Location-Based Social Networking: Friend Or Foe?
Last year saw Geolocation being added to well-known social networking sites and new sites being set up specifically for it, the best known probably being Foursquare.
Geolocation, in relation to social media, is the ability to ‘tag’ a photo, update or status to give a specific location. Foursquare exists purely for this technology and is about people ‘checking-in’ to cafes, restaurants, bars etc.
There is, however, a difference between real-time location updates and post-tagging. Updating a Tweet or status in real-time means that everyone (if it is a public forum like Twitter) or your friends (if you use privacy settings properly) can see exactly where you are at that moment. Bring on the burglars and stalkers. However, tagging a photo with the location it was taken in is a nice way of pin-pointing it for reference and fairly harmless if it is after the event.
Either way though, location use has not made it into the mainstream. This is mostly due to that old friend of social media – privacy..
A survey undertaken by security company Webroot revealed that 55% of those surveyed (all had Geolocation ready mobile devices) were worried about the loss of privacy that comes with using applications that use location. The main reason for this worry is the fear of risk of crime with 45% worried about being burgled and 49% of the women fearing stalking.
Facebook, who are constantly chided for their privacy, have today made it easier to determine exactly who sees location information in status updates. This is an indication that the big players are not ready to give up on this technology but are determined to make it work by introducing ways to make it as private as possible. But doesn’t that defeat the object?
As far as organisations using social media for marketing are concerned any effort put in should still be for good content and engagement and think of ‘checking-in’ as a nice bonus that some of your fans/followers may use – but don’t make it central to your campaign.
Related articles:
Beyond the Checkin: Where Location Based Social Networks Should Go Next (Mashable)
Survey: Over Half Of Location-Based Services Users Fear Loss Of Privacy (ReadWriteWeb)
If I have a Facebook and Twitter do I still need a Website?
I have been asked this question a couple of times recently so thought I would post the answer I always give..
The easy answer is ‘Yes’..
A website is a permanent presence in the on-line world that gives your organisation a certain level of credence. It doesn’t have to be a Flash animated, all singing and dancing, thousands of pounds set-up though. A basic but easy to navigate website in WordPress that is hosted by a reputable web company is perfectly fine.
The main things your website needs to be is reliable, easy to find, easy to navigate and has good, regularly updated content about what you do.
So how does all this tie-in with Facebook and Twitter?
Well Facebook would like you not to bother with a website and get a web developer to use all the applications going to make your Facebook page into something that is pretty close to a website – but I just don’t think it is enough. Social media is just that, it is about interacting and engaging and a website is more about providing information.
However, Facebook and Twitter are great for linking back to your website and pushing traffic there. In fact this is how I see websites going, becoming more blog based and used more as a landing page to push people to from social media sites where words are limited.
As in my previous post – ‘One cap doesn’t fit all in social media marketing’ – every form of on-line media doesn’t suit every organisation, but as a general rule of thumb a website is a good starting point that can then be added to and enhanced by social media.
Top tips to getting the most from Twitter
“Twitter users send more than 140 million tweets a day. With over 20 per cent of the tweets related to products or brands.” – The Marketer
Twitter is an online network that you can tap into to connect with other people in your industry, find out news or engage with your customers.
These are some top tips to get the most from it:
• Make sure you have a good avatar (picture). Either of yourself or the logo of your organisation. Ideal size is 73×73 pixels.
• Make sure your Bio describes succinctly what you are and what you do and preferably links to your website for added authentication.
• You don’t have to follow everyone who is following you – only follow those that are going to add value to your feed.
• Respond to any mentions or direct messages within 24 hours.
• Keep tweets short, sharp and to the point with a link to an article/picture and tagged with an appropriate hashtag for search purposes e.g. #socialmedia
• Look to be ‘engaging’ three to four times a day at least (tweeting, re-tweeting and replying all count as engaging).
• Use tools such as SocialOomph and HootSuite to help you plan and schedule regular tweets and responses.
These tips just scratch the surface of the potential that Twitter has as a communication tool but will hopefully take you to the next step of getting the most from Twitter if you are just starting out.
Top tips to getting the most from LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an online networking site for professionals.
You can use your profile to promote your organisation, or pay to advertise it, but it is not the ‘done thing’ to set-up your LinkedIn profile as your organisation.
It is a great forum for connecting with people on a business level and in your industry.
These are some top tips to get the most from it:
• Your profile picture should be of you and either professionally taken or in a professional/business setting.
• Regularly interact by posting links to articles about your industry/link to your blog.
• Always scan new connections for people you know and can potentially connect with.
• Only add connections that you know or know of through a connection or work in the same industry – spammers are on here too!
• Customise your link to make it shorter (settings).
• Make sure your profile is open to all (settings).
• Add a link to your LinkedIn profile at the bottom of your emails/on your website.
• Do NOT synch with your Twitter feed – hash tags don’t mean anything in LinkedIn feeds…
Doing some or all of these little things should help you to build a good quality network on LinkedIn and open up the potential for you to connect with more people and hopefully do business with them.
Can Google become as sexy as Apple?
So, Google have launched Google+ which is growing in popularity every day. It now has over 25 million users and is the fastest growing website ever.
A lot of those who are already signed-up are saying that the more they use it and get used to its functionality they are they preferring it to Facebook. I have to say I agree. I like the fact you can have ‘friends’ in different circles and not everyone can see the same status updates. I am also finding it very user friendly for customisation, much more so than Facebook.
What I find interesting in all this is more about how this potential shift in social networking favouritism has the potential to impact on the big players; Facebook and Apple..
You may think it strange that I include Apple in this equation but I believe that if Google+ is a success that Google have the ability to become the major player in the Smartphone market.
It was with great interest the other day that a friend showed me a new Smartphone they had imported from Hong Kong, it looked very much like an iPhone4, only was lighter. But it wasn’t an iPhone4 it was a Google android phone… The reason he had bought it was that it was dual sim but he also likes its other features. I liked it and I am a big iPhone fan. Yes its display wasn’t as sexy and it didn’t have as good a camera or memory, but everything else was the same, especially its functionality for downloading apps and accessing social networking sites. Although it seems that you are currently unable to buy these phones in the UK (I’m happy to be corrected if I’m wrong).
Google are also a major player for searching the web (98% of searches in the UK are done on Google). This already makes them powerful, as websites are geared around Google ‘liking’ them to push them up in their rankings. Google also now take social media tagging into consideration when reviewing a website and the Google +1 button adds even more clout to this.
In conclusion…Google are well respected for searching and website ranking and they appear to have finally cracked their push into social networking with Google+, so if their Smartphone can also become a major player then have they got what it takes to knock both Facebook and Apple off of their perches?
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