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Twitter turns five

This week, the enormously popular microblogging site, Twitter, celebrated its fifth birthday prompting many publications and websites to look back at the rise of the social networking tool.

With roughly 200 million users, Twitter has become what many regard as a ‘powerful tool for democracy’ offering insights into the minds of people around the world – from business leaders to celebrities to plain ordinary folk.

Perhaps the greatest impact Twitter has had is its ability to change the way we communicate – news is spread much faster and, in several cases, the site has helped to replace mainstream media as the primary source of information for people (particularly when it comes to crisis situations).

CNN had a particularly interesting article looking at five key ways Twitter has changed the way we communicate, which it sees as:

1. Making a fast flow of information faster

2. Allowing celebrities to communicate with their public directly

3. Creating new ‘thought leaders’ from all walks of life

4. Enabling ‘event’ participant to discuss it together in real time

5. (Over)simplifing the conversation

For more, you can read the full article online >

Melitta

By GenevaCom| March 25th, 2011|Other resources|0 Comments

2011 Geneva Forum on Social Change to explore Social Media

Social media is emerging as a powerful new tool for change. Through a series of expert panel discussions, hands-on social media workshops, films and documentaries, this year’s Geneva Forum on Social Change will explore the power of this rapidly evolving medium.

This free event is open to professionals, students and individuals, but you must register your attendance in advance.

Dates

Friday 1 April, 6pm – 9pm – keynote address, film and networking
Saturday 2 April 10am – 8pm – panel sessions, workshops, films and networking.

To register and for information on speakers, workshops and more visit www.gfsc.ch

For any other enquiries please contact Caroline Fisher: cfisher@iomba.ch

By GenevaCom| March 1st, 2011|Other events|1 Comment

Communicators need to enjoy Social Media, new report says

Last year communicators across Europe, including GCN members, took part in a survey to discover how Social Media is affecting our daily work and the challenges and opportunities it presents.

1383 professionals from 30 countries participated in the survey, jointly conducted by the European Association of Communication Directors and the University of St. Gallen.

And now the results are in, here is a summary:

Most communicators have some experience of working with Social Media as they are increasingly involved in tasks such as agenda setting, media monitoring or building stakeholder relationships.

A quarter of practitioners are very versed and engaged in Social Media.

While many practitioners find Social Media useful and relevant, it is often superiors who drive their use in the workplace.

Levels of engagement in Social Media reflect levels of confidence communicators have in using these new applications and platforms. With those with little engagement being the most skeptical. Those actively involved tend to be more satisfied with their jobs.

More than half of those surveyed showed signs that the pressure of adding Social Media to the communications mix is leading to overload and stress.

Most organizations lack relevant crisis and contingency plans.

The survey report concluded that learning to enjoy Social Media is a good coping strategy for the added stress it can bring and, with many organizations still experimenting with new media, now is a good time to take the leap and actively engage in the Social Web.

If you would like to know more, download the full survey results:
EACD Social Media Survey 2011.

Melitta

By GenevaCom| February 9th, 2011|Other resources|0 Comments

Popularity does not equal influence, survey finds

To discover how popularity and influence correlate, the Social Computing Lab at Hewlett-Packard’s research arm analysed 2 million messages on Twitter.

While measuring popularity proved straightforward: it’s simply a case of looking at the numbers of people signed up to follow a specific person’s or organisation’s messages, determining influence was more tricky.

To measure influence, the researchers hypothesised that users of Twitter are the more influential the more they manage to get their followers to pass on messages. Surprisingly, the results showed that the correlation between popularity and influence is weaker than one might expect.

If you want to know who has the most influence in the digital world, you can
read the full article on the Economist Blog >

Melitta

By GenevaCom| November 29th, 2010|Other resources|0 Comments

“We’re going mobile” – the future for Intranets

In a recent article, William Trout, director of internal communications at the U.S. bank BBVA Compass, raised some interesting questions about the future of the Corporate Intranet given the emergence of collaborative Web 2.0 technology and mobile ‘smartphone’ devices that enable the distribution of content remotely.

In the article, Trout suggests that to keep in touch with employees, organisations need to free the bulk of the Intranet from the desktop and work towards creating the exciting and engaging experience that corporate users deserve.

Chief communicators unprepared to deal with social media threats, survey says

The third annual ‘Rising CCO’ survey has revealed that corporate and brand reputations face greater risk from online threats today than ever before.

The survey, conducted by global executive search firm Spencer Stuart and global public relations firm Weber Shandwick, revealed that while 34% of global chief corporate communications officers (CCOs) report that their companies experienced a social-media based reputation threat during the past 12 months, just as many (33%) say they are not prepared for managing these types of online reputational threats.

Interestingly, or perhaps consequntly, of the CCOs surveyed 54% cited new/social media experience among the most important qualifications for tomorrow’s communicators, showing that CCOs worldwide are preparing to meet the social and online media challenge.

In addition, the firms behind the survey expect social media/blogging to be the fastest-growing function in communications departments in the next 12 months, having already risen dramatically from 28% in 2008 to 41% in 2010.

Yahoo fights back with Y Connect

Yahoo plans to announce a new feature later this Autumn that could see it improve its flat revenues and gain more market share and user web time.

Called ‘Y Connect’, the new feature will allow media publishers, web developers and other websites to integrate elements of their services with Yahoo—similar to the approach adopted by Facebook. For users, the service will enable them to log in to social networks and other password protected sites via a single Yahoo account.

The feature will in turn help Internet companies track the activities of users around the Web and better tailor advertising offerings to them.

For more infomration, read the full Wall Street Journal article >

Melitta

By GenevaCom| October 30th, 2010|Other resources|0 Comments

How is social media changing in your world?

With the increasing popularity of Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn and the like, the communication profession is facing new and exciting opportunities to communicate – as well as new challenges to meet.

To map out exactly how Social Media is impacting the communications profession, Communication Director magazine and the University of St. Gallen are currently conducting a Europe-wide study of communications professionals – and have invited GCN members to contribute.

For instance, how do you use Social Media? What impact does it have on your daily work as a communicator? What support do you need to be able to cope with using Social Media?

There are two versions of the survey accessible via the below links. Please select the most appropriate one for you.

Survey for agencies and consultants >

Survey for in-house communicators >

Completion of the questionnaire will take approximately 15 minutes. All answers are anonymous.

A summary of the results will be posted here in the winter.

Melitta

By GenevaCom| October 14th, 2010|Other resources|0 Comments

New Heads for Skype and Twitter

Last week two of the most dominant players in the social media space, Skype and Twitter, announced a change of leadership, highlighting the intense competition in the market.

Twitter has replaced Evan Williams, a founder of the micro-blogging service, with Dick Costolo who is well regarded in the Silicon valley for his impeccable business aptitude and focus.

At Skype, the chief executive position is being taken over by Tony Bates, a former major player within Cisco.

More information about this story >

Melitta

By GenevaCom| October 11th, 2010|Other resources|0 Comments

Twitter Tools for Communications Professionals

Brian Solis, a prominent thought leader in all things social media, has created a list of the numerous tools and applications available to Twitter users. The list is regularly updated making it a useful resource for communicators and marketers wanting to develop an effective Twitter strategy.

Twitter Tools for Communications Professionals >

Melitta

By GenevaCom| May 1st, 2010|Other resources|0 Comments

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