The Rise of Facebook Places
The web is on overload due to Facebook’s new service, Places. The now certain death to existing services like Foursquare and Gowalla now have a large monkey on their back.
As an occasional Foursquare user, I understand and enjoy the service. But I am extremely hesitant when it comes to Facebook. Facebook is on a scale that Foursquare could only dream of.
Humongo visits Savannah
Savannah was lucky enough to be an official stop on the two-week long, Humongo Nation Tour. Darryl, of Humongo, is the leading force of this rolling celebration of creativity. Being a social media junkie and working at SCAD I made it my summer goal to meet the team in real life. After a meeting and a few emails it was going to be so. Humongo was going to be visiting SCAD, my alma mater. Continue Reading Humongo visits Savannah »
10 Golden Rules of Social Media
After my recent post on The Rules of Twitter, I have decided to search the net for some useful rules or guidelines to live by in the social media ring. The Golden Rule term can be defined as, “an ethical code that states one has a right to just treatment, and a responsibility to ensure justice for others”.
The more and more our lives become entangled in the web, the more we need to show constraint and compassion for the flow of content and ideas. Continue Reading 10 Golden Rules of Social Media »
The Rules of Twitter
A very popular social media trend right now is to discuss in length all about the growing pains of everyday problems users are facing with Facebook on the Twitter platform. This thought process confuses me. Lets pretend for a moment I own a Ford truck and I am having mechanical problems. If I wanted to find advice or help on the web about my truck, I would look in a Ford truck forum group. It would just be silly for me to post my problems in a GM truck forum. So with this mind-set I have adapted the Fight Club Rules to fit my personal pet peeve. Continue Reading The Rules of Twitter »
Apple Responds to Adobe
When Steve’s Thoughts on Flash was officially posted on the big stage, you bet Adobe had an opinion.
First, there’s “Open”, he stated first in his list of six major problems with Adobe’s pride and joy, Flash. In Steve’s open letter he states: “Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short”. Continue Reading Apple Responds to Adobe »
How can I create/suggest a new badge?
Do you find yourself checking in, just hoping to unlock that next elusive foursquare badge? One of the main reasons you play foursquare is to collect the really cool badges. Do you have a unique or very original foursquare badge idea you would like to create or suggest? Check out the following by Chris Thompson that blogs aboutfoursquare.com for some good advice on suggesting a new badge idea. Continue Reading How can I create/suggest a new badge? »
When to use “Off The Grid” on Foursquare
There are two concepts in regards to “Off the Grid”. The foursquare concept is as follows: If you turn all of the little on/off switches to off (on the check in screen, they say who to share with) you’ll be off the grid. Off the grid means you’re hiding your location from the world.
Second concept is the sharing of personal information in a public space. Recently a group of avid Savannah Foursquare users started a dialogue on twitter about what should be left “Off The Grid” when checking in on Foursquare. Here are a few examples of TMI check-in locations. By the way, most of these, if not all of these, should guarantee an unofficial “Douchbag Badge” upon check in. Continue Reading When to use “Off The Grid” on Foursquare »
Savannah foursquare Tweetup
Do you live in Savannah and enjoy the casual check-in on foursquare? I know I do. Do you think Savannah needs the foursquare law to come to town? Continue Reading Savannah foursquare Tweetup »
Social Media: Pepsi Refresh Project
More and more these days Social Media surprises me. This is a brave new direction for Pepsi. Please enjoy the following from a recent blog post by Nicole Galletta
It’s not a secret that Pepsi is pulling their multi-million dollar Superbowl opening ad position to focus on a multi-million dollar social media campaign.This is just one more example of how fast and how big of an impact social media has made for PR and advertising practices.
This year, Pepsi will utilize social media in its Pepsi Refresh Project campaign to encourage the global community to nominate projects and ideas that need funding. Individuals, organizations, and businesses can upload their idea or project and then rally for votes. The project/idea with the most votes will win grants from $5,000 to $250,000.
Forgoing the expensive ad spot in exchange for funding great ideas that potentially make our world a better place and stimulate the economy? Yes, please!
Being a Coke guy myself, I do appreciate the power of this Refresh Project. This is a great chance for Pepsi to gain back a market share that might have slipped away over the past months or even years. Social Media will never be the same.
What is a Flash Mob?
After reading a recent BFG blog article by Hal Thomas about the use of the flash mob, I had to learn a bit more. As Hal put it, “I totally geek flash mobs.” I totally agree with Hal on this one.
A flash mob or flashmob is typically a large group of people who assembly rather quickly in a public venue to perform an unusual act for a short time, then it quickly ends as fast as it started. Did you know the first flash mob was created in Manhattan in May of 2003 by Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper’s Magazine?
How do you start a flash mob?
- Have an “ORIGINAL” Idea
Ideas are harder to come by than most people think. Flash Mobs are not very effective if there are no people to witness your well planned event. - Timing is Everything – Almost Everything
This refers back to the whole participation thing. If your event is spontaneous in nature and just requires people to show up at the same time and do something goofy, they may not need very much time to prepare for the event. The ideal time for this sort of thing is at the end of the workday, between 5 and 6 PM. Based on research, for some reason Thursday seems to be the best day for maximum flash mob visibilty. - Get the Word Out
If your event is spontaneous in nature, you can create an anonymous email account and send to 50 random people in your address book. Ask them to send it along to another 20 people. You could also post to bulletin boards like craigslist.org to target a specific demographic by posting to a specific category or discussion forum. - Step Back and Enjoy
This is your mob. You have provided the idea, timing and the marketing. Now step away. People just really want to be led, but resist the urge. If your concept has merit, the mob will self organize and self determine into something more than you could have ever conceived. If you lead it, it will likely just become a parade. Please do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a good parades.
Here are a couple of great flash mob links:
Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 100 missions involving tens of thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City.
Zombie Walk is an organized public gathering of people who dress up in zombie costumes. Usually taking place in an urban centre, the participants make their way around the city streets and through shopping malls in a somewhat orderly fashion and often limping their way towards a local cemetery or other public space (a series of taverns in the case of a zombie pub crawl).
FlashMob is a great outlet to attempt to local or create your own flash mob in any given city. Check it out if you want to try to create your own special event!
