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

March 12, 2010

Fun-List: Top 10 Ways in Which Social Media Can Get You Fired!

According to Proofpoint, an Internet security firm, of companies with 1,000 or more employees, 17 percent report having issues with employees’ use of social media. Furthermore, 8 percent of those companies report having actually dismissed someone for their behavior on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. Some other interesting findings from the study:

  • 15 percent have disciplined an employee for violating multimedia sharing / posting policies
  • 13 percent of US companies investigated an exposure event involving mobile or Web-based short message services
  • 17 percent disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies

So, how do you avoid getting fired when using social media? What are the things which will, most probably, get you fired? Here we go with another Thoughtpick fun-fact list with a point:

1. Speak ill of your boss or manager

Example: “I hate my job!! I want to tell my bosses how dumb they are and how meaningless this job is, then quit, and be happy!” Revealed by CNN.com [read full article >>]

February 24, 2010

Avatar Movie — Learn Social Media by Example

Stat Box

Campaign Name: Avatar
URL: www.avatarmovie.com
SM Channels used: Youtube, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Website
Target Audience: Movie Goers
Date: Dec 2009
Campaign Duration: Ongoing

Avatar The Uber Block Buster

Avatar The Uber Block Buster

Hollywood has certainly been one of the great adopters of internet and social media marketing. Some of the greatest internet marketing campaigns have been given to us by the movies, campaigns like that of The Dark Knight were truly game changing. Ever since early December, the movie world has been abuzz with one word “Avatar”, with an impressive nine award nominations in March 7th at the 82nd Academy awards ceremony, it was certainly one of the biggest movies of not only the decade but of all time.

A movie that was truly entertaining, bringing 3D cinematics to the mainstream and raising the bar for special effects. While Sam Worthington and the Na’vi own part of their success to Mr. James Cameron’s genius, a great social marketing campaign helped propel the buzz around “Avatar” to stratospheric heights on the internet; giving it the boost it needs to break a Titanic record.

[read full article >>]

February 22, 2010

5 Ways to Utilize Twitter to Grumble — Effectively!

Each and every one of us, at least every now and then, and for one reason or another, feels the urge to complain, grumble and/or fuss about one thing or another. This is one part of human nature and for your average human beings, the “grass is almost always greener on the other side!”

Wah!

Wah!

Regardless of your reason to grumble, it seems to me that social media has established itself as the trendiest “fashion” of venting and complaining publicly! It is like a confession board available for all to see – a documented manifesto placed into social media users’ hands!

[read full article >>]

February 20, 2010

10 Ways to Lose Your Facebook Friends in 10 Days!

“The friendship that can cease has never been real.”- Saint Jerome

By now, I would assume that most social media users realize the positive and negative effects that social media reflects on us and our current and future environment. Whether how social media can help parents raise their children better, or how it can hinder friendships or relationships, social media’s consequences are becoming more and clearer to its users!

As one of Thoughtpick’s content chefs, I am always seeking to research, create and write about controversial and intriguing ideas which have the ability to get you to think about different things in a new light! Therefore, for my special dish of the day, I decided to present you with 10 easy and time efficient ways to lose your Facebook “friends” in ten days!

Remember, if you lose them, then they were never really your friends :)

Are you ready for it? Here I go!

1. Make sure you BOMBARD them with meaningless video and audio shares!

I promise you, if you are a regular Facebook user focusing your use for business or just to staying connected with friends and their lives, you will just hate being bombarded with more than 2 video or audio shares per day. I personally removed friends from my account due to the fact that they seem to have too much time on their hands and they share meaningless and useless audio and video clips on my profile!

Bombard them with videos!

Bombard them with videos!

2. Limit their access to your profile!

Are you shocked? Well, don’t be! I had friends remove me from their Facebook account simply because I placed them on my Limited Profile list due to privacy concerns! Sometimes, I even got calls r messages complaining about it to the point where we almost lost our friendship! [read full article >>]

December 18, 2009

The 1960’s Artist Illustrating Social Media [images]

Taking knowing out of the equation and using of only imagination, how would a 1960’s artist, who possibly can’t even begin to imagine the possibilities of the internet, illustrate some of the web services we know and love? French artist Stéphane Massa-Bidal did just that- designing Penguin Classics-like bookcovers for ten social media services, including Twitter, YouTube, and Wikipedia.

The result? A beautifully vintage, mind-opening series. They can be bought as prints, and would make a great addition to any techo-lover’s bedroom.

Wikipedia Bookcover from the 1960's

Wikipedia Bookcover from the 1960's

Which one is your favorite?

My favorite is definitely the YouTube one. It’s so funny. What would you add to this list of services to be vintagized? :)

[Gizmodo via Retrofuturs via Flickr via SuperPunch via Gearfuse]

December 14, 2009

10 Tweeps Who Will Make You [fill-the-blank] Your Pants… With Laughter!

There are a bunch of people on Twitter talking about everything and anything, nonetheless, we all need our constant supply of laughter! So, in our unending service to humanity, we would like to share with you the top 10 funny tweeps who you must follow on your Twitter account.

These are people who perfected the art of a 140 character humor, and are able to knock you off of your chair with their brilliant “single” liners.

In no particular order…

Fake AP Stylebook:

If you are a press writer these are the advices that you definitely don’t want to listen to. It is a guaranteed laugh and they actually have hours of operation.

Gems Worth sharing:

Instead of “economic downturn,” try financial melancholy, money-storm, global bummer, The End Times.

“Stupider” and “Stupidest” are not words, but can be used when describing Internet message board comments.

Stupider and Stupidest are not words...

Stupider and Stupidest are not words...

[read full article >>]

November 25, 2009

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?

November 14, 2009

5 Tips for Artists to Create their 1000 True Fans

Scoial Media Networks

Scoial Media Networks

All artists might already be swimming in the social media sea; they have already befriended thousands upon thousands of people on MySpace and Facebook. Moreover, they are already spamming every denizen on the web with posts and message about how great they are and how people should vote for them on the latest Facebook competition. Somehow all those people who think this is the way to deal with social media are mistaken. They tend to miss the point completely.

An up and coming artist will need to work hard on earning their true fans. Even 1,000 true fans is great and will be able to sustain the artist on a pretty good living standard. That might be a surprise, but a true fan is the person who will not only buy the artist’s work, they will buy the special editions, attend the gigs and if, given the opportunity, would buy the kitchen sink as well. So, if we say that a true fan will contribute a $100 of their income per year towards that artist, the artist will be making a $100,000 a year.

So how to earn those true fans?

[read full article >>]