All posts in Networking

ABSA failing at social media

by Chris M on May 3, 2013 in Industry News, Networking with 6 Comments

The debate over whether social media is important or not is over – every business, big or small, should have some kind of social media strategy in play. Of course, there are companies that don’t need to do social media, but most do and should be, even if it’s a tiny and inexpensive strategy. Being ready, willing and able to address matters relating to your brand on networks such as Facebook, Twitter and the likes is a crucial part of satisfying your audience.

I went to school with a chap called Lloyd, who has been messed around by ABSA. He wants to close his account, but from the sounds of things, no matter what he does, ABSA continues to try and delay him as well as up sell their products. I understand his frustration in this regard as I went through it with Virgin, but I certainly never experienced the fail that ABSA cooked up on their Facebook Page, just get a look at this:

This, to me, is such a perfect example of social media being done incorrectly. What could have really been an easy situation to resolve now has hundreds of people involved, bloggers blogging about it and I’m sure someone’s tweeted it. A 4 day delay on the Facebook Page? Grief! ABSA need to review things, either the agency doing their social needs a bit of a spanking, or they need to give the person who does it internally some more resources because this is crazy and it’s going to spread bad news about their brand online. Perhaps they should consult FNB for some tips?

Anyway, Facebook is no different to how you’d do things in person when someone walks into your shop – value your customer and treat your customer with respect, but most importantly, when it’s something you can do for a customer, do it, don’t delay it!

Everyday Awesomeness: Pick n Pay’s clever use of Pinterest

by on April 11, 2013 in Cuisine and Beverages, Networking with 2 Comments

Pick n Pay has come up with something clever and useful for those of us who battle to think of what to cook for dinner night after night/what dessert to make for the dinner party/ideas for that bring and share event. It’s called the Daily Dish and you’ll find it on Pinterest.

The Daily Dish is a Pinterest board filled with beautiful food photography and accompanying recipes designed to provide meal inspiration. Here’s a screenshot:

Looking for warm winter comfort food? How about this Shepherd’s pie?

Or what about an easy but impressive post-supper treat?

If you’re keen to see more, visit the Daily Dish.

Ray Ban’s Ambermatic Lens Reintroduction Social Activation

by Chris M on March 3, 2013 in Networking, Photographs with No comments

Ray Ban’s Ambermatic Lens is making a comeback and Ray Ban launched an exciting new campaign that tied real world up with digital to get exposure to drive the awareness of the lenses.

Users were able to use an application built by Ray Ban to take photographs, send them through to Ray Ban to appear on a television screen as though they were captured through an Ambermatic Lens in one of their stores and in turn send it back so you could share it.

Really clever idea, real world meets Instagram type approach – the difference is that Ray Ban didn’t just apply a filter like other social activations, it actually physically reshot the photograph through their lens.

Here’s a good video that shows you what they did:

How long have you spent on Facebook?

by Chris M on March 3, 2013 in Equipment, Networking with 4 Comments

Do you wake up in the morning and reach for your mobile device to check Facebook? Is Facebook your first point of call when you arrive at the office in the morning? Have you ever wondered how much time you spend on Facebook?

TimeRabbit tells you how much time you’ve spent on Facebook! TimeRabbit will tell you how many hours, minutes and seconds you spend on a day, you can view your lifetime statistics and it works with all major web browsers. Best part, it’s free!

TimeRabbit does not operate as a plugin for your browser, but is rather a stand alone application that monitors your usage across any browser. The minute you navigate to Facebook on your computer, TimeRabbit kicks in and start monitoring and counting your usage. Another feature is its ability to pause if you’re on Facebook, but not doing anything, this assist with giving you a true reading.

Here’s what it looks like:

Facebook receives more searches than other social networks

by Chris M on March 3, 2013 in Networking with No comments

Ever wondered which of the top social networks received the most searches? With social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Plus, and Pinterest, the competition is high and looking at the statistics is really interesting. I came across this infographic whilst doing some research and wanted to share it with you, Facebook comes out on top.

Give the image a click to enlarge it..

POLL: What will Facebook change on the newsfeed?

by Chris M on March 3, 2013 in Networking with No comments

On Thursday Facebook will announce the new newsfeed, and there’s little information on the Internet about what they’re planning on doing. Interestingly, this is one of the first times I can’t track down any leaked visuals, which makes me wonder if we’re in for something big.

Anyway, let’s run a poll and see what you all think:

What will Facebook change on the newsfeed?

View Results

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Facebook’s new newsfeed coming March 7

by Chris M on March 3, 2013 in Networking with 2 Comments

News around the Internet at the moment is about Facebook’s announcement on March 7, where they’ll be introducing us all to a new newsfeed. Facebook has three main features that draw the masses, the newsfeed, profiles and search. So, a change to the newsfeed is a big deal and all we can do is wait to see what they come up with and hope that it’s a good change. Like all changes, some will love it and some will hate it, I think embracing it is the best way forwards.

Looking back at Facebook’s timeline with regards to updates, the last change done to the newsfeed was towards the end of 2011, so it’s been a while and I think we can expect some good changes. Of course, Facebook are pushing hard on the mobile front, so my opinion is that Facebook will be making changes that will work well on mobile devices.

I haven’t been able to track down any leaked photographs, but what I did come across was a new look and feel for the Facebook Timeline, which shows a minimalized toolbar and an evolved about section:

Keep posted, March 7th is sure to create some hype on the Internet.

Twitter bios explained!

by Chris M on February 6, 2013 in Humour, Networking with 4 Comments

This is very stolen from Hard lines and sunken cheeks, but it was too great to not publish again here:

  • UX Designer — Earns slightly more than a web designer
  • UI/UX Designer — Designer with multiple personalities
  • Rubyist — Earns more than a PHP developer
  • Front-end developer — Failed computer scientist
  • Producer — Failed at everything
  • Founder — Wants to sell you their thing
  • Evangelist — Wants to sell you someone else’s thing
  • Co-founder — Gets half of the sales of the thing
  • Lean UX Designer — Prefers skimmed milk in their latte
  • Hacker — Has facial hair
  • Platform Engineer — Has facial hair on neck
  • Creator — Has a God complex
  • Engineer — A designer that works at GitHub
  • Usability Director — Shouts at designers for a living
  • Interactive Designer — Used Macromedia Director at college
  • JavaScript Developer — Devil person. Beware.
  • Art Director — Designer with own office
  • Freelancer — Nocturnal, professional pyjama wearer
  • Artist — Even poorer than a designer
  • Illustrator — Proficient with pen tool
  • Creative Director — Likes a drink, Danish furniture and tattoos
  • Technologist — Has ethernet cables in their house. Talks about them a lot.
  • Community Manager — Paid to be on Facebook
  • SEO Specialist — Installs WordPress plugins
  • Brand Manager — Has one client
  • Search Manager — Collects Adword vouchers from Wired
  • Entrepreneur — Changes laptop frequently. Showers at the gym.

Social media circles define airline seats

by Chris M on January 8, 2013 in Networking, Travel with 5 Comments

KLM, the Royal Dutch Airline, are working on an exciting new service, called Meet and Seat. The idea behind Meet and Seat isn’t completely unique as another airline did similar, but KLM are opening up the service to cater for Facebook, and LinkedIn.

The idea behind Meet and Seat is to allow passengers to sit themselves next to like minded people, determined by connecting their Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to the system. The system them performs a matching algorithm and seats a person next to someone who is similar – the aim, to enhance a persons flight by being placed to someone potentially similar.

The system isn’t live just yet, but reports say that it will be launched early this year and I’m looking forward to see how many other airlines (and other companies) jump onto this band wagon, because it’s a damn good idea!

MHBuddy, owned by Malaysia Airlines, was the first company to develop such technology through it’s Facebook-based booking and arranging social seating platform.

Facebook brought into real-life in fashion store

by Chris M on January 8, 2013 in Networking, Shops, Style with No comments

I’ve said this before on more than one account, but I’ll say it again because I truly love innovative ideas that incorporate social media in real time.

C&A, a fashion brand in Brazil, has found a really clever way of bringing their social interactions to real life, by displaying the number of Facebook Likes an item has receive online, on the coat hanger in the shop. If my words don’t explain it, take a look:

They have a dedicated Facebook Page that sells items and encourages shoppers to like the items that they’re attracted to, this increases the likes, and in term shows off which items are the hottest in the shop.

I had an idea not too long ago, about installing a simple circuit board system that allowed someone to hold their phone next to it and get prompted with a simple website with LIKE button, to get a person to like the shop or an item, much like a checkin on FourSquare, but because FourSquare isn’t as widely used locally, it made more sense to do it via Facebook, or even Twitter. Because of the fact that you need to sign in, it couldn’t be as simple as a big blue button, which would be the best, but rather a cleverly set up wifi hot spot, blah blah.

Anyway, an incredible innovative idea C&A had and they’ve made a video for us to watch (sorry about the language):

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