Originally posted at the Likeable Media Blog.

Do you think we are #Likeable? Help us win “Digital Company of the Year” by voting here: on.mash.to/tStoVu

— Likeable Media(@LikeableMedia) December 10, 2011

See? Much more interactive than any screenshot could ever hope to be. There is big potential here for the blogosphere and even the “traditional” web to make itself more social by embedding Tweets and taking the conversation over to Twitter.

Unified Design

One thing is for sure about New Twitter: it’s pretty! And now, it looks the same everywhere you go. With 43% of Twitter users accessing the network via mobile devices, it’s no wonder that they’ve turned their focus back to developing their mobile apps. Both the iPhone and Android flavors of the app sport the same new and improved look and feel. Even the recently-acquired TweetDeck got a facelift to match the interface. One of my favorite features of the new Android app is the ability to @reply someone from the top of their profile. I can just tap and start typing my message to someone without looking for a “Reply” button. Also, the #Discover button lets you browse the hottest trending topics and not only read tweets associated with them, but find out why they’re trending. Why is this good for a brand? A more aesthetically pleasing interface means people will be using it for longer periods of time, and that’s more time they’ll be engaging with your brand. The ability to more easily engage from your profile page lowers the barrier to entry and encourages interaction. And finally, improved hashtag surfing makes it easier for users to join conversations all over Twitter.

The new iPhone and Android Twitter apps are nearly identical.

Ultimately, the New Twitter is much simpler and straightforward. It’s a pleasure to use, and I think we’ll be seeing a big increase in the user base as the new look rolls out over the coming weeks. Anyone can tweet. But now, more and more people will actually want to tweet when they see how easy it is.

Have you tried the New Twitter? Do you love it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments below!

Originally posted at the Likeable Media Blog.

The social web is abuzz with the news of Google+ Pages finally being launched yesterday. After initially deleting personal profiles set up by brands, Google is finally allowing them to set up pages similar to those already available on Facebook. But are these pages really ready for primetime? What could they be doing better?

Group Posting

Right now, only one person can be the admin of a page. That means whoever creates the page is the only one who can post to it. This poses a pretty serious issue for most brands who currently rely on a team to manage their social media presence. You’ll either have to share the Gmail account that created the page, or just leave it to one person to be your go-to Google+ guy. And keep in mind that even if you do decide to share that Gmail account, you won’t be able to keep track of who is posting what!

The +1 Button

So you find a page that you want to follow. On Facebook, you’d normally “Like” the page, so on Google+, you’d click the big shiny +1 button below the profile image, right? WRONG! Clicking the +1 button on a Google+ page has the same effect as clicking the +1 button on a website or in a Google search. It doesn’t affect whether or not you’re following the brand and receiving their updates; it just tells your friends that you’re interested in the brand. That’s all. To actively follow the brand, you have to add them to your Circles. For me, that’s a little confusing and unnecessary. I spent my Monday night exploring new Google+ pages and clicking +1, thinking that the “Like” metaphor would apply. Now I’ll have to go back and Circle those pages. And what Circles do I put them in? Maybe I’m spoiled by Facebook, but I don’t want to evaluate which Circle makes sense for each brand I follow. I just want to click and forget it!

Analytics

How do I know what’s working for my page and what isn’t? Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn all offer pretty robust Insights into who your fans are and what content they find most interesting on your page. Right now, Google+ offers no such thing, not even on a basic level. You’d think Google Analytics would come bundled with your Google+ page, right? Well, apparently not. At least, not yet. We’ll see what happens there. But until brands can take a critical look at their performance (and while we’re at it, peek at the performance of competitors), it’s going to be really hard to set benchmarks and accurately gauge success.

These are just a few of the biggest issues I have with Google+ pages right now. Will they be fixed eventually? I’m sure they will! Who knows? They may even be fixed relatively soon! But for now, they’re definitely worth considering before you pull the trigger.

Do you see any problems with Google+ pages? What features would you like to see? Is there anything they could they be doing better? Sound off in the comments below!

Originally posted at the Likeable Media Blog.

It’s finally here! After more than a year, Facebook’s iPad app is here! Sporting a sleek, simple look, the app finally offers iPad owners a chance to experience Facebook in a way that takes full advantage of the devices capabilities. Sure, Facebook.com works just fine on an iPad, but the app now makes use of the touchscreen and screen real estate in a way that the desktop website never could. What are the best features this long-awaited app has to offer? What does this app mean for your brand’s fan page? Let’s take a look together!

It Works Just Like Facebook!

No frills, no overcomplicated user interface, this thing looks and works like Facebook. What does that mean, exactly? It means users will be spending more time looking at Facebook on their iPad than they did previously. Third-party Facebook apps have consistently topped the App Store charts practically since day one, but none of them have provided a really pleasurable user experience. They’ve all felt like knockoffs – this app feels like the real deal because it is. With a more legit interface, users will naturally be more inclined to stay within the app for longer periods of time. And with users spending more time in the app, that’s more time for them to check out your page!

The Sidebar

If you’re a fan of Twitter for iPad, this will look familiar. This handy little sidebar is the key to navigating the app. It gives you access to your Profile, News Feed, Messages, Places, Events, Friends, Pages you admin, Groups, and even Apps and Account settings. It’s a quick and easy way to get around Facebook with just a tap or a swipe of a finger. And just as you’d expect, each tab has an indicator telling you how many unread items are waiting for you. Again, a better user experience means your fans will be more likely to stick around, look at their News Feed for longer, and see more of your page’s posts. Everyone wins!

What do you think of the new Facebook for iPad app? Will it change the way you use Facebook? Sound off in the comments below!

Originally posted at the Likeable Media Blog.

Hacks happen. They can happen to anyone or any brand, no matter how big or small. Most recently, the @NBCNews Twitter account was hacked just last Friday. The hackers tweeted false “Breaking News” reports of the World Trade Center memorial site having been attacked by hijacked planes, complete with flight numbers, an exact time, and the hashtag #groundzeroattacked. The situation was eventually corrected and NBC regained control of the account, but this does raise some extremely important concerns about security in social media. How can you be sure your brand won’t be the next @NBCNews? What steps should you take to prevent an incident like this?

Strong Passwords

When we heard about the @NBCNews incident, the first thing my colleagues and I did was change the Twitter passwords for all of our clients. A strong password can be a big roadblock to a hacker trying to access your account. Just make sure your password isn’t a word you’ll find in the dictionary. Here’s a great tip I picked up from Leo Laporte: for a password that is tough to crack but still easy to remember, choose a string of letters and numbers that look like gibberish to the outside world, but have some significance to you. For example, use the first letters of the first line of your favorite song. HJDMIB68 may look like nonsense, but it’s not so hard to remember if you know it stands for “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad.” Including 68 because the song came out in 1968 adds a layer of complexity, making it harder to guess.

HTTPS

Okay, don’t freak out on me. I know I’m throwing a lot of letters at you. But this is a simple one, I promise. When you navigate to Twitter.com, or any website for that matter, you usually put “http://” in front of the address, right? Just adding an extra S for Security can make a difference in the security of your account. Using HTTPS instead of HTTP changes the way your computer communicates with Twitter. It ensures that you have a secure, encrypted connection that is much more difficult for prying eyes to get a look at. Basically, it requires no effort on your part and it makes a hacker’s life much harder. What more can you ask for?

Beware of Phishing!

Have you ever gotten an email telling you that your account has been compromised and you should click a link and change your password immediately? Stop right there! Don’t click that link! Often these emails are part of what are called phishing scams. Phishing means providing fake links to a trusted site in an effort to steal your information. The site may look exactly like Twitter, but if you look closer at the address, you might notice that it says something like twittr.com. Close, but not the real deal! If you want to change your password just to be safe, go to Twitter without following the link in the email. Similarly, never click the links you get in Direct Messages on Twitter if something looks off, even if they come from your friends. Get rich quick schemes, and messages offering you a chance to see photos of yourself drunk should always be red flags. Think before you click!

What do you think of these tips? Do you know any other social media security tricks? Share them below!

Originally posted at the Likeable Media Blog.

It’s official! Our Commander-In-Chief has joined everyone’s favorite location-based network: Foursquare! The White House announced via its blog on Monday that “There are over 10 million people already ‘checking in’ around the world, and now you’ll be able to discover ‘tips’ from the White House featuring the places President Obama has visited, what he did there, plus historical information and more.” While the President is not the first public figure to be represented on the rapidly-growing social network, he is arguably the most respected and beloved to date. My colleague Cara recently gave us an outstanding general look at what Foursquare can mean for businesses, but what’s changed now that President Obama has checked into the location-based revolution? What does Obama on Foursquare mean for your brand?

Welcome to @foursquare, President Obama! Follow him on foursquare to see where he’s checking in and leaving tips: 4sq.com/WHon4SQ

— foursquare (@foursquare) August 15, 2011

How many times have you had to explain what Foursquare is and how it works? If your experience is anything like mine, you’ve been through this too many times. If the White House’s Foursquare account receives the same publicity that was enjoyed by their Twitter account, I suspect you’ll be giving your prepared “intro to Foursquare” speech a lot less than you’re used to. Such a high-profile account tends to attract attention and spark the curiosity of users, which naturally leads to an increase in membership. This means more chances for you to reach out to consumers and turn them into brand ambassadors!

Many brands (including Likeable) create Foursquare pages and leave Tips at relevant locations. The History Channel has done some amazing things with this feature, delivering fun facts and trivia in the form of Tips at historical sites. The White House plans to do something similar. When people are pulling out their phones to see a tip from the White House at monuments and other sites around Washington, D.C., for example, imagine their surprise when they also find a Tip from your brand! If the Tip is good, they may stick around for more by following you!

Taking that idea to the next level, brands that sponsor Foursquare badges at locations where the White House has left a Tip or badge of their own will likely gain loyal fans. Nothing attracts customers quite like a free gift, even if that gift is purely virtual. There is something about those intangible badges that people just can’t resist! Why not surprise and delight someone by rewarding their first check-in to the Lincoln Memorial with a “Welcome to D.C.” badge sponsored by your brand?

And what about local businesses? Well, if more users start checking in because they want to keep up with the President, just think how they’ll react when they check into your pub and receive a free drink on their first visit. I’ll wager they’ll be pretty pleased with you. Something as simple as that free drink can generate a lifelong customer, as long as you pair it with great products and service!

The main takeaway from President Obama joining Foursquare is this: the age of location-based social marketing is just beginning. There is still a tremendous market to be tapped here, and highly visible names like the White House provide brands with outstanding opportunities to shine in this space. Be a thought leader and take advantage of those opportunities!

How else can big names on Foursquare help brands? Will the White House be a game changer? Share your thoughts below!

Originally posted at the Likeable Media Blog.

Take a look at this picture. Does something look wrong to you? Look closer. Even closer. Do you see it? It’s those two little icons at the bottom. Those two little symbols represent a big misunderstanding of how best to promote social media offline. A recent conversation with my co-worker Brian got me thinking about the ways brands attempt to market their social presences in offline media. We agreed that far too often, brands think that they’ve covered their bases as long as their print and TV ads remind you to “Follow us on Twitter,” or “Find us on Facebook.” Simply reminding your audience that your Facebook Page exists isn’t enough to drive them there. “Find us on Facebook” isn’t a call to action, it’s a homework assignment!

Think about it. Would you ever say “Find us in New York City,” or “Find us on the Internet”? Of course not! You would give out your actual street address or web address. Sure, people could Google your business and find that information, but why not make it easier for consumers to find you, right? The same applies to social media. Give a consumer the path of least resistance, provide him with value, and he will come to you.

The basic mistake that many brands are making here is thinking that a simple mention of Facebook and Twitter acts as some sort of magic password. They don’t quite understand what social media is all about, but they notice that others are having success with it, so they think that a basic “me too” approach will give them some sort of competitive edge. It’s as if they’re saying, You like Facebook? Guess what? We’re on it! That makes us cool, right? It’s a nice gesture and a step in the right direction, but they are really missing out on an enormous opportunity to build a community of potential customers.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when promoting your web presence in offline media:

• Make it easy: Put your full Facebook or Twitter URL in promotional materials. Remember that FB.com now redirects to Facebook.com, so FB.com/LikeableMedia will work if you need to save space!
• Add value: Give people incentive to become your fans. Can they receive a coupon for a free widget with their next purchase if they “Like” your page? What do they get out of the deal?
• Don’t Be Shy: Adding your full social URLs won’t help much if you bury them at the bottom in microscopic text. Embrace them! Feature them prominently and make sure fans feel encouraged to visit and engage. You’re much more likely to try something on the menu if the waiter actually recommends it.

One brand that’s doing a great job with all of this is Dunkin’ Donuts. Just take a look at the picture below! They have a clear call to action, their Facebook URL is in big, bold letters, and there’s clear incentive to “Like” them.

What are your thoughts on promoting social through offline media? Do you have any experiences like this? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Originally posted at the Likeable Media Blog.

So you’ve jumped head-first into Twitter? Good for you! I’m totally addicted to tweeting, so I completely understand. I can’t get enough of it. But once you become as serious about it as I am, you start to realize that simply sharing what you ate for lunch isn’t enough anymore (that pizza was awesome, by the way). After a certain point, you begin caring more and more about engaging with the community you’ve built up around yourself. It can be difficult to do that when your only followers are 20 of your real-life acquaintances who don’t have time to be active on Twitter, even if you do have lots in common. On the other hand, if you have 2,000 spam followers, you won’t be engaging much with them, either. How do you block out the noise, but still reach out and interact with a large audience?

Trim the Fat

One of the biggest problems that Twitter hasn’t been able to solve is spam. If your tweets are public (which they really should be), you can’t even mention an Apple product in a tweet without being bombarded with “free offers” to win one. You can eliminate some of the unwanted attention by making your your tweets private, but then you’ll also be cutting yourself off from the global conversations that are constantly happening. Enter TwitBlock, the best resource for blocking spammers before they start to annoy you. TwitBlock securely scans your followers and looks for signs of spam, assigning the most suspicious ones a number rating based on a set of predefined criteria. The higher the rating, the more likely each follower is a spammer. You can then easily block the offending tweeters and never worry about them again!

Timing Is Everything

Once you’ve removed spam from your Twitter experience, you’ll find it much easier to engage in valuable interactions with your followers. But how can you be sure your thoughts are reaching the maximum possible audience? What if you share a link to an article that you want to discuss, or a photo that makes you laugh, but no one is around to react to it? Tweriod is really handy for these situations. After a one-time analysis of the tweeting habits of your followers, this tool will recommend the times of day when the majority of your followers are actively using Twitter. This offers you a personalized estimate of the times when your content will receive the most exposure. I usually wait until after 1pm Eastern to share links and other interesting content, but Tweriod tells me that my followers are actually most active between 4 and 7pm. You’d better believe I’ll be saving my best material for those hours!

There comes a time when every Twitter power user has to ask himself or herself, “Why do I follow so many people?” Once in a while, it’s a good idea to re-evaluate the people you’ve chosen to follow. People may sometimes get angry when you unfollow them, but if you aren’t enjoying Twitter, what’s the point? Theirs are the thoughts you’ll be reading, and so they will determine the value of your Twitter experience. It may seem harsh, but sometimes you just need to purge your account of the users who aren’t providing you with any value. ManageFlitter makes this dead simple. Sort the people you follow to see who hasn’t tweeted recently, who tweets too much, or who tweets about topics that don’t interest you. Eliminate the ones who don’t make the cut, and enjoy a clutter-free Twitter stream! You even have the option to separate out Verified Accounts and popular users so you don’t accidentally stop following your favorite celebrities.

There are literally hundreds of awesome tools I could sit here and tell you about. Twitter’s openness makes it really easy for developers to come up with amazing utilities for every day users and power users alike. There is probably already a tool that helps you do just about anything you can think of with Twitter. And if there isn’t one already, you might have a million dollar idea on your hands! If you’d like to engage with your followers more, these sites will get you off to a great start. Go forth and interact!

Do you have a favorite Twitter tool that isn’t listed here? Are there any tools you’d like to see someone develop? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

I’ve always been fascinated by photography. When I was younger, my dad would show me the photos he took when he traveled across Europe as a bachelor. I always admired his natural talent for framing and capturing the best shots. Growing up, I always respected good photography and tried to emulate it, albeit without much success. I always owned some kind of camera and would go through phases when all I wanted to do was take pictures. In the last few years, as digital photography has really come into its own, I’ve gotten to know some pretty amazing photographers, both professional and amateur. And now that everyone carries a camera in the form of a cell phone, we’re all photographers. But is this democratization of the artform necessarily a good thing?

I think services like Flickr and Instagram are amazing because they expose some truly talented people and afford them the recognition they deserve. Scrolling through my Instagram feed is a treat every time. I get to see some world-class photos, many of which deserve to be framed and hung in a gallery, but instead they’re on my iPad, completely free of charge. Of course, the flip side is that you’ve got to endure the bad with the good. Plenty of people fancy themselves photographers, and they’ll plaster their work all over the Internet in an effort to get noticed. It’s easy enough to unfollow them, even if their (inexplicably) loyal followers keep cheering them on.

In the end, sharing photos in online communities raises the bar and makes it possible for anyone to learn what good photography is. The pros share their craft with the amateurs, and soon even the worst photos on Instagram and Flickr aren’t so terrible. It still amazes me that I’ve gotten to know such talented people and learn a trick or two from them over time. I’m not happy with most of the photos I take, but Instagram gives me an outlet to share the ones I am proud of. Meanwhile, I draw inspiration from the work of the pros as I keep trying to improve. For the moment, I’m still primarily a smartphone photographer, but I’ve toyed with the idea of upgrading to something of a slightly higher caliber when I’ve got some extra cash lying around. Until then, I’m very happy with my Droid Incredible and the Instagram community!

Do you consider yourself a photographer? How do you feel about online photo communities? Can too many “artists” make it harder to find true excellence? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

I’ve gotten to know some incredible and talented professional photographers through social media. Check them out and consider booking them for your next event! They’re all awesome, I promise!

• Rebecca Manney
• Amanda Keener
• Heather Kennedy

If you’re anything like me, you and your friends have some go-to places you like to hang out. When all else fails and you’re bored on a Saturday night, you end up at one of your usual hangouts. While it’s fun being a regular at a local bar, sometimes you just need to spice it up and try something new. If you need a change of venue, why not put the question out there for your followers to answer? Maybe someone can recommend a great sports bar, a food truck with awesome tacos, or a great Indian place no one’s ever heard of. I live just outside New York City, and was recently in Manhattan with a cousin who was visiting from out of town. He wanted to see the sights and really get the most out of his time in New York, and when it was time for dinner, he had just one request: that we eat a real New York diner. I didn’t know of a diner in the area where we were hanging out, so I called on my followers to recommend one. Within 5 minutes, we were heading toward the Skylight Diner on 34th St & 9th Ave at the recommendation of a fellow New Yorker. We had a great meal and I’ve been back there several times since. Don’t underestimate the power of your social sphere!

Where do you usually go when you’re looking for answers online? My guess is Google. It’s become second nature, right? Just Google it. But which would you prefer: a search algorithm that provides general information relevant to the key words you feed it, or a living, breathing human being who shares similar experiences with you and has some meaningful input? When you’re deciding which movie to see this weekend, would you rather read what the critics had to say, or would you rather engage with an Average Joe who already saw this week’s blockbuster and ask him what he thinks? Using popular hashtags can make your questions visible to a highly relevant crowd and will often return incredibly useful results. The benefits of social search are becoming clearer every day, and as it gets easier to rely on crowd sourcing, Google looks increasingly like they’re in big trouble.

Knowing who to follow is a big part of mastering Twitter. There are plenty of accounts out there dedicated solely to finding and sharing amazing deals that will save you a bundle. For instance, take a look at Amazon. Their @AmazonDeals and @AmazonMP3 accounts tweet out daily sales that will shock and amaze you. They’ve got everything from $12 seasons of your favorite TV shows to $5 albums by awesome artists. Finding this kind of value right in your Twitter stream makes it easier by leaps and bounds to save cash on just about everything. You don’t need to actively seek out savings, just get them delivered to you by Twitter and enjoy!

A little over a week ago, I was checking Twitter on my commute home from work when I noticed several people using the hashtag #BWENY. Further investigation revealed that this was the official hashtag of the BlogWorld & New Media Expo in New York City. I knew that the conference was coming up soon, so this made sense. I joined the conversation and began tweeting away with other bloggers and social media enthusiasts who were talking about BlogWorld. I had read that they would be giving away free passes to the conference, but I didn’t think much of it. Imagine my surprise when I saw a tweet announcing that I had won a pass! I was shocked, but excited. Wednesday rolled around and I found myself walking the Exhibitor Floor at the Jacob Javits Center with my co-worker Cara. I spoke to people from dozens of companies providing fantastic services to bloggers, brands, and agencies. I was already familiar with some, like Groupon, Posterous, and WordPress, but I also learned about some really promising new companies. Some were better than others, but I plan on trying them all out. Have a look and tell me which ones you like best!

MarketSharing

Think Groupon, but with a B2B twist. This site offers some amazing daily deals for businesses to take advantage of. The Wednesday of the conference, it was $50 worth of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee for $25. That’s enough to satisfy all the employees at your small bussiness! They’re New York City based, but the rep I spoke to told me that they are currently negotiating with several chambers of commerce to become more universally available. I think they could definitely be a site to watch out for in the coming months.

Raven

If you blog or work in social media like I do, you’ve probably dabbled in Google Analytics or Facebook Insights at some point. Raven strives to make the SEO and social media management process simpler. They provide the data bloggers and brands need to determine the success of their campaigns and they offer many tools that make it easy to manage and improve on their strategies and methods. I can see this being useful to agencies who want to provide their clients with a more uniform look at their web presence as a whole.

Zemanta

I was super impressed by these guys. So impressed that I’m using their tool to write this post. Zemanta is a blogger’s best friend. It generates contextual content to insert into your blog as you write it. I had just written a post for our company blog the week before and I was thinking that it would be amazing if someone offered a service that would suggest content for me. Zemanta is the solution to that problem. As I type this post, Zemanta is analyzing the text and recommending images, links, and related articles that I may want to use or highlight to enhance my writing. It’s my first time using it, and I already love it. It’s available on all the major blogging platform and content management systems, so I highly recommend checking this out and seeing what it can do for you. And best of all, it’s completely free!

Livefyre

This is another amazing free product that solves a problem I’ve long struggled with. I hate the native WordPress commenting system, and I found Disqus to be an adequate replacement, but once I heard about the social and interactive capabilities of ECHO, I was no longer satisfied. Like ECHO, Livefyre is a cross-platform commenting system that also pulls in Tweets and comments on Facebook links and adds them to the comment area of your blog. When you post a link to your latest blog on Facebook or Twitter, comments to that link appear below your blog in the comments. What distinguishes Livefyre from ECHO is that Livefyre is completely free. You really can’t go wrong with that. I’m trying it out now, so tweet up a storm about this about this post and let’s see how well it works!

Groupon

Before you dismiss Groupon because you already know about them, hang on. What got me excited about their booth was the announcement of the Groupon Now! program. Instead of waiting until the next day to redeem your coupon, you can search for hyper-local deals and enjoy them right away. Right now they’re testing it out in Chicago, but New York and other cities are on the way soon. This could drive huge sales to small businesses. If your bakery is offering half-off cupcakes on Groupon Now!, you better believe a flash mob is going to show up at that location and get in line. That can mean a huge buzz for relatively-unknown businesses looking to go viral.

Those were the highlights of BlogWorld 2011 for me. Were you there? What impressed you the most? What startup or service are you the most excited about these days? Let me know!