The State Of Mobile Commerce In Europe I booked my first hotel night via a mobile device a year ago. I didn’t even think about the fact that it would be considered an “mCommerce” transaction, as I simply booked it directly on the hotel group’s Web site via the browser of my mobile phone. The site wasn’t actually optimized for mobile devices, but it was possible to enter my credit card details via a secure Web transaction. That’s not ideal, so I wonder how many mobile transactions that firm has missed simply because it doesn’t provide a compelling user experience. European mobile commerce is still at an early stage. Digital content is still the primary product purchased via mobile devices, but European consumers show growing interest in using their mobile phones for all sorts of shopping activities. Buying products from a mobile phone hasn’t taken off, as a mere 2% of respondents reported purchasing products from their mobile phone and only 5% are actually interested in doing so.
Top 10 YouTube Videos About The Web Our selection of the 10 most popular YouTube videos about the Web is of course based on page views. But we also filtered the results for videos that are most true to explaining the big-picture version of what the Web is. The selection includes some of the most creative ways the growth of the Web has ever been explained. The fast paced growth of the Web too often keeps us focused on the latest and greatest, to the point were we lose perspective for how the Web has changed over time.
Social = Me First I caused some consternation when I started to describe social tools — a decade ago — with the expression “social = me first.” It sounds selfish, or maybe even narcissistic, but but it is based on the observation that we all are at the center of our own social network, our own world. Before we do anything else we have to define ourselves — create an account, chose a user name, fill out a profile, pick a time zone — and then, only then, do we start connecting with others and letting the social tool mediate our interactions. Nick Bilton obviously gets that: This has become a central tenet of social tools, and other appliances of the socialized universe that we float around in, like maps on our iPhones. We have defected from mass media, and in a world based on social principles, we scale from the individual outward through social connection, almost in a fractal way.
Social Isolation and New Technology | Pew Internet & America (Washington) People who use modern information and communication technologies have larger and more diverse social networks, according to new national survey findings that for the first time explore how people use the internet and mobile phones to interact with key family and friends. These new finding challenge fears that use of new technologies has contributed to a long-term increase in social isolation in the United States. The new findings from the Pew Internet & American Life Project show that, on average, the size of people’s discussion networks – those with whom people discuss important matters– is 12% larger amongst mobile phone users, 9% larger for those who share photos online, and 9% bigger for those who use instant messaging. The survey was conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, led by Keith N. Hampton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Communication and the Pew Internet Project.
What is pervasive creativity in the era of Social Media? I recently had to write an essay for Ogilvy about what pervasive creativity could mean. Here are some of my first insights. As Zygmunt Bauman says, we live in the era of liquid modernity. Before: when an issue arose, we used to go to “solid” icons: local institutions, Church, family. It has all changed: now you have less and less time to solve more and more problems. It's true for consumers, who own the power to allocate time to a brand or not. This holds even more relevance for us, as agency professionals: if we want to sell ads or messages that are powerful valuable propositions for our public, we therefore need to see where the value lies. Think about this “brief” we've all had from a client: “I want to leverage buzz for my brand new product”; you cannot respond with a simple, solid process. Creativity does not (only) belong to Art Directors and Copywriters Most of the time, if you ask someone where creativity is, he'll answer you something like “2nd floor”.
The rise of the web's digital elites Has the web's potential as a great leveller for the whole world already passed? Ahead of a major series on the BBC about the impact of the web, presenter, social scientist and journalist Aleks Krotoski asks whether the web has already missed its greatest chance. The web is an extraordinary innovation, with the greatest potential to usher in social change since the invention of the printing press or the steam engine. Built upon a technology that is apolitical, unregulated and decentralised, it empowers everyone - men, women, children - to be creators of information, rather than passive consumers. It is also an enormous library of global consciousness, a digital collection of human knowledge from the past and the present and presented in an easy-to-access format. As a result, we now have the unprecedented power to create our own truth, and share it with everyone in the world. But has its potential as a great leveller for the whole world already passed? 'Utopian society' Net hope Human medium
Teens Experiencing Facebook Fatigue [STUDY] Online gaming site Roiworld surveyed 600 teens ages 13 to 17 in late April and found that teens spend two hours per day online on average, 80% of which is spent using a social network. These same teens are, however, showing signs of "Facebook Fatigue." Nearly one in five (19%) who have an account no longer visit Facebook or are using it less. Of the group that are saying goodbye to Facebook, 45% have lost interest, 16% are leaving because their parents are there, 14% say there are "too many adults/older people" and 13% are concerned about the privacy of their personal information. While interest in Facebook may be waning, it's still the most popular social network among teens — 78% have created a profile and 69% still use it. The study also suggests that the teens that continue to stick to Facebook do so primarily to play games. It seems obvious that the newest generation of online users would have few qualms about spending money online, and this study supports that theory.
35+ Examples of Corporate Social Media in Action We’ve discussed some tactics to get your company better engaged with social media. Lest you think there’s a limit to how you can connect with business and customer facing audiences, we’ve assembled this list of more than 35 companies who are experimenting with social media in a host of different ways. This list is by no means exhaustive, and it represents a wide variety of businesses, industries and social media tools. As you can see, engagement takes many forms. Some are likely to generate more discussions with the company while others might result better connections between customers. Some will fade away over the next 6-12 months while others will continue to grow and evolve. There are no rules to what form your engagement has to take. If you have other examples of corporate social media engagement, please share them in the comments. Blendtec is famous for its bevy of inexpensive “Will It Blend” videos posted on YouTube and shared by millions.
THE WORLD QUESTION CENTER 2010— Page 2 LARRY SANGER Co-founder of Wikipedia and Citizendium The instant availability of an ocean of information has been an epoch-making boon to humanity. But has the resulting information overload also deeply changed how we think? Has it changed the nature of the self? The Internet is changing how we think, it is suggested. In functional terms, being spread too thin means we have too many Websites to visit, we get too many messages, and too much is "happening" online and in other media that we feel compelled take on board. We do? Some observers speak of "where we are going," or of how "our minds" are being changed by information overload, apparently despite ourselves. Is it really true that we no longer have any choice but to be intemperate in how we spend our time, in the face of the temptations and shrill demands of networked digital media? My interlocutors might cleverly reply that we now, in the age of Facebook and Wikipedia, do still deliberate, but collectively.
Four or More: The New Demographic Case Study Library Influencer Guidebook (2013) This complete rewrite of WOMMA's 2008 Influencer Handbook is the work of the highly esteemed Research & Measurement Council and includes contributions from Neil Beam (MotiveQuest), Ashley Libby (The Anca Group), Susan Emerick (IBM), William Chamberlain (IBM), Jane Collins (Formerly of BlogHer), Michael Fein (Fanscape), Amy Laine (IBM) and Dhara Naik (Social@Ogilvy). Share WOMMA's Influencer Guidebook within your organization to learn, New Definitions of Influencers 5 Categories of Influencers 3 Levels of Program Considerations “Before” and “After” Metrics Attributes of an Influencer Visit this link to download the Influencer Guidebook. Solving the ROI Riddle: Perspectives from Marketers on Measuring Word of Mouth The promise of word of mouth marketing (WOMM) and social media marketing initiatives have practically saturated the consciousness of every brand marketer: To download the first three chapters of the guidebook, visit here. More Resources
The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet | Magazine Two decades after its birth, the World Wide Web is in decline, as simpler, sleeker services — think apps — are less about the searching and more about the getting. Chris Anderson explains how this new paradigm reflects the inevitable course of capitalism. And Michael Wolff explains why the new breed of media titan is forsaking the Web for more promising (and profitable) pastures. Who’s to Blame: Us As much as we love the open, unfettered Web, we’re abandoning it for simpler, sleeker services that just work. by Chris Anderson You wake up and check your email on your bedside iPad — that’s one app. You’ve spent the day on the Internet — but not on the Web. This is not a trivial distinction. A decade ago, the ascent of the Web browser as the center of the computing world appeared inevitable. But there has always been an alternative path, one that saw the Web as a worthy tool but not the whole toolkit. “Sure, we’ll always have Web pages. Who’s to Blame: Them Chaos isn’t a business model.