Social media: why so blue?

It started as an odd musing, but it's developed into a bit of a minor obsession: why are so many of the popular social media platforms blue?

Yes, blue. A sort of mid-to-bright blue to be precise. Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Yammer, Tumblr, Orkut, Foursquare, Blippy and Soundcloud  (with some orange). Even MySpace, back in the day, had a blue logo. It still uses predominantly blue, alongside black.

Once you’ve noticed this you can’t un-see it. You start to feel like it’s everwhere.

Why on earth has this happened? Why do so many of our websites look the same? Even Wikipedia’s photograph of the collective ‘share’ buttons is about 40-50 per cent blue.

Perhaps it’s down to the dictats of Pantone, the international colour people. In 2000 and 2008, they declared that blue shades were the ‘Colour of the Year’.  In 2000, we had Cerulean, a sort of sky blue, and in 2008, we had the brighter Blue Iris. 

For both colours, the Pantone people justified their choice by saying that blue was calming – in the case of Blue Iris: “Combining the stable and calming aspects of blue with the mystical and spiritual qualities of purple, Blue Iris satisfies the need for reassurance in a complex world, while adding a hint of mystery and excitement.” 

There’s some similar guff about spiritual fulfilment for Cerulean. You may guess that I don’t buy this, and you’d be right, though there may be something in it being perceived as calming. 

But between the two years, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter were founded. Yammer started up in 2008. These were big years for social media and the officially sanctioned use of blue. Hmm.

Another theory for me at the moment is that as computer users, we are used to seeing a blue screen. Both the Microsoft Windows and Mac desktop backgrounds and logos have made use of blue for years. Does blue = trusted technology provider?

Happily, I’m not the only person to have noticed this; Quora has some questions with very good answers on the subject. There are some interesting responses, ranging from blue having no negative associations in any culture, to blue simply being a versatile background colour and one that is easy on the eye, especially when covered in text. But in short, no one really knows why it’s suddenly become so popular among a certain type of online business.

Either way. Surely we’ve reached blue market saturation?

By Steve Richards, MD (@chips11)

Social Soup - cookie law, the Olympics, Spotify and more

Cookie… d’oh?

In just over a month, UK business will be subject to new EU laws that will totally change the rules around using cookies on websites. From 26th May, businesses will have to obtain website visitors’ consent to store cookie on their devices, as well as explaining what they want to install and why.

Image from the Muppets Wikia site

Some limited cookies will be exempt, but largely, that’s the deal.

Obviously this is a huge change both for both companies and user experience. So it's not as surprising as it should be that a survey out by KMPG suggests 95 per cent of businesses are not yet compliant with the rules.

The law is pretty much universally criticised for being vague and ultimately pointless, with no clear recommendations for implementation. As a result, businesses have tried many different strategies for implementation, none of which are ideal. Marketers complain it will kill business, developers are scratching their heads in bemusement wondering how to comply.

However, whether you understand it or not, code breaches could result in fines of up to £500,000

Is this perhaps another example of the difficulties traditional lawmakers have in imposing their will on the internet?

By studio manager Dougie

Olympic Gamification

With this year’s games being heralded as ‘the social games’, it was inevitable that the IOC would mark its major milestones in social media. Cue the launch of the ‘Olympic Athletes’ Hub’ to mark the ‘100 days to go’ countdown. This site aggregates the Twitter and Facebook feeds of more than 1000 current and former Olympians and allows people to follow and connect with them.

Fans can enjoy photos, videos and live chats from the heart of the Olympic Village.  The IOC has even added gamification elements to play on the sporting feel, as users have the ability to unlock extras such as training tips and virtual Olympic medals through their activities on the site.

It will be interesting to see the extent to which the Olympic ‘Brand Police’ make use of the platform to keep an eye on athletes and ensure they don’t use social media to promote brands that are not official sponsors. 

By insight executive John-Paul @johnpaulfox

Coke-Spot

Coca-Cola has a rich history of musical partnerships, dating back to Ray Charles and most recently ‘The Beat’, a campaign for London 2012 with Mark Ronson and Katy B. The 125 year-old brand has now teamed up with music-streaming service Spotify to bring free music to the masses.

Details of how the partnership will actually work are yet to be released. But the move is undoubtedly a great opportunity for Spotify, as it teams up with one of the world’s best known brands. Not only that, but it grants Spotify access to Coca-Cola’s 41m Facebook fans.

Both brands have close ties with Facebook and it is almost inevitable that the partnership will bring many exciting new features. An ‘hacker den’ event took place in New York last weekend with the intent to develop apps centered on social, music-sharing experiences – so things look promising. With less than 100 days to the Olympic Games (for which Coke is a huge sponsor), the timing couldn’t be better. From live shows and events to Olympic playlists, this looks to be a match made in heaven.

From insight executive Mark @mistermumble

Facebubble?

And in case you missed it, Facebook has supposedly set its IPO date for May 17th (or maybe the 24th). The company is hoping to raise $10 billion on a $100 billion valuation – mindblowing figures.

This week, we also spotted this great infographic from Century Link, looking at the lifespans of other internet giants. Apparently, 11 years is the average before the empire starts to crumble. Facebook is eight years old. Obviously, this is one we want to buck the trend – but it’s certainly food for thought.

From PR and marketing manager Claire @claire_foss

Samsung and Apple take it outside

Federal Judge Lucy Koh this week directed the feuding CEOs of Apple and Samsung to meet up ‘mano-a-mano’ to discuss their ongoing patent war over the Galaxy and iPhone/iPad.  Although ordering settlement talks isn't out of the ordinary, it is usually the legal teams that meet rather than the CEOs, further adding to the excitement and underlining the enormity of this case. 

With Samsung a key supplier to Apple, it is in both companies’ interests a truce is reached pre-trial.  Let’s hope Harry Hill is on hand to ensure a clean fight. 

By insight executive John-Paul @johnpaulfox

Find more at @YomegoSocial

Social Soup - your weekly round up featuring Google+, kids on Facebook eReaders and Instagram

Friday 13th: unlucky for some – but not for you, privileged reader of the finest social round up on the web.

This week we have the the redesign of Google+ and the backlash against its fudgy user numbers; some great stats on eReaders; worries about kids on Facebook and of course a little more about the biggest social buy-out story of the week (maybe ever): Facebook and Instagram.

White space

Google’s social network is obviously gearing up for the long haul. After announcing 170 million users on Google+, a figure that has been heavily questioned by critics (more below), there can be little doubt that Google is prepared to throw everything it has at making sure the product is a success. So it came as a surprise to many yesterday when they discovered that the already minimal layout of the service had been overhauled overnight.

Google has justified the revamp by claiming it now focuses more on its key differentiators such as hangouts. However we can’t help shake the feeling we've seen a lot of the ‘new’ features before: a “trending topics” element borrows heavily from Twitter and a new cover photo for profiles that practically mirrors Facebook.

Perhaps more excitingly for users (or less, depending on whether you actually use the service) is the mysterious white space that seems to occupy a third of the screen. Vic Gundotra, head honcho for Google+ has coyly alluded to the fact that the space is there for a reason; however was it a short sighted move to roll-out such a radical UI change with only part-baked functionality? Either way, this new interface has a lot of people scratching their heads, and possibly not for all the right reasons.

By account manager Sam @cooltweetbro

A turn up for the books?

New research from Pew confirms that reading on our favourite electronic devices is on the up and up, with a fifth of American adults having dipped into an eBook in the last year. Whether it’s due to novelty value or convenience, those of us who consume our books digitally are taking in a respectable ten extra tomes per year.

Kindles and other eReaders have contributed to several new trends, including social reading (where communities virtually read and annotate books together, much like real-life bookclubs) and publishing on social platforms. We’ll be interested to see whether this trend brings some of the promising social reading and publishing communities into the mainstream.

By community manager Annie @anniefiddle

The kids aren’t alright

It’s well-known that in order to avoid parental approval processes and child moderation, Facebook only allows users aged 13 and over to register for an account.

However, a recent survey by Mini Monitor has highlighted some of the concerns of parents around the numbers of children aged 12 and below that are using the service. According to the survey, 38 per cent of all children on Facebook fall into this bracket and are too young to use the service.

Obviously this presents major concerns for protective parents worried about child safety, grooming and bullying.

So what can Facebook do? It could look to put in place barriers to registrations, however that would affect their own registration figures for all age groups. We have used an eModeration approved ‘Parental Approval Process’ before – but again it’s not bullet proof and users can bypass the full process by simply entering an incorrect age.

Unfortunately, this is one of the hardest questions for Facebook to answer. Unless it goes extreme and start requesting credit card information to validate a user’s age, the onus will remain on parents to monitor their children’s online activities.

By Ricky Gill, project manager @rickygill

FaceGram

Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram was undoubtedly the hottest story of the week, with the purchase extremely contentious amongst social media users.  The $1b deal meant Instagram, with its 33m users, was worth a full $50m more than the 116 year old New York Times. For a service operating in an industry that has proven to be extremely difficult for start-ups and that was until now only available on one handset, these figures are astronomical.

But with only 12% of discussion around the acquisition positive, will users jump ship to another service such as Pixable?

I doubt it very much, and if Instagram can keep its autonomy and forge a Google/Youtube esque relationship, I think the acquisition will help the service continue to evolve and increase in popularity.  Smart move by Facebook? Definitely.

By insight executive John-Paul @johnpaulfox

Googlefudge

Finally, some of the major commentators on search and social are starting to crack and wail quite loudly at Google and it’s evasiveness over Google+ user figures. This week, Danny Sullivan of the hugely influential blogs and news sites Search Engine Land and Marketing Land finally said it: If Google’s really proud of Google+ it should share some real user figures.

The resulting article is an essential read for anyone interested in the media giant and its forays into social (which really, if you’re reading this blog, probably includes you). It’s fair and even handed, and even says that Google+ could have lots to be proud of and might just be great. But it won’t be any of these things for the general public until it starts being honest about what constitutes a ‘user’. Hopefully this pressure will mean we start to see more transparency about who is really using the service, and how.

By PR and marketing manager Claire @claire_foss

And video of the week award goes to Belgian TV channel TNT with this beauty...

Find more at @YomegoSocial
 

Facebook and Instagram: Now the dust has settled

On Monday, Facebook bought Instagram. Every man and his dog had an opinion on the matter (some news outlets even had several, differing opinions). It certainly got the world talking.

So now the dust has settled, what do we know?

• Instagram was 551 days old when bought and for every day of its life, it created £1.8m of value
• The $1b deal meant Instagram, with its 33m users, was worth a full $50m more than the 116 year old New York Times
• And all this for a service which has no web presence, and until very recently, was only available on one type of mobile handset

  

It’s been impossible to ignore the fact that photo sharing is growing massively in popularity. The success of Tumblr and Pinterest further underline this. And while many people have referred to Instagram as a photography app, it’s actually a complete, visual social network in its own right. Facebook has been in this market for a while, but rather than try to compete on Instagram’s terms, Facebook has chosen to buy a tool which has seen its users’ share over a billion photos on the iPhone app alone.

Although Facebook is the most popular photo-sharing service on the net, the acquisition brings over a talented pool of workers, each who will add value to Facebook. Not only that, Instagram just launched on Android, opening the app to millions more users.

As a Blackberry user, I initially failed to see the appeal of Instagram, mainly because I didn’t have access to the app. But as time moved on, I began seeing friends tweeting and uploading photos to Facebook through Instagram and I liked what I saw. Images were interesting, artistic and fun. It might have some photography purist detractors, but mostly, people love it.

It looks like Instagram is set to become mainstream and I look forward to seeing how Facebook manages this, integrating features and such. You can’t deny it is a huge step for what started as a little iPhone app and whether or not the astronomical price tag is the reason behind the huge quantities of conversation, Facebook has certainly set tongues wagging. There is no timescale on development at the moment (it’s not even live on the developers blog) but it is most certainly a partnership with a lot of advantages for both parties.

By Mark Stuart, insight executive @mistermumble
#YomegoSocial

How to avoid data overload

Image from the very interesting Vizcraft

Anyone that has dipped a toe into social media monitoring will agree that the amount of data it presents can be overwhelming, with most of what emerges of little relevance to your business.

One way to tackle this is to make sure that the data you’re pulling in is relevant.

Sounds simple doesn’t it? Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all method to getting this right. The process is cyclical, and your objectives and approach must be refined on a regular basis. 

However, the five tips below should help you to organise and refine your social listening plans to avoid falling into the trap of measuring what you don’t need, and most importantly, ensure that those lovely analysts are leaving the office at a sensible time.

1.      Set clear objectives

Obvious, but it all comes down to this:  It is important to set clear objectives for your monitoring strategy, and stick to them.  This means you know what you’re looking for in the first place.  For example, are you monitoring in order to improve customer service? Drive advocacy? Increase direct sales?

Include key members of the wider organisation when setting objectives. This ensures that your listening strategy benefits the entire organisation. 

2.      Pick relevant search terms

If you get this right first time, get in touch and I’ll buy you a beer. Getting the most effective keywords is a trial and error process.

Simply searching for your brand name is likely to swamp you with lots of irrelevant data (can you imagine the poor analysts at Orange searching for the first time?), so make sure you try different variations till you get the data that helps meet your objectives. 

Remember, you must consistently refine your keywords as your strategy evolves.

3.      Get the right tool

The social listening market is saturated, with thousands of paid for and free listening tools that offer a range of features. Some are better at pulling data from different platforms; some allow you to respond to users directly from the dashboard (good if one of your objectives is customer service) and some have customisable dashboards that are great for content curation. 

Don’t let the shiny dashboards drag you in.  Demo different products and compare the results.

4.      Resource Properly

Get the right people listening and make sure they are monitoring the correct data.  It’s counterproductive to have several parts of the business listening to the same conversation. 

Likewise, it is also counterproductive to have one area of the business monitoring all the data. 

Remember to share intelligence throughout your  business. If someone monitoring customer service discussion discovers an awesome product development suggestion, ensure that the staff member is adequately trained to recognise this and passes it on to the correct department.

5.      Monitor the relevant platforms

You need to understand the context of what people are saying and where they are saying it.

Different segments may be more active on different platforms, so make sure you understand where they are.  This will help in times of crisis, as you can easily uncover the signal and not get lost in the noise.  Often, it could only be a small segment of the entire market reacting negatively to an issue or campaign.  Different segments may act as indicators of future trends or problems, wider public opinion or may be bigger advocates for your brand.  Understanding these give you an edge.

6.      Go back to point 1 and start again

This isn’t a one-off exercise.  Objectives, influencers, resources, tools and terms need to be continually reviewed and optimised either continually or very regularly. Put this process in place and build it in to your strategy.

I hope this blog post has helped you to see the light at the end of the data tunnel and begin to put measures in place to ensure you are listening effectively.

Making sure that the majority of data you receive is relevant won’t happen overnight, so don’t be disheartened if you don’t get it right first time.  Effective social listening is a learning process. 

Contributed by insight executive John Paul @johnpaulfox

Social soup – your weekly news round up: Google+ and Skype ads, censorship, Pinterest and more

This week has been one of social services launching ‘traditional’ ad campaigns – we’ve got another weepy ad from Google+ and some hard hitting posters from Skype; some welcome search changes from Linkedin, a bit of online censorship from Dubai and a lovely little Pinterest analytics tool. And it's a day early because of Easter. Better than a chocolate egg any day...

Google+ ad

Google has ‘done a John Lewis’ and launched a tear-jerking ad following the progress of a person’s life through their interactions with the product. 

This time, we have Tom who meets a woman, falls in love, gets married, has a baby, gets old and has a grandchild. I can’t deny that it made me feel a bit weepy, but that could have also been the dulcet tones of BenedictCumberbatch (*short break for swoon*) reading Shakespeare as the voiceover.

It’s an ad designed to push your emotional buttons, but rationally: what does it mean for a social product or portal to promote itself via ‘traditional’ means? I can’t help thinking of Ask Jeeves and its fate [link]. Surely a portal that thrives on being better than the competition and all about sharing should be seeing organic take-up? Google claims high growth rates, but signing up to have a look is hardly the regular sharing and use they need.

But then again, they might be looking for an older market that isn’t too keen on Facebook and is more responsive to traditional ads. And judging by the fact that we meet ‘Tom’ when he’s already around 30, this could well be the case.

Contributed by PR and marketing manager Claire @claire _foss

And talking of ads, here’s Skype…

(Image from Adweek here)

Skype has launched a $12m poster marketing campaign taking a direct swipe at text-based interactions – the likes of SMS, Facebook and Twitter.

It would be interesting to know how many employees at Skype use both Facebook and Twitter, but with ad copy lines such as, “When did LOL replace the sound of laughter?” and “140 characters doesn’t equal staying in touch.”, we’d imagine some hold a grudge against the social giants.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the campaign is Skype’s reliance on those platforms it makes fun of. It will use the hashtag #timeforskype on Twitter and it’s important to remember Skype’s partnership with Facebook chat for video calls. A nice campaign, but will it work?

Contributed by insight executive Mark @MisterMumble

They’re watching

The US government is no stranger to keeping tabs on citizens’ social media activities, and the UK could be set to follow the same path if current plans come to fruition. However one place that is still flying the flag for gross privacy invasion is Dubai; last week the Emirates chief of police called for legal action to be taken against those that speak out against the UAE on social media channels.

Dubai police already has a specialist team that deals with monitoring online chatter and any added powers can only serve to restrict the freedom of its citizens further. With the Arab Spring being powered through social, it’s easy to see why states in the region would fear the power of the net, but is it right to arrest people based on a tweet? Dubai is by no means an isolated case – governments across the world are scrambling to keep tabs on social – but at what point does it cross the line?

Contributed by account manager Sam @cooltweetbro

Linkedin search changes

The mere thought of using the built-in search facility on a social media site such as Facebook is enough to send a chill down the spine of any social media user. The poor functionality and predominantly irrelevant set of results has led to most of us doing our social media searching (stalking) on Google.

Linkedin was another big offender, but a range of new features has just been rolled out to entice users to keep their searching on-site. One update involved significant improvements to the ‘group search’ function, matching searches by conversations taking place rather than relying solely on the title and description – a long-overdue feature. This will help to filter out inactive groups and highlight groups which users may not have discovered in the past. An update to the ‘People You May Know’ feature has also been well received, with users now given the ability to filter based on company and university. Good work Linkedin. Let’s hope other platforms follow suit.

Contributed by insight executive John-Paul @johnpaulfox

Pinalytics

Start-up Pinerly this week launched a neat analytics tool for the world’s fastest growing social network, Pinterest.

By creating campaigns within the tool, brands can view stats on a dashboard and schedule pins. Although basic at this early stage, the metrics are handy to see what kind of content is doing well. Though the majority of brands are still to venture into the realms of Pinterest, some have launched nice creative campaigns. Peugeot’s multi-platform Panama Puzzle is a good example, with the brand rewarding fans that completed the missing pin on a board by tracking an image down from its Facebook page and website.

Contributed by insight executive John-Paul @johnpaulfox 

Find more at @yomegosocial

HTML 5 - It's the future... or is it?

It's the future... or is it? (Source)

Mobile development platform provider Appcelerator recently released its Q1 Mobile Developer report – normally a fantastic resource for monitoring mobile development trends. “Key findings: HTML 5 moves to centre stage” – screamed the headline. “79%  of developers are keying in on HTML5” apparently.

“Really?” thought I… “how have I missed this seismic shift in mobile app development methodologies? Has the handset market suddenly matured with a reasonable level of saturation of HTML5-compliant devices? Or is this another example of HTML5 hype which leaves developers with their head in hands, knowing that it’s added more fuel  to the myth of this programatic Nirvana?”

Inspection of the (admittedly excellent) Appcelerator report reveals the headline to be in a similar vein to that old retailer favourite “up to 50% OFF”. A large proportion of developers have indicated that they expect to use some HTML5 within their  apps, with the majority indicating that less than half of their app is likely to be HTML5-based. The most relevant statistic, in my opinion, was that only 6% of developers intend to build pure HTML5 browser-based applications.

This figure reveals a far more accurate picture of the current development landscape. HTML5 is a useful emerging tool in the developer’s arsenal. It is highly likely to be a significant component within a significant percentage of future applications, but it is not yet a mature enough technology to be utilised extensively across a broad range of apps.

My problem with the current wave of marketing hype is that it’s creating an  unrealistic expectation amongst those of a non-technical persuasion. It’s becoming increasingly common to receive a brief from a client who has already decided that their application will be built in HTML5 and for Account and Project Managers to casually mention HTML5 as a suitable development option.

“Developer evangelists” perpetuate these views through the slew of speaker slots and magazine articles which seem to be available to those who wish to shout loudest rather than smartest. I was recently at a conference where a keynote speaker spent 90 minutes extolling the virtues of HTML5 for cross-platform games development. When asked why he didn’t get have any titles on public release he sheepishly admitted “we can’t get them working properly outside of Chrome. Yet”. “Really?!” thought I…

Correcting these unrealistic expectations can be exceedingly difficult. Advising a potential client that they may wish to re-think their development strategy is often met with bemusement, and can easily result in the client deciding to give their project to the unscrupulous tech team who are more than happy to agree until the budget is signed off.

As Appcelerator correctly points out in its report, developers should be selecting a suitable technical approach based on the tasks required by the application. To limit functionality (or to wipe out access by vast swathes of your user demographic) entirely because you want to build using the most fashionable tech isn’t really a good idea.

By Dougie Pender, Studio Manager at Yomego

@yomegosocial