SLI Systems: Search of Facebook Content Creeps Forward
February 19, 2012
Facebook information is a gold mine for retailers, and now retailers are honing in on the content produced by consumers on the social networking site.
SLI Systems is now providing a way for allowing Facebook and other social media content to be discovered in a site’s search results. The idea is to let content shared by consumers to reach a larger audience than just those in their network that are reading in real-time. By “pausing” the flow of content and allowing it to be used later, the value of this content is supposedly increased. SLI Blog’s article, “Get More Mileage from your Facebook Content with Site Search,” elaborates on the idea with some case examples. The article asserts:
With the ability to include content from your Facebook wall and other social media sites in site search results, retailers can get much more mileage from their social media content. And, more importantly, they will be better able to harness the power of their customers for creating content. One way to do this is to look through your sites search phrases for questions customers are asking. Then, turn these questions into Facebook posts and let your community provide the answers.
This is quite an interesting twist. With Facebook users creating content, I’m not sure what sort of “content” retailers are banking on. This concept might just allow for negative or uninformed publicity, (see the #McDStories and #McFail hashtags that swarmed Twitter recently.) We will see.
Andrea Hayden, February 19, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Social Networks No Substitute for Reliable Real-Life Friends
February 18, 2012
From out “is this a surprise” department:
There are friends and then there are Friends. You’d have to be a bit naïve to be surprised that “Facebook Friends Can’t Be Relied on in a Crisis,” as The Telegraph affirms. Macmillan Cancer Support in the UK has released a poll which found that, though the average young adult has 237 Facebook “friends,” only a couple of them could be counted on for support in a time of crisis.
The problem is not just a dearth of virtual friends, though. Writer Stephen Adams reports,
The survey, of 1,000 people aged 18 to 35, found two-thirds of respondents said they had two or fewer really close friends. It also found that one in eight (13 per cent) admitted they did not have even a single person they considered to be a good enough friend to rely on, if life got very hard. Men (16 per cent) were more likely than women (12 per cent) to have no one to turn to.
Does this mean technology is robbing us of our real-world support networks? Perhaps, but a lot more study would need to be done before we draw that conclusion. Will these data throw some water on the notion of a search anchored in asking “friends”? I prefer an objective content processing system and key word search.
Cynthia Murrell, February 18, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google Plus Functionality X Rayed
February 18, 2012
Why hasn’t Google+ taken off more than it has? ZDNet asserts, “Google+ Numbers Would Be Higher. . . if It Worked.” Writer Tom Foremski has been having trouble with his Google+ and, while he’s at it, Gmail and Google Contacts, too. What’s worse, Google’s famously inadequate support has failed him time and again.
Google’s problem is the company’s lack of participation in social networks, maintains Foremski. Google should be using social media to engage users and to provide some sort of organized support system. The article asserts:
I know that Google wants desperately to have a large social network but it clearly doesn’t get it, because it doesn’t use social networks in providing customer support!. . . . Google will fail at G+ and other social network ventures if it doesn’t fully engage in those networks, and others, with its customers and users. You have to be in it to get it. That’s how things work and there’s no short cuts.
Foremski suspects he is not the only one with Googley problems. He also suspects the company has little interest in fixing his or other users’ issues. The man may just be right.
I noted that Google itself used Facebook to publicize during the week of February 12, 2012, its “major” Google TV and YouTube announcement this week. Interesting. I guess marketers go where the eye balls are, not where the bonus plan suggests.
Cynthia Murrell, February 18, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google Plus Wants the Social Pie
February 17, 2012
According to the Pandia Search and Social article “How to Benefit From Google’s Search Plus” Google is creating some waves with the release of its new Search Plus Your World (SPYW or Search+). “Google has previously said that gaining +1s can help improve your ranking for those who have directly +1ed your content, as well as for those they are connected to.”
Search+ works by only factoring in an individual’s Google+ social graph. We learned:
The key implication here is that a company’s presence on Twitter and Facebook won’t produce the same return as a presence on Google+.
Users that put a share button on their Google+ website can help gain more attention for their website which is especially important for businesses. Google+ pages need to be an integral part of the marketing scheme especially SEO marketing plans. Looks like users will have to fight their way, kicking and screaming, through another social network to reach the Google top.
April Holmes, February 17, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Apps Replacing Middleware for Many Companies
February 17, 2012
Here’s the progression for information access. Ask someone. Use Dialog’s or SDC’s command line interface. Surf the Web. Use an app.
Information Management’s Jim Ericson recently reported on Middleware vendors moving into app development in the article “Apps Overtaking Middleware.”
According to the article, the predicted “suites of heterogeneous software assembling like Transformer robots to tackle the big adversaries of enterprise processing,” have not proven themselves to be accurate. Rather, modern day apps and analytics are beginning to court the data, rather than the other way around.
Vendors are beginning to snatch up the analytics apps like hot cakes. Andrew Bartels of Forrester Research elaborates:
IBM is a poster child for the classic Middleware vendor moving aggressively and heavily into applications because they see that is where the action is. Specifically, that means “analytical solutions” with a tighter focus on marketing, buying, selling and servicing activities.
While this is an interesting take on the issue, we believe that Ericson does not consider the issue of app fatigue or the inefficiency of providing limited functionality to professionals who have changing information requirements.
Are online customers making more informed decisions? I prefer not to comment on that.
Jasmine Ashton, February 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Politicians Try to Surf on Social Media
February 12, 2012
Is this a new type of polling or is it social trolling? Attensity’s blog reports, “Politico Uses Attensity to Analyze SOPA Sentiment.” Attensity took on Politico’s challenge to mine social media for attitudes on the Stop Online Piracy Act. It turns out that people who spend a lot of time online skew heavily against the law. Go figure.
Author James Purchase writes:
If I had to directly summarize this analysis, I would say that the SOPA-opposition is significantly more organized and vocal in using Social Media to make their point. Whether or not the social media outcry affects the outcome of the legislation remains to be seen.
Perhaps, though I hope the uproar against the law has reached the ears of even the most tech-adverse legislators. They have interns, right? Some are awkward too. Wipe out!
Cynthia Murrell, February 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Survey Finds Trust in Governments Sharply Eroded
February 11, 2012
From the “we don’t know if this is accurate” department:
If you’re a government and need a reason for censorship, look no further than RT’s “People Let Down by Government Turning to Social Networks.” The write up reveals:
The Edelman Trust Barometer has found that people around the world have lost trust in their governments over the course of the last year. . . . Among the main causes for such a downturn, [Edlelman CDO Robert] Phillips said, is the dispersion of authority and the rise of social media.
The annual survey asks residents of 25 countries about their feelings on government, businesses, and non-governmental organizations. This is the sharpest drop in trust in the US and European governments the company has found since beginning these surveys a dozen years ago. Instead, folks are placing their confidence in peer networks.
Could social media be a threat to the untrusted? If so, perhaps censorship is a comin’ round the mountain. Yep, here she comes. And one cannot search if the information is not in the indexes, right?
Cynthia Murrell, February 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
A Quote to Note: Google Plus Is a Winner
February 10, 2012
Navigate to “Google Social is Exploding Online!”
It is now safe to say that Google+ is becoming an enormous success, with nearly half of the unique visitors of Twitter (40,411,065 unique visitors in December). With a steep upward trend and knowledge of the power behind a Google product, expect continued growth from the unequaled search engine’s social platform known for ingenuity, creativity, and revolutionary product offerings.
There you go. Google TVs are coming as are more cloud apps.
Stephen E Arnold, February 10, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Facebook Reigns Supreme
February 10, 2012
In a world dictated by technology the latest and greatest products headline the news. Apple products such as the iPad, iPhone and iCloud continuously dominate the news and the attention of tech lovers everywhere. However, as captivating as these products may be, when it comes to internet searches they are not the fan favorite.
According to the Experian Hitwise article “Facebook Was the Top Search Term for Third Straight Year,” social media continues to dominate the public’s interest. “Experian Hitwise, a part of Experian Marketing Services analyzed the top 1,000 search terms for 2011, and Facebook was the top-searched term overall in the US. Analysis of the search terms revealed that social networking-related terms dominated the results, accounting for 4.18 percent of the top 50 searches.”
Furthermore, social media terms have topped the list for the past six years. It seems that social media outlets such as Facebook show no obvious sign of slowing down but in a world where it’s out with the old and in with the new it will be interesting to seethe data for 2012.
April Holmes, February 10, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Managing an Online Reputation
February 10, 2012
Zimbio calls our attention to the judgment of the Web with “Monitoring Tools for Management Reputation Online.” (As evident in the title, the piece seems to have originally been written in a language besides English, one in which the adjectives come after the nouns. Keep that in mind when reading it.)
The freewheeling nature of the Internet, at least for now, means that anyone can go online and say anything about any person or company. It is the wise business that monitors and manages its online reputation. Besides working to remove or bury negative information, companies should make the effort to promote their brands online in a positive light.
The write up asserts:
Thus management reputation Internet, reputation web or reputation online with the help of e-reputation enterprise and cleaner nets not only saves the name from being violated on the Internet but also has the tendency to create business for those who have their e-reputation handled very carefully.
This is a very brief piece, with imbedded links that point to French online reputation management company Zen-Reputation. (Ah ha, French! That explains the sentence construction.) Whether through this company or a competitor, though, paying attention to their Internet image is a good idea for many companies. What happens if someone posts something unfavorable and links aggressively to that write up? Good question.
Cynthia Murrell, February 10, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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