Social Media Marketing helps fuel holiday spirit
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Bells are jingle
belling. Carolers are caroling. And inboxes are filling with Elf Yourself videos from bored friends.
If you’ve never received one of these videos, you’re missing
out. The Web site, created by OfficeMax , is a
silly, fun way to spread holiday cheer. All you have to do is upload photos of
your friends, family or pets, and Elf Yourself does the rest. You’ll have a
short video of grooving elves to share with your address book in no time!
And this year, Elf Yourself caught the social media spirit.
After your video is created, you can upload your video to your Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com) or Twitter (http://www.twitter.com> page, as well
as embed the video in your Web site or blog.
And Elf Yourself has made uploading photos easier this year,
adding an option to upload photos directly from your Facebook account. Doesn’t
get any easier than that!
Here’s an example:
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Elf YOURself, and Tweet them to me (now that you can!)
Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity
<http://www.twitter.com/alyandthecity>)
I'm sorry to say but 140 characters doesn't do your self actualization justice, and frankly no one gives a shit (on twitter anyway). Go to facebook or find some friends. If that doesn't work, try commiserating with the world on fmylife. Of course a shrink can help too. But aren't you tired of people that talk about all kinds of emotional progress. I am.
So get over yourself, and give us all a break. Or we WILL unfollow you. I'm not just sayin' coz we know thats just plain passive aggression. I mean it. We're over the hype. And, thanks to the dynamic Matthew Inman from The Oatmeal for designing these.
We'd love you to call out tweets that fit this category! If you're a deep diver and want to see the full top 10 list – click here
Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm | Social Media Marketing
It’s official, kids. Social media has officially invaded
popular culture.
Last Thursday, the highly anticipated, hour-long wedding
episode of “The Office” aired. As an
avid “Office” fan, I was pumped. I laughed. I cried. I decided my next goal in
life is to find myself my own Jim Halpert.
The end of the episode came around, and I was happy with
what had happened so far. And then, it happened. Some crazy hand signals
occurred, Dwight plugged in an iPod, and I knew what was coming — a spoof of the JK wedding entrance dance YouTube sensation.
(Here’s the original video, if you have been living under a
rock and haven’t seen it.)
Was I watching a sketch comedy show? Nope. “The Office” is
definitely a sitcom. Was I watching a Youtube spoof of another Youtube video?
No, not that either. There’s only one explanation: Social media is so engrained
in our society that it’s being written into popular TV shows. A Youtube
sensation is now part of a script, and the viewers recognized exactly where the
spoof came from when Michael, Dwight, Kelly and the rest of the gang started
dancing down the aisle.
This occurrence is further proof that social media is here
to stay. Some people may still not understand the full impact or the best way
to use social media outlets, but it’s officially a part of our culture.
What other examples have you found of the amazing social
impact of social media? Have any of your favorite TV shows integrated Youtube
or other social media outlets into their plotlines? As always, please share!
Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity
<http://www.twitter.com/alyandthecity)
Do you have iPhone applications catered to where you live?
Indianapolis does!
And it’s my recent amazing discovery in the world of Apple.
I became interested after a friend told me about a new app
called myIndianapolis. It’s an app for people who live in the Circle City or
just love it for all it has to offer! Here’s what you can do on the app:
- Share comments and photos of your city for others to see. You will also see
comments/photos posted by other users. - Tag a map of your city with your favorite places and recommendations for
others. Your tags will be seen by other users, and you'll see all tags from
other users. - View city news and information.
- Check out fun facts about Indianapolis.
- Access the Indianapolis city Web site
When I went to the iTunes store, I decided to check out all
the apps about Indianapolis. Look what I found:
Get your up-to-the-minute news from one of our local TV
stations. Find out if it’s going to rain on your business lunch you planned to
have outdoors. And, of course, keep up with your favorite NFL team. (People hear are a new level of loyal to the
Colts!
Even if you don’t live in a given city, look up a city
you’re visiting or interested in learning more about and download the apps you
find helpful. I’ve lived in Indianapolis for several years now and still don’t know everywhere to go and everything to do.
These apps can be extremely helpful for everyone from the first-time visitor to
born-and-raised resident.
What apps are available for your hometown?
Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity | Social Media Marketing
And why I love social bookmarking over search engines
Nice piece in the Silicon Alley Insider's Chart of the Day today:
Unique visitors to Digg.com reached 17.4 million in August,
according to comScore. That kind of traffic crushes Digg's competition,
including Yahoo's Buzz, which grew a little during the past year, and
AOL's Propeller, which tanked.
We don't have Digg's unique visitors from this time last year,
because comScore changed the way it measures the site's traffic this
past July. Still, a comScore rep says, "Digg is definitely growing
strongly."
Why the surge? A Digg rep cites "recent implementations like
integration with Facebook Connect, DiggBar launch, Digg Dialoggs and
the continued flow of great content submissions from the community."
I prefer social
bookmarking or collaborative sharing over the traditional search engine spider
based classification for several reasons – people understand content better
than any search engine, all pages aren’t indexed by search, and popularity is
way more meaningful than the dubious page ranking system.
Not to mention that Digg is great for traffic generation in general. Thats it for today. For social media marketing. I'm still your friend on the inside 
Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm
Kids usage of twitter up according to Silicon Alley Insider
I'm a fan of Dan Frommer's Chart of the Day pieces. This one is particularly interesting. Here's a direct quote and the chart, followed by some questions for you to ponder.
"While Twitter's user base historically favored older users, people
between ages 12-24 have been Twitter's fastest growing age group of
late. And now that age group is actually disproportionately visiting Twitter, according to comScore.
This chart shows comScore U.S. unique visitor stats for different
age groups. A "100" score means that age group is represented among
Twitter's user base in perfect proportion to how much that age group
uses the Web as a whole.
In July, people ages 12-14 scored a "121" — meaning they were
represented among Twitter visitors 21% more than they were represented
among total Web users. And that's up from the mid-70s — significant
underindexing — on Twitter six months ago. In summary, if comScore's
stats are accurate, people between ages 12-24 are using Twitter, and a lot more are using it now than before."
So here's the questions (some are sort of pseudo-statements)
- 35 – 54 seems odd but I might be able to palate it.
- 25-34 makes sense. Hell even 55+ makes sense.
- But 12 to 24? Some are pre-teens. There are teens in there and there is the totally different (IMO) 22-24 demo. Very weird.
- Clearly someone under 24 is using twitter a hell of a lot more. That's good news I think.
- 2 to 11? This needs actual evidence in my opinion. This just seems wild!
What do you think?
Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm
