisation of false heroes such as footballers and “stars”, no longer do mass swathes of our youth want to better their own communities and lives, and choose the professions of doctors, medics, police, scientists, firemen and teachers as all are often seen as a pointless occupation and one that is wholly dull….Though with 1 in 5 young people out of work you can see why the climate for unrest has well and truly been set.

The youth want fast bucks, instant respect and to live their life with no respect for anyone outside their peer group, the problem this country faces is multifaceted.

In the UK it is possible to claim benefits while doing absolutely nothing to enrich your life but moan about what extra money you are owed….owed?….If people in the UK realised that the amount of money in your pocket does not make you better or worse than the next person we would have some hope of making young minds less fearful of their future and more open to change and helping each other.

But while the young may sound dumb, (and when interviewed they do) they do see what goes on in the World and through music and their own sub cultures they are made aware of the ills that surround them and absolutely affect their lives, make no doubt that these kids are politicised, they most likely hate the fact we are at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, dislike and do not trust banks for the total mess they have put the globe in while continuing to act with impunity in disgraceful manners, they will also not trust big institutions such as brands, and big business for their often disgraceful actions in general and will almost all hate politicians for the total betrayal they feel has been placed on their generation.

This is mass awareness that is manifesting itself in one of the most ugly ways possible.

Maybe one of the real problems we have to face is that the “yoof” of the UK comprehend only in sound-bites and headlines, often too lazy or lacking the ability to read further, they are perhaps victims of the dumbing down of general life in the UK, of which we all now see and feel the backlash.

Democracy does not work:

Politics needs long term solutions to societies problems and these are almost never vote winners.

Both Labour and the Conservatives are to blame for the wrongs in Britain’s societies but in the end if any blame is to be laid it has to be with the individual and society in general, we live in a hugely privileged country compared to most of the World and I struggle to see how you can justify rioting on such a scale despite all the problems which I feel need sorting.

Where conservatives went wrong was to create a material society where you are too often judged on what you own and not what you do to help others, this is endemic in many areas of the Western world and absolutely will be our downfall.

Labour on the other hand seem to believe that mis-guided spending on people and communities will make members take more responsibility and fix broken societies but quite often this simply breeds a lack of hope, laziness and an expectation that someone else should intervene when times get tough, though when done right social benefits are a desirable part of a civilised society and is a much needed part of a social safety net, the problem is that state benefits are widely abused and often never help the people who need it the most.

Perhaps what is needed right now is a benevolent dictator, Maggie Thatcher with a slightly less cruel hand who does not over stay her welcome, yes we probably need a strong woman right now!

The towers of Babylon fall:

With the rise of mobile communication, social networking and general chatter, I can not help but feel that the biblical towers of Babylon seem to have a whole load of meaning with current world issues:

Yahweh was concerned that humans had too much freedom to do as they wished, so Yahweh brought into existence multiple languages. Thus, Humans were divided into linguistic groups, and unable to understand each other.

Though after saying all this, perhaps what is truly needed this evening in Britain is something we are very famous for…rain.

This article is going to pay homage and give some praise to all the free services we take for granted online:

It would be very nice indeed if you could share this with your friends and spread the appreciation.

Please do tell us about your favourite free services that you access online in the comments section below:

So here are some of my personal favourites that I would sorely miss if they were taken away:

I will be compiling a list based on responses in the comments so please be vocal about what you enjoy for free online!

Chat for free:

As someone who has friends all over the world, the fact that I can now communicate with all these people using video and audio via services like Skype and Gmail is nothing short of astounding, the fact that we get all these services for free is downright insane and could not have been predicted over 10 years ago.

Social networks:

I am currently assessing Google + and while I have wrote the Google + guide here, I must say I have had more worthwhile relationships on Linked In…are you a Twitter lover or Facebook fiend?

Email for free:

Yes Gmail is a winner for me here, the fact that I can use it as an email client for other accounts via pretty simple POP email set up is fantastic and means I never have to leave Gmail, plus it has the above mentioned chat with video included all for free!

Share photos for free:

Well having got a bit tired of Flickr very early on I am not really as well versed as I would like to be considering I have been taking semi pro pictures for over ten years….a missing gap filled by a new photo sharing service here?…Your thoughts?

Dating for free:

The one thing that certainly makes the world go round. People. I am not in any way ashamed to say that I met my wonderful other half online and would love to hear your thoughts on free services that allow you to meet other people, perhaps they were not even dating sites but you formed a relationship that became real world…do tell all.

News for free:

I mix and match my news sources and feel quite aggrieved to have to pay for news information especially when it is possible to make money from advertising, luckily the Internet has an amazing knack in getting so many things to consumers for free…so what are you favourite news websites?

Keep on coming with your own free services that you would sorely miss and let us know what you are using that costs you diddly squat!

Has Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn just found its match in Google Plus?

Google Plus – The educated persons social network? Let’s take a look in-depth at the new social network from the big G:

Well someone had to do it so here it is, the definitive guide to Google +:

So with over 20 million people already using the brand new social network from Google, mobile inquirer gives you the low-down on what is on offer:

With users already sharing over 1 billion pieces of information daily, we think that Google plus is certainly going to change things in the social networking arena.

Having used Google plus now for a week or so, this guide aims to highlight some of the more unique features on offer and goes on to explain the network in its entirety and how it may be used by individuals and businesses.

You will find no better guide on the Internet and we wholeheartedly recommend you share our hard work with your peers, friends and lovers.

It will make you more popular than you could ever have imagined, we promise!

Ok let’s go:

If you want an invite to Google + please click here:

Google plus, so what is this new social network all about then?

Google have been threatening to muscle in on its web rivals Facebook, Linked In and Twitter for some time, when content and traffic is king in the online space, you can see why Google have not rested until Google + has finally emerged.

The early days of Google’s social networking desires:

Google have already made attempts at muscling in on social networking type activities. The arrival of Google Buzz and Google Wave quite recently basically sank and buzzed off pretty damn quickly, partly due (in waves case) to the concept not being fully fleshed out and partly due to negative press regarding Google’s method of making Gmail users automatically part of their first social network (of sorts), something which they may actually not regret now that Google + has emerged.

Google Plus = leaner, fitter, stronger, more private and initially exclusive:

Google + will be the last effort we see from Google, and if this does not work they will seriously have to wonder if they have missed the boat for going more social than Google currently offers….will it work….yes. To what degree? Unsure, but from inception it has been popular unlike its slightly mute sibling before.

With such a huge user base of early adopters, techies and Google lovers already, and all by invite only. The tack taken this time by Google in getting users on board Google + is in complete contrast to the spray and pray method of Google buzz.

It holds true that exclusivity spreads interest and desire and also forces people to read into what a new idea/concept really means to them before they take the plunge to join.

A great tactic I think.

With Google + currently only on invite only, you will need to know another person who has already joined in order to send you a haloed invite.

You will need a Gmail account to sign up, but trust me when I say it hands down beats any other email client I have worked with.

Google Apps accounts are not supported currently so like I mentioned above you will need a Gmail account to get going with Google +.

Once you have accepted your invite, you will be taken to a profile area to complete your own personalization of your profile, this allows you to add information such a birthday, location, name etc and a tagline for what you “stand for” etc.

Google Plus Cheat Sheet:

Like Facebook and Twitter, Google + has its own mini language syntax in the form of mark-up that specifically works for Google + users. Here is a cheat sheet to get you up to speed with the ability to mention friends etc in your posts.

Image courtesy of BuzzFeed:

Why another social network though?

Question I posed to users on Google +

Why do you recommend Google + to friends and colleagues?

And answers:

“I would recommend it because it is the most fluid and true representation of the Internet was created to do: the free exchange of ideas. My experience on Google+ has been enlightening and delightful. From interesting articles on topics I usually don’t read, to useful information about things I use everyday, and even some healthy and respectful debate from differing viewpoints.”

– Ravarius Castor

“Because the users’ average intellectual level is sky high if compared to any other network.”

– Bèrto ëd Sèra

So Google + what do you look like?

Put simply I think that Google + looks like a very clean version of Facebook.

And why should you join?

Many people are saying that it is like starting Facebook all over again with the benefit of hindsight in who you allow to be part of your social network.

So where Facebook has become a bit…erm, Faceless. Google + aims to be a useful collection of like minds, friend’s and peers.
With an undoubted focus on IT and tech professionals to date, it is starting to look like the bastard child of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter but time will tell what it morph’s into, there are some great features for all and we are about to discover all of them at its current stage, which is still essentially beta!

So lets actually take a proper look at Google + I have included videos for each section so you can actually visually see what is going on..at the time of writing I have only spent about three hours in total using Google + so do not have many friends currently, if you want to add me by all means say hi I am Anthony Munns on Google +.

Google Plus Home:

Very much a Facebook type thing, the Google plus home stream is so similar to look at we are sure you will get the grasp of it straight away but there are some unique nuances that will appeal.

Key things here are that Google + uses a + 1 button in place of the Facebook like button, posts with new replies/comments start back at the top unless they are seriously old, and you can mute a thread that is becoming a bit dull or boring.

All the content that appears in your stream is from the activity going on with friends in your various circles.

You are easily able to share links, video, location and photos, and also when you come to share this content you are able to also choose who gets to see it via an option of public (all) or just within certain circles, a new option called sparks will be covered at a later date.

An option to initiate Google chat (a great communication tool that has had me glued to Google over Skype ever since it was introduced in Gmail) is also included.

The right hand side has options for who to add as friends based on your own friends and your contacts, and also an option to start a Hangout video chat with a group of people.

Google Plus Profile:

Profile area:

This is pretty straightforward and if you are an existing Google account holder for Gmail you will already have a large amount of this data added.

Otherwise, simply go to your set up area at the top right when logged in and scroll to “profile”.
Once there you will be able to add quiet a lot of detail about who you are and what you stand for.

Categories that currently exist are:

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• Introduction
• Occupation
• Places Lived
• Relationship
• Bragging Rights
• Looking For
• Other Names
• Nickname
• Search Visibility

[/arrowlist]

On the right you are also able to add links to other social networks, and blogs that you are affiliated with or own; company or personal.
You are also able to add your own photo to this area in typical small square format, this will be brought through to various other areas of Google + like on most social networks.
With privacy being such a huge issue now on social networks, Google has tried to place that control firmly in the users hands and has an export function if you choose to leave that will allow you to take all your data away with you and erase all traces of your profile in such an eventuality.

Google Plus Circles:

Circles area:

One of the most distinguishing and important features of Google + is Circles:

With circles you are able to group your friends into smaller sub sections such as Family or Business.
The method is pretty straightforward, you simply drag your contacts/friends into a circle that you want each person to be associated with, if you need a new circle simply create and name it, rinse and repeat.

While Google initially suggest who is in your contact list (something I actually dislike as it looks messy to get your head around initially and puts me off) it does have some benefits and you can then add these people into as many circles as you wish.

You can import your contacts from your desktop, Hotmail and Yahoo.

A key part of Google plus is you can follow and not have to be followed back unlike Facebook to see updates of that person or group.

For each circle you create you are also able to see the individual stream that relates to that particular circle and make sure certain pictures or links do not end up in the stream where your mum is. You get the point.
Circles are a great feature of Google + and really set it apart from Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin in a really novel and user friendly way.

Google Plus Sparks:

Sparks area:

Are you sick of people aggregating content and adding very little to the social experience? Sparks aims to offer something a little more.
Sparks basically works as a content recommendation tool, so when you are seeking information about a business, famous person, film or band etc, you simply type in your query and see what the big G has to offer, in terms of how it chooses what content is most relevant or valuable I really do not know but imagine a pretty complex algorithm based on amount of social traffic it has already and links pointing to the article as usual SEO defines quality.

It’s a very good tool for staying within Google + and will probably allow SEO professionals another method of monetising their services once things get sussed out!…big question will be how much it gets used.

Google Plus Stream:

Very similar to Facebook, the stream you find when you click home will show you what is being said at the current time, this differs from Facebook in that content that is being commented on recently gets priority with the aim of keeping quality topics that are worth discussing in the mix, I get totally lost with Facebook’s method but question how this will work once thousands of people are all connected….time will tell.

Within the stream you are able to add photos, video, links, and +1 type recommends it actually works very well even if it is mainly a copy of Facebook’s interface, why mend something that is essentially not broken I say.

Filter the stream:

On the left hand side you are able to filter down what you see within the stream so this will probably be the answer to my above point when things get too busy you can have a circle called…..dull and place all the people you find a bit boring in there and make sure you click the circle called interesting to make sure you only see content from these people in your social network within the stream…..sneeky but nice.

Invites:

The right had side offers s little more options for adding friends and suggest people you may want to add to Google + and invite them along.

Google Plus Hangouts:

So what are “Hangouts”?

Hangouts area:

Very unique to Google + and potentially the feature that has people coming back for more, hangouts offers users a chance to have groups of friends chatting on mic and webcam.

The feature works well with a few interesting takes on the traditional webcam model, firstly the main video will keep switching to whoever is talking at that time, you can mute and un-mute people and yourself, and you are able to block people for abusiveness.
Jointly watch a Youtube video: A great feature that I got wrong initially when I looked into Google hangouts was an option to discuss a Youtube video, so a great feature for collaboration and dare I say it the porn industry in general.
I can just imagine the sites that will spring up surrounding this new feature:

hangouthussys.com is still available I think.

Online focus groups:

I personally see this as a great way of arranging online focus groups especially if a video is available to watch between everyone and discuss later.

Google Plus For Businesses:

Just like Facebook and Twitter, businesses are very keen to tap into this kind of thing and time will tell to what level Google offer this integration.
Google have stated that they are working on a business version of Goole+ on July the 6th but will not say any more on the topic, and Google have stated that they do not want businesses creating profiles just yet.

But as a networking tool I can only think it will seriously rival LinkedIn if only because it does sharing content a lot better and offers a familiar Facebook style interface that works better, having second mover advantage means that people will use this network more effectively than perhaps they did with Facebook which is more of a friends reunited network in my opinion….I nearly typed “was more…”…ooooh….Facebook = MySpace version 2?

Google Plus Mobile App:

[pro-player width=’560′ height=’350′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhxqbjgoJgg[/pro-player]

Mobile app:

With an Android app out straight away and now the arrival of an iPhone app. Google aims to make sure it’s mobile version really works where Facebook’s is pretty average. Both the tablet and SmartPhone versions are very similar offering a good quality social app that will allow you to stay connected with your new social network with ease.

One huge gripe if you are restricted on data with your mobile contract is the fact that by default it automatically uploads all the photo’s you take with your camera phone and adds them to a (private) photo album in Google + to be easy to share at a later date. This seems very intrusive to me and I switched it off straight away when I realised that photos taken with my phone were already on my Google + profile. Luckily it had not automatically shared these photos otherwise I would have felt a Google wave privacy issue coming on!

Google Plus Huddle:

Similar to Beluga or GroupMe this is a group testing feature and allows users who are logged into the app version of Google plus to be able to text within the Google + application.

Google Plus Privacy:

Privacy area:

Google has attempted to mitigate the issues it faced with Google Wave by allowing you much greater control over privacy.

Once you join you will see that you can make sure your profile is not indexed by search engines and also that you can export all your data should yo decided to lave at any point.

Future of Google Plus:

The rumour is that Google are going to be bringing in Google game with a hook up with social game software company Zynga, after vesting 100+ million dollars in the firm. This is almost definitely going to happen to some degree and will mean the humble web browser may again be usurped by another social network. It seems like life in general you will be one or the other eventually!

Follow us:

I really hope you liked this article and if there are areas you want clarification on by all means ask for this in the comments. Please also follow us on Twitter and Facebook using the links below….Cheers.

After an earlier report about the UK Ministry of defence creating a series of videos aimed to educating forces staff on the dangers of updating to Facebook and Tweeting information that could be intercepted by “the enemy” and general nasty folk.

Symantec have produced a report focusing on the corporate sectors potential exposure to negative social media coordinated by their own staff and how to mitigate the consequences.

Symantec are World famous for supplying security, storage and systems management solutions have recently released their social media protection poll for 2011.

The real cost of social media disasters:

The survey is the cumulative result of research that was conducted during April 2011 by Applied Research.

They surveyed IT and C-level professionals responsible for networks, computers, and technology resources at small, medium, and large enterprises.

These were defined as being the following:

(small – 1,000-2,400, medium – 2,500-4,999, and large 5,000+ employees).

Survey Scope:

With 1,225 respondents in 33 countries in North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)

The survey was done to assess how companies were currently protecting their assets and themselves from potentially negative consequences of information sharing via social media outlets.

9 Social media “incidents” a year:

The poll has highlighted that one bad tweet can cost a company up to $4 million in lost revenue as a result of a bad tweet that has leaked sensitive information.

As usual when it is information you wished no one knew about you can guarantee it is just what people want to share!

And with nine “social media incidents” a year on average at the organisations surveyed, the result of these incidents meant that 94% of those surveyed suffered considerable loss at the hands of loose tweets and facebook updates related to sensitive information. The findings make for interesting reading for any business who is looking to ensure that social media is not used negatively when shining a light on their own organisation for marketing gains.

Top 3 social media incidents:

The survey found that the top three social-media incidents included:

[arrowlist]

• The loss or exposure of confidential information (41 percent).
• Employees sharing too much information in public forums (46 percent).
• Increased exposure to litigation (37 percent).

[/arrowlist]

And the impact of social media incidents included:

Over 90% of the survey respondents who had social media incidents suffered negative effects as a result, these included:

[arrowlist]

• Reduced stock price (average cost: $1,038,401 USD).
• Litigation costs (average cost: $650,361 USD).
• Direct financial costs (average cost: $641,993 USD.
• Damaged brand reputation/loss of customer trust (average cost: $638,496 USD).
• Lost revenue (average cost: $619,360 USD).

[/arrowlist]

Greg Muscarella, senior director of product management for Symantec’s Information Management Group reported is quoted saying:

“Employee education and training on the proper use of social media for business purposes is just as important as having the technology pieces in place,”

I would argue with that and say that businesses should look at specialist social media agencies to organise what gets out in the blogosphere and how to aggregate and syndicate all that content in a wise and effective manner.

Obviously Symantec are in the business of selling their services and solutions so they actually suggest businesses should look at investing in the following areas of data management and law:

[arrowlist]

• Employee training
• Legal policies
• Archiving solutions
• Data loss prevention

[/arrowlist]

With Google’s new social network reaching ten million users already, could facebook and twitter have a serious contender on their hands?

So who is making up the numbers so far?

Well disappointingly I have not yet had an invite of my own. It appears that most people are technology aficionados and mainly men, with friendlier contacts than me!
This was always likely to be the case as it helps the whole process from a bug fixing point of view, being able to share the experience of using Google+ with others in the blogosphere who are already quite savvy about usability and perhaps can illuminate the Google plus team quickly enough on their own thoughts.

Google plus focused on professionals?

I personally feel that Google need to aim their network to business professionals, it’s a gap filled with Linkedin and the likes of Quora, but has huge potential for growth if a monster like Google can put its weight and knowledge behind it.

Google mail extension – the natural progression.

With Google already having the World’s largest advertising network, it will be exceptionally easy to monetise a social network that has cash rich professionals as its user base?

Google Plus Mainly Men Currently

It would appear that most users are currently male at around 80% – 20%, this would be in keeping with the kind of figures most are used to seeing in the technology sector, which is still primarily dominated by men. I am sure once the flood gates open that this new social network will soon start averaging out a lot more than it currently seems to be once the social media darlings of the world jump right on in for a swift “huddle”.

Have you had an invite? If so what do you think of Google plus?

Limited Beta initially:

The service will initially be open to a few invites on a beta release to iron out potential issues if you want an invite go to this link here:

Pre-registering seems the best option and the one to bring you the quickest results in getting a working account.

Once you are accepted and things are working as they should, you will be able to access 15 million songs, these will all be totally free with advertisements making up the revenue on the basic accounts, subscription services will start at $5 a month with no ads, and a $10 a month option will include streaming to mobile and slightly higher quality audio by virtue of larger bit rates being offered while streaming the audio files.

Native spotify application is fantastic

Users in the US will no doubt be unaware in the main that the fantastic native application for Mac and Windows is a seriously well designed bit of kit and users will no doubt enjoy the experience of getting knee deep in the beats with their new found toy!

Let us know what you think when your in, we are sure you will love it!

Facebook’s seven year itch?

Could Facebook’s demise be imminent?

With a reported decline of usage globally it appears the signs are visible that the general public is getting bored of Facebook and leaving.

For me the time could not come sooner.

Here are Facebook’s plus points:

Sorry here “were” it’s plus points:

A) Share information between friends.

B) Contact people on mass.

C) Play fairly average games.

D) Yep that’s about it.

Facebook now = “Tower of Babylon”

The reality is with people adding any old Tom, Dick or Has been. It is now very difficult to keep up with what has been going on between a circle of friends and this makes Facebook a bit random, a little faceless and more disjointed than it should be.

Is Facebook bigger than its parts?

The other point to be made is Facebook does nothing at all that well. It is like a mash-up of styles and applications that just manages to become bigger than it’s parts….but only just.

Great for time-wasting not for production:

It is a time wasting application. I am yet to find anything of particular use on the site despite some great articles being pushed my way and some occasionally funny photos of nights out….it bores me totally.

And what’s more your bloody mum is more than likely on there now!…man that’s just soooooo uncool!

I will admit it I have always hated Facebook. I was an early adopter, I have very good friends on there but seriously I detest it and here is why:

[arrowlist]

• It allows mindless bol***ks to become the norm – please just shut up about your life. I never cared that much and never will. In fact, why are you my friend? I will probably never know, maybe I am lonely and in need of someone familiar to moan about.
• There is no way to communicate beyond a crappy IM option – I hear this is about to change though.
• Mobile version is rubbish.
• Trying to develop any kind of “page” is like pulling teeth.
• Now this maybe me but Facebook just does not do what I expect, its like my deep seated aversion to Microsoft operating systems, I just seem to be designed for more logic or maybe it’s less logic, either way I detest Facebook for its TERRIBLE user interface.

[/arrowlist]

Facebook got lazy?

Now this last point is actually the crux of it for me, and it is undoubtedly where MySpace fell down.

Now the question I pose is this; will Google make things that little bit slicker, quicker, and more intuitive to do things that are in all honesty, pretty damn basic?

Facebook is nothing more than an emailing client that works for groups. It is both dull and unintuitive, by and large, but fills a gap between people who work at computers all day and want to idle some time sharing tit-bits; fair play I suppose.

Can this kind of “social network” be done better? A massive whopping yes. And with the rise of smart phones allowing better access all round with video, images, audio, and location based sharing, I just hope Google can emulate and then better Facebook because for me it is both tired and seriously dull.

We also posed the question is Google + a LinkedIn rival the other day?

Would you leave Facebook to go to Google +…?

Some of the reasons people left MySpace was that it was both ugly and had a focus on music.

What Myspace did do was to educate an audience that another way of keeping in touch other than email existed, and when an alternative came along the migration was swift.

Could this happen to Facebook with Google plus?

Though alternatives have sprung up in the last five years, no company with the clout of Google has entered the frame, and with many people getting a little tired of Facebook in general (the seven year itch is pretty long in tech land).

My hunch is Facebook needs to do something seriously amazing soon or feel the wrath of a contender like Google + which could leave Facebook with nothing more than pubescent kids and “cool” oldies to share what they had for tea with the world, albeit a smaller world…….just like Myspace ended.

What are you thoughts?

Is Facebook simply too big to fail? Is the adoption of Facebook by business a sign that there is more to the social network than meets the eye and Google + have a big fight on their hands to topple the current giant?

Google+ Android App Update

As Google obvioulsy own the Android app market and in line with the big G wanting to make sure that the Tablet and Smart Phone experience for Google+ is a much better affair than what Facebook currently offer, we have found out that the intriguing app version has already had its first update.

The Google+ app is only available from the Android marketplace and works on Android 2.1 Eclair or above.

Apparently the update fixes issues with the login for users who have multiple Gmail accounts and a slight upgrade to the user interface and also a new icon in the profile area.

Not having trialled Google+ myself I would be interested to here from people who are currently using Google+ and perhaps find out from the horses mouth exactly what people are thinking. So if you are one of the first few who have gained access, please do tell all.

Are you enjoying the experience?

What are your gripes and what do you like?

We have recently learned that deep within the source code are references to two areas that we believe could have some serious influence in making people decide to give the new social network a try.

Namely:

Google Games – Social Gaming

Social gaming is huge, with Zynga taking stakes on a large percentage of downloads in all app markets on every platform.

The key thing Zynga games offer is a social function to most games (rate, score, collaborate) and therefore these games are both played longer and adopted by more people sooner.

Google seem to be taking a step in the right direction if they seek to monetize the gaming experience and allow people to play together within a closed system, which seems to be the holy grail right now.

Questions – Social Wikipedia?

We are also aware that there is an aspect of the code that offers clues such as “you might try rephrasing or tagging your question to make it easier for someone to answer”.

This alludes to a social question and answer forum area which does have potential and could potentially allow “experts” to offer help and advice in exchange for status and we assume work, credibility within a social network.

Google to offer greater privacy control to users?

As a differentiation to Facebook’s more “complicated” privacy policies that seem to change all the time. Google are noted as stating that testers who are invited to trial Google+ can leave at any time and take their data with them via what they codename a “takeout’ function.

This is also perhaps an initial means of making sure users are not expecting a Google buzz scenario when Google was slapped for imposing and going against its own privacy policy by signing all Gmail users up to the botched attempt at a Facebook type rival that has since died a death.

Do you think Google+ is starting to sound intriguing? Reports are that the demand has been enormous and the invite option has been temporarily suspended due to the volume of interest.

A serious Facebook rival perhaps?

But is Facebook really the platform that Google are wanting to challenge….keep reading to see what I think should be Google’s focus:

Knowledge is indeed powerful – and inherently valuable:

If the old adage “knowledge is power” is true (which it obviously is) then it is no wonder that Facebook was recently valued at somewhere in the region of $85-100 billion, the recent figure bandied about related to its likely move to an IPO (initial public offering) this year or next in order to sell shares in the company.

With Facebook claiming well over 500 million users who are mostly active on a daily or weekly basis, Google has been seeking ways to divert some of this attention to its own social network considering it already has a huge email and search user base to leverage.

The challenge has not proved simple though, with first mover advantage going to Facebook (seen as MySpace was so utterly useless in the end) the rise of Facebook has been a phenomenal success.

Google have tipped a toe into attempting to offer real time social networking via Google Wave (which was a total washout) and Google Buzz but this had such a poor adoption rate and was never really understood in terms of its benefits or its penetration (who cared that you pressed a buzz button) and has since died a slow death by and large.

With the release of the Google +1 button the other week as an alternative to the popular Facebook like button, people in Internet land were curious as to what was really going on at Mountain View.

Along with SEO experts, people in the know were very curious to learn more about what this would mean for search results, ranking and whatever else might be behind the obvious Google buzz revamp.

The answer we find today is Google has a rival social network called Google Plus.

Bringing a blend of the familiar, image sharing, messaging, commenting etc the company will also integrate its maps and image areas into the service.

Project Spartan scares Android and Apple:

With the news that Facebook is bringing in a new HTML5 Facebook app marketplace codenamed “Project Spartan” a function that aims to retain more people within the Facebook browser by offering users a chance to buy and use apps from their own store. Android owners Google must have felt there was a real need to push through this alternative to Facebook as soon as possible….seen as Facebook seem to be treading on the toes of Apple and Google Android at the same time.

Missing features Facebook wants:

Some areas that Google Plus can instantly brag about will be its chat function ported from Gmail, something many Google mail users are already pretty smitten about, a truly quality rival to Skype that also offers video.

Other than this there seems to be very little difference between the two platforms.

Here are the terms that Google will use to rival Facebook’s own social language:

[arrowlist]

• Circles – a functionality that allows individuals to place friends into groups, allowing users to share different forms of content with targeted clusters of friends
• Hangouts – live multi-user video conferencing that permits friends to drop in and out of live group conversations
• Huddle – group instant messaging
• Sparks – a feature that connects individuals on the network to others with common interests

[/arrowlist]

There is nothing radical about the above but I do personally like the Sparks feature and see potential in this and also look forward to seeing how the group video chat works and also the circles interface.

A LinkedIn/Facebook hybrid for business:

Could Google+ be the Facebook/LinkedIn Hybrid that the business world has been seeking?

With Gmail already enticing a large percentage of business people, freelancers and Internet workers and Google offering business tools such as Google docs and its new cloud applications, maybe Google+ can market itself as the social network for business.

Goolge+ the business persons Facebook?

Google+ could offer a means of creating useful connections like happens currently on LinkedIn rather than simply telling people you already know that you have a raging hangover.

Marry a Facebook like interface and you have potential in my eyes…plus the advertising potential could be more valuable and pertinent.

The difficulty Google face:

In its current form Google+ is only by invitation only and released to a small amount of users. In the near future and assuming all goes to plan Google aims to release the service to its millions of daily users, and will have its fingers crossed that adoption is significant.

With Facebook already the commanding force in the social networking arena, with groups, visitors, and networks already formed, many people will want to know why they should make the effort to go to a smaller network that offers very little extra in the way of features, and nothing currently that Facebook could not roll out at the drop of a hat (rumours were that Facebook could have been the buyers of Skype before Microsoft bought the VOIP company)

Debra Aho Williamson is quoted saying:

“People have their social circles on Facebook – asking them to create another social circle is challenging.”

Will Google+ simply enroll all its Gmail users like it did with Google Buzz Initially?

We doubt Google will fall prey to this after getting its fingers wrapped by the US justice system for deceiving its users and violating its own privacy policy but it may be the only way that will make this new social network….well….work!

What are your thoughts does the World need a new social network, or should Google+ focus on a niche such as LinkedIn users who want a Facebook interface?

But even in the most remote of villages 3G connections are easy to access and 4G is on its way, couple this with being able to obtain a new Android smart phone for under $100 and you see that things are very different in South East Asia.

With 8 networks already in existence in Cambodia, users of mobile devices are spoilt for choice and with this competition comes aggressive pricing and as a result some very unique behaviour has emerged of native mobile users, dictated to by the operators.

Pre Pay SIMS dominate:

Some offer there SIMS for free, others come with credit.

And in marketplaces such as Phnom Penh’s Old Market, sellers report that people buy multiple SIMS to take advantage of offers.

Phones which can work with up to three SIM cards are both very popular and very cheap.

With a population of around 14 million, the government boast that there are around 10 million connections, while the mobile network operators will readily admit that at least half of these are used by active users, as the trend is to move from deal to deal.

Marketing tactics:

When walking down a main market street in Cambodia, the methods to entice buyers are nothing short of crude and in your face.

The most common method is to hire a booth with a DJ playing deafening music (some irony here it seems) to would be mobile users, a little touch of salesmanship via an MC and you have Cambodia’s guerilla marketing machine.

“With networks competing on price and service, customers are looking to upgrade – and take advantage of cheap 3G connections. Smart phones are being marketed heavily – and snapped up quickly.”

Beeline network:

Beeline are a majority Russian owned mobile network, and with black and yellow branding are trying to create a “buzz” across Cambodia.

Commercial director Benoit Janin is quoted saying:

“The mobile penetration rate is still low and the Cambodian economy is developing very fast,” – “This is an interesting opportunity for investors.”

The coalface of mobile selling in Cambodia:

“The iPhone is our big seller,” says Butho, as he sits behind the counter of his Central Phone shop in Phnom Penh. “Nokia is going down and other smart phones are selling better, like HTC.”

Mobile Social Media in South East Asia:

Social Media is a growing phenomenon in South East Asia and Cambodia.

“They start by sharing things about their daily lives, like their wedding photos,” says Santel Phin, aka Khmer Bird a Cambodia blogger. “But more advanced users have started to talk about politics and the problems facing our society.”

So there you have it, the rise of the smart phone is well and truly Global, can you see the marketeers rub their legs in anticipation?

MOD wants to spread the news to not spread the news, socially.

With a dig at Twitter, Facebook and FourSquare the MOD have set the tone of the videos as pretty surreal humour with a balaclava wearing “terrorist” making friends with the videos protagonists.

I personally think they are done quite well for the message they are trying to convey.

Why?

They fall into a number of set criteria for good viral video, around 1 minute or under, mildly humorous, different..i.e a bit surreal, and a clear message.

What good it will actually do with the unseen threat I am unsure.

Though it does seem like we are fighting teenagers, so maybe it is an inspired move to clamp down on nosey mobile phone obsessed youths on social networks.

So anyway here are the videos:

Personal Security Online 1

“Cor’ blimey your fit Mr terrorist”

Checking into FourSquare while utterly pretend wired, does seem a touch ironic.

Personal Security Online 2

“Fancy a cuppa Mr terrorist?”

So make of them what you will, they are well produced though.

Ah the tower of Babylon calls…manically of course!…we are all doomed!

And why all this sudden social engineering?

Its all go at Google!

Firstly Google unveiled its new competitor to the popular Facebook like button, called Google Plus 1, it is a way of approving a post or site and distributing this into Google’s algorithm.

We hope this could prove useful for separating the wheat from the chaff ion terms of quality content and search engine results, something Google is seeking to improve and get to grips with after the release of Panda which we will look at in more depth below.

Watch the video here to learn more about Google Plus one:

Google Panda:

As you may well be aware, the rise of Facebook and LinkedIn along with other options of advertising on mobile technology has left Google wondering how much longer the attack on their own lofty position as Global advertising kings will go on for.

The answer to this is completely open ended.

Watch a funny video on Panda here:

So is this time for a change or simply to be seen to be making a change?

Many of you will already be aware that Google released a new algorithm called Panda, this was supposed to be working on a number of levels to benefit users of the number one search engine.

But how does Panda work?

Firstly it is aimed at doing away with scraped content and poor value sites getting good search engine results.

There has been a long standing problem of websites that use scraped content (copied) and have great deals of success in beating original content creators in the search results.

The issue partly arose out of the crawl rate (time it takes Google spiders to notice and cache new content) of Google spiders being different for each website, the fact that Google can take anything from a few minutes to crawl and pick up content from sites like the BBC to a few days for lesser known blogs has posed a serious loophole for working out who the original creator was.

This obviously means that many sites could in the interim, pick up this content, add it to their site and hope for the best as it may be deemed original if it has not been picked up already by Google’s robots and cached.

I believe this is unfair and many people were starting to question the power and perhaps morals of Google if they can not work out if a site relies on copied content or is an original producer of worth while “stuff”.

Of course this is not easy but it is hardly impossible to work out which sites rely on this method of content acquisition, and so Panda included an algorithm that apparently will be looking at these factors and changing the results for the better.

i.e not giving sites that have very little original content search results that they perhaps do not deserve….result…?

Has Panda worked or not?

In my opinion and according to data, not yet. Only a very small (roughly 2%) of results have been affected, I personally see sites I am aware of still scraping content and getting results but there has been some shift for some sites that perhaps do not deserve the results they have been getting, notably coupon and money saving sites have been hit hard, wonder why!!

Will this mean advertisers have full trust in Google restored….not in my opinion, many in the know are looking at other avenues and I am sure this will grown with more options becoming apparent daily.

Google robots on speed.

Panda was supposed to also be working on speed on two levels, firstly in terms of the time it is taking to acknowledge new content and cache this in the results, and also how long a sites pages take to load….the faster and less time the page loads the better, a little tick for your site the faster it is.

Panda cache speeds

I have personally seen posts on another website I run get picked up in the search engine results within a few minutes since Panda was released…literally one or two minutes, and the site is both new and not full of content yet, this is markedly different than prior to Panda when for the same site I was looking at a day or so on average of new posts to get cached and picked up by the Google bots.

Summary on Panda:

I am personally unsure about the benefits and have seen very little difference but do hope that it is the start of things to come. As Panda gets more sophisticated perhaps it will start truly penalising sites that only copy content, which in turn should improve the results for people searching for news and content.

What are your thoughts on Panda and the Plus One Buttons, let us know.

There are now over 500,000 applications to be bought or downloaded for free on the Apple App Store or Android Marketplace
Applications for these devices are so popular that the Apple App store hit 10 Billion downloads in just over 30 months, which took the music industry twice as long to reach for songs.

The problem many developers face is two fold:
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• How to get your App noticed with so many applications available.
• How to make people use your application beyond 90 days where only 1% of applications still get used.

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Social applications work better:

Arguably the leader in mobile apps design and development a company called Zynga do social applications really well.

Social applications work by allowing the user to interact with people online and through existing social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

The popular Words with friends app is a shining example of how to use social networks to connect people and drive usage of an application that allows interaction on so many levels.

Making an application dynamic and changeable every time it is used is a sure fire way to create longevity of interest when it may well have waned minus these options.

Social connectivity:

Allowing people to share scores, messages, and updates on social networking sites means you also have a larger chance of free promotion long after you have released the app and the initial buzz dies down, this helps to increase the appeal to a wider audience for a longer period of time.

Mobile social media usage:

According to the influential Nielson group, a recent study has shown that mobile social networking (thanks to Ipads, Tablets and Smartphone’s) has increased by 240% in one year alone.

And over 60% of mobile Internet usage is on social networks.

With so many creative new applications being developed it will be the developers who pay particular attention to connectivity and social networking options that see the best returns and largest user base.

What are you favourite applications that have social aspects embedded in to the experience?

When one of your own designers (Timoni West) publicly tears apart a fundamental design flaw in Flickr as part of the user experience in her own blog, you know that the rot is likely to have set in at the Flickr camp for some time.

So who is the main competitor on the scenes?

The name we keep hearing about is 500px a plucky little upstart that has just found itself with a Series A funding windfall of around $500,000 thanks to its attention to user experience and the various ways it aims to stick to its core ethos of helping photographers reach a wider audience.

How are they going to differentiate from the rest?

Community:

Flickr never really allowed much engagement with its sterile complicated interface.

Dig like buttons:

People love to vote and share its what makes the Internet social.

Ipad and Iphone support:

We all know how good photos look on an Ipad so they have developed a fancy HTML5 and JavaScript based app so you can look and share your photos with friend in style.

Flickr dead?

Well if the essence of Timoni’s post is to be taken in full context, the fact that it was written after a proposed total overhaul of the user experience was pitched a year ago and nothing actioned.

It does look like Flickr could be taking things way too slowly to steer a course of beneficial outcomes for the team and company in the near future, time will obviously tell.

Your voice?

So what do you think of the Flickr issues?

And when you have had chance to evaluate 500px let us know where you think they succeed and perhaps also are currently failing….we love to hear your constructive comments!