We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #43
Content creation in the age of social networking
A new study from Forrester sheds some new light on the field of participation and content creation levels in social media in 2010. As you may already know, every year Forrester updates its Social Technographics profiles, classifying social network users across different types (outlined in the table above). Even though social networking overall is on the rise with ‘Joiners’ massively on the rise across the board, it seems that this year the ‘Creators’ category has remained static (it’s actually declined very slightly in the US, Europe, China and Australia).
Another interesting development is the addition of ‘Conversationalists’ to the list of existing profiles “to capture the short, rapid conversations that are now taking place on Twitter and through Facebook status updates”.
Facebook tells us more about liking
Facebook have just released some interesting stats on the use of the “Like” button. Users who tend to “like” content have 2.4x the amount of friends than a “non-liker” and will click 5.3x more on links that link to external sites. The average “Liker” on news sites is 34 and the implementation of social “Like” plugins has allowed some publishers to see an increase in traffic of more than 100% (Sporting News for example stands at 500%). NHL.com reports that visitors are spending more time and consuming more content since the website implemented the Like button.
Meanwhile, after launching in the US, Japan, the UK and Canada, Facebook Places is now available in France, Italy and Australia. Which is good news for our clients and colleagues in Paris, Milan and Sydney!
And finally, Facebook have taken a major step to improve the transparency of their ads by displaying the URL the ads links to. The only downside is that it only applies to URLs linking to external sites, not to those linking to Facebook pages. Oh well… at least it’s a start!
Twitter reactions: some stats
Sysomos have just published a new study on tweets and how often they’re retweeted. It’s quite striking to see that only a third of tweets actually generate a reaction, whether it’s a response (@) or a retweet (RT), and that reactions mostly happen during the first hour after a Tweet is sent.
Meanwhile, the microblogging platform continues to grow and according to Comscore has now overtaken MySpace to claim the third spot within social networking services (after Facebook and Microsoft’s Windows Live Profile).
Ping sluggishly improves
With its disappointing start, Ping has done very little to prove its worth to users, however we’re starting to see some (very) small improvements. There’s now a Ping button available when you hover over tracks in your iTunes library enabling you to like the track or post it to your Ping profile. Not quite there yet, but hey… Maybe Bret Taylor has the solution? Facebook’s CTO has announced that he’s ‘confident’ Facebook and Apple will collaborate on Ping.
Linkedin Signals itself
Linkedin has just launched in limited beta a new product called Signal. It will help professionals on Linkedin to filter information that’s most valuable to them via filters, keywords, real-time stream and search, trends as well as a nifty dashboard to see who’s shared the most important links.
Long Jail Term for Iran’s ‘Blogfather’
Sad news has arrived from Iran where it’s rumoured that Hossein Derakhshan, an influential blogger of Iranian-Canadian nationality has been sentenced to twenty years in prison by a court in Tehran. Hossein helped start the blogging movement in Iran and social media would not have been the global conversation it is today without him. We urge you to get involved in the campaign for his release, at least by joining the Facebook group.
700 hotels around the world are striking back
TripAdvisor has become a corner-stone for those booking holidays, with people checking out the 35 million reviews on the site before making their hotel choice. However, 700 hotels from around the world are suing TripAdvisor for defamation. Why? Because they argue that some of the reviewers are malicious and hide behind anonymity, attacking even some of the most renowned hotels in the world such as The Dorchester in London. We’re interested to see how this will be settled.
Like Skoda and pay less
If you’re looking into getting a new car (and live in Belgium) now might be the time to have a look at Skoda’s Facebook promotion. For every “like” the Skoda Fabia receives, Volkswagen is knocking off 2€ of the initial price (12,950 euros). You’ll have 48 hours to buy the car once you “like” it. But beware, there’s only one car to buy! This is an interesting piece of activity that’s very reminiscent of Uniqlo’s recent Twitter campaign.
Handle your Klout score with care…
As it might be key to experiencing your first holiday as a VIP! Indeed the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is experimenting with a new approach to treat their guests in direct relation to their social network influence. Depending on your Klout Score, a Twitter influence ranking developed by Klout, you might get access to star treatment next time you visit Nevada (and, if you’re really influential, sleep in the Hugh Hefner Villa).
Get your badge on, down under
In an attempt to raise its profile with digital natives, and following on from the highly publicized Best Job in the World campaign, Queensland, Australia have partnered with Foursquare to create a new geo-localised campaign.
Friend Queensland on Foursquare, check in at 5 recommended spots and you’ll get the “Shine Seeker” badge. However the fun does not stop here, visitors who unlock the precious badge will be entered into a prize draw to win holiday packages in Cairns as well as vouchers.
Will London claim the Super Swarm badge?
Despite the numerous events happening all around the city, the Super Swarm badge on Foursquare has not been activated yet in London. The badge is rewarded to anyone who checks in somewhere with 249 other people. In an attempt to right the wrongs, a bunch of valiant Foursquare warriors will check-in at the same time near Piccadilly Circus to unlock the precious reward later on this week. It’s happening between 6pm and 9pm on Thursday at the Jewel Bar so if you’re around don’t forget to check-in!