Social Media … a love affair?

September 14th, 2011
Social media, mountain biking and motherhood

Being a virgin blogger, I thought that I should stick to a subject I know about. So that would be mountain biking. I know what the guys are thinking, what…not social media? Not PR or popular culture? Well I do still listen to Radio ‘bore’ and as I keep saying to ‘those guys’ it’s good to temper their youth and enthusiasm with some age and experience!

Better get back on [the metaphorical not single] track here if blogs aren’t supposed to wax lyrical and morph into a dissertation.

So I thought I could take a look at how technology and social media has evolved my mountain biking experience. Well first off, I read a review of the trail on t’internet, then used my sat nav to get there.

Then comes the sweet bit. Updated my Facebook status, received a couple of likes and comments. On arrival checked into the visitors centre; yep you doubters in the office – I am now using Four Square. Nobody had explained to me how cool it was. Able to score points, win badges, a bit like geocaching for girl scouts.

Ah geocaching.  Whilst on my ride I was able to plant one for our client @duerrs1881. And even email my colleague from the car park what I had done and where, in fact got the co-ordinates on my BlackBerry.

And now I can post this blog via a tiny URL on Twitter, on Facebook, on Linked in.  Wish somebody had told me all about this stuff sooner! ;o) [for those of you who don’t know that’s my catchphrase in the office].

All I need to do now is upgrade the Blackberry to an iPhone and I can start using trailguru.com , will it never end…..

In fact I think it has only just begun.  Pretty good start for a once-luddite.  Still trying to decide if social media has, indeed, taken over my life.  And for my four year old son, no doubt it will be a way of life. Much like being a mother, once you have fallen in love with it, there is no going back.

by and tagged , , , , ,
Posted in Democracy, social media, Technology | No Comments »

The ‘surprising’ possibilities of Foursquare

November 26th, 2010
surprise_gift_250_x_340

KLM airlines are using Four Square, the location-based social networking site,  to introduce a new incentive scheme that will ‘spread happiness’ amongst their customers. When people check in to one of their venues, a KLM ‘Surprise’ team will then delve in to their social networking profiles and create a bespoke gift for that person. For one customer, the team managed to discover that he was missing out on a big football game while away in New York, and so they ‘surprised ‘ him with a Lonely Planet guide highlighting all the best soccer bars in the city so that he wouldn’t miss out.

It’s a lovely idea in theory- tailoring an unexpected gift that is specific to the individual certainly goes above and beyond for customer service.

Yet I can’t help but feel it’s slightly creepy, and in my head George Orwell is screaming ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ at me (a strange image, I grant you).  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not naive and realise that this type of information is readily available to those in the know should they want to acquire it, and inevitably we are going to see a lot more of this personalised form of marketing as it enters the mainstream. Such blatant use of personal data is exciting, I just wonder if Joe Public is quite ready for it yet?

by and tagged
Posted in Marketing, social media, Technology | No Comments »

Facebook gets square

September 1st, 2010
you are here

There have always been rumours about Mark Zuckerburg , if the strapline of the new facebook film is anything to go by anyway:  ’You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies’.

If you’re not familiar the story goes that the world’s most successful social network may not have been entirely his idea, but then are any ideas ever totally original?

The inspiration for these philosophical ramblings is the launch of Facebook Places, essentially an introduction of the services already offered by the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla into Facebook’s smartphone app.

In brief users log their locations or ‘check in’ from a list of places generated by the app in response to GPS technology. In the existing apps users can earn points, rewards and badges.

Clearly in a commercial sense brands investing in rewards and prizes makes more sense on Facebook because of its superior user numbers, but as with the rest of the online world you have to decide who you’re after. Because of their release policies and early adopters Gowalla and Foursquare have difference audiences and it remains to be seen which sectors of the Facebook community take up the offer of Facebook Places.

In a true lesson from Zuckerburg himself we’ll be keeping a close eye on how things pan out in America in the run up to the UK release, and learning from the experiences of others.

by and tagged , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The digital future of the BBC

June 9th, 2010
BBC Coat of arms

This is a rather bold headline but I’m feeling very cheerful about the digital future of the beeb this morning after an informative evening last night spent at the second There Will Be Blood event at Common in Manchester. (That’s the BBC coat of arms in case you’re wondering.)

The second speaker, Hugh Garry, although at pains to make clear he was expressing his own opinions and not those of his employer, outlined an interesting creative vision for the potential of the future of the BBC’s audio content. I probably won’t be able to recap as well as him so here’s Hugh’s blog with links to a few of the projects he mentioned.

I, of course, threw in my two pence worth with the idea that I was happy for user generated content to pop up on radio stations, websites and the BBC’s social profiles but I was less keen on the idea of the user generated Middle East Correspondent or host of Question Time; and thankfully Hugh agreed.

Alongside being a classic early adopter and evangelist for new social technologies he also issued a note of caution citing ITV’s snapping up of Friend’s Reunited before it had had a chance to prove itself, and the subsequent substantial loss.

Although the next big thing can be tempting it’s always worth sitting back and watching it grow with its audience, as he pointed out it’s unlikely to be Foursquare or Gowalla that make their millions from location based technology but another company that right now is watching, waiting and thinking.

A selection of film clips from the night will be uploaded later in the week – so do check back.

by and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Media, social media, Technology, Uncategorized | No Comments »