Comments for Digital Trail

Comment on The social media branding of Xfactor contestants by Peter Hoffer

Peter Hoffer — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:14:37 +0000

Worth mentioning that along with the number of conversations and buzz being generated by each singer, that the richer insights might be what they are saying….

So for example Rhythmix might be generating double the buzz than Kitty, but if all the buzz is negative, how will it affect the predictions for choosing the X Factor winner?

I think as more brands pay attention to social media monitoring tools, they’ll need to work with experts like James to go beyond number of Twitter mentions…

Comment on The social media branding of Xfactor contestants by James Ainsworth

James Ainsworth — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:17:44 +0000

Hi Mark Nice move on the @mattcardle account. The XFactor provides such a rich opportunity for all kinds of social interaction, engagement and indeed money making. Most of all, it generates a lot of useful data when it comes to social. A colleague (@NRCUK) and myself are off to Manchester in a few weeks as we are shortlisted for a SOMECOMMS award for predicting Matt Cardle as the winner of last year's XFactor ahead of the Final using social media data and Alterian SM2, a social media monitoring tool. Thanks for your visit and I very much appreciate you taking time to comment. James

Comment on The social media branding of Xfactor contestants by Mark Shaw (@markshaw)

Mark Shaw (@markshaw) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:41:07 +0000

interesting article.. so many businesses dont think ahead and secure their twitter usernames.. It is particularly interesting with contestanst on shows eg… xfactor, apprentice etc… the preliminary rounds are usually fimed months ago so not securing the accounts for the official runners and riders I suggest means someone has made an error…

Interestingly last year I wrote a blog post about exactly that point.. thinking ahead etc… to make the point, I secure @mattcardle twitter username.. i am happy to give it over to the official Matt Cardle who actually went on to win the xfactor…

cheers

Mark
@markshaw

Comment on The APPrentice App challenge: What social media said… by @alterianjames

@alterianjames — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:44:14 +0000

Thanks for the comments Ben. All very valid points indeed. I guess with any reality TV show we must suspend our expectations of what actually happens and these challenges are created with brevity and not business sense in mind. Rome wasn’t built in a day but Slangatang was…

Comment on The APPrentice App challenge: What social media said… by ParkBen

ParkBen — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:01:54 +0000

It seems it was on multiple platforms, according to the developer.http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/39970/bbc-apprentice-app-grapple-slangatang – Blackberry, Ovi and Android.Even more bizarre then, that they should choose to keep showing close ups of Blackberry handsets.If my maths is correct, there would have been ~12m downloads on that one day between those platforms. They managed 13,000 (combined) with the help of two very high-traffic websites, a big name magazine and a technology conference. Not sure if that’s good or not.

Comment on The APPrentice App challenge: What social media said… by ParkBen

ParkBen — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:40:21 +0000

I was in that 20% that hated Slangatang. I was also in the 48% who hated AmpiApps. There was so much wrong with last night’s show, that I should probably write a few bits here:1. Lord Sugar saying how these days anyone can make money from nothing, easily.The two teams were given the use of professional app developers, for free! They were also given the opportunity to pitch it in meetings set up with well-known technology magazines/websites. My guess is that if each team was given a month to make this app with no money, without the film crew, neither would have been a success.2. The choice of apps.They both created just what the world needs – another two soundboard apps. The CEO of the Carphone Warehouse (he was on “You’re Fired” afterwards) claimed that “most apps” are just for showing to your mates down the pub. A bit of time wasting.Maybe that’s true initially, but you don’t earn ad revenues from people who play it once and delete it. When the App store first launched, it was full of fart apps, but I think the technology world has moved on since then. People aren’t as impressed by virtual cigarette lighters these days.When you sign up to the developer system for Android, there’s a bit of software that you can use to make basic apps. The first example video that shows you some basic functions, makes a soundboard app which is just as poor as the ones featured last night.3. The choice of platform.They clearly came up with the concept, THEN looked into the logistics of it. It seemed like the developers were making apps for Blackberry devices (they were the only ones shown).Given the short space of time, and the fact that the BBC showed only Blackberry devices, it seems unlikely that they ported it to other systems. (There are rumours on Twitter, that it was also available on Nokia and Android, so if true, why not show them? Surely BBC impartiality would forbid them from constantly showing closeups of Blackberry handsets?).And why Blackberry?Sugar talks about people making a fortune from selling apps. Some people are, yes, but not on Blackberry, surely? You all know Angry Birds, yeah? That MASSIVE Blackberry app? No?Oh and the world stopped and looked, as a 13yr old developed an app for the Bl..oh..no that was Apple too.Blackberry’s app world has nearly 1m downloads a day. Call that 365m in a year. Not bad, eh?But Apple’s got 7bn in the same period.Android’s averaging over 2bn a year, and growing.Apple’s App store submission process would have screwed up the way the show worked, as you couldn’t guarantee it being in the store on a particular day – but then why not do it for Android? Even Nokia’s Ovi store is averaging 5m app downloads per day. So why Blackberry? Why develop apps for a platform that not many users of that platform, download apps for? If nothing else, it’s not a good return on your investment.4. Technology magazines/websites.I was disappointed that any of the sites featured these awful apps. They’re all respected organisations. It gets them TV exposure, and that’s the only reason I can think of, why they would write about yet another soundboard app.When the teams pitched to a group of independent technology bloggers, I think they needed to stop the show right there – just to give out an award for Most Underwhelmed Audience 2011.You’re right. Quantity over quality. Can you produce an app in a day? Yes. Should you? No.

Comment on Ten years ago I used Bolt Blue. Five years ago I used to chat on MSN. In five years time will I still use Twitter? by Shell HLD

Shell HLD — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:56:46 +0000

Really takes me back thinking of how I used to use the web circa 1998. Geosites, UKchat, ICQ not to mention that wonderful telephone “static-ping” you would get on dial-up. Still gives me goosebumps and makes me think that I really ought to be in school not skiving to consume my 56kb of internet speeds.

I think the internet has changes massively. I feel it if far more interactive and disposable. Look at Twitter for example. It is just a contact barrage of information never on your screen long enough to matter really.

Facebook is the best way to keep up with friends and family (without having to make the lengthy car journeys to do weekend visits!) It’s a great way to snoop on people who you went to school with and always very rewarding when you come across that school yard bully who is now working some crap job with about 7 screaming kids. That’s karma for you!

One of my favourite was to consume music now is Spotify. I love having all that music to hand without the expensive 69-99p for a song on iTunes but then again I have always been a fan of internet radio even back in the 1998 days. Free music rocks my world!

I think the fact I use a Mac now is the biggest change. Idiot proof and built to consume, hence the iPad.

From Desktop > Safari/Firefox > Tweetdeck > Spotify > Mail> iWorks

Once within Safari/Firefox > Facebook > Twitter > Fingertips (CMS) > Google Analytics> Homeleisuredirect.com

Great blog post!

Comment on Ten years ago I used Bolt Blue. Five years ago I used to chat on MSN. In five years time will I still use Twitter? by Jake Johnson

Jake Johnson — Wed, 26 May 2010 07:37:47 +0000

It is fascinating to see how dominant computer programmes, sites and services that seemed to run the world can fall off a cliff in just a few years (mainly in part to the new upstarts on the block).

Thanks for making me look back and feel old!

Comment on Twestimonials by @niteglow

@niteglow — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:35:30 +0000

Thanks mate!

Comment on Twestimonials by @Reeb1981

@Reeb1981 — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:28:15 +0000

Awww, shucks