Thoughtpick: A unique perspective of the Web and social media...
A unique perspective of the Web and social media...

November 30, 2009

Top 10 Social Media Golden Posts: Rules, Tips & Know-How’s!

At Thoughtpick, we don’t claim to be social media gurus – because… don’t get me started! However, we place a great deal of our time and effort researching and analyzing the most up-to-date and informative news, reviews and advice to bring to you a better, more beneficial social media experience.

Therefore, in this post, I am compiling for you our top 10 social media golden posts, with a brief summary on each, in order to make it easier for you to locate, read and further gain deeper insights from our experience in this field.

1. 10 Social Media Campaigns that Rock! Learn How to do the Same!

The Social Media Basket!

The Social Media Basket!

This post seeks to provide you with answers for the following questions: What defines an exemplary social media campaign? What are the elements necessary to capture consumers’ attention and bring about interest and participation in any given social media campaign? How can we measure the success of a social media campaign?

2. 10 Social Media Campaigns that Failed! Avoid their mistakes!

Contrary to the aforementioned post, this post tries to define a failed social media campaign as well as the factors and elements that drive a social media campaign to its doom in addition to listing the lessons learned from failed campaigns.

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Research-Based Topics, Tips and How To’s — Tags: , , , , , , — Beirut @ 4:49 pm

November 29, 2009

Top 10 Smartphones of 2010 [video]

The iPhone took the world of smart phones by storm and set new standards for these smart small portable devices. Other companies have been looking at Apple with envy eyes and trying over and over again to come up with an iPhone killer.

In the past few months we have witnessed the launching of some real good phones like Motorola’s Droid and Blackberry’s Storm 2, other companies have been following suit and launching their own versions of smart phones. 2010 sounds like a promising year for this market, let’s look into what will be big in the coming year. iPhone 3GS, Motorola Driod, Nokia and Blackberry videos are already flooding the social media, and fighting over the touch-screen do-it-all smart phone market share.

The video should give you a good idea of how the phones look and handle, and our summary below lists each phone’s main features briefly.

Top 10 Smartphones of 2010

[read full article >>]

November 27, 2009

Cool: iPhone to Control a Walking Robot! [video]

Remember 20+ years ago, Japanese anime Sanshiro, the young boy, controlling his robot Jumaro into battling other robots through his notebook-like device? For me, as a kid, and like many other kids of that time, it was a dream having a robot to control like Jumaro.

Plawres Sanshiro

Plawres Sanshiro

Years passed, I grew up, and the iPhone appeared with a multi-touch capability which, according to the video below, is just the very natural way” to control a human-like robot. Sanshiro didn’t need that bulky notebook to control Jumaro, he could have just used an iPhone! If he just knew!

But hey, seriously this is really cool, I mean how cheaper electronics are allowing users to to be more creative. Otherwise, how would you get your hands on a multi-touch bluetooth/WiFi enabled system?!

Walking Robot through Natural Finger Gestures on iPhone

Isn’t that impressive? Technology has really come so far! I wonder if anyone out there would pick up on this idea and take it further. Do you see it going into more practical applications? Please let us know your opinion in the comments section.

8 Tips to help you Become a LinkedIn Power User…

Business Networking

Linked In: Business Networking

LinkedIn seems like the middle child of social networking, and is a hugely underrated site. The fact that it’s a “zero cost” business networking tool should definitely play to its advantage and it will surely hit its prime in the future. Like everybody else, the only reason I got to join LinkedIn is because I kept on getting invitations to it until I gave in and gave it a shot. I spent a few hours filling up my profile and adding connections; the whole business only approach was very appealing and a fresh change from the very personal nature of Facebook. Some even argue that it’s not even a social network.

The goal of every business is to be ahead of the curve. To help bring up to speed on how to use LinkedIn effectively, here are several tips and tricks to help you become a LinkedIn power user.

Tip 1. Connect With People You Have Met

Adding connections to your network will definitely make you more visible. Make sure to add people that you meet in real life to your network. It might be a good idea to include a mention of your LinkedIn profile on your business card since it will serve as a reminder to others to add you. Also be sure to send a custom message of invitation to others because reading the same generic message of invitation gets old really quickly.

[read full article >>]

November 26, 2009

Google wants to Speed up the Web! Is your site optimized? [video]

I think a lot of people in 2010 are going to be thinking more about ‘how do I have my site be fast,’ how do I have it be rich without writing a bunch of custom javascript? Matt Cutts – Google

Google is re-writing a large chunk of the way they index web pages (a new algorithm called Caffeine); one of their major objectives is to make searching real fast. Fast web usage is one of the core principles that has always defined the way people perceive Google’s brand identity. It is Google’s culture to make things simple and fast, and now they want to spread it – doing what they believe to be the right thing for users – and push it all over the web.

While in an earlier interview, Matt Cutts pointed out that he doesn’t think there are going to be a lot of changes in the search list results, of the new Google speed algorithm news managed to trigger different reactions. On the good side, Google search would become much faster improving the web experience for all Google’s users, in addition to improving the experience of the web at large with sites paying extra attention to their load speed in order to improve their ranking. On the down side, some people believe that it is not fair that ranking sites is based on their load speed as big sites with more cash can invest more in improving their load speed by moving to better servers while smaller sites with good content won’t be able to compete! While speed may mean a better user experience, it doesn’t always mean a better content.

A few links are mentioned in the video and can be found at: http://code.google.com/speed/tools.html

Matt Cutts talking about Caffeine

So at which side are you? Do you think that adding a weight to sites loading speed in Google’s ranking algorithm is a good idea? Do you think it would really impact our web experience? Would it give Google an edge over Bing? Let us know your opinion in the comments section.

Apple is on the Move: Verizon Should Watch Out! [videos]

“Healthy competition is the fuel for growth and development”.

Big names in the technology arena are bumping each other’s heads in a war dedicated to grab customer attention and further create loyalty! One of those names must be Apple!

Not only does Apple lead a variety of creative, well-studied and effective small battles against Microsoft, it also has a front built for Verizon as well!

In a recent article, it is made clear to us that Apple is cooking something to undermine Verizon’s network. A series of ads is to be launched by Apple “set to obliquely attack Verizon, made in the same mold as its ongoing “there’s an app for that” campaign.”

Apple take a swipe at Verizon – Apple iPhone Ad – What Time’s The Movie?

Apple backs up AT&T with the new ad “multi-people”

But will this campaign really undermine Verizon’s red-blue coverage maps campaign? I mean, if you don’t have signal, you can’t make a call or surf!

November 25, 2009

Nokia in 2015 – The Way We Live Next

“At Nokia, we believe in seamless integration of devices with services…”

In general, this video promises a better, more comprehensive and interconnected platform for services and communication through the Nokia devices. This all seems well and good, however, there are some concerns that need to be addressed!

  1. Constantly Learn from Consumers: Although this sounds very appealing, the first thought that crossed my mind when hearing it was: privacy concerns! Do we really want or need Nokia, or any other manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer, to know more about us; How we think? What we like? Where we go? What we do?
  2. The OVI Platform: Despite the fact that the OVI platform seems interesting, I think Nokia is not the strongest player when compared to Google and Apple when it comes to web presence and mobiles.
  3. Global Knowledge Sharing: How secure is this server where the data is stored? What if it was hacked? What are the measures to protect our information?
  4. High Level of Dependence: Do we really want to reach a stage in life where we would be “lost without our phones”? Moreover, what happens when the system is down?

Nokia believes that services and devices together will create the solutions our consumers will want in the future, the way we manage and analyze the information generated by these solutions will drive us to a whole new level of consumer understanding”...

We have heard what Nokia believes… Therefore, the question is: What do you believe: Do you support fully automated systems paving your every step? Do you trust sharing your intimate and detailed information with Nokia? What other concerns do you have after watching the video?

Is Digg really “Dead”: Statistics Show Otherwise!

A recent article published via CNET claims that “Digg is dead“! It then goes on to blame both Facebook and Twitter for the “kill” and the “burial”. I tend to highly disagree.

1. In terms of statistics…

Digg seems to be fresh, attractive and so much alive with a high number of active visitors. (Kindly refer to the figure below)

Digg's rank on Alexa.com (ranking 105 as of Nov 09)

Digg's rank on Alexa.com (ranking 105 as of Nov 09)

2. In terms of loyalty…

Digg users would not necessarily switch to Twitter or Facebook; these two do not merely compete in terms of their use and their platforms.

3. From a blogger’s perspective…

Bloggers feel the “need” for Digg, more than any other social media tool or site, in order to “drive traffic to their blogs in ways that even Twitter can’t match,” says blogger DavidRGilson. It also “helps offer a lot of blog exposure and fast indexing,” another blogger adds.

So, what I’m wondering about now is this: Based on the above realizations, how is Digg dead according to Ian Morris of CNet? Was that post really written in efforts to spite Digg because they banned the writer? Or is there something we are not being told?

NYPD Teaches Criminals a New Way to Fool the Legal System: Facebook Updates!

“The toilets at a local police station have been stolen. Police say they have nothing to go on.” Ronnie Baker

Wild goose chases are constantly going on all over the place: criminals running away from justice and never being caught, criminals playing the law and pinning their crimes on someone else or even more so, criminals being offered the proper tools to commit “perfect” crimes! And here’s where Facebook status updates come in!

A recent article entitled: “His Facebook Status Now? Charges Dropped” describes how the charges on Mr. Bradford were dropped just because his lawyer used Mr. Bradford’s status update as part of the evidence that the defendant was at home the time the crime was committed!

The way I see it, this is ridiculous!

Criminals & Theft

Criminals & Theft

If you really take a moment to contemplate the elements of any crime, you are sure to find that any criminal, despite his/her “experience in the field” would be smart enough to have someone else change the status update in order to establish an alibi! It is as easy as going for a walk through the park for anyone to enter: “Where’s my pancakes” instead of Mr. Bradford!

What I wonder now is how could the judge, and the police, miss that point? Especially that “another robbery charge was already pending against Mr. Bradford”.

John Browning says, “We are going to see more of that because of how prevalent social networking has become.”

Therefore, what is even more intriguing to me at now is the following: Through the way this particular case has come to an end, would criminals have more ideas about how to manipulate the legal system through social media? Will the NY Times, the source of this piece of news, become more of a criminal reference for the tips and how to’s of committing crime rather than being your local newspaper?

Looking forward to hear your arguments about this serious issue.

November 24, 2009

Who’s Here App – Free Phone Calls on Your iPod and iPhone!

As we relentlessly, and yet unconsciously, speed into a technology-based life style, competition amongst technology related brands, tools, systems and platforms soars higher; bringing us a new, fresh and innovative pool of ideas for the future.

MSN messenger, Skype, Fringe, eBuddy and other web or phone based chatting tools should be prepared to meet their new opponent: The “Who’s Here” Application designed for the iPhone or the iPod Touch.

Not only does this “social” application allow for the regular options any chatting platform offers, it also allows you to spice things up a bit as it gives a chance to its users to make free calls and send free text messages. Furthermore, this applications helps in bridging the way for you to find and meet new people and creates another way for you to maintain current relationships with your friends and family!

[read full article >>]

Filed under: App Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 9:00 pm
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