This Week In Social:

Facebook App for iPad revealed, The White House brings back the Rick-Roll, Google+ traffic falls, Sergio Aguero tweets his arrival to Manchester City and Twitter will add flagging option to links

 

iPad Facebook app found hidden inside iPhone app

TechCrunch didn't waste any time getting hold of the Facebook iPad app that was hidden in the iPhone app update, they even took a dozen pics and showed off the app that Apple fans have been craving. The app makes the Facebook experience far richer and more in-depth, such as giving happy snappers out there access to direct uploads to their iPad.

You can read the story from TechCrunch here.

 

The White House tweets out a Rick-Roll

You may remember the craze of RickRolling that even YouTube got involved with on April Fools 2008, it was where your friend sent you a link and instead of seeing a trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV you got Rick Astley's greatest hit Never Gonna Give You Up. 

The official White House Twitter account posted this response to David Wiggs regarding fiscal policy, "@wiggsd Sorry to hear that. Fiscal policy is important, but can be dry sometimes. Here’s something more fun tinyurl.com/y8ufsnp". 

This garnered a lot of attention by the mainstream press such as the BBC but most importantly got positive retweets and mentions from Twitter.

 

Google+ traffic sees first fall

It has been reported by Mashable that the latest social media craze Google+ has seen a dip of 3% in traffic. Not only that, users average time on the site has also fallen by 10%. This is the first time that Google's latest social product has seen a stumble in terms of growth. Last week in social showed that Google+ had reached 20 million users and was first to reach 10 million out of the major social media platforms.

 

Sergio Aguero tweets before official announcement from Manchester City

Twitter is often first for breaking news but in this case, Argentinian superstar footballer Sergio Aguero broke the news that he was signing for Manchester City before any official announcement. The player had a arrived for a medical but Manchester City had said that talks were still ongoing. This tweet from Sergio Aguero was retweeted by many fans and was used by news outlets to announce his signing.

You can read more about the transfer here on MCFC.

 

Twitter gives option to flag tweeted links

After seeing an unfortunate but predictable rise in spam links that are not safe for work on Twitter, there has been an option added to flag links so that other people will get a warning before they click it. This will help to reduce the power of spreading viral links that try to scam individuals or just aren't suitable for certain audiences. 

You can read more on Gizmodo.

 

After such a good week for Google+, has it fallen victim to the novelty-factor? What do you think about the option to flag tweets? We think it is an excellent feature because it will help to stop those @ mentions from suspicious accounts we all see from time to time. Will you be counting down the days until the official Facebook iPad app gets approved in the App Store? Please leave your comments in the section below...

We're a full service social media agency. Check us out on Twitter and hook up on Facebook.

Social Media from the Frontline: Sam @VaynerMedia

Welcome to the first “Social Media from the Frontline”, a new regular guest blogging spot from mycleveragency.

As much as we love to hear what the big cheese’s have to say and frequently indulge ourselves in the Social Media big wigs blog posts, interviews or videos – we thought it would be a nice diversion to check out the people on ground, those individuals in the “trenches” who are immersed in social day in, day out.

So we’ve lined up some of the industry’s finest to tap into their knowledge at first hand. We ask the same questions each week and they offer up completely different answers. All from the people living and breathing Social right now.

First up is Sam from VaynerMedia.

If you fancy getting involved drop us a tweet @mycleveragency.

 

NAME: Sam Taggart

COMPANY: VaynerMedia

ROLE: Account Executive

TWITTER: @gosam

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/samtaggart

BLOG: http://samtaggart.com

A little about myself...

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA (huge Philadelphia sports fan) and lived there until I left for college in 2005. I attended Boston University for my freshman year (where I met one of my best friends and my current employer AJ Vaynerchuk). I then left snow for sunshine, and transferred to the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, where I majored in Communication. I've worked at VaynerMedia  - an agency specializing in social media branding - since its inception in May 2009. I personally work with the New York Jets, New Jersey NETS, as well as Cap'n Crunch and another CPG as an account executive. My greatest loves in life are my family & friends, sports, the Phillies, the Internet, and my 21-year-old cat Mikey. And chocolate.

My likes...

Most people would get in lots of trouble if they were caught on Facebook or Twitter while at work. I'd get in trouble for not being on Facebook or Twitter. So, I like that. I like that social media is a new frontier. We are the pioneers, actively molding a new industry and a new way of thinking, each and every day. For me, that's really exciting. I like that social allows brands and consumers to engage in a way they never were able to before. I like that social allows old friends to stay in touch like they never were able to before... I think social media is the best thing that ever happened to fans of professional sports. It gives us inside access to the extreme, and even gives us the chance to interact one-on-one with our favorite athletes. Too cool!

My dislikes...

I dislike spam. I dislike people and brands that push without ever taking a second to listen to the people that care about them. And what I really dislike is how many people claim to be social media experts, gurus, ninjas, and so on. I try not to drink that haterade, though, so my list of dislikes is short.

My favourite books...

One of my favorites has to be The Thank You Economy, the most recent book by my boss, Gary Vaynerchuk. I'm obviously biased but I also think it's a really powerful book and worth the read. I'm also a big fan of Malcom Gladwell. Most of my other favorites have to do with sports: Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball, Rick Reilly's Who's Your Caddy, and and Buzz Bissinger's Three Nights in August.

My favourite blogs...

I'm not a big blog reader, to be honest. My daily reading list isn't all that out there - Mashable, TechCrunch, TechMeme, AllFacebook, etc. I prefer to skim, I prefer the short-form, so my go-to medium is Twitter. On my must-follow list? Fred Wilson, Tristan Walker, Gary V for different aspects of tech. Baratunde for social commentary & satire. Darren Rovell for sports business. Nate Jones for basketball. Eric Stangel for sports satire. I could go on...

Any Social Media tips...

If you're a brand, I recommend you go where your consumers are and treat social as much more of a listening tool than a push tool. It's not another press release mechanism, it's not another email list for you to beat into the ground... So don't treat it that way! Your consumers are there, telling you (or willing to tell you) what they like, don't like, want, don't want. So listen to them! And then go react based on their thoughts. They clicked the 'like' button and took the time to tell you something - they care!

Another tip? Drink lots of water! Especially in the summer...

Any Social Media predictions...

This isn't novel, but I think that community management of social media properties is going to be something we'll see a lot more brands doing. If you look at most brands' social media pages, they're not commenting on fan posts on their Facebook pages and they're not @replying their followers at a high rate. Next year, I'd expect most brands to have a full-time community manager engaging their butts off. Pretty soon, everyone will be on Facebook and Twitter and will have an established fan base, so the conversation is going to switch from quantity of fans & followers to quality of engagement.

Another shocker, but I'd expect mobile to be a much bigger play next year. The trends are staggering - smartphone usage is skyrocketing - walk down the street or drive on the highway and no one is looking up because they're too busy texting or tweeting or angry birdsing... If you're not thinking about a mobile strategy, you're already late to the game. Next year, you'll be dead.

BIG thanks to Sam!

 

We're a full service social media agency. Check us out on Twitter and hook up on Facebook.

Social Media from the Frontline: Sam @VaynerMedia

Welcome to the first “Social Media from the Frontline”, a new regular guest blogging spot from mycleveragency.

As much as we love to hear what the big cheese’s have to say and frequently indulge ourselves in the Social Media big wigs blog posts, interviews or videos – we thought it would be a nice diversion to check out the people on ground, those individuals in the “trenches” who are immersed in social day in, day out.

So we’ve lined up some of the industry’s finest to tap into their knowledge at first hand. We ask the same questions each week and they offer up completely different answers. All from the people living and breathing Social right now.

First up is Sam from VaynerMedia.

If you fancy getting involved drop us a tweet @mycleveragency.

 

NAME: Sam Taggart

COMPANY: VaynerMedia

ROLE: Account Executive

TWITTER: @gosam

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/samtaggart

BLOG: http://samtaggart.com

A little about myself...

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA (huge Philadelphia sports fan) and lived there until I left for college in 2005. I attended Boston University for my freshman year (where I met one of my best friends and my current employer AJ Vaynerchuk). I then left snow for sunshine, and transferred to the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, where I majored in Communication. I've worked at VaynerMedia  - an agency specializing in social media branding - since its inception in May 2009. I personally work with the New York Jets, New Jersey NETS, as well as Cap'n Crunch and another CPG as an account executive. My greatest loves in life are my family & friends, sports, the Phillies, the Internet, and my 21-year-old cat Mikey. And chocolate.

My likes...

Most people would get in lots of trouble if they were caught on Facebook or Twitter while at work. I'd get in trouble for not being on Facebook or Twitter. So, I like that. I like that social media is a new frontier. We are the pioneers, actively molding a new industry and a new way of thinking, each and every day. For me, that's really exciting. I like that social allows brands and consumers to engage in a way they never were able to before. I like that social allows old friends to stay in touch like they never were able to before... I think social media is the best thing that ever happened to fans of professional sports. It gives us inside access to the extreme, and even gives us the chance to interact one-on-one with our favorite athletes. Too cool!

My dislikes...

I dislike spam. I dislike people and brands that push without ever taking a second to listen to the people that care about them. And what I really dislike is how many people claim to be social media experts, gurus, ninjas, and so on. I try not to drink that haterade, though, so my list of dislikes is short.

My favourite books...

One of my favorites has to be The Thank You Economy, the most recent book by my boss, Gary Vaynerchuk. I'm obviously biased but I also think it's a really powerful book and worth the read. I'm also a big fan of Malcom Gladwell. Most of my other favorites have to do with sports: Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball, Rick Reilly's Who's Your Caddy, and and Buzz Bissinger's Three Nights in August.

My favourite blogs...

I'm not a big blog reader, to be honest. My daily reading list isn't all that out there - Mashable, TechCrunch, TechMeme, AllFacebook, etc. I prefer to skim, I prefer the short-form, so my go-to medium is Twitter. On my must-follow list? Fred Wilson, Tristan Walker, Gary V for different aspects of tech. Baratunde for social commentary & satire. Darren Rovell for sports business. Nate Jones for basketball. Eric Stangel for sports satire. I could go on...

Any Social Media tips...

If you're a brand, I recommend you go where your consumers are and treat social as much more of a listening tool than a push tool. It's not another press release mechanism, it's not another email list for you to beat into the ground... So don't treat it that way! Your consumers are there, telling you (or willing to tell you) what they like, don't like, want, don't want. So listen to them! And then go react based on their thoughts. They clicked the 'like' button and took the time to tell you something - they care!

Another tip? Drink lots of water! Especially in the summer...

Any Social Media predictions...

This isn't novel, but I think that community management of social media properties is going to be something we'll see a lot more brands doing. If you look at most brands' social media pages, they're not commenting on fan posts on their Facebook pages and they're not @replying their followers at a high rate. Next year, I'd expect most brands to have a full-time community manager engaging their butts off. Pretty soon, everyone will be on Facebook and Twitter and will have an established fan base, so the conversation is going to switch from quantity of fans & followers to quality of engagement.

Another shocker, but I'd expect mobile to be a much bigger play next year. The trends are staggering - smartphone usage is skyrocketing - walk down the street or drive on the highway and no one is looking up because they're too busy texting or tweeting or angry birdsing... If you're not thinking about a mobile strategy, you're already late to the game. Next year, you'll be dead.

BIG thanks to Sam!

 

We're a full service social media agency. Check us out on Twitter and hook up on Facebook.

The History of F-Commerce [INFOGRAPHIC]

As Facebook nears it's 2nd anniversary of the first ever Facebook purchase (a $34 bouquet of flowers off 1-800-Flowers) social media influence have produced this astounding infographic on the history of f-commerce.

Facebook has known about the potential of f-commerce for a long time, as Chris Hernandez said, "90 per cent of purchases have some sort of social influence – your friend recommended it, or you saw it on somebody. Until now there’s been no way of getting that ‘girls in the mall’ effect on a large scale. That’s the opportunity: it’s huge and untapped. And we have the benefit of both scale and identity".

Having surpassed 750 million users earlier this year Facebook has the potential to become all the best things about online shopping; a suggestion engine from trusted friends, social search powered by Bing, and the chance to offer discounts and rewards to people for liking the brand or checking into a physical location. 

Why aren't more brands taking advantage of it? The bar graph in the infographic goes some way to explain this. 44% of UK users said that they are not interested in buying anything from social networks yet, and only 17% said that they would buy from a social network only if it is easier than a traditional e-commerce experience.

So the big question is that although Facebook predicts that f-commerce is the next area to 'blow up' is the average consumer ready for it? We'd love to get you thoughts in the comments section...

we are mycleveragency.

Google+ vs Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC]

Looks like Google+ is turning more than a few heads within the social space, drawing some attention away from the "mothership" that is Facebook.

If, like the majority, you haven't had a chance to explore Google's rival to Facebook yet, Technobombs has put together a helpful comparison of the two services.

If it was a boxing match, going on this example Google+ may just take it on points but the additional features Facebook has make it a tightly contested bout.

Who wins it for you? Will you and your friends be switching to Google+ anytime soon? Tell us in the comments below.

Enjoying reading the mycleveragency blog? Why not check us out on Twitter and hook up on Facebook.

This Week In Social:

Facebook Chat Announcements, BackType Acquired by Twitter, 2 Million HootSuite Users, Timberlake The New Cowell?, Eminem Sends Fans to Hell & An Elaborate Recruitment Drive

 

Facebooks Big Announcement

Over the last year, the Facebook messages team has been working to make it easier to have one on one conversations with your friends. In November, Facebook launched the new messages, which brings together your chats, texts, emails and messages all in one place. On Wednesday they announced they are introducing video calling and other improvements to chat. The new chat design includes a sidebar that lists the people you message most. Now it's easier to find your friends and start a conversation. The sidebar adjusts with the size of your browser window, and it automatically appears when the window is wide enough.

 

Facebook Group Chat

The group chat announcement comes as an add-on to Facebook’s already existing chat function. When you’re chatting with a friend on your Facebook page, a button allows you to add other friends to the chat. Finally, the company redesigned the chat window, so your Friends list can now vary in size relative to your browser window. A list of friends who are online will appear, as well as those who are offline that you message with the most.

You can read more on Wired.

 

Twitter Acquire BackType

This week it was announced that BackType has been acquired by Twitter! BackType will be bringing their team and technology to Twitter’s platform team, where their focus will be on developing tools for Twitter’s publisher partners. BackType's aim has always been to help their customers understand the value of engagement on Twitter and other social platforms. They also created BackTweets to help publishers understand the reach of their tweets and content, who they are reaching, and how Tweets convert to web traffic, sales and other KPIs.

 

HootSuite Hits 2 Million

See the full gallery on Posterous

HootSuite, the social media dashboard and analytics tool, has reached a new milestone: 2 million users. Invoke Media released HootSuite in December 2008 and it is widely used by individuals as well as organizations, governments and businesses. The White House, SXSW, Zappos and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia all use HootSuite, according to the company. HootSuite hit the 1 million-user milestone in November 2010. Consumers and businesses have shared some 500 million messages to date.

 

MySpace Talent Show

Timberlake reportedly is mulling turning the faltering social network site into a platform to find new talent, possibly through some kind of competition show. While details are scarce, the idea has the potential to become a key part of the future of entertainment – and sounds like a natural step for Timberlake. Between his music career, his well-received role in “The Social Network,” his knack for comedy as seen on “Saturday Night Live” and his Web dealings, Timberlake has become kind of an Internet-era Kevin Bacon, with few degrees of separation between him and the various tentacles of entertainment media.

You can read more on NBC.

 

Eminem Sends Facebook Users to Hell

Rapper Eminem recently released an EP titled Hell: The Sequel with his side project, Bad Meets Evil, a hip-hip duo including Royce Da 5’9. To celebrate, Eminem is launching a violent Facebook game. The aim of the game (developed by Grab) is pretty simple: Become so evil that you go to hell. Users choose an avatar while tracks from the EP play. Then they gain points (by watching music videos and interviews or spending Facebook Credits) in order to buy weapons. Players use the weapons to kill friends. Get enough points and kills, and you get to go to hell.

You can read more on Mashable.

 

Owen Hargreaves YouTube Fitness

Owen Hargreaves has launched a bid to prove his fitness - by posting daily exercise videos on YouTube. The 30-year-old midfielder is currently without a club after being released by Manchester United in May. Hargreaves was plagued by injuries during his four years at Old Trafford, making only 39 appearances after signing from Bayern Munich for £17m. Looks like he could do with some proper shorts though.

You can read more on BBC.

 

Some really cool announcements by Facebook this week. Have you tried the video chat feature? Can Justin Timberlake make a success of MySpace? Will we see social media used more often by job seekers? Lets us know your thoughts in the comments section below...

 

We are mycleveragency

Things You Wimbledidn't Know [INFOGRAPHIC]

As Wimbledon finals weekend approaches and the small matter of Andy and Rafa is set to be resolved, I bet you're asking yourself the same questions.

Strawberries, rackets, ball boys and girls, grunting and money - everything you Wimbledidn't know we've got it covered in our shiny (and extremely useful) infographic.

So as you're screaming at the telly this afternoon or over the weekend, spare a thought for the finer details that go into making the championship extra special.

social media agency

This Week In Social:

Google+ Released, Bringing MySpace Back, New Google Metrics, Twitter for Developers, StumbleUpon Widget and the Pope's First Tweet

 

Google+

This week the search giant unveiled its rival to Facebook, Google+. However, access to the "limited field test" had to be halted almost immediately after its launch, due to demand by users (it is now possible to buy invites on ebay). Google+ is the companies social initiative that brings friend streams, group video chat and group texting to Google's millions of users. For more information you can check out the mycleveragency blog post on Google+.

 

Bringing MySpace Back

Singer Justin Timberlake has joined forces with Specific Media to purchase MySpace for a fee of $35 million. This represents a significant loss for News Corp. who bought the site in 2005 for $580 million. The singer will not be taking a back seat however, and is set to be involved in the creative process of updating MySpace. This comes despite Sean Parker (who Timberlake played in The Social Network) recently explaining the collapse of MySpace. There is more on the mycleveragency blog.

 

Google Metrics

See the full gallery on Posterous

It has been a busy week for Google. As well as announcing Google+ they have also unveiled an improvement to their Webmaster tools. It will now be possible to measure the effect of 'Tweet', 'Share' and +1 buttons. This will show the added value of the +1 button in search results, whilst also showing the effect of other sharing buttons whilst users are on the site. There is also a sneaky preview of the new Gmail.

 

Twitter Site for Platfrom Developers?

Twitter is working to develop and launch a dedicated site for developers working on the Twitter platform. The new site could be launched sometime in July, company officials said. The fast-growing company has had a hot-and-cold relationship with its developer community, to put it mildly. Many early developers built products 'such as Twitter clients' and helped the network grow but later found themselves in competition with the company itself, which ended up buying clients.

You can read more on Gigaom.

 

StumbleUpon Widget

StumbleUpon has this week released a share widget for websites. Working in much the same way as the 'Tweet' or 'Share' button, website owners can create a widget for their page. By using the Widget Creator, you can insert one line of code into your blog or website that includes either your favourites or sites that are rated the highest within an interest and/or domain. You can choose from three different sizes including square-ish (300×250), wide rectangle (600×250) and tall rectangle (160×600).

 

Pope Sends First Tweet

Pope Benedict XVI has sent his first tweet to launch a Vatican news and information portal on the 60th anniversary of his ordination. His message read: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI." The Pope, 84, used an iPad to activate the portal and send the tweet.

You can read more on the BBC.

 

Google is certainly dominating the news this week, closely followed by Justin Timberlake and MySpace. Do you think either social network has the power to rival Facebook or even Twitter? Or are you more interested in the new Google Analytics or Twitter developer site? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below...

 

We are a full service social media agency