In case you haven’t heard, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is out in 3-D this week. In fact, the first screenings have already aired as you read this. I'll be following movie news over the next few weeks to see how it performs — not because I’m a huge Star Wars fan, but because all of the big fans I know say they are not going to see the The Phantom Menace in 3D.
What made their statements especially notable to me is that just about all of them said they would pay to see all six of the movies on the big screen again, but in the original formats. When I asked if they were turned off by the 3D edition because the tickets are expensive or if they feared the quality of the 3D they all said no. They liked the movies as they were when they were originally released.
Last Wednesday Foursquare rolled out its latest update for iOS5 that, after dropping the web version of Explore on us just a few short weeks ago, optimizes the mobile version of Explore, plays with the serendipitous Radar extension, and brings us one step closer to travel and discovery nirvana. Innovation has been a trend as of late with the most widely utilized LBS service; Foursquare is traveling down a path that goes beyond scoreboards and badges. We're now talking experiences and bar tabs.
Social media: More addictive than cigarettes. Say what now? This study, conducted by the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, should give you a chuckle...or a shudder, depending on how you look at it. A bit more than 200 people were given Blackberries and told to report, within set time frames, when they felt desires. They rated the strength of their desires.
This post was supposed to be about what could change when Facebook goes public, like it's expected to in the second quarter of this fiscal year. Then I read this article from fortune.com about how apparently, Facebook has already gone public. Here, contributor Joshua Brown writes about how Facebook isn't that much different from companies that have already gone public.
When an organization takes its first steps into the realm of social media, it's exciting and fun to think of it as one great experiment. In fact, it should ALWAYS feel that way — that's how your social presence stays fresh and open to improvement. But "experimentation" only becomes a problem when it's used as an excuse for a lack of due diligence. Case in point: Creating and implementing a social media policy for your organization is a widely accepted best practice. Yet, the vast majority of organizations don't have one. The social realm is not the Wild West anymore. We have explored, and we continue to do so.
It's been a few months since Facebook rolled out its new Insights for Facebook pages. Based on feedback I've seen, reactions are mixed: Some laud the new insights, while others question their usefulness. Plus, it doesn't help that the new insights have recently experienced some bugs. Personally, I think the new Insights ARE more useful, because they're better focused on the Facebook activity you should be caring about. If you haven't yet experienced the new Insights, here's one of the best guides I've seen on the topic. And here are more thoughts.
Recently, television star Courtney Cox joined the legions of American celebrities who use Twitter for publicity. Some users may take offense but celebrities who use Twitter to promote themselves are only guilty of using the platform with purpose and a lot of brands, whether it's an author, start-up, or an established brand, would do well to take note. After all, blanket marketing without purpose is just a lot of white noise and a costly waste of your marketing time.
This article initially was going to explore how the definition of the word "friend" has changed in the social media age. The plan was to start this article with a definition of the word with Dictionary.com being the source. But upon visiting the Dictionary.com site, something caught my attention. Something that just a couple of years ago probably didn't exist. There are six definitions of the word "friend." These all seem to be what one would expect. But it's when you get to definition number six that things get interesting.
A stylus. A stylus? Really? Of all the comments made out loud during the Super Bowl, this one got the most laughs. Other moments came close: Elton John in platform boots, Flava Flav, dogs in sneakers and fetching beers, Madonna almost falling. But the stylus? Peddled by a retro band, no less? Everyone caught a case of the nerd chuckles. Everyone caught a case of the nerd chuckles. Well, you can't fault Samsung for taking a risk. The new Samsung Note does indeed come with a stylus.
Pinterest, the virtual pinboard/social network, has hit critical mass — finally! Everyone I know these days is a “Pinner,” from distant high-school acquaintances to colleagues’ mothers. It is a unique experience to receive emails in the excess Facebook-quantity league.
