Category Archives: Social Media

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I spend a lot of time focusing on the number 0. Zero calorie sweeteners, 0% APR, and even Zero Dark Thirty.

As it relates to work, my focus on this particular numerical digit has been almost exclusively in reference to my e-mail inbox. At the end of each work day, I confront my inbox, doing my best to sort through the masses of unread messages, filing ones of importance, and tossing all others. Until recently, Inbox Zero was my end of day workplace ritual; Merlin Mann was my leader, and SaneBox my prayerbook of an app.

But who am I kidding? I’m far from a minimalist – my office alone might qualify me for A&E’s Hoarders. Fixating on the number zero has proven ineffective, which is why I’ve decided to invent a new trend in productivity. I’m calling it Inbox 90 (trademark pending).

The idea is that instead of trying to narrow your end-of-day focus to a small list of things, put productivity to the test by splitting your attention amongst 90 different things.

Drawing inspiration from the concept of multi-tasking in the workplace, coupled with the need to appear more productive and important, here are some of the need-to-know components of Inbox 90:

  • Overshare - If you have 90 e-mails, or 190 e-mails, the world should know about it. The more you share with your colleagues about the volume of e-mail you receive daily, in specific quantities, the more important you’ll appear. (I’ve already told 6 people about the 90 e-mails sitting in my inbox right now.)
  • Reply All – On a slow day that only produces a small volume of e-mail, make it your job to “reply-all” when the opportunity presents itself. Not only will you be filling your own inbox with responses from people who also choose to reply-all, but you’ll be helping them reach their 90 e-mail quota, too.
  • Calendar Invites – If you’re at 85 unread e-mails, and are just looking for 5 more e-mails to reach 90, send calendar invites for a series of 15-minute meetings to 5 people, and wait patiently for confirmation of their response. Have fun with it by inviting each of your five potential attendees to five completely different, completely worthless events.

For a snapshot of just how important I am, take a look at the screenshot I captured from my computer last week.

 

Add a commentFinn Partners’ Social Media Roundup

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Forbes announced this week that two out of three employed Americans are seeking a new job. Jobvite conducted the survey and found that 1 in 6 employed Americans credit social media for their current job. What’s the breakdown by interface? 52% of jobseekers have used Facebook to look for work, 38% have used LinkedIn, and 34% have used Twitter. Here’s a snapshot of the past week’s news from those networks:

Facebook

Facebook’s reach is declining and community managers want to know why. PostRocket lists and analyzes the rumors. Suspect zero, according to cofounder Mike Maghsoudi, is big data and the inability of even Facebook to filter all the information.

Twitter

The future of Twitter is less clear as intellectual hero and recently named “Product visionary” Jack Dorsey’s role was reduced at Twitter after complaints he was “hard to work with.” As per usual, the recent change kicked up dust in the blogosphere over everything from the tech company’s management philosophy to failed Twitter endeavors like 2010’s all-but-forgotten annotations.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Answers is described by Entrepreneur as the most powerful business intelligence knowledge base on the Internet. The key to using that base is avoiding simplicity and asking questions that are complex and thought-provoking. Corollary to that, when answering questions, avoid hawking your product or business.

 

Add a commentFinn Partners’ Social Media Roundup

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To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question.

Social media has become a regular standard of modern day life. Tweet this. Facebook that. Pin this. Even though this phenomenon is very popular, it has become a trend that has its advantages and disadvantages. Here is another friendly reminder to always “think before you tweet”…

Social media as job recruitment tool, up in 2012

“To tweet or not to tweet that is the question…”

Over the course of the year, recruiters have increasingly researched candidates based on their personal social media strategies. When researching a new candidate, recruiters look first at your LinkedIn, second at your Facebook profile, and third at your Twitter account.

Five Fundamentals for Social Media

“If you didn’t know (how to tweet), now you know”

In a world with numerous people and minimal opportunities based on a recuperating economy, there are ways to navigate the job market using social media. Learn how to shape your personal brand to motivate people to seek you as a prospect for numerous opportunities.

Jerry Brown signs two social media privacy laws

“Fight for your right to tweet”

Despite the occasional slip-up tweet, there officials who are willing to fight for social media privacy. California governor Jerry Brown took a stance on student privacy and signed two measures to protect their online presence. Read more about the protective measures being taken towards social media privacy

 

Add a commentFinn Partners’ Social Media Roundup

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This week in social media has been all about ads and social media makeovers. Read on for the Finn Partner’s Social Media Roundup!

Social Hot Topics

Twitter Releases New Ad Features

This week Twitter released two new ad features that will help businesses get more out of advertising on Twitter. The first is a chart that tracks your organic vs. paid audience growth over time. The second feature allows advertisers to manually select which tweets to promote.

Twitter Gets a New Makeover

Have you noticed Twitter’s new look this week? It features a larger, Facebook timeline-like banner image with the user’s avatar in the middle and a more robust photo stream.

Facebook to Charge for Posting Consumer Offers

Facebook announced that it would now charge businesses to post offers, or coupon-like ads for consumers. This move comes as investors increasingly pressure Facebook to bolster its advertising business.

Social Tools to Check Out

6 Ways to Use Reddit to Grow Your Business

Many marketers have shied away from the self-proclaimed “Front page to the Internet” known as Reddit due to user backlash to brands and certain celebrities using the site to shout their messages at fans. But if you tread carefully, Reddit can be used to connect and engage with your fans in all the right ways.

6 Pinterest Analytics Tools to Supercharge Your Influence

Pinterest is the hottest thing in social right now, which is why your company needs to understand how followers are engaging with your boards. Bonus: this gives you yet another excuse to play around on Pinterest at work!

 

Add a commentFinn Partners’ Social Media Roundup

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It’s been an interesting week in social media with Facebook planning to grow in Asia, Twitter memorializing 9/11 and the launch of the iPhone 5. I honestly don’t know how we got any work done here at Finn Partners! Luckily, we’ve rounded up the top news in social media for your Friday reading pleasure.

Facebook:

Sheryl Sandberg Heads to Japan to Talk Facebook’s Focus on Asia

Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is now in Japan to talk about the social network’s plan to grow in Asia. According to Socialbakers, Facebook has about 14 millions users in Japan, but that doesn’t compare to the 21 million users that Japanese-based social network, Mixi, has. Will Facebook be able to compete with Mixi in the Asian market?

Zuckerberg: A Facebook Smartphone is ‘The Wrong Strategy For Us’

Still wondering if Facebook is next in line to debut a smartphone? Well, Mark Zuckerberg squashed those rumors on Tuesday when he said: “It’s always been the wrong strategy for us.” Instead, the company is focusing on mobile. “We want to build a system, which is as deeply integrated into every major device people want to use.”

Instagram Has 100 Million Users, Says Zuckerberg

According to Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram – recently bought by Facebook – has reached 100 million users and that number is still growing. Back in July, Instagram reported that the photo-sharing service had 80 million users – that’s about 10 million news users per month!

Twitter:

OMG LOL: Twitter Account Tweets Your Old AIM Away Messages

Remember the days of away messages on AIM when you would post song lyrics in a passive aggressive manner to show someone you were mad at them? (Probably because they didn’t text you back right away). Or maybe you just wanted to let everyone on your buddy list (remember those?) know exactly what you were doing with your best friends, Carole, Gina, Mike, Todd, Jaime, and Maxwell, at every second of ever day. Well, you can relive that with the parody account, @YourAwayMessage, on Twitter. Examples of tweets you might find on this account are: “brb mom needs comp;” “out for a run…cell’s good;” or for those of you who were really into making those away message look real fancy: “~*~*~++HOMECOMING 2004++~*~*~ this is our year <<SENiOrS 2005>>.” Give this account a follow if you’re looking for a good laugh.

How Twitter Users Are Memorializing 9/11

It’s hard to believe it’s been over ten years since the tragic events of 9/11. On the eleventh anniversary, Twitter was overwhelmed with tweets, remembering those who lost their lives . One user, @gtongi, says, “Let’s not forget all those who perished.” #neverforget

Other:

iPhone 5: It Doesn’t Levitate?

As most you (should) have heard, Apple announced it’s new iPhone 5 earlier this week. InformationWeek lists some of the best features of the new phone (thinner, lighter, better wireless, etc.). Will you be upgrading to the iPhone 5?

 

Add a commentSocial Media Week in Review

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We hope everyone had a nice weekend and got out to enjoy the summer weather. Just in case you missed it, here is the top social media news from last week.

Digg.com Sold

Digg.com joined the ranks of Friendster and Myspace as social media busts last week when it sold for $500,000 to Betaworks. The paltry $500,000 price tag for the formerly giant social news reader is in sharp juxtaposition to the 9 figure valuations Digg reached during its 2006 peak as well as the $40 million the company raised from venture capitalists.

The sale comes two years after a controversial site redesign that led to an exodus of even the most devoted Digg fans and one year after co-founder Kevin Rose left the company for greener pastures. Digg’s popularity has fallen dramatically since 2008 when the company topped 30 million visitors a month. The site currently hovers at 7 million monthly visitors.

Digg’s new owner, Betaworks, plans to put its News.me team to work on Digg.com with an entirely new site expected by August 1st. The relaunch aims to bring Digg back to its startup roots with a low budget and small team. Unlike Digg’s previous owners, Betaworks plans to take into consideration input from its users when building the new Digg.com in hopes that it can steal the title of top dog from the former scrappy underdog, Reddit.

Visit Digg.com on August 1st to see if the team at News.me was able to teach an old dog new tricks.

Facebook and Wal-Mart Meet

Silicon Valley met Arkansas this week when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg met with Wal-Mart executives at Wal-Mart’s Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters. Analysts interpret the visit as a play by Facebook to open up new revenue streams through an increased involvement in online retail sales as well as a play by Wal-Mart to tap into Facebook’s 900 million users in an effort to compete with online retailer Amazon.com.

Finding additional sources of revenue outside of advertising could be crucial for Facebook if it wants to avoid going the way of former social media giant Myspace.

Have a great week and check back Friday for this week’s social media review!

 

Add a commentSocial Media Week in Review

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This week’s news comes from the two major social media giants: Facebook and Twitter. Read on to see what these two social  networks were up to this week.

Facebook – As always, the notorious social media giant succeeded in creating some buzz this week with the short-lived unofficial ‘Find Friends Nearby’ feature it introduced as part of its expanding mobile experience. Facebook neither confirmed nor denied the feature, which seemed to be released as a test.

In other Facebook news, iPhone users – rejoice! We’ve all experienced the sluggish and slow speeds the Facebook app tends to show occasionally, but according to Facebook engineers the app will become faster come next month. As certain functionalities have been added on to Facebook, speeds of the phone app have steadily increased to accommodate everything. However, in just a few short weeks you may not have to raise your blood pressure waiting to see photos of that guy/girl you’re stalking to load.

Speaking of stalking, Facebook has been criticized for not having many female employees. In an effort to diversify, Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg joined the board of directors as the first female. Congrats are in order!

Twitter – Is it just me or are athletes in one sport or another getting in trouble at least once a week for posting something on Twitter? This week, Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice faced harsh words from critics for donning a “racy” swimsuit, a birthday gift from designer Ellie Gonsalves.

Knicks’ forward Amar’e Stoudemire found himself in what I like to call “social media lava” this week after sending a fan a private message with a gay slur. After all this time, penalties, fines, and public scrutiny, when will athletes, musicians, and all Twitter users learn some manners and practice common sense tweeting?

That’s all for this week, folks! Have any comments, thoughts or suggestions about this week’s roundup, our blog, our partners or about anything else? Let us know!

 

Add a commentSocial Media Week in Review

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What lies in the future of social media?

I guess this social media thing is here to stay. There’s always news and this week had especially big news revealed around the social-sphere. If you’ve read any of my previous blogs, you know I like to frame things from the perspective of how futuristic every new digital announcement sounds. This week is no exception. I think that future we always fantasized about as kids is already here. What do you think? Sound off the board at @FinnPartners and let us know what you think.

The Socialist Olympics Ever
London is already preparing for the crazy social media traffic they’ll be seeing once the Olympics open up shop later this summer. They already expect some of the Olympic sports to shatter every previously set Tweet-per-second record from other sporting events. Partly because more people use social media now then ever, but also partly because all of the teams, athletes and countries are all getting on board with it too. Take Canada for example. Their track and field team will be wearing hashtags on their bibs encouraging fans to send their support over Twitter. Read more about it: http://goo.gl/hSlKN

Why it’s from the future: I’m going to repeat that last statement again. Hashtags on the bibs of world-renowned athletes!

Samsung Shrugs at Facebook
Samsung is great at making electronics. But now they want to convince consumers that they’re great at making a new social network. Their network, known as “Family Story,” is meant to be Facebook-like with an emphasis on photo-sharing, chatting and scheduling. The full product is due out later this year, but users with Samsung smartphone and tablets can already start to see the genesis of this service on their devices in the form of Family History and ChatOn. Samsung denies this is true, but something that combines all of its current smartphone products makes sense, doesn’t it? Read more about it: http://goo.gl/DmU2I

Why it’s from the future: Large corporations with full access and control of your social life is a recurring thing is dystopia-style stories of the future. However, Samsung’s approach seems much more friendly and helpful, streamlining together all of their current Samsung-operated tools and making it easier for you to access everything at once.

Pinterest is #3
A recent report revealed that Pinterest is now the third most visited social media site (104 million visits a month), receiving even more visits than LinkedIn. Considering the fact that this site didn’t start working its way into the mainstream until a few months ago, this is mammoth news. For businesses that hear this and don’t know where to start with the social pinning site, relax, this ten step list will walk you through exactly how to use Pinterest. Read more about it: http://goo.gl/pxMnA

Why it’s from the future: Maybe I’m alone here, but isn’t it amazing that we have enough online critical mass that we’re able to pivot so fast to a new service that it can surpass one of the staple social media channels in a matter of months?

 

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And the social media winner of the week is......Twitter!

This week has been a whirlwind of events for all the social media outlets, but there are three top winners in this week’s news. LinkedIn comes in third with their unfortunate security breach. Facebook’s all around mixed reviews places it in the silver second spotlight and Twitter takes first place by a large margin due to the positive buzz around their new logo.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Breach: What You Need To Know

This week LinkedIn suffered a major breach in security when 60 million user passwords were posted on hacking sites for the world to see. LinkedIn sent out emails to users who were affected, but even if you didn’t get an email, it’s a good idea to change your password just to be safe.

Facebook

Facebook’s App Center Due ‘In The Coming Days’

Facebook wants to better their mobile presence by adding an App Center. They claim the Center will give developers an additional way to grow their apps and will also create opportunities for different types of apps to be successful.”

Facebook Mulls Over Lowering Age Restrictions

Facebook wants to invite your pre-teens to start networking online. Their current policy doesn’t allow users younger than 13, but they are trying to increase revenues by lowering their age limit. However, is there a market for young social media users and more importantly, is it safe?

Twitter

Twitter Unveils New Logo as Mobile Revenue Soars

 

“Twitter is the bird, the bird is Twitter,” says Doug Bowman, the creative director of Twitter. The new logo seems to be a hit and has even increased the fan base on Twitter. Analysts have even predicted that with the new logo, revenue might double in the upcoming year, from 260 million to 540 million. Twitter seems to have trumped the other social media outlets this week with the bright possibilities for the future.

 

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Pepsi will offer free music downloads through its "Live for Now Music” initiative. (Photo courtesy of logotalks.com)

Facebook smartphones are a possibility for 2013, China’s Twitter-like micro blogging site keeps a close eye on what users are posting, and Google+ is still trying to find its place in the world of social media.

Facebook

Facebook May Launch Smartphone by Next Year

Reports suggest that Facebook might be launching its first-ever smartphone sometime next year. This will be Facebook’s third attempt – the first attempt being in 2010. But will the social media company finally pull through in 2013? If so, would you use a smartphone made by Facebook?

Facebook in Talks to Acquire Face.com for ‘Tens of Millions’

According to reports, Facebook may be acquiring Face.com, a facial recognition tool. Calcalist, an Israeli publication, says this acquisition could be for “tens of millions of dollars.” Face.com already powers two photo apps on Facebook – Photo Finder and Photo Tagger. Should this rumor be true, this will be Facebook’s first acquisition since going public earlier this month.

Facebook Stock Price Dips Below $30

For the first time, Facebook’s stock fell below $30. The reason behind this decrease is unclear. As the price of Facebook fell, the Nasdaq and the Dow were up slightly.

Twitter

The Censorship Game: Chinese Twitter Will Score User Behavior

China’s top Twitter-like microblogging site, Sino Weibo, will now penalize users for posting controversial content. Users will be given 80 points to begin with, but their points will fluctuate in relation to the content they post. If you participate in a community-based activity, good for you – you gain some points. However, if you promote “evil teachings,” shame on you – you lose some points. Should a user lose all their points, their account will be banned. Content will be monitored by a “community committee.” Aren’t you happy Twitter doesn’t have a “community committee?” If there was, how long do you think your Twitter account would last?

Pepsi to Provide Free Music Downloads on Twitter

Enjoy free music downloads? Well, be sure to thank Pepsi in advance. Through its “Live for Now Music” initiative, the company will offer free music downloads, music videos, and a series of pop-up concerts this summer and fall. Every Wednesday for the next 52 weeks, Pepsi will offer videos and an overview of the music news that week. Via the Amazon MP3 store, Pepsi will offer free downloads for fans who follow @pepsi and use the hashtag #PepsiMusicNOW. Be sure to follow @pepsi on Twitter for all sorts of updates

Google+ 

Google+ Local Unlocks the Power of Zagat

Google+ introduced a new ‘Local’ tool, which allows users to share information about nearby places, whether it’s a restaurant, museum, hotel, etc. This tool also features information from Zagat (which Google bought last year). Local is a great tool for users to discover new places around them, whether you’re looking for a place to eat lunch with your colleagues or looking for a fun activity to do near your home. Additionally, because of Google+ Local’s integration with Open Table, users can make reservations at restaurants using this feature.

20 Reasons to Switch to Google+

Why should you embrace Google+? Infographic Labs will tell you via… well… an infograpic – no better way than that, right? Reasons include: safer sharing, better ads, easier profile set up, hangouts, better mobile app, and more. Are these reasons enough to get you onboard?

Foursquare

 

Turn Your Foursquare Check-ins Into Jewelry

Meshu, a San Francisco-based startup, allows you to make jewelry out of your Foursquare check-ins. All you have to do is connect your Foursquare account with Meshu’s website, then choose whether you’d like to focus on worldwide check-ins or possibly stay a little more local (i.e. United States or New York City). You have complete freewill to change the shape of your design by eliminating any unwanted check-ins. Costing anywhere from $75 to $150, you can have earrings, a necklace, or cufflinks made of acrylic, wood, nylon, or silver. Don’t have Foursquare? Not a problem. You can create your own piece sans Foursquare check-ins, or you could even select from their pre-made pieces.