What are your thoughts on this, do you agree? It seems we should be working towards unlocking all phones to allow for use on all phone carriers.
Tell us what you think in the comment!
(video c/o Majority Report via Twitter)
my top 12 android apps of 2012: pinterest, instagram top list
I love my phone; its lightweight with many features and most importantly, allows me to interact and share with my daily life family, friends and followers simultaneously and seamlessly while on the go. As a tech geek and social media enthusiast, my phone is very important to me. I am so obsessed with my phone so much so that I refuse to leave the house w/o it… heck let me just get to the point: hi, my name is Glor and I am addicted to my phone (and everyone replies saying…).
Aside from phone performance, I am a huge believer in the notion that apps make the phone. I have my favorite apps; hence the blog title. I don’t know about you, but before I download an app, it must meet and exceed my requirements for all the different faucets of my very important life as mommy, blogger, budding photographer, web project / tech / social media manager, self-proclaimed social media addict, writer, shopper, Pinterest addict, interior décor aficionado.
Below are my top 12 apps of 2012 (and bonus apps because I couldn’t just pick 12).
Productivity– for all the many hats that I wear—both at home and work—I’m always working on the go, so an app that allows me to bookmark and save useful websites, blogs, or any information that I find useful is important with the added convenience of meal planning and grocery delivery on the go will get downloaded, no doubt. These by no means is a comprehensive list of all my app; you’d be shocked as to how much more I have in my repertoire.
Social Media — staying socially connected with followers is equally as important of posting useful blog posts like this one. That is why social online engagement is important, and I am not afraid to use it.
In addition to the above, I avid Twitterer (follow @iamglor and @thesocialplugin on Twitter) and WordPress app user, including some of my other social apps like Instaframes, Hootsuite, Photo Grid (collage maker for Instagram), Evite app for planning my parties and managing guest list, and of course, LinkedIn to help me stay connected to my professional colleagues!
- 8. Google Currents — Beautiful, free, favorite publications for your phone and tablet. Google Currents delivers beautiful magazine-like editions to your tablet and smartphone for high speed and offline reading.
9. Google Play Magazines — Enjoy your favorite magazines, anywhere you go. Discover hundreds of bestselling magazines on Google Play. You can shop a wide selection of titles, from cooking to technology, travel, fashion, sports, and photography.
Financial — as a single mom, every penny counts and I’ve learned to track my spending thanks to life experiences learned and watching and reading financial management how-tos. Tracking your spending in this economy is crucial, and I recommend downloading an app from your banks, credit card company, and / or credit unions to help track your spending. Looking to fulfill that New Year’s resolution of spending less and saving more, well, you can’t get any better an financial / money tracking apps that allows you to manage your money on the go.
12. Percentage Calculator –Ok, so look, I’m not a math junkie; words I do, but math, not so much. (I can’t believe I just wrote that on a public blog)…anyway, so you ever go shopping and they’re all these signs “70% off; 30% off; 85% off”, etc. and wonder exactly how much that is off the original price? Well, I sure have, and sometimes, I can’t think fast enough when there’s a fussy toddler on my hip. So I do the next best thing, pull up my Percentage Calculator app and in no time, I know exactly how much I’ll be paying for that not-so-needed-cashmere sweater from Bloomingdales!
Now that I’ve shared some of my favorite apps of 2012, I had to throw in some BONUS apps! Check ’em out!
So there you have it, all my favorite apps on the android platform that I used regularly this year. I have so many other apps on my phone for security, tracking spending, finding the best restaurants, photo editors, baby monitors, books, how to tie a tie, IKEA, NASA, Redbox, HULU, Skype, etc. that literally makes my life so much more easier as a mommy. My hat goes off to the geniuses behind these apps. I’m looking forward to new apps in 2013 to make my tech life even more enjoyable.
What’s your favorite app(s), or what app(s) do you think I must download ASAP? Please share, share!
See you on Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook!
xxGlor
{article originally posted on Sweet Lemon Blog}
Wanna get published? SUBMIT your topic-related blog posts to us and we’ll post and promote for you for FREE! Email: editor@thesocialplugin.com
IKEA Android app [REVIEW]
![IKEA Android app [REVIEW]](https://thesocialplugin.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/wpid-screenshot_2012-10-20-06-54-25.png?w=480&h=1&crop=1){kind=small}
At the home menu, users can navigate and use the app in four different ways: view stores, scan a page from the catalog or view the current store catalog based on your location, and view kitchen brochure (assumption is that this would change based on IKEA’s promotion, by date of this post, the promotion was all about the kitchen). Like any app, there is an info button for help on features and how to use the app.
The app allows customers to have access to more content beyond the pages of its catalog, which customers can access through smartphones. The app comes with films / videos and other interactive features for a better shopping experience that goes with you where you are.
Using the app I found to be super easy and fun. I was able to browse the catalog on my phone simply by scanning a page where there’s a phone icon and I could get details about the room design, prices, etc. Downloading the IKEA Catalog App on my smartphone and tablet was also very easy to do. You can download the app via your mobile app store (Google play (for Android users).
Below are screenshots taken with my Samsung Galaxy SII
Below are some screenshots from the help menu
Overall, I found the app super easy and fun to use. The page scanner is really sensitive and captures the pages fast. The only thing I didn’t like about it is that when I wanted to view the entire catalog on my phone, it attempted to download the large file onto my mobile phone, which I did not want to do. Note: to use the store locator, you must have GPS feature turn on. I will definitely be using the app at least 2-4 times per week; it’s definitely a great inspirational tool.
What do you think about the IKEA Catalog app? Would you use?
[Original post]
Posted from WordPress for Android
Related articles
- Interiors Inspiration & Shopping on the iPad – Tablet App Recommendations (apartmenttherapy.com)
- IKEA USA Announces Launch of Official Pinterest Page (prweb.com)
10 Office Technologies on Their Way Out
Yes, I have been waiting for a list like this for a while. Everything is online now that some of the office technologies we’ve come to know and love, well, are on their way out. Article credit: http://mashable.com/2012/09/25/extinct-office-tech/
Here’s a question you may not hear at all in 2017: “Did you get my fax?”
LinkedIn surveyed more than 7,000 global professionals about which tools and trends will disappear from offices in the next five years and which will become even more common. Nearly three quarters of those surveyed said they expected fax machines to disappear, making it the second most likely office technology to go extinct behind tape recorders.
Other once common office tools like the Rolodex, desk phones and even desktop computers ranked high on the list of items likely to become obsolete in the workplace. Meanwhile, more than half of professionals surveyed (55%) believe that tablets will become increasingly common in the office, the most of any technology on the list. Laptops also ranked high, with 34% of those surveyed predicting it would become more common.
The survey is just the latest example that workplaces are gradually abandoning analog technologies for digital. Those in the workforce will need to adapt to these changes or else risk having technological skills that are obsolete as well.
While it’s unlikely many workers will mourn the loss of the fax machine, some may be more nostalgic for other vanishing fixtures of office life like the Rolodex or business cards (which ranked 12th on the list.)
Here are the top 10 office tools and trends that professionals think will vanish in the next five years:
1. Tape recorders (79 percent)
2. Fax machines (71 percent)
3. The Rolodex (58 percent)
4. Standard working hours (57 percent)
5. Desk phones (35 percent)
6. Desktop computers (34 percent)
7. Formal business attire like suits, ties, pantyhose, etc. (27 percent)
8. The corner office for managers/executives (21 percent)
9. Cubicles (19 percent)
10. USB thumb drives (17 percent)
Image courtesy of Flickr, mattjiggins
The Skype’s the Limit [INFOGRAPHIC]
Courtesy of: www.online-education.net
Five Strategies for a Successful Blog
Blogging has become one of the fasted growing ways to increase overall brand awareness online in that it gives customers the opportunity to stay abreast on new product development and services. Blogging is fun. Blogging successfully and staying on topic is difficult to do whether it’s a personal, corporate or nonprofit blogs.
I find the following format and blogging strategies helpful when I started blogging year ago:
Strategies for Starting a Successful Blog
- Who – identify your audiences both internal and external: existing customers, new customers, key stakeholders and partners?
- Why – Identify the reasons for your blog. It is important to set realistic and achievable goals, and be prepared to adjust accordingly.
- What – what is the purpose of your blog? Whether you want to increase brand awareness, promote a product or service, it is important that you identify the purpose in order to archive your goals successfully.
- Where – where you host your blog is equally as important as the first three, so whether you pick a sub-domain off your main URL, Blogger, WordPress, or Tumblr remember to link back to your website.
- How – And finally, how do you intend to market, promote, and create new and original content for your blog?
Stay focus, it allows you to put forth clean, consistent, cohesive content and a voice that tells readers you are the expert. Whether you have a very successful blog or you are just starting a blog for yourself or company, follow these five steps to manage and create your blog successfully.
What strategies have worked for your corporate or personal blog? (Leave your blog links so we can check out your blog!)
–Sp
How To Get Your RSS on The Web
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your site by allowing your followers to subscribe to your content automatically from their preferred reader. It is often overlooked when it comes to engagement strategies. When building a website, you want to give users multiple options when it comes to consuming content on the site. One of the ways in which you can do so is setting up RSS for the entire content of the site, the public site anyway.
Recently I was in a meeting with the vendor and the topic of RSS came up. I started thinking about how for some odd reason I’ve had this same discussion at a previous job, and remembering how, albeit savvy web users, most didn’t know what RSS was or how to even create one, or even the history behind this simple, yet sophisticated way of engaging with users online.
And so I went in search for the most simple + easy to follow explanation for what it is and how to create one if I wanted to. I found my answer on http://www.w3schools.com. According the site, this is how you can get your RSS feed content for your website or blog on the Web for users + followers to subscribe to.
1. Name your RSS file. Notice that the file must have an .xml extension.
2. Validate your RSS file (a good validator can be found at http://www.feedvalidator.org).
3. Upload the RSS file to your web directory on your web server.
4. Copy the little orange or button to your web directory.
5. Put the little orange “RSS” or “XML” button on the page where you will offer RSS to the world (e.g. on your home page). Then add a link to the button that links to the RSS file. The code will look something like this:
<a href=”http://www.w3schools.com/rss/myfirstrss.xml”>
<img src=”http://www.w3schools.com/rss/rss.gif” width=”36″ height=”14″>
</a>.
6. Submit your RSS feed to the RSS Feed Directories (you can Google or Yahoo for “RSS Feed Directories”). Note! The URL to your feed is not your home page, it is the URL to your feed, like “http://www.w3schools.com/rss/myfirstrss.xml”. Here are some free RSS aggregation services:
- Syndic8: Over 300,000 feeds listed. Register your feed here
- Newsisfree: Over 18,000 feeds. Register your feed here
7. Register your feed with the major search engines:
- Google – http://www.google.com/ig (Google’s personalized homepage. Google will index any RSS feed added here)
- Bing – http://www.bing.com/webmaster/SubmitSitePage.aspx
- Yahoo – http://publisher.yahoo.com/rss_guide/submit.php
8. Update your feed – Now you have registered your RSS feed with Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Now you must make sure that you update your content frequently and that your RSS feed is constantly available.
A little history of RSS
- 1997 – Dave Winer develops scriptingNews. RSS was born.
- 1999 – Netscape develops RSS 0.90 (which supported scriptingNews). This was simply XML with an RDF Header.
- 1999 – Dave Winer at UserLand develops scriptingNews 2.0b1 (This included Netscape’s RSS 0.90 features)
- 1999 – Netscape develops RSS 0.91. In this version they removed the RDF header, but included most features from scriptingNews 2.0b1.
- 1999 – UserLand gets rid of scriptingNews and uses only RSS 0.91
- Netscape stops their RSS development
- 2000 – UserLand releases the official RSS 0.91 specification
- 2000 – A group lead by Rael Dornfest at O’Reilly develops RSS 1.0. This format uses RDF and namespaces. This version is often confused as being a new version of 0.91, but this is a completely new format with no ties to RSS 0.91
- 2000 – Dave Winer at UserLand develops RSS 0.92
- 2002 – Dave Winer develops RSS 2.0 after leaving Userland
- 2003 – The official RSS 2.0 specification is released
How RSS Works according to w3schools.com.
Do you RSS, which reader do you prefer? Please share in the comment.
52 cool facts and stats about social media – 2012 edition
Back in July 2010, I wrote a post called “52 Cool Facts About Social Media”. I wanted to have a look at some of the mind-boggling and truly impressive numbers from this space we play in.
I also wanted to offer a fun fact for every week of the year, for anyone playing social media trivia games.
At the time, the Big 5 were (arguably) Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Blogging. My, what a difference two years make!
So, to bring some of these figures up to date, as well as include some of the newer names on the scene, here are 52 cool facts about social media, the 2012 edition. Enjoy!
1. 85% of women are annoyed by their friends (note – I don’t think this is just limited to Facebook!!).
2. Links about sex are shared 90% more than any other link.
3. More than 350 million users suffer from Facebook Addiction Syndrome.
4. 25% of users don’t bother with any kind of privacy control.
5. The average Facebook user has 130 friends.
Statistics from Economist, Social Times, CNN.
6. 750 tweets per second are shared on Twitter.
7. The original Twitter beta was launched on the birthday of CEO Evan Williams.
8. If Twitter was a country, it’d be the 12th largest in the world.
9. 30% of Twitter users have an income of more than $100,000.
10. Twitter handles more search queries per month than Bing and Yahoo combined (24 billion versus 4.1 billion and 9.4 billion respectively).
Statistics from Compete, Twitter Press Centre and BNN News.
11. Two new members sign up to LinkedIn every second.
12. LinkedIn has 161 million members in more than 200 countries and communities.
13. Members are on track to make more than 5.3 billion searches on the platform in 2012.
14. LinkedIn’s revenue has doubled every quarter for the last two years.
15. There are more than one million LinkedIn groups.
Statistics from LinkedIn Press Centre.
YouTube
16. YouTube was founded to share dinner clips of a party due to the files being too large for email.
17. The most watched video is Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, with 470 million views.
18. The most watched non-commercial video is Charlie Bit My Finger Again, with over 458 million views.
19. The average visitor spends 15 minutes per day on YouTube.
20. It originally started life as a dating site and was influenced by the Hot Or Not website.
Statistics: Techzine and YouTube Archives.
Blogging
21. 3 million new blogs come online every month.
22. 60% of bloggers are aged between 25-44.
23. 20% of bloggers have been blogging for more than 6 years.
24. Professional bloggers upkeep an average of four blogs.
25. 35% of corporate bloggers worked in a journalism, media or professional writing role.
Statistics: Technorati State of the Blogosphere 2011.
26. Pinterest drives more referral traffic than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined.
27. Users spend an average of just under 16 minutes on the site.
28. The most popular age group is 25-34 year olds, accounting for 27.4% of the user base.
29. Pinterest receives 1.3 million visitors per day.
30. 97% of the fans of Pinterest’s Facebook page are women.
Statistics: Modea
31. 25% of Instagram users upload more than three pictures.
32. Over 5 million images are uploaded every day.
33. President Obama is on Instagram, having joined in January 2012.
34. Earlybird is the most popular filter, with 12.5% users preferring it (zero filters is the most popular way to use Instagram, with more than 47% of users going au naturel).
35. There are 575 Likes per second.
Statistics: Instagram Press Centre, ReadWriteWeb, Social Media Delivered.
Google+
36. “Student” is the number one occupation of Google+ users.
37. More than 2/3 of its users are male.
38. The Google +1 button is used more than 5 billion times per day.
39. Google+ is adding 625,000 new users every day.
40. More than 42% of Google+ users are single.
Statistics: Google Blog, Techcrunch, Google Investor Reports.
Social Media Influence Platforms
41. Klout has 50 times more traffic than PeerIndex, its closest competitor.
42. Kred tries to measure offline influence by allowing you to add achievements away from your online activities.
43. Klout changed its privacy model to allow opt-out from its service after a negative backlash in 2011.
44. Empire Avenue has users in more than 150 countries.
45. Justin Bieber is the only person with a perfect Klout score of 100 (says it all, then).
Statistics: Social Media Today, The Next Web.
The Mobile Web
46. 42% of phones in the U.S. are smartphones, with 44% of European users on a smartphone.
47. More than 110 million smartphone users in the U.S and Europe access social networks and blogs on their phones.
48. Tablets took just two years to reach 40 million users in the U.S. – it took smartphones 7 years to reach this figure.
49. China is the number one country in the world for smartphone use, with approximately 1 billion users.
50. In the U.K., there are twice as many smartphone users than cigarette smokers.
Statistics: ComScore and SoMobile.
Bonus Facts
51. Social gamers are expected to buy $6 billion in virtual goods in 2012.
52. One in 5 couples meet online; 3 in 5 gay couples meet online.
Statistics: eMarketer and Stanford University.
So there you have it – the updated 2012 edition of 52 cool facts about social media, offering a nugget for every week of the year. Just in case you need it for your next presentation or tweet-up, and want to let folks know why social media isn’t so dorky after all.
Related articles
- My Social Media and On-Line Strategy Proposal (pmbarobinson.wordpress.com)
- Social networks explained (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest) (creativeramblings.com)
- Social Media Stats (jakprpro.com)
10 Things You’re Doing Wrong With Social Media
Reblogged Idealware.com
You’re on social media—maybe Facebook, Twitter or your organization’s blog—and you’re having some success, but you know there’s room for improvement. Before you start strategizing big plans for what you might do with the tools, take a little time to consider what you’re already doing with it, and whether you’re making common mistakes that are needlessly hindering your progress. Here are 10 such mistakes you can turn around with a little effort for quick, improved results.
1. Not telling people you’re on social media.
If you build it, they will come—possibly true of a baseball field in an Iowa corn field, but definitely not true of a social media presence. Take every opportunity to let people know. Include your Twitter handle and links to your Facebook page on your website and in the signature on your email, link to them in your newsletters and other communications, and publicize them at events. Use Twitter and Facebook as opportunities to comment on other peoples’ posts, as well, which is a good way to establish a presence in the community.
2. Not integrating social media with your communications mix.
Your organization’s communications efforts may include broadcast emails, direct mail, maybe newsletters or some other outreach—these should not occur in a vacuum independently of your social media efforts. Consider them all part of the same overall strategy and make sure they tie together well.
3. Not integrating social media with your website to get people to take action.
You’ve got a website with contact info and other useful resources for constituents, maybe photos, staff bios, program descriptions, or donate buttons for fundraising. Why not link to it from your social media posts? Once you’ve engaged people, send them to your website to mobilize them to give, volunteer, or otherwise represent you and your cause.
4. You’re not thinking about the channel you’re using.
Each social media channel is a little different, with different rules, etiquette and protocol. It’s important to recognize and abide by these rules. Twitter posts should be succinct, but you can post a half-dozen times a day or more. It’s a two-way conversation, and that means interacting with others, sharing links and resources, and giving credit where credit is due. Facebook, on the other hand, gives you a chance to stretch your legs with longer posts, better photo galleries and other ways to engage followers, but followers expect far fewer status updates—no more than two a day—and may find too many overwhelming. Don’t confuse the two channels, and don’t spam people by sending the same message on every tool without changing it to fit the medium.
5. Posting inconsistently.
Posting too much or too little is not the only mistake you can make. You can also post unpredictably or inconsistently. Instead of waking up and posting six items first thing in the morning and nothing else the rest of the day, spread them out. It’s better to post twice a week over three weeks than six times the first week and then disappearing. People need to be reminded that you’re there.
6. It’s all about you—and you’re not very interesting.
Sure, you’re an organization, but organizations are groups of people, right? And let’s face it, people find other people more interesting than organizations. For starters, don’t be afraid to show a little personality. Don’t send out blanket news feeds or public relations material. Put up photos and multimedia that can add depth and texture to your presence. Don’t just promote your organization without providing other value. And don’t ask too much, or too often. If you want to reach humans with your posts, you need to post as a human.
7. Making it “antisocial” media.
Remember that it’s a two-way conversation. Holding up your end of that conversation is critical if you want to attract, engage and maintain a following. Take advantage of what each channel has to offer. Link to other people’s resources, and make sure you give credit to the people or organizations that provided them. Comment on other people’s posts, and reply when they comment on yours. Answer any questions people ask. Fail to do any of this and you’re overlooking 50 percent of what the tool has to offer.
8. Posts are disconnected from your mission.
Social media is about outreach, but it’s an extension of your organization—at least, it should be. What you’re posting should be connected with your “brand,” or mission. Stay on topic. Your mission is what attracted people to your organization on social media in the first place, and it’s what they’re interested in.
9. Not respecting people’s privacy.
This should be common sense, but the truth is, the Internet makes it easy to cross lines when it comes to people’s privacy. Don’t post photos of people or tag people in photos without their permission. This is especially true of children—get permission from their parents. Remember, too, that privacy doesn’t apply just to photos. Before you post anything that mentions other people, think about what you’re saying from their perspective.
10. Continuing to do things that aren’t working.
You should have some way to know whether what you’re doing is working or not—in other words, you should be measuring your social media efforts. You need to have specific goals for your social media and a way of measuring to know whether you’re meeting them or not. If you don’t adapt your efforts based on what you’re learning, you’re doomed to repeat your mistakes.
Rules are meant to be broken. Social media has rules, both formal and informal, and following them can help you make the most of these sites and all they have to offer your organization. Remember, though, that it’s OK to break rules from time to time—as long as you have a compelling reason to do so. Use common sense. Think about the practices that annoy you when other people or organizations do them, and think about those that you like. Find a way to make the ones that resonate work for you. You’re bound to make a few missteps—everyone does—but with a little consideration and thought, you can learn from them and improve your organization’s message.
This article originally ran in the March 15, 2012 edition of The NonProfit Times.
Related articles
- How to Cultivate a Company-Wide Social Media Culture (hubspot.com)
- Blogging and social media as learning tools for lawyers (kevin.lexblog.com)
#Facebook to Allow Minors Under 13 to Create Profile
Did you see this headline about mega social network site, Facebook wanting to allow minors to create their own profiles on Facebook?
According to reports, the social network giant is thinking about letting kids create their own profiles by connecting their accounts to their parents’ account. This way, parents can “feel” as though they’re exercising that proverbial parental control over their kids’ online activities.
One word: dislike.
In my opinion, kids under the age of 16 should not be allowed on any social network. But listen, I’m not naive; I know there are plenty of underage kids on Facebook and Twitter because they lied about their age to join. Is this what it’s come to, kids lying to join social networks that could potentially put them at risk for online bullying? Who’s responsible for ensuring our kids are safe online: parents, the government, or are we leaving to Facebook to make that determination for our kids? Furthermore, it si also being reported that parents themselves are helping their kids lie to get on Facebook and other social networking sites. This is according to a researchers performed by Harvard, University of California, Northwestern University and Microsoft Research
The research pointed out that, “for kids who were under 13 at the time they signed up, 68 percent of the parents “indicated that they helped their child create the account.” Among 10-year-olds on Facebook, 95 percent of parents were aware their kids were using the service while 78 percent helped create the account.”
I’d like to know what you think, would you let your child, under 13, join Facebook or Twitter? Would you lie to get your kid to join Facebook?
the social plug-in 
