Posts Tagged Myspace
Social Media use is a political key stroke
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on June 11th, 2010
Now that the honeymoon period is over, and the coalition government has started to swing the axe, it is worth reflecting on the role of online communication in politics. It is undoubtedly gaining in popularity among UK political leaders. Barrack Obama used it with such great success in his election campaign; both as a means of raising awareness as well as fundraising initiatives.
When “New Labour” came to power in 1997, the world wide web as a public service had only been available for six years; the collective madness that became the dotcome crash had yet to come; and neither iPod, iPhone, iPad, nor social networking had even been invented. Steve Job’s recent claim that Apple has become the world’s favourite mobile computing company would have seemed bizarre.
Since 1997, technology has levelled pitches, while moving goalposts in an unprecedented fashion. So what can we expect from the new government?
The Labour Party manifesto promised access top broadband with speeds of 2 megabits per second for 90% of the country by 2017, supported by a tax on telephone lines; the creation of a government application store; and greater departmental use of cloud computing.
The Conservatives also promised superfast broadband for most of the population, as well as a government app store, and a spending limit on IT projects “to encourage smaller companies to get involved”.
The Liberal Democrats offered to expand a broadband provision through a “national infrastructure bank”, and to support the creative economy – in other words, to exploit the UK’s expertise in video games and overhaul copyright law.
In fact, a Digital Economy Bill has already been passed in the last days of the outgoing Parliament – with indecent haste, some would argue, for a measure so critical to the UK’s digital future.
Elected representatives will have to consider more carefully in future the view of citizens. They are now more able to make their voices heard online. In the era of MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and their successes, interactivity is hugely important and any government ignores its benefits and risks at its peril.
Users’ trust of online news rises.
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on May 19th, 2010
British web surfers say they now trust online news more than television bulletins and newspapers, ignoring the adage to never believe what you read on the internet.
A survey by Ofcom, also found that half of the UK population had created a profile on a social networking site, but added that adults were becoming more savvy about who they befriended online. The survey also showed that usage of digital television, internet and mobile phones were all increasing.
With seven in 10 people now using the Internet, booking holidays online has become just as popular as visiting a travel agent in person, while about half of all internet users have used price comparison websites to save money or research an illness using the web.
Many people still remain sceptical however, with over half of those surveyed, rating TV and radio content as “reliable and accurate”, compared with a third lending the same credence to the internet for general use.
But for the first time, the web overtook TV as the more trusted source of news. The press was deemed the least trustworthy medium, with more adults saying they thought newspapers were unbelieveable than said they believed in them.
This increase in trust may stem from an increase in the use of social networks, where people frequently share news and links, lending a personal endorsement to the story or website.
It also said that the proportion of internet users with a social networking profile had doubled since 2007, with the biggest increases among women, 25-34 year olds, and the lowest socio-economic grouping DE.
Facebook is by far the most popular, with MySpace and Bebo both seeing falls in usage, and Twitter used by just one in 10.
Two in five people visit a social network every day, with half of all internet users saying the web has increased the frequency of their contact with friends and family.
More than three-quarters of those who have an online identity allow only friends or family to see it. This marks a large increase in the number of people restricting who can see their personal information since 2007.
Interestingly, this research was carried out last year before Facebook introduced new privacy settings that default to sharing some personal information with “everyone”.
I think the recent furore caused by Facebook’s new privacy laws will result in some people moving on to another a social network. Most Facebook users were once MySpace users after all. Customers are nothing if not fickle and easily offended.
The Social Networking page of the future…
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Online Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions, World News on April 26th, 2010
How can we as a web design agency help you maximise the potential of your social networking pages? For us, the key to a successful social networking strategy is ongoing interaction of users with your company.
With this in mind, you should start to view these pages as an integral part of your web site. Another way for your users to engage with you, whether it be for customer service, product reviews, or other relevant content that you upload to these areas.
To get users to interact with you, we suggest enabling several important functions. Allowing your customers to leave their own product reviews, invite them to provide input on new products you plan to introduce, or to share their shopping carts with friends. Facebook and the like, to a certain extent, already provide the community part. It is up to you to provide the interactive and engaging elements. Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, for example, they bring the people to you. So you should leverage that by targeting your audience within these communities and providing them with what they want.
So take a look at your current web sites, and think of innovative ways, you can invite users to comment upon your products or share information with their friends. Get their input..they are your customers after all!
Newspapers face a problem..a big one.
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on July 14th, 2009
Newspapers are dying out..there is no doubt about it. Competition from online media sources has meant they have had to adapt.But they have hitherto not found the answer. Especially amongst the teenage readership where numbers are ever depleting. If this continues, we will have no newspapers in 20 years..Old habits die hard and teenagers are already used to getting all the information they need online via their PC or mobile phone. Moreover, 24 hour televised news channels and online news sources are free. Newspapers need to grab the interest of teenagers; for older generations they have an enjoyed an unconditional relationship. (old habits again)
Radio is suffering the same fate. Ipods allow teenagers to choose what they listen to and when without the endless radio chat and adverts..Radio faces similar challenges..their future customers are turning away from them. The Ipod is by far the most favoured listening device among teenagers.
But their main source of entertainment are social networking sites such as Facebook. They need to be seen to be on the latest crazes and feel under pressure to do so. Facebook enables them to create an achieveable illusion of themselves through the constant updating and refining of their profiles. Furthermore, they can engage in conversation with others..Facebook and My Space users continue to increase.
So what for newspapers..if they are going to attract any teenagers, my suggestion would be they need to target them first and foremost. What are teenagers into? Reality TV, Hollyoaks and the like; fashion, celebrity gossip.. So with that in mind, political expenses, interest rate predictions, inter alia. won’t cut it with these teenagers..A newspaper that focuses on teenagers will sell..but you can’t just throw out a generic product and hope it will fit all shapes and sizes..newspapers need to realise this.
