LET FACEBOOK DO THE DIRTY WORK FOR YOU!

You may remember in September of last year, Facebook was improving the “Friends Lists” features so that you only saw certain people in your news feed.  That was wonderful.  Except if you have a huge guilt complex, as I apparently do, and you don’t want to label your Aunt Sue or your old project partner from Health Class as an “ACQUAINTANCE” rather than a “FRIEND".

Have no fear, last week Facebook launched a new update that automates your ‘acquaintance’ list for you!  Algorithms compute the friends with whom you communicate the least and offer those as suggestions to be added to your acquaintance list.  Simply approve the list (or remove the people you are secretly stalking first) and you will see less updates from these users in your newsfeed.  Its all based on facts and usage, so no guilt needed.

And, a few bonuses, because I know you are wondering: 

- Acquaintances won't be told they're on this list

- You'll still see the most important updates from Acquaintances - if they move or have a baby - thanks to Facebook algorithms

- You can share posts with "Friends except Acquaintances"

If you are signed in now, just click here: https://www.facebook.com/friends/organize?source=acq_suggestions

SXSW LITERALLY GOING TO THE STREETS!!

The latest buzz on the streets of Austin is centered around those who live there.  Homeless Hotspots is an experiment employing 13 homeless in the community to carry 4G wireless routers and serve as hotspots for SXSW visitors.  Users can get connected in exchange for a donation- $2 for 15 minutes- payable directly to the homeless host himself over paypal.

The campaign, launched by ad agency BBH Labs, was intended as a “charatible innovation initiative” (according to their website homelesshotspots.org).    Mass sentiment, however, seems to view the campaign as dehumanizing rather than inspiring.  

One key flaw here is the t-shirts.  Each Homeless Hotspot host is wearing a t-shirt that says: “I’m (fill in his/her name), a 4G hotspot.”  The wording of this implies they are a product.  Why not, “Need a 4G hotspot? Ask Me!”  Switching around a few key words makes the message much more empowering.

What do you think?  Is this program helpful or harmful? 

Kony 2012

Have you been on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube in the past 24 hours?  If so, you’ve seen at least a glimpse of one of the most pervasive social media campaigns in recent history.   Going beyond the typical ‘Trending Topic” or Fan Page status, the Kony 2012 campaign has completely taken social media sites by storm.  

• YouTube video posted Monday night now has 7 MILLION views. (update: by the time I posted this, its up to 10 million views)
• Trending worldwide on twitter and making up over of half of current Twitter US trending topics.
• About every third post on my Facebook newsfeed right now.

This campaign has made its voice known with a viral video produced by filmmaker Jason Russell.  Russell’s mini documentary brings light to Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony, and his brutal practices of abducting young children and forcing them into his army.

Before I get into the video’s content, I want to touch on one specific fascinating piece to me.  The video is 27 minutes long!  If social media minutes had some alternate timing, like 1 dog year = 7 human years, it would be something like 27 social media minutes = forever.  In the world of 30 second pitches and 140 character updates, 27 minutes is a long time to ask someone to focus.  For me, that makes this campaign’s success even more staggering.  

But - as the documentary states - “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”  And with that, the video calls for action from the world to continue to put pressure on the US government to keep aid in Central Africa to help them find and capture Joseph Kony.  The plan to achieve this is to “Make Kony Famous”.  Hence, the Kony 2012 campaign.  

Its better to watch the video for yourself than to read about it in an article.  Links to the postings are below.  No matter if you are counting with regular time or ‘social media time’-  its worth your 27 minutes to watch.

http://www.kony2012.com/

http://www.kony2012.com/

"Super Tuesday" - Did Social Media Call It In Advance?

4 Ways Social Media Predicted Super Tuesday Results

1) T-SHIRT SALES:  Online T-shirt retailer CafePress says sales of their custom made mechanise can predict election winners.   Because their sales are user-generated, CafePress considers itself a cultural barometer.    In 2008, CafePress correctly predicted Barack Obama to win the presidential election.   We will soon see if their prediction success continues.

CafePress Prediction: Mitt Romney will win 5 of 10 states. Rick Santorum will win 2 states.

2) TWEETS: Through tallying how many times a candidate is mentioned in tweets, predictions have been made on several political elections in the past.  The technique has been streamlined to consider positive or negative mentions and number of followers, but has still wavered in prediction success, and gathered up much criticism from experts.  

Twitter Predictions:  No official predictions from Twitter.  There are far too many independent predictions using tweets to name, but the vast majority predict Romney or Santorum.

3) FACEBOOK INTERACTION: By focusing specifically on Facebook, social media analytic group Socialbackers believes they can predict results for Super Tuesday.  Their analytics include candidate's Facebook exchanges, page posts and fans.  The big question here is if Facebook user intentions will mirror the intentions of actual voters.  

Socialbackers Predictions: Mitt Romney

4) DASHBOARDS: SocialMatica, a social media analytics firm, goes far beyond just tallying online mentions.  The firm created an algorithm that analyzes context, sentiment and the influence of the person posting across web channels.  Their results include not only predictions for Super Tuesday winners, but also insight into what the hot topics are to voters in each state.

SocialMatica Prediction: Mitt Romney will win 7 of 10 states.