Keeping up with the times: Pandora radio makes a move to smart watches.

My favorite app bar none is Pandora. They've taken it a step further this time. Recently, according to a mashable.com article, an app for Pandora was released to Pebble users. Pebble creates smartwatches and now they come with the Pandora app installed. Will this be the tipping point that will drive people to everyday wearable technology? 

For the first time, the new app will allow users to interact with Pandora from a wearable smart technology. It allows the user to do all the things they would do from an iPhone or iPad. With the smartwatch users have the ability to provide instant feedback, building their favorite play lists  and all from a hands free device! I haven't had any interaction with a smartwatch yet, but having an app as popular as Pandora could be reason enough to start shopping around.

Why You Should Still be Cautious on the Internet

I feel it's safe to say a majority of the human population spends a large amount of time on the Internet. I think it's even safer to say that more and more people are spending large amounts of money on the Internet due to the convenience of shopping online. As a result we have learned to feel pretty safe on the internet when perhaps we shouldn't have. 

Although the internet has many security measures set in place there has been a bug sitting in one of the most important measures for years. Essentially this bug gives attackers the "keys to the kingdom" and is called the "Heartbleed Bug." Secure transactions on the internet rely on a pair of technologies called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TSL). Basically they keep your private information between you and whatever site you are using. However there has been a breach in the software called OpenSSL which allows people to get TSL/SSL easily. The breach is a minor coding error that allows attackers to use OpenSSL to see private data that should be secured by TSL/SSL. 

Every now and then we see bugs and internet fraud, however, this error has been out there for a long time. So what does this mean for a majority of the population that uses the internet frequently? Assume your credentials are out there for the taking and make sure to change all your passwords. Also, if you aren't already make sure you're frequently check your credit card statements. This Heartbleed bug is the reason why we should continue to be cautious on the internet. Even if you're not using the internet for shopping other things such as personal profile information may have been exposed. I'll admit this Heartbleed bug has made me feel vulnerable on the internet and I'm left wondering if I should stop shopping online for a while. 

Photo Credit: nydailynews.com

Read more on Gizmodo.com 

Viral Videos are a Marketer's New Dream

Viral videos might be the next best marketing technique. On April 2, Sarah Ang posted on Mashable all the reasons why these viral videos are priceless to companies and organizations. First, viral videos don’t require a time limit, they can go on for as long as the company wants and they don’t have to pay for a time slot. The only expense is in the actual making of the video. Secondly, the videos can be more promiscuous or emotional in any sense of the word. This intensified emotional dynamic creates a better relationship with the audience which makes them more apt to pay attention. Thirdly, the videos go viral because of the viewers, not because the company is pushing them. The viewers can share and embed them in all different interfaces for viewing which helps the company to reach even more people than if they were to rely on TV ads.  Ang also touched on the fact that these videos can take attention away from recent bad publicity which always helps in a company’s image or even liven up instructional/safety instructions like this video from Virgin Air.

There is always the chance that the videos will flop rather than fly, but I think that the risk is worth it. Organic views beat out the best paid views and are more meaningful because the viewer actually wanted to see the video of their own free will. I think that more companies should take advantage of the viral video industry because they have so many more possibilities in regards to the film making. Plus, they also can spread their company image in a more effective way than simply planting their brand name on an image, much like Chipotle did in this heart-tugging short.

Vine's use expands with the addition of new messaging service.

Since Vine appeared on the social media market, its six-second videos have drawn millions of users from the Twittersphere and beyond. This tool was recently expanded upon by the addition of a new sharing feature in the Vine 2.0 app. Upon opening the app for the first time, a user is invited to try the app’s new direct messaging service. The new addition allows users within the vine community to share a vine through text message with one or more contacts. From there they can continue to have a private conversation with each recipient about the Vine in question. Along with this, it also is possible now to send private vines to other users similar to Instagram or Twitter’s direct messaging features.

This service adds a bit more to the “social” aspect of Vine due to the fact that, before now, the most social interaction between users was comments and tags on the videos. Messaging between users allows more personal interaction, and I for one am looking forward to seeing how it changes the use of Vine as a whole.

To read more: http://mashable.com/2014/04/03/hands-on-with-vine-messages/

Will iPhone 6 rumors live up to the hype?

Picture from read.bi/1emPM1K 

We all do it. We go on the internet and look up the latest technology to come out of Apple. One of those technology updates that I know I look up is when the new iPhone 6 will come out and what it will look like. Well, according to Adario Strange, the rumors that have been circulating on this topic are starting to solidify. A popular feature of the current Android phones is the size of the screen. This is, hopefully, something that iPhone and Android users will have in common when the iPhone is released. We could soon be seeing an iPhone with an increase in screen size from 4.0 to 4.7 and possibly 5.5 inches. They are still working out the kinks, though. Currently, they are only working on the 4.7 model, due to problems with the “in-cell production technology”.

I don’t know about anyone else, but due to the lack of technological advancement in the past several iPhones, when it came time for me to upgrade my phone, I switched to the phone that touted that it had the best camera on the market, the Nokia Lumia 1020, and my sister switched to an Android. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my iPhone, but I wanted more out of it than it could supply. To make a long story short, we both ended up switching back to the iPhone because there was too much of a difference in the operating systems. 

My point with this slightly off topic aside is that, with all of these rumors on how different and better the new iPhone 6 is going to be, loyal Apple consumers, such as myself, are hoping that most of the rumors are true, and that it will be as different as they say. However, until the launch date, when true phone specs are released, we will just have to keep guessing. 

Article posted on mashable.com on April 2, 2014

One of Marketers Biggest Secrets? Branded Viral Videos

Everyone has seen viral videos - from the Chocolate Rain music video to the Harlem shake videos to the Call Me Maybe parodies, viral videos are known for exploding in popularity, but often don't stand the test of time. That's all changing with the advent of branded marketing videos, according to mashable.com.

Sarah Ang wrote that brands looking to stay current with social media trends should try their hand at making branded videos. These videos should be short, compelling, "shareable" and, perhaps most importantly, engaging. Surprisingly, the brand need not be front and center in every shot - the power of the video comes from its message, according to Ang, and that in turn will make the video jump from 'interesting' to 'viral'.

I agree with Ang - I think videos produced by brands in general are important nowadays, simply because users spend so much of their time watching videos online at websites like YouTube, Vimeo, and Hulu. It's rapidly becoming a necessity for brands to have videos online for their continued longevity. Some of the best branded videos I've seen have been short, online clips from big names that lead me to their website in an effort to learn more about their product.

I like that Ang pointed out in her article that product placement isn't essential. I myself tend to like videos more when I can watch an ad without seeing the product and it's "amazing new features" every three seconds. Brands that have a strong social media presence online already know this and are working it to their advantage - and those are the brands that are here to stay.

Pinterest is Relevant Folks!

In the past year, social media sites have been making additions to their programs, creating new apps and services while also fixing bugs and hiring “hackers” to help. In an article on Mashable.com we are informed of how much these fixes, innovations and additions are actually helping the sites to stay relevant and popular. More specifically; sites wanted to see how popular they were on the mobile front.

I personally don’t have a smart phone but, I have an iPod and iPad which are slaves to wifi. Therefore, my social media access is limited especially from a mobile standpoint. It was interesting to see that from a report from comScore, “Instagram users in the U.S. spend 98% of time with the network on mobile”. This apparently wasn’t surprising to Matt Petronzio, the author of the Mashable article because Instagram was actually a mobile-only site when it first came out and then later became desktop friendly.  

The second highest ranking mobile social media site is Pinterest which I thought was amazing. Users spend 92% of their time on mobile whereas Twitter users only chose the mobile experience 86% of the time.  This makes my inner Pinner sing with delight. I thought that Pinterest was mainly used by women who were crafting at home on their desktops. I feel so in-with-the-times now because whenever I latch onto wifi, I make additions to my boards. I also thought this was surprising because I always assumed that Twitter users essentially only used mobile because tweets are normally in “real-time” and not many people carry around their desktops.

Private Messaging on Vine

Vine made some changes to its app. Now Vine users can add messages and send their videos to each other right though the app.

Previously there was no private message feature on Vine and although they have made the changes Vine users can only send one on one messages because Vine does not support group messaging yet.

I think this is a step in the right direction. I myself use vine and sometimes I would post silly videos to send to my friends, but then would take it off because I didn't want it out there for anyone to see. Being able to send the videos privately makes it easier to share things to just one or two people instead of the whole world.

I think Vine is just catching on. Private messaging is very big with social media. Instagram added a private messaging feature in December and both Twitter and Facebook continue to update their private messaging feature with Twitter updating theirs so users could send pictures through messages.

Vine messaging may not be available to all users just yet and Vine may be testing it in-house, but I am confident that there will be many more updates to come, not only to Vine, but all the different social media platforms as well.

You can read more about the new Vine messaging feature in an article posted April 3, 2014
at: http://mashable.com/2014/04/03/vine-messaging-camera-roll/

A serious announcement on the funniest of days!

Today is April Fool's day, the day where people decide to play funny pranks on their friends and family members to get a really good laugh. Well apparently Twitter decided today would be a perfect day to launch their way into the wearable device world! Today they announced their new helmet  that will cover the whole head and allows for people to interact with the world through a special custom aviary interface. The device of course, also allows people to be able to tweet by using a simple pecking motion much like that of a bird. The device is set to come out in September at a surprising low price of $139.99 and will also include various items that are bird related.

I honestly am not at all sure if this is a very clever prank by the Twitter organization or not; but I don't know how many people would be interested in this product. It is a very cool idea but something still seems a bit sketchy to me about this all. The article from Mashable has pictures of the images of what this device will look like but each photo is captioned at the bottom saying " photos taken by secret source." I guess we will just have to see if more news comes out about this later down the road, but if you're interested check out the article here. Mashable

Read this before Tweeting or updating your next Facebook status

When traveling to a new community, it is important to be aware of cultural faux pas and general attitudes about certain topics. The online world functions similarly. From the land of LinkedIn to planet Pinterest, there is certain content that is not acceptable to be shared and can even be damaging to your own image.

If we're honest with ourselves, we've all violated at least one of the cardinal rules. Some of us may even be friends with constant offenders. Lida Citroen on socialmediatoday.com gives us a friendly reminder of information you should probably refrain from sharing on the internet.

I want to share just a few of my top favorites from her list, but for the complete article you can read it here.

This one was Lida's number 6 faux pas, but it's number 1 on my list. Do not post vague, self pitying comments that are a mystery to everyone. This never turns out well. You maybe disappointed when you're friends don't respond with the clearly wanted response of sympathy. Making your friends try to drag out the full context in which you post is based just screams "pay attention to me!"


This next one has effected some of my personal friends. Posting about your job. Specifically, posting about how much you hate your job, or how you are playing hooky for the day, or heaven forbid, personal thoughts on sensitive information about projects and/or clients. This is a sure fire way to find yourself without that job that you hated so much. I guess in firing you they were really doing you a favor.

The last one from Lida's list that really gets my goat is about watching what you say about others. On all platforms of social media, please don't say anything about someone that you wouldn't say to them in person. There is a difference between constructive criticism and cruelty. I have seen online battles of passive aggressiveness wage on for days. These kinds of posts can make you appear as a petty person who doesn't know how to effectively handle confrontation.

Social media has given us access to share our immediate thoughts and feelings. While this can be great in communicating efficiently, it's not always wise to post your first reactions. Think through the consequences of your posts, as you know, they can and will have far reach.

Pay for promotion? How a new app is "paying" users to promote their app.

Smug Messenger, the latest app from AppRedeem. Check out the article on TechCrunch! 

Imagine sending a link to your friends to download an app, and then earning points from it to turn into things with real value like Amazon gift cards, or bitcoins. It sounds like a way to make  quick buck, right? Well, it may be, but is this really the best way to get people to download an app? Shouldn't people download it because it offers them a great experience and it's worth downloading? 

This tactic of luring people into downloading something is what the company AppRedeem was built on. Their first app was an app called AppTrailers and let people watch videos trailers of upcoming apps to boost downloads. This worked for the company for a while, but this act of watching app trailers was not something people did on a regular basis, and the app stagnated. 

So will this new app work? The mobile messaging app market is already cluttered with too many apps like Snapchat, Whatsapp?, Kik Messenger, among many others. I personally think that this new app will not last long. When was the last time that you were thrilled to get yet another Candy Crush request? I don't think pushing people to download an app, especially one they may have lots of the same kind of is not the answer. The pay factor may be good motivation for people to send out requests, but it will not turn into more use. 

First March Madness, Now April Attack

Throughout last month, we have witnessed many incredible basketball games and potential NBA basketball players. These players not only gain our pride, but they also gain our respect. These players show up everyday to play the game they love and bring in money for their school. In regards to revenue, college sports and the NCAA highly unrecognized the real sources that help sky-rocket a school's financial lane: the actual players. The NCAA continues to ignore this fact that is staring them in the face.

Due to the failures of the NCAA for not rewarding their athletes enough, some football players from Northwestern University are gathering a union to gain power in regards to college athletics. Forming this union, these college football players are asking not for money, but for medical coverage for their futures. They want to make sure that a career-ending injury will not haunt them for the rest of their lives. If student-athletes are not being compensated for fiesta bowls, championships, or for the whole March Madness event, then they at least deserve a security blanket for their future. Think about it! Every NCAA college athlete performs approximately 40-60 hours a week in their sport, on top of their massive workloads.

As a college athlete, I believe the Northwestern football players along with every other NCAA college athlete should be secured under there school for injury purposes. We should see the NCAA start to protect their student athletes (source of income) more often then not. If the NCAA continues to ignore this union, then this might result in an April Attack month. If students attend a school to play a sport, then they represent that school. The school needs to protect all their representatives including their student-athletes. Due to the fact that the NCAA is a single organization, they will most likely ignore this union because if they permit their request, then the NCAA must make it permanent for everyone to earn medical coverage. Obviously, the NCAA does not want to fund that reward. Do you think the NCAA should cover any future medical concerns for NCAA athletes? What about the school? Or do you believe they just should be rewarded for a trophy or pat on the back for fighting their hearts out and bringing in revenue into their schools? For more information on this huge dilemma, please click on the following link.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddavenport/2014/03/28/the-real-march-madness-unions-money-and-power-in-college-athletics/