Crushing Teen Communication. Oh, Dear!
July 30, 2012
Mashable’s headline may be a little sensationalistic, or not, depending on whether you consider email to be social media. The site exclaims, “Without Social Media, 18% of Teens Would Stop Communicating.” (The infographic that goes with the piece is here.) The write up cites a recent survey from marketing company AWeber which asked American high school and college students about their communication habits. Writer Emily Price tells us:
“According to the survey, 90% of teens are on [Facebook], and an astounding 93% of teenagers use mobile phones – the same amount that use email. 74% of teens are YouTube users, and 47% use Skype to keep up with others.
“Facebook and Email own almost equal parts of teens’ hearts. With teenagers going for both when they wake up in the morning, while they’re in class, and even while they’re on vacation.”
The study went on to ask respondents what they would do if the unthinkable occurred: cell phones, and the technology to recreate them, have disappeared from the Earth. In that event, only six percent would consider using a landline or the postal service to keep in touch. Eighteen percent vowed the hardship would push them into a virtual oubliette, from which they would never communicate again.
Consider this, though. As my beloved publisher so delicately asks, is it a loss or is it a gain when eighteen percent of teens no longer share their thoughts with the world?
Cynthia Murrell, July 30, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Study Shows Google+ Outperforming Facebook in User Satisfaction
July 25, 2012
Ready to believe some random, pop-up survey data? The Register serves some up in “Study: Users Prefer Google+ Over Facebook.” The article reports on this study from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI). The write up tells us:
“According to ACSI’s figures, Google+ tied Wikipedia with a score of 78 out of 100, leading the pack of all the social websites surveyed. By comparison, Facebook scored only a 61, which was actually 7.6 per cent lower than the previous year.”
No 2011 figure for Google+ is available, since the site was added to this survey just this year. The article goes on:
“ACSI attributes some of Google+’s high satisfaction marks to its ability to integrate Google services such as search, YouTube, and Gmail. It also calls out the ‘well liked’ Google+ mobile app, which Google says now accounts for the majority of its social network’s traffic.”
Writer Neil McAllister notes that another recent study, from Web site analytics firm Compete, found unique visitors to Google+ increasing by 43 percent from this past May to June. Sounds great for Google, on the surface.
But how much stock can we put in these statistics? And, reliability aside, what value do they add to society? It almost seems as if these surveys are designed for companies who want to annoy customers, like a digital “this call my be recorded for quality purposes” (which really means “we listen only if we are required to or need grounds to fire a cube dweller.”)
Cynthia Murrell, July 25, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Facebook Scans for Criminals
July 20, 2012
It seems that Facebook is following a path already trodden by some other big outfits. Google is also fighting crime. CNet News declares, “Facebook Scans Chats and Posts for Criminal Activity.” CNet’s Emil Protalinski cites a recent Reuters interview with Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan. The article explains:
“Facebook’s software focuses on conversations between members who have a loose relationship on the social network. . . . The scanning program looks for certain phrases found in previously obtained chat records from criminals, including sexual predators (because of the Reuters story, we know of at least one alleged child predator who is being brought before the courts as a direct result of Facebook’s chat scanning). The relationship analysis and phrase material have to add up before a Facebook employee actually looks at communications and makes the final decision of whether to ping the authorities.”
Sullivan emphasized that the technology’s low rate false-positives is crucial. Facebook wouldn’t want us non-criminals worrying about its employees poring through our communications for no good reason. The company also seems in no hurry to publicize this public service. Protalinski found no mention of the technology at either Facebook’s Law Enforcement and Third-Party Mattersor its Information for Law Enforcement Authorities.
Is Facebook just being modest about its role as a crime-stopper? More likely, they’re concerned users will get up in arms about those pesky “privacy issues.”
Cynthia Murrell, July XX, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Facebook and Delicate Editing
July 5, 2012
Facebook’s cover was recently opened and some un-pleasantries were discovered within the multi-million dollar companies own pages. The Chief Operating Officer stepped in, according to the Business Insiders article ‘How Sheryl Sandberg Stamped Out Sexism At Facebook’ and swiftly edited the inappropriate faces inside Facebook.
Sheryl Sandberg met individually with the female engineers at Facebook, of which there were only around 15 within the hundreds of engineers. She learned through her interviews that these educated women were facing some discrimination inside the company from the men and discreetly took action to remedy the situations.
One of the engineers cited two examples of sexist behavior as:
“One of the senior managers had been known to proposition women in the company. I also had an issue with an engineer who behaved, by turns, dismissively or aggressively toward female product managers.”
Sandburg discreetly resolved the issues and stated:
“The manager who propositioned employees has been demoted and the aggressive engineer was moved to another team. You see, I’m so good that I make things happen and no one even knows about them.”
Situations like the ones mentioned can swiftly get out of hand if not handled correctly. Facebook’s COO dealt with existing problems to the satisfaction of disgruntled employees, while managing to keep publicity minimal. Sandburg presented an excellent example of professional management skills when she discreetly edited the sexist pages of Facebook.
Jennifer Shockley, July 5, 2012
Entertainment Needs and Personality Drive Facebook Visits
July 5, 2012
A study published earlier this month in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media suggests that time spent on Facebook correlates strongly to personality type.
Motivations behind frequent visits may vary, but the study shows that much of what causes people to flock to the site can be traced back to personality and a simple need to be entertained. A recent article on WebProNews titled, “New Facebook Study Reveals Motivation Behind Facebook Visits,” elaborates on the study, commenting on possible motivational factors of participants. We learn in the article:
“Looking at motivational factors that could encourage individuals to spend time on Facebook, the researchers found that entertainment and passing time, along with information seeking, to be the top driving forces for visiting the social site. […]
While self expression was mentioned in the study a possible factor for visiting Facebook, limitations of the design kept the authors from formulating any theories on how it actually played into the time spent.”
Although many Facebook frequenters, like myself, may claim the attraction to the site is maintaining and building relationships, this simply does not prove to be true. The entertainment motive is repeatedly shown to be the most powerful predictor of how much time users spend on the social media site.
Andrea Hayden, July 5, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Is Trouble Looming for Facebook?
July 4, 2012
The Next Web recently reported on a recent decline in Facebook unique users in the article “Comscore: Facebook’s Uniques in the United States Are Slipping.”
According to the article, comScore, Inc. found that Facebook is shedding unique users in the United States and this could easily snowball into a huge revenue loss for the social network. Between the months of March and May, unique users went from 158.93 million to 158.01 million.
Even though the decline is less than 1%, those looking to invest in Facebook are expecting it rapid growth, rather than slight declines.
The article states:
“The company has had a very rough time since its initial public offering, slipping in market value, with some calling its flotation scandalous for one reason or another. Facebook has been battered with negative opinion pieces in force since then. However, recently, the company found a new floor in the market, and is currently valued at roughly $68 billion.
Perhaps the largest threat to Facebook is if its users lose attraction with the site, heading elsewhere for their interactions. If that happens, Facebook will command fewer eyeballs, and thus, fewer dollars.”
It is difficult to determine whether or not Facebook has staying power or if it will just become another myspace. In my opinion, it has done an excellent job of continuing to evolve with the onslaught of mobile technology and will most likely continue to do so in the future.
Jasmine Ashton, July 4, 2012
Sponsored by IKANOW
Sponsored Content: Facebook Hits a Snag
June 22, 2012
The SEO (search engine optimization) crowd thought it had a winner with sponsored content. Pay Facebook money. Crank out some verbiage. Watch those clicks come tumbling along. What seems to be tumbling are Facebook ad opportunities. “Problems for Monetization: Lawsuit Forces Facebook to Let You Opt Out of Sponsored Story Ads” suggests a “stumbling block.” Was Facebook assuming that its “members” would ingest advertising as news without complaint? Personally I enjoy advertising centric editorial content. I used to work at a newspaper and then a big magazine company. The advertorials were often labeled. Sure, tiny type was used, but if you looked, you would see the words “Sponsored by…” or “A message from …” or a similar statement. I flipped through a slick travel magazine in the doctor’s office and it looked to me as if most of the editorial content was sponsored. But I may be overly sensitive.
Here’s the passage I noted:
For those less familiar with Sponsored Stories, when a Facebook user interacts with a business, such as by Liking a Page or Page’s post, using an application, or checking in to a physical business, that business can pay to have the news feed story that could normally appear be shown more prominently or frequently in the web and mobile news feed, or in the ads sidebar to friends. Because they seem like organic content, and feature the faces and names of friends as an automatic trusted referral, they’re clicked more often and are more influential on viewers than traditional ads.
Even the lingo is from the Land of SEO. Example: “Organic” just like beets and carrots from the farmer down the road here in Kentucky.
An alleged advertorial. Source: http://pdfcast.org/pdf/writing-sample-advertorial
Sponsored content is a very big deal. The reason is that consumers tune out ads. Do you remember the commercials which run in motion picture theaters before the show starts. I don’t. I play with one of my electronic distraction devices. On a desktop computer’s big screen, there is enough real estate to stuff a range of ads to lure the surfer. On a mobile device, the ads are really annoying. So how does one pump up the click throughs? Easy. Sponsored content that is shaped information.
Shaped information is tough for some people to identify. To get a sense of the challenge, check out A 50 Year History of Disinformation by Peter Viemeister. As a result, the content is consumed and according to information in the article cited above, performs “much better than traditional ads.”
What’s the fix?
Some are harsh. Facebook users can elect to turn off the ads. Yikes, bummer. Others can be sidestepped such as a provision to have users under 18 “represent they have received parental consent.”
Here at Beyond Search we label sponsored content, which generates questions. People reading Beyond Search wonder why a company like Polyspot would sponsor a story about search. Well, Polyspot is in the search business and we are covering topics germane to Polyspot’s interests. No big surprise.
Facebook Adds Customized User Controls. Who Has Time?
June 17, 2012
Facebook has seen quite a bit of limelight this month. Their IPO has garnered much media attention. Perhaps this is why their newest feature had a quiet introduction. “Facebook Tweaks Notifications to Help You Silence Annoying Applications, Updates” describes the new controls users have over the flow of updates into the notification box.
When a user sees a new notification, a small “X” icon also appears in the right hand corner of the notification. After they delete the newest notification from that application they will have the chance to click “Turn Off” to stop all notifications for that particular application, event or comment thread.
According to the article:
“This is especially helpful for gaming applications like Farmville that spam updates into the notification feed or updates from events that you didn’t attend, but neglected to decline the invitation. Users that don’t want to contribute to a long string of comments can avoid getting updates about new additions to the conversation. Users that spam groups with pointless updates can be silenced immediately.”
This addition to Facebook settings embedded into the homepage is sure to gain positive comments. In light of Facebook’s IPO especially, perhaps all the company needs is a little lipstick.
Megan Feil, June 17, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Poll Questions the Facebook Staying Power
June 15, 2012
Nearly a decade after Facebook’s inception, skeptics remain critical of the social media tycoon’s ability to stay current as technology continues to rapidly progress. ComputerWorld recently reported on the results of a May survey regarding the way Americans feel about the staying power of the social networking site in, “U.S Facebook Users Skeptical of Site’s Privacy, Longevity.”
According to the article, a recent poll surveying 1,004 U.S adults found that Americans a split in their opinions regarding whether or not Facebook is a passing trend. Over 50% of survey respondents lack faith in the social network, but 43% believe it is here to stay. One of the naysayers primary concerns is regarding Facebook’s willingness and ability to keep their personal information private.
When breaking down the numbers, the article stated:
“Three of every five Facebook users say they have little or no faith that the social network will keep their personal information private. Only 13% trust Facebook to protect their information, and only 12% would feel safe making purchases through the site. The AP noted that half of those who use the site daily — Facebook’s most loyal users — say they would not feel safe making a purchase on the network.”
Despite the fact that many people believe that Facebook is overvalued, there are just as many people out there who use find its value to be right on track. I guess only time will tell.
Jasmine Ashton, June 15, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Facebook Preferences to Advertisers
June 13, 2012
Wired gives us the inside scoop on “How Facebook Knows What You Really Like.” It all hinges on Open Graph, a system that expands Facebook‘s famous connections mapping technology to its commercial partners. The initiative is an addition to the Facebook Platform, the toolset that lets outside companies develop applications that link into the social network. Targeted marketing at its tightest. The article explains:
“In the case of Open Graph, the task is to weed through the mountains of data streaming from outside operations and serve up only the stuff that’s most relevant. The system works in two stages. First, it seeks to determine how interesting a certain type data would be to Facebook’s audience as a whole. Then, using this global rating as a starting point, it tries to determine how important the data is to you in particular.”
So, because I have shown an interest in technology, music, and travel, those are the kinds of adds I see in my feed. The software that keeps track of what we like, called Scribe, is designed to log large amount of data in realtime; another program analyzes that data to determine big-picture trends. About a billion clicks are processed per hour.
Wired’s Cade Metz theorizes that the Open Graph model, though designed around Facebook, could become a standard for other Web services. Perhaps, some day. For the moment, though, companies who have plugged in to the system report huge leaps in Facebook-supplied traffic. It’s good to know their investment is paying off.
What about the users? I, for one, am happy to see adds for (mostly) things I’m actually interested in alongside my newsfeed. Yes, data harvesting bothers many, but those folks shouldn’t be on Facebook anyway. We all go into it knowing the company is just using us to feed its advertisers. Right?
Cynthia Murrell,June 13, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
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