Since becoming aware of the service, I have asked people (from the girl sitting next to me at UCT to a bartender in Livingstone, Zambia) if they have MXIT, and even if they aren’t still using it obsessively, its seems everyone has the app on their phone.

The platform has expanded past communication into the realms of ecommerce, gaming, and much more, most interestingly education, in the form of MXIT Reach.

MXIT Reach brings the power of corporate industry to the realm of NGOs, and provides the infrastructure of change through a familiar instrument. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently listed primary education opportunities as the #1 concern for Sub-Saharan Africa, as nearly 10 million African children drop out of primary school annually.

The beauty of the mobile medium is the widespread accessibility; while internet penetration in much of Africa is under 20%, a vast majority of people have mobile phones (Africa is the second largest mobile phone market in the world, with over 620 million mobile subscriptions) and many people access their personal and financial accounts through the mobile network.

MXIT Reach hopes to tap into this tendency, and provide educational, healthcare, and technological apps to the Global Village.

What’s more, the mobile platform is the interactivity; students who are unaccustomed to focusing their attention on reading could be engaged by the technological wonder and personalized content available through an app.

Take QuizMax, a math studying tool:

Dr. Maths is another one of MXIT’s study tools. The platforms have allowed over 30,000 students receive extra tutoring sessions through live chat sessions.

As for the humanities side, check out the Yoza Project, designed to teach reading and writing to children without easy access to physical books through mobile novels (m-novels). The first story was published in 2009 on a mobi-site and on MXIT, and employed the platform effectively by allowing users to vote in polls, leave comments, and vote for the direction of the evolving plot.

In seven months, the story had been read more than 34,000 times, and the early success has allowed the platform to expand into a youth zone with a variety of stories and 69,000 subscribers through MXIT.    

And these platforms are only the beginning of the movement. Alongside all of the independent developers, companies like Microsoft and Google are catching onto the trend and changing the way knowledge is distributed.

Let me know how else technology is changing education in South Africa in the comments!

Olivia, our social media Intern, makes reference to how the US Government and their various constituents are harnessing Social Media as a platform to communicate with their supporters.  A by-product of this has been the fact that using social media has allowed the candidates running in the elections to tap into the younger target audience that may not have previously taken part in the political sphere.

This is what Olivia has to say about this topic:

This is the first year that I will be able to vote and the ubiquitous tidal wave of news about the candidates and their campaigns has left me strangely nostalgic for the fervor. But my absence from the continent has allowed me to avoid being bombarded by pronouncements of patriotism and polarizing propaganda, largely due to my chosen source of information: Social Media.

As you may have seen, Social Media has been increasingly employed in politics and was incredibly influential during the Arab Spring as a momentum for cohesion and change, and during the Egyptian Presidential Elections as a method of celebration.  

Now it seems that governments are beginning to catch onto the trend, and are harnessing the power for their own promotions. The Twitter Blog, promoting the hashtag #Election2012, estimates that nearly two million tweets about the election are being sent out per week.

The Twitter Political Index, in conjunction with Topsy, can track the opinions and moods of voters in real time, providing candidates new immediate perspectives on issues and reducing the need for formal polling.

Candidates and elected officials are now expected to have their own Twitter accounts, and much discussion and criticism is stimulated through the medium. When Democratic Lobbyist Hilary Rosen criticized Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s wife Ann, the issue went viral and spurned a drive for self-representation on Twitter.

When Romney picked Paul Ryan as his running mate, the team utilised the huge spike in Tweets about the candidate (3,749 Tweets per minute) by engaging in real-time conversation with the constituents.

However, President Obama seems to have the advantage on the Social Media court, tweeting 25-30 times a day (while Romney Tweets under ten times a day). A recent study found that Obama also has nearly 80% more Facebook likes, and twice the number of Twitter retweets and Youtube comments.

Last month the President found an innovative way to engage with his country during an “Ask Me Anything” chat using Reddit. Neither the questions nor the answers were particularly insightful, but the ability to ‘chat’ with the President was exciting, and an interesting way for the President to maintain the youthful constituency that he built up four years ago.

Social Networks can also affect the physical voting process, encouraging more people to get out and vote by showing them that their friends are voting. In 2010 nearly every Facebook user who signed in on the day of the Congressional Elections received a message at the top of their newsfeed with a reminder to vote and a polling location finder:

Washington State went so far as to allow their citizens to register to vote via Facebook, bringing in a huge demographic of young voters.

In the South African context it has been interesting to note how Government and the politics that goes along with it has been using Social Media as a platform for communicating. It’s the why and the how that is most fascinating. From using Social Media to personally connect with supporters to lambasting political oppositions to creating mass panic to intimidate and threaten to inspiring patriotism.

Various influential and prominent figureheads in South Africa have adopted Social Media as such.

Helen Zille is by far the most active on Social Media Networks like Twitter but is more often than not accused of being controversial in most of her posts. Zille challenges the South African Government in the decisions they make and uses these networks to ensure that her followers are informed and educated on all decisions made by the Government. Specifically concentrating on how they affect them, but focuses predominantly on the negative aspects of this.

President Jacob Zuma seems to be using his Twitter account to elicit patriotism and push personal activities steering away from controversial topics. Zuma chooses to not follow fellow Twitter uses including his own following. This is in contrast to Zille who makes the effort to do otherwise. Zuma is also extremely sporadic in his tweeting.

And finally on the extreme side of the scale Julius Malema joined Twitter by buying an already very active account that was created by someone else who used it to comment in a satirical manner about Julius Malema. This account has garnered over 200 000 followers, but begs the question has he bought an account with the right following considering they originally followed the account because of the humour factor.

A final thought, with some creativity and innovation, Social Media has transcended its personal functions and is working for greater social good or bad depending on how you choose to interpret it.

During this time Social Code and Cape Point developed a great working relationship and as a result we were invited to join them at the re-launch of the Two Oceans Restaurant at Cape Point, which took place last week Thursday. This was a momentous and very exciting occasion as the revamp was huge and much investment went into it.

Although it may have been a Thursday and the weather not quite amenable to the re-launching of a restaurant, particularly at a destination that lends itself to beautiful views and stunning surroundings areas in Cape Town, it was a great success. This however could not put a damper on the official re-launch of the Two Oceans Restaurant.

I had been to Cape Point before but couldn’t remember what the restaurant looked like then. But I was in awe when we arrived, first by the view of course and beautiful rainbows but then by the magnificent restaurant. The interior was designed with a number of elements in mind. The ceiling has been designed to mimic the shape of a whale’s skeleton, specifically the rib section. The part overlooking the ocean is made of only glass so there is nothing in the way of appreciating the view.

The glass has been designed to not reflect light so as not to affect passing ships. But most importantly and most challenging I believe was making the restaurant invisible from the top and bottom so as to not take anything away from the natural beauty surrounding it. This challenge was most definitely overcome.

The function was officiated by Western Cape Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Alan Winde. He underlined the importance of investing in such locations in order to further promote tourism in the Cape by establishing facilities that are considered to be world-class destinations. Not only that however but also to make it accessible to the locals.

A very charismatic Jeremy Webb, who is one of the co-owners, also joined in the speech making and gave a rather humorous account of the beginning days of Cape Point and what it was before and how it became the destination it is today. To round it off he initiated a great rendition of Shosholoza and got all the restaurant staff involved much to the delight of the crowd.

Finally to top it all off was a trip up to the top of Cape Point via the famous Flying Dutchman Funicular, which might I add makes for a far less tiring ascent to the top. However to get to the very, very top where the lighthouse is there is still quite a number of stairs to climb. In the end it was well worth it, would be under any circumstances because the view is spectacular, and was appreciated even though I thought I might be blown right off the edge!

I’d like to give a big thanks to the organizers for inviting us to the restaurant re-launch, it was an honour to be there. Social Code is especially happy to be working with a client like Cape Point and their affiliates whose goals are to make the city we live in a destination on the map for all tourists around the world to visit.

First off, an ode to Notes: You look like an old-school legal pad, you function and move like all my other Apple Apps, and when I delete a note you have a fun trashcan animation. Do I really need anything else?

Unfortunately, its not all so perfect; the PDFs that I have saved in my Laptop notes do not show up on my phone, the note is automatically named by the first line in the note instead of customizable titles, and you can’t use tags to sort and organize.

However its simplicity is beneficial for many thoughts, and I will always be loyal to the App.

2. Evernote: is a multi-platform software application that coordinates all your devices through cloud capabilities.

The original notes application is designed to operate as your brain does, linking distributed media (files, texts, images) with a tagging system that uses key words, or as neuroscientists say, retrieval cues, to jerk memories. Notes can be sorted into sections and folders which have a limited data storage cap in the free version, but unlimited in the paid upgrade ($45US/year).

I have been using Evernote for a few months and still don’t feel like I am fully taking advantage of all the functionalities, however the notes that I have been saving are beautifully arranged and easy to manipulate, so I will keep it around.

The Evernote family provides add-ons to the original app (the Web-Clipper is a great automatic screen-shot tool) and further apps that are mostly targeted for the Ipad. The coolest is Evernote Hello, which reimagines the phonebook by using pictures and location tags to help you remember meetings.

3. Cheddar:

Also compatible with all your platforms, Cheddar specializes in hyper-organized to-do lists. Using a text-to-HTML conversion tool called Markdown, you can label a note with a specific hashtag on your phone, which will be read as a sortable the tag on your computer, easily linking all relevant notes:

This same function works for hyperlinks as well, using simple code to link sights within notes:

The app is free and open-sourced, but you need to upgrade to Cheddar Plus (19.99US/year) to make more than one list. While I admit that the Markup language is cool, I think I will stick with the Apple App ‘Reminders’ for my to-do lists, especially since the Mountain Lion upgrade has brought the App to my laptop, and now I can time reminders to pop-up on my phone and computer.

A well-employed productivity App can change the way you organize projects, buy groceries, or teach a classroom, but you have to be comfortable with the functionality and display. While I like the Apps mentioned above, I dream of a system that finds a medium between them all, and lightens the interface while maintaining interactive utility. Comment to share your favorites/what you look for in Productivity Apps.

The campaign began with a collection of five iconic Adidas Original shoes that had a unique AR code printed on the tongue. For those of us grounded in the real world, AR stands for Augmented Reality, a view of a physical realm that has been manipulated by computer-generated material.

Confused? Imagine looking into a mirror and seeing yourself and your surroundings reflected back. Now imagine that the mirror could add on top of your reflection a different background and perhaps different physical characteristics- and voilà! Your reality has been augmented. The shoes use this premise by employing your computer’s webcam, with which you can scan the AR code and access to the Adidas Originals Neighborhood, a virtual marketplace containing games, stories, and music.

The shoe acts as the controller through the streets, guiding angles and depths as you explore the narratives or play one of the three games. Each of the games represents a cultural element that was important to Adidas Spring/Summer campaign, such as the Star Wars collection, which was transformed into a Storm Trooper shooter game. After completing each game, the player could download small trophies and enter to win larger prizes.

Alongside this incredible project, Adidas revamped their social media, creating a holistic digital community “for you to come and join the conversation, connect with other people, and most of all share your thoughts and ideas.”

Humans desire interaction and connection- we are constantly yearning to know that we are not alone despite our inconsistencies and faults. Social media has been a powerful solution for this innate desire as you can form connections without having to physically interact. The best uses of social media seem to unite people while letting them express their individuality. The Adidas media scheme employs the usual big hitters (Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter) in some inventive ways with the hope of fostering community, highlighting originality, and pushing the commercial goods.

The Facebook page is comprehensive, employing a variety of Apps to create a unique identity (that has garnered 15+ million likes). The sense of community is cultivated by a sharing of interests, including a live music series with bands tailored to the Adidas Originals image. The Youtube channel features these musicians (as well as other dominant stars) to create an atmosphere of cool- with the shoes at the heart of the scene.

To stand out from the crowd, fans can upload their personal Instagram photos, and be chosen as the fan of the week, highlighting viewer profiles selected from an incredible aggregated image of all fans (see slideshow below). To maintain interactivity, one App allows you to create a customizable Facebook banner with the Adidas insignia, promoting the brand while still allowing individual creation.

The Adidas Originals 2010 campaign was successful because it put the digital at the forefront of the experience. Consumers were not just buying a shoe, but a ticket into an exclusive community with where they could bond over common interests and actions. Although the AR shoe began as an interactive gaming platform, the Originals Neighborhood expanded into a cultural designation built on indie music, and hip street style, elevating the Adidas brand to an icon of cool.

This is a debate that I think has no end solution. The reason for this being that each Social Network Site has been or was designed for a particular purpose, some with multi purposes so it would be rather impossible to put them into one definable box. Ultimately it seems that the end user is the one that will determine “social networkability” of each platform and thereby establish whether or not it falls within the Social Networking definition.

It must however be noted that Social Network Sites are most definitely not defined by the ability to or purpose of connecting with old and new friends or complete strangers. Some sites are merely developed for the sharing of information or particular interests without the need to develop a personal relationship or even know any personal information about the person on the other end of the information, such as Flickr.  The same goes for business-to-business networks where the purpose is to develop business relationships and source new clients as apposed to sharing your personal life with someone, such as LinkedIn.

As it stands many Social Network Sites use various technologies that support various methods of interactions and practices.  These networks can differ vastly but also have a general underlying commonality. Social Network Sites have been developed to help connect people based on shared interests, activities, culture and national identities, languages, worldviews and in some circumstances just mere needs. It is obvious that Social Networks attract a very diverse audience with one or more attracting the same person.  The level of networking can also differ across platforms: simple sharing, video interactivity, blogging, live chat and many more that I won’t go into as most of you have experienced one or more forms of interacting.

To give an idea of the ever-changing nature of Social Networks, what they were originally developed for and how they have progressed over time below is a “history” of them. These changes have occurred for a multitude of reasons, one possibly due to the fact that the world population is not longer separated by distance at all but rather connected by the invisible threads of technology.

Launched in 1994, Geocities offered a way for people to build websites and share stories about themselves and post photos. Yahoo bought it in 1999 for about $3bn but closed the network down 10 years later. Geocities was one the early networks that let people form online communities.

 This website was created to connect former schoolmates with one another and was launched in 1995. 
In 2007 it had about 50 million users and now gives you access to the biggest collection of yearbooks online.

Started by Andrew Weinreich in 1997, SixDegrees was the first online business that attempted to create real relationships between people using their real names. It was the first Social Network to enable profile creation and lists of friends. Though it attracted millions of users, the site failed to keep up and shut down in 2000.

 Based in Russia is a Social Network where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary – a wide variety of political reviewers also use the service for political commentary, mainly in Russia. The site doesn’t require people to use their real names.

Launched by Jonathan Abrams in 2002, Friendster was many people’s first introduction to the modern day Social Network. By October of 2003 it had nearly 2 million users with investors such as Peter Thiel, who later became one of the first people to invest in Facebook. The site faded as MySpace and then Facebook rose. Today, Friendster is more of an online gaming platform.

Founded in 2003 by Mark Pincus, now the CEO of online game company Zynga Incoprated, and two other entrepreneurs, Tribe was created to let people form online communities, known as “tribes”, around shared interests.

MySpace was launched in 2003, with a focus on music artists being able to promote themselves. News Corporation bought it for $580m in 2005 when it was still very popular. 
It reached its best in 2008 with about 76 million US visitors, but people were already moving to Facebook. News Corporation sold the site to online ad network operator Specific Media last year for $35m.

 Reid Hoffman, one of Facebook’s early investors, launched the professional social network in 2003. 

While MySpace and Facebook were meant as a place to connect with friends and family, LinkedIn is strictly business.  As of March 31, LinkedIn had 161 million users. 

Its profit more than doubled in the first three months of the year, aided by revenue from the fees that it charges companies and recruiters to get comprehensive access to its site.

 Facebook was initially launched in February 2004 with granting access to only Harvard University students. Over the years it slowly spread across various other communities before going completely public. In 2008 Facebook officially took over MySpace with the number of active users. As of April 2012, Facebook has over 900 million active users, more than half of them using mobile devices.

 Created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, users can upload, view and share videos. It uses Adobe Flash Video and HTML5 technology to display a wide range of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips and music videos. In November 2006, YouTube was bought by Google for US$1.65 billion, and now functions as a subsidiary of Google. It is now the second largest search engine next to Google. Currently approximately 60 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute.

 Launched in 2006, Twitter lets its users express themselves in short messages of 140 characters or less. Celebrities, politicians, companies and individuals use Twitter to keep in touch with fans, friends and consumers. It has more than 100 million users.

 This platform was created and designed to go head-to-head with Facebook when it launched in 2011. 

Although it has over 170 million users, including some Facebook members, Google Plus has so far failed to attract a significant number of people away from Facebook. Google uses the service to plug social elements into search and its other products. As a business, joining Google Plus also aids in higher search engine ranking as it forms part of the giant search network.

In the years prior to 1994, between all the years mentioned above and going into 2012 many Social Networks were and have been created. Some were fly by nights; others are still around but just never took off, while some only lasted a few short years. There are too many to go into detail about and list each one that has appeared online. It is important to acknowledge that although the above mentioned may have been the most popular and remembered they are in no way indicative of the enormity of the spectrum of Social Networks that have ever existed.

The question is what kind of changes are we going to see in the next 18 years with regards to the development of Social Networks and what their purpose might be? If anything it is likely the changing nature of technology and methods of doing business around the world that will determine the path going forward.

I am Olivia Novik, the new Social Media Intern here at Social Code. I am an American studying South African life, culture, (and some academics) at the University of Cape Town for the Spring Semester. Since this will be my last year of University in Baltimore, Maryland, I decided that it was time to leave the safety of academia to try out the working world.

In past years my studies have been intensely focused- consumed by a yearning to understand and recreate Ancient Roman culture, I tried the life of an academic. Fueled by scholarship and imagination, I searched for ancient mysteries everywhere from the falling stones in their decrepit cities, to the soil of their Eastern European Colonies. But somewhere around a training in conservation and the 2008 economic crash, my convictions began to dwindle. I found that I had been disillusioned by the ideals of the study, and the reality was less Heinrich Schliemann and more my sweater-vest wearing professor.

So my interests turned outwards with fervent curiosity, and I decided my hobbies should become my skills.  Applying my classical knowledge to the modern world, I have experimented with projects such as planning a series of (actually) academic RPGs setting the player in the Roman Empire, to the art for a top-down game with enemies based on mythic centaurs. Most recently my mind has turned to the manipulation of digital media and its fast-approaching prominence. I found that I could read every tech blog, follow dozens of companies’ Twitter and Facebook pages, but I needed to see the world from the inside.

With this goal in mind I scoured South African tech sites and digital companies looking for someone who might hire me during my semester abroad. While sending out a lot of enquiries and applications I decided to find out everything I could about South Africa utilizing a site that I love, ted.com. TED talks are conferences that enable big thinkers to share their ideas and projects with the world through fifteen minute lectures, which can be streamed on the website. I was browsing the ‘Africa: the Next Chapter’ series when I came across a talk by Ory Okolloh about African narratives. As an example of beneficial African voices, Ory mentions Afrigator, Social Code co-founder Justin Hartman’s amazing project that aggregated thousands of African blogs onto one simple user-friendly platform.

This intrigued me, and when I searched for Afrigator I was forwarded to the Social Code site where I found a blog post that said Social Code was seeking a social media intern. I have never believed in a higher power, but this coincidence seemed like fate. With this position I hope to absorb not only knowledge of how a digital agency works, but also how the City of Cape Town and its people live and operate. I will be blogging about my adventures at Social Code and in the city, as well as exploring the Social Media landscape in the US and South Africa at large. Stay tuned via Social Code’s Twitter and Facebook Pages.

About the non-paid Internship

• Write social media content and engage with members across all social media platforms.
• Identify trends online, in Social Media, Technology etc.
• Find and follow key players in the industry on the various Social Media platforms (i.e. Facebook and Twitter).
• Create an RSS feed to monitor social media activity around the brand and industry.
• Start running the Social Media content for the company, under the supervision of the Social Media Manager.
• Do Social Media Research and determine which social media platforms our main media contacts are using? Are they blogging? Using Twitter? Do they want to be contacted through any of these by our company?
• Build a full social media profile analysis of a competitor or client. This might include what platforms they use, how they participate and some metrics to determine how successful they are.
• Assist with the collation of analytics for reporting purposes and identify trends within the results.
• Post about your experiences on our blog. Not only will it showcase another side to our company but it also provides our team with important feedback about the internship.

Requirements:

• The Internship is best-suited graduates who have a strong background in communications, marketing or media.
• The candidate must have exceptional writing skills.
• Be fluent and articulate in the both written and spoken English.
• Be good at working in a team and independently.
• Driven and ambitious.
• Be serious about learning and applying what is learned.
• Must have a sense of humour.
• Ability to multi-task.
• Have experience and firm understanding of various Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.
• Learn quickly and independently.
• Interested in new media and technology

APPLY
To apply for this amazing job simply send us a cover letter stating why we should chose you along with a copy of your CV to team@socialcode.biz.

Social Code is an innovative Cape Town based digital agency that offers a range of digital services including Social Media, Web and Mobile Design and Web and Mobile Development.

Social Code offers a stimulating and fast paced environment matched with a relaxed and funky working space, complete with amazing coffee, cupcakes and great rewards.

ABOUT THE POSITION

Social Code requires the skills of a Senior Developer who will have the following duties:
1. Building of PHP / MySQL based applications both front and back-end.
2. Maintenance of core PHP-based applications on the commercial platforms.
3. Updating and maintaining of Coldfusion based systems.
4. Support of applications and environment on new and legacy applications.
5. Report to the CEO and COO.

REQUIREMENTS

1. Minimum 5 Years PHP Development experience.
2. HTML, CSS, JavaScript experience.
3. Open Source CMS experience (WordPress / Joomla / Drupal).
4. Coldfusion / ASP knowledge is required although only junior level.
5. MVC experience.
6. SQL databases. MySQL required.
7. Able to demonstrate an excellent understanding of Object Oriented development methodologies and UML.
8. Experience with the following technologies will be to your advantage: SOAP, XML / RPC, WAP, MMS, SMS.
9. Experience with other web languages will be to your advantage.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

1. Team player.
2. Enthusiastic and communicative team member with a positive attitude.
3. Strong communication skills.
4. Self starter.
5. Dedication and willingness to work individually or in a team, unsupervised.
6. Excellent organisational skills.
7. Problem solver.
8. Highly energetic and motivated.
9. Assertive nature.
10. Logical thinker.
11. Work well under pressure and to meet deadlines.
12. Desire to grow and develop and be the best in the industry.

APPLY

To apply for this amazing job simply send us a cover letter stating why we should chose you along with a copy of your CV to team@socialcode.biz.

Social Code is an innovative Cape Town based digital agency that offers a range of digital services including Social Media, Web and Mobile Design and Web and Mobile Development.

Social Code offers a stimulating and fast paced environment matched with a relaxed and funky working space, complete with amazing coffee, cupcakes and great rewards.

ABOUT THE POSITION

Social Code requires the skills of a Mid-Level PHP Developer who will have the following duties:
1. Building of PHP / MySQL based applications both front and back-end.
2. Maintenance of core PHP-based applications on the commercial platforms.
3. Support of applications and environment on new and legacy applications.
4. Report to the CTO.

REQUIREMENTS

1. Minimum 2 Years PHP Development experience
2. HTML, CSS, JavaScript experience
3. Open Source CMS experience (WordPress / Joomla / Drupal)
4. MVC experience a significant advantage.
5. SQL databases. MySQL required.
6. Able to demonstrate an excellent understanding of Object Oriented development methodologies and UML.
7. Experience with the following technologies will be to your advantage: SOAP, XML / RPC, WAP, MMS, SMS.
8. Experience with other web languages (ColdFusion / ASP / Perl) will be to your advantage.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

1. Team player.
2. Enthusiastic and communicative team member with a positive attitude.
3. Strong communication skills.
4. Self starter.
5. Dedication and willingness to work individually or in a team, unsupervised.
6. Excellent organisational skills.
7. Problem solver.
8. Highly energetic and motivated.
9. Assertive nature.
10. Logical thinker.
11. Work well under pressure and to meet deadlines.
12. Desire to grow and develop and be the best in the industry.

APPLY
To apply for this amazing job simply send us a cover letter stating why we should chose you along with a copy of your CV to team@socialcode.biz.