I like how this story in Advertising Age starts:
“Last week, a client told me that they don’t allow employees to access YouTube at work. “Do your employees carry cellphones?” I asked. The answer was yes, of course. Well then, most of them already have access to YouTube – right in their pockets.”
Very true. And so I would add this additional reason to the five very good reasons listed in the article:
- Providing social networks to employees can be a competitive advantage to employers. You can attractive people more easily if they know you allow employees to use social networks and your employees will spend less time accessing them on things like their cell phones and therefore be more productive.
Check out the article in Advertising Age, especially if you are blocking or considering block social networks at your work location.
What struck me when I came across this list at ReadWriteWeb.com, iPad Arrives April 3rd: 8 Apps We Can’t Wait to Try, is that many of the apps that they are talking about are media related (the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and others). There are some games there, but the expectation and anticipation expressed in this post on RWW centers on media. I expect these apps will be exciting, but I wonder if this will lead to a wave of more media companies shifting to the iPad. I think to a large degree it will depend on a) how successful people like the WSJ are and b) what other plans media companies have.
Regardless, I think it will be exciting and I expect to see developers for the iPad provide capabilities not even designed yet.
I think this explains itself: Israeli Raid Canceled After Facebook Leak from The Lede Blog on NYTimes.com. What is encouraging is that the military in countries like the U.S. see the value in social media and don’t ban it outright.
Well, not yet, but come fall 2019, they could be, according to this post on Mashable.com that says that:
“Mattel is about to launch a toy that will brighten the lives of some dog lovers … It’s called Puppy Tweet, and it gives your dog the ability to send Twitter updates about what he or she is doing….The collar detects when your dog moves or make a sound, then randomly selects one of 500 pre-written tweets to post to Twitter (Twitter). Your dog has to be within a reasonable distance of the room with your computer in it, though; the tweets are sent wirelessly from the collar to a USB receiver that has to be plugged into a supported Internet-connected device…Since the selection is random, the tweets don’t really represent what your dog is doing. It’s more a placebo that reminds you that your beloved pet is out there doing something, whatever it is. They’re cute though. A couple examples: “I finally caught that tail I’ve been chasing, and . . . OOUUUCHH!” and “I bark because I miss you. There, I said it. Now hurry home.”
It will sell for $29.99 on places like Amazon. No word out on whether there will be something for the goldfish, but if this takes off, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Now that people and organizations have been blogging, setting up Facebook groups, and participating in social media generally, they have had an opportunity to gather feedback. And some of that has been and will be negative. Alot of that feedback is valuable and worthwhile responding to. Other feedback (e.g. from trolls) is not worth your while and indeed may have been actively managed.
If you feel this applies to you, read this mashable.com post, HOW TO: Deal With Negative Feedback in Social Media
This article, What are the most useful social media tools for small business? – Trends in the Living Networks, has a great list of a range of online tools you can use as a small business to communicate, connect, organize and run your small business. Many of them you may already be familiar with, but there’s likely a few that will be new to you.
I also recommend this list to anyone who works for a larger company but is responsible for using social media within their part of the organization. These could be the right low cost for you and your group if you don’t have a larger, enterprise-wide solution to tap into.
Nieman Journalism Lab has provided a great example of how to crowdsource, courtesy of the Guardian.
The Guardian’s had a big problem, they were going to get scooped by a competitor while having to deal with too much data to process in too little time. Solution? Crowdsourcing.
So what did they do?
“….wait for the associated public-records dump, shovel it all on your Web site next to a simple feedback interface and enlist more than 20,000 volunteers to help you find the needles in the haystack.
Your cost for the operation? One full week from a software developer, a few days’ help from others in his department, and £50 to rent temporary servers.”
Sounds easy, right? Well not easy, but not as hard as it might seem if you follow the lessons offered in this article. Check it out, as well as the Nieman Journalism Lab in general.
…can be seen in this video here:
[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn1brUCqEjE"]
Lots of fascinating statistics, linked with a theme, presented well. One of the reasons for the powerful changes that digital technology is bringing on like the juggernaut that it is.
Thanks to thetrendwatch.com for this.
There’s a good interview with the Director of Innovation at Kraft on why they are charging 99 cents for their app when they could just give it away. Anyone developing and marketing an iPhone App should check this out in Advertising Age.
National Resource Canada – part of the Government of Canada is recruiting in 2009. Here’s part of their pitch to new recruits:
“At Natural Resources Canada, we don’t just think outside the box. We work outside the box.
As well as pens, paper and computers, the tools of the trade might include a pick, or a shovel, a GPS and camping gear. And on some days, the closest thing to a colleague might have feathers or fur.
….
We don’t block YouTube or Facebook. Our people decide what tools help them to work as a team and to get the job done. Our very own Wiki helps give wings to the most creative ideas, whether they come from a senior manager or someone at entry level.”
For companies that are recruiting new (and not so new) hires, you should be aware that some organizations competing for the same people are offering access to social media tools as a benefit. I think you should too.
