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Wow! What a Night! November 5, 2008

Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.
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Everyone mark their calendars – we witnessed something historic last night.  Congratulations to both President-Elect Obama and Senator McCain for a well-run race to the end.

So, will Obama continue to tap into the social networking phenomenon to communicate with his constituents?  Will we actually have a President that Twitters?  Will our Chief keep his Facebook page?  There are some great reasons for the Obama administration to continue utilizing social networks.  First, over 57% of people online have joined a social network – and that number jumps to over 90% for digital natives.  People tend to be more trusting of other people’s recommendations than they are of corporate advertising.  In other words, 78% of people trust other consumers versus the 14% that trust advertisements.  Why?  Because social media is a dialogue – a two-way conversation that involves LISTENING as much as it does talking. 

Want to keep your momentum, Barack?  Want to continue the revolution?  Keep having that dialogue with people.  Don’t be like administrations of the past and make promises to get into office, just to ignore public opinion once you learn your way around the White House.  Imagine, our public servants actually serving the public?!  Shocking!  

So, Obama keep your iPhone application.  Keep your Facebook and Twitter accounts.  I know you’re busy – I’ll allow you to assign it to a staffer – but keep those communication lines open.  That, sir, is how you will keep touch with the people that believe in change.

    Obama Launches iPhone App October 5, 2008

    Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.
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    The Obama / Biden campaign launched a free application for iPhone last Thursday.  The application is the newest way that the candidates have used social media to appeal to a broader audience and amplify their message.  

    The application offers a host of cool features:

    • Call Friends – organizes your contacts by key battleground states, and allows you to update the status of your contacts
    • Get Involved – find local campaign headquarters and find out how you can get involved
    • Receive Updates – allows you to sign up for email or SMS updates
    • News – Delivers national and local news about the campaign
    • Local Events – Uses your iPhone location to tell you about campaign events in your area
    • Media – view and forward videos and pictures from the campaign trail
    • Issues – choose from Civil Rights to Energy & Environment to Iraq, and see Obama’s stance on particular issues

    By far, Issues was the the most interesting part of this application from my perspective.  In the Education link, Obama gives a brief overview of the problems and his solutions for everything from recruiting and rewarding teachers to higher education.  It’s a great way to learn what the candidate stands and how they plan to fix certain problems in America today.

    However, I’m sure that the campaign would tout the handy “Donate” link as one of the key elements of the application.  

    One downside is that the “Call Friends” feature does claim that while no personal data will be uploaded or stored, the total number of calls you make will be uploaded anonymously.  I’m not too keen on having any of my data uploaded or sent back to an anonymous source.  (I know – it happens all the time – however, I don’t have to like it.)  Your call statistics are then compared to the number of calls made nationwide, by others who have downloaded the application.  As Declan McCullagh, from cnet news, mentions the Obama campaign is trying to motivate people by making them “feel like they’re part of something bigger.”

    Let me say to all my friends that may invite me to their side of the campaign, or those that think I am supporting one side over another – I’m just showing how this election continues to use the power of social media to get people involved.  I would greatly welcome the same application from the McCain side – OR even a bipartisan application that compares the issues between the two.

    Remember, sign up for Twitter before Tuesday to tweet the debate with me.

    Where vs. Nearby vs. Yelp September 1, 2008

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    I downloaded the Where, Nearby and Yelp applications for my iPhone…they had different descriptions, but ended up having some similar features.  Here’s the run-down on these three apps:

    Where, by ULocate Communications, lets you search

    • Restaurants on Yelp (I love when apps are integrated)
      Where

      Where

       

    • Nearest Starbucks location
    • Cheapest gas through GasBuddy
    • Nearby Zipcar location (I’m not in a Zipcar market, though…so, local rail, bus or subway would have been better)
    • Where your friends are through BuddyBeacon (which can be integrated with Facebook)
    Nearby, by Platial, let’s you search:
    • Location-based notes, pics and sotries
    • Street art, parks and restaurant reviews
    • Popular places around your current location
    • Platial geobits – from foods and the arts, to activism and history
    • Add stories, photos and leave virtual notes
    Yelp, let’s you search:
    • Local restaurants, bars, cafes, banks, gas stations, drugstores and more
    • Narrow your search by neighborhood, distance, price and what’s open
    • Browse reviews
    Nearby

    Nearby

    Interestingly enough, Where markets itself as a navigation application but Nearby and Yelp classifies themselves as a lifestyle (or social community) application.  One of the downfalls of Nearby, though, is that it doesn’t yet have enough participation to offer enough suggestions in certain areas. 

    Where and Nearby are map-based applications – both are relatively accurate and load quickly.  Where has a much more usable interface with a scroll bar on the bottom which allows you to search for items much easier.  Yelp, however offers a listing of locations as default with a map option.  One benefit of the Yelp list is that I don’t have to drag a map around in order to find locations close to me.  All three integrate with iPhone in order to place a phone call to the business or map directions easily.

    Nearby’s website shows much more promise than its mobile application.  When I first launched the app on my iPhone, all locations (which weren’t many) loaded as blue squares.  I had to click on each one to read the name and review.  On the web however, I was able to see the legend for each classification (restaurants, hotels, etc.)…I guess many users in my area just aren’t classifying the locations they’re entering.

    Nearby has possibility, but they will need to evaluate how to compete against apps such as Where and Yelp – both of which have a large user base with incorporated feedback.  I understand that they don’t just want to be a map search, but a community-based app…but, they may need more to draw people in.

    Yelp

    Yelp

    Yelp’s website offers much more than it’s mobile interface at this time – from pet services, to shopping to real estate.  You can get to the website via mobile.yelp.com on any mobile phone.  Yelp’s website reminded me of a much more updated Craig’s List, in that you can find just about anything in your metropolitan area and there is quite a large user base.

    I really like Where’s interface.  I’ll be anxiously waiting future updates – as I recommended, bus stations, subway stations, and hotels would be nice icons to incorporate on the scroll bar.  And, in case you don’t have an iPhone, Where is available on most major carriers for Nokia and Blackberry phones as well.

    I’m still not sure that there is enough differentiation to download all three of these applications – although they are all free.  If you are a consumer business, however, I think it’s important to make sure that your business is loaded into all three.

    U Report, U Decide August 17, 2008

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    I’m a sucker for iPhone apps.  I’ve waited for months for the much-awaited Apps Store on iTunes.  (Of course, I’m not even close to iJustine – with 5, yes FIVE, pages of iPhone applications.)

    Now Fox News has the UReport application.  UReport allows people to submit pictures and video directly to Fox News.  If chosen, your submission could be featured online or during the broadcast.

    Although the application only allows for one-way communication, good for Fox News for embracing the social media trend.  However, does this mean that they now need to change their tagline from “We Report, You Decide” to “You Report, We Decide”??