The past few weeks, Feedback has hit the road with some exciting new projects. Projects that have landed some Feedbackers in Europe, and taken others cross-country.
Feedback Agency’s Jeff Thompson (@ideaman) and Anna Lucas (@alucas9) just returned home from a 9 day trip to Europe. The “Feedback Europa Crew” started in London, then traveled to Calais, Bruges, and ended in Paris. In Paris, they worked on a strategic global social media project with PixelOptics at SILMO, the optical trade show. Through their travels and through meeting advertising agencies along the way, Feedback’s trip to Europe gave insight into how other cultures interact with social media. Insights, which, they will be sharing once the jet lag wears off.
Back in the States, several Feedbackers are on a cross country tour, hitting 15 cities in 10 days. Working with AGLA’s Hiring Drive and teaming up with Access, Brad (@bcarr), Jeff (@jeffkelleyRVA), and Dean (@dbrowell) are going from state to state promoting the hiring drive through social media. They started their travels in Richmond, VA and will end in Los Angeles, CA. Oh, and if you’re feeling bad that they’ll be cooped up in a bus for 10 days.. DON’T… because this is the bus:
Watch for our case studies on these two exciting projects.
“The (social media) blackout isn’t really that bad. Anyone with a 3G phone can still view these sites on campus.” – Harrisburg University Student
I think it’s safe to say that we aren’t surprised at the results of Harrisburg University’s social media blackout experiment. Reports are trickling in that the number of students who actually went cold turkey without any social media for the week averaged between 10% – 15%. Students were found hiking to a local hotel to log into Facebook through the hotel lobby’s wifi. And of course, anyone with a 3G phone could access social media sites.
As listed on the Harrisburg’s website, the goal of the social media blackout was:
“To get students, staff and faculty to think about social media when they are not available.”
Many are reporting that this experiment failed. The most obvious observation is because trying to block social media in this day and age is nearly impossible. And with only 10% – 15% of the campus “playing by the rules,” is this a true assessment of how the university’s population is affected? Perhaps the university should have researched the campus first, as Feedback EVP, Dean Browell stated:
If the statement they want to make is that the students should re-evaluate their communication methods and the effect such methods have on their life, it would do great justice to their cause that they understand the lesson before it is taught.
Like we mentioned before, there were a lot of assumptions made without any research or in depth understanding of how/why certain audiences on Harrisburg’s campus communicate. How was communication and productivity measured beforehand in order to reach a true assessment of this experiment?
Perhaps it was a public relations stunt. If so, brilliant for getting your name out there! Even if Jimmy Fallon did say on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,
Do you have time to search the web everyday to find the newest social media tools? If the answer is no, then you have come to the right place. I have searched the World Wide Web for social media information all week, and stumbled upon a few favorites along the way. Here are my picks of the week:
The New Twitter:
This week, Twitter began rolling out a redesign. The “new” Twitter moves the search box up, has more relevant and customized search results, and has added filtering options. Filtering options include showing only tweets with links near your current location.
Social Media Stats:
A stat from last Saturday that is worth mentioning: The Pew Research Center did a recent study which indicated that people over age 50 now account for 42% of social networking users. Specifically,
“Some 47% of internet users ages 50-64 and 26% of users are 65 and older now use social networking sites . People aged over 50 now account for 42% of all social networking users, up from 22% a year ago.”
University Foursquare:
This week, Foursquare made it easier for universities to join their geo-location check-in service. Debuting Foursquare for Universities, colleges now have a page where they can apply to open their own branded profiles on Foursquare. Learn more about how universities are using Foursquare here.
Celebrity Twitter Auction:
If you want a celebrity or musician like Shaq (@therealshaq) or Eva Longoria (@evalongoria) to follow you on Twitter, you may be in luck. Twitchange is hosting the first ever celebrity Twitter auction (now through September 25th), where you can donate to ahomeinhaiti.org for a chance to have a celebrity follow, mention, or retweet you. Have Bieber fever? As Mashable expained, you’re not the only one:
The Justin Bieber Mega Package, described thusly, “Justin Bieber will follow you on Twitter for a minimum of 90 days, will retweet one of your tweets and will send out a tweet including your @twitterhandle,” is already up to $2,325.00 and 62 bids.
Facebook Places, UK:
Facebook places is now live in the UK… and just in time for our arrival. @Feedbackagency crew @alucas9 and @ideaman are working internationally for the next week, starting in London, England and ending in Paris, France. You can keep up with our travels by following us on Twitter; and if you’re in the UK, check-in on Places!
Feedback was found all over SHSMD 2010 in Chicago, the annual conference for the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. The firm conducted a three-hour workshop on social media and strategy, participated in a lively panel on emerging media, roundtables and more.
Panelist Dean Browell, PhD, executive vice president for Richmond, VA, ad agency Feedback, said it best: “I know some of you are thinking, just let me retire before I have to learn this crap.”
Dean Browell of Feedback was on the panel, so I knew it would be good – and even entertaining. Dean is the most grounded Ph.D. I know. And he is incredibly bright. The panel did not disappoint. It was informative and engaging. I thought the audience members asked really good questions and each of the panel members offered valuable insights. My favorite part of the presentation was when Dean said that MySpace is “dead to him.” If it isn’t quite dead, then it is on life support!
Harrisburg University blocks students and faculty from using all forms of social media for one week (on computers):
Inside Higher Ed reports on Harrisburg University’s plan to shut down all forms of social media on campus for one week. Provost, Eric Darr has decided to block student and faculty access to social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and AOL instant messenger. He is also disabling wiki and chat features which will make it impossible for students and teachers to communicate and collaborate using the campus’ intranet system, even from off-campus computers.
Darr says, “It’s not that, as an institution, we hate Facebook,” Darr told Inside Higher Ed. Instead, he wanted to see what would happen if colleagues and classmates were forced to talk instead of IM, to walk to offices and dorm rooms instead of emailing. He wondered if people had forgotten how to communicate face-to-face rather than online.
Mr. Darr, how are you going to block access to social media through cell phone usage? Are the cell towers clipped for the week? Dean Browell with Feedack comments on the article,
“There’s a disturbing angle to all of this that smacks of assumptions. Two of the four channels they propose to shut down are in drastic decline among their demographic (AOL, MySpace) and as other commenters have pointed out, the other two channels don’t require the campus system at all to operate. They sell $100 iPhones at Wal-Mart people, they haven’t needed your computer labs to get on Facebook for years. Twitter is utilized by a diverse demographic even through an inexpensive, non-smart-phone via text messaging.”
We look forward to the results of this experiment.
iPads in the Classroom:
Notre Dame’s assistant professor Corey Angst is taking his class paperless, and in a pretty fun way. His class is first and only class taught with Apple iPads. All 40 students get to use iPads in place of textbooks and other learning materials during the course. This is part of a year long study of e-readers by the University. Angst explained,
“We want to know whether students feel the iPads are useful and how they plan to use them. I want them to tell me, ‘I found this great app that does such and such. I want this to be organic…We have an online Wiki discussion group where students can share their ideas.”
They are hoping the iPad’s will help students manage real world projects, and will help the university enhance the educational experience.
Survey says social media is less expensive and yields significant result in higher education:
Lipman Hearne and CASE partnered together to survey 212 CASE member institutions to research how marketing dollars are being spent in higher education and the return on that investment. Institutions that have integrated strategic social media campaigns with traditional marketing/advertising efforts have seen a wide margin of positive results. Key findings are significant and provide powerful real time success stories. Moderate-to-heavy users of social media were actually spending less overall per student on marketing activities. The moderate-to-heavies spent $83 per student, and the light-to-non-users spent $121 per student. Visit the blog and survey report for more data and key findings.
Higher Education Checks Into Foursquare:
Several Universities are leading the way with geolocation checkins. The University of Oregon, for example, incorporated Foursquare into their Welcome Week student tours. Friending the Oregon Duck and checking into 10 locations on the tour earned students a badge and 20% off at Oregon Ducks Sportsware. Another example is The University of Nebraska at Omaha. They have a microsite in conjunction with Foursquare that provides deals and encourages students to visit alcohol free businesses in the area. Harvard is another great example. They were one of the first colleges to embrace Foursquare with custom badges. Perry Hewitt, director of digital communications and communications services at Harvard, explained
“Harvard is more than classrooms and buildings. It is an interconnected community of people, ideas, and experiences, and we are actively pursuing ways to enhance those connections.”
Higher Ed Cartoon:
A snarky cartoon (sadly, mostly accurate) ridiculing the tone-deaf design of many college home pages, published on July 30 on the website xkcd and circulated widely in social media circles and on campuses:
About a week before xkcd published its cartoon, the higher ed consulting firm Noel-Levitz released a study of how prospective students are using colleges’ websites, based on more than 1,000 responses from college-bound high-schoolers.
Key findings include:
1 in 4 students reported removing a school from their prospective list because of a bad experience on that school’s Web site.
92 percent said that they would be disappointed with a school or remove it entirely from their lists if they didn’t find the information they needed on the school’s Web site.
76 percent of students supported schools creating their own private social networks for prospective students.
Team embarking on new client work in Europe, Caribbean and a cross-country tour
RICHMOND, VA – When the clock strikes midnight on September 8, Feedback, a social media research and consulting group, will have completed a whirlwind first year that included two dozen new clients in 16 states, tripling the team size at the Richmond offices, acceptance into Worldwide Partners Inc. (the world’s largest owner-operated global agency network), and some of the biggest speaking engagements of the founders’ careers in a variety of industries.
Immediately after the 8th, Feedback embarks on a new year that includes clients in Europe, the Caribbean and South America, their second cross-country tour for a new national client, new office space and new employees.
Feedback is proud to announce a tremendously successful first year as well as the hiring of Jeff Kelley as Senior Experience Strategist, Brad Carr as Technology Specialist, and Brittney Trimmer as Experience Specialist. Kelley comes to Feedback from the public relations world, and previously served four years as a business and technology reporter with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He is also the force behind the Richmond satire web magazine Tobacco Avenue.
“Our first year was not only full of crucial initial milestones, it completed many goals we had set for future years as well,” said Feedback CEO Jeff Thompson. “To take this from a glimmer to operating internationally in twelve months has been a fantastic journey, and we look forward to breaking more records in year two.”
Executive Vice President Dean Browell, who helped found Feedback with a PhD emphasizing generational differences online, added: “Hitting our philosophical goals were as important as hitting our financial ones. We have an incredible team of intelligent, creative people that work hard and play hard with the support of great partners and friends that do the same. Clients love that we love what we do, and that’s what you get when you combine results, expertise and passion.”
ABOUT US
Feedback, Inc has proudly differentiated itself with social media strategy formed from a research context, applying ethnographic research in the social space beyond simply Facebook and Twitter. A combination of high-level, research-informed strategies leading into expert implementation to complement and enhance marketing and PR efforts is why clients and agencies from around the world have contacted Feedback since it was formed in September 2009 by Jeff Thompson, Dean Browell and Experience Manager Anna Lucas. Because Feedback often operates behind the scenes, contact Feedback directly for client names we can share.
Do you have time to search the web everyday to find the newest social media tools? If the answer is no, then you have come to the right place. I have searched the World Wide Web for social media information all week, and stumbled upon a few favorites along the way. Here are my picks of the week:
Ping:
Apple had a big event on Wednesday, where they introduced Ping, a social network for music lovers. Ping allows you to follow friends and artists, have custom music recommendations based on your followers, and share concert details. You can access Ping by downloading iTunes 10, going into the iTunes store, and activating Ping. Read our blog ‘Social Network, Meet iTunes‘ to find out more.
Twitter Usage Up:
Twitter usage went up 33% from May to August. In August, Twitter processed over 2.64 billion Tweets. Twitter now has over 145 million registered users, and activity has more than doubled this year.
Chrome 6:
For Chrome’s two-year anniversary, they are introducing Google Chrome Version Six. Mashable describes it as “The Modern Browser,” Chrome 6 does indeed boast a number of improvements, but as with previous updates, the focus remains on speed and simplicity.” Download it here: http://www.google.com/chrome
If You Can’t Beat ‘em, Join ‘em?:
Once the leading social network, MySpace is now syncing up with Facebook. This week, MySpace announced that users can now sync status updates with Facebook. You can also sync status updates with Twitter. Even with this new development, with the introduction of Ping, Myspace has to wonder whether their last niche, music, will be compromised.
Spot Trot:
I am including a local social media pick this week – this one derives from Richmond, Virginia. There are plenty of social media apps and tools being developed in Richmond, one of which is Spot Trot. Created by Joel Erb, Spot Trot has a big music twist to it. The app offers a customized mobile platform to artists, which they build for their fans. Clients include Dave Matthews Band and Tim McGraw. Partners include Live Nation and Apple. You can follow them on Twitter at @spottrot.
Casual Internet users, we apologize. If you had difficulty accessing your favorite websites or email at approximately 1pm EST this afternoon, it was surely on account of the swarms of music geeks, Apple fans and tech aficionados (Feedbackers are required to be all three!), all huddled in front of their computer screens, anxiously awaiting the semi-annual revelations from our turtleneck-and-jeans wearing oracle of smart, stylish gadgetry, The Steve. Among the many involuntary ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ over streamlined iPods, updated software packages and a revamped AppleTV, was an added feature to iTunes 10 that makes so much sense, we may instantly wonder how we ever lived without it. Get a load of Ping…
Steve Jobs described it as ‘Facebook and Twitter, meet iTunes’.
The capabilities of Ping include:
Social music discovery: you can share music you’re listening to and see music your friends are listening to
Follow and be followed: you can follow, and be followed by, friends and artists
Share your thoughts and opinions
Custom song and album charts: See top 10 lists customized by what your followers are listening to
Over 17,000 concert listings: You can see upcoming concerts, and share concerts you are attending
Easy integration with the iPhone/iPod Touch
Available immediately
Our first thought? “Sorry, MySpace. It was nice knowing you…” Our second thought: Could anyone but Apple do this? Doubtful. When you have over 160 million active accounts already using iTunes, it’s easy to see how this could catch on. And before you cite Facebook’s half-billion users, consider that iTunes number doesn’t include the millions who download the software just as a music player/organizer/podcast feeder and never buy anything.
From the following screenshots, you can get a look at Ping, and see that it integrates seamlessly with the iPhone/iPod Touch.
The first screen shows an artist’s page, own-able by the performers themselves, which you can easily imagine would be a boon to the fan relations of all acts, big and especially small:
Next, the individual profile page, where you can share your musical taste with your friends and followers, even showing them what shows you’ll be going to. This represents a tremendous opportunity, again for artists, but also for fan meetups and peer networking:
Finally, the ubiquitous “feed” page, where you see the most recent updates from the people you follow, what they’re listening to and what they’re buying:
Still think “how did we live without this?” is a bit hyperbolic? Let us know your thoughts while we furiously refresh the iTunes download page.
Much has been made in recent weeks regarding Facebook’s entry into the geo-location game, the heavyweight in the field entering a ring presently dominated by agile, well-supported upstarts like Foursquare and Gowalla. Social media pundits and aficionados are asking aloud, “Does the mere release of the Places platform signal the end of geo-competition yet in its infancy?” Early returns seem to indicate otherwise, as Foursquare, in particular, has reached significant milestones in the wake of the Facebook’s highly anticipated announcement. But are they safe? Is anyone truly safe in this arena? Observers need only glance askew, where once mighty MySpace sits alone, relegated to the sidelines and reduced to cloning parts of the competitors they once viewed as annoying wannabes, to wonder for themselves: Who or what could end Facebook’s reign as undisputed king of the social media mountain?
Bubbling beneath the surface, in various forms and degrees of release-readiness, lie a number of developing social networks who’ve set their aim squarely on the 900-pound gorilla in the room. From one perspective or another, they believe they have a different approach, an innovative solution to issues or concepts that Facebook either lacks or has consciously chosen to ignore. Do these teams of savvy coders and well-backed entrepreneurs have what it takes to even make a dent in a Facebook population that would rank among the world’s largest were it a sovereign nation? Will audiences respond in such a way that an anti-Facebook movement develops, leading to a mass migration ala MySpace circa 2007? These four startups certainly believe that they can.
Considering the inherent mission of a would-be Facebook killer, Diaspora has a particularly apt name. Whether you consider that they intend to use an open-source distribution model or that their ultimate success lies in the dispersionof the Facebook population in favor of their solution, these four NYU students have never lacked for ambition. Galvanized by the Facebook privacy debacle earlier this year, the team behind Diaspora set out to create a “personal web service that will put individuals in control of their data”. They gave themselves less than 40 days to raise the $10,000 necessary for the four of them to live on while they dedicated themselves and their summer to the project. Apparently, a chord was struck, as they raised ten times that amount in the allotted time. Somewhat curiously, even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was among the contributors. Recently, it was announced that the code would be revealed to other programmers on September 15th, with a “consumer facing alpha” expected in October.
While the Diaspora team may boast the most romantic origin story, they’re certainly not the only players in the game. Google head Eric Schmidt’s personal VC firm has invested in a group called Trumpet Technologies, who, in addition to specializing in “mobile local search”, have charged two college students with designing a network they’re calling “Scoop”. While Diaspora seems to be all about privacy and control, Scoop aims to be the go-to source for the “wheres” and “hows”, providing up-to-the-minute info for the hyper-social set, hoping to find a niche as a service primarily accessed via mobile app on increasingly prevalent smartphones. They’re also taking a page from the Facebook playbook, reaching into the social giant’s past as an exclusively college-based enterprise. This sentiment becomes a recurring theme.
Farther along in the development cycle is Collegiate Nation, currently accepting signups to its launched beta. Born out of a mother’s outrage at her university-aged sons’ unwitting offerings of the private information that has fueled Facebook’s skyrocketing valuation, Collegiate Nation isn’t designed as a Facebook alternative, but as a staunch anti-Facebook community. It is college-only, as the name vaguely suggests, like many nascent networks who see opportunity in the fertile environment that served as their target’s incubator. While free during this phase of the launch, it plans to charge a nominal subscription as not to be beholden to ad networks. And privacy is paramount. The sign-up form even includes the caveat that non-students who have .edu addresses are committing fraud if they sign up for the service. If only they were as concerned with the appearance as they are about the sanctity of their network. Time will tell if traditionally poor college students will pay a premium for a site that looks anything but.
from the College Only media kit
The final entry in our survey takes a much more… suggestive… approach to the university-only, “walled garden” approach. College Only, with beta launches at seven schools in time for this fall semester, is the culmination of one NY entrepreneur’s serial attempts to recreate social media phenomena with a student focus. Combine the features of GoodCrush, a collegiate-oriented Match.com, and RandomDorm, a student-only Chatroulette, with a little Facebook circa 2005 and you have the gist of CollegeOnly. A quick perusal of the media kit reveals that this is as far from a concerned mother’s creation as possible, calling itself the place where “student bodies connect”. With the opportunity to post anonymously, as well as the promise of only light moderation, CollegeOnly may find its audience, but it may also find itself with the same privacy issues that once plagued Facebook, campus-exclusive or not.
While similar in goal if not execution, none of these would-be Facebook killers solves the perceived problem in the same manner. And while that’s a good thing for surveys such as this, the ultimate question of which approach most closely reflects the desires of the marketplace, especially a fickle one like the 18-24 set, will play out over the next few years. In terms of scope (and no longer being an undergrad), I’ll be keeping my eye on Diaspora. Just remember, MySpace was once the king of the social media jungle and while it lacked Facebook’s vision (or luck), it never made the type of mistakes that Facebook has over the past year or so. You have to believe an empire of a half billion users can fall.
The question is: Do any of these new networks have what it takes to be the next Facebook?
As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments, leave them below or email me @ Thomas AT FeedbackAgency DOT com.
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Feedback Travels
by FeedbackThe past few weeks, Feedback has hit the road with some exciting new projects. Projects that have landed some Feedbackers in Europe, and taken others cross-country.
Feedback Agency’s Jeff Thompson (@ideaman) and Anna Lucas (@alucas9) just returned home from a 9 day trip to Europe. The “Feedback Europa Crew” started in London, then traveled to Calais, Bruges, and ended in Paris. In Paris, they worked on a strategic global social media project with PixelOptics at SILMO, the optical trade show. Through their travels and through meeting advertising agencies along the way, Feedback’s trip to Europe gave insight into how other cultures interact with social media. Insights, which, they will be sharing once the jet lag wears off.
Back in the States, several Feedbackers are on a cross country tour, hitting 15 cities in 10 days. Working with AGLA’s Hiring Drive and teaming up with Access, Brad (@bcarr), Jeff (@jeffkelleyRVA), and Dean (@dbrowell) are going from state to state promoting the hiring drive through social media. They started their travels in Richmond, VA and will end in Los Angeles, CA. Oh, and if you’re feeling bad that they’ll be cooped up in a bus for 10 days.. DON’T… because this is the bus:
Watch for our case studies on these two exciting projects.