Apple announced a bunch of new features and operating system stuff today. You can read about all the changes to iOS5 over at the Apple site. Amongst all the changes to the iPhone Operating System which were announced today at the Apple Keynote for iOS5, the big one, from the social media perspective, is the inclusion of “Tweet This” in the sharing features on the mobile operating system. From a social media perspective, this is pretty big news.
It represents a huge nod of approval from Apple to Twitter. One of the primary obstacles people still have with fully adopting Twitter is the steep learning curve/lack of information about how to actually use Twitter in your daily life. How many of you have heard someone say “it’s only for teenagers” or “I would use Twitter but I don’t really care what people do all day – so you are going to the kitchen. I don’t care!” I think that the inclusion of this feature in the Apple Mobile OS will make an impact on this obstacle.
If for example, you are sitting on the fence about beginning to use Twitter, wouldn’t it be more likely that you would try it out if there was a button that made it really easy to do on your phone already? A button that you would see each time you “share” something via email with someone who may find it useful/important to know? I think that it would.
So this isn’t a groundbreaking worldshifting gamechanger, but it will most likely help more people begin to use Twitter (and actually use it for it’s intended purpose – sharing information that your friends and followers may be interested in).
What do you think? Will it make a difference?
The iPad 2 is proof that ready, fire, aim (the idea that sometimes you just go for it before everything is absolutely perfect) works. The iPad 2 has most of the features that people were expecting in the first version – a camera (two actually), ability to share to appletv, video mirroring via hdmi out, gyroscope, and a dual core chip. Also, if you remember when iPad 1 went to market, there was a wait for the 3G models. They sold 15 million in 9 months in 2010. That is absolutely staggering, particularly for a product which didn’t exactly get staggering reviews: Check out the Gizmodo article entitled Why I Won’t Buy an iPad and Why You Shouldn’t Either or “No Second Coming, Apple’s iPad Just a Big iPod Touch”
One of the more frustrating things I have ever worked through is the organizational red tape and road blocks in a business that lacked agility. Seriously, when people say “Well we really want to avoid ready, fire, aim thinking” I cringe. I believe that there is never going to be a “perfect” time, situation, or set of circumstances to make a change. We do what we can with what we have at the time we have it, and we just go for it. At least that’s what we do if we don’t want to stay stuck or mired in mediocrity.
I feel like Apple excels at this. Their products are never “perfect” when they come to market. There are always features that geeks want that are left out. Their products are always “awesome” when they come out, though, save for the Newton.
At any rate, I feel like the sales of the first generation of the iPad underscore the importance of just going for it – the true entrepreneurial spirit.
It’s not just that they go for it though, they are masters of creating mystery, intrigue, and excitement for a product launch. Check out Seth Godin’s blog about the first launch for some more in depth analysis of the launch itself and what it is that Apple does that sets them apart. They excel because they deliver a remarkable product, every time. The launches themselves are incredible entertainment. Robert Scoble tweeted this about Jobs today: “One other thing about Jobs. Every single sentence he says is tweetable/quotable. Every one. Communication clarity. Unmatched in industry.” He nails each sentence – Jobs really is a master presenter. His communication is so on-point, so well-thought out, and delivered so effortlessly.
So what can we learn from Apple? I say it’s the beauty of going for it when you have a great product that is not yet perfect. 15 million iPads were sold in the time it took to create the iPad with the features the geeks wanted in the first one. We can also see the power of an entertaining presentation.
image via flickr/cliff1066
What do you think?
The Hello Bar is a great addition to a website – it’s easy to use, easy to install, and effective in getting people’s attention. Just last week I was having a conversation with someone about using a pop-up welcome to a site, and how it is changing from annoyance to potentially valuable tool. I installed it today, and I am definitely loving it.
I have been looking for a nice way to welcome people to the site, and I think that the Hello Bar does it, and I think that it does it a bit better than the pop-up. I just have a “we can help you with your marketing needs” up now, but will probably do some testing to see what works for people/generates results. The peeps over at DIYThemes have been using The Hello Bar to great success in generating new email subscribers.
For now, I am glad to have it up and running.
It’s very easy to install, the backend is easy to use, and it looks great. It does impact page load speed a bit, so i am going to try and work on optimizing it, but I would definitely recommend this as a welcome option on your site. I also want to come up with some creative uses for it – rather than just welcoming people to the site and letting them know they can contact me for help with their marketing stuff. It would definitely be interesting to run an A/B test with a “pop-up” welcome and see which one would fare better.
If you would like an invite to use Hello Bar (It’s in beta) use the above Hello Bar message to reach my contact page and send me an email! I’ll give you an invite.
How could this best be used? What would you like to see on the bar when you visit a site? What would you use this for?
image via flickr/theoddnote
image via Flickr/Kristian D
I was asked by Melinda Davenport (thanks Melinda!) to weigh in on the upward trend in Facebook phishing scams. Pretty Great! I had a good time, was able to share some information that I think will be helpful to people, and had an opportunity to talk a little bit about the importance of protecting your online identity – and making good decisions. I have been watching Season 5 of “The Wire,” which focuses on the importance of sources in journalism, and was glad to help out as a source on Social Media tips for people!
You can check out the video (and write-up) here on WCAX.com right now!
You can learn more about protecting yourself in my previous blog post on protecting your online identity.
Good Stuff!
The recent Ad Age report which estimates that Facebook is expected to book $1.86 Billion in Ad Revenue shows us that Facebook is becoming a major competitor to Google when it comes to advertising, and also can serve as a reminder that we need to protect ourselves and our identities online from scams – those scams definitely pay part of that huge number of advertising dollars to Facebook. 60% of that revenue comes from small businesses, rather than the traditional advertising big boys. There is also another report which outlines the increase in scams, phishing, and other malware stuff on Social Networking sites. This is not surprising at all. To me, this is a signal that there is something to pay attention to here.
So how do you protect yourself?
- To begin with, create a password that is SECURE. Don’t use a password that is all lower case letters. Mix it up. Use a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. The more, the better.
- Use your head. Common sense can prevent most, if not all, phishing or scams from happening in the first place.
- Practice common sense – If something seems too good to be true, it most certainly is. What would you do if someone walked up to you on the street and told you they had a free Ipad for you, and all you had to do was provide them your name, address, and credit card number? Hopefully, you’d keep walking.
- Be reasonable – There is no such thing as a free ipad or iphone. Stop clicking on those ads.
- Pay attention – If you own a business, you are going to visit the shop to check in. Do the same with your Facebook and other accounts. Go and see what’s happening there.
- Review your settings on both Facebook and Twitter – Check out what external sites you are allowing access to your FB and Twitter information. If there is anything on there that you don’t recognize, delete it immediately. If you truly need it, you can always add it back later when you remember what it was for!
- Follow Mashable on Twitter – If you are following Mashable on Twitter, and paying attention to Twitter, you are going to see almost immediately if there is a scam that is sweeping the online landscape. They are a great resource for all things Social Media. I trust them more than any other sources combine.
- Have a saved search on Twitter for Facebook Scams and Email Scams and Twitter Scams. Just look at the results though, don’t click on them. There are scams that masquerade as helpful posts which will allow you to prevent scams! I look for multiple “hits” on the same thing. A great example was the issue that happened with Twitter this year right before they were changing the design of everyone’s profile – I had a twitter search for “twitter scam” and noticed that there was a ton of activity. I avoided twitter.com and was all set.
- Don’t open attachments in emails from people that you don’t know.
- Don’t click on “Pop Up” ads.
- If you are unsure about something, google it and see what you come up with.
- Use your head! I can’t stress this enough. There is something about the anonymity and enormity of the internet that makes people think that “anything is possible” – even if the person is generally pretty rational. Try and apply your real-life experience in the online world.
So what do you do if you click through and become the victim of a phishing scam?
- Log out of the program.
- Change your passwords. Immediately. All of them.
- Send a message to your contacts letting them know what happened. This can really help slow down the growth of a phishing scam – as you are eliminating the chain that you started by getting caught in the net.
- Go back into your settings and remove any OAuth access that you don’t recognize.
- For Facebook:
- Go into “Privacy Settings”
- On the bottom left hand corner, choose “Apps and Websites” (You can see the red Arrow pointing the way!)
- Click on “Edit your settings”
- Click on “Edit Settings”
- Remove anything you don’t recognize by clicking on the “x” and deleting it.
Additional Steps:
- Place a fraud alert on your credit report.
- Report the scam. If it’s an actual business, and the scam was something pretending to be the business, let that business know. If it is on Facebook, use the “Report” feature to let FB know about it.
- Go to the ID theft page for the Federal Trade Commission and learn more about what exact steps to take.
This is just a quick list of tools for you to be aware of. These little steps really can go a long way to preventing issues.
