“Photos are memories of the people, places and moments that mean the most to us,” the company blog said. “We have always sought to give you simple and expressive ways to bring the stories behind your photos to life. Your captions and hashtags capture the ‘what?’ and your Photo Map answers the ‘where?’ but until today we’ve never quite been able to answer the ‘who?’”

As with many features that give other people access to your information online, yes – there is a way to adjust your settings and control who sees what. There will now be a “Photos of You” section on profiles, with the option to adjust settings so users can approve a photo before others can see it. Users can also opt to hide a photo tagged of them from their profile by simply tapping on their name in the tagged photo and selecting “Hide from My Profile.” On the flip side, if you decide you actually do want people to see that photo, go through the same steps and select “Show on My Profile.” They can also completely remove themselves from a tagged photo by tapping their name on a tagged photo, selecting “More Options” and then “Remove Me from Photo.”

Just like getting tagged in a photo or post on Facebook, you will receive a notification if someone tags you in a photo. If your Instagram account is private, only people following you will be able to see photos tagged of you.

Users can tag any other Instagram account in a photo, including friends, brands and businesses. For now, only you can tag your own photos. You have until May 16 to play with the feature until the section is available for others to see.

More questions? Click here for Instagram’s help center on the Photos of You feature.

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Happy New Year! - Dec 31, 2012

Twitter Filters and Instagram Update - Dec 11, 2012

Instagram and Twitter - 'Social Media Frenemies' - Dec 06, 2012

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Twitter Rolls Out Video Sharing Service Vine - Jan 24, 2013

Year in Review -- 2012 on Social Media - Dec 27, 2012

Pinterest Goes After the Bad Guys - Removes Spam Accounts for Good - Dec 07, 2012

Justin Bieber and Social Media - Nov 30, 2012

Sephora: 'Digital is in Our DNA' - Nov 20, 2012

If the hashtag reaches one million mentions, the interns will have to endure an EF-5 tornado. Currently, the wind speed is at 121 mph and there have been more than 24.6 tweets.

Kevin Planovsky of Vert, the agency tracking the #TornadoWeek tweets, told Mashable the wind speed is effective wind speed, not actual wind speed; it is a representation of how it feels in the room.

This is a great way to utilize social media to raise awareness and get the public to tune in to your website, or in this case, week-long show series. Tornado Week features different TV specials every night this week, including Storm Riders, Truth Twisters and Space Weather. Keep tweeting to see how (if) these interns handle a full-blown tornado!

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter! - Mar 21, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Twitter at the Oscars: 8.9 Million Tweets - Feb 25, 2013

What Would I Do #IfIHadGlass? - Feb 20, 2013

LL Cool J and The Hashtag Grammys - Feb 11, 2013

Twitter Updates Search and Discover - Feb 08, 2013

Go Social at ITEXPO Miami - Jan 28, 2013

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Just because someone “Likes” a show on social media, does that mean they are actually watching it? The Internet (and as such, social media networks) and television have been seen somewhat as enemies because of how easy it is for users to access everything TV offers and more with the click of a mouse. What TV offers, the Internet can provide, but on-demand, from multiple resources and with more features. However, a recent study takes a different spin on the relationship between the Internet and television – a complementary one.

CitizenNet, a predictive desktop marketing tool, recently conducted a survey that found a 3-percent increase in Likes on a show’s Facebook page usually translates to a 1-percent growth in viewership --- aka, Facebook activity leads to increased TV ratings.

The study took in account metrics such as click-through rate, people talking about this and other figures to come up with a value for predicted viewership and compared it with how many people actually watched the show. The study focused on two metrics for predicted viewership: total number of people who liked the show’s page (awareness) and the average click-through rate of a page’s content (intent).  Comparing Likes and click-through rates with Nielsen ratings found that Facebook activity does a have a correlation with viewership.

CitizenNet emphasizes that it’s not just about getting the most Likes; pages have to produce content that will encourage people to engage and interact. TV shows have adopted this idea of social TV to incorporate social media with television. Some ways different shows have taken advantage of social media include:

• Featuring a “Fan of the week”

• Live-tweeting

It's @sarahsimmusic vs. @duncankamakana performing @ladyantebellum's "Wanted You More" up next for #TeamAdam

— The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) April 24, 2013

As much of hard ass Juliette is, I hafta say she IS trying to do the right thing. It's easy to become people's puppets in this biz!

— hayden panettiere (@haydenpanettier) March 28, 2013

• Bringing an in-depth, interactive feel beyond the TV screen by actually creating websites used in the TV show. Example A: tedmosbyisajerk.com (See: How I Met Your Mother)

• Offering promotions related to the show.

So, let’s bring it back to the original question, “What do Facebook Likes have to do with TV ratings?” First, as CitizenNet helped us find out, they can help increase them. Second, as modern day shows such as Glee, New Girl, The Voice, How I Met Your Mother, Nashville and Girls show us, utilizing social media  as a platform to complement the TV show not only helps increase viewership but also makes it a more engaging and fun experience.

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter! - Mar 21, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Twitter at the Oscars: 8.9 Million Tweets - Feb 25, 2013

Go Social at ITEXPO Miami - Jan 28, 2013

Twitter Rolls Out Video Sharing Service Vine - Jan 24, 2013

A Very Viral 2013 - Jan 18, 2013

Yo Quiero Taco Bell....On My Speedo - Jan 07, 2013

Happy New Year! - Dec 31, 2012

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, YouTube and Vine are all outlets that let travelers share their experiences with all of their connections. I don’t know about you, but when I get time off from my everyday life to explore the world, I’m a very happy person. Researchers from the University of Vermont tend to agree.

Morgan Frank, Lewis Mitchell, Peter Dodds and Christopher Danforth recently analyzed 37 million tweets from 180,000 individuals to see how the sentiments people express over Twitter change as they move further away from their average location. Turns out, we’re further away we are, the happier we become -- or at least on Twitter.

People tweet largely from two locations: work and home. The research found that people in cities tend to travel over a larger area than people who live in less densely populated areas.

Using an established scale of happiness associated with common words, the researchers measured the sentiments of each tweet based on location. Tweets that were written thousands of kilometers from an individuals’ expected location are more likely to contain the words “beach,” “great,” “restaurant and less likely to contain negative words such as “no,” “don’t” and “hate.” Researchers say the biggest difference in expressed happiness levels is the result of the reduced use of these negative words when further from home.

This isn’t the first time Twitter sentiments have been measured and analyzed. A team at the Vermont Complex Systems center recently posted a report, “The Geography of Happiness: Connecting Twitter sentiment and expression, demographics, and objective characteristics of place,” which studied the correlations between real-time expressions of individuals across the U.S. and a wide range of emotional, geographic, demographic and health characteristics.

The report analyzed more than 80 million words generated over the course of several recent years on Twitter, revealing the happiest states (Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Utah and Vermont) and saddest states (Louisiana, Mississippi, Maryland, Michigan and Delaware.) Similar to the University of Vermont study, this report based its analysis on the appearance and frequency of words such as rainbow, love, beauty, hope, wonderful and wine to determine happiness and words like damn, boo, ugly, smoke, hate and lied to determine sadness.

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

Year in Review -- 2012 on Social Media - Dec 27, 2012

Justin Bieber and Social Media - Nov 30, 2012

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Twitter Rolls Out Video Sharing Service Vine - Jan 24, 2013

A Very Viral 2013 - Jan 18, 2013

Yo Quiero Taco Bell....On My Speedo - Jan 07, 2013

Happy New Year! - Dec 31, 2012

Share Videos Instantly with YouTube Capture - Dec 17, 2012

Twitter Filters and Instagram Update - Dec 11, 2012

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

This week, you may have noticed a pink equal sign on a red background circulating on social media networks. The Human Rights Campaign posted the photo on Monday, which quickly circulated to more than 10 million people on Facebook alone, in response to nine justices in the U.S. Supreme Court hearing arguments over Proposition 8, a law that prohibited same-sex marriage in California, and the constitutionality of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), which limits the federal definition of marriage to heterosexual unions.

Basically, the challenge to DOMA is fueled by the notion that marriage is a matter of state rather than federal regulation, and the challenge to Proposition 8 is a direct challenge to such a decision by a state. The overriding legal question in the case is whether the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law prevents states from defining marriage as that state has.

Read more about the relationship between DOMA and Proposition 8 here.

What I saw a lot this week, in addition to the proliferation of red and pink equal signs, was not so much anti-same-sex marriage opinions, but those against bringing issues like this to social media, where people who may not be educated on these issues tend to “bandwagon” onto the movement.

I can’t help but be frustrated with these remarks. First of all, would you rather social media be entirely dominated with GIFs of cats, memes and YouTube videos? Social media is one of, if not the best places for a movement or campaign to quickly gain widespread awareness.

It’s important that we use these channels to educate and raise awareness on topics that affect our community.

I understand the frustration and annoyance people experience from political posts on social media, especially during election season. Nobody really wants to scroll down a news feed full of raging opinions that half of the time lack evidence or education – and don’t even solve anything. The latter is a key argument I hear often; what’s the point of debating or discussing these things on social media when nobody is really going to stop child or domestic abuse, feed the hungry in Africa or legalize same-sex marriage, from a simple Like, tweet or profile picture?

They’re right: I’m sure that a person who abuses his or her family won’t see your tweet and think, “I should really stop doing this.” The Supreme Court doesn’t care about Internet memes or Facebook profile pictures. But I’ll tell you what your posts, shares and pictures do: they spread the word and help educate the people you interact with everyday, which in turn does translate to the governing bodies that can make a difference in these issues. It’s a way to show your support, where you otherwise may not have your voice heard.

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

“You and your readers will have the ability to reply directly to comments left on your Page content and start conversation threads, which will make it easier for you to interact directly with individual readers and keep relevant conversations connected,” said Vadim Lavrusik, journalism program manager, Facebook, in a blog post. “Also, the most active and engaging conversations among your readers will be surfaced at the top of your posts ensuring that people who visit your Page will see the best conversations.

The feature is available right now for Pages only, and Facebook will bring it to all pages with more than 10,000 followers by July 10, 2013. Users will be able to opt into the Replies through the Page admin panel and on the flip side, can turn off the option the same way. Pages are generally instigating discussion-style comments, so it makes sense the roll-out is starting here.

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Facebook Graph Search - First Impressions - Jan 25, 2013

Pinterest Goes After the Bad Guys - Removes Spam Accounts for Good - Dec 07, 2012

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter! - Mar 21, 2013

UPenn Admissions Officer Fired for Making Fun of Applicant Essays on Facebook - Mar 01, 2013

Twitter at the Oscars: 8.9 Million Tweets - Feb 25, 2013

What is Tinder and Why Are People Using it? - Feb 22, 2013

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

just setting up my twttr

— Jack Dorsey (@jack) March 21, 2006

Today, Twitter has 200 million active users who send 400 million tweets per day.

“As we’ve grown, Twitter has become a true global town square — a public place to hear the latest news, exchange ideas and connect with people all in real time. This is where you come to connect with the world at large,” Karen Wickre, editorial director at Twitter, wrote in a blog post.

Wickre could not be more right – Twitter has evolved into a platform for real-time response, opinions and information, especially for major events. You can’t watch the Grammys, the Super Bowl, March Madness or any breaking news without seeing an overwhelming number of tweets related to the topic.

In celebration of Twitter’s seventh birthday, here are the top seven moments on the microblogging site.

1. Dorsey’s first tweet, which was also the world’s first.
2. The uprising in Iran, which drew millions of Iranians into the streets and elicited an unprecedented number of tweets about a political election.
3. Haiti earthquake response; journalists used mobile networks to post messages, photos and news on Twitter.
4. Sohaib Athar’s leak on the raid on Osama bin Laden. “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).”
5. The response to the Japanese earthquake and tsumani validated the site as a place to go for information as well as to vent feelings of grief.
6. “Four more years.” by Barack Obama after winning the 2012 presidential election remains the most retweeted tweet to date.
7. Turning control of @pontifex to Pope Francis ignited 130,000 tweets per minute.

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

Twitter Rolls Out Video Sharing Service Vine - Jan 24, 2013

Year in Review -- 2012 on Social Media - Dec 27, 2012

How to Tweet for the President of the United States - Nov 19, 2012

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Twitter at the Oscars: 8.9 Million Tweets - Feb 25, 2013

Go Social at ITEXPO Miami - Jan 28, 2013

A Very Viral 2013 - Jan 18, 2013

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Over the past few weeks I’ve caught myself finishing a task and automatically redirecting to Facebook. A few seconds after looking at my news feed, I realize I didn’t come here for a specific purpose and I really don’t even have much to catch up on, but I still visit the site regularly. Sitting at a computer and writing for the Web all day, it’s now second nature for me to click in and out of Facebook throughout a typical work day.

It’s not unusual to see college students deactivate Facebook around finals or midterms because the social network is a huge distraction and time-suck. Some people just deactivate to get back the “personal” part of their lives. There have been plenty of studies that dig deeper into whether this habit, the one that’s preventing us from studying for tests, completing tasks or creating personal connections in real life, becomes a legitimate addiction.

I would not consider myself addicted to Facebook. I’ve never felt the need to deactivate my account to get some part of my life back, I rarely use it on the weekends and I don’t feel withdrawal if I’m ever not on the site. It’s just simply a habit for me, Monday through Friday.

The importance of social media to businesses is constantly talked about, and for employees like myself, who deal with Web content, marketing, SEO and brand awareness, it’s kind of impossible to not visit social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook throughout the work week. Statistics prove bloggers are more active on Facebook and Twitter, especially because these social networks have become a primary form of communication.

Kicking the Habit

There are a lot of articles and tips out there with advice on how to break the Facebook addiction.  For me, here are five ways I started to cut down on Facebook time.

1. Remove it from your bookmarks.

It’s become a systematic routine for me to automatically click on my Facebook bookmark when opening a new tab or window in my browser. It’s not like you’re ever going to forget what Facebook’s URL is. Removing it just takes away the immediate outlet for access to the social network.

2. Turn off chat.

It’s hard to stay off Facebook if friends are constantly chatting with you. Don’t sign off mid-conversation, because a) that’s rude and b) it will just make you come back to check on it. If you use Facebook for chat

3. Create a reward system.

If you’re finding yourself constantly checking in to Facebook, wean yourself off it with a productive reward-based to-do list. Give yourself X amount of tasks, and tell yourself you can check Facebook after you complete those tasks. This is probably for people that are more on the addicted side of Facebook, but it can only help you be more productive.

4. Shrink your friends list.

Disclaimer: I have a really big problem with this. I find it difficult to unfriend people. However, after a solid conversation with some coworkers, we’ve come to the conclusion that unfriending some Facebook friends cuts down on the people in your network, and therefore the number of posts you are trying to keep up with. Also, think about the people’s profiles you find yourself on consistently. Is it your close friends who you see multiple times a week? Maybe sometimes, but probably not. Facebook stalking has become a common term today because it’s so accurate; users are turning to Facebook to observe the lives of acquaintances, friends of friends and crushes, which they may not have known about if it weren’t for Facebook. If you’re like me and just can’t bring yourself to push that button, at least unsubscribe from them so you’re not constantly distracted in your news feed.

5. Delete the app

The times you will use the Facebook app are when you are most likely surrounded by people: with your friends, on public transportation, waiting on someone to meet up with or even walking. In all of these situations, try taking it back to the pre-smartphone days and interact with people, enjoy the scenery around you and avoid walking into another person or a pole. There are many other apps that could also contribute to the head-down walk and human avoidance, but Facebook is a start, especially if you’re trying to kick your habit of visiting the site as often.

Think you’re not addicted to Facebook? Take this quiz to find out!

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

Happy New Year! - Dec 31, 2012

Pinterest Goes After the Bad Guys - Removes Spam Accounts for Good - Dec 07, 2012

Justin Bieber and Social Media - Nov 30, 2012

Sephora: 'Digital is in Our DNA' - Nov 20, 2012

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Twitter Rolls Out Video Sharing Service Vine - Jan 24, 2013

Yo Quiero Taco Bell....On My Speedo - Jan 07, 2013

Year in Review -- 2012 on Social Media - Dec 27, 2012

Twitter Filters and Instagram Update - Dec 11, 2012

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Nadirah Farah Foley, a former admissions officer for the University of Pennsylvania, lost her job after sharing excerpts from applicants’ essays on her personal Facebook page. Not only was she sharing these essays, she was mocking them. The posts were made available through a collection of Facebook screenshots sent anonymously to Dean of Admissions Eric Furda and The Daily Pennsylvanian.

In the Facebook posts, Foley revealed intimate details about several applicants. One student wrote about his fear of going to the bathroom outdoors, which she sarcastically described as “another gem.” Foley also commented, "[S]top the madness" in response to one essay in which an applicant claimed to have a connection with Penn because he was circumcised there. The post attracted 19 Likes and more than a dozen comments at the time of the screenshot.

Many of these posts were also shared anonymously on College Confidential, an online forum about the college admission process that is popular among high school students. Foley also linked to a Tumblr site called “Admissions Problems,” which is a site designed in a similar fashion of popular blog What Should We Call Me as an outlet for daily admissions encounters and complaints.

Getting fired because you publicly made fun of applicants’ essays....#admissionsproblems

We get it, sometimes you just need to vent. If it has to be through social media, that’s fine. But as Linda Sharps from The Stir puts it, “There's a pretty big difference between posting something vague like ‘Having a rough day -- can't wait for happy hour!’ and posting an actual student essay in order to ridicule the topic.”

As of now, Penn’s admissions officers do not have specific guidelines on how or if they can use social media. The university is currently reviewing policy changes that cover the privacy of applicant data and essay information. Colin Gruenwald, the director of college admissions programs for Kaplan’s test preparation division, said the lack of formal guidelines is the current norm among institutions. Kaplan’s surveys of admissions offices show only 15 percent of institutions have mandated social media rules for admissions officers. Contradictory to what many teachers, parents, advisors and employers have warned today’s future college students, among those that have implemented rules, more than two-thirds enforce an outright ban on using social media networks to gather information on applicants.

Facebook has been around for almost nine years now. Social media is the norm today, and the rules of these networks go back to the golden rule, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.” Hey, you could lose your job. 

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Facebook Users Can Now Reply Directly to Comments - Mar 25, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter! - Mar 21, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Twitter at the Oscars: 8.9 Million Tweets - Feb 25, 2013

What is Tinder and Why Are People Using it? - Feb 22, 2013

How to Land the Ultimate Sports Social Media Job - Feb 14, 2013

Go Social at ITEXPO Miami - Jan 28, 2013

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Adele’s Skyfall performance was the second top-tweets-per-minute (TPM) moment, with 82,300 TPM. Skyfall winning Best Original Song followed in fourth with 64,000 TPM. Adele originally used social media to get fans excited for Skyfall last year by teasing the song on Twitter with a photo of the sheet music and the Facebook page with the song’s artwork.

twitter.com/OfficialAdele/…

— Adele (@OfficialAdele) October 1, 2012

The top-tweeted moment of the night was during the Best Picture award for Argo, receiving 85,300 TPM. First Lady Michelle Obama presented the award from the White House.

When Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress in a Leading Role, she made the top third moment on Twitter with 71,600 TPM. The Hunger Games and Silver Linings Playbook star tripped while making her way to the stage, eliciting her first words on stage to be “You guys are just standing up because you feel bad I fell and that’s really embarrassing but thank you.”

Following in fifth place on Twitter was for Anne Hathaway winning Best Actress in a Supporting Role with 60,400 TPM. Hathaway also was the inspiration for a new Twitter account last night, @HathawayNipple, which has almost 4,000 followers. “Anyone else feeling a little chilly? #Oscars” and “#LesNipplerables” are two of the account’s tweets from last night.

Twitter’s Oscars Index, a service that tracks social media sentiment about the top Oscars moments and people, rated Silver Linings Playbook at the best picture winner. The index tracks positive sentiment or nice comments -- if a nominee has an index of 80, comments about that nominee are more positive than roughly 80 percent of all the other terms on Twitter. The Index gave Silver Linings Playbook a score of 92.5 on a scale of 100. The Index correctly predicted five out of six Oscars winners.

Oscar host Seth MacFarlane got mixed reviews for the night on the micro-blogging site. Awkward and sexist jokes split the global audience for support and distaste.

Really with the slavery joke in the opening!!! And the Chris Brown and Rhianna joke??? Seth Macfarlane!!! N-word joke... #startitoff

— Black Positive Image (@blackposimage) February 25, 2013

8 Seth MacFarlane #Oscars quotes that would NEVER get you a date huff.to/13GbKGS

— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) February 25, 2013

.@sethmacfarlane is killing it right now.

— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) February 25, 2013

Seth MacFarlane’s sexist opening monologue has us all asking: Why can’t Tina and Amy host everything? natpo.st/XRdJaA

— National Post Arts (@nparts) February 25, 2013

IN MEMORIAM: SETH MACFARLANE'S HOSTING CAREER 2013-2013

— Steve Murray (@NPsteve) February 25, 2013

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter! - Mar 21, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Go Social at ITEXPO Miami - Jan 28, 2013

Twitter Rolls Out Video Sharing Service Vine - Jan 24, 2013

A Very Viral 2013 - Jan 18, 2013

Yo Quiero Taco Bell....On My Speedo - Jan 07, 2013

Happy New Year! - Dec 31, 2012

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Wait…let me say that again. It shows you who is around you, allows you to scroll through them a la Chatroulette and then chat and potentially meet up with someone if you’re interested in them. Remember when people thought Foursquare was creepy?

“Tinder advertises itself as a ‘fun way to break the ice... all anonymous until someone you like, likes you back,’ because god knows striking up a conversation is way too risky these days. No, with Tinder, you just have to download an app and scroll through a series of pictures pulled from Facebook,” said Rachel Ryan, a blogger for Huffington Post.

I’m torn with how I feel about this app.

Tinder was originally piloted on college campuses, and that is where it seems to have taken hold the most, according to Washington University’s Student Life newspaper. I can see how Tinder is exploding on campuses – the chances of you recognizing someone are becoming bigger, which can make it a fun social app for you and your friends, you probably want to meet as many people as possible when you’re in college and it opens a door of opportunity for the person you may always see around but never have the nerves to talk to. I’m all for meeting new people, but for post-grad life, I feel like there is a much larger window for you to get caught up in a creepy dilemma.

On the one hand, Tinder seems like another way technology is preventing us from face-to-face interactions and developing some form of actual social skills. On the other, I can see how this is doing the opposite and actually enabling face-to-face interaction. Maybe the social skills that people had 10 and 20 years just aren’t the same today; with all of these technology and social platforms, the skills now required are ones that allow you to embrace communicating with others through gadgets, mobile devices and computers.

For example, you still have to be able to keep a conversation going with these Tinder conversations. Business Insider came up with some of the best lines people used on the app:

For you Tinderers out there, have fun and BE SAFE. I would rather keep on reading funny pickup lines from this app than confirming my fears and reading headlines of Tinder gone wrong. Happy Tindering. 

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

Twitter Rolls Out Video Sharing Service Vine - Jan 24, 2013

Year in Review -- 2012 on Social Media - Dec 27, 2012

Share Videos Instantly with YouTube Capture - Dec 17, 2012

Twitter Filters and Instagram Update - Dec 11, 2012

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Facebook Users Can Now Reply Directly to Comments - Mar 25, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter! - Mar 21, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Now, the company is looking for Glass Explorers to test and shape the future of Glass. Using Google+ or Twitter, Google wants users to write what they would do if they had Glass with the hashtag #ifihadglass. Even just reading about the different ideas people have for putting this technology to use is pretty cool – whether you think they look ridiculous or not, it is about to change a lot about how we share things.

The hashtag inevitably turned into an opportunity for people to make fun of the glasses, but it is pulling in hundreds of tweets nonetheless. #IfIHadGlass I would just love to show people my perspective. Would probably end up walking into a pole trying to walk and talk to Glass.

The contest is running until Feb. 27, and Google will reach out to certain individuals to become a Glass Explorer and buy a Glass Explorer Edition for $1500 plus tax and attend a “special pick-up experience.”

Popular tweets include:

I would look up the answers during the test #IfIHadGlass— CollegeHumor (@CollegeHumor) February 20, 2013

#ifihadglass I would build an app capable of taking billboards, and replacing them with things you are trying to remember (or cat pictures).— Kyle Drake (@kyledrake) February 20, 2013

#ifihadglass I'd finish #houseofcards while in meetings, assuming netflix app and I could cough to start it...— Jeff Sullivan (@JeffSullivan) February 20, 2013

#ifihadglass I'd use it to see through the eyes of another person — Solha Lee (@solhaLee) February 20, 2013
#ifihadglass I would paste funny faces on people at my work— Michael Rabin (@michaelrabin) February 20, 2013
#ifihadglass I'd totally make a sweet juggling video. Or record some shows. Anybody seen an act from the performers perspective?— Sam Malcolm (@SamMalcolm) February 20, 2013
Be sure to read the fine print about Google Glass. Apparently #ifihadglass I'd be $1,500+ poorer: google.com/glass/start/ho…— Bernie Zimmermann (@bernzilla) February 20, 2013

#ifihadglass I would be out $1500, also show off my hand-to-hand combat skills.

— Marcus Moritz (@PraliteMonks) February 20, 2013

I'd make how-to videos of cartooning, nothing quite like an artists' eye point of view to get the point across. #ifihadglass

— Keith C. Smith (@keithcsmith) February 20, 2013

#ifihadglass I would have an extremely powerful reporting tool.#googleglassCan't wait to get my hands on it...or face!

— Francesco Morales (@Frank_WPMI) February 20, 2013

#ifihadglass I would be able to see whether any of the buildings I am looking at IRL are for sale/lease.

— Ben Carlos Thypin (@Bthypin) February 20, 2013

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

Share Videos Instantly with YouTube Capture - Dec 17, 2012

Twitter Updates Search and Discover - Feb 08, 2013

Year in Review -- 2012 on Social Media - Dec 27, 2012

Social Networking is Up, Socializing in Person is Down - Nov 29, 2012

It's a Girl! Meet Hashtag Jameson - Nov 28, 2012

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

Twitter Tornado: Weather Channel Interns Take on Tornado Week - Apr 30, 2013

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter! - Mar 21, 2013

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

The “Ultimate Sports Social Media Job” is offering one person the chance to become the new voice of @XFINITYSports, where they will post updates to more than 14,000 followers, attend major sporting events with behind-the-scenes access and interview athletic personalities for one year.

Interested? You have until Feb. 18 to apply, submitting a video of your sports knowledge and social media skills. After that, there will be wild card contest submissions posted online for voting from March 4-11, and from March 22-24 ten semifinalists will be flown to Philadelphia for performance evaluations at Xfinity Live!, a dining and entertainment district located in the Wells Fargo Complex. Five finalists will be on-site for baseball’s opening weekend April 5-7, where they will get the chance to show off their social media skills by participating in a series of challenges, and the winner will be announced mid-April.

Austin Schindel was the previous winner and has been living and breathing the sports world for the past year. Best moments – attending and covering UFC 148 Silva vs. Sonnen II and the MLB All-Star game.

Since social media has become a lot more mainstream in the past few years, new ways to use these networks are popping up almost every day. We’ve seen social media contests for product giveaways, vacation opportunities and cash prizes, but is utilizing social media as an interactive outlet for job applications the future of employment? Only time will tell!

To apply for this position, visit XFINITY’s Facebook page and click on the “Dream Job” tab on the top. Good luck!

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Yo Quiero Taco Bell....On My Speedo - Jan 07, 2013

Pinterest Goes After the Bad Guys - Removes Spam Accounts for Good - Dec 07, 2012

Justin Bieber and Social Media - Nov 30, 2012

Social Networking is Up, Socializing in Person is Down - Nov 29, 2012

It's a Girl! Meet Hashtag Jameson - Nov 28, 2012

Sephora: 'Digital is in Our DNA' - Nov 20, 2012

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Ladies Love Cool James, (LL Cool J) hosted the event, and made it clear to everyone he knows what a hashtag on Twitter is.

I get the idea behind this was to promote the Grammy’s social media presence, but unfortunately all they needed to do was display the designated hashtag (#grammys) -- Twitter’s thousands of users know how to utilize a hashtag when they see one. Also, for someone who talked a lot about Twitter last night, LL Cool J only tweeted a whopping eight times, with at least four of them after the show was over.

Strategy aside, the event generated about 13.2 million tweets, 2.6 million of which used #grammys, and more than 15.4 million social media interactions. The top three tweets-per-minute (TPM) moments were when Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and The-Dream won best rap collection with 116,400 TPM, Prince announced Gotye winning record of the year with 109,400 TPM and fun. won best new artist with 100,600 TPM. The Grammys became 2013’s second-biggest social media event, following the Super Bowl, which set an all-time record with 52 million social interactions in one day.

The Grammy’s official Twitter page did a great job at teasing the event and interacting with followers in real-time throughout the show. Contrasting LL Cool J’s eight tweets, @TheGRAMMYs tweeted, retweeted and replied at least 100 times yesterday, congratulating award winners, narrating who was on stage when and giving followers sneak peeks into The Grammys backstage.

Common tips I’ve heard so far for events such as The Grammys include working on location-based alerts and messages (talk about spoiler alerts for the West Coast audience), streaming a feed of tweets/social media posts about the event and getting creative with the number of celebrities you have in one place.

My favorite part of the show was tribute those who have passed and the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School featuring Elton John, Zac Brown, Mumford & Sons, Mavis Staples, Brittany Howard and T Bone Burnett to The Band’s “The Weight.”

For a more detailed look into social media before and after the awards show, SocialTimes uploaded a great infographic with a lot of information.

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

Twitter Tornado: Weather Channel Interns Take on Tornado Week - Apr 30, 2013

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter! - Mar 21, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Twitter at the Oscars: 8.9 Million Tweets - Feb 25, 2013

What Would I Do #IfIHadGlass? - Feb 20, 2013

Twitter Updates Search and Discover - Feb 08, 2013

Go Social at ITEXPO Miami - Jan 28, 2013

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community

Updates include a new display for the Connect tab, which now defaults with Interactions to show new followers, retweets, favorites and mentions. For those users who prefer to only see mentions, the display settings can be adjusted in the “Connect tab” options in settings. The speed of links is also improved: clicking on a URL in a tweet now takes you directly to the link instead of expanding and previewing it in another Twitter tab. Discover, which includes tweets, activity, trends and suggestions of accounts to follow, is now condensed into a single stream and features new previews for activity and trends.

Old vs. New: Twitter’s Discover tab.

It seems search is a hot topic in social media right now, with Facebook’s recent launch of Graph Search and now Twitter’s update to Search. With this week’s update, search results now include a mix of tweets, photos and accounts in one stream and a more prominent search button – which already was available in Android and iPad apps.

The display isn’t the only thing that changed about Search in Twitter. Users can now find older tweets using Search. Up until this week, Twitter search results displayed results that went back about a week.

“As we roll this out over the coming days, the Tweets that you’ll see in search results represent a fairly small percentage of total Tweets ever sent. We look at a variety of types of engagement, like favorites, retweets and clicks, to determine which Tweets to show. We’ll be steadily increasing this percentage over time, and ultimately, aim to surface the best content for your query. For now, enjoy your trip down memory lane!” Twitter said in a recent blog post.

Follow me:
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile

Twitter Filters and Instagram Update - Dec 11, 2012

Pope's First Tweet - Dec 12, 2012

You Can Now Tag Photos on Instagram - May 02, 2013

Twitter Tornado: Weather Channel Interns Take on Tornado Week - Apr 30, 2013

What Do Facebook Likes Have to Do with TV Ratings? - Apr 24, 2013

Home is Where the Heart is, but Traveling Makes Us Happier - Apr 10, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter! - Mar 21, 2013

Facebook is a Habit - 5 Ways to Cut Down Your Usage - Mar 14, 2013

Twitter at the Oscars: 8.9 Million Tweets - Feb 25, 2013

What Would I Do #IfIHadGlass? - Feb 20, 2013

Sponsored by the Call Center Outsourcing Community & the Virtual Contact Center Outsourcing Community