Forgot to mention this a couple weeks ago when the latest release of Foursquare for BlackBerry came out, but the application has added a tab in the top navigation for Tips.  The purpose of the screen is obvious enough, it’s a listing of tips for places near where you are and from each tip you can link to the venue, mark tips as done and see the profile of the person who left the tip.

It’s not earth shattering, but it’s a move toward expanding activity on Foursquare beyond just checking in to earn points, mayorships and badges.  Leaving tips has been sort of a secondary feature on the social network and is not promoted, but by making these tips a different way to explore the locations around you, not just by showing their names (that you probably already know), but what about them makes them interesting.

It also adds a little cache to adding tips.  A couple months ago when looking at how social networks were stealing functionality from each other I asked “how could Foursquare support and reinforce the tips and to-do’s for venues?”  This is one answer.

Nice Tips Foursquare is a post from: Trumblog

Inappropriate tweets, reenacted by amateurs who are happy to go “there.” Have a great weekend.

Twitter: The Criterion Collection from sween on Vimeo.

Twitter: The Criterion Collection is a post from: Trumblog

This 2010 State of the Internet video is along the same lines as “Did You Know” videos, plenty of stats on the internet, email and social media sites as a video infographic with an electronic beat.

2010 State of the Internet Video is a post from: Trumblog

Back in January Seesmic, the Twitter client developer, bought Ping.fm, the service for simultaneously updating multiple social networks.  At the time they boldly promised a BlackBerry application that merged the two services by the end of the month, but version 1.2.19, that was released at the end of January, had no Ping.fm functionality at all.  This week Seesmic rolled out release 1.3.28 and my dream of total social network access from one app has been realized.

Adding your Ping.fm account to Seesmic is simple and done through the menu options Accounts > Add account… from there you select “Add a Ping.fm account,” enter your email address and password and your Ping.fm account, with access to all of the 50+ social networks that it supports, is set up.  Your Ping.fm account is treated like any of your accounts on the application and when you want to post an update it appears as one of the account tabs that you can select.  You can post to one account (Twitter or Ping.fm), a Twitter and a Ping.fm account, multiple Twitter accounts, and even multiple Twitter accounts and Ping.fm. Multiple Ping.fm accounts are not allowed, but if they were I bet you could post to all of them at the same time too. Posting is very reliable and easy, but I’ve had issues using the Ping.fm @ short codes (such as @li to post just to LinkedIn) to send an update to individual or sets of social media accounts.

When I reviewed the previous version of the Seesmic application I compared it to ÜberTwitter and while it held its own it did not unseat ÜberTwitter as my favorite Twitter client for the BlackBerry.  I’ve updated that chart comparing the latest versions of Seesmic and ÜberTwitter below.

Seesmic - ÜberTwitter Comparison 2

As you can see from the chart above the latest version of Seesmic maintains the same feature set and stands up to ÜberTwitter similarly to how the last release did. Primary Twitter functionality is all there on Seesmic and works well. I even think that pictures load a little faster on Seesmic than on ÜberTwitter. But ÜberTwitter has people search, tweets near you, tweet deletion, profile editing, trending topics, alerts and other small enhancements that Seesmic doesn’t. The only feature like this that Seesmic has is the ability to save searches.

But then there is Ping.fm and its integration with Seesmic. That addition is huge. With the addition of Ping.fm to the Seesmic app goes from an also ran to a product with a significant differentiator. The issue becomes do I (or will I now) update my social networks enough to be worth the trade for losing features like Tweets Near You, Find a Person and a nicer look and feel? Time will tell.

For now the novelty of Seesmic and its ability to post to multiple social networks has made it my go to Twitter app on the Blackberry. But I find myself drifting back to ÜberTwitter now and again for some of those missing features and realizing how important some features that I took for granted are. I can’t say anymore that ÜberTwitter is my favorite BlackBerry Twitter app, but I also can’t say that Seesmic is. Seesmic is in a great position, will need to keep evolving to take the lead. And only time will tell if the feature that I thought would be a game changer turns out to be little more than a novelty.

Review: Seesmic For BlackBerry with Ping.fm Integration is a post from: Trumblog

Social media isn’t just for B2C anymore.  B2B social media spending is expected to increase 9.9% in 2010.  You may think that businesses are just made up of people so the same rules and tactics apply as for B2C, but as with just about everything else, social media gets a little different when you get business involved. Following are 10 trends that I see in B2B social networking for 2010.

1. Online networking for new business

New business development is the number one reason for companies to get involved with online networking in the first place and the number of businesses coming to this realization is growing every day.   Surveys show that 60% to 80% of respondents primary use of online networking is for new business development; a number that is up 33% from the previous year.  With the ROI for social networking proven in this area expect that new uses for social media to be explored.

2. Influencers will draw businesses to social media

In the first quarter of 2009, 30 percent of B2B trade magazines closed. That sudden reduction in a channel for PR and influencers increased the migration online that was already taking place for these groups.  This new reality is forcing business’ hand and requiring that they engage influencers online and though the social media channels that they are using to build credibility.

3. Recruiting will continue going social

Not only are HR departments vetting job candidates through a search of social networks, but they are also saving money doing so. Intel saved millions of dollars a year in fees by finding senior managers through LinkedIn rather than using recruiters. US Cellular not only saved money by using LinkedIn they also believe that they found  good candidates faster.

4. Mobile and location based social networks are on the rise

For the past 3 years I have heard the “year of mobile” heralded and it seems to have actually arrived.  Riding that wave are geolocation-based social networks like Gowalla and Foursquare as well as  the introduction by Google of search results near you.  All of these consumer trends are making their way into business applications and CRM data.  Knowing when and where leads and clients are is a natural way to improve relationships and increase sales.

5. Social media publishing will get more multi-media

In order to stand out in social media expect to see more and more video and images in B2B social media. Of course there are plenty of side benefits to this tend that encourage it such as  taking advantage of the second largest search engine (YouTube), shooting for a video to go viral, and generally better explaining their products and services.

6. Search driving social media engagement

The inclusion of real-time search results in Google, Bing and Yahoo!’s search engines has added another ally to the forces pushing businesses into social media, the SEO.  The last thing that a search engine optimization agency wants to see is all of their hard work go to waste because of another company’s buzz on Twitter and Facebook.   Social networks are the latest front in the war for search engine rankings.

7. Internal social networking

Business social networking is connecting companies and customers and employees are using social networks to connect with friends, but what about connecting businesses and employees? Expect internal social networks both formal and informal to bridge that gap and harness the power of crowds for internal R&D, market prediction, answering customer support questions while reducing employee turnover.

8. Banning social media in the workplace

The flip side of B2B social media is the concern about lost productivity and security risks when employees have access to online social networks at the office. One study estimated an increase in productivity of 1.5% if access to Facebook was blocked and another estimated that personal use of social networks on the job cost the British economy 2.3 billion dollars a year.  As a result only 10% of employers in a recent study gave employees full access to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter while at the office.  Expect this to continue to be an issue.

9. Online social networking encourages offline networking

All that time on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook seems to be getting companies’ warmed up for some face-to-face time.  WeCanDo.biz reports a 36% increase over last year of respondents who regularly attend face-to-face meetings and that 46% of respondents planned to increase their budget and time dedicated to live meetings.

10. There are no more excuses for not monitoring social media activity

Social media monitoring has gotten better and easy and available at a wide price range that there really isn’t an excuse for not doing it anymore.  In addition, with story after story in the mainstream media of clueless companies dealing with customer uprisings you have been warned and should consider yourself accountable.

10 Trends In B2B Social Networking is a post from: Trumblog

The other day at SoxUp (a Tweetup at Fenway Park and book signing for Steve Garfield’s book Get Seen) someone who I’d never met before came up to me and said “You’re @TPapi? I was reading your stuff today. You’re the guy with the glasses.”

Yup, I’m the guy with the glasses. I feature them in the blog design, have them on my Twitter background using the glasses as an icon. I don’t care about being “the guy with the glasses.” I’m adult enough to accept what I look like (pretty much) and if I really wanted to do something about the glasses I can afford contacts.  But the comment did get me thinking about my brand and specifically my Twitter avatar.

If you follow me on Twitter then you’ve seen, and maybe recognize, my Twitter avatar a yellow and orange Ganesh (Yes it is a Ganesh Prentice). I began using that avatar years ago when I first dipped my toes into social media because I could hide behind it and I thought that being represented by the remover of obstacles couldn’t hurt.

Now of course if I was starting out today I would use a picture of myself as my avatar, which is best practice in order to show transparency, openness, that there’s a real guy behind the tweets, etc.  But even knowing that, I’ve been hesitant to change avatars for two reasons:

1. I’ve used this avatar long enough that I’m afraid that I won’t be recognized without it
2. The little orange and yellow guy stands out from other avatars in the tweetstream

But the comment last Thursday is making me rethink things. I’ve accidentally given myself two icons (Ganesh and Glasses). What do I do? Hang on to my recognizable and identifiable orange Ganesh? Begin using my glasses icon as an avatar? Switch to a picture of myself?  How do I introduce the change and ensure that a new avatar stands out as well as the current one does?

Let me know what you think in the survey below. I’ll announce the results in a week or so and let you know what I’ll be doing.

Twitter Avatar Survey

Thanks

Poll: Should I Change My Twitter Avatar? is a post from: Trumblog

The Twitter spamming spree last week drew my attention to another reason why linking your Twitter feed to Facebook is not a good idea. Plenty of other people have already written about how your Twitter followers and Facebook friends are two unique audiences and while their interests may overlap you should customize your status updates on each channel.

Last week’s Twitter spam exposed another issue. Spam.

Clearly this item that appeared in my news feed is spam whether on Twitter or Facebook, but because of the nature of Facebook status updates feel more personal and therefore the spam is a greater violation when it appears on Facebook.  If you are importing your tweets into Facebook this illustrates another reason why you need to stop.

The Spam Threat Of Importing Your Tweetstream Into Facebook is a post from: Trumblog

Last week I was listening to a webcast and the presenter talked about his experience when their webcast system went down.  He tweeted that he was having issues with the service and then within a few minutes a support person from the webcasting company DM’ed him on Twitter to help troubleshoot the issue.  Great customer service.  But there is a dark side to this social media customer support encounter that you may only recognize if you have children in your home.

I have a two kids, one a teen and the other doing her best to make me think that she is one.  It is not uncommon for either of them to say “I’m hungry” or “I’m cold.” Sort of a verbal tweet.  Now as one of the  customer support people in the house I often engage them after these aural status updates. “What would you like to eat?” If you have teens then you know that the answer is “I don’t know” after which I begin my litany of food options.  At some point as a parent you need to stop this and empower your children.  Rather than serve them you need to get them to act on their own.  “I’m hungry” deserves the response “Find yourself something to eat.” “I’m cold” gets “Put on a sweater.”  I have made sure that there is plenty of food around that they like and clothes that they are willing to wear, so the next step is theirs.  I want my kids to address their needs and take care of them themselves.

Helicopter Brands

Some parents don’t get to the next stage of parenting and continue to support their children’s every need, hovering around them to make sure that they are taken care of rather that helping them to become fully functioning, self sufficient people.  These people are known as helicopter parents.

Now before I get any further, understand that I absolutely encourage everyone involved in marketing to monitor social networks.  I monitor what my kids eat, who their friends are, where they are going, what they bring in the house.  I’m not weird about it (that pushes teens away just like it does customers). I am just aware. That way our family can address issues before they get out of control.  As a brand manager you should be doing the same.

Back to the helicopter brands that I was discussing.  Like the dreaded helicopter parents of gen Y, these helicopter brands hover over customers taking care of their immediate customer support needs rather than ensuring that they have given them the tools to be fully functioning consumers.

How do you know if you might be a helicopter brand?

• Are you monitoring Twitter for customer support issues because that is where consumers think that they should go to ask them or is it because you do not provide good instructions?
• Are your customer support people no better than the insufficient instruction that you provide?
• Is the goal of your customer support team to  get a caller off the line rather than ensure that their problem is completely solved?
• Are your repair people  chronically late to appointments and fall asleep on your customer’s couch?

Ask yourself if your social media customer support papering over problems with your customer support in general and if addressing issues like these will empower your customers to resolve their own issues and use the services already available to them.

Negative SEO And The Helicopter Brand

Not only do good customer service channels empower customers to resolve their own needs they also eliminate the whine factor of Twitter.  If you are a parent then you know the non-verbal whine of a 2-4 year old.  In our house we’d say “use your words” in an effort to get the kids to say specifically what they wanted and avoid them becoming my grandmother who would point and grunt at the dining table in order to have the dish that she wanted passed to her.  Are you doing the same through social media, resolving issues for people who complain the most while the majority suffer in silence, but happily jump to your competitor when given the option?  If so you are training your customers to tweet their problems, encouraging a whiny, complaining tweet stream and blogosphere and promoting the creation of bad search results for your brand.

Remember the SEO benefits of Twitter and blogging? The street goes both ways and those “Acme Brand’s widget isn’t working” tweets and blog posts that you are encouraging will become a chorus of dissatisfied customer tweets that will live online forever.  You should be monitoring the blogosphere and Tweetstream for the most common issues then create positive SEO through video tutorials, FAQs and well produced instructions with plenty of images. Build awareness of these tools through Twitter and reduce the complainosphere.  For example, one of my most popular posts on this blog is how to set up your Go Daddy email address on Gmail.  If Go Daddy had that information on their site they would be collecting that traffic and SEO benefit not me and possibly reducing their customer support issues.

The point is that like parents, brands need to look out for the people who look up to them, but being reactive doesn’t result in good kids or good customers.  It may give you short term benefit and praise, but really it’s listening to them and then giving them the tools that they need to succeed that earns you their love and respect.

Photo credit: matthewbradley

Is Your Twitter Customer Service Turning You Into A Helicopter Brand? is a post from: Trumblog

The other week I blogged about a poster I saw urging bus riders to follow @celtics. Turns out that this is part of a full scale social media print campaign as I realized this morning when I saw this ad for their Facebook game.

The three social networks listed on the posters are Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.  If Twitter is “retweet” and Facebook is “reconnect” then what is YouTube?  Review? Replay? The answer can’t be found on the Celtics YouTube channel nor can it be found on Celtics.com, where the “retweet” and “reconnect” language doesn’t appear at all.  None of that language is part of the campaign video below. If you find it I’m interested in knowing.  Leave a tip in the comments.

Celtics Social Media Campaign is a post from: Trumblog

Digsby, my multi-account IM client of choice, yesterday rolled out a new release, build 76.  The build adds a number of enhancements for Windows 7, MySpace and Yahoo!, but an addition that really intrigued me was that Digsby has added a dislike button for Facebook.

As I’ve written about before, the dislike button for status updates on Facebook is a very common request.  Currently on Facebook  you can comment on a status update, like it or (for links and other media) share it.  Disliking an update is not an option, but for tales of woe about snow storms that fizzle, elections that don’t go your way, etc. there is regularly a friend’s comment that this sort of update is precisely why a dislike button is needed.  The desire is so great that the Dislike Button has over 3 million fans on Facebook.  Now Digsby has a new reason to be your IM client by giving users the power to dislike.

Here’s how it works.  Not only is Digby an IM client, but it also aggregates social media updates from Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook.  A dislike link has simply been added to the Facebook status update list in the application.  On Facebook the like button adds a thumbs up icon and a tally of friend sentiment.  On the other hand, clicking the dislike button adds a comment to the status update on Facebook that you dislike it, like so.

Clearly this is a hack to add a feature to Facebook that doesn’t really exist, but it serves a need and puts Digsby in the solution business.  I’m clicking the like button for this feature.

Digsby Adds Dislike to Facebook is a post from: Trumblog