Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Yahoo Integrates Social Media with email



Yahoo has recently launched the new Beta program that allows users to now link their facebook, twitter, flickr, and other social media accounts. This new program is available on all of the latest technology as well; droid, ipad, iphone, all while linking directly to your PC.

Of course, Beta has a lot of really interesting email related perks but the mail thing I am impressed by is how linked it will be to social media sites. Pictures from Flickr can now be opened into email messages. An email can be sent straight to a facebook status update or a twitter "tweet". The use of social media is getting easier and easier. Now it is almost thrown into the consumers face, every possible source for social media is being filled with an ad to "check us out on facebook". Consumers can post or search through websites and company profiles in one simple step thanks to the constant growth of social media. It is slowly proving that social media is NOT a fad, it is here to stay.

Friday, October 15, 2010

US government uses social media to find fraud...

http://www.visabureau.com/america/news/15-10-2010/us-government-using-social-media-to-detect-us-visa-bogus-marriage-fraud.aspx
Hopefully you read the above article since it is really short. This whole idea is crazy! I think it is scary that social media has become so popular that government officials are now using it for very important jobs like this. Not to mention the security issue there, I don't think I want those people creeping around on facebook.
Also, I think this is a very very smart tactic. Its clever to use something considered for free time as a tool to catch people who are lying about their affairs and get a little more perspective on them.
It is very interesting how the article pointed out most of the time the government accounts will be added as friends because the people they are monitoring like the attention. Thankfully I never add anyone who I don't recognize. Just the whole idea that the government is using social media proves even more that it is not a fad and its here to stay.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Old Spice Guy or Monster?

In class last week, we watched the video I have posted below about the Old Spice Guy. A funny 33 second video that has now reached over 1.6 million views, it has turned into an incredibily successful advertising campaign. I honestly don't think that anyone expected it to be as popular as it was. The video started a whole stream of twitter posts and Old Spice actually made videos as a response. The videos circulated all over the internet and email, only giving the company more and more free exposure.
Now, Old Spice is getting more attention on the news and online thanks to the video Grover from Sesame Street posted about "How to smell like a monster." The video clearly spoofs the original and plays off the same jokes only with the childish audience in mind. Of course this is a direct reference to pop culture and I don't excpect any of the kids to understand it. The video is mostly something the parents would pick up on. Either way it is amazing to think that a tiny Old Spice video can make such an impact on the online community. It has now even hit big by having a popular children's show create a spoof about it. Now we as viewers just have to decide who we think is cuter, The Old Spice Guy or Grover...
Smell like a monster