From The Clubhouse

Submitted by Anders Sporring on Fri, 10/19/2012 - 8:52am

This has to be one of the more complex subjects I have ever written about. Not many people are ready to except the truth that the digital revolution is over, they think it’s still yet to come. For us early adopters, there’s no question about it at all. But, I can’t refuse this challenge - not for a minute. I just have to make it as good as possible for us all to read.

Submitted by Nick Gundry on Wed, 10/17/2012 - 7:50am

I was having my coffee outside Sunday morning, scrolling through my Twitter feed, and I saw a tweet from The Atlantic to an article about Dark Social.

Confession, when I initially saw the title I thought ”Dark Social...BATMAN!” But then I clicked through and started reading. What I found was an article that has dropped a bomb on our understanding of where web traffic is coming from. In particular, social media traffic. I think many of us had an inkling that all was not well in the world of web analytics, but never have I seen it laid out so clearly as in Madrigal’s article.

Submitted by Syed M. Raza on Tue, 10/16/2012 - 1:27pm

Have you ever felt the excitement of earning a new badge in foursquare? Don’t you feel lucky when you take a look at those retired badges you’ve earned on foursquare?

I think it is safe to say we all do, as they are limited to only a few people who met specific requirements on foursquare.

Why do we feel that way? Why did foursquare adopt that policy? What is the point of a badge earning quest? Well, that’s the point we call ‘Gamification’.

The wiki definition of gamification describes it to be the use of game mechanics and designs into non-game contexts. So, the game mechanics of winning or achieving something is intelligently being applied in the above scenes by foursquare. It is the perfect example of gamification.

Submitted by Janice Arnoldi on Mon, 10/15/2012 - 10:42am

The social web is becoming more and more visual. Twitter, which began with mundane tweets about lunch, is now the go-to social network for millions wanting relevant information in real-time. Social mediums like Pinterest and Instagram are struggling for the same respect. While it took several years for Twitter to achieve status, visual networks are growing at mach speed in record time.

Pinterest is the most talked about network. People post and share photos creating snapshots of their lives and businesses have been fairly quick to get on board. But Instagram is becoming the staple for millions posting to their social networks from their smart phones. So much so that Facebook bought it for a billion dollars last spring. Instagram is like a photo cross between Facebook and Twitter. Users follow and have followers, create a photo stream, and can like, comment and share photos to their other social networks.

Submitted by Jeannie Walters on Wed, 10/10/2012 - 10:41am

In a study from this year, Gartner predicts not responding to customers via social channels will be as harmful in 2014 as not answering the phone is today. The reason? Customers simply expect it.

Submitted by Courtney Seiter on Tue, 10/09/2012 - 10:31am

Whether it's Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or even 50 Shades of Grey (hey, I'm not judging), we've all had the experience of discovering a great new author and wanting to share their books with others.

Now everyone searching and sharing on the web can have the experience of discovering amazing new authors – or even being that awesome new author being discovered.

Making it possible is Google's recent authorship campaign, designed to link content on the web with the person who wrote it and make it easier to determine who owns the writing. It's an initiative anyone working in social media needs to know about.

You may have come across authorship in action after searching Google for a particular topic.

Submitted by Caitlin Muir on Mon, 10/08/2012 - 10:55am

Residents of California can all breathe a little easier now.

Gov. Jerry Brown has declared it illegal for employers to ask for access to the social media and email accounts of employees and job applicants. Assembly Bill 1844 has been called a “preemptive measure,” protecting citizen’s freedom of speech and right to privacy behind what the author of the bill calls a “social media law.”

Employees are not the only ones who will get protection from the roving eyes of institutions. Senate Bill 1349 was also passed into law, protecting university and college students from having to hand in their social media and email passwords.

Submitted by Kathy (Kat) Mandelstein on Sun, 10/07/2012 - 11:35am

Please register here on GoToMeeting for our October Book Club selection for Social Media Club Members, Social TV by Mike Proulx and Stacey Shepatin.

Submitted by Grant Crowell on Fri, 10/05/2012 - 11:59am

With increasing consumer demands on brands to engage with them in social media, it’s no longer acceptable for businesses to treat sites like Facebook and Twitter as just content; social media now must be deeply integrated into customer service strategy.

Submitted by Larissa Fair on Thu, 10/04/2012 - 7:41am

The biggest social media news to come out of last night’s first Presidential debate was not about the number of people watching or live-tweeting the debate, but about one brand’s tweet problem.