Internet Media Labs Blog

Internet Media Labs hosts Blog World After Party

Peter Bordes — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 18:04:34 +0000

Internet Media Labs is throwing an awesome after party from 7 to 9 after Blog World Expo. We are celebrating the US launch of SeeSaw and McGraw Hill’s publication of Ric Dragon‘s (@RicDragon) new book Social Marketology.

Between the drinking and networking we will also be doing exclusive interviews through spreecast! The Internet Media Labs’ companies will be telling the world a little bit about themselves as they are interviewed. During the party be sure to tweet under #IMLJazzParty.

If you are interested in attending please visit our Facebook page or register under Eventbrite. Tickets are limited and will be gone soon!

June 6th, 2012 Internet Media Labs Jazz Party Schedule

7:15 – 7:45

Ric Dragon – Dragon Search – Author of Social Marketology

Internet Media Labs

Great Oaks Venture

SocialAds

Citelighter

Quincy

Pivot

App Addictive

8:00 – 8:30

Triple Lift

IntentPulse

Makers Studio

BHV

CM BlogWorld

Blogworld

Social Media Explorer

Collective Bias

8:45 – 9:15

Geo Geller

4keys Media

Judy Martin

Joseph Haslam – Dragon Search

Overblog

Join the live spreecast or stay tuned on the blog for the interviews individually!

A New Social Media Verb is Born : “SAW” is the New “LIKE” & “PIN”

Peter Bordes — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:07:41 +0000

Its Official and You “SAW it” Right Here Today!

In this day and age its incredibly rare to be able to come up with something original and with the potential to become not only a significant brand. But a new verb in our emerging digital economy language such as Googles ” Google me” to Facebooks “like” or Pinterests “Pin it”. We held the first ever #Flashchat test for our new SeeSaw real-time search and visual discovery for social media platfrom last week. SeeSaw allows users to visualize streams and curate what they SEE in the stream by clicking on the “SAW” button and are able to collect, save and share content they saw! During the chat Alan Berkson Tweeted out a new definition for the word SAW in relationship to SeeSaw, and voila a new digital verb was born that could’nt be a better representation of the emerging visual economy…The definition of “saw” #flash531 twitter.com/berkson0/statu…

— Alan Berkson (@berkson0) May 31, 2012

Much more to come on this front as we march forward with the mighty SeeSaw! Thinking “Saw it” bookmarklet ….More to come on #flashchats and how #flashtags are the hashtags of real-time communities around interests or events.

#Infographic – Social Commerce: Is Pinterest a Facebook Killer?

Jivan Manhas — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:15:01 +0000

Is Pinterest better than Facebook for consumer product good companies looking to drive sales?

According to the info graphic below released by Boticca, a London-based e-commerce site for women , the answer is a strong yes in where it counts most, the amount of dollars spent on the site.

On a sample of 50,000 users from each social site, Bottica’s insights were very telling:

-Pinterest users spend $180 vs an average of $85 by Facebook users

-Pinterest influenced 10% of transactions on Bottica compared to 7% by Facebook

-Pinterest helps to acquire more new users than Facebook

But not everything was a slam dunk for Pinterest over Facebook. Pinterest users spent less time on the site, visited fewer pages and converted much lower than Facebook users.

The findings are mixed but nonetheless very interesting. Pinterest has some work to do but for a site that’s relatively new on the social scene she’s looking pretty attractive and if Facebook isn’t careful, she’ll become the talk of the party in no time.

Twitter Hashtags 101: Complete Guide to Discovery and Power

angela dunn — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:36:28 +0000

Twitter hashtags can connect you to people and conversations all over the world …

Oh! The places you’ll go!

Out there things can happen and frequently do, to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along. You’ll start happening too. ~ Dr. Seuss

The Hashtag: A Door to Discovery on Twitter

It is hard to miss the # sign attached to keywords, acronyms and phrases in tweets on Twitter. Called “hashtags”, they look like this: #SXSW, #SuperBowl, #mHealth, #knitting, #ideachat, #leadership, #BeyonceComeBack.

Started as a way to create groupings on Twitter, hashtags are now a powerful convention for those looking to tag, find, mine and participate in conversations on Twitter. The hashtag has also spread beyond Twitter into 21st Century pop culture, television shows and commercials, news, and even the physical world–a long way since the first tweet with a hashtag by Chris Messina on August 23, 2007!

What is a hashtag?

Hashtag defined by Twitter:

“The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. Hashtags are a great way to build community around content.”

The Hashtag Conversation: Trending Topics and Twitter Chats

On Twitter, you can find millions of tweets using hashtags. The most popular event and pop culture hashtags are showcased daily on Twitter as “trending topics.” These hashtag trends are posted by Twitter in real-time when a significant number of people concurrently use a hashtag. You can select a location to see trending topics in your city or worldwide.

However, the real gold for Twitter conversations can be found on regularly scheduled and organized Twitter Chats for specific topics–some casual, but many, very smart and serious topics. Twitter Chats may have a formal agenda with a specific moderator and/or guest, or they might be a free flowing discussion between participants. This open Google doc is a popular and continuously growing list of Twitter Chats:

Twitter Chat Schedule

By participating in Twitter Chat conversations, you can enhance your personal development, knowledge, network, health, business intelligence and even serendipity. “Because of the diverse group of people a Twitter chat can bring together in an open, ‘liquid’ environment, there’s potential for those serendipitous connections that just may complete an idea,” according to Juliet Barbara of Forbes in “How Twitter Chats Will Open Your Mind and Network.”

Pictured is #nerdbird: Virgin Airlines’ Plane with a Hashtag!

Hashtags for Search and SEO

The hashtag has a metadata value. This means that all the content and conversations using hashtags can be discovered, mined and organized through search. Chirpaloo is one of Internet Media Labs’ tools that supersizes search by organizing hashtag data. Powerful analytics and archives can give you actionable and marketable data around hashtags. Chirpaloo is also using your feedback during beta to develop one of the best tools for moderating and participating in Twitter Chats.

5 Frequently Asked Questions about Hashtags

1. How do I create a hashtag? Anyone can create a hashtag. Short and simple hashtags are best. Use an identifiable keyword or acronym for your idea or event with the # symbol, and communicate it to the people you wish to engage in a conversation.

2. Who owns a hashtag? Although anyone can create a hashtag, no one can own or control a hashtag–not even the person, company or group that came up with it. Those who have tried to control hashtags have failed. Open and democratic, a hashtag will ultimately be defined by the community using it.

3. How do I find hashtags? Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category. You can also enter the hashtag in the Twitter search box or via search.twitter.com. Any Tweet with a hashtag on a public account can be found by anyone who does a search for that hashtag. In addition to a section on realtime “Trending Hashtags”, Twitter also has a “#Discover” tab for serendipitous discovery.

4. How far back does Twitter search go? Most searches for hashtags via Twitter search are limited to the most recent 7 days. However, if you track a hashtag on Twitter via Chirpaloo, we keep a daily archive of your search from the first day you started tracking a hashtag.

5. Can you use more than one hashtag in a Tweet? Best practices say not to use more than three hashtags in a tweet. For Twitter Chats, conferences or events, the organizer should create and promote one hashtag that the community uses for all Tweets.

A Hashtag is Power: 21 Ways to Use a Hashtag

To search and research a topic or event.
To create a tribe.
To curate tweets and information on a particular keyword or topic.
To track mentions on the social web.
To find influencers engaged in a topic.
To track your competition.
To report from a conference you attend physically.
To virtually attend a conference and expand your network with people in your industry.
To brand a presentation, webinar or keynote speech.
To participate in Twitter Chats on topics of interest or in your industry.
To avert or prevent a crisis.
To find health information.
To build a community around a brand.
To promote a cause or start a movement.
To crowdsource funds for charity.
To crowdsource ideas.
To follow a sporting event or TV show.
To find reviews about about a movie or book.
To follow breaking news.
To extract customer insights.
To create an archive around a topic or chat.

As Twitter has become a mainstream 21st century communications tool, the humble hashtag has evolved as a key to its power. Harness the power of the hashtag!

On this blog, we will be showcasing real case studies on how hashtags are used. You will also learn how to get the most out of tracking and participating in Twitter Chats. Do you have a question about hashtags or Twitter Chats? Let us know in the comments below and we will consider your ideas for a future post!

This is What EVERYTHING That Happens on the Internet Every 60 Seconds Looks Like

iml-admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:41:46 +0000

World Wide Web is growing at rapid pace. On average, more than a billion new pages are added to it every day.
The best visual we’ve seen to date that shows the ever growing volumes of all things digital content, media,advertising,marketing, ecommerce, social networking +++. Its important to take the time to understand this in relationship to the next web 3.0 leg of our digital lives. We see web 2.0 being the big bang theory in that social media and apps have created mass fragmentation, and as we have moved from surfing, to searching, to social that the next wave of 3.0 is about the web 3.0 relevant web. The future is about data driven platforms that create gravity. Or as the our Chirpaloo says in the tag line “more signal and less noise”. The real-time, relevant and intelligent web.
Incredible things that happen in 60 seconds (via Barry Ritholtz)

Get your #TechDrinkUp on Tonight with Internet Media Labs & Chirpaloo

iml-admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:37:50 +0000

#techdrinkup is a party for NYC’s brightest and savviest people in tech to get together at exclusive NYC venues and mingle over drinks and food.
Internet Media Labs is sponsoring tonights NYC digerati gathering and giving attendees private beta invites to the mighty Chirpaloo platform to take it for a spin and contribute important pre launch feed back. The forst of its kind Twitter database mgmnt and analytics that creates more signal and less noise for Tweeps!

Tweet this for a beta invite : @chirpaloo I want my #Chirpaloo Beta-Invite! #techdrinkup

Techdrinkup January – Open Bar Party @ Greenhouse
Thursday, January 5, 2012 from 8:00 PM to 11:30 PM (ET)
@Greenhouse
150 Varick st
New York, NY 10013
REGISTER HERE!

My Favorite Tweets From #PivotCon, 2011!

iml-admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:37:07 +0000

The Main Stage at PivotCon, 2011

Well it’s been over 10 days since PivotCon kicked off Social Week and the social media world is still buzzing about it. Produced by The Tomorrow Project and curated by Brian Solis (@BrianSolis) of the Altimeter Group, PivotCon brought together an amazing group of social media thought leaders for two days of spirited panels, debate, and presentations.

One of my favorites things about attending conferences these days are the live Twitter screens that are typically present on the sides of the stage, and PivotCon was no exception! The Tweets were flying fast and furious, a real-time report of what was happening up on the stage. Some of my favorites were:

From @cschweitz: Still totally fascinated by this question: Would you rather have 10,000 ppl who love you or 1 million ppl who know you exist? #pivotcon

From @AmyVernon: If you get used to doing things the right way, it will come back to you. – Adam Duritz of @countingcrows / YES. #pivotcon

From @DeidreDoom: @briansolis is wearing Old Spice…#pivotcon #betterthandegree

From @Solete: No need for a pillow at night… RT @AmyVernon: Wow. Adam Duritz has a lot of hair. #truestory #pivotcon

From @CharlieIsaacs: I have one nagging question. When you eat lunch at the #pivotcon do you sit at Pivot Tables?

From @JeanessaPR: Loving how @countingcrows acknowledges Spanish speaking communities Adam you rock! Arriba Latinos #pivotcon

From @MediaTrustPete: What is that bling around @microstrategy CEO’s neck ? Is that in the #pivotcon goodie bag ?

And my all-time favorite Tweet from PivotCon:

From @CountingCrows: Digging #PivotCon . Over to Studio Stage to hear Robert Moore @MediaLabRat presentation. His company @Chirpaloo is a big part of our plans

YEAH!!!

If you have some of your own favorites, add them to the comment section below. Already looking forward to PivotCon 2012!

Robert Moore (@MediaLabRat) is the CEO and Co-founder of Internet Media Labs. Chirpaloo, IML’s Twitter analysis and engagement platform, is currently in invite-only beta testing.

Social Media Pain Point #1 – Where Do You Find The Time?

iml-admin — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:36:40 +0000

In talking to prospective clients and alpha testers of our social media management platform, Chirpaloo I hear a lot of frustration and anxiety in their voices when they talk about managing their social media presences, especially as it relates to Twitter. Phrases like “it’s overwhelming”, “where do I start?”, and “I don’t get it” are common, but perhaps the most common one that I hear is “I don’t have the time!” This is extremely real concern, especially for the small business owner who is understaffed and wearing many different hats in the first place. It acts a true barrier to entry for a lot of people, as they would just rather avoid Twitter altogether than get engaged in something that will add an additional to-do onto an already overcrowded list. Additionally, since building a following on Twitter tends to take more work than lets say getting fans on Facebook, a lot of businesses see it as an optional piece of their marketing mix instead looking at it as viable long-term communication channel.

Graphic representation of the time it takes to manage a social media presence

The key point that I press home when trying to overcome these objections is time management…it all comes down time management. I found great blog post by Aliza Sherman in Gigaom.com that details how much time effective social media management could possible take up on a daily basis. I won’t recap the whole article here but I highly recommend checking it out. She includes a great graphic that visually describes the time commitment required by channel for engaging social media.

As you can see from the graphic, if a business wants to promote, participate, and build a community on Twitter it could take upwards of 16 hours a week – that is a non-starter for most people! We believe, however, with a structured plan, methodical approach, and the right technology, that the same results can be achieved in 4-5 hours a week. Now that is an amount of time that even the most harried business owner could wrap their arms around!

Chirpaloo, IML’s Social Media Management Platform, Launches Invitational Only Beta

iml-admin — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:35:52 +0000

New York – Internet Media Labs released the invitation-only beta version of Chirpaloo, its social media management and marketing platform today. Chirpaloo is an innovative, web-based technology platform that helps businesses, blogger’s, and publishers more effectively manage their social media presence. Using intelligent automation, Chirpaloo will allow marketers and personalities to accomplish more in less time, and will allow them to make more meaningful connections with followers and friends. IML anticipates Chirpaloo being in closed beta through the middle of Q1.

Internet Media Labs Launches URL Shortening Site Ityb.it

iml-admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:40:07 +0000

New York – Internet Media Labs beta released Ityb.it today, its url shortening and social sharing site. While in beta, Ityb.it will be building out and integrating a robust feature set into the site, focusing on the needs of small to medium size publishers, small businesses, and bloggers.

You can follow Ityb.it on twitter here