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SEW Experts: Do Social Networks Bring Out the Animal in Us?
The surreal nature of the Web has shown it brings out the animal in people who don’t feel anchored to society’s rules. In today’s SEM Crossfire column, “Do Social Networks Bring Out the Animal in Us?,” Frank Watson and special Crossfire guest Kevin Ryan share their thoughts on the flawed promise of social networking bringing human communities together.
Social Networking on Mobile Phones is Hot in the UK
Nielsen has released data showing the popularity of social networks being used via mobile phones in the UK. Here are three key takeaway points:
Almost half (44%) of UK mobile phone subscribers belong to an online social network. Of this group, one in four (25%) use their mobile phone for social networking-related activities
Around 812,000 Britons each month, or 1.7% of all UK mobile subscribers, visited a social networking website using their mobile during the first quarter of 2008 Facebook is the most popular site for mobile social networking, being visited by over half a million Britons (557,000) from their mobiles, or 9% of all UK Mobile Internet subscribersKent Ferguson, Client Services Manager, Nielsen Mobile had this to say about the data: “Social networking is already a global phenomenon, and mobile could be the next big thing in the space. Large numbers of people are interacting with their social networking profiles while they’re on the move. There could be increased consumer demand for mobile social networking driven by the flat fee price plans offered by the leading operators that give subscribers unlimited mobile Internet access.â€
So what do you think? Are social media and mobile phones colliding? Leave a comment and let us know!
Londoners faceoff online in support of their candidates for the Mayoral Election
If the popularity of Facebook fansites was an indicator of how Londoners will vote on May 1st then Boris would be a clear winner with 7466 supporters whilst Ken and Brian trail behind with 2152 and 2130 respectively. Thankfully it seems that Londoners will vote with their feet rather than faces but latest results from a social media study reveal that online PR strategies could count for something in the electoral race.
Nielsen Online revealed today that London Mayoral candidates Ken and Boris are top of the blogs, dominating 80% of the social media conversation. Liberal Democratic candidate Brian Paddick is third with 9% of comments, followed by the Green Party’s Sian Berry with just under 4% and the BNP’s Richard Barnbrook with 2%.
According to Alex Burmaster, Internet Analyst from Nielsen Online, Londoners penchant for social networking continues to thrive and users are taking their opinions mainly to non-political forums, blogs & message boards including those of national newspapers and sites like Twitter and Facebook.
“Ken and Boris are the two leading candidates, neck and neck in the polls and the levels of conversation in the social media space utterly reflect this. If conversation levels were a guide, Ken would narrowly pip Boris to win. However, it’s when we look at the sentiment of these conversations that a far more interesting and revealing picture emerges.â€
Controversy, positivity, negativity: sentiment towards the five leading candidates in social media
• Controversy: Boris is the ‘marmite’ candidate – being the most likely of the top five to generate some form of opinion either way. Only 30% of posts relating to him were of ‘no opinion’
The Green Party’s Sian Berry generates the least controversy / most apathy – having the highest percentage (54%) of ‘no opinion’ posts
• Positivity: Whilst Boris is most likely to generate positive sentiment, 29% of posts being ‘positive’ – Sian Berry had the highest overall ‘net’ positive score of 15% (positive sentiment % minus negative sentiment %). Brian Paddick is the only other candidate to come out with a ‘net’ positive score (11%)
• Negativity: Richard Barnbrook is most likely to generate negative sentiment, 38% of posts being ‘negative’. He also had the lowest overall ‘net’ positive score of -19%
Indeed Nielsen’s results seem to suggest that, shock horror, actually participating in blogs, forums and social media is effective in helping other people to form opinions on issues that affect them. The most active candidates online garnered a net positive score in total comments posted on social media sites. Brian Paddick employed a web ace, signed up to twitter, where he hosted a policy debate and also broadcasted himself via uStream.tv.
“Of the three leading candidates in the polls it’s not surprising that Brian Paddick is the only one to have an overall positive sentiment score in social media. His campaign, involving a US web strategist firm, has focused the most heavily on social media including a pioneering British political use of sites like Twitter, Facebook and UStream.TV – and it certainly seems to have paid dividends.
However, judging from the sheer levels of social media conversation on the election, it may not be enough to grab victory over Boris or Ken. If social media were a crystal ball it might tell us Boris is likely to get more votes than Ken. However, positive comments on Boris more often centre on personality rather than policies and only time will tell if this is a strong enough factor for voters when faced with putting the cross in his box to change the status quo.â€
So, positivity is not the cure for apathy and clearly Londoners like myself, vis-a-vis this post, whether online or on the underground, don’t know what we really really want but we sure do love a good rant!
Search Headlines & Links: March 10, 2008
Want a snapshot of the day’s search marketing news? Here we’ve collected today’s top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:
From the SEW Blog:
Google Defends Security Policy
Douglas Merrill, Google’s VP Engineering, published an impassioned defense of Google’s security policy. Cable Firms Collaborate to Compete with Google
Executives from the six major cable companies have been gathering at monthly meetings in an attempt to offer national advertisers innovative methods of reaching their customers. BoomTown Calls Out TechCrunch: No Google-Digg Buyout
It seems that Digg’s canoodling with bankers Allen & Co. is more along the lines of delegating the task of handling incoming interest rather than putting a “For Sale” sign up at its San Francisco offices. The New Multitaskers: Kids Split Attention Between TV, Internet
A new study on social networking by Grunwald Associates reveals that kids are no longer glued to the television. Now, while the tube is on, many kids are also splitting their attention between the TV and the Internet. Introduction to Search Engine Marketing at SES New York 2008
It’s hard to provide “a clear and concise overview of the key concepts involved in Search Engine Marketing” when half of them have changed significantly since last year. Panama or AdCenter? Microsoft Has Already Decided
If its proposed acquisition of Yahoo goes through, don’t expect Microsoft to rush to integrate Yahoo’s technology into its platform. CAPTCHA Systems are Under Attack
Should spammers ever succeed in breaking through CAPTCHA, a lot of social media web sites and blogs are going to have a big, big problem. Now, Virtual Blight reports that this is on the verge of happening. Best Web Site Traffic: PPC vs. SEO (Search Engine-Optimized) Sites
How does your PPC traffic compare to natural search traffic and direct navigation? A study by Engine Ready finds that that type-in traffic is the highest converting and “most valuable” traffic. SEW Experts: Every Picture Tells a Story: Non-text Contextual Ads
Like contextual text ads, image ads must distract the user and sell a product quickly. Jason Calacanis TechCrunched in Techmeme: Deathmatch at SES New York
Duncan Riley of TechCrunch fame bodyslammed Jason after his Calacanis.com post on how to run a startup.
Douglas Merrill, Google’s VP Engineering, published an impassioned defense of Google’s security policy. Cable Firms Collaborate to Compete with Google
Executives from the six major cable companies have been gathering at monthly meetings in an attempt to offer national advertisers innovative methods of reaching their customers. BoomTown Calls Out TechCrunch: No Google-Digg Buyout
It seems that Digg’s canoodling with bankers Allen & Co. is more along the lines of delegating the task of handling incoming interest rather than putting a “For Sale” sign up at its San Francisco offices. The New Multitaskers: Kids Split Attention Between TV, Internet
A new study on social networking by Grunwald Associates reveals that kids are no longer glued to the television. Now, while the tube is on, many kids are also splitting their attention between the TV and the Internet. Introduction to Search Engine Marketing at SES New York 2008
It’s hard to provide “a clear and concise overview of the key concepts involved in Search Engine Marketing” when half of them have changed significantly since last year. Panama or AdCenter? Microsoft Has Already Decided
If its proposed acquisition of Yahoo goes through, don’t expect Microsoft to rush to integrate Yahoo’s technology into its platform. CAPTCHA Systems are Under Attack
Should spammers ever succeed in breaking through CAPTCHA, a lot of social media web sites and blogs are going to have a big, big problem. Now, Virtual Blight reports that this is on the verge of happening. Best Web Site Traffic: PPC vs. SEO (Search Engine-Optimized) Sites
How does your PPC traffic compare to natural search traffic and direct navigation? A study by Engine Ready finds that that type-in traffic is the highest converting and “most valuable” traffic. SEW Experts: Every Picture Tells a Story: Non-text Contextual Ads
Like contextual text ads, image ads must distract the user and sell a product quickly. Jason Calacanis TechCrunched in Techmeme: Deathmatch at SES New York
Duncan Riley of TechCrunch fame bodyslammed Jason after his Calacanis.com post on how to run a startup.
Click to read the rest of this post…
The New Multitaskers: Kids Split Attention Between TV, Internet
A new study on social networking by Grunwald Associates reveals that kids are no longer glued to the television. Now, while the tube is on, many kids are also splitting their attention between the TV and the Internet. The report showed that 64 percent of kids aged nine to 17 go online while watching TV. Of those, 73 percent say they’re engaged in active multi-tasking.
However, don’t expect television networks to panic, as they are the ones driving kids online in the first place. 33 percent of nine to seventeen year olds participated in online polls, entered contests, played online games or participated in other online activities that television programs have directed them to while they are watching.
Once a kid is online, the Internet begins to dominate their attention: 47 percent said that the Internet becomes the primary focus, while 42 percent said their attention is split equally between the Internet and TV.
Kids are also getting a head start on incorporating social networking as part of their multi-tasking: 45 percent of teens have sent instant messages or e-mail to others they knew were watching the same TV show. And 66 percent recruit their friends to watch their favorite sites, and 48 percent promote new sites to their friends.
“Active multitasking and social networking present a tremendous opportunity to inform, engage and empower kids more deeply than ever before,†said Peter Grunwald, founder and president of Grunwald Associates and a leading authority on kids’ media use. “At the same time, it’s important for commercial efforts to be credible and respect kids’ intelligence – and the content they produce. Kids are using social networking tools to create personal content and share their opinions with great speed, passion and influence.â€
Grunwald’s comments are confirmed by the study, which shows that kids don’t just consume, they are also creators of online content. It found that 27 percent produce blogs, pages or other online spaces and upload original content such as articles, audio, video, polls, and quizzes to publicly available Web sites, at least three times a week.
“The findings of this study strongly suggest that companies should use multiple platforms – TV, online, social networking, handhelds and other interactive media to create a synergistic communications effort and a compelling, highly interactive experience for kids,†concludes Grunwald.
MySpace Announces Safety Principles
MySpace and 49 attorneys general from across the United States have agreed to a joint effort to promote safety principles to increase teen’s online safety.
The Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Sites Safety include tools, technology education and law enforcement cooperation. The attorneys general called on other social networking sites to adopt the [...]
Facebook: Not Where To Search For All Lost Buddies
During last night’s 60 Minutes segment on Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg set up Lesley Stahl’s profile — and an old colleague reached out quickly to her delight. Thus one of the major benefits cited was finding all your lost buddies or colleagues.
Yet I don’t believe that people-search is the key strength of Facebook, until [...]
Email Versus Social Networks
There has been a lot of discussion about email becoming an obsolete application and that social networking will eventually take its place.
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SEW Experts: Social Search Engine Face-off: Facebook vs. MySpace
Everywhere you turn, everyone’s abuzz with Facebook, social search, and social networking. What’s all the fuss about? In today’s Brand Equity column, “Social Search Engine Face-off: Facebook vs. MySpace,” Eric Qualman helps brand marketers understand whether they are missing the train, or jumping on the wrong train.
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Social Network Ad Spending To Hit $2 Billion
In 2007, 37 percent of the U.S. adult Internet population used online social networking at least once a month. That number will increase to 49 percent in 2011.
"The continued growth of social networking seems assured," says Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending and Usage, [...]
