Much of the attention given social media measurement is on tools: Which is best? What to choose? What features should I look for?

But the best measurement tool in the world will not be successful within your organization unless you are properly aligned to measure the impact of social media on your business. Getting the people, process and technology factor all working together properly is critical.

Led by Susan Etlinger, industry analyst for Altimeter Group, and Wayne St. Amand, vice president of marketing at Crimson Hexagon, this webinar will focus on the organizational impacts, challenges and opportunities of social media measurement. We’ll discuss how social media–and social media measurement and analysis–can break down organizational silos and affect everything from product innovation and job descriptions to security policy to corporate culture.

Participants will learn:

• The most common organizational challenges of social media measurement
• How global 2000 companies are organizing to measure the impact of social media
• Emerging trends in integrating social media with other enterprise data
• The impact of social media measurement on employees, from professional development to culture
• What you can do to prepare your organization for the future

Live Q&A Session: We’ll leave plenty of time for live Q&A to address your questions.

Space is limited. Register today.

The Facebook IPO, set to launch this Friday, is undoubtedly the hot topic of the week—generating widespread enthusiasm, criticism and speculation in the world of business and finance. With a price set at $38 per share and a market valuation that could reach over $100 billion, this is shaping up to be the largest venture-backed IPO of all time.

Using our ForSight™ platform, we filtered through posts from Twitter, Facebook, blogs, forums, and news sites to explore the conversation surrounding the Facebook IPO. Our findings explore consumer insights and the spread of information surrounding the upcoming IPO launch, and the results of this analysis reflect both the range of conversation and the most talked-about topics leading up to the launch.

With our quantitative analysis of almost 200,000 relevant opinions, we observed trends and generated a proportional breakdown of the conversation surrounding the IPO launch. While nearly all of the conversation about the IPO launch was at least indirectly related to investment, we identified four investor-specific topics of discussion, which together comprise 32% of the overall conversation:

• 11% of conversation consists of users questioning and debating Facebook’s prospects of growth and profitability after the launch of their public offering, particularly in light of the poor post-IPO performance of numerous other large-scale IPOs
• 8% of discussion speaks to recent developments and shifts in Facebook’s strategy, including the acquisition of Instagram, a focus in mobile usage, advertising efforts, and changes to the platform itself.
• General tips for investors who might be interested in buying Facebook stock comprise 5% of discussion, while 8% believe the Facebook IPO is over-hyped and that it will be a poor investment

The spread of news surrounding the launch and other neutral conversation comprise the majority of general discussion, generating 23% of overall relevant mentions. 10% of the conversation consists of information about the price of shares and valuation of the company from news and finance sites. The same proportion of conversation focuses on Mark Zuckerberg as a leader and public personality.

Privacy concerns represent another significant driver of discussion, at 15% of relevant conversation, as users express concern that the pressure of investors will drive Facebook to further loosen its privacy standards.

The controversial move by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in renouncing his U.S. citizenship, which will allow him to avoid paying millions in taxes, forms the remaining 8% of user discussion surrounding the launch.

The launch of the Facebook IPO has generated a wealth of discussion and a diverse range of opinions debating the future of Facebook as both a company and a market asset. It is undoubtedly a huge moment in the world of finance, and it will be interesting to see how this public offering pans out for investors, users, and the social media giant itself.

What do you think about the Facebook IPO? How do you think it will influence the market, the Facebook platform, or the business strategies of the company? Please share your thoughts below. Chat with us on Twitter @CrimsonHexagon, via email at info@crimsonhexagon.com, or in the comments below.

Analysis by Giselle Lopez

Since the movement began last summer, reactions have been mixed. How did the conversation shape up on the days directly surrounding May Day?

Using our ForSight platform, we analyzed over 19,300 opinions to parcel sentiment related to the “May Day” protests.

27% of the conversation supported the movement:

• 14% vocalized direct support
• 13% was promotional, and advocated the message expressed by occupiers and the importance of the event itself

The most substantial portion of the conversation—65%—was neutral

• 54% was simply sharing links to media coverage
• 12% of the discussion were passing mentions

The remainder, 8%, actively disagreed with the movement.

As always, we’ll continue analyzing social intelligence on interesting topics and trends. In the meantime, feel free to contact us on Twitter @CrimsonHexagon or via email at info@crimsonhexagon.com with questions or to learn how your market, brand or product could benefit from leveraging the Crimson Hexagon ForSight™ platform for social media monitoring and analysis. Want to see the Crimson Hexagon platform in action? Request a Live Online Demo.

Analysis by Miles Branman and Sean Finn

Time Magazine’s latest story on “attachment parenting” features 26 year-old mother Jamie Lynne Grumet breastfeeding her 4 year old son, Aaron, on the cover of the magazine. By itself, attachment parenting is a controversial topic. But the photo Time chose for its cover has led to a downright media frenzy.

We used our ForSight social media analysis platform to understand the almost 4,000 opinions on the controversial topic. What did we find? The majority disagree with the editors at Time.

45% of the conversation is negative; specifically:

• 20% find breastfeeding in public to be an intimate moment, and shouldn’t be exploited to sell magazines
• 12% ask: “is Time Serious?” Specifically, these comments question the appropriateness of the cover and the newsworthiness of the story
• The remainder, 13%, simply find the concept of attachment parenting odd

26% of the conversation was positive:

• 10% praise Time’s usage of the photo as it has effectively brought the topic into the mainstream conversation
• Another 10% find breastfeeding to be a natural part of life that shouldn’t be considered objectionable or lewd regardless of where its seen
• 6% find nothing wrong with “attachment parenting,” and see it as a viable method for rearing their children

The remaining 30% was sharing the news of the cover or simply didn’t express an opinion either way.

As always, we’ll continue analyzing sharing social sentiment analysis on the space for interesting trends. In the meantime, feel free to contact us on Twitter @CrimsonHexagon or via email at info@crimsonhexagon.com with questions or to learn how your market, brand or product could benefit from leveraging the Crimson Hexagon ForSight™ platform for social media monitoring and analysis. Want to see the Crimson Hexagon platform in action? Request a Live Online Demo.

Sean Finn also contributed to this post

In the wake of mounting pressure from gay rights activists and the Democratic base, President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriages, one day after a vote to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage in North Carolina. The President’s previous stance in his support for civil unions, but not marriage, was made complicated on Sunday morning after Vice President Joe Biden’s Meet the Press appearance, in which he said he was, “absolutely comfortable” with the idea of homosexual couples marrying one another.

• 31% agree with the President’s position on marriage equality.
• 17% are discussing the importance of President Obama’s stance, and the process of “evolution” (from civil unions to same-sex marriage) he took to arrive at it.
• 9% disagree with the President’s views
• 8% thought Biden and Obama’s announcements—and their timing—were solely for political gain
• 4% feel that the announcement will change voting behavior

Conversely, an additional 4% feel that the announcement is unimportant to most voters
The remaining conversation (26%) was simply sharing news of the announcement.
A day before President Obama declared his support for same sex marriage, North Carolina voted on Amendment 1, which sought to define marriage as being “between one man and one woman,” not only banning gay marriage, but civil unions and domestic partnerships as well.

• 27% disagreed with the passing of the legislation and felt that the bill, as well as its supporters, were homophobic and bigoted
• 22% encouraged people to get out and vote against the amendment
• 16% of the discussion aimed to inform their followers about the details of the amendment, explaining its ramifications for civil unions and domestic partnerships
• 11% shared how they voted on the Amendment or were referring to it in context
• 8% were in favor of the Amendment to the state’s constitution.
• Additional conversation, at 17%, was spreading news of the legislation

As always, we’ll continue analyzing the space for interesting trends. In the meantime, feel free to contact us on Twitter @CrimsonHexagon or via email at info@crimsonhexagon.com with questions or to learn how your market, brand or product could benefit from leveraging the Crimson Hexagon ForSight™ platform for social media monitoring and analysis. Want to see the Crimson Hexagon platform in action? Request a Live Online Demo.

Sean Finn and Giselle Lopez contributed reporting.

The French presidential election, which ended Sunday with Francois Hollande ousting incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy, generated widespread buzz and mixed opinions on Twitter. Since May 6th, social sentiment in France about the election has drawn over 235,000 relevant mentions.

• 16% of users actively show support for Hollande
• 9% express a strong dislike for Sarkozy

33%, on the other hand, express disappointment in the election outcome, with many noting a poor outlook of French politics:

• 11% of users are against Hollande, and convey a fear that France is going to “hit the wall” with his economic policy stance
• 13% express support and gratitude to Sarkozy for his leadership as president and disappointment that he lost the election
• 9% of users noted the significant amount of blank votes or reflected on the overall poor state of French politics

While a majority of the neutral conversation surrounding the election consisted of election news coverage and questions, election results consisted of 16% of all relevant conversation. The hashtag #RadioLondres, a medium used throughout the election to spread results, was again a driver of social conversation on Sunday and allowed users to know the winner before results were officially announced.

The social sentiment surrounding the French election reveal not only cynicism in the country’s political atmosphere but also anxieties about the implications of the election for the economy and France’s future. With the large volume of posts immediately surrounding the election and the widespread use of #RadioLondres, it is also clear that there is a great demand for real-time information among the French population, particularly regarding significant changes in the political environment.

Giselle Lopez contributed reporting.

The US House of Representatives passed the measure in a 236-185 vote on April 23rd, much to the dismay of the internet and have taken to Twitter to voice their outrage. After Crimson Hexagon analyzed the CISPA-driven conversation of 254,000 online opinions, our social analysis extracted a few key insights.

At 60%, the conversation as overwhelmingly negative:

• 18% of the conversation noted similarities to previous legislation (SOPA et al); 18% detested the fact that CISPA would create unregulated government surveillance and threaten Internet privacy.
• 14% is general negative conversation, including disgust with Congress and the federal government prioritization as opposed to other issues in the US.
• The remaining 10% of the conversation sought the immediate voting down of the legislation citing its implications for free speech and activity online.

Neutral conversation comprised the remainder:

• 18% were spreading the news of CISPA’s existence, as well as comparisons to its predecessors SOPA and PIPA.
• 12% highlighted President Obama’s vow to veto the legislation if it arrives on his desk in its current form.
• And 10% were perplexed by Facebook’s, as well as other companies’, support of CISPA after they opposed SOPA/PIPA.

The current topics of conversation on CISPA are similar to the conversation surrounding SOPA/PIPA, in that the topics of discussion about CISPA were observed in a previous social media analysis conducted by Crimson Hexagon in the heat of the SOPA discussions.

During their respective zeitgeists, SOPA received exponentially more conversation than CISPA has been experiencing over the same period. Additionally, the proportional breakdown these categories from CISPA to SOPA have changed dramatically.

The shift in conversation reflects the overall sentiment differences between the two pieces of legislation. Where 36% of SOPA’s conversation were calls to action; championing to kill the bill, 38% of the conversation is merely discussing CISPA and its implications, where only 23% of CISPA protesters are calling for the bill’s death.

So what does this all mean? The analytics themselves seem to indicate that the Internet has grown tired of fighting. Although a hefty majority are discussing CISPA, there seems to be little to no conversion to actual action. Those who fought against SOPA had a common ally in web entities such as Facebook, Microsoft, Google and Wikipedia, yet those who oppose CISPA are more or less left to their own devices as the legislation removes all accountability from the websites themselves and focuses it squarely on the user.

What side of the fence are you on? Do you find CISPA to be so morally reprehensible that it needs to be stopped or are you in favor of the legislation as it currently stands to curb internet piracy allowing for the protection of copyrighted content? Or are you somewhere in the middle, seeing the opportunity for CISPA to do good, but needing to be restructured to protect the true interests of the Internet? Be sure to tweet @crimsonhexagon and share your thoughts.

As always, we’ll continue analyzing the space for interesting trends. In the meantime, feel free to contact us at info@crimsonhexagon.com with questions or to learn how your market, brand or product could benefit from leveraging the Crimson Hexagon ForSight™ platform for social media monitoring and analysis. Want to see the Crimson Hexagon platform in action? Request a Live Online Demo.

Our social media analysis examined English-language Twitter posts from users in Egypt. This undoubtedly is only a subset of all social media discussion in Egypt surrounding the election; nevertheless, this analysis provides insights into the trends and nature of the conversation within the country itself. According to our analysis of Egyptian sentiment on Twitter, public opinion of the election is primarily negative, with 26% expressing negative sentiment and just 8% expressing optimism about the election and candidates. Of the negative opinions, 18% generally criticize the elections, while 8% express specific opposition to the disqualification of candidates by the election commission.

The vast majority of the conversation about the election, however, is dedicated to neutral commentary, with 65% spreading news and information about the race. 27% of conversation specifically mentions the prospects of candidates:

• 18% mentions the platforms and backgrounds of candidates
• 9% discusses the disqualifications of candidates by the Electoral Commission

The entrance and elimination of Omar Suleiman, former vice president and intelligence chief during the Mubarak regime, particularly spurred a significant amount of discussion.

The negative slant of opinions surrounding the elections is indicative of a public reaction to widespread political instability in Egypt. Nevertheless, it is encouraging that Egyptians continue to use social media platforms primarily to generate communication and spur political action as a positive force for change in their country.

As always, we’ll continue analyzing the space for interesting trends. In the meantime, feel free to contact us at info@crimsonhexagon.com with questions or to learn how your market, brand or product could benefit from leveraging the Crimson Hexagon ForSight™ platform for social media monitoring and analysis. Want to see the Crimson Hexagon platform in action? Request a Live Online Demo.

Gigi Lopez contributed to this post.

Crimson Hexagon analyzed the over 7,500 opinions on Twitter to discover that, despite the negative circumstances surrounding the situation, much of the blame wasn’t aimed directly at the GSA itself, but rather big government as a whole, in some instances specifically targeting President Obama.

• At 13%, many felt that the failings at the agency were the responsibility of President Obama and reflected a failure in leadership; additionally many bemoaned the Whitehouse’s pivoting to blame the issue on the Bush administration.
• 12% of the conversation that encompassed “general negative” include social media conversation expressing incredulousness or disbelief at the situation as a whole.
• 11% saw this as another example of wasteful government spending, with some recalling Solyndra and others mentioning the First Family’s numerous vacations.
• The remaining 8% feel this reinforces the notion that government spending should be cut and taxes lowered.

Yet amidst the outcry, 22% of the conversation, while not supportive of the administrators’ actions, is supportive of steps that could be taken related to retribution.

• 8% of tweets claimed they wanted some retribution to come out of the incident, not reimbursement for their tax dollars, simply restitution.
• Another 8% feel that “ousting the executives” and cleaning up the powers that be will fix the problem.
• And 6%, interestingly enough, came to the defense of other government workers, assuming the stance that “the actions of the few, do not reflect the many.”

The middle of the road conversations, measuring 33%, focused on spreading news surrounding the General Services Administration Scandal, which accounts for 23% of that conversation, while neutral conversation accounts for 10%.

What are your thoughts? Are you as outraged as the rest of the Twitterverse and think the agency should be shuttered or do think a few bad apples shouldn’t spoil the bunch? Tweet us @crimsonhexagon and let us know your thoughts.

As always, we’ll continue our social media analysis for interesting trends. In the meantime, feel free to contact us at info@crimsonhexagon.com with questions or to learn how your market, brand or product could benefit from leveraging the Crimson Hexagon ForSight™ platform for social media monitoring and analysis. Want to see the Crimson Hexagon platform in action? Request a Live Online Demo.

Sean Finn also contributed to this post

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Crimson Hexagon analyzed over 4,000 reactions on Twitter, and while the reaction was (as expected) resoundingly negative at 51%, it’s interesting to identify what specifically those on Twitter were griping about (what’s driving the sentiment).

• 25% of the conversations skewed generally negative (general upset with Verizon but no other specific indications).
• 10% expressed their to desire to jump ship to another carrier or their commitment to not joining Verizon.
• 9% viewed this as another attempt by Verizon to take advantage of its customers by leveraging, “the level of service and support they’ve come to expect” as its vindication.
• 7% are feeling the sting and acknowledging the move as a “loyalty punishment” to its current subscribers.

The remainder of the conversation, at 39%, is neutral, with the conversation focused on sharing the news or asking others’ opinion.

What’s your take? Are you a Verizon customer waving goodbye to discounted upgrades or just watching the changing mobile landscape? Tweet us @crimsonhexagon and let us know your thoughts.

As always, we’ll continue analyzing the space for interesting trends. In the meantime, feel free to contact us at info@crimsonhexagon.com with questions or to learn how your market, brand or product could benefit from leveraging the Crimson Hexagon ForSight™ platform for social media analysis. Want to see the Crimson Hexagon platform in action? Request a Live Online Demo.

Andrew Brearton and Sean Finn also contributed to this post