Viaspire - Define.Innovate.Maximize.

Google+: Putting the human experience at the center of UXD

While we are anxiously awaiting our invites (hint, hint), I was really intrigued about Google's approach in describing what makes Google+ better, different, more appealing to - well, humans. This video goes to show, when you model an online experience to the actual wants and needs of the human experience, you can be profoundly successful. That A-Ha! moment comes instantly. The acceptance and adoption is without barriers.

Look at this video and see what you think. I think Google+ may have just taken Facebook and put the human experience at the center of their user experience design!

I'll confirm this once I can personally experience it for myself.

If you are already a Google+ user, let us know what you think!

 

 

 

 

Get Satisfaction: What Makes People Want to Follow a Brand

Get Satisfaction, the online community service for customer dialogue, feedback and support asks the question, "What makes people want to follow a brand?" The answers may surprise you.

See Get Satisfaction for more great inight!

10/22/2011 Update: To view this infographic more closely, view the large image posted.

Execs Are Getting Social is a Game-Changer

There is a great infographic out now by Jive that reports business execs are now "getting social" and how social is and will be a game-changer in business.

Check out these stats reported:

FLF 06.10.2011 - Facebook Gets Roasted (NSFW) - College Humor

Last night, I spotted this one and while it's NSFW (unless headphones are on and don't mind "roast" humor), this video by CollegeHumor is brutally true and timely! I had a couple cringes myself...

I winced at the jab about Foursquare and I actually felt sorry for Myspace (or My[_______]  as their logo indicates).Maybe after becoming My[_____] this ridicule is warranted. Not to mention, they do use Facebook Connect. #Fail?

 

Growing Up Digital: Class of 2011 - How They Engage with Media

The Nielsen Company published some interesting stats today on "Kids Today: How the Class of 2011 Engages with Media." The post raises some very important to facts to consider. According to Nielsen, the Class of 2011:

• Is the Heaviest Mobile Video Viewers: On average, mobile subscribers ages 12-17 watched 7 hours 13 minutes of mobile video a month in Q4 2010, compared to 4 hours 20 minutes for the general population.
• Is More Receptive to Mobile Advertising than their Elders: More than half (58%) surveyed in September 2010 said they “always” or “sometimes” look at mobile ads.
• Out-Texts All Other Age Groups: In Q1 2011, teens 13-17 sent an average of 3,364 mobile texts per month, more than doubling the rate of the next most active texting demo, 18-24 year olds (1,640 texts per month).
• Talks Less on the Phone: Besides seniors 65-plus, teens talk the least on their phones, talking an average of 515 minutes per month in Q1 2011 versus more than 750 minutes among 18-24 year olds.
• Grew Up in the Age of Social Media—and It Shows: While they make up just 7.4 percent of those using social networks, 78.7 percent of 12-17 year olds visited social networks or blogs.
• Watch Less TV than the General Population: The average American watched 34 hours 39 minutes of TV per week in Q4 2010, a year-over-year increase of two minutes. Teens age 12-17 watch the least amount of TV on average (23 hours 41 minutes per week).
• Spend Less Time on their Computers: American 18 year olds averaged 39 hours, 50 minutes online from their home computers, of which 5 hours, 26 minutes was spent streaming online video.

Learn more at Nielsen Wire >>

Kids Today: How the Class of 2011 Engages with Media

Marketing Tongue-Twister: Tweets about Take-Out Tacos in Texas!

I love this idea and keep thinking why none of the big brands thought of this first! Leave it to Stripes Convenience Stores, to get it, and get it right!

According to MediaPost MarketingDaily, Stripes is converging their outdoor media with real tweets from fans of @stripesstores on Twitter!

Tapping into the power of word-of-mouth marketing and their well-established fan base, Stripes is using their outdoor media to let their fans do the talking, I mean tweeting, about their take-out tacos.

Yes, that's right - tweets about take-out tacos in Texas!

Outdoor Media + Twitter = Brilliant!

 

 

 

Moving Towards Collaborative Consumption

This is such a briliant TED Talk by social innovator and author, Rachel Botsman. Her case for collaborative consumption is so right on. Her book, What's Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, is going on Viaspire's 2011 "Required Reading" list! Enjoy this video on the book as well.

WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS from rachel botsman on Vimeo.

How Engagement Differs Across Social Media

SocialTwist answers some prominent questions for marketers on how they should allocate their marketing mix.
In some great charts and graphs, Fast Company posts the highlights of SocialTwist's report shedding light on questions like:
"What is the most effective way for marketers to spread their message online? Facebook? Twitter? Company blogs? Email?"

In the last year, social networking sites saw a 10 percent increase in usage and a 16 percent bump in click-throughs, according to research compiled and reported by SocialTwist.

By the way, don't discount your email initiatives just yet. According to SocialTwist's findings, email still accounts for 55% of referrals, which is huge in the era of Like buttons, tweets/RTs and other "shareable" plug-ins online.

Read more on Twitter Crushing Facebook's Click-Through Rate: Report >>

How many tweets actually generate a reaction?

Sysomos asks a great question on Twitter engagement and reports some surprising statistics on "How many tweets actually generate a reaction?"

According to their research, Sysomos examined 1.2 billion tweets posted in the last two months to report that "29 percent of all tweets produced a reaction - a reply or a retweet. Of this group of tweets, 19.3 percent were retweets and the rest replies. This means that of the 1.2 billion tweets we examined, 6 percent, (or 72 million) were retweets."

Here's what these percentages look like.

Read more on "Replies and Retweets on Twitter," including other charts, graphs and a very trippy video on @replies and retweets from the Twitter Time Machine.

Find. Follow. Friend.
Follow @Viaspire on Twitter. Feel free to @reply or RT more that six percent of the time, of course. :)

Visualizing Your Twitter Sphere

Neuro Productions’ 5K Twitter Browser is something to marvel at and get lost within your Twitter connections. This Flash-based Twitter browser displays your follows in a much more "connective" way than you'd see on Twitter itself. You can get lost in the amazing circles of connections that continue to build with each click. If your head isn't into Monday yet, give this a try and see how you look within the Twitter matrix.

I laugh a little because our Twitter avatar essentially reflects what 5K Twitter Browser displays - spheres and connections. That's what it is all about. Who's in your sphere?